Not updating from last beta to GM

[Phantom-fa]

Attempting to update from last public beta to WatchOS 7 GM, but continually getting message telling me that I am not connected to the internet. I have checked connections and all are fine. Restarted both Watch and iPhone but still getting message. Anyone else seen this?

 

[davipt]

Same here. iPhone X with GM. Watch 3 with latest beta. When I try to install with the watch on the charger, it fails right away stating it can’t go online, but in reality it’s the watch that needs to be unlocked. Bad start. But then it downloads the 180MB update and then complains there’s no internet. My gut feeling from the first incorrect error message is that the error is being miss interpreted and the real error is lack of free storage. The Watch 3 only has 8GB of storage, and it has only 4GB of usable storage with v7 (from 4.5 with watchOS 6). After a clean restore and nothing installed, I only have 3GB free - 1GB of “Others” is gone right after the clean install. Beta versions never installed cleanly because they would download the update and then complain it would need 2.5GB free, so I’ve always had to unpair from my main account (I have 800MB free now, with barely nothing installed, because health is using 600-800MB, and iTunes Match or Music is consuming another 600-800MB just for metadata (album cover?). So unpair, do a clean reset, pair with another device with another iCloud id with no data, then get those 3GB free, then update, unpair, and restore my account. This takes 3 to 6 hours depending on how long it takes to download the update (30-40 minutes before) and to “prepare” (more than an hour).
This may not be relevant at all. Maybe the GM doesn’t need to reset the whole OS system and does not need 2.5GB free and maybe the message that appears right after the download, and before the preparing phase, is really some kind of activation internet connectivity issue, and not the not enough storage. I don’t know. I’m afraid of repeating the whole process at the moment. I don’t want to lose my health data nor to interrupt my >500 day perfect ring streak.
Please tell me what watch model you have, for comparison. Thanks.

 

[Phantom-fa]

Have done a restore from backup and still seeing the same problem. My phone is iPhone 11 with 7.0 GM (18A373). My watch shows 11.5Gb capacity and 10.8Gb available, so not at all like yours even though mine is also a series 3. After the restore it is showing version 7.0 (18R5382a) and it appears to have a lot of new face options. Interestingly it doesn't have Calendar installed although I have Calendar in my default face and it is working. Looking at the face in the Watch app shows the centre area of my modular face as empty.
I have attached screenshot from Watch app showing the missing areas in the face and a shot of my actual watch face, so it shows the Calendar even though the Calendar app is not on the Watch.
Not sure why second photo is rotated 180 degrees, but can't find a way to fix it.

If I try to instal the Calendar app on the Watch from the App Store I just get the download icon and when I select it it gives me the download circle with the central square, but no progress and the goes back to the download icon again.

Do you know what the release version of 7.0 is?

 

[davipt]

The phone storage is not relevant. I was talking about the Watch storage. The Watch 3 GPS has only 8GB. Watch 3 + LTE may have 16. 4 and later have 16. 8GB is tight for the update.
Every beta update I had to factory reset with a separate clean iCloud account, update, and then restore with my own account. On every update the watch would download the update and then show the popup that it couldn't install because it needed at least 2.5GB (or up to 2.9 in later versions). This time it tells me there's no Internet. I hope it's the same message, but a major failure when showing the error. I'm afraid of factory resetting and getting the "no internet" again and losing my watch.
WatchOS 7 v18R5382a is beta 7, the latest beta right before the final GM. It's the update from beta 7 to GM that is facing miserably!

 

[antbob]

have you tried removing beta profile and going straight to 7 release ?

 

[davipt]

have you tried removing beta profile and going straight to 7 release ?

There are no differences between the GM and the final version. (there were exceptions in the past though, but still, the versions will be different).

Beta developers that installed the GM two days ago have the exact same version than regular people that installed the release version yesterday. Public betas are slightly different - dev beta 3 is typically public beta 1, up to beta 7 that was public beta 4, and devs got the GM while public beta had to wait another day for the final version.

The important thing here is the error message stating the watch has no internet access. This is bad. In my opinion the real message is the "to install you need at least 2.5/2.9?GB free", which happened on every single beta with Watch 3's 8GB of storage. Having a bug where they misrepresent the error message, should be safe. Having the watch thinking it can't go to the internet means having a brick on our hands (

 

[antbob]

the builds might be the same (no one would touch GM unless there is a real stopper issue with it) but delivery is different and hence my suggestion of getting off beta channel and on to release bc you dont know what that error really means, it could be beta channel messed up at this point and it can no longer locate the build.

that S3 issue has been mentioned in release notes and I'm sure you seen it suggesting unpairing, pairing as new (no restore from backup) then update to 7 then unpair again then pair again this time restoring from backup. if that doesnt work you would probably have no other option but to send it in. good luck!

 

[davipt]

Yes, that makes sense. And that's what I will do at the end of the day, after closing the rings, and what I had to do for every one of the seven betas. My health app now shows several dozens of watches and iPhones as health devices… which may also explain why my health data consumes 600 to 800MB. The problem is that if the process fails, I'll lose my watch, because "sending it in" is not an option everywhere in the world :| My intention here is just to understand from experience from others if the "no internet access" is the same as the "need ~3GB free", or if it's something else more serious. I'll post my results after I try it. If it fails, bad luck, I can't afford a new watch at the moment.

 

[Phantom-fa]

I spent some time with Apple Support on this, and the conclusion was that the beta release was not allowing the update. Even unpairing and setting up as a new watch still came back with the same beta release.
I was also seeing weird things with complications which showed on the actual watch face but did not show on the face in the Watch app on the phone. Things like Calendar, Weather, Day/date.
so next week I am going into Apple Store to get watch completely reset.

 

[JustSomeInfo]

Do you have to go to an Apple Store for a complete reset? That would explain a lot. I tried to do what I thought was a reset (erase all whatever) today since I couldn't get it to update, I figured it would start fresh with 7.0. It didn't work out that way. Oddly enough, I did not install the beta, but it keeps telling me to connect to wifi in order to upload to the watch.

 

[Phantom-fa]

To do a complete reset to factory defaults you need to get Apple to do it, as far as I can determine. Something must remain when you do a reset or erase and unpair/repair as my watch keeps coming back with the last beta version every time.

 

[Phantom-fa]

with the help of Apple Support the problem has been resolved for me.
My setup is iPhone 11 (256Gb), Watch Series 3 LTE 42mm Aluminium

Steps to resolve are as follows:

- unpair the watch in Watch app on phone, select General > Reset > Erase Apple Watch Content and Settings
Once this completes
- delete the Watch app from the phone
- on phone go to Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings
After phone restarts
- reconnect to wifi
- re-install Watch App from Apple Store
- pair the watch, using ’Setup for Myself’, no cellular network selected, Install apps later, no automatic update
After the watch pairing completes
- in the Watch app on phone, select General > Software Update
Watch OS 7.0 update appears,
- after downloading and preparing update completes, select Install
Update completed successfully.
Version now shows as 7.0 (18R382)
Apps which were previously missing on Watch (including Music, Calendar, Weather) are now there.
Watch face on watch matches watch face in Watch app on phone.
Able to add a new watch face from the gallery and modify it to include Calendar, Date, and Weather.
Updated face shows correctly both on Watch and in Watch app on phone.

Hopefully this may help others.

 

[davipt]

Yes, that makes sense. And that's what I will do at the end of the day, after closing the rings, and what I had to do for every one of the seven betas. My health app now shows several dozens of watches and iPhones as health devices… which may also explain why my health data consumes 600 to 800MB. The problem is that if the process fails, I'll lose my watch, because "sending it in" is not an option everywhere in the world :| My intention here is just to understand from experience from others if the "no internet access" is the same as the "need ~3GB free", or if it's something else more serious. I'll post my results after I try it. If it fails, bad luck, I can't afford a new watch at the moment.

I can confirm the process that I was using during each beta also worked for the final version. However I might have an advantage that others do not have - I have a second device with a second iCloud account, a clean one, which I use for the update. This is what permits my device to be setup from scratch, with nothing installed, but the iCloud data is not enough to fill up the storage to the point that the update is not possible anymore, which happens with my main account.
This also confirms my suspicion that WatchOS 7 beta 7 had error handling broken - trying to update while the watch is locked gave the error of no network connectivity instead of the please-unlock, and likewise the need-lots-of-storage-to-update was replaced with a stupid "watch-has-no-internet". Unacceptable bug in my opinion.

Also, the update from 7 official to 7.2 beta seems to be working on my Watch 3, incremental update without the need to go through the whole reset process.