I have a friend who has a 2017 imac he is currenly at high sierra but i am trying to get him to big sur. we went to the app store and downloaded the update which seemed to work but now it looks like it hung trying to update. I had him try and reboot to see if it picks back up on the update with no luck now he has a folder with a question mark. I assume he needs a corded mouse to get into recovery mode to try and fix it.
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Mac OS failed to update
- Thread starter Trilback
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Which 2017 iMac? Fusion drive or pure SSD? And yes, a corded mouse and keyboard are always good to have when trying to troubleshoot a problem.
If he can get into Recovery, have him do a First Aid check on the drive. Many times an install will fail if the drive has problems.
If he can get into Recovery, have him do a First Aid check on the drive. Many times an install will fail if the drive has problems.
Someone is too hasty? Big Sur takes a lot of time to install. Might it be, that you just rushed to reboot interrupting the natural flow of upgrade? If that's the case, there's a trouble. "a folder with a question mark" means the macOS booter is corrupted. Try booting in Recovery or Internet Recovery modes and reinstall macOS from there.
I hope your friend has a backup.
Yes, he should probably be using a USB keyboard and corded mouse.
I would suggest he try INTERNET recovery (NOT "the recovery partition")
Command OPTION R
at boot.
If he connects via wifi, he'll need his wifi password.
It will take a while for the utilities to load -- be patient.
When he gets to the utilities, open the OS installer and try again.
If that doesn't work, he could try:
a. open disk utility
b. IMPORTANT -- go to view menu and choose "show ALL devices"
c. Try the first aid function, see if that helps. What kind of report does it give?
If that doesn't work, he might be forced into ERASING THE ENTIRE DRIVE, and then "start over".
Again, hope he has a backup...
Yes, he should probably be using a USB keyboard and corded mouse.
I would suggest he try INTERNET recovery (NOT "the recovery partition")
Command OPTION R
at boot.
If he connects via wifi, he'll need his wifi password.
It will take a while for the utilities to load -- be patient.
When he gets to the utilities, open the OS installer and try again.
If that doesn't work, he could try:
a. open disk utility
b. IMPORTANT -- go to view menu and choose "show ALL devices"
c. Try the first aid function, see if that helps. What kind of report does it give?
If that doesn't work, he might be forced into ERASING THE ENTIRE DRIVE, and then "start over".
Again, hope he has a backup...