Mac OS X 10.7.3 update caused “CUI” errors
Thursday evening just before I went to bed, my MacBook Pro (2009) asked me if I wanted to install the latest updates from Apple. Since I hadn’t had any problems with earlier updates, I decided to install them.
The next morning I went to a local high school to teach PHP and Java. I booted my Mac, cause my Keynote presentations were on it. Immediately I saw that some stuff just wasn’t right. Well, look at the screenshot below and you’ll know what I mean.
All the applications I tried to start crashed immediately, so I decided to search for a solution on my iPhone. Someone suggested to restore the file permissions using Disk Utility, but unfortunately Disk Utility requires some graphic controls, so it crashed. I tried booting in single user mode, but Disk Utility can’t be run in this mode because of some stuff that isn’t loaded when you boot your Mac like that.
Another solution was to reinstall the 10.7.3 combo update. I found out where to download it, the only problem was how to download it. Apparently my MacBook didn’t have a Lion Recovery Mode (holding down the R-key when booting), so I had to wait till I was home and use the Lion Installation DVD I created a while back.
When I finally booted my Mac from this DVD, I choose the option to search for online help (be sure to check your WiFi settings in the upper right corner so you’ll have an internet connection). By choosing this option Safari will start and you’ll be able to go to http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1484 and download the update. Be sure to download it using an alternative mouse click on the button, so you can select where the image will be saved. If you’re booting from USB or DVD the file can’t be saved on this disk, so you need to let your Mac know where to store it (you can use the internal drive).
Once the download is done, press Command + Q to exit Safari and open the Disk Utility to mount the image you’ve downloaded. After that close Disk Utility and open up Terminal. Type in the following and hit the Return-key:
cd /Volumes; ls
Look for the name of the disk you installed OSX on and enter the following command (Replace the last /Volumes/Mac with the name of the disk if necessary. For example, if the name of your disk is Macintosch HD type in /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD):
installer -pkg /Volumes/Mac\ OS\ X\ 10.7.3\ Update\ Combo/MacOSXUpdCombo10.7.3.pkg -target /Volumes/Mac
Wait for a while (it took about 20 minutes on my MacBook I believe) until the console states that the upgrade was successful. Next reboot your system and enjoy Mac OS X again!
PS: Thanks to super hans on osxdaily.com for that last part!
