My Mac will not update from catalina to big sur

Any ideas what I should try next? (FWIW, I did also try the link for Montery - same result.)

Launch Terminal.app from Applications > Utilities, and try the following two softwareupdate commands. The first will list the available updates for your configuration, and the second will try to download the specified update. (There are two commands here, both shown after a $. The remainder of the text shown is command output, or is unrelated.)

$ softwareupdate --list-full-installers
Finding available software
Software Update found the following full installers:
* Title: macOS Ventura, Version: 13.3, Size: 11500012KiB, Build: 22E252
* Title: macOS Ventura, Version: 13.2.1, Size: 12261711KiB, Build: 22D68
* Title: macOS Ventura, Version: 13.2, Size: 12261428KiB, Build: 22D49
* Title: macOS Ventura, Version: 13.1, Size: 11931164KiB, Build: 22C65
* Title: macOS Monterey, Version: 12.6.4, Size: 12116269KiB, Build: 21G526
* Title: macOS Monterey, Version: 12.6.3, Size: 12115350KiB, Build: 21G419
* Title: macOS Monterey, Version: 12.6.2, Size: 12104568KiB, Build: 21G320
* Title: macOS Big Sur, Version: 11.7.5, Size: 12120799KiB, Build: 20G1225
* Title: macOS Big Sur, Version: 11.7.4, Size: 12119555KiB, Build: 20G1120
* Title: macOS Big Sur, Version: 11.7.3, Size: 12119247KiB, Build: 20G1116
* Title: macOS Big Sur, Version: 11.7.2, Size: 12119307KiB, Build: 20G1020
* Title: macOS Big Sur, Version: 11.6.6, Size: 12121263KiB, Build: 20G624
* Title: macOS Big Sur, Version: 11.6.5, Size: 12121404KiB, Build: 20G527
* Title: macOS Big Sur, Version: 11.6.4, Size: 12147782KiB, Build: 20G417
* Title: macOS Big Sur, Version: 11.6.3, Size: 12143674KiB, Build: 20G415
* Title: macOS Big Sur, Version: 11.6.2, Size: 12141944KiB, Build: 20G314
* Title: macOS Big Sur, Version: 11.6.1, Size: 12137180KiB, Build: 20G224
* Title: macOS Big Sur, Version: 11.5.2, Size: 12149332KiB, Build: 20G95
* Title: macOS Catalina, Version: 10.15.7, Size: 8055650KiB, Build: 19H15
* Title: macOS Catalina, Version: 10.15.7, Size: 8055522KiB, Build: 19H2
* Title: macOS Catalina, Version: 10.15.6, Size: 8055450KiB, Build: 19G2021
* Title: macOS Mojave, Version: 10.14.6, Size: 5896894KiB, Build: 18G103
* Title: macOS High Sierra, Version: 10.13.6, Size: 5099306KiB, Build: 17G66
$ softwareupdate --fetch-full-installer 11.7.5
Scanning for  installer
Installing: 3.0%
^C
{this download was manually quit at 3% downloaded. Let your download finish.}

Robocop1333 Said:

"My Mac will not update from catalina to big sur"

-------

For reference...

Updating the macOS:

Determining which Update(s) will Install:

I. Verify Compatibility:

A. Start Here: Learn About Compatibility and how to Identify your Specific Mac Model - Apple Support

B. How to Verify:

I Reveal your Model:

What is the Model of your Mac? To find out...

1. Go to: Apple menu
2. Click: About this Mac
3. View: Second Line-Down

then...

II. Compare the Results:

See if the Model you found is shown here:

• macOS Ventura is Compatible with these Computers - Apple Support
• macOS Monterey is Compatible with these Computers - Apple Support
• macOS Big Sur 11 Hardware Requirements - Apple Support
• macOS Catalina 10.15 - Hardware Requirements - Apple Support
• macOS Mojave 10.14 - Hardware Requirements - Apple Support
• macOS High Sierra 10.13 - Hardware Requirements - Apple Support
• macOS Sierra 10.12 - Hardware Requirements - Apple Support
• OS X El Capitan 10.11 - Hardware Requirements - Apple Support
• OS X Yosemite 10.10 - Hardware Requirements - Apple Support

III. If Compatible:

Back Up your Mac First:  Be certain you Create a Time Machine Backup of your Mac, so that way you can have something to restore your Mac from, should anything go wrong with the reconfiguration.

The MacBook Pro mid-2012 cannot be upgraded beyond macOS 10.15.7 Catalina.

It does not meet the hardware requirements of any of the newer macOS versions.

Nuke and pave…

Back up, back up again, boot recover or an installer, wipe and reformat, install macOS, and migrate.

Please download and run EtreCheck, and share the report to the clipboard. Then open a new reply here and then press the Additional Text button that looks like a printed page to get a text input box big enough to paste the hardware and software configuration report here, and paste and post that here.

Remove the AppTech and AppCart apps, and try again.

I tried just a simple "list" command, like this:

MacMine:~ user$ softwareupdate --list

And got this result:

Software Update Tool

Finding available software

No new software available.

To be clear, software update is a revision of the macOS currently running on the Mac; update Catalina 10.15.1 to Catalina 10.15.7, for example.

To update your current macOS, click the Apple  icon > About This Mac and then click Software Updates.... If there are any updates available for your Mac, they will be listed and you can apply them when you like.  Software updates may be set to occur automatically.  If no updates are presented, then it may be assumed that none are available for your current OS.

A software upgrade replaces the current macOS with a newer, differently named version; upgrade from 10.13 High Sierra to 10.14 Mojave, for example, or from 10.15 Catalina to macOS 11 Big Sur. Upgrades do not happen automatically, They must be initiated by a user with admin privileges.

Use Software Update to update or upgrade macOS, including built-in apps like Safari. 

Please see >: Update macOS on Mac - Apple Support

❗️ Do NOT upgrade 

until you have made a Time Machine or other backup of your startup drive.

Learn How to Back up your Mac with Time Machine

How to Upgrade  macOS:

The macOS version you can upgrade to depends on the year your Mac was released.

Click the  (Apple) menu at the top of your screen and choose About This Mac.

Check the Compatibility of your Mac with newer versions of macOS:

➡️ macOS 11 Big Sur is compatible with the Macs listed here 

➡️ macOS 12 Monterey is compatible with the Macs listed here

➡️ macOS 13 Ventura is compatible with the Macs listed here

✅ - IF your Mac and apps are compatible, then using Safari only, download the macOS upgrade installer app:

Click >  Big Sur,  Monterey  or  Ventura.

Once downloaded, double-click the “Install macOS…” app in the Applications folder to begin the upgrade.

Please see > How to download macOS.

Thank you for your complete set of instructions.

Sadly, this is what I'm attempting: an UPGRADE from the latest Catalina (10.15.7) to Big Sur.

I am using Safari.

I click on the link to get the OS download -- either in the support instructions article or that you provided above (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/macos-big-sur/id1526878132) -- and then on to the linked page at the App Store. When I then click the "GET" button, I see the message "Update not found - The requested version of macOS is not available"

However, I do also see that Big Sur was updated to 11.7.5 6 days ago, according to the Version History so it should be there, yes?

My computer shows that it is on the list of supported computers for Big Sur. It has more than enough free space (over 450GB).

Any ideas what I should try next? (FWIW, I did also try the link for Montery - same result.)

I'm not a Terminal user but here goes. I launched the Terminal app and entered what I took to be the command from the 1st line above. Here's what I got

It looks like I need to try again using just "list" ... but then which option? (I'm happy to try for Monterey rather than Big Surprise -- can I limit my search to look for/download just that OS?)

The following command is not relevant here:

softwareupdate —list

You asked for Big Sur macOS 11, and not Monterey macOS 12.

The second softwareupdate command shown in my reply is for the current version of Big Sur.

Right. Since it didn't matter to me whether I get Big Sur or Monterey I opted to try for Monterey (which is what I have on another of my Macs). So, yes, I intended to try to download OS 12.6.3 ... which did not work.

I did that - found the 2 apps (& their associated bits) - trashed & emptied trash; restarted.

The update file would still not DL from the App Store on this computer, but I was able to get the 12+gb file installer file for Monterey downloaded on another computer. So I copied the installer file over and placed it in my Applications folder (restarted). Launched the installer.

Alas, it gives a message that the OS cannot be installed:

I tried the install on the other partition (with an even older rev. of the OS installed there) -- same message.

I did a restart in Safe mode. Tried the installation again. Same results.

Decided it couldn't hurt - tried to download/install Ventura. Same 'no update file' message ... and we know Ventura is around, right?

All the download overview pages confirm that this Mac can install these various revs. of the OS. But evidence is still to the contrary: App Store says the file(s) are not there; the installer file (in the Applications folder) will not run to do the installation.

Anything else I can try? E.g., I can reformat the partition that has Catalina (while launched from the other partition) and then try the install to the empty partition. Or (hmmm) maybe I can add a 3rd (new, empty) partition and try the install there. What do you think??

I did find this tidbit on one site discussing fussy updates:

"That typically means you do not have an Apple disk installed. An Apple disk is required since the Monterey upgrade includes an update to the Mac's firmware and and to do that information has to be written to an Apple disk."

This Mac does have a replaced HD (updated to an SSD from OWC, replacing the original, smaller HD that came with the 2012 Mac). What do you think?

(I have plenty of free space and created a new, 3rd, empty volume and it will not install there. So the idea of nuking the Catalina system, while tempting, doesn't seem like a productive path.)

I might be able to find the old (original) HD that the upgrade replaced....

Hmmm... very interesting. Yes, I'd seen these pages but I was going by the check/confirmation that's on the App Store page for the specific OS rev.

For example, for Monterey:

I admit, the behavior is certainly that of the installation file not being compatible. (!!) But why the misleading info. from the App Store page?? <sigh>