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Why does Installer open, then close?
March 31, 2008 by Douglas
Categories: Installer.app, troubleshooting
50 Comments
4,830 views
Why does Installer open, then close? Both of our iPhones have recently been doing this. Problem is, we can’t review apps without a fix…and we have tried everything we can think of to stop this from happening. The only thing that fixes it is replacing our LocalPackages.plist with a stock version and then Installer opens. However, when you do this, Installer thinks you have nothing installed and you have to reinstall all your apps to get them to show up in Installer. Here’s some info about our iPhones incase it helps. We both have a lot of apps installed. One iPhone is on 1.1.1, the other on 1.1.4. The permissions are set correctly. We have plenty of space left (we used bosstool). 1.1.1 was jailbroke with jailbreakme.com, 1.1.4 with Ziphone 2.5 or so. If anyone has any ideas let us know…we are completely out of them!
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What was the last app u both Installed?
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Brooke on March 31st, 2008 11:44 pm:
It actually has been doing this randomly for a few days on Doug’s iPhone and then also starting doing it today on my iPhone. So, it varies.
Mic on March 31st, 2008 11:50 pm:
wow brooke that was fast…
do u know if u have installed an app doug has installed before?
Bc i heard Of app cousing problems to the phone.
My best advice would be for u 2 to back up all ur data and just restore, this would give u a good chance to go to 1.1.4 brooke
(Say good bye to 1.1.1)
BTW theres this new app to jailbreak unlock and activate its called iLiberty maybe u guys can write something about it…
Douglas on March 31st, 2008 11:58 pm:
Restoring is our last choice right now. Brooke’s just started tonight. She had installed Instafresh most recently but this was earlier in the day and Installer worked throughout the day then stopped this evening. No other app was installed during that time. My iPhone started doing this a few days ago. I SSH’d in and removed the last 5 apps I had installed, didn’t work. Restored the LocalPackages.plist file and started working fine. Every once in a while since then my Installer will do it again, then start working after a few tries.
I don’t want to restore because first I want to fix the problem. I also have tons of manual customizing I don’t have time to redo including things like symbolic links.
sugardad on April 1st, 2008 11:32 am:
Actually I had this problem and I was sweeping (to say the least)
whole file system and finally I found a solution to my problem that kept following me like a ghost since 1.1.2!
Crashing Installer
—————————
INDICATIONS: Installer.app ends prematurely / crashes
REMEDY: Connect to iPhone using a Terminal (MAC/PC) or VT100 within your iPhone
(make sure you have Installed the SUID patch In order to login through iPhone as root:alpine)
Navigate to /var/mobile/Library/Installer
(cd /var/mobile/Library/Installer)
***My error was that I was navigating to /var/root/Library/Installer
THAT’S OBSOLETE!***
Now that you are Indeed at /var/mobile/Library/Installer
DELETE the RemotePackages.plist ( rm RemotePackages.plist)
Try to fire up Installer! YEAY!
PERMANENT REMEDY:
In order to avoid this misbehaviour by Installer
(Hopefully the new Version will fix this (?))
Always, ALWAYS keep your Installer sources at a logical low level
many sources mess up the .plist which grows larger than 5megs thus making Installer crash!
Script Execution Failed
———————————-
I got This Error after I Installed manually the new beta of Installer.app
Installer.app v3.01
INDICATIONS: When Updating/Installing Installer replys with a Script Execution Failed message rather than proceed to Update/Install
REMEDY: Connect to iPhone using a Terminal (MAC/PC) or VT100 within your iPhone and follow the commands…
(make sure you have Installed the SUID patch In order to login through iPhone as root:alpine)
SOLUTION A:
cd /
cd Applications/
chmod +s Installer.app/Installer
chown -R root:wheel Installer.app
exit
Now Fire It Up! YEAY!
SOLUTION B:
cd /
cd Applications/
wget http://repository.apptapp.com/packages/System/Installer.zip
rm -rf Installer.app
unzip Installer.zip
chmod +s Installer.app/Installer
chown -R root:wheel Installer.app
rm Installer.zip
exit
Now Fire It Up! YEAY!
Hope I was clear enough and most of all helpful!
:D
If you use any of these solutions PLEASE don’t forget where It came from and give credit to the poor ole sugardad
WM and iPhone platforms are just awesome to experiment and play with!
Keep on Playin’ :p
john on April 9th, 2008 6:52 pm:
a new version of installer can help
Hi, I suffered exactly the same.
I solved the problem after restoring my Ipod thousand times (soil exaggerate) and add all sources, and I mean all, manually, thus my installer left to open and close. With hope this should help …
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BigDaddyK on April 1st, 2008 8:33 am:
Check out iappcat.com. It will make those restores easier to swallow. You can create a list of packages and it will put them into a custom repo. That way you can install the packages you want without having to start by adding all of the installer sources.
To tell you the truth im not sure what the problem is but ill check it out…
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I have also had this happen five times today, I thought it was because I was not near WiFi connection but the last time I was connected to WiFi.
The last apps I installed were iQuran 1.06 and ThemeBuilder 1.0a. The crashing installer started when I opened it and it tried to refresh my sources. I don’t think I did anything special just kept trying to run the installer respring and try again. When I finally got it to work the new featured applications showed up. My iPhone is a 16Gb 1.1.4 jailbroken with ZiPhone 2.6b and I have 62 apps inluding Caterpillar which I suspect everytime something goes wrong with my iPhone. Hope this info helps.
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it happend to me again, I was trying to update deviphone-ES when installer crash… but it get worst. I tried to restart but it dosen’t do it! now I can’t even see my homescreen… what can I do? Pleas help! :S
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Okay this is most likely due to a bad source, and I have a weird fix for it, open up Installer and as it is loading up call your phone and have it interrupt the app, answer the call then hang up from the callers side.
It will be boot up and refresh as usual, then install instafresh which will let you control your refreshing and set it to manual
My advice is uninstall all sources that seem ummmm shady or unknown….
oh if that doesn’t work use finder to go to and delete your remotepackages.plist ……
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I don’t know if this bit of infor might help of not but I had the same problem last nite. I have a jailbroken 8GB 1.1.4 version IPhone. This started happening when I tried to download Guitar Hero. Then, none of my screen buttons would work & Installer kept opening & closing. I did a screen re-set with “Re-Spring” & didn’t finish the install with Guitar Hero.
Don’t know if this might help as I’m a total newb when it comes to the phone & always look 2 u guyz 4 help!
Sorry 2 hear ur having so much trouble.
Happy April Fool’s Day
Cheers,
Mystique
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I had this problem last night too…after adding the source - Danimator’s Repo. Hope it can help.
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its because ziphone downgrades with no chance in upgrade first you need to verginize your phone then rstore. us iliberty next time
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Perhaps try correcting the permissions on Installer.app to 755 plus the setuid bit (allowing execution as root)
chmod 4755 /Applications/Installer.app/Installer
And correct owner and group:
chown root:wheel /Applications/Installer.app/Installer
http://dfbills.com/display/413
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i had that problem, and i replaced the .plist, but i think the problem that caused it was that my bsd subsystem had been corrupted and re-installing it fixed it (ive had this happen more than a few times unfortunately)
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Delete the file RemotePackges.plist not the LocalPackages.plist file!!!!
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Douglas on April 1st, 2008 9:23 am:
Can you explain why? Just trying to understand…
bigboss on April 1st, 2008 6:55 pm:
This is a good step to try. I would try it. It could be corrupted or just too full taking up too much memory. You should consider removing a bunch of sources and thnning the list down to say just Community Sources then delete the RemotePackages.plist. Once you do that load up installer and it will rebuild it. Now you can see if it works. Add sources only as needed rather than having a ton of them. If you want to jump in IRC we can work through this until its working.
The reason your installer app is crashing is do to the RemotePackage.plist file becomes corrupted when to many packages are able to be installed via the installer app. As was mentioned above you can shh into var/mobile/library/Installer on 1.1.3/4 to delete this file which will be replace the next time you refresh the installer app or you can just modify the .plist file to reduce the number of strings it includes.
In addition, I have notice that this app will continuously crash if to many sources are installed, which stems from the number of packages that are made available with all of these sources. If you install ride4.org, ipodhackz, and blaze installer sources on the installer it will almost ensure you app crashes. So choose your sources wisely.
mingraffia@mac.com
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any other advice on what to do. nothing has worked yet. everything being installed has gone about 99% then crashes and proceeds back to the home page.
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bigboss on April 1st, 2008 7:14 pm:
This is a separate issue than what the report above is talking about. It sounds like you may be out of disk space.
Danny Thomson on April 1st, 2008 7:16 pm:
thanks big boss
hi i have the same problem as danny thomson: when i try to instaal a app it returns back to springboard when the installing bar appears and doesn’t install it, but bigboss says he maybe out of disk space , i don’t think thats the problem with me cause i still have 11 gig left and i also deleted a couple of apps and then tried to install but it still crashes maybe someone any advice that could help me? thanks in advance
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Clint on April 5th, 2008 10:41 pm:
Danny Thomas, Manuel Gonzalez
I had the same problem. I started un-installing recent applications. I believe GuitarChords 0.5 caused my problem. I also millionaire, karajan ear trainer as those were the last three I had installed. Since uninstalling I haven’t had a problem.
what happen if i re install installer
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and iu have other problem i install something and know i can t eliminated
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i install someting but i doesn t appear in uninstall
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Everytime I try to update the installer it tells me “Error package download failed!” what do I do, can anyone help?
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i have probleme that starts today, i open installer and then i saw that a new update in genesis4iphone came out !i tryed to update and i have Error package download failed….. and then i try just to install an other app just to check and same thing some one can help me please.
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william shewfelt on April 15th, 2008 11:15 pm:
you may just have a defective source
10 of my installer updates do the same thing urs do but its the source’s fault not urs
just dont update
also u should refresh ur sources
kyle laciera on May 11th, 2008 5:06 pm:
PAUL … I have the exact same problem as you, a couple days ago, i saw a red indication for an Installer update, i clicked for an update, and i believe it didnt go through properly maybe, and ever since ive ben having the same problem..
Installer opens and closes itself
A short storie : i bought a OOTB 1.1.4 iPhone. Ziphoned with 2.5C and used it until an installer error ocurred ( I installed several programs at once and when I return to springboard, my iphone was always kept in a state where it was trying to install something, even after a reset). I searched in forums and only a restore + new unlock process could resolve. Did that using iTunes ( please download the firmware from a known source and then use SHIFT+restore to restore the downloaded firmware; this can save from a 162mB download which finished with an error), plus Ziphone 3.0 and until everything is smooth.
On the other hand, Installer can have particular behaviours : since it needs online access for refresh sources, download packages, show presentation screen, it depends on the availability of sites (watch out ’cause they can be down). If you receive an error message, when you retry or try another instalation, do always a clear queue first (to wipe the package which gave the error).
Watch for the sources you use… main sources are used by many people and a package with errors is rapidly detected.
iPhone world is improving each day and this sometimes means that things can go wrong.
iMatias
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i have this problem too but i think that is caused by instafresh because everytime y install it my iphone start to do this
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this happened to me randomly and i just restart my iphone and it works buts its starting to bug me….
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whoever said to delete remote packages (a lot of people said that) were absolutely correct
it fixed the problem entirely
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Ok im having the exact same problem, installer opens and closes itself after 2 seconds.
I read a couple places that i need to SSH into my iphone, but i dont understand how to do that cuz I believe i need to go to installer first and download OpenSSH, but i cant open up installer so how do i SSH into my phone?
Please let me know. thank you
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Can someone help me.. I have version 1.0.2 on my iphone. The installer is crashing while refreshing resources. This problem started occuring after i upgraded the version of Installer.app to v3.0
What do i do..?
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Hi i have the same probmem too. I use the iphone 1.0.2 and I successfully installed
the installer v03. Since them my iphone installer just opens up and checks for the sources and closes in 2 seconds. Can anyone help please. Since i am an amature user….. Pls try to make it as simple as possible. Will ibricker help?? And how? Thank you for your help in advance:) . A very good day to you all.
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Nelly on July 9th, 2008 9:18 pm:
I have the same problem. Have you found solution?
I am having the same problem. I removed the RemotePackges.plist and it did not help. I changed the permissions and ownership of the Installer app and it will load but it disables any functions and disables functions for every other application.
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hi,
I have firmware 1.1.4 and also had same problem but I had fixed it by deleting “RemotePackage.plist” file which is located at following path “var/mobile/library/Installer” on 1.1.3/4
Thanks for the help
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Where is RemotePackage.plist is this on the iphone? How do you delete, rename it? Is it on the computer?
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deleting “RemotePackage.plist” file which is located at following path “var/mobile/library/Installer” on 1.1.4 itouch
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hi everyone,,,,
I don’t have terminal, or VT100 in my iPhone…. I have SQUID AS FILESYSTEM INSTEAD,
so help me to find this remote package.list In my iphone,,,,,
or is it possible to delete this file thru, squid file manager
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Hi all
My installer crashed today (and yesterday and i had to restore it again).
I tried today again to intall the same thing which made the crush the other day, just to see if thats the main reason.
And of course it hapened again. The problem was caused by installing a big package of sourses (130+) from Shai.
So my recomandation is to not install a bunch of sourses one time. If you wanna do it, do it manually.
Regards,
K
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Kalu on August 4th, 2008 5:05 pm:
deleting “RemotePackage.plist” file from “var/mobile/library/Installer” via WinSCP solved the problem. Now installer opens normally without closing in 2 sec….
Kalu, thanks a lot !
I didn’t find the solution for more than 3 months ! but now by deleting remotepackage.plist my installer.app works again !!!
thank you sooo much !!!
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I have a question…i have the old vesion of the iphone…and everything i open closes down in like 2 sec..i cant even use the phone…whats going on with it…and its an unlocked phone…so what do i do???
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