MacMini late 2012 OS upgrade from Mountain Lion

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MacMini late 2012 OS upgrade from Mountain Lion

Has anyone besides me had issues upgrading your late 2012 MacMini OS from Mountain Lion?

Issues like the “Internal server error 500” on the App Store when trying to download Mojave before updating to Catalina?

Well after 2 grueling hours with MacSupport it was determined that the Support website is WRONG. You can’t go directly from Mountain Lion to Mojave, you have to install El Capitan first, then from El Capitan you can upgrade directly to Catalina. Another issue you may encounter is the dmg download of ElCapitan not working on your MacMini, it won’t recognize the file even after changing the security and privacy settings to do so. Try downloading the ElCapitan dmg file to a Mac formatted USB or SD card on a separate computer (I used my Chromebook) then run the dmg directly from the USB or SD on your MacMini. After that you should have smooth sailing.

Posted on Jun 23, 2021 5:09 AM

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Answer 1

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Mac-Daddy66 Author

Level 1

15 points

Jun 23, 2021 9:28 AM in response to den.thed

Thanks,

Once I was able to load ElCapitan, I was able to download Catalina with no problem. The hurtle seemed to be going from Mountain Lion. The Apple rep suggested going to ElCapitan after Mountain Lion before trying to upgrade to Mojave or Catalina.

You will see "macOS Mojave 10.14 can upgrade High Sierra, Sierra, El Capitan, Yosemite, Mavericks, Mountain Lion"

on the link you sent.

This is incorrect and will get you an error message if you try to download macOS Mojave 10.14 from Mountain Lion. This should be updated on the support website.

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Answer 2

den.thed

Level 10

82,540 points

Jun 23, 2021 5:39 AM in response to Mac-Daddy66

Some of the earlier macOS's may no longer available, even if you previously had them.

Give High Sierra a try next, as it was more pivotal than Mojave. Sadly if neither High Sierra or Mojave are not available to you, then you will need to go straight to Catalina.

for links to older versions, go to > https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211683

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MacMini late 2012 OS upgrade from Mountain Lion

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