timz blog

Friday, January 20 2006 @ 07:55 AM PST
Stripping Universal Binaries of Intel code -- a potential
troubleshooting procedure for PowerPC Macs

It seems that the presence of Intel code in Universal binaries can cause
some troubleshooting issues. For instance, a problem we've been covering
where the presence of iTunes 6.0.2 causes Disk Utility to be unable to
run can be solved by *stripping the application of its Intel-based code*.

This workaround may be especially applicable for Mac OS X 10.3.9 systems.

A new application called TrimTheFat
<http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/28882> is is a
simple, silent drop-launch utility to strip the code for the
architecture(s) you're not using from a Universal application

Meanwhile, MacFixIt reader Frank Kittie offers a terminal based series
of commands, with iTunes as the example application:

* sudo ditto --rsrc /Applications/iTunes.app /tmp/iTunes.app
* sudo rm -rf /Applications/iTunes.app
* sudo ditto --arch ppc --rsrc /tmp/iTunes.app /Applications/iTunes.app
* sudo rm -rf /tmp/iTunes.app

Frank writes:

"This should replace the iTunes application with a copy of itself, the
copy containing only PowerPC code. The "--arch ppc" strips all code for
other architectures.

"For me the resulting application ran fine (in a quick cursory test) and
a repair permissions no longer gave me the 'Disk Utility lost connection
with Disk Management Tool and cannot continue.'