Freezing and dialogue box requesting restart

Question

in the last month several times my screen freezes{always during the screen saver mode}. some of the time i was downloading a movie but it has happened when the screen saver goes into action approx. 5 minutes before the sleep mode.
then appears a translucent dialogue box in several languages telling me to press and hold the power button for restart.
seems to be connected to the screen saver mode, any suggestions?
thanx
safed

Answer 1

The document at http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=25704 explains that this error results from a missing file (BaseSystem.pkg) is missing from your >library>receipts folder.
That document also suggests it may have been moved, so first off, try and search for it in the Finder's Edit menu 'Find' command. If you locate it elsewhere on the system, move it back to the library/receipts folder. If it's not found on your system, you can copy it from another Mac running a similar version of MacOS (it doesn't have to be exactly the same version). It's about 2Mb in size so it can even be emailed to you from someone who has a suitable copy.
Alternatively, as the document suggests, you can reinstall MacOS from your install disk. Use 'archive and install' to ensure you don't damage your data, and then bring the system back up to date, preferably by downloading the combo updater rather than System Updates.
You may be able to extract a copy of BaseSystem.pkg from your install disk using Pacifist by the way. I've not tried this, but it may be worth a try if you are otherwise facing a reinstall.