front row installation program woes

Question

front row installation program woes

have never used front row - but am trying to install it for my wife on her Intel (TM) Mac Book.

I found a front row "package" in library/receipts....

when I click on it, however, it keeps crapping out on me - the installation process - I keep getting an error message.

I tried multiple times - to no avail.

I also upgraded the firmware on the Intel (TM) Mac Book - we are now upgraded to the latest version.

I thought maybe there's a download somewhere her on apple.com, but the only thing I can find is apparently not the original program itself, but an upgrade ... incidentally, I seem to be able to install the upgrade (it installs without an error message) even though the original program isn't intalled.

Not sure what to do - any suggestions?

W

powerMac G5 (single processor, darn it!); 4 GB RAM, Mac OS X (10.4.9), World's Largest iTunes library: Over a TB & Growing Daily!

Posted on Dec 3, 2007 6:51 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Dec 3, 2007 8:40 PM in response to WillFriedwald2

I found a front row "package" in library/receipts....

Those package files are really only a record or "receipt" of the previous installation. You can't re-install Front Row from that file. You cannot download Front Row from Apple, but you can re-install it from the original install disk that came with the MacBook. Put the Mac OS X install disk (1) into the optical drive and double-click on the "Install Bundled Software Only" option. At the "customize" screen, uncheck all of the other options besides Front Row. If the Front Row option is disabled or this doesn't work, it could be because the Installer application thinks it's already installed because of the package files in the /Library/Receipts/ folder. You may need to delete the FrontRow.pkg or the FrontRowUpdate1.3.1.pkg and then re-install Front Row from the disk. (You may also need to run the Software Update to get the Front Row 1.3.1 update again.)

-Doug

Reply

Answer 2

Dec 5, 2007 6:30 AM in response to Douglas McLaughlin

thank you - that's very helpful!

I don't know if my wife can find the original disc - is there another way to get & install front row? I guess we could contact Apple for a replacement disc.

of course, I would imagine that Front Row is included in Leopard (10.5) and I was planning to update to Leopard sometime in the next few weeks anyhow.

Thanks again,

Will

Reply

Answer 3

Dec 5, 2007 7:51 AM in response to WillFriedwald2

I don't know if my wife can find the original disc - is there another way to get & install front row? I guess we could contact Apple for a replacement disc.

You're welcome! There's really no other way unless you can find the install disk from someone else who has the exact same model computer as you. AppleCare Support can replace your lost disks, for a fee. In the past, the fee has been between $20 and $60. It would be much better to have a set of the original disks as Leopard does include Front Row and Photo Booth, but it does NOT include the iLife applications nor any other bundled software.

-Doug

Reply

Answer 4

SA34747

Level 1

0 points

Dec 15, 2007 12:56 PM in response to Douglas McLaughlin

Hi - having similar problems... I have a recently purchased mac mini 10.4.11 and I went through the below install disk process repeated times to no avail. My install disk 1 and 2 say there are "zero bytes" to install front row, but it is displayed as an "upgrade" - I click continue and the install process says it completes successfully looking like a file is being written to the hard drive. After completion, there is still no Front Row application on the mini in any folder. Just the same receipt PKG files which we know don't do anything.

Any thoughts on how to resolve, please?

Reply

Answer 5

Dec 15, 2007 1:15 PM in response to SA34747

Front Row in Mac OS X 10.4 is not a visible Application. The install disk is smart enough to know you already have it installed. Does it not open if you press the "menu" button on the remote or press Apple-esc on the keyboard?

-Doug

Reply

Answer 6

SA34747

Level 1

0 points

Dec 15, 2007 1:46 PM in response to Douglas McLaughlin

Perfecto. Thanks Doug!

It's like magic - don't know where to look in the manual, but great to see it's working!

Reply

Answer 7

Dec 15, 2007 5:04 PM in response to SA34747

I pressed apple-esc and nothing happens - although of course now we can't find the remote!

I was confused, I expected it to be a regular program - it doesn't turn up in the applications folder?

I think at this point I have to break down and call appleCare - although I don't think that they're open until Monday morning.

Will

Reply

Answer 8

Dec 16, 2007 1:15 AM in response to WillFriedwald2

I was confused, I expected it to be a regular program - it doesn't turn up in the applications folder?

If Mac OS X was reinstalled on the MacBook, it would not have included Front Row. Front Row for Mac OS X 10.4.x is not a regular application. It lives in the /System/Library/Core Services/ folder. If it's not there, you'll need the original install disk to reinstall it.

Front Row is included in both the Core Services folder and the Applications folder for Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard).

-Doug

Reply

Answer 9

Dec 16, 2007 6:50 AM in response to Douglas McLaughlin

I did a search for "front row" (as well as "frontrow") and nothing came up -

however, to my surprise - I just found the system/core services section (is this something that's not there in the G3-G5 architecture?)

anyhow, lo & behold, front row is there. However, it seems to be disable - it shows up in the finder with a generic "application" icon, and when I try to open it, nothing happens.

So how would I enable it?

(I imagine finding that dang remote would be a good step!)

W

Reply

Answer 10

Dec 16, 2007 9:41 AM in response to WillFriedwald2

You can't do a "search" for Front Row. Spotlight specifically ignores the System folder. It should appear as generic icon and double-clicking on it won't do anything. You need to use the "menu" button on the Apple remote or press Apple-esc on the keyboard and use the arrow keys and "return" button (as well as "esc" in place of the "menu" button) to run Front Row.

-Doug

Reply