mac mini - XQuartz 2.7.4 "Preparing for Installation..." takes forever (stalls indefinitely)

Mac-mini / OS X 10.8.2 / 16 gig ram / 256 SSD / i7 2.6 GHz

- installing XQuartz 2.7.4 gets stuck on "Preparing for Installation..."

forced quit after 30 minutes..

- tried XQuartz 2.7.3 gets stuck on "Preparing for Installation..."

forced quit after 20 minutes.. rebooted..

- tried XQuartz 2.7.2 gets stuck on "Preparing for Installation..."

forced quit rebooted after 10 minutes... rebooted...

- tried XQuartz 2.6.3, it gets stuck...

- tried X11-2.6.3, it also gets stuck..

The X11 package included with OS X 10.7 worked great..

OS X 10.8.2 - /Applications/Utilities/X11 directs me to http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5293

- forwards to http://xquartz.macosforge.org/landing/ offering: XQuartz-2.7.4.dmg

which DOES NOT install on Mac Mini OS X 10.8.2 i7 16 gig RAM 256 SSD

just hangs forever...

(the code signing certificate indicates its a trusted install for 2.7.4 and the others..)

tried adjusting Security & Privacy settings "Allow applications downloaded from: = Anywhere" (Gate Keeper).. that did not help..

maybe I'll try copying the "XQuartz.app" from my 10.7 mac to this new 10.8.2 mac mini..

(or run gimp on 10.8.2 pointed to XDarwin running fine on an ol' Mac OS X 10.2)