Failed upgrade to Monterrey

[EdSinger]

I run my Mac Pro (2014) from a 1TB SSD because at the time the ‘disc’ storage fixed at 250 GB was not upgradeable. I upgraded from Mavericks through Mojave over the years, but stuck with Mojave until now. I find now that valuable upgrades of 3rd party software items that I need will only run on OS11 or later. I took the plunge and made two separate bootable backups of my system, using Carbon Copy Cloner. Via the invitation given by ‘About this Mac’ I took the plunge and went for it. It offered Monterrey. All went smoothly with software upgrading phase – no surprises – but it was late when it prompted that it was copying Monterrey to the SSD system disk. It told me that there remained only 9 minutes, so I went to bed. I took a last-minute peek however, and the process was continuing but now said 13 minutes. This morning I found that the screen was showing a start-up sequence – a thermometer bar under the apple logo, with the bar stuck halfway. Several attempts to force shutdown and reboot the (supposedly) Monterrey ssd arrive at the same final point every time. I know that the processor is working hard by the temperature which gets to 44 C. Mercifully my Mojave backups work just fine, so all is not lost. But can anyone suggest a ‘next move’ for me?

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello,

• This is a MacBook Pro, not Mac Pro, correct?
• This install was on an external, correct?
• How much free space is/was there?

C

 

[EdSinger]

No - a "biscuit barrel" Mac Pro late 2013 apparently although assembled in 2014

Yes - a I TB SSD

At least 50%

 

[TonyAguila]

I almost got me one of those myself, but my MacPro5,1 had too many attached drives, including two SSDs, that the format of the MacPro6,1 did not appeal to me. Fortunately the Metal-capable graphics cards became available that I was able to keep using it up to 2018.

Anyway, I suggest reformatting your 1-TB SSD from Recovery/Disk Utility. If the SSD dates back to Mavericks, the format is probably HFS+. From Disk Utility, the SSD should appear with the make and model of the SSD, and below it, one or more Containers (i.e. partitions). If you have more than one, first select the one(s) below the first Container and delete them. Then select the remaining Container and choose Erase from the toolbar. Choose APFS and provide a name for it.

Quit Disk Utility and select Install macOS. It should default to macOS Monterey. I forgot to mention, you need an internet connection to do this. After the installation, you can proceed to Migration or defer this step for later.

 

[EdSinger]

Thanks for that info Tony. However, after I realised that the processor was working hard but getting nowhere, I was obliged to force a shutdown. Having made 2 bootable backups, I used carbon copy cloner again to restore the system SSD to exactly where it was when I pressed the 'software update' invitation from 'About this Mac'. Before doing the restore however I thought it a good idea to reformat the system SSD to APFS using Disk Utility, thinking that Monterrey might not like being restored to a Mac OS (extended) drive. Half of that day was spent repeating exactly what I had done before, but the operation stopped in exactly the same place as before, with the thermometer bar about half way through booting the Monterrey (presumably ?) system. For a second time I restored the system to what it was initially, renaming the SSD as 'Mojave System'. I have done nothing else since, and am using Mojave which is behaving in no way differently, except that the SSD is formatted APFS. Does any of this affect your recommendation?

 

[TonyAguila]

Thanks for that info Tony. However, after I realised that the processor was working hard but getting nowhere, I was obliged to force a shutdown. Having made 2 bootable backups, I used carbon copy cloner again to restore the system SSD to exactly where it was when I pressed the 'software update' invitation from 'About this Mac'. Before doing the restore however I thought it a good idea to reformat the system SSD to APFS using Disk Utility, thinking that Monterrey might not like being restored to a Mac OS (extended) drive. Half of that day was spent repeating exactly what I had done before, but the operation stopped in exactly the same place as before, with the thermometer bar about half way through booting the Monterrey (presumably ?) system. For a second time I restored the system to what it was initially, renaming the SSD as 'Mojave System'. I have done nothing else since, and am using Mojave which is behaving in no way differently, except that the SSD is formatted APFS. Does any of this affect your recommendation?

What I had in mind is to create a boot disk, internal or external, from scratch—a clean install. I never trusted bootable “backups.” I’m a firm advocate of making backups. I own and use Carbon Copy Cloner, SuperDuper!, Chronosync, and FoldersSynchronizer. Each one has its use, but my main backup app is Carbon Copy Cloner—but I never use the “bootable” copy feature. I just clone the Data partition of the system.

In your situation, I would go into Recovery (⌘-R) and run Disk Utility to erase and format the drive (internal or external) as a single-container APFS drive. Then while still in Recovery, install macOS. In your case, I would guess it would default to macOS Monterey. After which, I would set it up with my Apple ID and proceed with the basic setup. Restoring previous data will be after rebooting into the new system, checking the basic functions first (Mail, Safari, etc.) from the new installation, free from my old settings, before restoring my old data from backup. My preferred source is the Carbon Copy Cloner backup of the data partition (which prevents importing possibly damaged or corrupted system files). Time Machine works, but much slower.

I’ve done this routinely on my 2018 Mac mini with Mojave, Catalina, Big Sur, Monterey systems (external), and Ventura (internal). On my Mac Studio Max, I have Ventura (internal), and Ventura beta and Monterey (external). Emphasis on “routinely.” I always restore from CCC clones of respective data partitions. It just works for me.

 

[EdSinger]

What I had in mind is to create a boot disk, internal or external, from scratch—a clean install. I never trusted bootable “backups.” I’m a firm advocate of making backups. I own and use Carbon Copy Cloner, SuperDuper!, Chronosync, and FoldersSynchronizer. Each one has its use, but my main backup app is Carbon Copy Cloner—but I never use the “bootable” copy feature. I just clone the Data partition of the system.

In your situation, I would go into Recovery (⌘-R) and run Disk Utility to erase and format the drive (internal or external) as a single-container APFS drive. Then while still in Recovery, install macOS. In your case, I would guess it would default to macOS Monterey. After which, I would set it up with my Apple ID and proceed with the basic setup. Restoring previous data will be after rebooting into the new system, checking the basic functions first (Mail, Safari, etc.) from the new installation, free from my old settings, before restoring my old data from backup. My preferred source is the Carbon Copy Cloner backup of the data partition (which prevents importing possibly damaged or corrupted system files). Time Machine works, but much slower.

I’ve done this routinely on my 2018 Mac mini with Mojave, Catalina, Big Sur, Monterey systems (external), and Ventura (internal). On my Mac Studio Max, I have Ventura (internal), and Ventura beta and Monterey (external). Emphasis on “routinely.” I always restore from CCC clones of respective data partitions. It just works for me.

 

[EdSinger]

Thanks again Tony - you have an awesome collection of cloners. There is now a clone facility in TechTool also, but I haven't used it. When I have real problems my own major resource has been this Mac Help Forum. Indispensable!

I will follow your advice when I have finished the project I'm on - editing and smoothing the script (in English) for an English version of a Spanish documentary film. I back up regularly but if something can go wrong it probably will, and I'm 80% through with it so -- Safety First.

Thanks again Tony - I'll leave this thread open until I've got Monterrey running - when I may get back to you about how to get my data migrated.