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El Capitan download stuck on waiting

N

neutrak

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 16, 2014
24
5
So my download got paused and resumed a few times and now it's stuck on waiting. I tried clicking "check for unfinished downloads" but that didn't work. I tried deleting the El Capitan file and removing it from the launchpad. Didn't work. What can I do?

Also am I safe to update from El Capitan Dev Beta 1 or do I need to wipe?
 
neutrak said:
So my download got paused and resumed a few times and now it's stuck on waiting. I tried clicking "check for unfinished downloads" but that didn't work. I tried deleting the El Capitan file and removing it from the launchpad. Didn't work. What can I do?

Also am I safe to update from El Capitan Dev Beta 1 or do I need to wipe?
Click to expand...

You should defiantly erase your computer, especially since you are having this issue.
 
!!! said:
You should defiantly erase your computer, especially since you are having this issue.
Click to expand...

I'm not really sure why this App Store error would make it more necessary for me to do a wipe. But it's fine, I can update my yosemite partition instead. Either way, I need to get this download going.
 
yeah, my download has been creeping along at 2Mbps for the past couple of hours(350Mbps connection). I cancelled it, killed the download, rebooted, and now I'm stuck at waiting. Im thinking the servers are just being hammered right now.
 
Ok so I solved this by deleting the files and restarting my computer. Back to 13 Hour wait time. FML.
 
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bryan85 said:
yeah, my download has been creeping along at 2Mbps for the past couple of hours(350Mbps connection). I cancelled it, killed the download, rebooted, and now I'm stuck at waiting. Im thinking the servers are just being hammered right now.
Click to expand...
Same exact situation here
 
neutrak said:
Delete the partly downloaded El Capitan file from your applications folder then remove the icon from launchpad and reboot then start download again.
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting this. I had the same problem and a search brought me to your thread and this post. I followed your instructions and it worked. The download is going well, about halfway done. It looks like it will take about 35 minutes overall.

Edit: Until it got to a little over 5GB, all was going along well. Then it started crawling. Looks like it going to take as long to download the final GB as the first 5. At least it's downloading now, whereas it was stuck on waiting before.
 
Last edited:
Christ what a fiasco this has been trying to download, first off I started off with a 1-2 day wait time now its stuck on pause after over 12 hours of trickle downloading...now I have to start from scratch again. Hopefully I can find a copy on usenet because I'm not down with waiting 2 friggin days
 
bobbytomorow said:
Christ what a fiasco this has been trying to download, first off I started off with a 1-2 day wait time now its stuck on pause after over 12 hours of trickle downloading...now I have to start from scratch again. Hopefully I can find a copy on usenet because I'm not down with waiting 2 friggin days
Click to expand...

Not only it stuck while downloading, but even when I find the dmg elsewhere(so, no need to download from apple servers), stuck again!
Unbelievable and tragic!
:(
 
cool11 said:
Not only it stuck while downloading, but even when I find the dmg elsewhere(so, no need to download from apple servers), stuck again!
Unbelievable and tragic!
:(
Click to expand...


I've found the solution:

  1. Close the "App Store" App
  2. Open "Terminal"
  3. Enter defaults write com.apple.appstore ShowDebugMenu -bool true
  4. Open the "App Store" app
  5. Now you have in the menu-item "Debug" - open it - and open "Show Download Folder"
  6. Delete all files and folders in the folder "com.apple.appstore"
  7. Close the "App Store" app
  8. Restart the Mac
  9. Open the "App Store" app an repeat the download.
Now the download should work!

If you want to hide the debug-menu again just enter in Terminal:
defaults write com.apple.appstore ShowDebugMenu -bool false
 
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maitoman said:
I've found the solution:

  1. Close the "App Store" App
  2. Open "Terminal"
  3. Enter defaults write com.apple.appstore ShowDebugMenu -bool true
  4. Open the "App Store" app
  5. Now you have in the menu-item "Debug" - open it - and open "Show Download Folder"
  6. Delete all files and folders in the folder "com.apple.appstore"
  7. Close the "App Store" app
  8. Restart the Mac
  9. Open the "App Store" app an repeat the download.
Now the download should work!

If you want to hide the debug-menu again just enter in Terminal:
defaults write com.apple.appstore ShowDebugMenu -bool false
Click to expand...


Thanks for this. Worked like a charm - installed within an hour.
 
i had the similar problem : i stopped the download and after it's stuck on waiting.
i removed the little file El Capitan in Applications... but, still the same problem.
i simply log in with another account on my Mac,
start the download again (but with the same Apple Id account)
it worked...
 
maitoman said:
I've found the solution:

  1. Close the "App Store" App
  2. Open "Terminal"
  3. Enter defaults write com.apple.appstore ShowDebugMenu -bool true
  4. Open the "App Store" app
  5. Now you have in the menu-item "Debug" - open it - and open "Show Download Folder"
  6. Delete all files and folders in the folder "com.apple.appstore"
  7. Close the "App Store" app
  8. Restart the Mac
  9. Open the "App Store" app an repeat the download.
Now the download should work!

If you want to hide the debug-menu again just enter in Terminal:
defaults write com.apple.appstore ShowDebugMenu -bool false
Click to expand...

Worked for me, thank you very much
 
neutrak said:
Delete the partly downloaded El Capitan file from your applications folder then remove the icon from launchpad and reboot then start download again.
Click to expand...

Have the same problem on my mid-2011 iMac 21.5". I've deleted the partly downloaded El Capitan from the Applications folder, but how to I get rid of the icon in Launchpad?
- - - - -
That problem resolved itself but, on restarting the download, El Capitan still hangs up. This always happens at the same point; the progress bar stops at 1.88GB and says: "calculating . . . ". Any tips for this?
 
Last edited:
maitoman said:
I've found the solution:

  1. Close the "App Store" App
  2. Open "Terminal"
  3. Enter defaults write com.apple.appstore ShowDebugMenu -bool true
  4. Open the "App Store" app
  5. Now you have in the menu-item "Debug" - open it - and open "Show Download Folder"
  6. Delete all files and folders in the folder "com.apple.appstore"
  7. Close the "App Store" app
  8. Restart the Mac
  9. Open the "App Store" app an repeat the download.
Now the download should work!

If you want to hide the debug-menu again just enter in Terminal:
defaults write com.apple.appstore ShowDebugMenu -bool false
Click to expand...

This looks promising, maitoman, but I need further guidance as I've never used Terminal before. When I open it, i get a window, headed "shane - bash - 80x24" (I'm Shane, btw), in which I find this: "Last login: Thu Nov 5 17:44:30 on ttys000
android-16225f934c4c3563:~ shane$". Where do I 'enter defaults', per your guide? Thank you in advance your patience and help on this.
 
Broadus said:
Thanks for posting this. I had the same problem and a search brought me to your thread and this post. I followed your instructions and it worked. The download is going well, about halfway done. It looks like it will take about 35 minutes overall.

Edit: Until it got to a little over 5GB, all was going along well. Then it started crawling. Looks like it going to take as long to download the final GB as the first 5. At least it's downloading now, whereas it was stuck on waiting before.
Click to expand...
[doublepost=1452992281][/doublepost]So I don't have any files to remove. still stuck on waiting. this is really frustrating.
 
Ugh... Thanks for the tips on this everyone.

I'm trying to help a friend with an early 2011 MBP. Non-bloated Snow Leopard isn't allowed, so I'm hoping El Capitan will save her Mac from being thoroughly Cook'd. At least the download is showing only an hour and a half. I really hope it speeds things up for her - Yosemite is just like this mountain of bloatcrap seemingly taxing the life out of her machine. It's really sad. Ah well... hopefully this download won't stall out.
 
maitoman said:
I've found the solution:

  1. Close the "App Store" App
  2. Open "Terminal"
  3. Enter defaults write com.apple.appstore ShowDebugMenu -bool true
  4. Open the "App Store" app
  5. Now you have in the menu-item "Debug" - open it - and open "Show Download Folder"
  6. Delete all files and folders in the folder "com.apple.appstore"
  7. Close the "App Store" app
  8. Restart the Mac
  9. Open the "App Store" app an repeat the download.
Now the download should work!

If you want to hide the debug-menu again just enter in Terminal:
defaults write com.apple.appstore ShowDebugMenu -bool false
Click to expand...

Thank you. It works for me!
 
Rachavol said:
Thank you. It works for me!
Click to expand...

Worked for me too. I held off on El Capitan but with Sierra coming out this fall I realized I needed to update. Unfortunately my Mac kept failing to download due to spotty WiFi at the office. Eventually it just refused to download. This procedure of using the Debug menu worked. The update is downloading now and much faster at home than it did at the office.
 
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