A "full installer" no longer is.

[zorinlynx]

I have the supposed full 12GB installer that just came out today, but when I ran it to install on an iMac on my bench, it said an Internet connection is required to install. So I connected it to the net and it's downloading at least hundreds of megabytes of data.

So apparently a full installer isn't, anymore. This is a bit disconcerting for people who have to upgrade a lot of machines on a limited network connection.

Still downloading as I type this, too. And the download is going fast, around half a gigabit/sec. Why even bother having a full installer?

 

[August West]

Sorry to hear this. I only have 2 machines but don't have access to broadband internet so a ~12GB download is major PITA and ties up my internet connection for most of the day

 

[Heat_Fan89]

I was planing on upgrading Big Sur to Monterey but just to see if it's true I made an installer and I'm going to try it on my 2018 Mini.

 

[BigBlur]

I think it has been this way for awhile. It was likely downloading firmware updates, which aren't included in the full installer. If you create a bootable USB using the createinstallmedia command, you can include the firmware updates by using the --downloadassets flag, so then it doesn't have to go out and fetch them during the install.

sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Monterey.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Untitled --downloadassets

 

[usagora]

Sorry to hear this. I only have 2 machines but don't have access to broadband internet so a ~12GB download is major PITA and ties up my internet connection for most of the day

So how were you obtaining the installer before? They don't sell them as DVDs anymore, so you'd still have to download it at least once.

@zorinlynx What is "at least hundreds of megabytes of data"? Doesn't it say the total?

 

[DeltaMac]

I wonder if you were installing to a blank drive? I have just completed installing upgrade installs on two different Macs on Wifi only, specifically turned Wifi off when I booted to the installer, and the install completed without asking about an internet connection.
Both were upgrade installs to go from Monterey beta to the release version. I did this install from a Monterey bootable USB (the "full" install... )
What do you think the difference might be, when I was not asked about internet connection? The only time that I did need to connect was after the install was completed, and the Mac asked to connect to verify the AppleID setup, pretty normal stuff there.

 

[zorinlynx]

I think it has been this way for awhile. It was likely downloading firmware updates, which aren't included in the full installer. If you create a bootable USB using the createinstallmedia command, you can include the firmware updates by using the --downloadassets flag, so then it doesn't have to go out and fetch them during the install.

sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Monterey.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Untitled --downloadassets

This has fixed the problem! I just created a new installer and tested installing to an iMac on my bench with no network and it is installing now. I wonder why this is not the default.

Thank you!

What is "at least hundreds of megabytes of data"? Doesn't it say the total?

I didn't get the exact amount. I just saw a fast download happening for several minutes on my bandwidth monitor. It was very likely the assets mentioned above.

 

[BigBlur]

I wonder if you were installing to a blank drive? I have just completed installing upgrade installs on two different Macs on Wifi only, specifically turned Wifi off when I booted to the installer, and the install completed without asking about an internet connection.
Both were upgrade installs to go from Monterey beta to the release version. I did this install from a Monterey bootable USB (the "full" install... )
What do you think the difference might be, when I was not asked about internet connection? The only time that I did need to connect was after the install was completed, and the Mac asked to connect to verify the AppleID setup, pretty normal stuff there.

In your case, your firmware was probably already updated from the betas you installed earlier, so it didn't need to download/install them when you installed the release version of macOS.

 

[DeltaMac]

Ah, OK, that seems likely....
I did look through some of the macOS installers that I have. Mojave has a "Firmware" folder in the Resources folder -- Catalina and newer do not have a Firmware folder that is included in a freshly-downloaded installer app.
And, I remember that the latest Monterey beta did update the firmware on a MBAir that I use for a variety of tasks - and I had the installer set to use wifi. That was probably it.

 

[macdos]

It will update your dictionaries and voices. They are not included in the installer, never have been.

 

[roger_2023]

What happens, in years to come, when Apples servers stops responding to activation requests.

It seems to me the Mac is bricked, just like Windows Phone!

I made a bootable installer using:

sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Monterey.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Untitled --downloadassets

On an M1 mac, it gets half way through re-install and asks for Internet

 

[bogdanw]

On an M1 mac, it gets half way through re-install and asks for Internet

Apple: "A bootable installer doesn't download macOS from the internet, but it does require an internet connection to get firmware and other information specific to the Mac model."
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372

 

[roger_2023]

I wonder what the point of --downloadassets is, as it is not part of the default installer and other things are required.