Can't update to Sierra Public Beta 4 (unresponsive App Store updater)

[zen]

Anyone having problems updating to Sierra PB4?

Running a late 2013 rMBP, currently on Sierra PB3 (build 16A270f). No problems with PB3, but the updater in the App Store does absolutely nothing. One update is showing, but clicking the update buttons does... nothing. I get the "Some updates need to finish downloading before they are installed" dialog box, but there is no progress bar.

The Apple menu shows the "one update" lozenge next to the App Store... item.

Restarting makes no difference.

I kinda don't want to be stuck on PB3!

 

[jeffg819]

Anyone having problems updating to Sierra PB4?

Running a late 2013 rMBP, currently on Sierra PB3 (build 16A270f). No problems with PB3, but the updater in the App Store does absolutely nothing. One update is showing, but clicking the update buttons does... nothing. I get the "Some updates need to finish downloading before they are installed" dialog box, but there is no progress bar.

View attachment 644343

The Apple menu shows the "one update" lozenge next to the App Store... item.

Restarting makes no difference.

I kinda don't want to be stuck on PB3!

Same thing happened to me but in my case a restart fixed the issue. Working in beta 4 now.

 

[fischersd]

@zen. Guessing maybe, just maybe, you clicked update, then didn't see any change, so *bang* you reboot and rinse and repeat that a few times?
It wouldn't surprise me if Apple had some sort of a back off mechanism built into their system for people that keep killing their App Store downloads out of impatience.

Have you tried leaving it alone for a few hours, after a fresh reboot, with App Store running? (no touchy!)

 

[tywebb13]

Anyone having problems updating to Sierra PB4?

Running a late 2013 rMBP, currently on Sierra PB3 (build 16A270f). No problems with PB3, but the updater in the App Store does absolutely nothing. One update is showing, but clicking the update buttons does... nothing. I get the "Some updates need to finish downloading before they are installed" dialog box, but there is no progress bar.

View attachment 644343

The Apple menu shows the "one update" lozenge next to the App Store... item.

Restarting makes no difference.

I kinda don't want to be stuck on PB3!

If you have trouble getting the update via the mac app store you can get it via direct links instead. They can be found in apple's developer forums.

 

[grahamperrin]

the updater in the App Store does absolutely nothing.

Boot once in safe mode, then normal mode.

If App Store remains problematic then quit, and instead use Terminal to run the following command. Be prepared to enter your admin password:

sudo softwareupdate -i -a

 

[zen]

Thanks to everyone for the advice. I was about to try the terminal trick, when suddenly my Mac said it wanted to restart to install... so it did. It seems to have downloaded the update with no progress bar or any other indication that it was doing it, so now I am on PB4.

Curious as to how something so simple like the App Store can bug out so badly. I know this is a beta, but we shouldn't be testing well-established and simple systems like the software update.

 

[grahamperrin]

how something so simple like the App Store can bug out so badly

Maybe worth using Disk Utility to verify the HFS Plus file system. Does it appear to be OK?

(Verification and most types of necessary repair are automated with a safe boot, with no overt record of any repair, but since you'd like to know more about the problems in your case, it's worth getting something explicit from Disk Utility.)

 

[megascott]

Anyone having problems updating to Sierra PB4?

Running a late 2013 rMBP, currently on Sierra PB3 (build 16A270f). No problems with PB3, but the updater in the App Store does absolutely nothing. One update is showing, but clicking the update buttons does... nothing. I get the "Some updates need to finish downloading before they are installed" dialog box, but there is no progress bar.

View attachment 644343

The Apple menu shows the "one update" lozenge next to the App Store... item.

Restarting makes no difference.

I kinda don't want to be stuck on PB3!

Posted this response and then realized my ignorance.

Same thing happened to me. I had used the "Purchased" tab to download assuming that PB3 wouldn't still be available, but my build number is still 16A284a so I guess I'm stuck.

 

[pkouame]

@zen. Guessing maybe, just maybe, you clicked update, then didn't see any change, so *bang* you reboot and rinse and repeat that a few times?
It wouldn't surprise me if Apple had some sort of a back off mechanism built into their system for people that keep killing their App Store downloads out of impatience.

Have you tried leaving it alone for a few hours, after a fresh reboot, with App Store running? (no touchy!)

Hi - I tried the wait and see approach and it doesn't show up. Didn't have this problem from 2 to 3 after Sierra Patching. Wondering what has changed? Has anyone had any success with the direct links. What Apple developer Forum?

 

[grahamperrin]

What Apple developer Forum?

Space: macOS 10.12 | Apple Developer Forums

 

[pkouame]

If you have trouble getting the update via the mac app store you can get it via direct links instead. They can be found in apple's developer forums.

Hi - I'm trying to inject the direct files into /Library/Updates but strongly suspect that if all the other databases/stores on my system aren't synched correctly (by softwareupdate or the MAS), it will fail...As you suggested in the developer thread. In the meantime, I noticed something strange in my console...messages like this:

error    17:15:19.924499 -0400    softwareupdated    Detected potentially harmful notification post rate of 112.524 notifications per second

error    17:15:32.599996 -0400    softwareupdated    Detected potentially harmful notification post rate of 107.953 notifications per second

Has anyone seen this before?

 

[twanj]

Thanks to everyone for the advice. I was about to try the terminal trick, when suddenly my Mac said it wanted to restart to install... so it did. It seems to have downloaded the update with no progress bar or any other indication that it was doing it, so now I am on PB4.

Curious as to how something so simple like the App Store can bug out so badly. I know this is a beta, but we shouldn't be testing well-established and simple systems like the software update.

I noticed the same thing for all the Public Beta updates in the App Store. No progress or indicators or how large or long the download will be.

Not very promising considering the App Store already needed some work. Maybe in time for 10.13?!

 

[fischersd]

When the updater processes that package, it should be putting the dist and pkm files into
/private/var/folders/zz/zyxvpxvq6csfxvn_n00000s0000068/C/softwareupdated/com.apple.SoftwareUpdate.SUCatalogDataManager/z/031-71809
- if you have that directory, you should likely try the "wait and see" method to see if the updater doesn't work eventually.

Those that the .pkg injection isn't working on, did you adjust the permissions on that folder?

Me, I'd likely go to /Library/Updates and open it up, just so you don't run into any issues
sudo chmod -R 777 *

Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[grahamperrin]

/private/var/folders/zz/zyxvpxvq6csfxvn_n00000s0000068/C/

The path to that type of private cache directory includes personalisation.

To direct a person to their own private cache:

1. launch Terminal
2. enter the following command

cd $TMPDIR ; open ../C

 

[fischersd]

The path to that type of private cache directory includes personalisation.

To direct a person to their own private cache:

1. launch Terminal
2. enter the following command

cd $TMPDIR ; open ../C

Well, funny enough, I wasn't the one to source it, yet all of us were able to find it in our tree (it's not the temp dir variable). That's a different path.

 

[grahamperrin]

… all of us were able to find it in our tree …

Its presence is sometimes irrelevant.

Not everyone shares that one cache directory. For example, with the account that was created during a first run of the operating system:

… (it's not the temp dir variable). …

If you ran the command, you might have realised that it opens a cache directory (not a temporary directory). This may make things clearer:

cd $TMPDIR ; cd ../C ; open .

 

[macuser82uk]

i have had a lot of problems with using my logictech keyboard since updating to the latest Sierra where i am unable to type nothing on my keyboard at all and i have had to result in using a apple mac usb keyboard to solve the problem not my choice of keyboard personally.

 

[fischersd]

Its presence is sometimes irrelevant.

Not everyone shares that one cache directory. For example, with the account that was created during a first run of the operating system:

View attachment 644793



If you ran the command, you might have realised that it opens a cache directory (not a temporary directory). This may make things clearer:

cd $TMPDIR ; cd ../C ; open .

Well, it's helped a lot of people identify if they got the update or not showing up in their App Store (over on the "unsupported Macs" thread, this has helped a lot of people identify when they can use to the tool to patch the update).
Maybe it's only consistently there on Sierra beta installations? (which is what we're looking at).

$TMPDIR - so, you're saying this environment variable isn't for the temp directory? Ok.....

Your 3 line script provides a directory which doesn't have a com.apple.SoftwareUpdate directory, so how would this be relevant to helping people finding out if they're getting the update or not?

 

[grahamperrin]

Anyone: please post output from the following one-line command. Triple-click to select:

cd $TMPDIR ; echo "Attention to the UID number of the owner of the 'C' directory:" ; ls -dhln ../C ; cd ../C ; pwd ; echo "Home, please, Parker" ; cd ; pwd

(Don't worry, it makes no changes to your computer. It shows information about a folder.)

$TMPDIR - so, you're saying this environment variable isn't for the temp directory? Ok

No, that's not OK because that's nothing like what I said.

Your 3 line script

Neither a script, nor three lines. With respect – and I appreciate that not everyone will be comfortable at the command line – @fischersd, if you do not already realise such things, then you'll not (yet) understand how the one-liners in my earlier posts will reliably open the required cache directory.

Maybe it's only consistently there on Sierra beta installations? (which is what we're looking at).

I have been working with such directories for years; much of that time was spent on AppleSeed projects for Mac OS X.

Here's a Sierra example that shows the wrongness:

sh-3.2$ sw_vers ; ls -l /private/var/folders/zz/zyxvpxvq6csfxvn_n00000s0000068/C/
ProductName:    Mac OS X
ProductVersion:    10.12
BuildVersion:    16A286a
ls: : Permission denied
sh-3.2$ whoami
grahamperrin
sh-3.2$

 

[fischersd]

Anyone...

Whether you call it a script or a batch, the semicolon is the new line indicator, separating your code (no matter how simple that code is).
Yes, I'm quite comfortable at the command line - I've been in IT a little over a couple of decades and playing with various OS's a lot longer.

So, that last example, you're just trying to demonstrate that you don't have the permissions to view the directory? (what's your point?)

 

[grahamperrin]

What UID number do you get from the string of commands in my previous post?

what's your point?

The aim is to reliably open the required cache directory, in a user-friendly app – Finder.

With Finder, it should be easy to see and browse folders such as softwareupdated.

Specifying zyxvpxvq6csfxvn_n00000s0000068 within a path is not suitably reliable.

… semicolon is the new line indicator, …

That's a little different from what I get from http://serverfault.com/a/373295/91969 and http://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/newline – I'm not an expert, I'll be glad to continue discussion of those aspects (quite off-topic from Sierra) in Ask Different Chat.

 

[fischersd]

What UID number do you get from the string of commands in my previous post?

That's a little different from what I get from http://serverfault.com/a/373295/91969 and http://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/newline – I'm not an expert, I'll be glad to continue discussion of those aspects (quite off-topic from Sierra) in Ask Different Chat.

Heh, to close this off. Yes, the UID in your example gave me my own. Showing that the directory in question was owned by my user. (not sure what you're trying to prove here - many services - such as the App Store would run with sufficient privileges to access the directory that our userids don't have sufficient privileges to access). This is why we either login as root to run a bunch of commands or use sudo to run one or two specific commands.

And, yes, my syntax was wrong...that's certainly not a new line character (think that's /n?) - I should have said "statement separator" - that's a throwback to when I learned Pascal and C (same instructor) - who kept referring to it as the "lazy man's carriage return" - he being of the opinion that the semicolon allowed programmers to write sloppy, structureless code that was hard to read as you could just string the program together in that way, with no carriage returns. (take a 10,000 line program, remove out all of the white space and it gets a little difficult to maintain).

As much as the path in question may not be reliable going forward, it did help to get several people confirmation that the update dist and pkm files were sitting there for App Store to use.

 

[grahamperrin]

it did help to get several people confirmation that the update dist and pkm files were sitting there for App Store to use.

I never expressed any doubt about that

The reason for my first post beginning with the direction to use safe mode was:

• it's the most user-friendly way to clear cached data that may be troublesome to App Store.

Documentation from Apple

There are hints such as OS X El Capitan: safe mode – and Mac OS X: How to troubleshoot a software issue - Apple Support gives suitable prominence to safe mode (including a link to HT201262 (formerly HT1455) – but unless I'm missing something, there's no good detailed overview from Apple.

A user-specific cache folder, before and after a safe boot

 

[fischersd]

I never expressed any doubt about that

The reason for my first post beginning with the direction to use safe mode was:

• it's the most user-friendly way to clear cached data that may be troublesome to App Store.

Documentation from Apple

There are hints such as OS X El Capitan: safe mode – and Mac OS X: How to troubleshoot a software issue - Apple Support gives suitable prominence to safe mode (including a link to HT201262 (formerly HT1455) – but unless I'm missing something, there's no good detailed overview from Apple.

A user-specific cache folder, before and after a safe boot

Screen shots to follow (I'm having trouble with MacRumors Forums)

Heh...skip the screen shots...I give. Take the point.

 

[grahamperrin]

skip the screen shots

Posts/editions crossed paths and for myself I wanted to prove that the problem is not reproducible in Safari. I'll leave 'em now.