Snow Leopard App Store broken

Question

Snow Leopard App Store broken

I can no longer download anything not previously purchase from the App Store using Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard). In particular, I'm trying to download a newer OS, and 10.11/El Capitan is the newest one that will run on my Mac. However, even though all of my payment/billing info is current on my Apple ID, attempting to "Get" El Capitan as shown on this page How to download OS X El Capitan - Apple Support, doesn't work, it gives me an error saying "Software Update Required. To make changes to your payment information, you need to upgrade you mac to the latest version of macOS". I presume this is related to the security changes made to AppleID&App Store on 30-Jun-2018. My login an password are correct, as you can see from my ability to login and post this message.

P.S. I tried setting up an App specific password and using that to login from the App Store, that didn't work either.

Posted on Jul 5, 2018 3:18 PM

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Answer 1

Eric Root

Level 10

685,143 points

Jul 8, 2018 12:41 PM in response to Geoff Strickler

Try setting up another admin user account to see if the same problem continues. Also try the Safe Mode.

Isolating an issue by using another user account

Safe Mode - About

Safe Mode Startup – El Capitan. also Sierra

If it works in the Safe Mode, try running this program when booted normally and then copy and paste the output in a reply. The program was created by Etresoft, a frequent contributor. Please use copy and paste as screen shots can be hard to read. Click “Share Report” button in the toolbar, select “Copy to Clipboard” and then paste into a reply. This will show what is running on your computer. No personal information is shown.

Etrecheck – System Information

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Answer 2

Kandada

Level 1

4 points

Jul 8, 2018 8:20 PM in response to Eric Root

Thank you for your reply and suggestions.

I have already tried those prior to making a post here. The cause of the problem is do with Apple side of things. Whenever an attempt is made to login using Apple ID, and error message comes up "Software Update Required" then gets directed to the following page.

About App Store and iTunes Store availability - Apple Support

Apple needs to allow or issue a patch so that users of 10.6 can at least have access to the app store to download the update so that the OS can be updated to the later version. Alternatively, issuing a standalone download will be helpful so that users can upgrade without having to use the app store on this instance.

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Answer 3

Kandada

Level 1

4 points

Jul 9, 2018 8:42 AM in response to Geoff Strickler

Indeed, Apple should issue a patch for 10.6 users like they did with this back then:

https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1860?locale=en_US

so that they can at least upgrade.

Failing that, they could offer a standalone file so that 10.6 could be manually upgraded without the use of app store.

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Answer 4

Eric Root

Level 10

685,143 points

Jul 10, 2018 11:30 AM in response to Kandada

Send Apple feedback. They won't answer, but at least will know there is a problem or a suggestion for change. If enough people send feedback, it may get the problem/suggested change solved sooner.

Click here to send Feedback

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Answer 5

Kandada

Level 1

4 points

Jul 7, 2018 10:50 PM in response to Geoff Strickler

I have the exact same problem. Basically even when you have all the 10.6 updates installed including the app store update, the app store rejects the apple id log in.

Basically, it says to upgrade to the latest OS in order to log in but since the app store rejects the apple id log in when using 10.6, you can't really go any further, it's catch 22.

I think it is something to do with Apple changing the way things are logged in from 30 June 2018 as you have discovered where anything below certain OS is rejected when trying to make apple id log ins and 10.6 is below that requirement.

It is greatly unfortunate that the whole point is trying to upgrade from 10.6 and the app store doesn't allow this, despite the hardware requirements meet the running of the latest OS.

I hope Apple realises this error. This is confined to those using 10.6 and due to the number of people using this is dwindling I think they have overlooked this area. I have already contacted them but got an unhelpful reply to this matter.

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Answer 6

Jul 9, 2018 7:59 AM in response to Kandada

That’s exactly what I’m experiencing. The problem is with the App Store, it will no longer allow any 10.6 user to “purchase” new software, so it’s not possible to download the OSX 10.11 installer in order to update to a newer OS. The downloads MIGHT work for software purchased prior to 30-jun-2018, but I have no way of testing that, and no way of “buying” 10.11 on my newer Mac because it’s too new to run 10.11 and the AppStore won’t allow me to “Get” and download the OS that way either.

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Answer 7

Kandada

Level 1

4 points

Jul 11, 2018 10:43 PM in response to Eric Root

Thank you very much for your suggestion. I think this is a good idea as more people put their views through more likely to get resolved. I will put through the feedback.

Many thanks once again for trying to help us. Appreciated.

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Answer 8

LLReb

Level 1

10 points

Jul 17, 2018 3:47 PM in response to Geoff Strickler

I am having the exact same issue. I will post feedback so that hopefully we can get this issue resolved.

The funny thing is that I have waited pretty much as long as possible to "upgrade" from Snow Leopard and when I think that I am finally ready, this happens... coincidence?

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Answer 9

LLReb

Level 1

10 points

Jul 17, 2018 8:12 PM in response to Geoff Strickler

There is a workaround if you have another device that you can access the App Store on.

I was able to update my payment information on a second macbook that I have that is running a newer version of OS X.

Once I updated my payment information I was able to download the El Capitan installer through the App Store on my Snow Leopard machine.

Hope this helps!

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Answer 10

Jul 21, 2018 12:58 PM in response to LLReb

Thanks to your success, I tried a number of things and found a workaround. I used my wife's newer Mac to do the following. These could also be done using iOS 9 or later.

I can't say which combination of these things was necessary, but it may be all 4.
- removing family sharing (so my payment info would be used, not my wife's, as she is the primary on the family sharing). Probably necessary.
- Changing my AppleID password to contain only letters (upper and lower) and numbers, no special characters. This is based upon some info I found on the internet about getting some iCloud services to work with Snow Leopard, may or may not be necessary.

- Turning off Two-Factor authentication for my account (may be needed for older OS and devices). Probably necessary.
- Re-enentering the expiration date and cvv for my credit card. Was definitely necessary for me, as this was the last step I performed before it worked. Might not be a factor if you weren't on family sharing to start.

I was then able to download the installer. I can of course change all those things back afterward.

Of course, this is rather inconvenient as I have two iOS devices and my account on my wife's Mac that are linked to my AppleID, so I have to update the password at least 4 places after changing it.

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Answer 11

LLReb

Level 1

10 points

Jul 21, 2018 2:49 PM in response to Geoff Strickler

I also had everything current and updated according to my Apple ID and still no luck. It only worked once I was able to log into the actual "App Store" on a different device and not via web browser.

Additionally, I may have been lucky because the device I used was running Mavericks so I was able to start the "El Capitan Installer" download on that device to see if it would save to my downloads. It didn't actually show up to my previous downloads but I was able to start the download on Snow Leopard anyway. Not sure exactly what freed up my account but one of the two did.

Hope this info helps.

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Answer 12

Eric Root

Level 10

685,143 points

Jul 6, 2018 11:59 AM in response to Geoff Strickler

Have you installed this update?

App Store Update for OS X Snow Leopard

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Answer 13

Jul 7, 2018 11:51 AM in response to Eric Root

I don't know if it was already installed, but I just installed it and still have the same problem. Software Update says my Mac is up to date, no updates available.

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Answer 14

Eric Root

Level 10

685,143 points

Jul 13, 2018 12:01 PM in response to Kandada

You are welcome.

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Answer 15

Jul 21, 2018 11:43 AM in response to LLReb

As I stated in the OP, "even though all of my payment/billing info is current on my Apple ID". In fact, that's the very first thing I tried. So, this "workaround" doesn't work in general.

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Snow Leopard App Store broken

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