App Store.app seems broken

NovaScotian · 03-29-2012, 06:45 PM

On my Snow Leopard machine (17" MacBookPro4,1 - Early 2008) the App Store App has repeated failures to upgrade what are now two pending arrivals. One of them fails (I'm reasonably certain) because it’s a Lion app upgrade (I have the Snow Leopard version), so it seems as if the App Store is considering this machine to be a Lion machine.

I do have the Lion install app in my Applications folder and at one point, the App Store even upgraded it somehow. I haven't installed Lion, however, because I want to continue to use Rosetta on that machine.

Any suggestions for how I might disabuse the App Store of this notion?

benwiggy · 03-30-2012, 06:07 AM

Can you clarify a few things and give a little more info?

Are the apps listed in Upgrade section? Can you click on the Upgrade button? What happens then?
What are the apps?

The "Snow Leopard" app you have - did you get it from the store? An update for Lion compatibility doesn't normally break Snow Leopard. And if the Lion-compatible app upgrade fails, why do you think the App Store thinks you are running Lion?

fracai · 03-30-2012, 08:44 AM

The Lion installer has an update because you're on Snow Leopard and a new version of the installer is available. The App Store isn't confused about what version of the OS to give you. I don't even think there is a "Lion" or "Snow Leopard" version of the installer. The App Store isn't used to upgrade your OS once you've moved to Lion (though this will change with Mountain Lion).

What exactly is the error message when it fails?
Have you tried the usual list of fixes? Clear caches? Restart the App Store? Restart your machine?

One fix for the Lion installer is to delete the installer. You won't lose it for good unless Apple removes it from the store when Mountain Lion is released.

NovaScotian · 03-30-2012, 09:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by benwiggy


	Can you clarify a few things and give a little more info? Are the apps listed in Upgrade section? Can you click on the Upgrade button? What happens then? What are the apps? The "Snow Leopard" app you have - did you get it from the store? An update for Lion compatibility doesn't normally break Snow Leopard. And if the Lion-compatible app upgrade fails, why do you think the App Store thinks you are running Lion?

After clicking on the upgrade all button for the apps shown below I get the two messages that follow, the middle one twice, presumably for each app.

I have rebooted the machine several times without effect.

benwiggy · 03-30-2012, 09:52 AM

Can you log into a new user account, and then log into your Apple ID account on App Store from there?

There may be some plist that's got itself into a pickle in your user account.

(... which brings up an interesting question about multi-user Macs and ownership of apps)

NovaScotian · 03-30-2012, 10:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by benwiggy


	Can you log into a new user account, and then log into your Apple ID account on App Store from there? There may be some plist that's got itself into a pickle in your user account. (... which brings up an interesting question about multi-user Macs and ownership of apps)

Just tried that with precisely the same result as the three images above.

benwiggy · 03-30-2012, 11:37 AM

In which case, you may need to contact Apple about your account somehow.

This is one of the problems of the whole "cloud" concept. If it doesn't work properly, can you get in touch with someone who can sort it out?

NaOH · 03-30-2012, 11:48 AM

Since it can't hurt to try, I would use the Store menu to sign out of the App Store. At the least I would then quit and relaunch the App Store before signing back in, but a restart may be worth the extra minute it takes.

NovaScotian · 03-30-2012, 11:56 AM

Yes, indeed -- the very reason why I use DropBox instead of iCloud. Neither of these apps are particularly important to me so I'll just ignore this for now. The hassle of communicating with Apple is not worth it. If it persists, I'll only use apps I can get outside the store. I did trace the problem with MenuWeather -- the App Store thinks I have the latest version installed, 4.2.1 when in fact I have 4.2. Don't know how that came about. I just trashed the other app.

03-29-2012, 06:45 PM	#1
NovaScotian Hall of Famer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Halifax, Canada Posts: 4,945	App Store.app seems broken On my Snow Leopard machine (17" MacBookPro4,1 - Early 2008) the App Store App has repeated failures to upgrade what are now two pending arrivals. One of them fails (I'm reasonably certain) because it’s a Lion app upgrade (I have the Snow Leopard version), so it seems as if the App Store is considering this machine to be a Lion machine. I do have the Lion install app in my Applications folder and at one point, the App Store even upgraded it somehow. I haven't installed Lion, however, because I want to continue to use Rosetta on that machine. Any suggestions for how I might disabuse the App Store of this notion? __________________ 17" MBP, OS X 10.8.3; 27" iMac, OS X 10.8.3

03-30-2012, 08:44 AM	#3
fracai MVP Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 2,012	The Lion installer has an update because you're on Snow Leopard and a new version of the installer is available. The App Store isn't confused about what version of the OS to give you. I don't even think there is a "Lion" or "Snow Leopard" version of the installer. The App Store isn't used to upgrade your OS once you've moved to Lion (though this will change with Mountain Lion). What exactly is the error message when it fails? Have you tried the usual list of fixes? Clear caches? Restart the App Store? Restart your machine? One fix for the Lion installer is to delete the installer. You won't lose it for good unless Apple removes it from the store when Mountain Lion is released.
$fracai is offline$

03-30-2012, 11:56 AM	#9
NovaScotian Hall of Famer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Halifax, Canada Posts: 4,945	Yes, indeed -- the very reason why I use DropBox instead of iCloud. Neither of these apps are particularly important to me so I'll just ignore this for now. The hassle of communicating with Apple is not worth it. If it persists, I'll only use apps I can get outside the store. I did trace the problem with MenuWeather -- the App Store thinks I have the latest version installed, 4.2.1 when in fact I have 4.2. Don't know how that came about. I just trashed the other app. __________________ 17" MBP, OS X 10.8.3; 27" iMac, OS X 10.8.3 Last edited by NovaScotian; 03-30-2012 at 11:59 AM.

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes	Rate This Thread
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode	Rate This Thread:

03-30-2012, 06:07 AM	#2
benwiggy League Commissioner Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 5,040	Can you clarify a few things and give a little more info? Are the apps listed in Upgrade section? Can you click on the Upgrade button? What happens then? What are the apps? The "Snow Leopard" app you have - did you get it from the store? An update for Lion compatibility doesn't normally break Snow Leopard. And if the Lion-compatible app upgrade fails, why do you think the App Store thinks you are running Lion?

03-30-2012, 09:52 AM	#5
benwiggy League Commissioner Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 5,040	Can you log into a new user account, and then log into your Apple ID account on App Store from there? There may be some plist that's got itself into a pickle in your user account. (... which brings up an interesting question about multi-user Macs and ownership of apps)

03-30-2012, 11:37 AM	#7
benwiggy League Commissioner Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 5,040	In which case, you may need to contact Apple about your account somehow. This is one of the problems of the whole "cloud" concept. If it doesn't work properly, can you get in touch with someone who can sort it out?

03-30-2012, 11:48 AM	#8
NaOH Hall of Famer Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 3,642	Since it can't hurt to try, I would use the Store menu to sign out of the App Store. At the least I would then quit and relaunch the App Store before signing back in, but a restart may be worth the extra minute it takes.