Errors while updating from 11.7.2 Big Sur to Ventura 13.1 or Monterey 12.1

For what it's worth I wanted to document how this got fixed. I wish it was something I did on my own after all the hours I spent trying to make it work. I downloaded MDS and I was able to download the macOS however, no matter what I did I could not get it to create a bootable disk.

I decided it was time to erase and reinstall. I did a Time Machine back up and I used command R to erase. At first I thought it was going to work. It did erase everything. However, it would not reinstall the OS and came up with a folder and ? blinking. I tried to do option command R and grab the latest OS from the web. But that didn't work either - folder and ? blinking again.

I took it in to the Apple Store and showed them the issue and gave them all of the steps I had taken. The tech used a thumb drive he had as a bootable disk of Ventura. He started by erasing again in disk utility but instead of from the Mac HD it was even higher up (if that makes sense). Once he had erased it that way he used his thumb drive to install Ventura. I brought it home and used my Time Machine back up. And viola. I wish that I had know I could erase the disk in this way and that would have saved me a trip. I asked him why nothing like this is out on the discussion boards and he had his theories. ;)

I also learned that the PKdownload error error8 is not exclusively to do with a network issue on my end. But can also mean that there is a network issue on Apple's end. (Apple Store employee told me.).

Thanks you @Old Toad and @James Brickley for your help. I'm glad this forum is out here for those of us who like to fix our own issues. Even when in the end I didn't do it alone. :)

I do have a VPN installed but it is not running. Would it still cause this issue? Of note: I also have a Mac mini that I also run a VPN on and it upgraded from Big Sur to Monterey fine (granted when it was available and not later) and then from Monterey to Ventura fine. I can delete my VPN app and try again. If it's that simple I'm going to kick myself.

I could not create a bootable installer. :( I was working in Terminal for a while. It didn't like all of the commands I was typing in. I used:

sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Big\ Sur.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume

and it asked me for password, which I input.

After that it says command not found. I am sure I am doing something wrong but I don't know what. I called Apple Support today and they wanted to walk through all the basic steps I've done a dozen times already.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I just want to update my software. :(

I followed this and changed the name to MyVolume, no dice. I also formatted it to be HFS+ and named it MyVolume. Still got the same error. :(

Command not found

Not sure where to go from here. Any other suggestions?

Thank you for this suggestion. I have tried that a few times. I just tried it again and no beans. It is super slow and makes its way to 12.4 MB and then installation failed error. I've tried it both connected to ethernet as well as wifi. Neither work. Any other suggestions? I'm all ears. I really don't want to have to call Apple Support again. They make you do all of the baby steps that I've done many times before they get someone to actually help.

I’ve tried to do this in safe mode and in recovery mode. When I try to install from recovery mode I get the PK download error error 8. I looked on the boards and found that that could be caused by a bad network connection. I tried it again connected directly by Ethernet to my router. Still gives me the error 8. I am a network engineer and I work from home so I have a very high bandwidth very stable internet connection.

Other suggestions I’ve seen say to try from a boot drive. I’ve tried that by following the directions from James above. It still gives me “command not found”. I named the drive MyVolume and copied and pasted the prompt directly from the site mentioned. I am not sure what I’m doing wrong in terminal to keep getting command not found.

other suggestions on the discussion boards say to erase the disk. Would that be a last resort? If I do this how do I do it properly? And do I pull from my Time Machine back up to restore everything as it was? If I do this will I be able to upgrade from Big Sur to Monterey and then to Ventura?

Thank you Old Toad. Does it take a long time to download the OS installer from MDS? And I assume, since you recommended it, it's a safe site to use correct?

Once I have this on my external drive how to use it to install the OS?

Thank you! I will try those steps ASAP and report back what I find. I would not have thought or known how to do this. TYSM James.