diff --git a/tools/install/macosx/makefpcsnapshot.sh b/tools/install/macosx/makefpcsnapshot.sh
index 900b400b37..b75761e20d 100755
--- a/tools/install/macosx/makefpcsnapshot.sh
+++ b/tools/install/macosx/makefpcsnapshot.sh
@@ -2,22 +2,43 @@
 
 set -e
 
-PPCARCH=ppcppc
-SVN=/usr/local/bin/svn
+PPC_RELEASE=$1
+
+if [ ! -e "$PPC_RELEASE" ]; then
+  PPC_RELEASE=/usr/local/lib/fpc/2.0.2/ppcppc
+  echo "Using default PPC_RELEASE: $PPC_RELEASE"
+fi
+
 FREEZE=/usr/bin/freeze
 HDIUTIL=/usr/bin/hdiutil
 UPDATELIST=~/tmp/updatelist
-
-TEMPLATEDIR=~/src/lazarus/tools/install/macosx
-
+TEMPLATEDIR=`dirname $0`
 FPCSVNDIR=~/src/fpc/build
 FPCSOURCEDIR=$FPCSVNDIR/fpcsrc
-PPC_RELEASE=/usr/local/lib/fpc/2.0.2/$PPCARCH
 BUILDDIR=~/tmp/build
 FPCBUILDDIR=$BUILDDIR/fpc
 INSTALLDIR=~/tmp/fpc
 INSTALLFPCDIR=~/fpc
 
+PPCARCH=ppcppc
+ARCH=`uname -p`
+if [ "$ARCH" = "i386" ]; then
+  PPCARCH=ppc386
+fi
+
+SVN=`which svn`
+if [ ! -e "$SVN" ]; then
+  SVN=/usr/local/bin/svn
+fi
+
+if [ ! -e "$SVN" ]; then
+  SVN=/sw/bin/svn
+fi
+
+if [ ! -e "$SVN" ]; then
+  echo "Cannot find a svn executable"
+fi
+
 DATESTAMP=`date +%Y%m%d`
 FPCPACKPROJ=fpc.packproj
 
@@ -32,9 +53,12 @@ else
   fi
 fi
 
-$SVN export $FPCSVNDIR $FPCBUILDDIR  
-$SVN export $FPCSVNDIR/fpcsrc $FPCBUILDDIR/fpcsrc
-$SVN export $FPCSVNDIR/fpcdocs $FPCBUILDDIR/fpcdocs
+$SVN export $FPCSVNDIR $FPCBUILDDIR
+if [ ! -d  "$FPCBUILDDIR/fpcsrc" ]; then
+# old versions of svn did not export external repositories
+  $SVN export $FPCSVNDIR/fpcsrc $FPCBUILDDIR/fpcsrc
+  $SVN export $FPCSVNDIR/fpcdocs $FPCBUILDDIR/fpcdocs
+fi
 
 cd $FPCBUILDDIR
 make distclean PP=$PPC_RELEASE
diff --git a/tools/install/macosx/makefpcsrcsnapshot.sh b/tools/install/macosx/makefpcsrcsnapshot.sh
index 60dab2b2f9..f0af45dc3a 100755
--- a/tools/install/macosx/makefpcsrcsnapshot.sh
+++ b/tools/install/macosx/makefpcsrcsnapshot.sh
@@ -2,13 +2,30 @@
 
 set -e
 
-PPCARCH=ppcppc
-SVN=/usr/local/bin/svn
 FREEZE=/usr/bin/freeze
 HDIUTIL=/usr/bin/hdiutil
 UPDATELIST=~/tmp/updatelist
 
-TEMPLATEDIR=~/etc/templates
+PPCARCH=ppcppc
+ARCH=`uname -p`
+if [ "$ARCH" = "i386" ]; then
+  PPCARCH=ppc386
+fi
+
+SVN=`which svn`
+if [ ! -e "$SVN" ]; then
+  SVN=/usr/local/bin/svn
+fi
+
+if [ ! -e "$SVN" ]; then
+  SVN=/sw/bin/svn
+fi
+
+if [ ! -e "$SVN" ]; then
+  echo "Cannot find a svn executable"
+fi
+
+TEMPLATEDIR=`dirname $0`
 
 FPCSVNDIR=~/src/fpc/build
 FPCSOURCEDIR=$FPCSVNDIR/fpcsrc
@@ -16,7 +33,7 @@ COMPILER=~/fpc/bin/$PPCARCH
 INSTALLDIR=~/tmp/fpcsrc
 
 DATESTAMP=`date +%Y%m%d`
-PACKPROJ=fpcsrc.packproj
+PACKPROJ=fpcsrc.packproj.template
 
 
 # clean installdir: since I am not root and the install dir can contain files owned by root 
diff --git a/tools/install/macosx/makelazsnapshot.sh b/tools/install/macosx/makelazsnapshot.sh
index 046933c015..2e728ac9e4 100755
--- a/tools/install/macosx/makelazsnapshot.sh
+++ b/tools/install/macosx/makelazsnapshot.sh
@@ -3,12 +3,29 @@
 set -e
 set -x
 
-PPCARCH=ppcppc
-SVN=/usr/local/bin/svn
 FREEZE=/usr/bin/freeze
 HDIUTIL=/usr/bin/hdiutil
 UPDATELIST=~/tmp/updatelist
 
+PPCARCH=ppcppc
+ARCH=`uname -p`
+if [ "$ARCH" = "i386" ]; then
+  PPCARCH=ppc386
+fi
+
+SVN=`which svn`
+if [ ! -e "$SVN" ]; then
+  SVN=/usr/local/bin/svn
+fi
+
+if [ ! -e "$SVN" ]; then
+  SVN=/sw/bin/svn
+fi
+
+if [ ! -e "$SVN" ]; then
+  echo "Cannot find a svn executable"
+fi
+
 LAZSOURCEDIR=~/src/lazsource
 
 COMPILER=~/fpc/bin/$PPCARCH
@@ -45,10 +62,10 @@ strip lazarus
 strip startlazarus
 
 # create symlinks
-mkdir -p $BUILDDIR\bin
-cd $BUILDDIR\bin
+mkdir -p $BUILDDIR/bin
+cd $BUILDDIR/bin
 ln -s ../share/lazarus/lazarus lazarus
-ln -s ../share/lazarus/startlazarus lazarus
+ln -s ../share/lazarus/startlazarus startlazarus
 
 # copy license file, it must be a txt file.
 cp $LAZBUILDDIR/COPYING.GPL $BUILDDIR/License.txt