Freeze on softwareupdatelauncher

Thank you sooooooo very much!!!! We had the same issue with a computer that is in Utah and we are based in LA, so there was very little that we could do remotely to fix it, but clicking over "Softaware Update" in the apple menu and pressing enter worked very well ("Log out" didn't work for us). Thanks a lot.

This "SoftwareUpdateLauncher" gray screen issue happend to me when I tried to update the Security Update 2014-002 to my iMac with OS X 10.9.2 (13C1021). It was perfectly solved by the solution [ click the  at the upper left corner --> select the Log Out in the menu --> hit the enter key ] provided above.

Many many thanks, ffried 🙂

Thanks WhiteCrow9, it worked!!

I had to hit logout and enter a number of times.

@a brody - we are all having the same problem. There is apparently an error in the update script. It is not desirable to start separate threads; please don't recommend that.

I found the same issue on my 2008 MacBook Pro. The quickest solution is just to type the return key when the grey screen with the "Software Update Launcher" menu appears. After signing back in as a user and going back to App Store the Security Update is removed from the list of pending updates.

Thanks, ffried.

IF there was an update in the error's script it would have impacted hundreds of thousands if not millions of other users who have already upgraded. I do not see anywhere close to that number of unique users in the thread. I upgraded and had ZERO issues.

I don't see how you can possibly make that assumption. It depends on what the error is and in what circumstances it manifests itself, that's the nature of bugs and some are much harder to track down than others. I had this issue on three point releases and now it has stopped happening. The fact that you had ZERO issues is irrelevant.

Irrelevant? Hrmm...one software for millions of people. A handfull receive an issue. What is so unique and special about that handful? Probably a condition Apple could barely test for. There are literally thousands of software packages that run along side with the operating system. Short of this occurring on an erase and installed system with only Apple updates and no addon software, it is extremly difficult to determine that it is a software specific issue. If there is even one non-standard addon, it could throw it for a loop.

Sorry. But you can't convince me otherwise.

Oh and I never hit log out. I might have rebooted after installing, and it was fine.

Log Out and enter works for me too! Thank you ffried. You are a genius!

a brody wrote:

IF there was an update in the error's script it would have impacted hundreds of thousands if not millions of other users who have already upgraded. I do not see anywhere close to that number of unique users in the thread. I upgraded and had ZERO issues.

(I assume you meant "an error in the update script")

Not necessarily. If the error is a race condition, it may manifest itself only rarely. If may also be an error that manfests itself only with a relatively rare combination of system settings.

Whatever the underlying cause, the problem is still there. I just ran into it trying to upgrade to 10.9.3.

ffried thanks for proving a solution. I had this issue updating to 10.9.3

I have a theory, which may be wrong, but I started the update downloading when I was plugged into an external monitor, and then tried to restart after I had unplugged and not near a screen. It could be that there is a dialogue box positioned with the same co-ordinates as if on a ghost 'external 'screen'. I have had other applications get lost due to this in the past. Could anyone else confirm this?

Many programs get confused by dual displays, and putting windows in the secondary monitor. I would recommend if you use dual displays, to ensure any window is last positioned in the primary display before quitting the program. Otherwise, it may remember it for the next time to be that display. This is as much a problem on Windows as the Mac.

I’m sure lots of software problems exist on more than one platform, I’m not entirely sure why you included that last caveat.

Using an external monitor with a laptop is a very common usage pattern, and one most people will assume will work flawlessly. Trying to determine a likely cause for a bug before submitting a bug ticket will help to iron out such cases where problems occur.

Thanking ffried here too, was having this problem with 10.9.3 update and the Enter key press did the trick.

I have been having this issue for two months now and have been unable to upgrade.. Keep getting stuck on softwareupdatelauncher. I have tried every option I can make on the softwareupdatelauncher menu. Finally found the secret today.

Forget trying to do options on the menu Like log out and enter. Just hit the enter key on the keyboard. And the machine went back to installing the software as it should.