Re: Problems Installing/Running Octave on Mac OS X 10.6.8

[Ben Abbott]

On Mar 7, 2012, at 10:20 PM, Paul Sims wrote:

> On Mar 7, 2012, at 7:18 PM, Ben Abbott wrote:
> 
>> On Mar 7, 2012, at 8:41 PM, Paul Sims <address@hidden> wrote:
>> 
>>> On Mar 7, 2012, at 10:37 AM, Ben Abbott wrote:
>>> 
>>>> On Mar 7, 2012, at 2:13 AM, Paul Sims wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>> Hi all,
>>>>> 
>>>>> I'm having some trouble getting Octave to run on my mac, version 10.6.8. 
>>>>> I followed the octave wiki instructions here:
>>>>> 
>>>>> http://www.octave.org/wiki/index.php?title=Installing_MacOS_X_Bundle
>>>>> 
>>>>> and got all the files (Octave, GnuPlot, and Aquaterm) into my 
>>>>> applications folder. I then opened Octave, got the start up message with 
>>>>> copyright, and entered the first line of code per the instructions from 
>>>>> the wiki section: Running Octave and Gnuplot from a Terminal
>>>>> 
>>>>> • sudo touch /usr/local/bin/gnuplot
>>>>> 
>>>>> However, I got a message asking for confirmation since this could change 
>>>>> my settings, which I said yes to and now I can't use Octave. All I got 
>>>>> was a request for a password which I didn't know. When I click on Octave 
>>>>> now I get my terminal screen, but with no recognition of Octave, no set 
>>>>> up screen, etc. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling octave to no avail. 
>>>>> 
>>>>> Any ideas on what I did wrong and what I can do to fix it would be 
>>>>> GREATLY appreciated. 
>>>>> 
>>>>> Thanks in advance!
>>>>> 
>>>>> - Paul 
>>>> 
>>>> The instructions below are only needed if you want to start Octave from a 
>>>> Terminal's command line.
>>>> 
>>>> http://www.octave.org/wiki/index.php?title=Installing_MacOS_X_Bundle#Running_Octave_and_Gnuplot_from_a_Terminal
>>>> 
>>>> If that is what you want, did you follow all the instructions ?
>>>> 
>>>> What does "with no recognition of Octave" mean ?
>>>> 
>>>> Why do you expect a setup screen ?
>>>> 
>>>> If all you want to do is run Octave you just double-click on the App and 
>>>> Octave will be run in a Terminal window and begin by displaying the text 
>>>> below.
>>>> 
>>>> -------------------------------
>>>> GNU Octave, version 3.4.0
>>>> Copyright (C) 2011 John W. Eaton and others.
>>>> This is free software; see the source code for copying conditions.
>>>> There is ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or
>>>> FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  For details, type `warranty'.
>>>> 
>>>> Octave was configured for "x86_64-apple-darwin10.7.3".
>>>> 
>>>> Additional information about Octave is available at http://www.octave.org.
>>>> 
>>>> Please contribute if you find this software useful.
>>>> For more information, visit http://www.octave.org/help-wanted.html
>>>> 
>>>> Read http://www.octave.org/bugs.html to learn how to submit bug reports.
>>>> 
>>>> For information about changes from previous versions, type `news'.
>>>> -------------------------------
>>>> 
>>>> Ben
>>> 
>>> Well shoot, now I feel quite foolish for trying to start from the terminal 
>>> screen but unfortunately I'm still having problems just trying to start 
>>> octave.
>>> 
>>> I only copied the first line of code in, hit return, before it asked for a 
>>> password, which I didn't have. I tried typing but nothing was happening so 
>>> I quit the program. When I start Octave now it loads the terminal screen 
>>> and octave in the dock but the octave icon then disappears from the dock 
>>> and I get the following message on my terminal screen: exec 
>>> '/Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/bin/octave'. The heading on my 
>>> terminal screen reads: "Terminal - login - 80 x 24". 
>>> 
>>> When I say with "no recognition of Octave", I mean that I get a heading on 
>>> my terminal screen that reads "Terminal - login - 80 x 24" instead of the 
>>> initial one that says "Octave etc. etc. etc.". As to a setup screen, I 
>>> meant I was expecting the intro paragraph that usually shows up
>>> 
>>> At this point, I'd just like to run the program...
>>> 
>>> Thanks!
>> 
>> Can you tell us what shows up *in* the Terminal ?
>> 
>> Ben
> 
> When I click on my Octave icon, it opens terminal with the following message: 
> exec '/Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/bin/octave'
> 
> Paul 

That is what it should do. What happens after that ?

If nothing, what happens if you open a terminal window and type ...

        $ ls -l /Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/bin/octave

        $ cat /Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/bin/octave

Ben