Apple's recent OS X 10.8.3 Mountain Lion update provides a slew of new features. Unfortunately, some users have run into problems while installing the update.
The most common issue so far seems to be one where it appears as if the update has installed, but then a message appears stating "Update Failed" along with an option for restarting the system. After restarting, the system indicates it is running 10.8.2 and attempts to update the software, resulting in the app store crashing.
If you are one of the people who encountered this problem, you should begin by clearing the App store cache of any downloaded files to determine if that may be crashing the program. You can do this by opening the Terminal utility and running this command to load the system's caches directory: "open $TMPDIR../C" (without quotation marks). Once the Finder window appears, go to the folder called "com.apple.appstore" and remove it, then re-launch the application. The App Store should now launch successfully and not crash.
You now have a couple of options. The first is to attempt the update again. The other is to download the Combo updater for OS X 10.8.3 and update manually. The Combo has all the files that had been changed since OS X 10.8.0, while the Software Update service only grabs the needed files on top of the already installed version of OS X. Thus, it may not replace a couple of the files that could be contributing to the problem.
CNET offers a possible solution in case the Combo updater does not install. This includes clearing system caches, checking hard-drive setups, managing any temporary configurations and then installing the update again.
If none of this works, a final option is to reinstall OS X and then update. This can be done by rebooting the system by holding the Command + R keys, thereby loading the OS X Recovery Tools. Choose the reinstall option and follow the instructions to download and install a fresh Mountain Lion copy. You should then be able to run the Software Update or apply the Combo Updater to get things up to date.
If you're experiencing other problems with the OS X update, then this method may help with those issues as well. Those who are using Boot Camp with the update should also be sure to update the Boot Camp drivers.
For more information, check out this thread on Apples forum along with this thread on MacRumors' forum.
