I'm using Monterey 12.6.3 on a 24" iMac M1 2021 machine. Sys Prefs says that 12.6.4 is available. I click "Install Now", click Agree to the SLA, and then it asks me for "password for the selected user". That's me. I enter my password, and it refuses to accept it. Whaa? I make Administrator the selected user, enter the Admin password, and it refuses to accept it. Whaaa? I log out, and log back in with my user password. Works fine. I log out, and log back in as Administrator with my Administrator password. Works fine. Sys Prefs Software Update repeatedly refuses to take my password. I reboot. Same thing. What's going on???
System update won't take my password
- Thread starter Dlass
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OK, seems this is a common problem. I'm seeing a lot of complaints about it, now that I look into it. The workaround is to do sudo softwareupdate --all --install . That also asks for a password, but it works! Hope Apple puts some work into this. A pretty ugly failure mode.
Well, ha ha. Not quite. Terminal now says the update is done, and then it just hangs. I restart, and I'm still on 12.6.3. I redo sudo softwareupdate --all --install, and it now says "No updates available." Software Update still doesn't work. No more options. I'm stuck,
Well, ha ha. Not quite. Terminal now says the update is done, and then it just hangs. I restart, and I'm still on 12.6.3. I redo sudo softwareupdate --all --install, and it now says "No updates available." Software Update still doesn't work. No more options. I'm stuck,
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I suggest trying this next: As a precaution, do this after a fresh restart. From the menu, select App Store… and in the search field type macos monterey. It should come up in the main window. Select it and the next window should have the Get button. Click on it and the download for the installer file should start.
It will download into your Applications folder. When it is done, the installer should automatically launch. At this point, I would first quit and locate the file in the Applications folder. Make a copy of it to another location, as a backup for future use, if need be. Then go back to the Applications folder and restart the installation, with the usual caveat of having up-to-date backups of your data.
The fact that the system would not recognize your password indicates some ownership problem. You could also try creating a (temporary) admin user, and logging into that user for the installation/update. After the update, see if you can find out the reason for the permission issue.
That sounds like a good idea, but the process you describe doesn't work. I type "macos monterey" in the App Store search window, and I get a variety of things that seem entirely unrelated to that OS. Virtual Machines Hub? Small Business Pack? Day & Night World Map Studio? Why don't I see the Monterey OS? In fact, the same thing happens if I search for other Mac operating systems there. What in the world is wrong with Search in the App Store?
So, I had to go to https://apps.apple.com/us/app/macos-monterey/id1576738294?mt=12 and select "View in Mac App Store". That gets me to MacOS Monterey in the App Store. Bizarre.
Now, when I click "Get" there it flips me into Software Update which, as I said, doesn't work. Now, cntl-Get does it for me. It kicks off Software Update and downloads the operating system. It then asks if I want to install it, and asks for my password to "Unlock". I enter my password, and it just keeps asking.
Yes, the install package was downloaded into my applications folder. I click on that, and I just get asked for my password again. I can't start the installation manually.
So I tried creating another Administrator account as you suggested. I called it "test". Logged in as "test" and went to Software Update and tried to update. It asked for passwords again, but only allowed me to enter a password from my account and the real Admin account, neither of which worked. It did not allow me to update as "test".
Not sure how it can be an ownership problem as my passwords work for everything else. It's a Software Update problem.
I'm screwed.
So, I had to go to https://apps.apple.com/us/app/macos-monterey/id1576738294?mt=12 and select "View in Mac App Store". That gets me to MacOS Monterey in the App Store. Bizarre.
Now, when I click "Get" there it flips me into Software Update which, as I said, doesn't work. Now, cntl-Get does it for me. It kicks off Software Update and downloads the operating system. It then asks if I want to install it, and asks for my password to "Unlock". I enter my password, and it just keeps asking.
Yes, the install package was downloaded into my applications folder. I click on that, and I just get asked for my password again. I can't start the installation manually.
So I tried creating another Administrator account as you suggested. I called it "test". Logged in as "test" and went to Software Update and tried to update. It asked for passwords again, but only allowed me to enter a password from my account and the real Admin account, neither of which worked. It did not allow me to update as "test".
Not sure how it can be an ownership problem as my passwords work for everything else. It's a Software Update problem.
I'm screwed.
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I tried a terminal installation again. It decided to work again. It "Downloaded macOS Monterey 12.6.4" again. But what I didn't notice before was a notification that popped up after that."Updates Not Installed Some updates could not be installed." If you ask for "details" it throws you into Software Update.
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What I would suggest next is to restart into Recovery. For your M1 iMac, you will have to shut down and then press and hold the power button until the startup drives and Options screen comes up. Click on Options to get into recovery, where you can elect to reinstall macOS. However, since your iMac can run it, it will probably ask you to install macOS Ventura.
I wouldn’t want to suggest what I had to go through in order to get rid of a bug that nobody else could help me with, because it was a harrowing experience but nevertheless got rid of the bug from hell. It involved a complete reset of my Mac Studio… Anyway, I’m hoping you will never need to resort to that.
OK, I got in touch with Apple Support. Started out with a chat, but was then escalated to a REALLY smart and insightful person at Apple. My problem evidently had something to do with my SecureToken configuration getting mucked up. We tried various fixes, and none worked. Ended up erasing the whole shebang, doing a clean install of the OS (for some reason, it knew I wanted Monterey), and then using Migration Assistant to pull down everything except the OS from my backup. Thank god for backups! Took some time, but rather little real effort.