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MacBook Pro, Late 2013, OS macOS Mojave 10.14.6. I attempt to upgrade to Catalina and got the failed installation message "There is not enough free space on the selected volume to upgrade the OS. An additional 854.7 MB is required." My About this Mac storage shows there is 13.33 GB available of 121.12 GB. I don't understand! What's going on? What should I do?
Rid Miller Said:
“[...]and then figure out how to bring them back and delete them from the cloud after installation. Right? Apple couldn't make this more difficult, could they? Thanks for your help.”
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Consult with Apple:
Rid of what need be. Too much is installed. Just take it off iCloud and export it to an external hard drive. Round it off, and it’s 13GB vs. 13GB.
I’m here to Help:
This is a user to user forum. We’re are all Apple users like yourself. You are not speaking with Apple here. So, for more feedback contact Apple or an AASP.
Set Up a Genius Bar Appointment:
Have this device looked at. Contact Apple, and setup a Genius Bar Appointment or see an AASP (Apple Authorized Service Provider) in your local area.
Contacting Apple:
Or...
Contacting an AASP:
First, due to privacy/security concerns,I simply do not use the cloud. Nothing online is safe nowadays, so I prefer having direct control over my devices, content, and availability. Additionally, it is quite common for people to think that icloud is a true backup solution - it sounds like it would be, but it is simply a way Apple has provided to allow access to your files across other devices. I was introduced to it when I set up a new Mac and purposely skipped over the icoud setup. What I did not know is that it automatically took all of my contacts and parked them in cloud. I found that by trying to find a contact and they had all disappeared from my Mac. When I checked icloud, they were there. It took a while to get them back to my Mac.
So, yes, if you have a clone - and, as long as you do not update that after you deleted things from your drive - it is fine to delete whatever files you want. Just be aware, if you "prune" your internal, the next clone will reflect that content - unless SD has the capability to retain older files (CarbonCopyCloner does provide that option). I use CCC, so I am not sure of SD.
As for assuming it is safe to upgrade, everyone's machine and content are different, so someone may experience a glitch just because there is some software that is incompatible or instance. Generally, yes, it is safe as long as you realize that none of your 32 bit apps will work. As for MS products, I can't help since I've never used any. And no, other than checking with developers on any updates, there isn't an easier way. You can use the www.roaringapps.com website as well, they maintain lists of what is compatible with what.
And, an additional thought on upgrading: I would use an external hard drive to clone my current system to and then update the internal to Catalina, which is essentially what you are doing. So, upgrade, and test drive it. Be aware that Catalina changes the file system to AFPS with two volumes: mac HD (visible, but read only, contains the OS and system) and Mac HD - Data (read/write, contains apps, your user folder, etc). If you ever want to revert or reinstall, you will need to wipe the entire thing or you will wind up with one or more extra duplicate Data volumes. That new filing system is, at best, utterly confusing. So, I'd get myself another external hard drive for backups so you keep your previous backups and the new AFPS backups separate.
Lastly, I do not use Time Machine, but I believe that any external disk for it must be Mac OS Extended (Journaled), not AFPS l- best if you check on that here or with Apple support.
Rid Miller Said:
”Failed Catalina installation - not enough free space: MacBook Pro, Late 2013, OS macOS Mojave 10.14.6. I attempt to upgrade to Catalina and got the failed installation message "There is not enough free space on the selected volume to upgrade the OS. An additional 854.7 MB is required." My About this Mac storage shows there is 13.33 GB available of 121.12 GB. I don't understand! What's going on? What should I do?”
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You Have Not Enough Storage Space Remaining:
So, rid of whatever you do not need installed (i.e. iTunes movies), leaving about 50GB free space at least.
Go Here: How to upgrade to macOS Catalina - Apple Support
As it reads: “Your Mac also needs at least 4GB of memory and 12.5GB of available storage space, or up to 18.5GB of storage space when upgrading from OS X Yosemite or earlier.”
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A Bit of Math:
If you are upgrading from Catalina, then you have no space left. It is 12.5 + 0.8547 = 13.36GB. Hence, you do not have enough space left.
For Note: One GB is 1,024MB (not 1,000MB), and then there are caches set aside for customizations to be made. So, that is where the other 30 or so MB is coming from. Visit this Link: How to free up storage space on your Mac - Apple Support
Important: Create a Time Machine backup of your Mac, so that you can have something to restore your Mac from, should anything go wrong, with an upgrade.
Amazing . . . I'm upgrading from Mojave so I don't understand the space requirement you reference . . . who would know the math to figure this out when the error says you need less than 1 GB and you 13 GB available?. Certainly not me. I did a backup and bootable clone before I attempted the upgrade, just in case. I'll try moving document files to the cloud (don't have movies and don't think I have enough cloud space to move Photo Library) and then figure out how to bring them back and delete them from the cloud after installation. Right? Apple couldn't make this more difficult, could they? Thanks for your help.
Rid Miller Said:
”One other question . . . can I move files to an external drive instead of the cloud to make more space available?“
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Use the External Drive:
Yes. Of course. And an external drive is the way to go about getting this data removed.
As long as the drive is Apple Readable, and you (as a user) have Read & Write Privileges to the drive, then you can use it.
Right-Click On the Drive icon > Select: Get Info... > Check the Permissions — Modify what need be, if necessary.
Your hard drive is not only storage, but also what makes your Mac work as it contains and runs the OS. And that needs some breathing room. you should NEVER fill it up, but always maintain an absolute minimum of 10 - 15 GB of empty space for the OS to work properly.
So, in your current situation, you need to delete/move some files - about 20 GB worth. If you move some stuff to the cloud, they will not be deleted from your drive as the cloud simply mirrors what you "back up". And, if you delete anything on your Mac, it'll be gone from the cloud as well. So, back up your Mac to an external hard drive and then delete some space hogging files. Only having a 128 GB drive is very limiting.
Thank you! I use the cloud to back up my iPhone but have little experience using or managing stored files in the cloud. I would have moved files to the cloud and made the mistake of deleting them from my drive thinking I could download them back to my drive - wow! Big mistake. I made a SuperDuper clone of my MBP and a Time Machine backup to an external drive before I attempted the upgrade to Catalina. Can I safely delete files from my drive and restore them from the backup?
FYI, the MBP I am working on is my partner's, the smaller of our two MBPs. Mine is 8 GB memory (500 GB Flash Storage). You're right about the space but for his purposes, it was fine until now. We're using his device to test the upgrade to Catalina before I do mine. The external drive clones will allow us to go back to Mojave if we want, but I'd rather keep our devices updated to the current OS and security. I usually wait to do OS upgrades for a few months, waiting for the bugs to be worked out. Do you think it safe to upgrade now?
A side issue - I have been assessing the 32-bit applications that I will lose when I upgrade to Catalina. Some, except Microsoft Office for Mac, were, or have upgraded, to the 64-bit platform. I will lose Office and be forced to upgrade to a download or a subscription. Of the Office suite, I only use Word so I can convert all my Word documents to Pages, but that would be extensive. There are a few others I will live without. I'm using System Report to identify the 32 and 64-bit applications and then trying to contact the developers to see if there are upgrades. Any other advice about how to do this or warnings up upgrading to Catalina?
I very much appreciate your help - it has made things clear and I'm more comfortable moving forward.
Regards!
Rod
Thank you again. I moved my Documents folder to an external drive - only 3 GB - but that was enough for the upgrade to work. It's almost complete, so thank you for helping. I'll move the documents back and give Catalina a try for a while. It's odd that the install program only identified 2 apps (32 bits) that would no longer work with Catalina; however, my System Report show about 30. We'll see. It's good to know about the AFPS file system and two volumes - as you say, utterly confusing. One last questions (sorry to take so much of your time). If I hate Catalina, can I boot my clone and copy it to the MBP HD? or will I have to wipe the MBP clean first?
I'll document and keep on file.
BTW, my upgrade was successful. I know there was discussion when Catalina came out about the Relocated Items folder that appears on the desktop. Do you know how it was resolved? Keep it somewhere on the devise or trash it?
Separate issue if you have time . . . my old desktop iMac (24-inch Early 2009 - El Capitan - 8 GB Memory) is killing me every time I need to use it for certain apps, like FileMaker Pro, it's SuperDrive, etc, because it is excruciatingly slow. Is that a space issue as well (327 GB free of 639 GB)? Any suggestions on how to fix it?
One other question . . . can I move files to an external drive instead of the cloud to make more space available?
Absolutely,wipe it first, then clone the other one back.
And, remember, you want to keep at least 10 - 15 GB empty space at all times.
Failed Catalina installation - not enough free space.
