Early in the morning a problem occurred on my MacBook pro, my Mac app store didn’t see to load correctly. After investigating the problem online I came across with similar situations and decided to write a post with the steps performed.
Before you perform the steps below make sure that you do not have proxy server on your mac.
Open System Preferences->Network->Advanced->Proxies
Check that you do not have a protocol selected, as the screenshot below.
Software updates using the command line
Some options require the softwareupdate command to be run as root, so you might start by using the sudo command to enter a root shell:
sudo -s
You then need to enter an administrator’s password when prompted.
You can use the -l or –list argument to see which updates are available.
softwareupdate --list
This returns a list like the following.
Updates that require a restart are marked with [restart].
You can use the -i or –install argument to install one or more of the available updates.
For example, to install the Remote Desktop and iTunes updates listed above, use this command:
softwareupdate --install 'Brother Printer Software Update (3.0)'
Or you can use the -a or –all argument to install all available updates:
softwareupdate --install --all
The Software Update tool will report progress as it downloads and installs the updates.
To see more options and usage instructions, type:
man softwareupdate
It took me a while to discover that your screenshot of the proxies is an example of what it should *not* look like. I thought I needed all but one selected, and it happened to be the HTTPS one like in the screenshot. Would be more clarifying if you replace the screenshot with one that has no checkboxes selected. Otherwise, great post that solved a lot of headaches.
Thank you very much for the feedback @Chielt:disqus, much appreciated!
I will change the screenshot as you suggested..
[…] MacBook App Store not working […]
bash-3.2# softwareupdate –install –all
Software Update Tool
Copyright 2002-2015 Apple Inc.
Finding available software
Downloading OS X El Capitan Update
Downloading Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update
Error downloading OS X El Capitan Update: forbidden
Error downloading Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update: forbidden
Done.
Error downloading updates.
bash-3.2#
——————————
WONDER WHY I GET THE forbidden ERROR
No proxies enabled. All it says when I ask for a list of available updates is “Finding available software”. It hasn’t found any.
Open a terminal window and do the following:
copy and paste
rm ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.appstore.plist
rm ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.storeagent.plist
then do a reboot!
Millions of thanks. The screenshot above with the check mark in Proxies was enough to solve the problem. I have the store back now. Best
Same problem as Carla. I don’t get a list. It just stops at finding available software. No proxies are enabled.
it doesn’t return a list of updataes even though I know there are things to be installed. it just stays at: Finding available software and then doesn’t say anything else. It’s been 10 minutes
Hi Carla,
Do you have any proxy enabled on the protocol configuration?
P.