Problem downloading Mountain Lion from App Store

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Level 1

5 points

Problem downloading Mountain Lion from App Store

I am unable to download Mountain Lion onto my iMac from the App Store. I have no problem downloading other software - including updates to Final Cut Pro X and several other programs. However, if I try to download Mountain Lion, it starts and then hangs at 142mb. Since yesterday.

The iMac is 3.4 ghz Intel Core i7, with 8GB of ram, with a SSD system drive. It is currently running 0S X 10.7.5. I have restarted several times, and trashed the preferences and cache for the App Store. I also tried creating an alternate user account on the computer and downloading from the new user - it still hangs at 142mb.

I have already purchased Mountain Lion for my MacBook Pro, and that worked great. The App store recognizes that it is a purchased app - but i am unable to download past 142mb. My internet connection is solid, and I have restarted my modem - not sure what else i can do.

Posted on Mar 30, 2013 8:17 PM

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Answer 1

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Mar 30, 2013 8:24 PM in response to DurmPhoto

I would first try this:

Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions - Lion/Mountain Lion

Boot to the Recovery HD:

Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.

Repair

When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported then click on the Repair Permissions button. When the process is completed, then quit DU and return to the main menu. Select Restart from the Apple menu.

If you continue to have a problem it may just be any issue with Apple's servers or those of your ISP.

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Answer 2

DurmPhoto Author

Level 1

5 points

Mar 30, 2013 10:59 PM in response to Kappy

Thanks Kappy,

I did as you suggested and started from the recovery partition. S.M.A.R.T. status on the SSD system drive is verified. I ran a Repair Disk and Repair Permissions. The Disk checked out with no errors, I had a list of minor permissions conflicts and repaired them. Restarted - and the download again stalls at 142mb.

The updates I ran from the App Store ealier were several GB in size, and I had no issues downloading. I can't fathom why this particular app (Mountain Lion) is crapping out at 142mb. I can see how Apple's servers might be an issued, but I have been trying to download for 30 hours now. On a side note: The MacBook Pro upate experienced no delays and was using the same ISP and modem. The iMac simply won't download the OS for some mysterious reason.

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Answer 3

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Mar 31, 2013 10:30 AM in response to DurmPhoto

I don't have an answer for you, I'm afraid. It's a puzzle to me.

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Answer 4

DurmPhoto Author

Level 1

5 points

Mar 31, 2013 3:20 PM in response to DurmPhoto

Okay - I solved this problem with a workaround using my MacBook Pro. I have ML installed on the MacBook, but also have a Snow Leopard partition. Using the SL partition, I downloaded ML from the App Store and quit the install process, and then located the 'InstallOSXMountainLion.app' in the applications folder. I dragged the app over to the applications folder in the iMac - and ran it for the install. I still have no idea why the iMac could not get past 142mb in downloading ML from the App Store. I let it try for 50 hours before doing the workaround. ML downloaded to the MacBook in just under 2 hours.

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Answer 5

May 24, 2013 5:14 AM in response to DurmPhoto

I actually just had the same problem, also getting stuck at 142MB everytime. I spoke to Apple support about it and they told me that when Mountain Lion first released they had a lot of problems like this. They said it was due to a problem with the BT Business Hub broadband router!

I tried a different router and it worked!

This is the last thing I would have thought of so thought I'd share in case anybody else is having this problem.

Note that my failed download was still unrecoverable. I had to create a new OS X user account and start the download again. (This alone wasn't enough to fix it as I had tried this before replacing the router.)

According to Apple a router firmware update will also fix it.

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