App Store will not updates unless in safe mode

Question

Level 2

223 points

App Store will not updates unless in safe mode

My 2017 m3 MacBook reports updates to 7 apps but it the App Store will not let me update them. When I click update I get different results:

A circle starts to spin and never stops
The spinning circle becomes the stop square but nothing is downloaded
One time the download started on two of the apps but the thick line got to 75-85% full and then stopped; eventually this popped back to the "Update" button

I have read that people have had some success with opening the Keychain Access app, opening the Preferences panel, and resetting to default. I did this once in the past but it is not helping me now.

In fact, the only way I can get apps to update is in SafeMode (power down, hold Shift until the boot logo shows) and even then it's not running at full power: Xcode has been installing for hours, like got to 85% in a few minutes but the last 15% has been taking at least 2.5 hours. Maybe 3.

What other troubleshooting can I do? I did the Keychain dance already and rebooting to Safe Mode to update apps is not a viable experience; even Windows Store doesn't force that level of workaround.

I'm currently running macOS 11.1.

MacBook, macOS 11.1

Posted on Jan 9, 2021 10:02 PM

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Answer 1

randyrants Author

Level 2

223 points

Jan 15, 2021 9:44 AM in response to randyrants

Closing the loop.

I waited until I saw available updates
I noted that Sophos was re-installed for me, thanks to some overlord "help"
Clicked update on one of the 8 apps available; waited for a bit but saw no UX updates
Uninstalled Sophos
Clicked update on another of the 8 apps available
- This updated showed feedback in the UX
- All other seven apps updated fine

Just need to remember to uninstall the AV before trying to update, I guess? Faster than Safe Mode, for sure.

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Answer 2

Barney-15E

Level 10

117,214 points

Jan 10, 2021 4:59 AM in response to randyrants

If it works in Safe Mode, that implies you have installed some third-party system modification that is interfering with the update process.

You can download and run Etrecheck to help you identify what you have installed.

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Answer 3

randyrants Author

Level 2

223 points

Jan 10, 2021 11:49 AM in response to randyrants

I've given it a run and I found a bunch of old Steam stuff lurking around. Let me run it again, but what parts are of most interest? Does it make sense to post the lot? The only thing that seems to be "interesting" is Sophos AV which I was required to install.

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Answer 4

randyrants Author

Level 2

223 points

Jan 10, 2021 3:00 PM in response to Luis Sequeira1

That would be my organization, which hasn't given me a vote on the matter. I did turn it all off and tried to grab the updates before I discovered the safe mode "workaround" but it didn't matter. I was able to uninstall it completely; now waiting for an app to update again to see if that matters. Will post the report shortly (as I'm off on another machine).

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