Update downloads keep stopping.......

You may wish to troubleshoot Software Update as this article explains:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106695

or just use Software Update to determine when an update is available for you to download from http://www.apple.com/swupdates/

I do the latter, and sometimes it is necessary to wait a couple days before that happens. I find I'm less likely to run into problems if I do that.

Since very few people report this kind of problem, it is probable that something in your system is not right -- corrupt or missing files, misconfigured network settings, etc.

Try this to pin it down:

1. Open System Preferences -> Network & check the order & active/inactive status of the network services of the location you use. Make sure the top-most service is the one you want to use -- typically this would be "Built-in Ethernet" for a wired connection. Make all the other services inactive temporarily, or create a new location & do that for it.
2. Still in System Preferences -> Network, select the desired service & click the advanced button. If configured for using DHCP, click the "Renew DHCP lease" button. Consider turning off IPV6. Make sure the other settings are what you expect.
3. Run Disk Utility's two checks (disk & permissions) & see if it finds any errors. (Note that permissions warnings are not errors.)
4. Create a new admin user account & see if the problem disappears.
5. Download the Mac OS X 10.5.1 Update with another computer, copy it to the affected Mac & run it.

Do these things in numerical order, stopping if one solves your problem.

It sounds like your Mac isn't keeping its connection active - this happens to me sometimes but only after leaving it in sleep mode for a prolonged amount of time.

I'm not exactly sure why this happens, I'd see what Apple says- give em a call.

Not a good idea to surf the net while the downloads are happening. The moment any update wants to install, it expects a virgin system. If temporarily files that are unexpected appear during the install, they can damage the files that are being installed.

There is probably some problem with your network settings ( DNS, Router, etc. ). If You upgraded from Tiger I suggest you remove your ethernet connection and recreate it. For some reason leopard doesn't always import all the settings properly from tiger.

You might try turning off IPv6, some networks can't handle the new protocol very well.

If all else fails, configure all settings manually instead of DHCP.

IMHO DHCP is only of any use on a portable computer (but that's another argument/another time).

If your router has a firewall, be sure its not blocking ports you need ( 20, 21, 443, etc. ).

If you are using a downloader be sure it is leopard compatible (may need an update).

Hmmmm....

The only other thing I can think of is possibly a permission problem. Leopard is famous for that. Check permissions on whatever folder you are trying to download to and make sure you have permission to write to that folder. If not you will have to change them.

a brody wrote:
Not a good idea to surf the net while the downloads are happening. The moment any update wants to install, it expects a virgin system. If temporarily files that are unexpected appear during the install, they can damage the files that are being installed.

Nonsense. In the first place, all files being downloaded are created & opened for writing at the time the download starts, then appended as segments of the file are moved from memory to the disk. After the file is completely written, it is closed. This is a fundamental operation for any file system.

In the second place, updates don't expect a "virgin system," whatever that is supposed to mean. Installs (like everything else in a multitasking OS) respect "busy" flags & don't update open files while they are in use. There are hundreds of these files open no matter what the user is doing -- just open Activity Monitor & inspect a few root level processes to get an idea of how pervasive & impossible to avoid this is.

The only way one file can damage another is if the filesystem has problems & loses track of where each file is stored on the disk. This will be a problem whether you are doing a download or not.

"All the permissions are set to read & write for both system & admin"

Hi Wakko:

Be sure you haven't lost your admin privileges on your account, Leopard is already famous for stripping people of their admin privileges.

I'm having the same experience and problem.
I found the problem does not happen in Tiger with all same hardwares and in same conditions.
I even tried a latest model router but it cannot help.

So I think it must be the OS 10.5.
I tried to call Apple for the issue but no actual or effective reponses shown.

I'm very dissapointed.

Can somebody help?
Thanks.

CM Leung