Mac crashes, Safari won't open

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Mac crashes, Safari won't open

A couple weeks ago I attempted to download Catalina, but the download stopped/crashed partway through. Now my system claims I have the latest OS, Mojave 10.14.6 and the App store says Catalina is not found. Ever since the failed download, Safari will now and then close, followed by a window saying Apple wants to make changes, enter password. Almost immediately and before I can enter the password, 2 additional windows pop up behind the first. One is blocked and unreadable, the other says Installation complete, Press OK. At this point everything locks up, keyboard, touchpad, mouse. After rebooting, things work. But after the latest such crash, Safari won't open. I get a "Safari quit unexpectedly" message, nothing more. I tried deleting the library/caches/com.apple/Safari/cache.db file, but that did not help. It's a Mac Air 2015.

MacBook Air 13", macOS 10.14

Posted on Oct 29, 2019 9:55 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

woollymammoth Author

Level 1

14 points

Nov 11, 2019 8:18 PM in response to brenden dv

Interesting that neither the App Store nor System Preferences show Catalina as an available update. The App Store returns the message "The requested version of macOS is not available." And after reading several reviews of Catalina, all reporting problems with it, I have decided to wait for Apple to get its act together and get the bugs out before even considering the update.

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Answer 2

i_rina

Community Specialist

Nov 4, 2019 6:53 AM in response to woollymammoth

Hi woollymammoth,

Thank you for using the Apple Support Communities! I understand you are running into a few behaviors with your Mac ever since macOS Catalina failed to download and install on your machine. I would like to explore this further with you.

Let's work on figuring out why macOS Catalina failed to download and install. Then we will work on getting it installed successfully. Afterwards, we will see if that resolves the current behaviors you are experiencing. I have a few questions to get started:

-When macOS Catalina stopped partway through, do you recall seeing an error about why it failed to download or install on your Mac?

-When you go to About This Mac, is that where you confirmed 10.14.6 is still installed, and no new updates appear under the Software Update button?

-Your Mac needs at least 4GB of memory and 12.5GB of available storage space for macOS Catalina. Can you confirm if you meet these requirements please?

Before we begin troubleshooting, it's a good idea to make sure your important data is backed up: Back up your Mac with Time Machine - Apple Support. Then, I want you to follow the steps under step 4 in this article: How to upgrade to macOS Catalina - Apple Support. If you do not see the update under Apple menu > System Preferences > Software Update, then use the link to go directly to the download in the Mac App Store under this step. Continue following the remaining steps from there. If your first attempt fails to download, try connecting to a different network and test the download again.

Please keep me posted on the status of the macOS Catalina download and install from here. If it fails to download and/or install again, be sure to capture the exact error.

Kindest regards.

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Answer 3

Nov 4, 2019 8:19 AM in response to i_rina

Thank you for your response. When there was no reply to my question, I did a complete restore from Time Machine to a date before attempting to download Catalina, then restored my data. Since the restore Safari has opened without issues.

I don’t recall the message received when the Catalina download failed. Before the restore About this Mac did say it was running 10.14.6, no new updates appeared, and there is sufficient storage for Catalina. I had looked for Catalina under Apple>System Preferences>Software Update, but it did not show there. When I went to the App Store and tried to download it there, a message popped up saying the file was not found. It was at this point, after repeated unsuccessful attempts to find the Catalina download, that I did the restore. I have not tried to download Catalina since the restore.

Currently I am away from home without my Mac, so it will be a week before I can retry. If there are problems then, I will certainly be back.

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Answer 4

brenden dv

Community Specialist

Nov 4, 2019 10:31 AM in response to woollymammoth

woollymammoth,

Thanks for the update!

I am glad to hear your Mac appears to be operating as normal again since the restore of your Time Machine backup. I do indeed want to make sure you can update successfully to macOS Catalina, too.

When you get back home in a week, follow through on the steps I've provided in my last reply. If you run into an issue, or all goes well with the install, reply back afterwards, to give me an update.

Thank you for your time.

Safe travels.

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Mac crashes, Safari won't open

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