Monterey update failed

[JHK74]

Hi all! I updated my iMac from Sierra to Catalina and then wanted to update it to Monterey. It got stuck at the point where it cannot select a startup disc. I somehow got pass that message, but then the update failed and how when I start it there is a flashing question mark and the text support.apple.com/mac/startup.

I could find the following instructions online:

The question mark is flashing, not persistent, but not sure if this makes any difference.

Point 2: to open Disk Utility I would have to go to the Utilities folder, but it did not work then I tried to follow the instructions.

Any thoughts?

 

[rpmurray]

People here would be more likely to help you if you provided the specs for your Mac, basically all the stuff you would see from About This Mac. For example;

iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2020)
Processor: 3.8 GHz 8-Core Intel Core i7
Memory: 128 GB 2667 MHz DDR4
Graphics: AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT 16 GB

and of course if you have an SSD or HD and if you're booting from the internal or an external. And most important, is the drive a Fusion Drive?

Do you have a backup? This is helpful because if you do, then we can be a bit more aggressive with the suggestions without having to worry about deleting any important data since you could recover from the backup.

Easiest place to start would be to try to boot into Recovery and see if you can re-install from there. If you don't need anything that's on the drive you can use Disk Utility in recovery to erase it and start over.

 

[JHK74]

I managed to find the receipt from November 2017 when it was bought so here is the spec:

iMac 21.5 inch with Retina 4K (2017)
Processor: 3.4 GHz quad-core 7th generation Intel Core i5
Memory: 8 GB 2400 MHz
Graphics: Radeon Pro 560

I think it has an HD and I was trying to boot it from the internal disk.

Yes, I have a backup. I have been using Time Machine to back it up on an external disk (WD My Passport) and did the latest backup before I was trying to upgrade it.

 

[HDFan]

Point 2: to open Disk Utility I would have to go to the Utilities folder, but it did not work then I tried to follow the instructions.

It wouldn't boot in recovery mode?

 

[JHK74]

Update:
I followed the instructions to boot in recovery mode (Command ⌘ and R) and that worked.
Then selected Disk Utility and the devices were displayed on the left, but no containers or volumes were displayed.
Ran First Aid on both internal discs (SSD and HDD). No errors were found.
Done, so clicked on 'Reinstall macOS' and the Sierra logo was displayed. Continue. Software license agreed.
Question 'Select the disk where you want to install masOS" displayed, but there is no disc displayed that could be selected so cannot continue with the installation.

Restarted and repeated the steps, but still no disc displayed although no errors where found.

 

[rpmurray]

I'm thinking that if Recovery is trying to bring up Sierra then Sierra might not be playing nice with your drives if they were formatted as APFS which the update to Catalina probably did automatically. Have you tried using Option-Command-R to boot into recovery? That should try to install Monterey instead of Sierra. Be aware that it connects to the internet to boot the OS, so it will be very slow even on a fast network.

 

[JHK74]

Booted using Option-Command-R and entered the WiFi password. After a while the screen comes up with the option to install Monterey. Clicked continue and a message comes up that an internet connection is required to install macOS. Other devices are connected to the internet, so the connection is definitely on. Also cannot access internet via Safari. How can I reconnect to the internet while on the recovery mode?

 

[rpmurray]

WiFi has always worked for me, when I can remember the password. Have you tried to connect directly to your router using ethernet?

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

Like rpmurray suggests, connect the imac directly to your router using ethernet, and try again with INTERNET recovery (NOT "the recovery partition").

IF you have a current backup, I would suggest this:
(DO NOT do this UNLESS you have a backup!)

Boot to internet recovery (Command-OPTION-R).

Get to the internet utilities.

Open disk utility.

VERY IMPORTANT: in disk utility, go to the "view" menu and choose "show all devices".

Look at the list on the left -- the "topmost" item should represent the physical drive inside.

Click on the drive and ERASE IT to APFS, GUID partition format.

Quit disk utility and open the OS installer.

Start clicking through. The Mac will reboot one or more times, and the screen will go dark for one or more minutes at a time, with no other indication of activity.

When the install is done, you should see the initial setup screen -- choose your language.

Start clicking through. When asked if you wish to migrate from another drive, YES, you do. Connect the backup and give setup assistant time to digest everything.

I'd just accept all the defaults, and let setup assistant do its thing. When done, you should see your original login screen.

Final thought:
If you have a 2017 21" iMac that has a PLATTER-BASED hard drive inside, it's going to be slow.
The solution to speed it up:
Get a USB3 SSD, plug it in, and install the new OS onto that.
Then, migrate your data to the external SSD.
Set it to be the new boot drive (using startup disk preference pane).
Things will go MUCH faster...

 

[JHK74]

I connected directly to router using ethernet cable and proceeded to reinstall Monterey. Installation information loaded, T&C agreed and message 'Select the disk where you want to install macOS' appears, but again there is no disc displayed that could be selected so cannot continue with the installation.

As I mentioned earlier, I did a backup with Time Machine on an external drive just before the installation, but WHAT IF the backup was not done correctly, the drive is faulty or something else, what OTHER options are there now to reinstall any OS on my Mac, except what Fishrrman is suggesting?

 

[rpmurray]

When you get to the part were you need to select a disk, do any of the menus at the top give you the option to run Disk Utility? If so, run it, select the disk and then reformat it.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

Have you tried the EXACT steps I offered in reply 9 above ???

 

[JHK74]

I followed the steps and installed Monterey using internet recovery. The HDD drive format was 'APFS' and it had to be changed to 'Mac OS Extended (Journaled)'. Plugged the Time Machine backup into the mac and used the the Migration Assistant to transfer files. All worked fine.

Microsoft Office now needs updating as the 2011 version does not work anymore, so either Office for Mac 2021, 2019 or Microsoft 365. However, since I use Office only occasionally (mainly Word and Excel), I will also look into LibreOffice since it has been recommended in the forum.