I have an update for iBooks Author waiting to be downloaded but when I try to enter my password to start the update I get this message in red under my user name "an unknown error occurred" and I have done the usual, restart, force quit. The username and password work fine everywhere else from my iPhone, iPad and in iTunes
MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6), 2.6 GHz 4 GB RAM
I observed a cryptic "Unknown Error" message when trying to update a particular application on my Mac.
I came to realize that Apple thinks that more than one(!) Apple-ID is associated with various applications on this system.
So, if you are asked for an Apple-ID, and enter the wrong one (according to Apple) for "this particular application, versus some other," you will receive this cryptic message.
Whereas, if you enter "the correct" Apple-ID, the update will proceed normally.
Make sure to quit the App Store before downloading updates.
If that's not the issue, try deleting the cache, cookies, and preferences associated wtih the App Store.
Quit the App Store if it's open.
Now open the Finder. From the Finder menu bar click Go > Go to Folder
Type or copy/paste: ~/LIbrary/Caches/com.apple.appstore
Click Go then move the Cache.db file from the com.apple.appstore folder to the Trash.
Type or copy/paste: ~/Library/Cookies
Click Go then move the com.apple.appstore.plist file from the Cookies folder to the Trash.
Type or copy/paste: ~/Library/Preferences
Click Go then move the com.apple.appstore.plist file from the Preferences folder to the Trash.
Hi Carolyn - thanks for the offer but followed it to the letter but the problem persists. I have a new MacBook Pro which I am now using and I used Migration Assistant last night to import all my data from the previous MBP and had to update the system software on the new machine which was on 10.8 only and it worked fine then.
You could try deleting the iBooks Author app then reinstalling. That should reinstall with the most recent version available.
Hi Carolyn - I deleted the iBooks Author and iClip which also will not run on my new laptop but I now still have the same problem when trying to download the full versions so I assume this problem will prevent me from updating any applications in future so it is a serious issue.
I have worked around this problem by logging in as a different admin user and doing the update and download from there but the problem remains in my normal account - so still looking for solutions.
Try the App store menu item for logging into your account and look for the button to reset app store warnings. Click it and retry.
This sounds like exactly what I need but I cannot find any button to reset the app store warnings - I looked through all the menu's and subsequent windows that opened but could not find a but or new menu item offering this option.
I fixed mine by creating a new account with my existing information. It gives an error saying you already have an account and use that to login. Exited. Signed in and went fine.
I think it's to do with the TOS acceptance, because I tried everything else and it didn't work.
Thanks JoseffNYC, that worked for me. I just got to the point where the TOS and accepted that. I cancelled on the next screen and was able to log in normally. Easy!
This just happened to me and this was the only way I found to fix it!!!! Thank you JoseffNYC!
It's possible it's signed into another account unbeknownst to you,
try going into menu settings and sign out
App store "unknown error"
