OK, I managed to fix it. The internal updater failed. The Full component install failed, the component package failed. I managed to get the installer package to complete. This has been the only way previously I've ever gotten EB to install.

Hello Ian,

Thanks for updating, but can I know what errors were you getting with the "Component" and "Full" package?

Couldn't find XML file.

Okay, that explains why you were hitting these errors. The Component is not meant to be installed via Joomla's Extension manager as it needs to be manually uploaded to /administrator/components/com_easyblog/setup/packages

As for the Full package, since it is huge, it's most likely that your webserver is rejecting it. The Full package comprises of Launcher and Component