App Store apps do not install properly on a fresh install of High Sierra on internal SSD or HDD

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44 points

App Store apps do not install properly on a fresh install of High Sierra on internal SSD or HDD

I upgraded my iMac 27-inch Mid-2011 with a 240-GB SSD alongside the existing 2-TB HDD. After the upgrade, I tested and everything worked great using the existing High Sierra system on the 2-TB HDD.

I did a new install of macOS High Sierra from Apple over the internet on to the 240-GB SSD. It was a fast and error-free installation. The iMac started up fast from the SSD and I applied system updates.

I completed all configuration tasks (setup all my preferences and installed all my applications and utilities) and then I ran it like this for a couple of days trying things out.

When it was time to add my App Store apps I ran into a snag. All my purchased apps install but will not run. When I launch them they either generate an error report, or bounce once in the dock, or do nothing at all.

I also tried adding new free apps that were not attached to my account and they behave the same way. So, I did some troubleshooting things like trying a different login and playing with permissions. Nothing works.

I spent an hour today on a support call with Apple and they were not able to figure it out and recommended I take it to for Apple authorized service.

I gave up and reinstalled the operating system on the HDD and to my surprise the same issue is happening on the original drive; that was working just fine!

Has anyone else experienced this? Can I not have two internal drives?

iMac 27″, macOS 10.13

Posted on Nov 13, 2020 11:38 PM

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Answer 1

GrenadeBait Author

Level 1

44 points

Nov 14, 2020 11:58 AM in response to PeterPeterPeterPeter

Since my original post yesterday I have reverted everything to the original state and the problem persists! All software from the App Store does not work. Apps are either improperly installing or they will not run on a vanilla macOS Sierra install!

I also noted that if I click an app's 'install 'button in the App Store the download and install commence and then the button says 'installed', good. However, when I check the applications folder the app is installed but either crashes or does nothing when launched. When I return to the App Store and refresh the page the app button shows 'install' as if it hasn't been installed.

I do not know what has changed. Everything else is working fine including all the Apple software that came with the macOS and all the software I install from the internet. It's as if the App Store app isn't letting the macOS run the apps. To me, it looks like a DRM miscommunication between the App Store and the macOS, because the apps do seem to download and install but the App Store doesn't know it and won't let the macOS launch the app.

I have exhausted almost all my theories in my troubleshooting except one. Maybe there is an issue with my Apple ID and the Apps store in High Sierra so I'm going to restore the Mac back to a default install of High Sierra and have someone else with an Apple ID login to the vanilla macOS and try to download and install apps.

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Answer 2

GrenadeBait Author

Level 1

44 points

Nov 15, 2020 9:32 AM in response to M-Ibrahim

Sounds exactly the same as what I have been observing.

I noted an oddity in the clean install of High Sierra; After the install when it informs that there are updates it applies four updates (if I recall correctly, two are security, one for mobile devices, and I think safari). The two security updates end n 005, and 006. Later after updating 004 appears and and error that it could nor install. I’m just wondering now if the App Store issue is related.

im going to give it another day or so before trying another clean install and update, but I was wondering if anyone with the App Store issue has tried the app installs on a clean High Sierra install without the latest updates?

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Answer 3

Nov 15, 2020 11:22 AM in response to GrenadeBait

I have had the same issue. Had no issues until last Thursday (release of Big Sur). I have wiped my SSD and did a new OS install of High Sierra (10.13.6) but still having the same issue even after all security updates have finished and have been installed. Even tried signing the program myself using Xcode and in terminal I did "sudo codesign --force --deep --sign - /Applications/Application.app". It seemed to have worked momentarily but again, reverted back to the same issue, and some apps continued to not open. Contacted apple support and they clearly weren't aware of the situation, nor could they help me. Definitely something on Apples end. Just hoping they can fix it sometime soon as I do need some of these apps for work and such.

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Answer 4

Nov 17, 2020 7:37 AM in response to GrenadeBait

Okay, I submitted a bug report so hopefully they can address the issue soon. Seems like may other threads are experiencing the same issue as well:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/252030900

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/252032870

I had wiped my SSD several times now and reinstalled a clean version of High Sierra, shortly after completing the install and getting past the "setting up your Mac" screen, the apps work initially once installed from the App Store (this is right after your screen boots up after the install process), and then they begin to crash shortly after and I get the same code signing error. This is definitely something on Apples end which I cannot seem to fix myself, and it seems that many of you continue to have the same issue, and do the same process as me. Anyways, take home message here, we just have to wait for apple to acknowledge the error and correct the situation. I highly suggest you all report this error as well so they can get the message quickly! Here is the link: https://www.apple.com/feedback/

Cheers

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Answer 5

GrenadeBait Author

Level 1

44 points

Nov 17, 2020 11:56 AM in response to GrenadeBait

Summary...

No matter what I do the vast majority of the apps don't work.

Details...

I have been working on this issue since last Thursday, inclusive. After more than five days of trying, including help from an Apple Support call, I'm ready to just sit tight and see if Apple acknowledges the problem and what they do, but time is running out for High Sierra support.

My testing, while not exhaustive, has been comprehensive. Utilizing three different Macs of varying age, configuration, updates, software, users, and Apple IDs.

Everything folks have suggested I have tried, with one exception. That exception was the formating with APFS instead of HFS+, which still doesn't work. So, the issue...

...is not hardware, so forget about how your Mac is rigged.

...seems isolated to High Sierra and the App Store apps.

...does not present on other macOS or OS X versions.

...seems to affect about 80% of apps tested.

...presents as a crash report, or a message that it is broken or incomplete, or nothing happens at all.

...maybe related to the type of app it is (32/64-bit, App Nap support, etc)

...crash reports all indicate code sign error.

Best Scientific Wild *** Guesses...

Something changed recently in App Store in regards to how apps are delivered and installed. It seems to correspond to the introduction of macOS 11 Big Sur and the imminent drop of future support for High Sierra (possible end of the year?). I'm not surprised because macOS 11 is a dramatic departure from the previous iterations with processor and software support for 64-bit Intel and ARM. Apple Silicon may be related.

In an effort to have only apps appear in the Big Sur App Store that will run on that new OS there may be something unintentionally affecting the app's appearance and function via the High Sierra App Store. Pure speculation... Apple is using the digital signing of apps to manage and control what the App Store presents to users of Big Sur and did not adequately test the impact on High Sierra because speculation is that High Sierra support drops and the end of this month (November).

Additional Observations...

I noted that when scrolling through the 'Purchased' page of the High Sierra App Store that some of the apps don't link to their product page but do in the Big Sur App Store. Example: SketchBook Express was added to my account in 2011 and is still listed in my Purchased items in the High Sierra App Store and in the Big Sur App Store. However, the behaviour is different:

• Big Sur App Store - I CAN load the product detail page but CAN NOT install SketchBook Express (make sense, this app probably needs to be updated by dev);

• High Sierra App Store - I CAN NOT load the product detail page but CAN install SketchBook Express (doesn't make sense because it installs and runs fine).

Another example is TextWrangler from way back.

• Big Sur App Store - I CAN load the product detail page but CAN NOT install TextWrangler (make sense, DOES need to be updated by dev);

• High Sierra App Store - I CAN NOT load the product detail page but CAN install TextWrangler (doesn't make sense it installs but doesn't run).

I'm starting to see that it is not widespread. A handful of apps work, but the vast majority don't work anymore in High Sierra after the change last week. On Wednesday last week, one of my favourite apps, the Magnet app from CrowdCafé was updated and worked on my old installation of High Sierra. On Thursday after the complete rebuild of the computer with a clean install of High Sierra the Magnet app doesn't work along with dozens and dozens of App Store apps I use. So Sad :(

Current discussions I'm aware of are:

der-Josh

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/252032870

PeterPeterPeterPeter

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/252030900

GrenadeBait

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/252037712

(I wish I could change the title of mine because this has nothing to do with SSDs and HDDs.

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Answer 6

Dejsa

Level 1

15 points

Nov 17, 2020 12:28 PM in response to M-Ibrahim

I have managed to open my apps from a clean install. The one thing I did is not sing in whit my Apple ID on setup. After I got to the desktop, I then singed in, downloaded a few of my apps and started them up. Everything was fine, worked on them for a couple of hours, restarted the machine a few times, no issues. As soon as I install the security updates, apps stop working. Tried a few times for the last two days, every time the result is the same.

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Answer 7

Dejsa

Level 1

15 points

Nov 17, 2020 1:19 PM in response to GrenadeBait

You are right. This is something we can't fix. It's on Apple to fix this. For me the recovery installation worked 9 out of 10 times whit the steps I described. Managed to load up Logic to get to my work, managed to open, pages, iMove, Watsapp, downloaded a few of the free apps to test, everything opend until I installed the security updates, after the updates, the same old message, then I start again from the ground up. Tried to ignore the updates today for a cupple of hours, and there were no issues. Then I installed the updates again about two hours ago, and now I'm at the same point as we all are.

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Answer 8

Dejsa

Level 1

15 points

Nov 18, 2020 7:13 AM in response to GrenadeBait

Okay, so I reinstalled the OS one more time and this is how I managed to get the apps to load up. When I got to the setup screen I skipped the internet connection setup, skipped the sing in to my Apple ID, entered the customize settings and disabled locations, disabled Siri and disabled the share analytics whit apple. All of the settings on there are disabled. Once I got to the Mac desktop, then I connected to the wifi, opend the App Store, loved in to my Apple ID, downloaded the apps and once downloaded, they opened up no problem.

Here I have Pages as proof. If I install the updates that are available on the App Store as it can be seen on the icon in the dock, as soon as the Mac has rebooted after the install, the apps stop working and give the now already known codesing error.

I really hope that Apple addresses this soon, because even if manageable to get the apps to work, it's not a stable way to even start work whit the apps because who knows when the apps will stop working again.

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Answer 9

Nov 18, 2020 7:25 AM in response to Dejsa

That's a great temporary solution. You can disable the automatic installation of system and security updates from System Preferences > App Store. I'll give this solution a try tonight. Thanks for keeping us updated.

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Answer 10

GrenadeBait Author

Level 1

44 points

Nov 18, 2020 10:43 AM in response to M-Ibrahim

I'm also going to give it a try, but I agree that it's only temporary solution because a) that's really jumping through hoops to setup the computer and b) you can't update the computer for stability and security.

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Answer 11

Dejsa

Level 1

15 points

Nov 18, 2020 11:51 AM in response to GrenadeBait

The method I last used to install the os was through the recovery mode. Erased the whole drive and formatted it whit APFS.

After the installation is complete and the Mac boots up to the final setup screen(here you select you region, keyboard layout, etc.) If you use wifi to connect to the internet, just skip it, if you use an ethernet connection, just unplug the cable as soon as the Mac boots up after the installation. Finish the setup process, after which you get to the desktop. At that point you can connect the computer to the internet, open the App Store, sing in whit your Apple ID and download your apps, and (fingers crossed) open up your apps whit no problems. I tested a number of apps, including Apples and third party, payed and free. All of the apps open up whiteout errors. Logic, Final Cut, Pages, Microsoft Word, Messenger, Whatsapp, Adobe Lightroom, some free games, etc. And everything works as it should as long as the updates are not installed. If I haven't been clear about something, please do tell. I will try my best to describe the procedure as precise as possible. I hope you get the same results as I did.

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Answer 12

Dejsa

Level 1

15 points

Nov 18, 2020 12:05 PM in response to M-Ibrahim

Here is my current screenshot. Once I did the reinstall of the os whit the steps I had described, and ignored the updates, apps worked whit no problems. But this is only temporary and who knows if something can go wrong again... But for me at least, apps still work after several restarts and shutdowns of the laptop.

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Answer 13

GrenadeBait Author

Level 1

44 points

Nov 18, 2020 12:23 PM in response to Dejsa

This sounds very promising because the more we know about symptoms and behaviours the more information we have to provide Apple. Root cause analysis is always critical.

My testing with some earlier and newer macOS clearly shows that the issue only exists with High Sierra. High Sierra is still maintained, but I don't know for how much longer. I'm hoping the last 2020-006 update isn't the last.

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Answer 14

Dejsa

Level 1

15 points

Nov 18, 2020 12:23 PM in response to M-Ibrahim

I really hope that Apple does something about this so we can all continue to use are computers. As we all know, this is is a temporary solution and who knows when will the apps stop working again, like in your case. For me, it works as long as I don't apply the 005/006 update.

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Answer 15

GrenadeBait Author

Level 1

44 points

Nov 18, 2020 12:29 PM in response to Dejsa

Speaking of updates... I even tried applying the 004 update manually, then the 005 and 006. Testing App Store after each update. No improvement. I think the key is in what Dejsa has uncovered right after the initial clean install and the OS talking with the servers. I'm going to try it soon and see if I can replicate it and also whether or not it maintains.

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App Store apps do not install properly on a fresh install of High Sierra on internal SSD or HDD

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