Mac Mini late 2012, Catalina, Can't Log in to the Store.

[Trusteft]

Basically as the title says.
It keeps saying it can't log in, some times about the password that might not be correct, though it 100% is correct.

I realize Catalina is no longer supported, but I want to know if I need to re download software in the future for this Mini that I will be able to. Mostly talking about FCPX. As it without being able to log in the store, I don't see how that would happen thanks to the lovely DRM/activation that exists since as far as I know I can't just download an offline copy of it.

I checked online and I got a mix of info, with several people mentioning that because Catalina is not supported for a while now, there is an issue with connecting to the Apple servers and thus it makes it impossible to do so.

What do you guys think/know?

 

[maflynn]

What do you guys think/know?

If I was a betting man, I'd say that support for 13 year old operating system finally came to an end. If you have a new mac running on a support OS, try that and ensure there's nothing about your account that is impacting your ability to log in.

Also have a backup of your apps saved, so you don't have to log in to the app store.

Edit: I'm an idiot

 

[ResPublica]

The OS may have been depreciated for the App Store. You can run newer versions of macOS on this Mac though using the tool Opencore Legacy Patcher.

 

[Boyd01]

I have been using my 2012 quad as a fileserver, but it's really just wasting space on my work table now and I'll retire it completely very soon.

Just tried - no problem logging into the app store. Viewed my account and it correctly shows my purchase history. Also correctly shows the balance I have left on a gift card. That's where I stopped, no idea if I could actually download/install anything and not gonna try. But it would appear that I don't have the same problem as the OP...

 

[Boyd01]

Just to add, I had a somewhat similar problem on my 2014 Mini media server running Mojave last year, as discussed in this thread. But not quite the same, my problem was with the iTunes store. I didn't have any need for the store, but a dialog kept popping up asking me to login to the store. When I did that, the dialog would just come right back. Basically, I couldn't play any media because that dialog box froze everything (although media sharing continued to work for my Apple TV's).

I got fed up and finally picked up a new base m4 Mini in a Black Friday sale. But my problems weren't over... I (foolishly) used Migration Assistant and it apparently migrated the problem to the new m4 Mini on Sequoia - got the same problem with the dialog that kept appearing. Spent an hour in a chat with Apple and they were no help. Finally did a full erase of the m4 Mini and made a clean start, which fixed everything.

So, apparently there was some kind of corrupted file on the old Mini causing this and it was migrated to the new Mini. Never dug any deeper, since everything works now...

 

[MacCheetah3]

If I was a betting man, I'd say that support for 13 year old operating system finally came to an end.

I had to do a double take and check. Catalina was released six years ago.
There are plenty of “getting old” reminders, but you really had me there for a moment. Give a guy a brief anxiety attack. 😆
Granted, I have a BlackBook (black MacBook mid-2007) that has Lion, which is more than 14 years old, I’ve been procrastinating sending ‘out to pasture’.

Anyway… Adding to:

Just to add, I had a somewhat similar problem on my 2014 Mini media server running Mojave last year, as discussed in this thread. But not quite the same, my problem was with the iTunes store. I didn't have any need for the store, but a dialog kept popping up asking me to login to the store. When I did that, the dialog would just come right back. Basically, I couldn't play any media because that dialog box froze everything (although media sharing continued to work for my Apple TV's).

I got fed up and finally picked up a new base m4 Mini in a Black Friday sale. But my problems weren't over... I (foolishly) used Migration Assistant and it apparently migrated the problem to the new m4 Mini on Sequoia - got the same problem with the dialog that kept appearing. Spent an hour in a chat with Apple and they were no help. Finally did a full erase of the m4 Mini and made a clean start, which fixed everything.

So, apparently there was some kind of corrupted file on the old Mini causing this and it was migrated to the new Mini. Never dug any deeper, since everything works now...

You could try resetting the properties file.

1. Ensure the App Store (app) is closed.
2. Navigate to

~/Library/Preferences

3. Locate com.apple.AppStore.plist and move it to the Desktop or other folder.
4. Open the App Store and attempt login.

If it works… Yay! And you can trash the previous PLIST file.
If not, unfortunately, more troubleshooting ahead.

 

[maflynn]

I had to do a double take and check. Catalina was released six years ago.

You know when you assume - well that bit me.

I saw 2012, and used that as the basis without thinking that the OP upgraded his OS at some point in his ownership - my bad. I'll edit my response a bit to highlight the fact that its not an old OS