How to solve a 'no software to install' error

Mar 06, '06 05:28:00AM

Contributed by: marcel69

I previously tried to install a new Version of iWork from the original DVD on a Mac of a collegue. After clicking through the installer, it displayed an error message "No Software found to install." (I translated this from German -- the original English message might be a bit different).

After some searches in different forums on the web, where I did not found a solution but several people with the same problem, I remembered something I read before while creating an own installer for another project with Apple Package Maker. The Apple installer searches the /Library/Receipts directory for existing older packages of the same software that should be installed.

The final solution to the problem was to completely delete all similar packages (in my case the packages for iWork, Pages and "Keynote) from the Receipts folder. Obviously, there had been some older versions of iWork installed before, but they were deleted out of the Applications folder. Hopefully this hint will save some of you some valuable time in similar cases.

[robg adds: We've run some previous hints on removing specific items from the /Library/Receipts folder, but we've never run a general hint on the subject. So I thought I'd use this one as the general tip, too -- if you're having trouble re-installing something that was installed via the Apple Installer, check the Receipts folder. If you find a folder there for the app in question, move it somewhere safe (just in case!), then re-run the troublesome installer. If it works, trash the moved receipt. If it doesn't work, then there are other things going on...]

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