iMac refuses to update -- etrecheck report analysis?

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Level 1

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iMac refuses to update -- etrecheck report analysis?

My 2019 iMac has suddenly started refusing to update from 12.6.2 to 12.6.3. It will not do it in regular mode, safe mode or recovery mode. All I get is a yellow triangle informing me that the update has failed. I did get some advice about a possible conflict with antiviral software that I was not aware had been installed by a family member. That software has been removed but the problem persists in spite of multiple attempts in all modes. I'm reluctant to try upgrading to Ventura because I don't want it to stall or fail as well.

I was wondering if it might not be ok to try installing 12.6.3 from a bootable thumb drive but I would like to try fixing the other problems shown in the etrecheck report first. I am no coder or programmer, though, and would need some guidance. I'm attaching the report in hope that some kind soul here can help. Thanks for your time.

Etrecheck Report

iMac

Posted on Feb 27, 2023 8:42 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

HWTech

Level 9

69,212 points

Feb 28, 2023 1:02 PM in response to Tom Hayes1

Several of the crash logs suggest memory issues plus the Kernel Panics appear to be different which usually reinforces the possibility of a hardware memory issue. Plus there are a lot of different app crashes.

Before doing anything, make sure to have a good backup while you can.

You can try reinstalling macOS over top of itself to see what happens. If that does not help, then try performing a clean install of macOS by using your macOS USB installer.by first erasing the "Fusion Drive" item as GUID partition and APFS (top option). Quit Disk Utility and select "Reinstall macOS". Try testing the iMac with a clean install before installing any third party apps and before restoring/migrating from a backup.

You may want to try running the Apple Diagnostics to see if any hardware issues are reported. Unfortunately the only useful diagnostic is one which reports an error (or freezes the system during testing). You can also try running Memtest86 to see if any memory issues are reported. If the default Memtest86 options don't report any memory issues, then try modifying the Memtest86 CPU options to "Round Robin" and "Sequential" as I've been finding these CPU options tend to discover hardware issues more often for some reason. If Memtest86 freezes up, that is also an indicator of a hardware issue. FYI, you can remove the Memtest86 USB stick once the test has begun to run. It will take a long time to test 32GB of memory even for a single pass.

Make sure to disconnect all other external devices from the Mac in case one of them is causing a problem.

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Answer 2

Tom Hayes1 Author

Level 1

21 points

Mar 1, 2023 6:57 AM in response to HWTech

Mac OS would not reinstall no matter what. Always an error failure in the last seconds. Apple Diagnostics said everything was OK, but clearly it isn't. Afterwards the computer kept crashing repeatedly until I finally was able to reboot in Safe Mode. It seems to be OK in Safe Mode for now, if a bit clunky and slow. I'm giving up on it. I've been a dedicated loyal Mac user since the 1980's and this iMac is the first lemon I've had from Apple. It has always been wonky, difficult to upgrade, etc., and I think it may have had issues from the beginning, but the warranty/AppleCare has long expired. (I was always sure I could deal with the problems myself.)

The new iMac will be here in a couple of weeks.

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iMac refuses to update -- etrecheck report analysis?

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