Need Help: 2018 MacBook Pro Constantly Fails Software Update During Preparation Phase

[mactops]

Hello everyone,



I’m facing an issue with my 2018 MacBook Pro regarding software updates.

Despite having ample SSD space and a stable Wi-Fi connection, I have been unable to install any updates for several months.

The update process always fails during the preparation stage with the following error message:
“Die Vorbereitung des Softwareupdates ist fehlgeschlagen. Versuche es erneut. Beim Laden der ausgewählten Updates ist ein Fehler aufgetreten. Überprüfe deine Internetverbindung und versuche es erneut.”
This translates to “Preparation of the software update failed. Try again. An error occurred while loading the selected updates. Check your internet connection and try again.”

I have not yet tried any specific troubleshooting steps and am looking for advice on how to proceed. Does anyone here have experience with this issue or have suggestions on potential fixes?

Not sure whether it may play a role: But I am maintaining two dynamic volumes on my system (i.e. partitions). One for private stuff and one for programming.

Thank you for any guidance you can provide!

 

[bogdanw]

Sign out of your Apple Account. If you have a firewall, turn it off.
"Fix the “Failed to Personalize Software Update” Error in MacOS"
https://osxdaily.com/2024/10/30/fix-the-failed-to-personalize-software-update-error-in-macos/

 

[mactops]

Sign out of your Apple Account. If you have a firewall, turn it off.
"Fix the “Failed to Personalize Software Update” Error in MacOS"
https://osxdaily.com/2024/10/30/fix-the-failed-to-personalize-software-update-error-in-macos/

Thank you for the help.

Unfortunately, this did not solve the issue.

 

[Bigwaff]

Curious what version of macOS do you have and what version are updating to?

But I am maintaining two dynamic volumes on my system (i.e. partitions). One for private stuff and one for programming.

Do mean you have two different installs of macOS?

 

[Fishrrman]

"Not sure whether it may play a role: But I am maintaining two dynamic volumes on my system (i.e. partitions). One for private stuff and one for programming."

I'm thinking this has very much to do with the OP's problems...

 

[mactops]

Curious what version of macOS do you have and what version are updating to?

Do mean you have two different installs of macOS?

I have two macOS installs. Both are 14.7.

Updates always worked without any problems. But now I cannot update either one of the two to 14.7.1 or 15.1.

 

[Fishrrman]

I'm thinking you're going to have to make a choice "between OS installs",
Back up both of them,
Then delete ONE of the containers/partitions,
Then try upgrading the remaining OS.

Then decide what to do next...

 

[mactops]

I'm thinking you're going to have to make a choice "between OS installs",
Back up both of them,
Then delete ONE of the containers/partitions,
Then try upgrading the remaining OS.

Then decide what to do next...

Any background information that Apple changed something with respect to this? I mean, updates always worked without any problems in that setting.

 

[mactops]

I'm thinking you're going to have to make a choice "between OS installs",
Back up both of them,
Then delete ONE of the containers/partitions,
Then try upgrading the remaining OS.

Then decide what to do next...

Could anyone please advise me on how to do this exactly?

 

[mactops]

Finally, I got it solved. I think there was not enough disk space, although it looked plenty. I just kept deleting stuff and suddenly it worked.
Got to this point, after trying re-install via recovery mode. It was only there that I got more precise information on lack of disk space. It still required additional 19 GB. Finally, I had about 50-60 GB free space. Crazy.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP wrote:
"Got to this point, after trying re-install via recovery mode. It was only there that I got more precise information on lack of disk space. It still required additional 19 GB. Finally, I had about 50-60 GB free space. Crazy."

I seem to recall (from someplace) that OS installs on m-series Macs now require VERY large amounts of "free space". By "very large", I'm thinking 60+/- gb -- as outrageous as that might seem.

For this reason, those buying entry-level Macs with only 256gb of factory storage could end up scraping against this "free space barrier" as their drives begin to "fill up".

Hence,
Fishrrman's "Mac Rule Number 8":
On any new Mac, the internal drive should be 2x the size of the Mac which it is replacing.
Otherwise, there will be problems in the future as the needs of the OS grow...