I'm not sure I understand what's happening when I download Java. It appears to install it as a disk drive on the desktop that disappears when I eject it. I have no idea what this means... but I can't figure out how to just get Java to operate as an application.
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Installing Java
- Thread starter DanielJ
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? Java isn't an application. It's a programming language/runtime environement. Other applications are written in Java and depend on it...
It should already be installed. Which OS version are you using? If you open Applications->Utilities->Terminal and type in:
then hit return, what shows up?
Code:
java -versionThanks, both of you, for your help... I appreciate it. Forgive me for being such an ignoramus - I just turned on my new iBook for the first time last night. 
Still learning a lot, of course...
Well, what happened was I tried to open a Realplayer video (Realplayer already installed) and a dialogue box came up saying that I needed a Java component and that it couldn't be downloaded. So, I went to Apple and downloaded Java myself... After that, the Realplayer videos worked (I tried removing what I downloaded from the desktop and after that they would not play). So, now I have this "disk" on the desktop...
I ran what you asked, jsw, and this is what came up:
Java(TM) 2 Runtime Environment, Standard Edition (build 1.4.2_09-232)
Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 1.4.2-54, mixed mode)
I'm also running whatever is the latest version of Mac OS X.
Still learning a lot, of course...
Well, what happened was I tried to open a Realplayer video (Realplayer already installed) and a dialogue box came up saying that I needed a Java component and that it couldn't be downloaded. So, I went to Apple and downloaded Java myself... After that, the Realplayer videos worked (I tried removing what I downloaded from the desktop and after that they would not play). So, now I have this "disk" on the desktop...
I ran what you asked, jsw, and this is what came up:
Java(TM) 2 Runtime Environment, Standard Edition (build 1.4.2_09-232)
Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 1.4.2-54, mixed mode)
I'm also running whatever is the latest version of Mac OS X.
DanielJ said:
Did you get this from Apple? That's not the current version of Java... Java 5 is preferred now, so the build should be 1.5.0_06....
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/194768/
I guess it could be, though, that if you have a *very* recent Mac, it only came wth Java 5, and this application is requesting the older version of Java (a Java application can request to be run on a previous Java version). And you didn't have 1.4.2, and so the OS couldn't accommodate the request...but that's strange. I'd think Macs are being shipped with both 1.4.x and 1.5.x right now....
Actually, RealPlayer might prefer the 1.4 version for the plugin.
Anyway, if all you want to do is remove the "disk" from the desktop, just select it and hit ⌘-E to eject it (or File->Eject "whatever") and it'll go away. I'm assuming that you dragged something off the disk image... I don't think just opening the *.dmg (disk image file) and then seeing the resulting "disk" would have allowed RP to see what it needed to see, so you installed something or moved files off that disk, right?
Anyway, if all you want to do is remove the "disk" from the desktop, just select it and hit ⌘-E to eject it (or File->Eject "whatever") and it'll go away. I'm assuming that you dragged something off the disk image... I don't think just opening the *.dmg (disk image file) and then seeing the resulting "disk" would have allowed RP to see what it needed to see, so you installed something or moved files off that disk, right?