Need disk space during upgrade

[Beachguy]

I am running the update for High Sierra and it keeps crapping out with errors. I suspect it ran out of disk space. How can I get to /users/<me>/Downloads from the command line to delete files?

I don't have the cables to do target disk mode. So, I need to be able to get to the usual user areas.

 

[alexclst]

You can use Single User Mode to get to stuff on your disk directly from the computer, but without a fully functional OS:

1. Start up the Mac whilst holding down ⌘-S. After a few moments, you'll see the Mac boot to the command line.
2. The following command will check the filesystem to ensure there are no problems. Enter:

/sbin/fsck -fy

3. The next command will then mount the filesystem for it to be accessible:

/sbin/mount -uw /

Then you’d use “cd” to move around the filesystem. For example, to access your Downloads folder run:

/usr/bin/cd /Users/<me>/Downloads

You can list the contents with ls:

/bin/ls

And delete files using rm:

/bin/rm file.txt

There are options for each command, use “man ls”, etc. to learn what the additional options are. But that should give you a basic idea of how to navigate the OS and delete files of yours as needed.

 

[Beachguy]

That did the trick- and now the update is installed. Thanks!!!