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MacBook App Store not working

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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.

proxy

Software updates using the command line

Open Terminal window

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.

list
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

 

10 Comments
  1. Chielt says

    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.

    1. Panayiotis Georgiou says

      Thank you very much for the feedback @Chielt:disqus, much appreciated!
      I will change the screenshot as you suggested..

  2. […] MacBook App Store not working […]

  3. Rajib Basu says

    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

  4. Olivia says

    No proxies enabled. All it says when I ask for a list of available updates is “Finding available software”. It hasn’t found any.

    1. Admin says

      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!

  5. Zaim says

    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

  6. Tom says

    Same problem as Carla. I don’t get a list. It just stops at finding available software. No proxies are enabled.

  7. Carla says

    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

    1. Admin says

      Hi Carla,
      Do you have any proxy enabled on the protocol configuration?

      P.

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