Software Update failed, Apps not opening, and can't Repair Permissions

[gloryunited]

Hello there,

I am on a MBA (late 2010) with Mac OS X 10.6.8.

I did a couple updates (including a minor update for 10.6.8 and Safari IIRC) via Software Update and when I restart, it says an error occurred and the updates cannot be installed. After restarting, I noticed the app "Better Touch Tool" is not in the menu bar so I went to Applications to open it manually but nothing happened. It won't launch.

Then I tried Software Update once again, and there is a Problem Report says "Software Update quit unexpectedly." I also noticed that Dashboard is not working. When I go to Dashboard, my Dock disappears and re-appears (re-launch itself).

Some other apps (eg. App Store, iTunes, iCal, Safari, etc.) also "cannot be opened because of a problem". So I tried to Repair Disk Permissions in Disk Utility. The thing just does not move at all. It's like "Estimated time: 46 minutes" forever. I have tried shutting down and restarting but didn't help.

Luckily Chrome works fine...(Safari doesn't launch) otherwise I can't even ask for help here!

Does anyone have the same problem? Please HELP.

Thanks a lot!

 

[Mal]

Startup from your OS Install disk and try Disk Utility from there. If that doesn't work, or doesn't fix the issue, you can reinstall from there as well (I usually don't recommend that until you've tried other steps, but it may be a relatively quick way to get up and running again). It's possible the update was corrupted for some reason, which would explain the problems you're seeing.

jW

 

[gloryunited]

Startup from your OS Install disk and try Disk Utility from there. If that doesn't work, or doesn't fix the issue, you can reinstall from there as well (I usually don't recommend that until you've tried other steps, but it may be a relatively quick way to get up and running again). It's possible the update was corrupted for some reason, which would explain the problems you're seeing.

jW

Tried that and Disk Utility works from there. It fixed 1 or 2 disk permissions and finished in a couple minutes. But it doesn't fix the issue.

Is there any way to manually install a previous update (downgrade) to the OS?
I don't really want to reinstall just yet...what other steps can I try?

Thanks

PS. perhaps it is some sort of strategy to make us go for Lion?

 

[gloryunited]

I downloaded the 10.6.7 combo update (1.06GB) from Apple site and installed it . But it doesn't help at all. "About This Mac" still says it is 10.6.8 and the problems are still there. Any other way to downgrade to 10.6.7? (or 10.6.8 less that latest "supplementary update"?)

If I were to reinstall OS from the install USB, would it wipe out my BootCamp partition? Would the Windows part still work if I reinstall OS X?

thanks

 

[Mal]

Just reinstall Snow Leopard. It won't touch your files, it won't affect your Boot Camp partition, it'll just fix the issue... assuming it isn't hardware. I assume you have your files backed up in case it is?

jW

 

[Mascots]

This reminds me of the time I accidentally deleted one of the primary OS folders that had became visible. It sounds like something happened during the updates that caused some of the files to go missing or prevented them from being moved in the right place (like WebKit).

I suggest you do a complete reinstall of SL (without wiping the drive or you'll lose your data!) or if you have a Time Machine backup, restore from your most recent point previous to the update.

 

[gloryunited]

Thank you guys.

I thought a reinstall of SL would clear my files.

As for Mascot's suggestion of restoring with Time Machine, at the moment my Time Machine is not working properly as well. The backup progress just stopped towards the end, so what I did was to manually copy the important files to the external HD.

Since a reinstall would not touch my files, I think I'd better do a reinstall from the USB instead of restoring from my (broken) TM.

One last question though, should I install the 10.6.8 combo update v1.1 after the complete reinstall? How might I avoid the same problem?

please pardon my English

 

[gloryunited]

Update:

Just sticked in the SL install USB and within 25 mins I am up and running again, without any tweaks or Time-Machine-ing.

Everything works fine but I haven't installed any OS update yet, so I am now on 10.6.4.

Should I use Software Update again or the Combo Update Installer instead?

 

[logana]

Should I use Software Update again or the Combo Update Installer instead?

use the combo 10.6.8 updater !!!

 

[Mal]

Yeah, I would download and run the update manually, just in case.

jW

 

[gloryunited]

Updated to 10.6.8 with the Combo Update.

Everything looks good except iTunes.

EDIT: iTunes is back to normal after Software Update.

Thank you so much guys, love this forum.