Cannot install mpg2enc

[kohlenklau]

My error message is as follows:

##sudo: mkdir: command not found

I run OS X 10.6.2. My system password is set and accepted during the installation routine (the error message doesn't show up when I enter a wrong password).

I assume there is a problem concerning the installation path. Can anyone help me, please?

[Case]

Strange one, that I do not recall mentioning before. I would think that every Mac with OS X would understand the CLI commands "sudo" and "mkdir".

1/ Did you perhaps do a custom install of Mac OS X without the BSD subsystem?
2/ If you install mplayer and mencoder only (skip mpeg2enc for now), then do you then still get the error? If not, then Quit and re-launch and try installing mpeg2enc then.
3/ In Terminal, try entering the command

sudo mkdir ~/Desktop/some\ folder

This will try to create a folder called "some folder" on your desktop. This should test the commands that seem to generate the error mentioned.

[kohlenklau]

Thank you for your help.

1/ I did not actually install the OS, as the MBP came with it. I upgraded it. I guess BSD subsystem is installed, but I wouldn't know how to make sure.
2/ I tried every single one by itself (with restarts of ffmpegx in between). Same error every time.
3/ The command worked and did what it was supposed to, my "mkdir" command works.

[kohlenklau]

Is there a way for manual installation of the three binaries? Maybe using terminal can solve my problem.

[Case]

Does your user account have Administrator privileges? ffmpegX wants that.
(If your Mac has just one user account, then the answer is always "yes", as at least one account should have admin privs.)
You can check in System Preferences > System > Accounts. It should have "Admin" next to/under the account name, and "Standard" with other accounts.

[Case]

Is there a way for manual installation of the three binaries? Maybe using terminal can solve my problem.

The installer does a few more things than just installing the binaries, and I have only been able to figure out a few of those, as the install script is compiled code and not human readable.
- The installer will copy the binaries to Macintosh HD/Library/Application Support/ffmpegX/
I suppose it will use 'mkdir' to create that last folder 'ffmpegX' if it isn't already present. Permissions should be read/write to all, with owner 'system' and group 'admin'.
- The installer will mark the copied binaries as "Unix executable" files, regardless of their previous state.
- The installer will name the copies as 'mpeg2enc', 'mencoder' and 'mplayer', regardless of the filenames you pointed to with the Locate buttons.
- The installer will install more stuff in that folder Macintosh HD/Library/Application Support/ffmpegX/
- The installer will install the subtitle fonts into an invisible folder ".spumux" in your Home directory.
No idea what else it does.
The installer will need to install/overwrite at least one binary to also do its other tasks.

[kohlenklau]

Thank you again for your comments.

Admin: There shouldn't be a problem there. I always log in as admin, in fact there aren't any other profiles on my system.

I tried to create the folder manually (enabling all the rights for everyone) - didn't change a thing. I also tried copying the files in there myself - which didn't work (not a big surprise there).

Is there a possibility to remove my installation completely and start over?

[Case]

Is there a possibility to remove my installation completely and start over?

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/195943-Installation-Uninstallation-instructions

[kohlenklau]

Didn't change anything. Still same error.

Can anyone tell me the installation script ffmpegX uses to install the binaries? What directories does it create with the mkdir command? (root/Application Support/ffmpegX does already exist, so it shouldn't return ##sudo: mkdir: command not found, should it?)

[jonmdickinson]

I had this error recently, and resolved the issue by:

1. Opening terminal
2. Going to the MacOS folder within the app: cd /Applications/ffmpegX.app/Contents/MacOS
3. Running ffmpegX from terminal

Hope this helps someone else who gets stuck.

Jon

[digger69]

Can any Mac OSx experts suggest why running the installation from Finder would have a different path that terminal - or more specifically, why wouldn't running it from finder find mkdir in /bin ? I had a similar issue with an OSx installer for synergykm. I was able to run the installer from terminal, but not from finder. When I cat /etc/paths I see /bin listed.

I appreciate any help for an OSx newb.