# Unable to install old gems **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby\ **Created:** [September 28, 2008, 2:54pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/unable-to-install-old-gems/149700 "2008-09-28T14:54:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mitkok](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@mitkok](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/mitkok)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 2:54pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/unable-to-install-old-gems/149700/1 "2008-09-28T14:54:39Z")
Hi, guys. Today I preinstalled Mac OS X and want to get rid of the old rails gems, but it gives me an error : [quote]bash-3.2# gem uninstall activesupport ERROR: While executing gem … (Gem::InstallError) Unknown gem activesupport \>= 0[/quote] But the gem is installed : [quote]bash-3.2# gem list --local \*\*\* LOCAL GEMS \*\*\* actionmailer (1.3.6, 1.3.3) actionpack (1.13.6, 1.13.3) actionwebservice (1.2.6, 1.2.3) activerecord (1.15.6, 1.15.3) activesupport (1.4.4, 1.4.2) acts\_as\_ferret (0.4.1) capistrano (2.0.0) cgi\_multipart\_eof\_fix (2.5.0, 2.2) daemons (1.0.9, 1.0.7) dnssd (0.6.0) fastthread (1.0.1, 1.0) fcgi (0.8.7) ferret (0.11.4) gem\_plugin (0.2.3, 0.2.2) highline (1.2.9) hpricot (0.6) libxml-ruby (0.3.8.4) mongrel (1.1.4, 1.0.1) needle (1.3.0) net-sftp (1.1.0) net-ssh (1.1.2) rails (1.2.6, 1.2.3) rake (0.7.3) RedCloth (3.0.4) ruby-openid (1.1.4) ruby-yadis (0.3.4) rubygems-update (1.3.0) rubynode (0.1.3) sources (0.0.1) sqlite3-ruby (1.2.1) termios (0.9.4)[/quote] I remember , that once I tried uninstall them before, I had to put the full path to the gem. May be it will work if I specify the full path to the gems, but I don’t know it. Thanks in advance, Mitko K… PS: I really didn’t know where to post, so excuse me if I put it in the wrong forum. ---
**Author:** ![mitkok](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@mitkok](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/mitkok)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 8:50pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/unable-to-install-old-gems/149700/2 "2008-10-01T20:50:53Z")
On Sep 28, 2008, at 05:54 AM, Mitko K. wrote: > […] > > I remember , that once I tried uninstall them before, I had to put the > full path to the gem. > May be it will work if I specify the full path to the gems, but I > don’t > know it. What version of RubyGems? ---
**Author:** ![mitkok](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@mitkok](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/mitkok)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 8:36am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/unable-to-install-old-gems/149700/3 "2008-10-02T08:36:16Z")
I found a solution, really silly though. bash$ gem list -d bash$ sudo gem uninstall --install-dir /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8 ---
**Author:** ![mitkok](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@mitkok](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/mitkok)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 7:56pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/unable-to-install-old-gems/149700/4 "2008-10-02T19:56:48Z")
On Oct 1, 2008, at 23:35 , Mitko K. wrote: > I found a solution, really silly though. > > bash$ gem list -d > > bash$ sudo gem uninstall --install-dir > /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/lib/ruby/ > gems/1.8 Those gems were bundled by apple and are not meant to be removed by users. This allows apple to do their own updates of the system gems. You shouldn’t remove them. ---
**Author:** ![mitkok](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@mitkok](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/mitkok)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 9:20pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/unable-to-install-old-gems/149700/5 "2008-11-28T21:20:33Z")
On Oct 2, 9:54 am, Ryan D. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > Those gems were bundled by apple and are not meant to be removed by > users. This allows apple to do their own updates of the system gems. > You shouldn’t remove them. So I get the same error but as a new user on OSX , and experienced on Ruby, I don t get why we should not? This sounds like an Apple thing and now I am stuck with that error. I have not gotten even one update on ruby package for now a year… so I cannot just wait on apple to update. So what is the process for me now to get rid of that error? ---
**Author:** ![mitkok](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@mitkok](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/mitkok)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 11:52pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/unable-to-install-old-gems/149700/6 "2008-11-28T23:52:17Z")
Emmanuel wrote: > > users. This allows apple to do their own updates of the system gems. > > You shouldn’t remove them. > > So I get the same error but as a new user on OSX , and experienced on > Ruby, I don t get why we should not? This sounds like an Apple thing > and now I am stuck with that error. I have not gotten even one update > on ruby package for now a year… so I cannot just wait on apple to > update. So what is the process for me now to get rid of that error? I’ve installed my own version of Ruby and RubyGems. It takes just a few minutes and puts you in control.