10.11 GM candidate download TROUBLE

[StarShot]

Last night I received an invitation to download/install the GM El Capitan OS. While I should have backed my MBA up before anything, it was late and I didn't.

I clicked on the installation in the Purchase Apps window and ran the program or so I thought. It took about 2+ hours to install. This morning I discovered it seems to have wiped out my Parallels VM, locking it up when trying to boot the program.

A few minutes ago I went into Purchased Apps again and saw the GM candidate with a box that said "download". If I click on the "Apple" and then About, it shows El Capitan version 10.11 without any mention of a beta. Since it shows the program in the Purchased App with a download option, I'm now wonder if it installed correctly last night and whether I should attempt to download/install it one more time.

However, I may have a bigger problem in that I sold my iP6 yesterday after a backup to iTunes on this computer. I won't get my new IP6S until at least Sept 25th. So, I'm worried that I shouldn't mess with this computer and try to rerun the "GM" update UNTIL I get my new IP6S and restore it. I certainly DON'T want to lose all my contacts, etc that are in my current iTunes backup.

From other hints, I think this GM El Capitan version may be a bit squirrelly and wonder why I wandered down this path to possible doom. I've been with Apple since around 2008 and it seems like with every update, OS X gets just a little more like Wincrap with just the next update that may "right the ship".

 

[RAMtheSSD]

I am not sure how you have your machine set up (multiple drives with OWC data doubler etc...) but it is possible to install the OS to a USB drive and boot from that. I am unsure as to how you would go about it but I know it is done often enough and I know that OS X daily has a recipe. I would use that as your boot drive to repair permissions etc... with disk utility and maybe until your new iPhone arrives and then clone that to the hard drive using disk utility. Another possibility is start the machine with the problem in target mode and work on it from the other one. As I understand it, Thunderbolt supports target mode just like firewire does. As far as Parallels, I use VMware so I don't know about parallels but look around, VMware kept a spare VM because you use a duplicate rather than the original or so I have experienced so maybe parallels does as well?

I know an unfortunate lot about Windows and I can state categorically that OS X is far far far from Windows. A windows machine (it may be better with 10 but who knows) that doesn't have to be rebooted at least once a couple of weeks is not using windows as its OS. My Mac Pro has been on for months at a time and only updates that require a reboot disturb the peace (really wish they had not gotten into that habit) and was on for a whole year with Mountain Lion and only one of these updates stopped that run from continuing. I used a separate partition on a separate HD to run VMware but there is more room in a Mac Pro. On the other hand, you have Thunderbolt so maybe you can daisy chain something that way so that OS X is all by itself on your HD or SSD.

Hope this helps some

 

[StarShot]

Thanks RAMtheSSD. When the smoke clears, I'm going to try to reinstall Parallels and I think that will fix my problem. I do 90% or more in OS-X, but there are still some programs like Microsoft's Streets and Trips and I prefer to use Excel in Windows even though I have a working Apple copy. I'm just more familiar with the menus there. Yes, if I wanted to take the time and learn some of the OS-X features of Excel, but I just am too lazy to do that.

 

[RAMtheSSD]

I am sorry I did not get to this sooner and I hope it is not too late. I had a flash of insight last night: your Parallels is not compatible with this version of OS X so it was placed (with all its files and the virtual machine) in a system folder (directly under OS X ) called incompatible software. I used finder (as a test) and when I asked it to search this mac, it popped right up. I hope your virtual machine is there waiting for you with all your files intact and that I caught you in time before you tried to reinstall it (presumably, an incompatible piece of software that would reinstall and then reboot would overwrite the same software and its materials in that folder) and lost everything.

 

[StarShot]

I am sorry I did not get to this sooner and I hope it is not too late. I had a flash of insight last night: your Parallels is not compatible with this version of OS X so it was placed (with all its files and the virtual machine) in a system folder (directly under OS X ) called incompatible software. I used finder (as a test) and when I asked it to search this mac, it popped right up. I hope your virtual machine is there waiting for you with all your files intact and that I caught you in time before you tried to reinstall it (presumably, an incompatible piece of software that would reinstall and then reboot would overwrite the same software and its materials in that folder) and lost everything.

What exactly should I be searching for in "Finder"? I'm not worried about any files on my Parallels VM. Right now I'm pretty wrapped in in getting the new IPHONE 6S and then restoring it from the files backed up on this computer. So I could probably take a shot at reinstalling Parallels without the fear of bricking the OS X part of the computer.

In Finder, I see Parallels (672 MB) and in Documents, I see the few Windows 10 files I have there.

 

[RAMtheSSD]

The folder is under OS X (or rather /) and outside either /usr or /user (an OS X quirk that is apparently small enough to not affect POSIX compliance) so I imagine the address in your machine would be /incompatible software/parallels/VM but I was able to get to it by typing incompatible software and when I started to type folder, I got the option to select type:folder and that was all it took. What I meant as far as Parallels and the reinstall was not that you would brick OS X but rather that you would loose your virtual machine to an overwrite of the incompatible software folder.

On a side note, I am so beyond totally jealous; you have a 6s already! How?! You must have slept at the store! I can't wait to try the whole live photo thing but come January when I will be eligible for an upgrade, it is ApplePay that I am looking forward to. So? how is it? beyond insanely great?

 

[StarShot]

On a side note, I am so beyond totally jealous; you have a 6s already! How?

NOT. I guess I didn't read my own musing. I WAS up half the night yesterday, ordering 2 phones. I actually meant I was trying to protect my iTunes backup of my last phone (IP6) and slightly worried if I screw up that backup which would be "restored" to my new IP6 S on Sept 25th. I sold the old phone about 4 days ago and am surviving with a 5 year old flipper.