Big Sur 11.4 is stuck at "15 minutes remaining" (its been sitting there for 3 hours)

If all else fails

Shutdown Router. Shutdown computer and disconnect all External Drives. Restart Router. Connect to Router via Ethernet Cable. If via Wifi - Disconnect all other Devices using the Wifi - want the Maximum Bandwidth only for this computer. Restart computer in  Safe Mode. It does a Repair Disk, Clear System Cache files and only load Apple Software, extensions and Fonts. Will load slowly - Normal. Once Logged in - open Apple Apps Store and  Get the Full Version of Big Sur. It will take some time and several pauses will occur - normal. Countdown clock may say 15 minutes but in Real time may be 30 minutes. Same goes for clock at 10 minutes could be 20 minutes in Real time. Eventually , Full Installer will download and a New Application in Applications Folder will present called Install Big Sur. Stop there and perform a Time Machine Backup. If desired - have an External Drive - Copy & Paste the Install Big Sur Application to external drive for future usage - making a Bootable Installer. Now run the Installer.

Have found this method more reliable than the Software Update which is very iffy at best

Are there any AntiVirus, Disk Cleaner, Optimizers, Defrag, VPNs etc installed which should be removed as per Developers Instructions. They are useless, unneeded, cause havoc and interfere with the normal operation of the OS and may even Corrupt the OS requiring a Reinstallation.

Try the following:

#1 - boot into Safe Mode according to Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support.

NOTE: Safe Mode boot can take up to 10 minutes as it's doing the following; 

• Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed

• Loads only required kernel extensions (prevents 3rd party kernel/extensions from loading)

• Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically

• Disables user-installed fonts 

• Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files

#2 - go to the App Store, search for and download the full Big Sur installer.

#3 - run the installer from the Safe Mode.

I've had better luck goring thru the App store than thru the System/Software Update preference pane.

Force shut down your Mac by holding down the Power button till it shuts down and then boot back up and let it finish the installation.

Yes, This had happened to me. I can tell you the solution if you were downloading the update using the option+command+r technique, then restart your Mac by holding down the power button or the touch id. If you were downloading the update from system preferences, then cancel the download and start it again. if you restart the update on System Preferences and if it starts from the middle or doesn't start from the beginning then cancel the download again and then start it again. make sure your internet connection is strong and you use broadband connection because the download can get corrupted due to the slow internet connection and can stop or can give an error. If you don't have broadband connection, go to a friend that has a broadband connection or go to an Apple Store.

I hope this helped!

I’ve tried this solution 3 times and still no luck. I’ve also tried the solution of starting back up in safe mode to do the update. Nothing. Same issue, except now I’m stuck at 10 mins remaining, and that’s been on screen for over an hour so far.

I have forced shutdown, tried through app store, and waited months to see if it fixed itself but it still gets stuck. Mine gets stuck at 5minutes remaining

Interestingly you can see the file(s) downloading into /private/var/folders/zz/ and doing a du -sh shows the corresponding folder getting larger and I see it approaching 6GB (the file is 6.2G) but then when it gets stuck at "5 minutes remaining" that folder switches to 0 bytes and stays that way

Are there any AntiVirus, Disk Cleaner, Optimizers, Defrag, VPNs etc installed which should be removed as per Developers Instructions. They are useless, unneeded, cause havoc and interfere with the normal operation of the OS and may even Corrupt the OS requiring a Reinstallation.

The above software will also interfere with the Download process. Turning off the AV software will not solve the issue - it needs to be removed.

It certainly will Clean My Mac will mess up the OS badly.

Actually, any application that will interfere, alter, modify, remove or attempt to do to do the afore mentioned actions is a true invitation for disaster.

Very Best and hope the New installation of Big Sur goes well. :-))

I’m trying this method. Now that Big Sur splits the volumes, after downloading the 11.4 update in Safe Mode, which volume should it install to; the System volume or the Data volume? I’m assuming System. Thanks.

As I recall you're only give one name, Macintosh HD (or whatever you've renamed the drive before that) and the system is automatically installed into the system volume. If you have a choice between the two then pick the system volume which is normally Macintosh HD.

The Macintosh HD - Data is for the user data, apps, etc.

I'm curious as to what you're supposed to do if you use your Mac for a business in either the EU or UK where GDPR regulations mean it is illegal to store any client data without installed AVS.

When I went through compliance I was frustrated by this because after being on Macs for 12 years thoughts virus software was unnecessary. When I did a lot of digging I found out that's no longer true according to many experts. And that the problems AVS could cause a few years ago like slowing Macs down are largely untrue these days.

I'm by no means an expert which is why I did my research (and working in the online space I'm aware which sites are purely affiliate sites and which are unbiased) so I'm interested to know if you can point to an authoritative source that stipulates AVS is simply not necessary and that the experts who say it is are wrong?

Sorry, I initially responded to the wrong person. I was meaning to ask you.

I'm curious as to what you're supposed to do if you use your Mac for a business in either the EU or UK where GDPR regulations mean it is illegal to store any client data without installed AVS.

When I went through compliance I was frustrated by this because after being on Macs for 12 years thoughts virus software was unnecessary. When I did a lot of digging I found out that's no longer true according to many experts. And that the problems AVS could cause a few years ago like slowing Macs down are largely untrue these days.

I'm by no means an expert which is why I did my research (and working in the online space I'm aware which sites are purely affiliate sites and which are unbiased) so I'm interested to know if you can point to an authoritative source that stipulates AVS is simply not necessary and that the experts who say it is are wrong?

timbrownson wrote:

I'm curious as to what you're supposed to do if you use your Mac for a business in either the EU or UK where GDPR regulations mean it is illegal to store any client data without installed AVS.

Then you install the least invasive A/V software for Macs. From what I've read and heard it's ClamX AV. You might look into that one. I certainly wouldn't want CleanMyMac.

So mine finally randomly worked after many attempts (forced shutdown, re-installed from settings). *shrug*