Mac stuck on checking for updates

Got a call back today from a Senior Advisor. This person is now working with Engineering on this issue. Finally getting somewhere I think. Advisor encourages every single person having this problem with Software Updates not functioning, to please call Apple Support. Said that without this problem being reported to an Apple advisor, the fix will take longer to happen. The more calls, the more attention it gets.

Got a call back today from a Senior Advisor. This person is now working with Engineering on this issue. Finally getting somewhere I think. Advisor encourages every single person having this problem with Software Updates not functioning, to please call Apple Support. Said that without this problem being reported to an Apple advisor, the fix will take longer to happen. The more calls, the more attention it gets.

If you have this problem then there is a solution, I had the same problem and while digging I found something on a trusted website and the link is below, therefore after checking all the steps there was a command that work for me and you have to to the Terminal and type or paste the following command: "sudo rm -rf "/macOS Install Data" thank you let me know it works.

Link: https://macreports.com/mac-update-stuck-checking-for-updates-how-to-fix/

by all accounts the issue CAN come back. The kick just works temporarily only and the problem will at some point come back. If u are using JAMF I would suggest creating a policy that runs this once a day.

Also - this will potentially be causing issues with your recon, if you have the software updates check included in your inventory. The recon will never complete due to this same issue.

We have logged this with Apple and the advice is that the fix is included in Monterey, but at this stage will not be retrofitted to Big Sur.

Assume you have tried the previously-suggested...

sudo launchctl kickstart -k system/com.apple.softwareupdated

...which did not work in my case for the issue with Catalina.

After all of my testing, research, digging, investigating, plist removal, etc, the only solution I found that worked in my case was to reinstall macOS Catalina using "Recovery Mode." See my previous March 18 post.

Just "uncheck" the box which says "Automatically keep my Mac up to date". You'll have to "unlock" to make the change using the password you use to log in to your laptop.

Then, re-boot modem.

Then, after re-starting and log-in, go check. No more spinning wheel. Re-check "automatically keep my Mac up to date".

Hope this helps!

11.6.2 is probably the update it is looking for. If you have insufficient space it won't download.

Make sure the Mac OS install data folder is removed before redownloading.

Are you in need of running something on Monterey? That is available only on the Mac App Store.

Backup your data before you install anything.

Can you let us know if that solution lasts? I have done a couple of seeming fixes. But, always, overnight, with mac asleep, next morning was back to spinning gear in Software Updates. Solution did not maintain.

What iOS are you on? I'm on Monterey now. Was on Catalina when the 1/26/22 Catalina update caused the issue.

Apple Senior Advisor continues to state that Apple cannot send out a solution unless they are aware that this is a problem reaching a vast number of devices. Anyone still having this problem, please call Apple and have them do a Ticket.

In meantime, Apple engineers state this is only solution at present: " Currently, our best next steps is to erase the computer, reinstall the latest macOS, create a test account, then migrate your data over." (Note: my last backup thankfully was before this problem hit.)

I'm no longer able to edit my post above, so here's this morning's update:

Last night, after the Software Update window showed MacOS Monterey was available, we then updated to Monterey. The download, install, and restart occurred as expected, without any problems.

As RJH-333 has mentioned in their reply, the fix does appear to be included in Monterey. Now that we're running Monterey, I checked for software updates this morning (having switched off the mac overnight) and it responds correctly, instead of spinning.

A big thanks to everyone for their inputs to Apple and to this forum.

I too have been having this problem under Big Sur. I believe it started when I wanted to upgrade from 11.6.3 to 11.6.4. The technique suggested of using the command sudo rm -rf "/macOS Install Data" worked that time and was needed again when I went from 11.6.4 to 11.6.5. However it is not working when I check for update under 11.6.5. I see it has been posted that this issue has been fixed under Monterey. But that does one no good if you can't get to Monterey! Come on Apple, you need to fix this bug for Big Sur users, I believe we are still in support.

Yeah, I thought that. My next move was to redo the clean install, test the computer for a few days with a virgin account and then use the Time Machine to restore selected files.

Battery failure - Your battery is reporting that it needs to be serviced.

Unsigned files - There are unsigned software files installed that could be adware and should be reviewed.

Clean up - There are orphan files that could be removed.

System modifications - There are a large number of system modifications running in the background.

External drives and performance - There are external drives connected that could be affecting performance.

Kernel extensions present - This computer has kernel extensions that may not work in the future.

Antivirus software: Apple and Avast

Launchd: /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.downloadmanager.plist

Executable: /opt/DownloadManager/downloadManager_mac ~ /opt/DownloadManager/ca

Details: Executable file is hidden - possibly adware

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Just ran the command as this was being posted and below if the output - so the command is working

Finding available software

Software Update found the following full installers:

* Title: macOS Monterey, Version: 12.1, Size: 12157035487K, Build: 21C52

* Title: macOS Monterey, Version: 12.0.1, Size: 12128428704K, Build: 21A559

* Title: macOS Big Sur, Version: 11.6.2, Size: 12433351292K, Build: 20G314

* Title: macOS Big Sur, Version: 11.6.1, Size: 12428472512K, Build: 20G224

* Title: macOS Big Sur, Version: 11.6, Size: 12428553042K, Build: 20G165

* Title: macOS Big Sur, Version: 11.5.2, Size: 12440916552K, Build: 20G95

I have the same issue on my wife's computer with the added complication that it's very slow.

I wiped the disk, reinstalled the O/S and restore from Time Machine, but did not solve the issue.

I checked the disk running disk utility in recovery mode, no error was reported.

As suggested by P.Phillips I ran Ethrecheck and I'm posting the result here hoping that someone can help.