Multiple problems after attempting to install macOS 10.13.1 update

[mallbritton]

I seem to be having three major issues after attempting to install the macOS High Sierra 10.13.1 update from the Mac App Store.

1. I was unable to complete the installation of the .1 update from the Mac App Store. After downloading the update my MacBook Air rebooted and all I got was a black screen with the cursor arrow on it. It didn't even get as far as the start up chime. Now I can neither shut down or restart since it always defaults back to that black screen. I have to power off my MBA, wait a few seconds, then power it back on. Once I do this I can use my MBA mostly normally. Which leads me to my next problem...

2. Spotlight has stopped indexing and returns no search results. I have not idea what caused this problem but every trouble shooting tip I've found on the internet doesn't work.

3. Time Machine keeps having to do a completely new backup. This has happened twice in the past week where TM tells me it evaluated the back on my Time Capsule (bought in January 2017) and needs to do a new backup.

I won't go into all the trouble shooting I've done to try to solve these problems, but the last step I did was download the full High Sierra installer for 10.13.1 from the Mac App Store, create a bootable USB drive, and install the OS from that. This fixed nothing. I still cannot shutdown/restart and Spotlight will not index the drive.

I'm currently in the process of backing up to an external HDD in preparation for completely wiping the SSD and starting over from scratch. Is this really my only option to fix this? Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated from the community.

TIA

 

[Gregg2]

I won't go into all the trouble shooting I've done to try to solve these problems,

Actually, it's a very good idea to do so. Otherwise, what is to prevent other members from suggesting things you've already tried? That's a waste their time, and yours if you respond with "been there, tried that, thanks".

It would also be helpful to state when your MBA was made, or the exact model, if you know it.

How full is the hard drive?

 

[mallbritton]

It's a July 2014 MacBook Air with approximately 44 GB free on the internal SSD.

To solve the restart issue my solutions have been limited but I have downloaded and tried to install the 10.13.1 update at least 4 times. I've even created a bootable USB drive installer and installed the OS from that. With no success.

For the Spotlight issue I've tried every tip I could find on the internet about adding the SSD to the Privacy tab of Spotlight in System Preferences. I've tried every command line tip I could find. None of them work to reindex Spotlight. I even created a new User Account to see if the problem transferred over. It did.

So I'm apparently left with wiping the drive and starting over from scratch.

 

[Fishrrman]

You've been having so many problems with High Sierra, that perhaps it might be advised to stick with Low Sierra for the time being...

 

[mallbritton]

These problems only started when I tried to install the .1 update. Before that 10.13.0 was functioning fine.

 

[mallbritton]

I ended up wiping the SSD and reinstalling High Sierra 10.13.1 from scratch and now everything is running like greased lightening. Now I'm restoring everything from my backup.

 

[Gregg2]

Glad it's working!