Unable to update (App Store freezes)

[sudan]

Hi, I'm asking for help with a problem I encounter when I try to launch updates via Software Update...

The App Store icon indicates that there are two updates to do but when I click on Software Update... App Store opens and immediately freezes,

the multicolored wheel appears and remains so until I force it to close.

If I try to open the App Store directly, I can easily access the first three panels (Featured, Charts and Purchases) and my account

but if i venture to click on Updates again everything freezes. The same if I try to navigate through the menus.

I have searched for solutions on various sites but despite trying different things I have not been able to solve anything.

I hope some of you can help me, thanks.

PS: macOS 10.13 High Sierra

 

[TonyAguila]

Hi, I'm asking for help with a problem I encounter when I try to launch updates via Software Update...

The App Store icon indicates that there are two updates to do but when I click on Software Update... App Store opens and immediately freezes,

the multicolored wheel appears and remains so until I force it to close.

If I try to open the App Store directly, I can easily access the first three panels (Featured, Charts and Purchases) and my account

but if i venture to click on Updates again everything freezes. The same if I try to navigate through the menus.

I have searched for solutions on various sites but despite trying different things I have not been able to solve anything.

I hope some of you can help me, thanks.

PS: macOS 10.13 High Sierra

Of the different things you tried, was Safe Mode one of them? If not, try it. Reboot and hold down the Shift key. When logged in, try the App Store again. Fingers crossed…

 

[sudan]

Hi TonyAguila, I tried your advice now but nothing to do, nothing has changed.
I also tried logging in as root but the App Store behavior remains the same.
Thanks anyway for your interest.

 

[TonyAguila]

Hi TonyAguila, I tried your advice now but nothing to do, nothing has changed.
I also tried logging in as root but the App Store behavior remains the same.
Thanks anyway for your interest.

Maybe you do need the software updates. I suggest trying the update using Terminal. Reboot again into Safe Mode, and assuming you are logged in as an admin user, launch Terminal.app (in /Applications/Utilities) and enter the command,

softwareupdate -l -a

to see if there are updates available. If they show up, I suggest doing the update. Assuming that you are up-to-date with your Time Machine backup, enter this command,

sudo softwareupdate -ia

It will ask for your admin password, then proceed with the update. Just make sure you have backup(s) of all your data. Good luck.

 

[sudan]

When I get here it stops and doesn't ask for my password (if I try to type it in it appears visible).
Trying to close the terminal window (after a long time) warns me that "Closing this window will terminate the running softwareupdate process."

 

[TonyAguila]

View attachment 4589

When I get here it stops and doesn't ask for my password (if I try to type it in it appears visible).
Trying to close the terminal window (after a long time) warns me that "Closing this window will terminate the running softwareupdate process."

Either the softwareupdate command is not being executed or you didn’t give it enough time to actually check for updates. It should have given you back a response, e.g. “No new software available.” or listed available software. Sometimes it takes a short while to get a result.

 

[sudan]

Now I have to go, I will let him "finding" all night.
Thank you again for your support.

 

[sudan]

Before I went I tried, in another terminal window, to enter this:
sudo softwareupdate -l -a
response:
sudo: /etc/sudoers is owned by gid 80, should be 0
sudo: no valid sudoers sources found, quitting
sudo: unable to initialize policy plugin

Does that tell you anything?

 

[TonyAguila]

Before I went I tried, in another terminal window, to enter this:
sudo softwareupdate -l -a
response:
sudo: /etc/sudoers is owned by gid 80, should be 0
sudo: no valid sudoers sources found, quitting
sudo: unable to initialize policy plugin

Does that tell you anything?

Looks to me like the user, you, is not a designated admin account. Also, you don’t need to use “sudo” when you are checking for updates. If you are sure that your account is admin, and if you get a response to your softwareupdate command (without “sudo”), try next to use

sudo softwareupdate -ia

(The -l = list; -a = all; -ia = install all.)

 

[sudan]

When I reboot in safe mode I have three possible accounts: admin, root and guest.
Of course I always logged in with my usual sudan account (admin).

Now I am at home, in the morning immediately I will tell you if it found any updates in the meantime
(as I told you I left it while it was "Finding available software").

 

[TonyAguila]

When I reboot in safe mode I have three possible accounts: admin, root and guest.
Of course I always logged in with my usual sudan account (admin).

Now I am at home, in the morning immediately I will tell you if it found any updates in the meantime
(as I told you I left it while it was "Finding available software").

Or maybe parts of macOS was corrupted, so you may have to go into Recovery in order to reinstall macOS. I make a point of keeping a copy of the macOS installer for my current version. Whenever I start to notice “weird” behavior in the system, I first perform a Time Machine backup, once to each of my two TM drives. Then I just go ahead and launch the installer and, in effect, refresh my system.

 

[sudan]

In fact, I am beginning to think that I will have to reinstall macOS.
I don't want to do that but maybe it's a forced path. See you tomorrow Tony.

 

[sudan]

Unfortunately, it is still at this point ...

 

[sudan]

I tried a solution from another forum by entering from root account this: visudo

iMac-of-Laura:~ root# visudo

reply:

E325: ATTENTION


Found a swap file by the name "/etc/.sudoers.tmp.swp"


owned by: root dated: Sat Jan 28 10:55:39 2023


file name: /private/etc/sudoers.tmp


modified: YES


user name: root host name: iMac-di-Laura.local


process ID: 4362


While opening file "/etc/sudoers.tmp"


dated: Sat Jan 28 11:09:26 2023


NEWER than swap file!





(1) Another program may be editing the same file. If this is the case,


be careful not to end up with two different instances of the same


file when making changes. Quit, or continue with caution.


(2) An edit session for this file crashed.


If this is the case, use ":recover" or "vim -r /etc/sudoers.tmp"


to recover the changes (see ":help recovery").


If you did this already, delete the swap file "/etc/.sudoers.tmp.swp"


to avoid this message.





Swap file "/etc/.sudoers.tmp.swp" already exists!


[O]pen Read-Only, (E)dit anyway, (R)ecover, (D)elete it, (Q)uit, (A)bort:



What do you recommend that I do ?

 

[TonyAguila]

Personally, I would reinstall macOS first, from Recovery.