Mac OS Monterey update fail

so the takeaway for me is only use apple parts to upgrade your Mac and get ready to pay a LOT. I was able to get my authorized service center to get me a 2 TB SSD for my 2019 iMac. The cost was obscene, but I don't want to do the replace the hd every time I upgrade os's. Pay upfront it's MUCH cheaper.

I've only purchased Apple computers since I bought an Apple IIe many years. I've often upgraded with OWC over the years and have never had a problem like this before. I really think this is inexcusable on Apple's part. I'm about to need a computer to replace my Mac Pro (2013) but I may join friends and family who have switched to those other brands to save money if this is what we can expect from Apple.

XxRanerockxX said "Stay away from Monterey if using an external solution."

That is not really true, What is true is to not upgrade if you do not have an Apple SSD installed internally. As already discussed, you need an internal Apple drive to update the Mac's firmware. Once you upgrade to Monterey w/internal Apple drive you can then install Monterey on external drive and run Monterey from the external drive. That is what I am now doing.

well, how do I get my firmware updated? my internal SSD is impossible to get to without ripping apart the guts of my mac which is very hard, getting an apple technician to do it would cost well in the thousands to rip apart & replace the SSD for such an old mac & I don't have money lying around for such a repair.

does this mean I'm permanently stuck on Big Sir?

This Is dumb why cant I trigger a firmware update on external.

If you swapped out or has someone swap out your hard drive then short of putting an apple original drive back in your are going to have to hope Apple will release a patch that bypasses the check. If you have all original Apple hardware then they should release a patch for this. I am having to have Apple hardware placed back in my iMac.

I am of the wary and aftraid type, skipped Big Sur because my 4K 2017 machine bricked (10 min start up time, slow).

Now I have a Thunderbolt drive with Catalina.

But now software like Safari is failing since the last security update - forcing me on. On to Monterey. Hey. I’m afraid still.

Luckily i did not replace the Fusion’s SSD… That was too costly.

Anyway this information is helpfull, I’ll make a test install on an external Crucial SSD. But I am not cofident at all. Windows was not as bad as this for my night rest.

The dramatic change to big Sur was very unkind to fushion drives. I heard it was corrected in later updates but Apple is really trying to push apple silicon on everyone. I mean background blur for cameras won’t work on i7 or i9’s? Funny how it works on zoom. I never thought it would haven but I am considering going back to Windows.

The problem I have had with the Fusion drive (sluggish 10 min startup etc.) was corrected with a Thunderbolt drive. When I reported the problem, I got an 'I donno'. My big concern is that that solution will be made impossible too now in Monterey. Like they are cutting branches from my tree.

By the way, I have a apple wireless keyboard on my 4K Retina machine that failed within a year. All calls were met with 'I donno'. At last someone at apple service said, please connect the power connector for test mode, and then it worked. So I left it like that.

'I donno' if that responsiveness of the staff is real service. But at least it better than it used to be: do you have a service plan? Else, buy support.

I have a 2015 Macbook Pro updated to 2TB with an OWC SSD. Same problem, same solution: remove/replace/update etc etc. Took several hours. Not happy with Apple's lack of programming competence on this one. Forunately I still had the original SSD...

[/sarcasm] Thanks a lot, Apple. [/sarcasm off]

Tom

Well, I received my "original" apple NVMe 512 GB disk that I bought used on eBay. Apple branded but made by Samsung. I got it but won't have time for a while to go through all the work to do this. I did find something out when I installed Monterey on a 2014 Mac mini.... that is my main iTunes (55 inch 4k Monitor) and 8 TB external media drive.... after installing things run faster if you an believe it... but not a single setting program inside the systems preference will work. They won't open and an error comes up. C'mon Apple... do I dare screw up my production 2013 Mac Pro.... or take a chance doing it... if updating a Mac mini corrupts the system preferences?

I will have to totally wipe that system now.... and try to reinstall.... not very nice right?

Boy, 2021 is the year apple has caused more problems for me than any other. My friends are making fun of this Mac Fan Boy.... "Who's happy they have a Mac Now? !!!!" ugh. ;-(. You know... I don't even let Apple know about this crap... cuz I really think that they will see corrupted system preferences as a one-off...."well, one guy, with one Mac mini..that we sold back in 2014.... has a problem... ha ha.... yeah, not going to worry about it."

;-(. Apple is letting me down big time.

It is solved. Finally.

I guys, sorry if my english is not the best.

I had same issue. I have a MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015). I changed my SSD few years ago, but I did it at an authorized Apple Service Center. Anyway, I tried to update to Monterey and had same messages.

Fortunately, I had the original SSD, and I followed all your recommendations: I reinstalled the original SSD and upgrade to Monterey. At first, I got the following error on the first try “The package “%@” is missing or invalid”, I rebooted it on SAFE MODE and repeat the process, it worked.

My MacBook rebooted couple of times for the system and firmware updates. Then, I reinstalled my new SSD and something happens than I have not seen reported on any comment.

My computer did not start, instead I only saw a folder image with a question mark on it and an internet address “https://support.apple.com”. It said that I had to reboot on Recovery Mode, I did it, and took the “Reinstall Big Sur” option. Once my computer was ready after couple hours, I tried to update to Monterey again from de new SSD y it worked perfectly.

Thanks to those who wrote their tips. I hope my extra could help someone else too.

I hope the Apple engineers come up with a solution. This is so un-Apple, but everyone has a bad day occasionally. I'm only wondering if testing is less strict in these days.

Anyways, I invested $37 and a week of wait, but now succeeded installing on my OWS Aura 2 in my Mac Pro.

Back to work ...

Manfred