updating to Monterey and Ventura

I think the majority of users will tend to use the latest version of the MacOS (Ventura) when possible as it has the latest security settings and capabilities.

As for "jumping" from Big Sur directly to Ventura (skipping Monterey), that should work fine. For instance, on one Mac I went from Catalina to Monterey (skipping Big Sur), no issues. A more cautious approach would first upgrade from Big Sur to Monterey, then from Monterey to Ventura. Either way should work fine.

Make sure you have none of the following before you upgrade:

• anti-virus or third party security software
• external drive manufacturer tools or custom software/firmware
• "cleaning" apps that purport to save you disk space or make your Mac run faster or "better"

Before you upgrade, this is a good time to check your software and make sure all your non-Apple apps are compatible with Ventura. Close all running programs, restart, then proceed with the upgrade(s).

I have to say that after doing dozens of these updates (and right now we have a few thousand Mac users where I work upgrading from Big Sur and Monterey to Ventura over the past few weeks, concluding in January) I have never seen that. Some suggestions:

• I am assuming you have a good backup, one should always have a good backup before doing upgrades
• Boot into Recovery and run Disk Utility to check/repair the disk
• Use an ethernet cable to connect to the internet for the update -- it sounds like the download might have been damaged, and WiFi is more vulnerable to that versus ethernet cable
• How to download macOS - Apple Support use the link to upgrade first to Monterey. Then you can use software update to upgrade to Ventura from Monterey. (Although as I mentioned earlier, we have thousands of Macs currently being upgraded from Big Sur to Ventura without incident.)
• If the issue persists, you can try doing the MacOS upgrades from Safe Mode

Mac startup key combinations - Apple Support explains how to boot into Recovery

Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support

Yes you should avoid skipping major macOS versions. You can obtain the latest Monterey version from this page:

How to download macOS - Apple Support - Click the link for Monterey and it will take you to a hidden place to download Monterey. Then run the /Applications/Install macOS Monterey installer. Then you can install Ventura.

sandlizard wrote:

Before I follow your above suggestions, do you think any of these apps could be the cause of my problem and should be deleted?

1Password 7

1Password for Safari

DuckDuckGo Privacy for Safari

Rakuten Cash Back

zoom.us

I don't believe that any of those software packages would cause your problem, but others here with more experience may chime in. However something may be interfering with the download causing the error message. You might try uninstalling DuckDuckGo Privacy. Booting into Safe Mode disables non-Apple software or extensions, which should eliminate any such interference.

One additional thing to check: in Software Updates, check to see if "Other updates are available" shows up in the window under the main update being offered to Ventura. If there are "other updates," click on that first and apply them before the major Ventura upgrade.

Before trying the update again, check your Applications folder for a MacOS or Ventura installer package, if you find it delete it and empty the trash before trying again.

Having a good reliable backup is essential before any upgrade is attempted.

So if the Ventura update failed and you are still on Big Sur, might I still suggest upgrading to Monterey first?

Often there are firmware updates that might be missing or something else.