MacOS – How to get installers not to hang on “Waiting for other installations to complete…”

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As I got a new computer recently, I've been trying to get back the stuff that I need for work. However, a few applications (Hotspot Shield is one of them) that requires an installer to install it doesn't seem to work. It gets stuck midway through installation, saying "Waiting for other installations to complete…"

I've enabled Gatekeeper to allow any applications, but it's still stuck.

Why is this and is there a workaround?

Edit: Here's the output in console: 

1/9/12 5:08:07.575 PM coreservicesd[33]: Application App:"Installer" [ 0x0/0x338338]  @ 0x0x7f9b686baff0 tried to be brought forward, but isn't in fPermittedFrontASNs ( ( ASN:0x0-0x33c33c:) ), so denying.

Best Answer

"fPermittedFrontASNs" points to the new Gatekeeper Function Apple introduced in 10.8 and which changes the way background processes behave and are able to launch child processes that interact with the user interface.

The Gatekeeper-Rule "Allow Applications downloaded from: Anywhere" still has some restrictions, as an example at this Apple Support Page points out:

"Anywhere – Allow applications to run regardless of their source on the Internet; Gatekeeper is effectively turned off. Note: Developer ID-signed apps that have been inappropriately altered will not open, even with this option selected."

I don't know if that specific note applies to Hotspot Shield, but i have seen similar Problems with other VPN-related Software.

I suggest you deactivate Gatekeeper completely for the Installation of HotSpot Shield. You can do that in the Terminal with:

sudo spctl --master-disable

After that a restart might be necessary. You can activate Gatekeeper after the Installation with:

sudo spctl --master-enable

For more Options look at 'man spctl' in the Terminal. Please tell if that solved your problem.

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