help! should i update my Mac after system failure the first time?

[user124567]

last year, i tried to update my 2012 Macbook to the latest version (at the time) of mountain lion. I left it to update and when i returned to check on the process it had a grey screen with black writing on it, saying things such as "unable to find driver for this platform" , "debugger called <panic>", "system time in nanoseconds", etc.

I had to bring it to be repaired in an apple shop and it took 3 go's before it was working again, but unfortunately my Mac never updated.



Should i try update my Mac to MacOs Sierra version 10.12.3 or is there a risk the same thing will happen again? im nervous as i dont want the same problem but keen to update as things such as itunes and web browsers lack features as they cannot update without my Mac itself updating. It is currently on OS X 10.8

 

[honestone]

A couple of things we need to know:

1. Are you making any backups to an external device? And if you are, what software are you using for that?

2. Have you ever done any disk cleanup/maintenance/repairs? Also, do you happen to have a robust disk maintenance/repair program like either TechTool Pro or Disk Warrior?

3. Do you have any third party software? If you do, there is the possibility that you will need to upgrade such programs to the newer version for compatibility with whatever Mac OS you are trying to get to.

4. You said "last year, i tried to update my 2012 Macbook to the latest version (at the time) of mountain lion", which is OS 10.8. Then you state "It is currently on OS X 10.8". So which is it? And if it is OS 10.8, what exact version of it do you have?

5. Do you have anything critical on your internal drive?

Trying to get to OS 10.12.3 1) is not going to cure your issues, and 2) is too much of a "jump" to try. You might want to try an intermediate OS, like Mavericks, OS 10.10.5, the last version of Yosemite.