Error during update

[ThemacNub]

So after putting off upgrading to Big Sur for a couple of years I finally do and get "an error occurred applying the software update".

So far I have tried booting through safe mode, entering recovery and doing first aid on the disk. Neither have worked.

Everything important is backed up with the exception of some entries to Notes. Is there anyway I can pull these files via terminal and put them back after a clean install?

If so can I please have some assistance of what the file paths are as I don't have another Mac to check. Any other ideas on how to make the install go through would also be great.

 

[bogdanw]

I think notes are stored in a sqlite database in ~/Library/Group Containers/group.com.apple.notes/

Ensure that you have enough free space on the disk for software update to proceed.

“ If upgrading from macOS Sierra or later, macOS Big Sur requires 35.5GB of available storage to upgrade. If upgrading from an earlier release, macOS Big Sur requires up to 44.5GB of available storage.”
https://support.apple.com/kb/sp833

 

[ThemacNub]

I think notes are stored in a sqlite database in ~/Library/Group Containers/group.com.apple.notes/

Ensure that you have enough free space on the disk for software update to proceed.

“ If upgrading from macOS Sierra or later, macOS Big Sur requires 35.5GB of available storage to upgrade. If upgrading from an earlier release, macOS Big Sur requires up to 44.5GB of available storage.”
https://support.apple.com/kb/sp833

Thank you. There is approx 65 gb free so that probably isn't the issue.

 

[bogdanw]

Make sure the Internet connection works, it’s now required even when using a bootable installer.
"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

 

[ThemacNub]

Make sure the Internet connection works, it’s now required even when using a bootable installer.
"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

Thanks Bogdan, unfortunately didn't help with the update error but I'll keep that in mind for the clean install.

 

[ThemacNub]

OK, a problem with doing a clean install from recovery mode. It won't work. Is there anyother way of creating a bootable disk in recovery mode. I don't have another mac available to make one the normal way.

 

[bogdanw]

I don’t know if it works, but from Terminal in Recovery you could try to
- download the 11.7.2 InstallAssistant.pkg

curl -O https://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/36/35/032-12833-A_767J3FVTQ1/27g8em98uo6ghra4newzc7lkhd4ek0u0xm/InstallAssistant.pkg

- unpack it

installer -verbose -pkg InstallAssistant.pkg -target /Volumes/SomeVolume/

- create a bootable installer

/Volumes/SomeVolume/Applications/Install\ macOS\ Big\ Sur.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/USBdrive/

You you have access to a Windows PC, you can try to make a bootable installer with gibMacOS https://github.com/corpnewt/gibMacOS

InstallAssistant.pkg link from https://mrmacintosh.com/macos-big-sur-full-installer-database-download-directly-from-apple/