About two or three weeks ago, Software Update on my late 2008 MacBook Pro (10.5.6) stopped working. I can't associate that with any event or any new software.

Now, if you click, the "check now" button, the blue status indicator bar moves a fraction of an inch and just stops. Nothing else happens no matter how long you wait.

I've done all the standard things, I think. I've removed the plist files and rebooted. I Repaired permissions. I used DiskWarrior to rebuild the directory and so on, but nothing has worked.

I know that I can download the updaters from Apple (and sometimes that turns out the best thing to do, particularly with large updates), but I don't like having something like this not working. Also, it is simply easier and more convenient to let Software Update handle most of the smaller updates.

Any ideas how I can resolve this?

Do you have Pith Helmet or another third party app installed that restricts outbound connections?

Which plists did you move? There are at least three—one in your user Preferences folder (i.e. /Users/your_short_name/Library/Preferences), one in the ByHost folder in your user Preferences folder, and one in /Library/Preferences.

Go to the Terminal. Type or copy paste this command:

cat /etc/resolv.conf

and tell us what it says. You should see a list of numbers (IP addresses). Do any of them start with 85?

No, I don't have anything that blocks outbound communication.

I've also removed (several times) all three plist files, even the one in Byhost.

I ran the terminal command. Following are the results, but, as you'll see, none of the IP's start with 85:

nameserver 143.89.14.7
nameserver 143.89.14.8


So, thanks to all of you, but I'm still stymied.

HI
I'm having the same problem...exactly.
And I've done everything mentioned here too, with no results.
This is happening on a MacBook Pro, late 2008 also, 2.6gh, 4gb memory, system 10.5.6, with latest updates. I too, updated manually, and all worked...all except Software Update.
NO, I don't have any outgoing blocks, and the terminal command brought up nothing except one address which did not start with 85.
I'll keep monitoring blog for more info.
Thanks
sandi

Probably a cache file issue.

In Leopard, the cache files are in 2 places (sometimes).
The one in our home folder can be "clicked to" easily enough:
/Users/you/Library/Caches/com.apple.SoftwareUpdate/

Just dump that "com.apple.SoftwareUpdate" folder.
[your next update will take a little longer than usual to report back.]

BUT, there is also a sneaky-hard-to-find cache folder which requires typing (somewhere) to get to.
Plus, we can't predetermine its actual name... 'cause its path is littered with random characters.

One way is Terminal.
This command just lists all cache items in *both* the regular and the hidden SU cache folders:

find -f {~/Library/Caches,/var/folders/*/*/-Caches-}/com.apple.SoftwareUpdate -type f
/Users/halito/Library/Caches/com.apple.SoftwareUpdate/Cache.db
/var/folders/Ap/Ap8ZG0DPEp2FgJTwuRPoU+++TI/-Caches-/com.apple.SoftwareUpdate/Cache.db
[note the oddly named subfolder]

And... this command will open the (general) user cache folder in a *Finder* window...

open `dirname $TMPDIR`/-Caches-

...and in that (general) user cache folder will be the second "com.apple.SoftwareUpdate" folder that can be dumped.

Once that hidden area is opened, we can make an alias to put in a stack/grid/dock or somewhere,
to make navigating to that area easier the next time. EDIT: wow, another Leopard point of interest
is alias size. If you don't want a 500 KiloByte "???alias???" hanging around, this next command will
put a tiny symlink on your Desktop. Then drag the link to the same place you'd want an alias to go:

ln -s `dirname $TMPDIR`/-Caches- ~/Desktop/cachelink

[alternatively, we can type /var/folders in a Finder 'Go to Folder...' field and go digging from there, but -- depending on how many user accounts exist -- it can be a bit laborious determining which of those subfolders belongs to us.

-HI-

Bingo! Hal, you are truly a MacWizard. I tracked down all the cache files, trashed them and then ran Software update (without a re-start). It ran successfully

Thanks so much!

My thanks as well Hal.

Mayhap I too learned a bit (or byte)-

As was said before....THANKS!
YOU ARE GENIUS! oh that was Wizard wasn't it?

Trashing the 2 cache files fixed the problem immediately. No re-boot necessary either.

much appreciation
sandi