Unable to update to Catalina 10.15.5

architype wrote:

Does it make any sense for the ability of MacOS updates to depend on local user settings? This seems like a flaw for system updates to fail based on a local user accounts.

Well, I updated three different Macs to 10.15.5 without a problem so I guess I would have to assume something was wrong with your user account.

I haven't been able to update from 10.15.3 to 10.15.5. Last time I updated to Catalina it wiped my system. I had to spend a couple hours at the Apple Store. And now I continue to have problems updating. I may have to look for a new product as I don't have cycles to spend continually trying to figure this out. And I work for a tech company.

I have the same issue. Based on the progress bar while the update is running, it it either in a retry loop or some other abnormal loop. The activity monitor shows no I/O to disk as well for the procs.

So why isn’t Apple doing anything about this. I have the same problem on my brand new MacBook Pro 13. Some of the workarounds suggested are above my pay grade. Will they be releasing a replacement to 10.15.5?

I have tried all above recommendations without success. Cannot update to 15.5 or 15.6. Also got this message:

macOS Catalina 10-15-5 Update can’t be installed on this disk. This Mac can only install macOS on APFS-formatted drives. Please use Disk Utility to reformat as APFS

I am new to Apple so would appreciate any suggestion. Does the above mean that I have to reformat my hard drive to APFS format (which I do not see as a choice in the disk utility)?

Many thanks,

Patrick

You can try the stand alone or combo installer while in Safe Mode.

How to use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support

You should also have at least 12.5GB free on your drive. More might be better.

I have this same problem.

How did you create a new admin user account and update? Can you please help?

After a hard reboot (Power off/ Power on), ensuring I had a good internet connection, and reverifying my credentials for apple accounts, the issue went away.

Thanks, Andy. Worked perfectly.