Mac OS Catalina install failure (starting from Mojave version)

my experience:

• I started MacBook Air in recovery mode: "option+command+R"
• from Terminal
  • I listed my drives: diskutil APFS list
  • erased the Volume with the -69808 error, mine was VM volume: diskutil eraseDisk APFS VM /dev/[your_volume]
• from Disk Utility
  • I deleted the VM volume (press "-" sign on left top)
• installed Catalina

it seems work now... anyway, the first bad surprise was that my Lightroom 6, paid, copy doesn't work... it a 32bit app. I hope that Adobe will compile a 64bit version...

I experienced this exact issue when trying to update.

The following procedure corrected this problem:

• run diskutil APFS list command from terminal
• browse report and ensure VM disk ERROR (-69808)
• backup important files
• restart macOS in Recovery mode
• select disk utility
• within view menu option, select show all devices
• erase APPLE SSD AP1024M Media disk and re-format with GUID Partition Map scheme
• re-install macOS
• perform Catalina update

try restarting the machine in safe mode [restart. hold the left shift button til it boots up]

go to the app store and start the download.

if u see that the download is stalling [i.e. the time remaining keeps increasing]. click on the cancel button and restart the download. it will continue from where it was stalled/hung up.

This worked for me... hope it helps someone.

My Catalina upgrade experience:

I got an error while updating mac OS from 10.14.6 to Catalina.

I am using Macbook Pro 2018 model.

I started the update from Menu -> info about this mac->check updates

During the update process I got the following error:

"Some information was unavailable during an internal lookup: (-69808)

Quit the installer to restart your computer and try again".

I reapeted this procedure multiple times but still same problem.

Then I started MacBook Pro in recovery mode: "command+R"

The from Terminal (in the top navigation menu) I listed my drives / volumes with this command: diskutil APFS list

I erased the Volume with the -69808 error, (mine was the VM volume) using this command: diskutil eraseVolume APFS VM /dev/[your_volume]

The from Terminal I listed my drives / volumes with this command: diskutil APFS list

I no longer observed the volume with the -69808 error.

I then successfully installed Catalina.

I hope this helps you!

Tive o mesmo problema na instalação do Catalina. Depois de inúmeras tentativas de solução o usuário Drewray salvou minha vida! Pior que nem o suporte avançado da Apple solucionou. Não tem jeito, tem que apagar a partição VM do seu disco. Utilize no terminal (Command+R) o: (diskutil APFS List) para ver o nome do volume VM (no meu caso era disk1s4). Execute o comando: (diskutil eraseVolume APFS VM/disk1/disk1s4) isso *** apagar a partição. Depois disso pode instalar o Catalina com todos os seus dados perdidos... não tem jeito, se não fez Back up, já era. Nem a Engenharia da Apple salvou meu MacBook da formatação.

I had the exact same as you. Erasing the physical SSD disk through Disk Utility from recovery did the trick.

Hi! I have the same issue. MacBook Air 2018. I've tried pretty much everything (resetting NVRAM, reinstalling OS and wiping hard-drive, installing it through another user with administrative rights). Also I've called Apple support, and the best solution we could find was to re-install OS through Internet Recovery (on the boot up hold command-control-R), and from their you can install Catalina.

Although, your current data will be lost unless you back it up.

I'll try it myself in a couple of hours and will let you know.

not sure if this will fix everyones issues but it fixed mine.

I went back to software updates in system prefences and clicked on advanced settings Then check every box in advance settings and re down loaded Catalina and install it .

I recommend you to erase the entire hd/ssd through Disk Utility from recovery mode.

If you can't enter recovery mode with "command+R" keys pressed due to erasing necessary volumes to enter the mode, please turn on your mac with "option+command+R" keys pressed instead and setup WiFi connection. Then, it will guide you to "Internet recovery mode" even with no volumes on your hd/ssd.

Please give it a shot.

I have solved my problem. Only solution is partition. I have reset my harddisk partition then install mojave then install catalina and it is solved.

I had the same issue, my password didn't work anymore.

After many unsucessfull tries, I ended up calling Apple Support but they just insisted that I had forgot my password without further investigating the issue. :-(

I wasn't installing Catalina, just a "simple" update, so I didn't make any backup because I decided it wasn't a major change.

Since my disk was encrypted by FileVault I was unable to transfer files to an external disk, so I had to make a clean installation.

If your disk is not encrypted you may try boot via an external USB bootable MacOS and them try recover your data.

Fortunately most of my important files were on cloud, so I just had to synchronise them but other minor things were completely lost. Also, if you have some Time Machine backup you can recover your data after installation.

I can't really answer your question. If you have an external drive, copy every important file that you want to save there and create a back-up via Time Machine. But I think that you can restore everything from there after the update.

Although, I would recommend you to do additional research on this topic.

And yeah, it's the way I could find for my particular case. Maybe this issue will be resolved in the next update.

I'm having the same issue on my 2018 MacBook Air running the latest Mojave. I talked to Apple Support this morning and was (kind of?) relieved that at the time there were 3 other people who reported the same error. It was escalated to a dedicated support specialist who took all the info and who initiated a screen share to my device. Nothing was resolved, thought it has been escalated again. I'll report any updates here.

an apple rep called me. I’m not sure if it was based on my post in this forum or because I’d already opened a ticket. But we went through the process and when I received the error, I gathered diagnostic information and sent it to him. It was escalated to a specialist who will own it going forward. She sent all the info to engineering and will get back to me on Monday with next steps. I’m hoping whatever comes from this will not only solve my problem, but all of ours.

Buy and external drive a make a copy of your data, use TimeMachine when everything works properly.