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Sonoma restart "Installer progress"

I installed Sonoma and later at restart it hung for a while showing "Installer progress" near the Apple icon. This was before anything else showed in menu bar. Any suggestions? My system is an 2020 Mac Mini M1


Mac mini, macOS 14.0

Posted on Oct 14, 2023 10:02 PM

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Question marked as Best reply

Posted on Oct 15, 2023 8:49 PM

CEH Said:

"Sonoma restart 'Installer progress': I installed Sonoma and later at restart it hung for a while showing "Installer progress" near the Apple icon. This was before anything else showed in menu bar. Any suggestions? My system is an 2020 Mac Mini M1"

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Troubleshooting a Stalled macOS Upgrade:



Boot in Safe Mode:

Apparently, the macOS is stalled. To, try logging in while in Safe Mode. In Safe ModeLogin Items do not run at login, certain preferences are set aside, and damaged system files are then reset. So, once logged in to Safe Mode, wait 30 seconds, and then restart your Mac, seeing if you can log in go here: How to Use Safe Mode on your Mac - Apple Support

30 replies
Question marked as Best reply

Oct 15, 2023 8:49 PM in response to CEH

CEH Said:

"Sonoma restart 'Installer progress': I installed Sonoma and later at restart it hung for a while showing "Installer progress" near the Apple icon. This was before anything else showed in menu bar. Any suggestions? My system is an 2020 Mac Mini M1"

-------


Troubleshooting a Stalled macOS Upgrade:



Boot in Safe Mode:

Apparently, the macOS is stalled. To, try logging in while in Safe Mode. In Safe ModeLogin Items do not run at login, certain preferences are set aside, and damaged system files are then reset. So, once logged in to Safe Mode, wait 30 seconds, and then restart your Mac, seeing if you can log in go here: How to Use Safe Mode on your Mac - Apple Support

Nov 13, 2023 2:49 AM in response to BDAqua

Unfortunately, didn't last … 🤬 After 2 or 3 reboots, the problem returned.


So, I completely removed Steam from my system - problem vanished then 2 or 3 reboots later, returned … Similarly completely removed Zoom, 2 x Rogue Amoeba and a couple of other apps. Sometimes the problem cleared, sometimes it didn't but always returned after 2 or 3 reboots.


Does seem to have some connection with Sonoma Wallpaper/Screen Saver because on occassion when I remove an app or prevent from loading at login, the Wallpaper and/or Screen Saver settings both disappear completely, leaving a black screen background and no Screen Saver. When the problem comes back, returning these to the standard Sonoma Wallpaper/Screen Saver doesn't get rid of the problem.


Can't currently come up with anything to try other than a from scratch clean install …


Although, it must be something loading at boot because, so far, it has never happened when booting to Safe Mode.

Nov 10, 2023 10:44 AM in response to larry666

We need to see what all is running, a report from this will not display any personal info...

Using EtreCheck - Apple Community


EtreCheck is a FREE simple little diagnostic tool to display the important details of your system configuration and allow you to copy that information to the Clipboard. It is meant to be used with Apple Support Communities to help people help you with your Mac. It will not display any personal info.

https://www.etrecheck.com/


Thanks for Old Toad’s etrecheck instructions…

Slow iMac 2017 - Apple Community


Use the Note tool on the bottom of this editor's toolbar, as shown in the image, to copy and paste the output from EtreCheck. In a Reply before you click post, look for this to add longer texts...


Nov 11, 2023 9:01 AM in response to BDAqua

Nope and yes, dang 😊


However, I have solved the problem for my system 😊


So, chatting on reddit with somebody with the same problem. He had decided that it was something to do with background apps loading at login which I think is correct because the problem doesn't happen when booting to Safe Mode.


He listed his background apps loading at login - the only ones we had in common were Zoom, CCC and Steam. So, I turned these off as login items - problem immediately gone. Quickly discovered it was the Steam background login app 😊 Left this off which doesn't stop Steam running so not needed as far as I'm concerned.


Interestingly, when rebooting, this had also "deleted" the Wallpaper and Screen Saver settings. I was, however, able to reset these to the previous settings and the "Installer Progress" issue didn't return, although, restarting remained slow - perhaps this will improve over time?


I note that some have found changing/deleting Wallpaper/Screen Saver setting has cured the problem?


Seems to me there is a very low level "bug" in Sonoma, maybe related to Wallpaper/Screen Saver which have both changed in Sonoma, and which interacts with a range of other apps so the problem varies depending on indivudual system setups?

Nov 13, 2023 6:02 PM in response to larry666

I've done the same as you larry666, and it's clearly a Sonoma issue - doesn't happen with a fresh user, or in safe mode. I uninstalled everything that I had loading at startup though, and it still happens. The only thing that resolves it is changing back to one of the new aerial screensavers, AND also setting it as the wallpaper.


I have an M1 Pro MacBook Pro, so it's not just an Intel issue, either.


It suggests that it's a bug in the wallpaper/screensaver code, both of which were heavily updated for Sonoma. I'm hoping that it's fixed in 14.2 as it's really annoying to not be able to change the wallpaper away from one of the new aerial screensavers.


Nov 14, 2023 3:43 AM in response to DrDuuude!

I have changed back to Sonoma Wallpaper and Screen Saver which didn't seem to cure the problem although it might need to be rebooted a couple of times? They were also basic, static versions.


Doesn't seem to happen when booting to Safe Mode even with my preferred Wallpaper/Screen Saver although it could be something which has been stopped from loading in Safe Mode …?


Also don't understand why Apple made it tricky to find and set up a custom screen saver …

Sonoma restart "Installer progress"

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