Software Update Preferences Not Honored

go to the folder /users/yourusername/library/preferences/byhost and delete the files whose names start with com.apple.softwareupdate and com.apple.scheduler. then log out/in and try setting software update prefs again.

mkramer wrote:
Thanks for your interest. I tried your suggestion, but the problem remains. Is there something else I can try trashing?

no, AFAIK, there isn't. I don't know why this would be happening. does this happen only on restarts? set the preferences as you want and quit system preferences. then start system preferences again and go to software update preferences. are they retained?

mkramer wrote:
They're retained if I just quit and reopen SUPP but if I log out and back in, they're reset.

make a new admin account and try the same on that account. are the preferences retained when you log out/in on that account?

In the meantime, I tried the softwareupdate CLU, but the result is the same (w/ and w/ out sudo).

I would not rename or touch anything in /System. if you are looking for a workaround just lock the files I mentioned in my first post. that should lock the update preferences in place and you won't be able to change them until you unlock those files.

mkramer wrote:
Edit: the preferences were ghosted because of the renaming of the app. Un-renaming the app and they're back. The preferences stick on a new admin account.

if the preferences stick on the new account the problem is local to your main account. it could be some corrupt cache or preference files although I don't know which ones.

Locking the files did not work.

i suspect it did. when you lock those files, the system can not change them and whatever changes are made from software system preferences are not written to the hard drive. do the files remain locked when you log out/in?

I can feel my blood pressure rising, I think I have to leave this one aside and just disable in Core Services. If my computer were running like a well-oiled machine, then I would not mess with it. Since it is broken, I feel perfectly justified in hacking it 😉.

I still would not consider this a good solution. I would try clearing various cache files using Onyx.

Message was edited by: mkramer

Message was edited by: mkramer

I told you to lock two files. you only locked one. the other file is the one that keeps scheduling information.

well, your results are puzzling but i would still think that with those preference files locked with the correct setting software update will work as it should. when you lock those preference files it does not matter what changes are made in GUI system preferences. they are not written to the disk which is all that matters. that's how it works with other preferences at any rate. for example, if you lock the file com.apple.desktop.plist, no matter what you do in desktop system preferences, your desktop background will not be affected. you can make an experiment and see if automatic software update actually runs with those files locked. wait 24 hours and check the console logs for softwareupdate messages. this should tell us who is right on the issue. But first, i would clear caches using Onyx as I suggested earlier.