I recently reinstalled OS X, which with my MacBook Pro (2012 Model) meant that it grabbed Lion from internet recovery. It successfully installed, and I installed some updates, but when it comes to upgrading to Mavericks or El Capitan, the App Store crashes, the download shows up in the Launchpad screen, but never downloads or even tries to download, and I'm left wondering why. Every google search reveals something similar, but nothing exact.
I've tried signing out and signing in again, I've tried enabling debug and clearing cookies and resetting the app store, I've even copied and deleted the com.appstore.plist and com.apple.appstore.plist.
I'm at my wits end here. If not for the fact that I use OS X, I would wipe it and install Linux in it's stead. Any help would be appreciated.
UPDATE:
Per the request of J.C., I've run the download with the console open to get some diagnostic information. Here are the two lines that show up in the console when I start the app store and download El Capitan.
5/6/16 10:24:02.302 AM com.apple.SecurityServer: Failed to authorize right 'system.install.apple-software' by client '/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/PackageKit.framework/Versions/A/Resources/installd' [266] for authorization created by '/Applications/App Store.app' [259]
5/6/16 10:24:02.324 AM com.apple.SecurityServer: Failed to authorize right 'system.install.software' by client '/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/PackageKit.framework/Versions/A/Resources/installd' [266] for authorization created by '/Applications/App Store.app' [259]
Best Answer
Alright, so it turns out that a stick of RAM had gone bad, but OS X didn't see that it had gone bad. I ended up testing both sticks to make sure that one of them worked, and now I've successfully installed Lion, and upgraded it to El Capitan. Thanks for the suggestions.