Can't connect to Mac App Store

I have a 2013 Macbook Air, i5/4gb/256 gb. OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.5. I can't connect to iTunes Store or the Mac App Store, they say I'm not connected to the internet. Also on Safari, I can't access Google, it says that it cannot establish a secure connection and cannot connect to server. Although I can access most other websites. I'm can't access the app store or itunes store, so I cannot update anything. I did not modify any settings. I have been using my Macbook for less than a week.

MacBook Air, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5)

Posted on Sep 28, 2013 11:44 PM

Reply
24 replies

Sep 29, 2013 9:57 AM in response to Silverwrath

Take each of the following steps that you haven't already tried until the issue is resolved. Back up all data before making any changes.

Step 1

Check the status of the service. If it's down, wait tor it to come back up. There may be a localized outage, even if the status indicator is green.

Step 2

Check that the date (including the year) and time shown by your system clock are correct.

Step 3

Restart your router and broadband device, if different.

Step 4

If you connect to the Internet through an HTTPS or SOCKS proxy server, follow the instructions in this support article, or deselect the proxy entirely.

Step 5

Boot in safe mode and try again.

Step 6

Make sure Parental Controls aren't active for your account.

Step 7

Follow the instructions in this support article to change your DNS settings. If there's no change, revert the settimgs.

Step 8

If possible, test on a different network, such as a public Wi-Fi hotspot or the cellular network of your phone.


Step 9

Launch the Keychain Access application. In the Keychains list, there should be an item named System. If not, select

File Add Keychain

from the menu bar and add the following item:

/Library/Keychains/System.keychain

From the Category list in the lower left corner of the window, select Certificates. Look carefully at the list of certificates in the right side of the window. If any of them has a a blue-and-white plus sign or a red "X" in the icon, double-click it. An inspection window will open. Click the disclosure triangle labeled Trust to disclose the trust settings for the certificate. From the menu at the top, select

When using this certificate: Use System Defaults

Close the inspection window. You'll be prompted for your administrator password to update the settings. Revert all the certificates with non-default trust settings.

From the menu bar, select

Keychain Access Preferences Certificates


There are three menus in the window. Change the selection in the top two to Best attempt, and in the bottom one to CRL.

Next, select the login keychain. Delete any expired or otherwise invalid certificates.


Log out, log back in, and test.

Step 10


Launch the Activity Monitor application. Select All Processes from the menu in the toolbar of the Activity Monitor window, if not already selected. Enter "ocspd" (without the quotes) in the "Filter" text field. Is a process with that name listed?


If not, back up all data, then triple-click anywhere in the line of text below on this page to select it:


/var/db/crls


Copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C). In the Finder, select

Go Go to Folder...

from the menu bar, paste into the box that opens (command-V). You won't see what you pasted because a line break is included. Press return.

Move all the files in the folder that opens to the Trash. You’ll be prompted for your administrator password. Reboot, empty the Trash, and test.



Step 11

If you've moved to a different country, select

Store View My Account

from the App Store menu bar, then click

Change Country or Region

and update your billing information.

Dec 5, 2013 9:09 AM in response to Linc Davis

Finally solved this for my brand new Mac Air after hours of searching today! (helped a lot by this thread).


It was this specific Certificate that is the problem, at least it was for me:


In Keychain Access, System Roots (not System) : Verisign Class 3 Public Primary Certification Authority. I needed to open this and switch Trust / "When Using this Certificate" options to "System Default", then verify with password. (They previously read Always Trust).


This cured the following problems for me, showing how important this certificate apparently is:


  • Itunes Store : no access (certificate warnings)
  • App Store: no access (showed "no internet connection")
  • Software Update: not working, no download
  • Various websites including Twitter, icloud and apple support: https ruled through, "this certificate was signed by an untrusted issuer" warning. Some Images missing on other sites that I could access.
  • Very slow loading of some websites that I could access.
  • (Possibly) inability to re-install OSX Recovery Mode, which kept timing out. (This was final option suggested by Apple Support, after a 45 minute phone call)


It was the Twitter site that clued me in to the solution, as, reading the Twitter Certificate, both it and more importantly its "parent" certificate, Verisign, had red crosses next to them, although they appeared normal within Keychain Access.


There is a lot of not quite precise information around about this, apparently. Linc's advice (for which thanks very much) is broadly correct about the certificates, but I had to look in System Roots, not System to find the faulty certificate. Examining a certificate such as the faulty Twitter certificate as described above may help you find the cause in your case, and this should hopefully fix all the problems at once.

Sep 29, 2013 5:07 AM in response to Silverwrath

I also have the same problem. Using a 2009 Macbook Pro 17". i7/4gb/500gb OSX Mountain Lion updated to 10.8.5.


I tried to fix it by reinstalling to Snow Leopard (Factory Settings), The problem disappeared at Snow Leopard but after going for Mountain Lion 10.8, the same problem appeared. Updating to 10.8.5 didn't solve the problem as well


I still have internet and can still connect to Apple.com and Yahoo.com via Safari.


Problem Number 1: Google doesn't load in Safari.

Problem Number 2: Can't connect to App Store and iTunes Store.


If i use Chrome, i can load Google.com. The bigger problem is that i can't open app store and iTunes Store. Also, i really prefer using Safari over Chrome.


Hope someone can help.

Oct 12, 2013 12:30 AM in response to Silverwrath

I had this problem after medling with my dlink router that is connected to my cable modem. I updated the router to open a couple of VPN ports so I can run a server. While my desktop computers could access google, my macbook air could not. I have an Airport Extreme connected to the DLINK router. The macbook connects to the Airport. I tried a number of software steps and I even powered down the airport extreme. However, that did not go far enough.

I had to go back and power down the whole LAN and then power back on slowly from the cable modem, the DLINK router, and then the airport extreme. Afterwhich, I was able to surf to Google and wherever else I wanted to go.

Feb 25, 2016 1:17 AM in response to shiv64

I've been through most of the steps in this article, but nothing worked. I even checked and changed my DNS. Everything was working fine, except App Store. I hadn't used the machine for quiet som time, and I suddenly noticed that my system clock was off set. Even automatic update of date and times is turned on, it didn't update. So I went in to the system settings pane, and as son as I did this the time was correcting itself. I didn't even have time to switch back to App Store before my notifications startet to pop me with update requests.

So the date/ time solved it for me...

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Can't connect to Mac App Store

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