MAC Pro Quad problem

[hermanding]

it is 1.5 years old.
every morning i start out clicking the apple on the left top and clicking software update, where it goes checking if it needs to download something for me. today, the blue line that advances across as it checks goes only about 25% over and stops -- goes no farther.
everything else is working fine - in fact i am using it now.
i also have an eMac. both have the latest leopard update.the eMac runs through a router as a subordinate to the Quad, so the Quad has no interface, and the eMac does. yet, the eMac blue line goes across fairly quickly. i have tried the Quad on updates about 5 times today. yesterday it was OK in the morning.
one thing I did was to add a printer to it. the printer printed out a test page OK. after seeing the update problem, I took out everything involving the printer, but it did not change anything.
anybody got any ideas and suggestions? i will appreciate all advice
ding

 

[WYSIWYG]

1. Disconnect all your external devices.
2. Have you varifed and repaired permissions on the Mac pro?
3. The eMac runs through a router, does the Mac Pro also? Try connecting the Mac Pro directly into your internet connection and then try the Software Update.
4. You don't say if your hardwired to the internet or using wireless. If your connected wirelessly, try it in a wired setup.

Hope these suggestions help you.

 

[ANDORYUU]

Try downloading them from the Apple site and install manually.

 

[hermanding]

thanks wysiwyg and andoriyu
the quad uses no router. the eMac is on a router than runs it through the quad. the quad has no wireless at all, connected to comcast cable directly. yes, i repaired permissions on the quad. before taking out the epson printer, there were LOTS of permissions noted on the readout. now, they are not there
the printer was the only external involved, because i keep the eMac as the workhorse for most things, and use the quad for music (finale composition). i am using the quad right now to do this,
andoriu, the eMac looked for updates, and found none - so there have been no new updates for the past 2 days . and the check update place says - from the last time i did it about 16 minutes ago - there are no new updates as of march 6 2009 at 854 AM (the time i did it). still the blue bar does not travel all the way across and stops after starting, forcing me finally to click cancel.
i usually don't wait more than 5 or 6 minutes before doing it. i wonder whatwould happen if i just let it keep sitting in the same spot stuck?

ding

 

[andysayshi]

I'd let it sit for a half hour or so, ding, and see if it finds its way. It's nothing major to worry about at this point, anyway - the computer should continue to work normally without updates.

 

[andysayshi]

^ Good tip!

 

[hermanding]

thnks keeland and andy. I am printing this info off so I can give it a shot
ding

 

[hermanding]

andy and keeland,
Here is what read out after the fsck -fy

/dev/rdusj0s2
Root file system
Checking Journalid HFS Plus volume
Checking Extents Overflow file
Checking Catalog file
Checking multi-linked files
Checking Catalog hierarchy
Checking Extended Attributes file
Checking volume bitmapç
Checking volume information
The volume MacIntoshg HD appears to be OK.

I did not see anything about something having been modified. But I went on anyway and typed in the fsck -fy again. It printed out exactly the same information as above. So, I guess there was nothing to modify on the HD

I then did a repair permissions again to see if anything changed. The same 7 things showed up as follows
Warn - SUID file 'System/Library/File system/AppleShare/afpLoad has been....
Warn SUID file 'usr/bin/setregion' has beenmodified & will not be repaired
Warn SUID file 'System/Library/PrintFrameworks/Install.frameworks/Veri....
Warn SUID file3 'System/Library/Printers/IOMs/LPRIom.plugin/Contents/Mrx...
Group differs on 'private/etc/cups',should be 0, group is 26
Permissions differ on 'private/var/spool/cups/cache/rss',should be drwxr-xr...
Permissions differ on 'System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/iLifeMediaBrowser.f....

The first 6 I have gotten for a very long time.The last one has started up since the most recent iLife system update,which was 04march.

Anyway,after those repairs, the system update still stopped.The bar stops between the c and k in the word Checking which appears above the blue bar.
Thanks guys for your advice..

ding

 

[hermanding]

i also let it check for updates - after the procedure suggested by keeland - for 25 minutes, with the bar never moving past the point of between c and k in the word checking in the phrase - checking for updates which is above the blue bar
ding

 

[ANDORYUU]

manually update to the latest system update 10.5.6 (if using Leopard) from the apple site 10.5.6 Update and not via programme update, then once installed see if programme update works.

 

[andysayshi]

^ Agreed - this is good advice, ding.

If you are using OS 10.4 (Tiger) then download the most recent update of it instead.

Another thing to try is resetting the PRAM of your machine. It doesn't necessarily sound like a PRAM-related issue, but it can't hurt.
•Turn of the computer.
•Hold down the Command, Option, P and R keys simultaneously.
•Turn on the computer
•Keep all 4 keys held down until you hear the restart sound for the second time

 

[hermanding]

I am running 10.5.6 leopard on both machines. do I need to take out all the leopard - since i would be updating sort of IN PLaCE? Or will it just update over itself without any problem? The quad is a 9 gig RAM with a RAID of 2.5 terrabytes space.
in the meantime, I can try your suggestion andy.
thanks andy, andoriyu and keeland very much
ding

 

[hermanding]

oh, guys, not to sound completely STUPID- but the words command and option do not appear on my apple keyboard
from the left going toward the right , i hav
keys that say CTRL, ALT, and a key with a little apple and a kind of square with curly q's. which ones of those are command and option, please?
ding

 

[hermanding]

thanks keeland and for your patience with my lack of knowledge
ding

 

[hermanding]

i went to the 10.5.6 update site and downloaded it and installed it. i also reset the PRAM. the software updates still stop at exactly the same spot. as you know, the blue bar advancing is one's only method of knowing the metrics of the download, etc.
i found this interresting in getting the manual download on 10.5.6
I had the downloader box, which has the blue bar, but also has the amount downloaded showing and the rate per second.
the download started fast - about 1.2MB/sec for 373 MB of update, and the amount downloaded advanced well as did the blue bar.
I immediately saw that the rate per second was declining,but the download continued to the point of downloading 219MB of the 373. At that point, the figure never increased. The rate continued to decline but at slower and slower registerings of the decline. example - it might have gone from 852 to 851 per sec in say 1 second. by from 500 to 499 per second,it might have taken 4 seconds to show it changing from 500 to 499. finally, i stopped the download. when i resumed it, speeds were back at 1.2meg per second, but declining as before. the download finished before it got to such snail speeds. don't know if this would show the same if these metrics were available on the software update boxes.
anyway, new downloaded 10.5.6 - supposedly same as what already was there. everything else is working OK - as before.
this is started to sound like some kind of conundrum
appreciate very very much your opinions and suggestions guys

incidentally, i do not remember a software update problem before getting in that iLife update - and i do not use iLife anyway. The quad is dedicated to finale music stuff - that is why it has 9 gig RAM and so much space.
but, the iLife update came thru on the eMac also, and it is doing software updates without the blue bar stopping. after the iLife update, the permissions repairs has an extra item now, about iLife Media
Browser

ding

 

[hermanding]

yes, it informed me that it would have to restart me after the installation was finished
ding

 

[ANDORYUU]

If you're still having problems after re-installing the latest software update, maybe you should try and go to your nearest Genius Bar.

Have you repaired Disc Permissions and Repaired the Disc using your install Disc and not via Disc Utility?

Others in the Apple forums recommend trashing the following file, then rebooting your Mac:

HD>Users>Your_Name>Library>Preferences folder>com.apple.SoftwareUpdate.plist

 

[hermanding]

yes on the permissions, andoriyu. in fact, now that i have loaded 10.5.6 again, there are only 3 items presented to me during the repair permissions - whereas, before there were 7.

This plist file, if i trash it, i take it that it is created again, when one uses the software update?

ding

 

[hermanding]

andoriyu,
i went on and trashed it and rebooted the quad. obviously, it makes a new file,if one does not already exist,because it is there again now. no change in the update- bar stops at exactly the same spot. so far, per the eMac looking for updates, there are none. the real test will be when there IS an update, what happens.
incidentally, this is the plain text in the softwareupdate plist file

bplist00Ò
_WebKitDefaultFontSize_WebKitStandardFont]Lucida Grande %:<

J

thanks so much to all of you for your kind help and indulging me
ding

 

[hermanding]

andoriyu
i checked the software update plist text file on the emac, and it has a different message

bplist00Ó
_#WebIconDatabaseDirectoryDefaultsKey_WebKitStandardFont_WebKitDefaultFontSize_~/Library/Icons]Lucida Grande5Jbt‚

„

do you think this has anything to do with anything?
ding