Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Mejoco_LC475

macrumors newbie
Jul 6, 2017
19
10
United Kingdom
Another Mojave (10.14.6) user here with the same issue. Three updates on the App Store, click update and nothing happens, I get the spinning progress wheel and that's it. Tried logging out/signing back in, restart etc. with no joy. The updates aren't essential but this bug is frustrating. I may try the suggested Activity Monitor fix.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Patrice Brousseau

iagoglez

macrumors newbie
Feb 22, 2021
1
0
Before attempting to download an update (or new app), make sure you kill the appstoreagent process. It will not work if it's still running.
First of all, sorry for my English :')

This partially worked for me, but I managed to update and I think it might be interesting to explain how.

First I will say that I use a Mac Pro 5.1 with three MarcOs for work, Mojave for a couple of months for being necessary.

With the other two Macos (Sierra and High Sierra) I had no problem for updates, but with Mojave there was no way. The strange thing is that one of the updates was for software that I did not have installed in Mojave...

An update I managed to do by creating a new user. Then it was when I noticed that Mojave detected software that I had in other directories, independent of the installation.

For one of them I simply compressed a backup copy of the app I had saved. The other (Whatsapp Desktop) was "more complicated": I had to do a full uninstall with AppCleaner (without leaving Mojave) of what was installed on Sierra and High Sierra. After this I could directly reinstall WhatsApp from the App Store, killing before appstoreagent. When I reboot in one of the other systems I will have to reinstall WhatsApp, but it seems like a minor problem.
 

jinbatsu

macrumors newbie
Feb 22, 2021
4
1
It is because of Security Update 2021-002.

Quick Fix (temporary)
While running App Store go to Activity Monitor app and force kill appstoreagent process.
Starting download/update again everythig works as expected, but until quit App Store,
then problem apear again.
Source
 
  • Love
Reactions: tranceking26

amstel78

macrumors 6502a
Aug 12, 2018
517
183
It is because of Security Update 2021-002.

Quick Fix (temporary)
While running App Store go to Activity Monitor app and force kill appstoreagent process.
Starting download/update again everythig works as expected, but until quit App Store,
then problem apear again.
Source
It is not related to 2021-002. Others have already performed clean installs with distro's issued prior to the 2021-002 SU and the App Store was still borked.
 

BKDad

macrumors regular
May 16, 2011
185
162
It is not related to 2021-002. Others have already performed clean installs with distro's issued prior to the 2021-002 SU and the App Store was still borked.
I have only installed 2021-001 and the problem for me started shortly after 2021-002 dropped, even though I didn't install 2021-002. So, it's not 2021-002 per se.

I still think this is a message from the cosmos that we shouldn't use the Apple App Store. Perhaps Apple is just weaning us from using the store with the idea of something bigger later. Who knows?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Patrice Brousseau

Patrice Brousseau

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 14, 2016
253
71
Montréal, Canada
I saw somewhere (I think Apple support forums, not sure) that there is a Security Update 2021-003 beta (for those enrolled in beta testing). Hoping that they will fix this bug before releasing this new SU...
 

amstel78

macrumors 6502a
Aug 12, 2018
517
183
By the way, this issue with App Store somehow also affects sleep, at least on my MP5,1. I've discovered that my MP will sleep according to defined parameters as long as App Store has never been started after a shutdown or reboot. The moment App Store is opened, the Mac will not sleep (monitor sleeps but Mac itself never enters a low power/hibernate state). Here are my findings:

  • Sleep functional if App Store has never been started after system boot
  • Sleep no longer functional if App Store opened;
    • Quitting App Store does not restore sleep functionality
    • Force quitting or killing appstoreagent if App Store is open does not restore sleep functionality
    • Quitting App Store as well as killing appstoreagent does not restore sleep functionality
  • Sleep functionality only returns after rebooting the Mac and ensuring App Store is not opened
Was wondering if anyone else has noticed similar? If so, is there another associated process preventing sleep? I've checked the 'Energy' tab within Activity Monitor and nothing stands out. Also ran pmset -g assertionslog|grep -i sleep within Terminal and saw nothing obvious.

Edit: did some more tests and it appears appstoreagent has nothing to do with it. I rebooted and watched the Activity Monitor and noticed that appstoreagent loaded itself even without starting the App Store. Timed sleep did work in that instance. However, the App Store itself once opened and even if quit, does something to prevent sleep which never happened prior to this incident. Very weird.


Edit 2: I think Apple's doing something. Earlier this morning, my download history was shown correctly. Now, all apps (even those installed already) show a blue cloud. That said, sleep appears to be working again although downloads still don't happen unless appstoreagent process is terminated.

Edit 3: disregard sleep comments above. Still not 100% sure if the App Store issues have anything to do with my sleep problems, or if it's coincidental but due to something else. I've struck my comments out for the time being.
 
Last edited:

cSalmon

macrumors regular
Dec 18, 2016
197
93
dc
While running App Store go to Activity Monitor app and force kill appstoreagent process.
I tried this and it finally started the update, got about 90 percent around the circle and just froze. Tried to kill the appstoreagent again - no luck getting the software to update. MacBook Air Retina, 13-inch, 2018 10.14.6

I was just thinking how great to update my software going to the trusted App Store instead of finding the software's official website, downloading and then installing. oh well
 
  • Like
Reactions: Patrice Brousseau

msh

macrumors 6502
Jun 13, 2009
356
128
SoCal
By the way, this issue with App Store somehow also affects sleep, at least on my MP5,1. I've discovered that my MP will sleep according to defined parameters as long as App Store has never been started after a shutdown or reboot. The moment App Store is opened, the Mac will not sleep (monitor sleeps but Mac itself never enters a low power/hibernate state). Here are my findings:

  • Sleep functional if App Store has never been started after system boot
  • Sleep no longer functional if App Store opened;
    • Quitting App Store does not restore sleep functionality
    • Force quitting or killing appstoreagent if App Store is open does not restore sleep functionality
    • Quitting App Store as well as killing appstoreagent does not restore sleep functionality
  • Sleep functionality only returns after rebooting the Mac and ensuring App Store is not opened
Was wondering if anyone else has noticed similar? If so, is there another associated process preventing sleep? I've checked the 'Energy' tab within Activity Monitor and nothing stands out. Also ran pmset -g assertionslog|grep -i sleep within Terminal and saw nothing obvious.

Edit: did some more tests and it appears appstoreagent has nothing to do with it. I rebooted and watched the Activity Monitor and noticed that appstoreagent loaded itself even without starting the App Store. Timed sleep did work in that instance. However, the App Store itself once opened and even if quit, does something to prevent sleep which never happened prior to this incident. Very weird.

Edit 2: I think Apple's doing something. Earlier this morning, my download history was shown correctly. Now, all apps (even those installed already) show a blue cloud. That said, sleep appears to be working again although downloads still don't happen unless appstoreagent process is terminated.
I was having that problem too but not clear whether App Store was causing it. I checked the Console for sleep error messages and found that my Apogee Duet Maestro daeman was preventing sleep; I killed that process and restarted the program and back to normal sleep. I suppose I could try the App Store again and see if that kills the sleep function.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Patrice Brousseau

amstel78

macrumors 6502a
Aug 12, 2018
517
183
Edit 2: I think Apple's doing something. Earlier this morning, my download history was shown correctly. Now, all apps (even those installed already) show a blue cloud. That said, sleep appears to be working again although downloads still don't happen unless appstoreagent process is terminated.
...and now Account history shows correctly again. Not every app has a blue cloud next to it any more. Something is definitely going on here.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Patrice Brousseau

amstel78

macrumors 6502a
Aug 12, 2018
517
183
I was having that problem too but not clear whether App Store was causing it. I checked the Console for sleep error messages and found that my Apogee Duet Maestro daeman was preventing sleep; I killed that process and restarted the program and back to normal sleep. I suppose I could try the App Store again and see if that kills the sleep function.
I don't think it's the App Store or appstoreagent. Checking assertions in terminal via pmset -g assertions shows nothing amiss when either are running as you can see here:
1614096712165.png


I edited my earlier post and struck out my initial observations. Could be related to App Store, but everything I'm seeing indicates otherwise. Could be coincidental. All I know is that I started having sleep issues after discovering this problem with the App Store and assumed both were related.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Patrice Brousseau

BKDad

macrumors regular
May 16, 2011
185
162
Worked for me, on one Mac anyway!
I had it work for me earlier today, too. I was shocked to get a Notification that there was an update for an app. So, I started the App Store and tried to download the update. Nothing but the swirly... So, I tried the suggestion and it immediately worked!

I guess this will be another AppleScript candidate to go along with the one to Fix (the) App Store Cache (the one you need to delete to prevent the "We could not complete your purchase." stoppage) and the one to Fix Software Update Reminder (the reminder that used to keep telling me to upgrade to Catalina. Presumably it tells me to upgrade to Big Sur now...).

It's funny how I had no need for any of these AppleScripts a year ago. I guess that's progress for you.
 

Mr_Brightside_@

macrumors 68040
Sep 23, 2005
3,748
2,037
Toronto
I had it work for me earlier today, too. I was shocked to get a Notification that there was an update for an app. So, I started the App Store and tried to download the update. Nothing but the swirly... So, I tried the suggestion and it immediately worked!

I guess this will be another AppleScript candidate to go along with the one to Fix (the) App Store Cache (the one you need to delete to prevent the "We could not complete your purchase." stoppage) and the one to Fix Software Update Reminder (the reminder that used to keep telling me to upgrade to Catalina. Presumably it tells me to upgrade to Big Sur now...).

It's funny how I had no need for any of these AppleScripts a year ago. I guess that's progress for you.
What are you using for the Catalina/Big Sur reminder? I have a profile installed so I can ignore updates in Terminal, but it's a bit cumbersome.
 

BKDad

macrumors regular
May 16, 2011
185
162
What are you using for the Catalina/Big Sur reminder? I have a profile installed so I can ignore updates in Terminal, but it's a bit cumbersome.
do shell script "defaults write com.apple.systempreferences AttentionPrefBundleIDs 0"

Just make this into an AppleScript app and run it after you've done an upgrade or looked for an upgrade through "Software Update".
 

pentool

macrumors member
Jul 20, 2013
52
7
I have filed a bug report about this on January 15. Over a month later haven't got any response, so yesterday, February 24, I chatted with support. I was escalated to a clueless higher level person 3 times and finally transferred over a phone support, who also called the iTunes group to see if this is a regional issue (eg having a US account but currently in the EU). I told them this is not the first time I am in the EU with Mojave and downloads worked fine, so this is NOT a regional/locale issue.

I cannot believe how many clueless people are there at Apple. Granted, they are very nice and polite and trying to be helpful, but aside from how to turn on your computer, they are clearly no help in more involved cases.

One of them said he checked my account in the backend side of things and all was well, so the issue is with my system.

So I thought why not do a clean install of 10.14.6. That should alleviate the problem. Nope. First I just installed the original 10.14.6 package with no updates. No luck. Apps are still not getting downloaded, just the usual spinning cursor is visible forever. Then I installed the latest updates and security patches. Still nothing.

I have noticed from time to time, that when Apple releases a major version, the App Store messes up with the downloads, but so far this issue never lasted this long.

So now here I am with a cleanly installed OS and cannot put any apps on it from the app store. I have no understanding that why Apple has not figured this out in the past, since it happened before as well.

It seemed to me that the only thing support does is trying push people to install their latest OS. They are nothing but salesmen. The phone support person screen shared with me and checked basic things like what is my model and how much free space I have. Right, because it is not something you can just ASK, you need to SCREENSHARE to find it out!!! I am extremely furious at the moment.

Submitted ANOTHER bug report of this same issue yesterday - like that will make a difference - but I don't care. This is really insane!

I am sure you guys seen this...
https://support.itsolver.net/hc/en-...36-macOS-Mojave-won-t-download-from-App-Store

this...
https://apple.stackexchange.com/que...r-500-com-apple-commerce-client/352847#352847

and this...
https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/350669/cant-install-updates-from-macos-app-store

None of them helps.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.