function _assertChannelStateDir($channel)
    {
        $ds = DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR;
        if (!$channel || $this->_getChannelFromAlias($channel) == 'pear.php.net') {
            if (!file_exists($this->channelsdir . $ds . 'pear.php.net.reg')) {
                $this->_initializeChannelDirs();
            }
            return $this->_assertStateDir($channel);
        }

        $channelDir = $this->_channelDirectoryName($channel);
        if (!is_dir($this->channelsdir) ||
              !file_exists($this->channelsdir . $ds . 'pear.php.net.reg')) {
            $this->_initializeChannelDirs();
        }

        if (!file_exists($channelDir)) {
            if (!$this->hasWriteAccess()) {
                return false;
            }

            require_once 'System.php';
            if (!System::mkdir(array('-p', $channelDir))) {
                return $this->raiseError("could not create directory '" . $channelDir .
                    "'");
            }
        } elseif (!is_dir($channelDir)) {
            return $this->raiseError("could not create directory '" . $channelDir .
                "', already exists and is not a directory");
        }

        return true;
    }