[Macpartners] Security Update 2005-007 breaks 64-bit applications

[Albert Willis]

If you're using Mathematica 5.2 and Mac OS X 10.4.2 on a G5-based Mac  
and you installed Security 2005-007, Mathematica (and other 64-bit  
applications) no longer run. Read the note below for details on a  
workaround.


** Important notification for users of G5 Macintosh systems running  
OS X 10.4 **

At approximately 8 p.m. PDT on Monday, August 15, Apple began
automatic distribution of Apple Security Update 2005-007 for Mac
OS X 10.4.2 (Tiger).

Due to an error on the part of Apple, this update prevents any
64-bit-native application from running. In particular, this means
that Mathematica 5.2 will not run on any G5 system if it has
installed this Security Update.

This problem was discovered by our testing procedures a few hours
ago, and Apple has now assured us that they have stopped
automatic distribution of Security Update 2005-007 at this time.

If you did not install Security Update 2005-007, then you will
not be affected. If your Mathematica 5.2 successfully launches
and performs any computation (such as 2+2), then this also means
that you have not been affected.

If you have been affected, then Mathematica 5.2 will generate a
MathLink error when you try to do any computation with it. (If
you run MathKernel directly from the command line, it will crash
at startup.)

Apple has informed us that there is no workaround for this
problem.

Apple is investigating the problem at high priority, and intends
to distribute a new Security Update in the very near future. This
update will correct the problem and allow Mathematica to run
successfully.

To run Mathematica 5.2 today, you must temporarily disable its
64-bit capabilities. You can do this by running the following
commands in the Terminal:

cd /Applications/Mathematica\ 5.2.app/Contents/MacOS
cp MathKernel MathKernel.bak
lipo MathKernel.bak -remove ppc64 -output MathKernel

If you are unable to run the script above, an alternative is to
use an earlier version of Mathematica. The problem with Apple
Security Update 2005-007 affects only 64-bit applications;
Mathematica 5.2 is the first 64-bit-native version of
Mathematica.

Note that when Apple has made the corrected Security Update
available, and you have installed it, you must reverse the
procedure above by running the following commands:

cd /Applications/Mathematica\ 5.2.app/Contents/MacOS
mv MathKernel.bak MathKernel

If you do not do run these commands, Mathematica will not operate
in optimized native 64-bit mode.


We regret the inconvenience caused by this problem, and hope that
as soon as Apple has corrected the problem you will continue to
enjoy the outstanding performance of Mathematica on 64-bit
Macintosh systems.

Sincerely,

The Technical Support Team
Wolfram Research, Inc.

P.S. Should you require further technical support for this problem,
Apple has informed us that you should contact them through
http://www.apple.com/contact/phone_contacts.html



______________________________
Albert Willis
Macintosh Platform Coordinator - Software Release Team
Information Services and Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
awillis at mit.edu


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