I have been having trouble installing the latest macOS Big Sur update. I keep getting an error to check my internet connection when everything else seems to be working fine.
What have I tried so far?
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Does the Internal Drive have Enough Empty Disk Space to allow the update to download, expand and install ? Good practice is to keep at least 15 % of the drive Empty At all times. Once that is resolved and / or if not applicable to this situation >>
If this update is for Big Sur 11.5.1 - the error message can be misleading. There are factors like poor Wifi connection, slow wifi connection, too many other people downloading at the same time and Apple Severs are overloaded, Software on the computer interfering with the download process, running behind a VPN and or / if via wifi too many Other devices using the wifi at the same time reducing the Bandwidth to you computer.
Best Results are via Ethernet Cable to Router
There are several ways to download the Big Sur 11.5.1 update.
1 - Connect to Router via Ethernet connection and restart the computer in Safe Mode and then open the Apple Apps Store and get the Full Installer of Big Sur. It will be the 11.5.1 version and once downloaded run the installer from the Applications folder.
2 - Resart the computer in Recovery Mode ( INTEL Command + r ) and choose Reinstall macOS. It too will download the full Installer and commence the installation. For M1 CPU the Recovery Mode is Here
3 - This method may seem unnecessary but sometimes the Router Restart clears Network issues from ISP to Apple Servers
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.
Any of the above application can interfere with the download
Does the Internal Drive have Enough Empty Disk Space to allow the update to download, expand and install ? Good practice is to keep at least 15 % of the drive Empty At all times. Once that is resolved and / or if not applicable to this situation >>
If this update is for Big Sur 11.5.1 - the error message can be misleading. There are factors like poor Wifi connection, slow wifi connection, too many other people downloading at the same time and Apple Severs are overloaded, Software on the computer interfering with the download process, running behind a VPN and or / if via wifi too many Other devices using the wifi at the same time reducing the Bandwidth to you computer.
Best Results are via Ethernet Cable to Router
There are several ways to download the Big Sur 11.5.1 update.
1 - Connect to Router via Ethernet connection and restart the computer in Safe Mode and then open the Apple Apps Store and get the Full Installer of Big Sur. It will be the 11.5.1 version and once downloaded run the installer from the Applications folder.
2 - Resart the computer in Recovery Mode ( INTEL Command + r ) and choose Reinstall macOS. It too will download the full Installer and commence the installation. For M1 CPU the Recovery Mode is Here
3 - This method may seem unnecessary but sometimes the Router Restart clears Network issues from ISP to Apple Servers
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.
Any of the above application can interfere with the download
Thank you so much for the response. I had about 8 GB of internal memory. I cleared up more. Upto 40 GB and the update seems to be installing now.
It is weird why it would say "no internet connection" though. Had the error been about space, I'd have cleared it right then!
Observations : Error messages are often cryptic and not very informative.
That said, this version of macOS is written to accommodate both Intel CPUs and new Apple Silicon M CPUs. The update process has much more work to be done by Apple to make it work better or in some cases just work.
The important thing is, the update to 11.5.1 did work for the computer.
You are welcome for the assistance provided
Unable to install macOS Big Sur 11.5.1
