hardyt
Level 1 (8 points)
Notebooks

Q: Why does El Capitan install freeze?

Hi, Is there anyway to see where this computer is hanging? Are there log files I can look at? Thanks!

 

I can install OS X 10.6.8, but when I try to install 10.11 from the App Store I get the screen you see below. This occurs after 10.11 downloads and restarts the computer. I've previously been able to install 10.11, but then I noticed something in the keyboard was goofy. The computer would mute and unmute constantly. So I removed and cleaned the keyboard. The keyboard and all other hardware seems to work find in 10.6.8, but then this problem happens with the install.

 

This is a 2009 Macbook A1342.

 

-Tom

 

20160407_080611.jpg

MacBook (13-inch Late 2009), OS X El Capitan (10.11.4)

Posted on Apr 7, 2016 7:14 AM

by hardyt,Solvedanswer
hardyt hardyt
Level 1 (8 points)
Notebooks
A:

I got it working. I did three things before it began booting and before OS X 10.11 would install:

 

- Installed a new battery

- Complete disassembly and reassembly, re-seating the keyboard back plate

- Using the terminal, set the date properly

 

I'll elaborate because this may help someone in the future with these aging models. I bought the Mac with an exploded battery. I replaced it with a cheap non-OEM battery. The replacement was crap, but while all that drama was happening I had upgraded to 10.11 with 8GB RAM and had a fine-working machine.

 

I took the replacement out to return it to the vendor and was running the Mac with no battery. It worked fine except a piece of junk must have got caught in the keyboard. The keyboard kept muting and unmuting the sound. Extremely annoying! I then completely disassembled the Mac to try and get whatever was stuck unstuck. That worked.


At that point, I decided to return the crap battery and order an OEM battery. I ran the laptop without a battery. That must have been when OS X 10.11 stopped booting properly. I installed 10.6 and ran that version without issue, but every time I tried to upgrade, the Mac would hang at that screen with the apple and progress bar.

 

I thought it was possible that some component OS X 10.11 used on the logic board was shorting out. So I did another complete disassembly. I noticed the DVD slot has a lip that needs to slip into the keyboard back plate. The back plate had a bunch of glue in the recess. I cleaned that out. The logic board then sat a little more comfortably in the now well-seated keyboard back plate.

 

The battery arrived on the same day, today, so I installed it before I buttoned the laptop back up.

 

Upon boot, OS X 10.11 attempted to install. However, I received the error "OS X could not be installed on your computer. No packages were eligible for install." What this really means is "set your date correctly." Without rebooting, I opened the terminal and used the command date {month}{day}{hour}{minute}{year}. E.g.

 

date 041116032016

 

The date can be verified by typing "date" and hitting enter.

 

I restarted and OS X 10.11 completed its install.

Posted on Apr 11, 2016 4:06 PM

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hardyt

Q: Why does El Capitan install freeze?

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by hardyt,

    hardyt hardyt Apr 7, 2016 11:12 AM in response to hardyt
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Notebooks
    Apr 7, 2016 11:12 AM in response to hardyt

    I think I found the log. Anyone have any ideas why the install freezes?

     

    http://pastebin.com/jDe4VFt9

  • by my ginger,

    my ginger my ginger Apr 7, 2016 11:44 AM in response to hardyt
    Level 4 (2,472 points)
    Apr 7, 2016 11:44 AM in response to hardyt

    Did you start this from 10.6.8? Where in the app store did you go to get the download? Thru updates or purchases?  Normally the download for El Capitan should install in the applications folder. If you still have Snow leopard only installed. You say you have done this before. On this computer? What did you do erase the full drive?  If you had it on before, you would only have had to erase the indented volume thru recovery and then reinstall.

  • by hardyt,

    hardyt hardyt Apr 7, 2016 12:14 PM in response to my ginger
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Notebooks
    Apr 7, 2016 12:14 PM in response to my ginger

    my ginger wrote:

     

    Did you start this from 10.6.8?Where in the app store did you go to get the download? Thru updates or purchases?  Normally the download for El Capitan should install in the applications folder. If you still have Snow leopard only installed. You say you have done this before. On this computer? What did you do erase the full drive?  If you had it on before, you would only have had to erase the indented volume thru recovery and then reinstall.

    Yes, from 10.6.8. I got the download from going to the App Store, searching for El Capitan, and pressing Get. Yes, it ended up in the Applications folder.

     

    Yes, I took exactly the same steps to upgrade 10.6.8 to 10.11 previously. However, after I cleaned the keyboard the boot process froze when the progress bar was about half way. I don't have 10.11 install media. I only have 10.6, so I reinstalled Snow Leopard and everything worked. Then I tried the upgrade and it froze as show in the above photo.

     

    How do I troubleshoot this? I captured the /var/log's from the install-failure drive, but can't find anything yet.

  • by my ginger,

    my ginger my ginger Apr 9, 2016 4:53 PM in response to hardyt
    Level 4 (2,472 points)
    Apr 9, 2016 4:53 PM in response to hardyt

    Make sure that Snow Leopard is completely up to date. Use software update till there are no more updates. Delete the El Capitan install in applications folder. Go to the app store and under your purchases, re download El Capitan. Then run the install again. It looks like it had trouble reading the install package. If you can use ethernet that would work better.

  • by hardyt,

    hardyt hardyt Apr 9, 2016 9:05 PM in response to my ginger
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Notebooks
    Apr 9, 2016 9:05 PM in response to my ginger

    Thanks for the insightful response. I was hoping that would work, but it did not. I followed all the instructions. There were some updates. Then I deleted and re-downloaded El Capitan. No luck. I used a wired connection with Airport off.

  • by K T,

    K T K T Apr 10, 2016 12:56 PM in response to hardyt
    Level 7 (23,844 points)
    Publishing
    Apr 10, 2016 12:56 PM in response to hardyt

    Assuming you haven't seen this user tip from Apple:

     

    How to start up your Mac in single-user or verbose mode - Apple Support

  • by hardyt,

    hardyt hardyt Apr 10, 2016 1:11 PM in response to K T
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Notebooks
    Apr 10, 2016 1:11 PM in response to K T

    Thank you K T, I've seen and tried that. Single user mode starts up fine. Verbose mode shows a bunch of text, but then goes into the screen where the progress bar slowly makes minimal progress until it hangs. I've left it for a whole day and it won't budge. There's no log that says what the Mac is trying to do when the progress bar is working/hanging?

  • by my ginger,

    my ginger my ginger Apr 10, 2016 6:31 PM in response to hardyt
    Level 4 (2,472 points)
    Apr 10, 2016 6:31 PM in response to hardyt

    In Verbose mode, you are starting up like you would in windows. it'd normal to complete and then try to finish the boot. In single user, you get script. That when it stops, you can run a check and repair of the startup volume. You type in fsck -fy and hit return. If it completes and says modified. You run the command again. When you get OK  type reboot and hit return. This repairs the startup volume.

  • by hardyt,

    hardyt hardyt Apr 11, 2016 8:00 AM in response to my ginger
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Notebooks
    Apr 11, 2016 8:00 AM in response to my ginger

    I got OK the first time I ran fsck. I cannot believe there is no way to log what OS X is trying to do when it gets stuck. That's madness.

  • by hardyt,Solvedanswer

    hardyt hardyt Apr 11, 2016 4:06 PM in response to hardyt
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Notebooks
    Apr 11, 2016 4:06 PM in response to hardyt

    I got it working. I did three things before it began booting and before OS X 10.11 would install:

     

    - Installed a new battery

    - Complete disassembly and reassembly, re-seating the keyboard back plate

    - Using the terminal, set the date properly

     

    I'll elaborate because this may help someone in the future with these aging models. I bought the Mac with an exploded battery. I replaced it with a cheap non-OEM battery. The replacement was crap, but while all that drama was happening I had upgraded to 10.11 with 8GB RAM and had a fine-working machine.

     

    I took the replacement out to return it to the vendor and was running the Mac with no battery. It worked fine except a piece of junk must have got caught in the keyboard. The keyboard kept muting and unmuting the sound. Extremely annoying! I then completely disassembled the Mac to try and get whatever was stuck unstuck. That worked.


    At that point, I decided to return the crap battery and order an OEM battery. I ran the laptop without a battery. That must have been when OS X 10.11 stopped booting properly. I installed 10.6 and ran that version without issue, but every time I tried to upgrade, the Mac would hang at that screen with the apple and progress bar.

     

    I thought it was possible that some component OS X 10.11 used on the logic board was shorting out. So I did another complete disassembly. I noticed the DVD slot has a lip that needs to slip into the keyboard back plate. The back plate had a bunch of glue in the recess. I cleaned that out. The logic board then sat a little more comfortably in the now well-seated keyboard back plate.

     

    The battery arrived on the same day, today, so I installed it before I buttoned the laptop back up.

     

    Upon boot, OS X 10.11 attempted to install. However, I received the error "OS X could not be installed on your computer. No packages were eligible for install." What this really means is "set your date correctly." Without rebooting, I opened the terminal and used the command date {month}{day}{hour}{minute}{year}. E.g.

     

    date 041116032016

     

    The date can be verified by typing "date" and hitting enter.

     

    I restarted and OS X 10.11 completed its install.