upgrade from 10.6 to 10.13

[DanL]

I was holding on to 10.6 because of some Adobe software whose capability I would lose by upgrading, but I've graduated beyond that software. Time to move up! I go to the App Store and try to upgrade to High Sierra, but it says, nope, no can do, unless you're on 10.8. Duh? So what's the trick?

Actually, I'd be happy to just upgrade to 10.11, since I don't need a lot of the new iOS interfaces. How do I do that?

 

[honestone]

Sorry to hear you are having these issues. It seems to be that quite a few folks have frustrating experiences with the App Store and Mac OS upgrading. I myself have been fortunate, in that I always make a copy of the "Install macOS whatever" file I download from the App store. However, I still "miffed" that within my Purchases tab, Sierra (OS 10.12) is not listed there! (I have the last "Install macOS Sierra" file, although I am running High Sierra, OS 10.13.3, on both of my Macs).

First question is, what exact Mac model do you have?

Secondly, if you do upgrade to a new Mac OS, you'll need to insure that all your third party (ie, non-Apple) software is compatible with the new OS you are upgrading to.

Third, it was my understanding that once you have Snow Leopard (OS 10.6.8), you would be able to "see" at least OS 10.7, Lion, in the App Store, and upgrade to it. When you visit the App Store and click on the Featured tab, what Mac OS do you see there?

I wish you lived near me, as within my Purchased tab, I can see Lion, Mavericks, Yosemite, and El Capitan, and thus I could provide you a copy of any of those.

One other thing: upgrading from OS 10.6.x to El Capitan (OS 10.11.6) is a huge leap. You'll need to make all the necessary preparations (disk cleanup/maintenance/repairs, backups, software upgrades, etc.) before proceeding.

 

[DanL]

Yes, I'm backed up. I have an iMac that can easily take the upgrade. I have an identical iMac that is already running El Cap.

I found an Apple support page where it offers El Capitan on the App Store. I type in my Admin password, type in my Apple password, and press "Get". The "Get" gets greyed out, and it just sits there. Is it downloading anything? Not sure what's going on! The support page says that when you press this button, a file "Install OSC El Capitan" is supposed to be created in my Applications folder. I don't see that happening. Certainly it will take a few hours to download the whole install package, but how can I tell whether it is really downloading??

I should add that, with my other iMac, I went straight from 10.6 to 10.11, with no serious issues. So that upgrade doesn't intimidate me.

 

[honestone]

I "believe" what is happening is that the upgrade from OS 10.6.x to OS 10.11.6 is happening "in place", ie, your iMac will be upgraded from OS 10.6.x to OS 10.11.6. But I believe OS 10.6.x does not include Launchpad, or else you could click on it, and then you should "see" the upgrade occurring.

How did you upgrade your other iMac, from OS 10.6.x to OS 10.11.6? A similar process?

 

[DanL]

Gosh, I don't remember how I got to El Cap in my other iMac. I think it was being offered in the App store, and I just did it. Are you saying that the upgrade is happening, more or less invisibly, and I just have to wait it out and BOOM, it will be at El Cap? Weird.

You would like to believe thee would be some download progress bar, or even just a message saying "working on it, please wait!"

Well, what is notable is that my machine is set up to dim the screen after 5 minutes of inactivity. I now see that the screen is not dimming. So the machine thinks that something is going on ....

 

[honestone]

Again, if Launchpad was part of Snow Leopard (OS 10-.6.x), that app would be in your dock, and you could just click on it.

 

[honestone]

If this is the Apple "page" you are talking about:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT206886

then at the completion of the download, a file entitled "Install OS X El Capitan" will/should appear in your Downloads folder. If I were you, after that completes, first make a copy of that "Install OS X El Capitan" file in another location, before you continue with the installation. The reason for doing that is that after you complete the "installation" of El Capitan (by running that file from your Downloads folder), that file will then be deleted/removed. If you needed that file again, it would be much easier if you have it somewhere.

I'm wondering if you open your Downloads folder, whether or not you can see that file being downloaded. You might want to try that.

 

[DanL]

Well, geez Louise. What I didn't notice was a little icon in the dock for an OS installer. Yep, that's where it was hiding. So I keep trying to command an upgrade, and it seems to keep not doing it because it really is doing it, and not telling me when I command it. And no, the Install OS X El Capitan folder does NOT appear in your applications folder at least until the download is done. Everyone else says that's where it should appear. No, I didn't look in Downloads. Once it is done, the Installer will ask if you are ready to install. So it's all working, but Apple sure doesn't want to reassure you clearly that it is.

The use interface to the Installer leaves a lot to be desired.

 

[honestone]

I suspect you clicked on some "Mac OS Update" button, and the process went on its way. In that case, you will not see the "Install Mac OS El Capitan" file inside your Applications folder. The reason for that (Apple's "logic", not mine) is that by running the installer either directly from its location, or via the automatic process you went through, that file gets deleted/removed. If you run it from another location, that does not happen.

What I don't know is that via the automatic method, if after you see the screen about proceeding with the installation, if you said "No" (ie, quit that process), would the file "Install Mac OS EL Capitan" had been in your Applications folder? I cannot not say, as I go about the installation of either a new Mac OS or an update to an existing one in a different, more controlled manner.