R2011b iMAC64 mex files not compiling

I have exactly the situation described in http://www.mathworks.co.uk/support/solutions/en/data/1-FR6LXJ/

I have Matlab R2011b on a Maci64 and Xcode version 4.2.1.

When I try to run `mex (file name).c' I receive the error

/Applications/MATLAB_R2011b.app/bin/mex: line 305: gcc-4.2: command not found

I follow the instructions in the above link exactly. I download the patch and type

>> cd (matlabroot)
>> !unzip -o ~/Downloads/Xcode42_MATLAB11b.patch

BUT I receive the following result:

Archive:  /Users/matt/Downloads/Xcode42_MATLAB11b.patch
error:  cannot delete old bin/engopts.sh
error:  cannot delete old bin/matopts.sh
error:  cannot delete old bin/mbuildopts.sh
checkdir error:  cannot create __MACOSX
                 unable to process __MACOSX/.
checkdir error:  cannot create __MACOSX
                 unable to process __MACOSX/bin/.
checkdir error:  cannot create __MACOSX
                 unable to process __MACOSX/bin/._mbuildopts.sh.
error:  cannot delete old bin/mexopts.sh
checkdir error:  cannot create __MACOSX
                 unable to process __MACOSX/bin/._mexopts.sh.

And when I run mex -setup nothing as changed. I do not understand the above result and do not know what to do next. Please advise.

Thanks.

[Friedrich]

Seems like you have missing privileges on that machine (you are not allowed to delete files and create folders). As long the unzipping doesn’t work, you don’t need to try running mex -setup.

Answer 1

[Ken Atwell]

It looks like your computer has relatively tight privileges on it. Is this a personal Mac, or a computer maintained by others.

1. If it is your own Mac, you can (temporarily) open up the privilege on your "matt" account. In System Preferences, go to "Users & Group". From there, choose the "matt" account and check the box "Allow user to administer this computer". Then try unzipping as above. Does that do the trick?
2. If your Mac is administrated by someone else, you will need their help to do this -- sorry.

[Matthew]

Hi Ken.

Thanks for the advice, I got someone to loosen my privileges and I was able to unzip the patch and now "mex yprime.c" works fine. Unfortunately, when I try to compile some older .c files I get:

mex: (file name).c not a normal file or does not exist.

Are R2011b mex files slightly different to older ones? (For example an old version of 'yprime.c' I found does not compile at all), and is there a guide for the changes that .c files require to become acceptable R2011b mex files?

[Matthew]

For example

>> mex yprime_old.c

Undefined symbols for architecture x86_64:

"_YPRIME", referenced from:

_mexFunction in yprime_old.o

ld: symbol(s) not found for architecture x86_64

collect2: ld returned 1 exit status

mex: link of ' "yprime_old.mexmaci64"' failed.

[Ken Atwell]

I would need to see this older version of yprime.c to troubleshoot this. It is curious that _YPRIME is in ALL CAPS, I would expect lower-case _yprime. Could there be a case mismatching within the older file?

There is nothing that has changed in recent years that would (obviously) trigger the failure you are seeing.