So tell the guy below who chided you about "good housekeeping" and disk permissions to SCREW IT.
Like many users here, after hours wasted trying to get the "Software Update" install process to work -- only to have the installation hang for 30 minutes or longer -- I finally downloaded the standalone installer (the regular one, not the combo)...
(this one: the 372 MB file --
http://support.apple.com/downloads/MacOS_X_10_5_6Update )
As with most people who have reported back here to this thread, running THAT installer worked fine, no snags, took about I would say 5 minutes to install, the status bar moving rapidly along until the green arrow and UPDATE SUCCESSFUL! ...
*Another fine example of BAD USABILITY DESIGN:*
All Apple would have to have done was simply say (with the same elegance and simplicity as their marketing team understands how to talk to consumers):
"*PLEASE NOTE:* This update takes longer than most of the usual Software Updates, so plan 30 minutes to an hour before you begin. The process occurs in two parts, so just follow the on-screen prompts. During Part 1, a large installer file (between 300 MB and 700 MB) first downloads to your computer before the automatic installation can begin. If you are on a broadband connection, this could take about 30 minutes for the initial download.
The download progress bar will let you know how far along the download has proceeded. (*Note to Apple:* It would have been very easy for you to then have a separate progress-bar just indicating the status of the installer downloading, vs having one combined Installation status bar that hangs for 30 minutes or more while an unusually large file downloads, giving the appearance that the installation process is stuck. Then a new progress bar would inform users that the file was successfully downloaded and now it is being installed automatically)
It's astounding to me how many times a common problem turns out to be less about engineering, and more about simple communication.
What Apple ALSO could have done is say: "We recommend you perform this update in two parts. First, download the large updater file. Then, when it is completed, follow the prompt and double click on the installer file to have it begin its automatic installation process, just as you would do if you were installing a new piece of software."
But no, now there will be probably 200 new redundant threads started all because Apple can't figure it out to inform users how to approach this major installation.
I've been using Macs since the SE in 1986 -- and this snagged me. I can only imagine what is happening at home for my elderly parents using the Macbook we gave them last year. I can only hope my Dad did what he USUALLY does when periodically ominous notes appear about downloading software: he ignores them, or turns off the computer and calls me. That would waste less time than I just wasted for no reason.
RECAP: (1) Download the standalone installer. (2) Double-click the downloaded file and installation should proceed normally.
*I would bet $100,000: 99 out of 100 people don't have to go repair permissions* and all that crap that fastidious people here like to point to first --- instead of examining the obvious. No, all they have to do is do what Apple didn't bother instructing them to do: Use the standalone installer to avoid most complications.
