My friend has an iMac with Mac OSX Version 10.1.5 and she cannot install anything she has downloaded. She gets the following error when she tries to install. "There is no application available to open this file"

She bought the iMac new and has no computer knwoledge at all. That's why she bought the iMac and she is so upset over not being able to download certain programs to keep up with the Jones.

We can't figure out what the application is she needs and can't get any help from Apple at all.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks

what OS is she running, is there a Linux OS installed,

dont mean to do rude, but more input would be nice..

tt

I almost never used a mac, but most likely what she's looking for is (from a command prompt, as root)
rpm --install <rpmtoinstall>

You may also find a graphical tool under Applications/System administration menu
However, i can't believe apple does not provide assistence!

PS: Is she sure she downloaded the macosx files?
Isn't she trying to run win* binaries? In case she might use wine (www.winehq.org) to run, but that requires a bit of computer knowledge.

I'm just trying to help a friend. She paid $149 for support and all they ever tell her is that she's out of luck. She's not computer literate at all and I have only owned Microsoft pc's. Conserdering all her troubles I'm glad I never bought a mac.

As far as an OS all I know is that her sytsem says she has a iMac with Mac OSX Version 10.1.5. I was told that mac was Linux so that's why I'm here. If I was misinformed sorry. I can easily look else where.

What other input would you like...she can't install anything she downloads and she and people she knows that have iMacs don't know why hers is giving her troubles. She has talked to Apple but they don't help her at all.

I'm trying to get her to get a Dell or Gateway pc.

Thanks for help.

Does she have a decompression ap of any kind installed? I think StuffIt is the most commonly used one. Aladin Expander is another. If she has somthing like that installed, but clicking on a downloaded file won't open it, try opening the decompression program and opening the downloaded file from inside it. It's no different from trying to open a zip file in windows without winzip installed.

The first time she opened a zip file it said she didn't have the newest version of stuffit adn did dhe want to upgrade. She said no and then it wouldn't install. Then after that she kept geting the no application error.

i will have her upgrade her stuffit and try again.

Thanks!

Well, MacOSX is surely based on linux and XFree86, even if I don't think it's 100% compatible with other distros, and for sure it does not run i386 binaries (due to different hardware).
In order to help you (and her) it would be useful to have the address of a file she can't install, so I can at least tell you if it's her or apple's fault. What I need is the actual link to the file, not only the website. For example, for mozilla firebird (ww.mozilla.org) I wold need the following:
http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firebird/...7.1-mac.dmg.gz

I hope I can be useful

She was trying to install java because of a chat problem that required her to upgrade and then we tried to install vnc on it so I could get into her computer and help her figure stuff out. here are the actual links she used.

http://sunsdlc1-7-vhost2.chntva1-dc1...GroupName=5PoE

The mac only had instructions.

http://www.realvnc.com/dist/vnc-3.3.7-x86_linux.tar.gz
http://www.realvnc.com/dist/vnc-3.3.7-x86_linux.tar.Z

Maybe I was giving her the wrong files....macs are not my thing.

What was also weird was I would find her the mac links to download and send her the link, she would get a different page that what the link was I sent.

I've not used Mac OS since 8.6, but I'm pretty sure you can download and automaticly install apple's JRE from the apple site.
Double check that it's not on the OSX install CD as well.

Try this one: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=120242

Thanks, my friends not home, but as soon as she is we will get to work downloading. hope this helps and thanks for all the help. it's hard being halfway across the country from her.

It's a mac. To get it to work you've got to think like a mac user and not like a geek. Before you go poking around in system settings, make sure there isn't a way for the computer to do it automaticly.

Golden rule: if it has a x86, i386, etc in then name, then it's not for mac. It's for intel-386 descendors (pentium and amd family). Mac uses a different processor (used to be a motorola, not sure if it still is). Totally different language. I MIGHT be compatible at source level, but definetly not at binary.
They even represent numbers in a different manner!

However, I find strange that it does not open (open, not install) the .gz files

If you're still interested in vnc, she has to get the server from here:
http://www.realvnc.com/resources.html
while you need the client for your own os

Well, the Stuffit update worked and we got vcn installed, now we have to update Java and hope she can chat.

Thanks so much for all the help. I love to use forums with real software users, you know what you're talking about.

Thanks Again!

Okay, I downloaded the java update you mentioned from Apple and she got a question when she opened it. it aske her something about initializing so mac can read or just comtinue wiht the disk. we just continued, so she opened it again and it said it was not able cause it was being use.

We tried downloading and it said it couldn't download, so I figured it downloaded the first time so she went to the chat room and could get in even though she wasn't being seen as a member in the chat but her screen was grey, so we are getting closer.