Mac App Store running slow

Question

Level 1

11 points

Mac App Store running slow

During the last few days app store has started running really slow. It takes too long to open or change between Featured Top Charts etc and during the change its on " Not Responding " state.Also im trying to update a game application ( Touch Fly) . Im asked my apple ID and pass , enter them correctly but then nothing happens. Dont know if thats an issue of app store or the application for sure though.

MB Pro 13" @009, Mac OS X (10.6.7), 2.53GHZ

Posted on Mar 29, 2011 3:38 AM

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Answer 1

Mar 29, 2011 3:48 AM in response to ILatu

Hi,

Launch the MAS. Click Account on the right under Quick Links.

Then click the Edit button next to: *Payment information*

Make sure the Security code for your credit card is available then click Done.

Restart the MAS. If that doesn't help...

Quit the MAS if it's open.

Open a Finder window. Select MacintoshHD in the Sidebar on the left then open the Library folder then the Caches folder.

Move the com.apple.appstore and the com.apple.storeagent files to the Trash

From the same Library folder open the Preferences folder.

Move these files to the Trash: com.apple.appstore.plist and com.apple.storeagent.plist

Same Library folder open the Cookies folder. Move the com.apple.appstore.plist file to the Trash.

Relaunch the MAS. If that didn't help either, install the v10.6.7 combo update available here.

Then restart your Mac.

Whenever an app is slow to respond, check to make sure there's enough free space on the startup disk.

Right or control click the MacintoshHD icon. Click Get Info. In the Get Info window you will see Capacity and Available. *Make sure you always have a minimum of 15% free disk space.*

Carolyn 🙂

Message was edited by: Carolyn

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Answer 2

Apr 1, 2011 10:32 AM in response to ILatu

I'm having the same issue. I performed the steps suggested above to no effect. Every time I switch between tabs I get the beach ball and it takes a long time to do anything in the App Store. It often goes into "Application not Responding" mode.

This is happening in all my Macs: Mac Pro Quad Core 16GB RAM, Mac Mini Server 2010 4GB RAM, Mac Mini 2009 4GB and MacBook Pro 15" 2008 4GB RAM. I have plenty of free disk space on all my Macs. Both the Mac Pro and the MacBook Pro are running off a SSD drive, where everything just flies.

This is extremely frustrating as more and more stuff is moving to the Mac App Store and it's becoming a real nightmare to deal with it.

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Answer 3

sgginc

Level 3

676 points

Apr 1, 2011 11:41 AM in response to HobbesDoo

Check your Activity Monitor for processes that are spiking.
Select All Processes in the drop down menu.
Click on the %CPU column.

Anything hogging the CPU?

Next check the Console for error messages.

Thanks ... Ken

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Answer 4

Apr 1, 2011 4:05 PM in response to Carolyn Samit

I have the latest OS. I trashed the files as recommended and updated my account information, yet the App Store remains painfully slow. Here is a small sample of the console error messages:

4/1/11 5:27:39 PM [0x0-0x2a62a6].com.apple.appstore[5445] Fri Apr 1 17:27:39 David-Wheelers-MacBook-Pro.local App Store[5445] <Error>: CGBitmapContextGetBitsPerComponent: invalid context 0x100674880
4/1/11 5:31:47 PM App Store[5445] multibyte IDs are unsupported.
4/1/11 5:31:53 PM [0x0-0x2a62a6].com.apple.appstore[5445] Fri Apr 1 17:31:53 David-Wheelers-MacBook-Pro.local App Store[5445] <Error>: CGBitmapContextGetBitsPerComponent: invalid context 0x100674880
4/1/11 5:31:53 PM [0x0-0x2a62a6].com.apple.appstore[5445] This isn't a bitmap context. Forcing destination format to ARGB_8 for CGContext.
4/1/11 5:32:40 PM App Store[5445] multibyte IDs are unsupported.

Activity Monitor reports "App Store (not responding)." Finally, after perhaps five minutes, the screen refreshes and everything looks normal.

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Answer 5

sgginc

Level 3

676 points

Apr 1, 2011 4:23 PM in response to sidekick1981

Start holding the shift key down till it says Safe Boot.

See if the App Store continues to be slow/unresponsive.

This will suggest if there is any SW conflicting with the App Store.

Thanks ... Ken

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Answer 6

Apr 1, 2011 5:11 PM in response to sgginc

I'm running in safe mode. MAS is still slow and console is getting the same error messages.

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Answer 7

sgginc

Level 3

676 points

Apr 2, 2011 3:20 AM in response to sidekick1981

Last thing is to logout and try another user account but it appears there is either a connection issue or a system issue.

If your browsers/email are OK you may need to do an archive and install.

There is still a chance this is a connection issue.
It’s strange only the App Store has problems.

Lets hope others can comment on connection problems and your Console messages as an archive and install should be a last resort.

Thanks ... Ken

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Answer 8

kiilliik

Level 1

4 points

Apr 2, 2011 4:01 AM in response to ILatu

This issue has been answered in other posts. It is recommended to peruse or search the forums for topics similar to your problem before creating a new discussion.

To paraphase the solution:

Launch KeyChain Access.app. Go to Preferences. Select the Certificates tab.
Turn off CRL.

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Answer 9

Apr 2, 2011 2:37 PM in response to kiilliik

Thank you. I believe you are referring to the topic: "App Store hanging with beachball"

Switching off certificate checks did solve the problem. However the discussion in that thread suggests that this fix subverts security. I will just avoid MAS until Apple fixes the underlying problem.

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Answer 10

idanno67

Level 1

138 points

Apr 26, 2011 9:50 AM in response to ILatu

I use a guest account with fast user switching until someone figures out this bug.

AppStore seems to work fine with my guest account, which would suggest a corrupt file somewhere.

So I would think 😕

I also tried all of the above, to no avail. Except turning off CRL in the keychain.

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Answer 11

Apr 29, 2011 10:53 AM in response to sidekick1981

I fully agree with sidekick1981 : turning off the certificate revocation list mechanism might be a workaround but it is by no means a solution, as it jeopardizes security.

So what has Apple to say about this bug? Do they realize that it might eventually turn people away from MAS?

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Answer 12

Jun 12, 2011 7:08 AM in response to Benoit Garbinato

I'm in full agreement with those who've said that turning off the Certificate Revocation List is a "workaround", yet a security risk. To that end, I wrote a small Applescript that I run just before I launch the MAS, which turns off the Certificate Revocation List, displays a dialog window with two buttons to "Leave it OFF and exit" and "Turn it ON and exit". I leave the dialog window on the side, run MAS, and once I'm done and exited MAS, I return to the dialog window and click the "Turn it ON and exit window."

It's still a workaround and a little less of a security risk as (a) I'm not going to run any other apps while browsing the MAS and (b) I'm going to turn the Certificate Revocation List back on immediately after using the MAS.

If you're interested in the Applescript, see this article on my blog where you can get a copy of it.

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