Final Cut Studio 3

[bw38]

So I’m creating a package of Final Cut Studio 3 using Composer 7.2. The package was created on a bare image which included all the updates I expect to put into it. It’s gone pretty good for the most part except I’ve noticed something rather strange when the image is created. When I use the package in InstaDMG, I log into the admin account (which was created using CreateUser.pkg) and I notice in the Admin account folder all sub-folders are missing. I’m talking about the Desktop, Music, Pictures, etc folders. I’ve tested this by opening the dmg created by InstaDMG. The odd thing is that when I boot into the image, it will then create the Desktop folder. This seems to affect the Dock as well. The standard alias on the far right side which point to the Documents and Downloads folder are suddenly question marks (clearly because it can’t find the Documents/Downloads folder). This is a stark difference from the environment that was used to create the image.

I thought originally maybe there was something wrong with the other packages I was using, but when I leave out FCS, the image seems to work fine. When I include FCS3, these oddities start to appear with the aliases and the missing folders.

And lastly, when I used Composer to create the Final Cut Studio package, I made sure to include the two updates that came up in Software Update. However once the FCS package is included in the image, I notice that I am prompted to install the ProKit Update 6.0.1 which doesn’t make sense since I included it in the FCS package I created.

Any ideas on what could be causing this?

What a nightmare it is to package it. I can only test once a day to see if this works because the software itself is like 46GB packaged up. I’m not sure what else to do at this point.

[dead2sin]

In the FCS3 Package, does it have a /Users folder? I delete all /Users folders from my composer packages except of a program puts stuff into /Users/Shared (that is ok). As far as the updates are concerned, that is rather interesting. Try to make sure FCS3 gets installed last and see if that changed anything.

Nate

[tristan_mason]

I have had the same results with the missing folders but not with FCS3. I do get the same result with the update though. I can’t work out why. I am using composer too to package FCS3. Despite Composer making a nice looking package for it I too am having troubles getting it to play nice. I’ll be back in the office tomorrow and will dig out more info for you.

Tristan

[tristan_mason]

[QUOTE][u]Quote by: dead2sin[/u][p]In the FCS3 Package, does it have a /Users folder? I delete all /Users folders from my composer packages except of a program puts stuff into /Users/Shared (that is ok).

Nate[/p][/QUOTE]

Do you delete any user folder stuff as a matter of course for all your pgk’s created with Composer? I have created quite a few for various apps and have had the same issue as described here (the missing folders). I was not sure why it was happening but soldiered on. At present with my build train nearly complete I am only missing the “Sites” and “Public” folders (it has been as bad as only the “Library” folder appearing) so I wasn’t really stressing about it too much but now i’m looking at going back through all the pgk’s and re-creating them minus any “User” content and seeing if this will resolve the issue. It’s just a lot of work, sigh but it now “feels” like the right thing to do in the interests of getting things right.

Cheers

Tristan

[bw38]

I do leave the /Users folder checked on. If I recall correctly, someone once explained to me that when copying over a folder (replacing a folder), OS X will not merge the contents, it will literally get rid of the original folder and replace it with the folder you are copying over it. So that would make someone sense as to why this is occurring. An empty /Users folder is replacing the original /Users folder hence nothing appears in that folder before boot. Some folders may appear upon boot like the Desktop folder, but that’s because certain programs re-create it.

I could be off here though. In any case, I’m going to give it a try tomorrow at work.

[dead2sin]

Making a package with files in /Users/ is sloppy unless they are in /Users/Shared. Adobe likes to put stuff in Shared, which is perfectly. Never ever leave files in a package that were placed in the local admin account of the machine you build the package on.

If software is registered via files placed in the account that was logged in at build time, generally speaking you can place just the registration files (determined by rigorous testing) into the User Template. This way, all users get the necessary registration files, but none of the other crap that might of gotten captured using Composer.

When building packages using Composer, the #1 priority is to make sure you have only the files you need. It is very easy to gather crap using a snapshot to build a package. I tend to go through several waves of tests to make sure I only have the files I need. If you get junk files in your Package, then building images using the modular style is no better then the Golden Master style of building images.

Sorry about the rant 😀 I spent several months learning how to build clean images with composer + instaDMG and while it was tedious when I was first getting my feet wet, it is now really easy for me to spot junk files that are not needed. It is really important to be careful about what you let on your images. Having stuff on there that shouldn’t be there can lead to some REALLY weird problems (I’ve had more then my fair share, it is not fun).

If I get some time, I can post a list of the major folders that are present in my FCS3 Package. Perhaps monday I can do so (if I can remember to…)

Nate

[tristan_mason]

[QUOTE][u]Quote by: dead2sin[/u][p]

Sorry about the rant 😀 I spent several months learning how to build clean images with composer + instaDMG and while it was tedious when I was first getting my feet wet, it is now really easy for me to spot junk files that are not needed. It is really important to be careful about what you let on your images. Having stuff on there that shouldn’t be there can lead to some REALLY weird problems (I’ve had more then my fair share, it is not fun).

Nate[/p][/QUOTE]

No need to apologise Nate, it’s all important stuff to me and helps me move right along with the whole instadmg process. I’m a Composer virgin so any tips on using it are greatly appreciated. Does this apply to the packages made with the Diff files or are they “clean” and free from this issue? I ask as I have used packages from these Diff files and now wondering… are they that good?

My image so far still has the missing folders “sites” and “public” in the user account that gets generated. I’m really not suer what’s going on with it. All the software apps work as expected but something is wrong. I’m going to go back and check all my Composer and Package Maker packages now and see how much and if there is any user cruft to remove. I’m hoping that’ll solve it.

Cheers

Tristan

[dead2sin]

As far as I know, the diff file generated packages *should* be clean, as they will only grab necessary files (which should leave out user specific files). I’ve honestly not used the diff packages because I always forget about them, but I’d imagine they are cleaner then anything I could come up with on my own (I find human error is the biggest problem with making images). If I could script everything to make perfect packages, I would

The biggest thing I would look for if you are going over all your packages is #1 /Users/user files and #2 system files that are just records of you authenticating, connecting to file servers, etc during the build process. I have those files show up in my builds all the time and I do my best to get rid of them. Many times they are outside of the main 5 folders and in places such at /etc/authorization and other places that are normally hidden to the end user. You must be careful though because many times apps will stash stuff in /usr/bin and other hidden folders, so be sure about whatever it is that you are deleting.

Worst case scenario, you delete too little and have to go back and remove a few more files from the packages. I’ve gotten a feel for which files are part of the major packages I have to custom roll (such as FCS3 and Avid) and over time you’ll get a feel for it as well. Make sure once you get it down you document it well…I’ve neglected to document how to package some stuff and when I went back to pack it, spent just as much time as I did the first time around. It sucked pretty bad.

Let me know how it goes for you all. FCS3 is big and has a lot of files, but I found it to be a lot less demanding then repacking CS4 (Not using the diffs…)

Nate

[tristan_mason]

I’m re-doing all my Composer generated pgks and making sure they are cruft free. I’ll report back when i’m done and let you know of this solved the missing folders issue. As I stated in another post MS Office 2011 only works when I place the Plist files in the created user folder not the template so i’m hoping this will take care of that issue as well.

Regards

Tris

[tristan_mason]

I’m thinking I should start a new thread… anyhow,

I’ve just made a pgk for CS5 with Composer and it’s diff file for CS5 and it has a bunch of support stuff in the Users/Admin and it does look like a lot of it is needed. Application Support stuff etc etc. I get the very strong feeling that if I was to delete it the suite would collapse. I do know that it works when I put it in the build train but I haven’t established if it is the package that is causing my lost folders in the user accounts. I should know by the days end however. It’s the old process of elimination trick today.

Cheers

Tristan

[dead2sin]

[QUOTE][u]Quote by: tristan_mason[/u][p]I’m thinking I should start a new thread… anyhow,

I’ve just made a pgk for CS5 with Composer and it’s diff file for CS5 and it has a bunch of support stuff in the Users/Admin and it does look like a lot of it is needed. Application Support stuff etc etc. I get the very strong feeling that if I was to delete it the suite would collapse. I do know that it works when I put it in the build train but I haven’t established if it is the package that is causing my lost folders in the user accounts. I should know by the days end however. It’s the old process of elimination trick today.

Cheers

Tristan[/p][/QUOTE]

Not the case. Anything in a user folder will NOT be make or break for the software itself. If it is in a user folder, it can go in the user template. Any files for Office 2011 settings can go in user template as well. Think about it this way, when you are logged in as a user other then admin, they have access to denied to all the admin files, so how could those be necessary for it to work? If they ARE necessary, the place they need to go is User Template, otherwise it simply won’t work for anyone other then the admin user.

Nate

[tristan_mason]

I threw caution to wind and made a CS5 pgk without all those files and it worked fine. It’s just a few settings that didn’t translate but as you point out here they can be placed in the user template which I must now get working correctly. I’m slowly working my way through my catalog line by line to find out which line is causing the issues with the account setup and the missing folders but i’ve established it’s not CS5! I’m at the same time re-doing the Composer packages to remove the user stuff. Busy busy.

BTW I really am grateful for all the help.

Cheers

Tristan

[tristan_mason]

Ok. after a little work i’ve discovered it as my (well the Composer pkg actually) Firefox installer that has been removing the folders… I’m just double checking this now. I used Composer and it’s Firefox preset to do a firefox pgk. I’ll make a new one minus any User folder cruft.

Thanks for all the help with this.

Cheers

Tris

[bw38]

You don’t necessarily have to package FireFox unless you’re looking to customize it. The DMG that contains FireFox will be accepted by instadmg. It already knows what to do with it.

[tristan_mason]

[QUOTE][u]Quote by: bw38[/u][p]You don’t necessarily have to package FireFox unless you’re looking to customize it. The DMG that contains FireFox will be accepted by instadmg. It already knows what to do with it.[/p][/QUOTE]

Yeah. I was having a custom home page set but i’ll just do the standard instal I think in the interests of a clean image. I’m working my way through the other bits of the catalog now to make sure nothing else was doing the same thing further down the line. Tedious but a requirement. I’m kinda getting the hang of things now after a solid months trial and error and am actually getting close to a decent final product.

Tris

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