[R-SIG-Mac] Several R installation issues

[Herve Pages]

(Sorry in advance for the long story.)


Hi everybody,


I've run into several issues while trying to install different
versions of R on my Mac OS X 10.4.6 (Power PC) system.

I need to have both R-2.2.1 and R-2.3.0 on this machine.
I already have R-2.3.0 installed (I've installed the full R-2.3.0-mini.dmg):

  dhcp157137:~ compbio$ ls -al /Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/
  total 24
  drwxrwxr-x   7 root  admin  238 May 16 17:46 .
  drwxrwxr-x   7 root  admin  238 May 16 17:45 ..
  lrwxr-xr-x   1 root  admin    5 Sep 16  2005 2.1 -> 2.1.1
  lrwxr-xr-x   1 root  admin    5 Sep 16  2005 2.1.0 -> 2.1.1
  drwxrwxr-x   3 root  admin  102 May 16 17:45 2.1.1
  drwxrwxr-x   6 root  admin  204 Apr 24 10:03 2.3
  lrwxr-xr-x   1 root  admin    3 May 16 17:46 Current -> 2.3

I've tried to install R-2.2.1 by using R-Framework-ppc.pkg included
in R-2.2.1-universal.dmg and got the following (problem A):

  You cannot install R Framework on this volume. This R-framework requires
  Mac OS X 10.3.9 or higher. Please update your OS or visit CRAN to check
  whether there is an older R version available for your OS.

Strange! As I said, I've Mac OS X 10.4.6.

Then I've tried to install R-2.2.1 by using R-Framework.pkg included
in powerpc/R-2.2.1.dmg:
  - I didn't have problem A anymore  :-) 
  - I was warned that "Installing this software will replace the newer version
    with an older version" which is OK.
  - I choosed "Continue" but then I got (problem B):
      You cannot continue. There is nothing to install.
     :-( 

So apparently, one _must_ use R.mpkg (either from R-2.2.1-universal.dmg
or powerpc/R-2.2.1.dmg) in order to succeed. 

BTW I've noted some small inconsistencies between installing from R-2.2.1-universal.dmg
versus installing from powerpc/R-2.2.1.dmg (in both case with R.mpkg):
  - The former doesn't warn me that I'm going to replace a newer version
    with an older one.
  - With the former I need to go in Customize in order to select the packages
    I want to install (they are all selected by default). With the latter,
    the list of choices is automatically shown to me (but nothing is selected
    by default).

After installing from powerpc/R-2.2.1.dmg, I was surprised that R 2.3.0
was _really_ removed:

  dhcp157137:/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions compbio$ ls -al
  total 24
  drwxrwxr-x   7 root  admin  238 May 18 19:55 .
  drwxrwxr-x   7 root  admin  238 May 18 19:55 ..
  lrwxr-xr-x   1 root  admin    5 Sep 16  2005 2.1 -> 2.1.1
  lrwxr-xr-x   1 root  admin    5 Sep 16  2005 2.1.0 -> 2.1.1
  drwxrwxr-x   3 root  admin  102 May 16 17:45 2.1.1
  drwxrwxr-x   6 root  admin  204 Dec 20 06:37 2.2
  lrwxr-xr-x   1 root  admin    3 May 18 19:55 Current -> 2.2

I know I was warned  ;-)  but I was expecting to have the "Current" symlink
changed only, not the 2.3 dir removed.

And if I reinstall R 2.3.0, then R 2.2.1 gets removed too :-/

No wait, not if R 2.2.1 was installed from R-2.2.1-universal.dmg !

(... a few minutes later ...)

Ughh, here is what I found: R-2.2.1-universal.dmg and R-2.3.0-mini.dmg
will friendly coexist under /Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions.
But not powerpc/R-2.2.1.dmg and R-2.3.0-mini.dmg: in this case the last
installed will remove the other.
Also note that R 2.1.1 is _not_ removed when I install R-2.2.1-universal.dmg,
powerpc/R-2.2.1.dmg or R-2.3.0-mini.dmg. I must say that I'm a bit confused...

Once I've finally managed to have both R 2.2.1 and R 2.3.0 installed,
I run into one more problem:

  dhcp157137:/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions compbio$ ls -al
  total 24
  drwxrwxr-x   8 root  admin  272 May 18 20:48 .
  drwxrwxr-x   7 root  admin  238 May 18 20:47 ..
  lrwxr-xr-x   1 root  admin    5 Sep 16  2005 2.1 -> 2.1.1
  lrwxr-xr-x   1 root  admin    5 Sep 16  2005 2.1.0 -> 2.1.1
  drwxrwxr-x   3 root  admin  102 May 16 17:45 2.1.1
  drwxrwxr-x   6 root  admin  204 Dec 20 06:37 2.2
  drwxrwxr-x   6 root  admin  204 Apr 24 10:03 2.3
  lrwxr-xr-x   1 root  admin    3 May 18 20:48 Current -> 2.2
  dhcp157137:/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions compbio$ 2.3/Resources/bin/R
  2.3/Resources/bin/R: line 166: /Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Resources/etc/ppc/ldpaths: No such file or directory

I know I could just change the "Current" symlink everytime I need
to switch between my 2 versions of R but, of course, I'd like not
to have to do that.

Any help would be highly appreciated.

Thanks,

Herve

-- 
------------------------
Hervé Pagès
E-mail: hpages at fhcrc.org
 Phone: (206) 667-5791
   Fax: (206) 667-1319