Yosemite Setup Issue

[Ormond]

Good morning all,

Here's an issue I've had repeatedly when installing Yosemite. I'm hoping someone might know something about this.

Installation goes fine, right up until the very end. I get to the screen that says "Setting Up Your Mac". The dialog contains a Mac icon, with two checkboxes checked off. Below that is a in progress icon going round and round over the text "Setting up..."

And that's where it gets stuck. The process never proceeds past this screen.

This has happened a couple of times before, and eventually (after an hour) I have to power down out of the never ending "setting up..." screen. The mac seems to work, but of course I'm wondering if the install really completed entirely.

Thanks for any tips!

 

[Ormond]

This article may answer my question:

http://osxdaily.com/2014/10/17/os-x-yosemite-installation-stuck/

According to the author, the solution is to just wait it out and let the process run, even if it takes a couple hours. If I was a rude blowhard I would yell, "more crap from Apple!", but luckily I am a highly diplomatic good citizen with excellent table manners.

So anyway, now I know this is a normal bug to be expected, and not something specific to my situation.

The author suggests...

"If you want to watch what’s going on behind the scenes, hit Command+L to bring up the installation log. This shows exactly what’s being transferred or copied, rather than relying on the inaccurate status bar."

I tried this, but nothing seems to happen.

 

[Ormond]

In the unlikely event a future reader wishes to install Yosemite, and not experience the hours long delay (which may never end) at the end of the install process, here's what worked for me.

First, the advice to just let the installer run didn't work here. Well, I waited 12 hours, and then pulled the plug.

What did work was....

1) Wipe drive clean with Disk Utility.

2) Disconnect any backup drives.

3) Connect a bootable USB OSX installer.

4) Turn on the Mac.

5) Run the installer.

When I did this the install process ran smoothly and was complete in 10-15 minutes, no problems.

What didn't work yesterday was to boot from a backup drive, and then run the USB installer on to the internal drive. Can't tell you why this didn't work. Maybe something about the installer trying to do something mysterious with the very many files on the backup drive? Dunno...

 

[honestone]

According to the author, the solution is to just wait it out and let the process run, even if it takes a couple hours. If I was a rude blowhard I would yell, "more crap from Apple!", but luckily I am a highly diplomatic good citizen with excellent table manners.

Hmm, are you turning a new leaf? In another post, you wanted to hit your Mac with a chicken!

 

[honestone]

In the unlikely event a future reader wishes to install Yosemite, and not experience the hours long delay (which may never end) at the end of the install process, here's what worked for me.

First, the advice to just let the installer run didn't work here. Well, I waited 12 hours, and then pulled the plug.

What did work was....

1) Wipe drive clean with Disk Utility.

2) Disconnect any backup drives.

3) Connect a bootable USB OSX installer.

4) Turn on the Mac.

5) Run the installer.

When I did this the install process ran smoothly and was complete in 10-15 minutes, no problems.

What didn't work yesterday was to boot from a backup drive, and then run the USB installer on to the internal drive. Can't tell you why this didn't work. Maybe something about the installer trying to do something mysterious with the very many files on the backup drive? Dunno...

Glad you got it working that way. As most folks know, I run a similar process, except that after I make a SuperDuper! backup of my "clean, older" system (ie, containing the latest version of the prior OS), I re-start my Mac from that bootable backup, use Disk Utility there to Erase and Format the internal drive (SSD) on my Mac, then launch the installer file for the new Mac OS I want to install ("upgrade" to), and proceed from there. (This link has the previous post I made about "upgrading" from El Capitan, OS 10.11.6, to Sierra, OS 10.12.1:

https://www.mac-help.com/threads/sierra-os-10-12-1-success.222780/)

I have followed that process for the last 3 (or maybe 4) "upgrades" to the new Mac OS, and i have had success each and every time. Also, I first wrote down a detailed, step by step plan of how to proceed with such an "upgrade".

Of course, as has been mentioned before, it is critical to insure that any third party applications you are using are compatible with the new OS. That might require downloading the applicable updates. For me, I had to get 4 apps ready prior to installation of Sierra, and then "replace" two of them after installation. They were:

Prior to installation of OS 10.12: 1Password, Office 2016, Tech Tool Pro, and SuperDuper!

After Installation: Onyx, and Logitech Control Center software for my Logitech mice

There have been posts from folks who do not follow that (it's necessary), and it causes headaches.