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Level 1

132 points

Yosemite 10.10.4 upgrade issues - what to do?

I did the 10.10.4 upgrade via the App store 10 days or so ago. My iMac then refused to boot - grey screen, cursor still visible, nothing else. I had a long chat with a helpful Apple person who tried lots of tests and got me working in Safe mode, and in the end suggested I reload the entire OS. This took several hours (I don't have a particularly fast connection). After this, the machine appeared to work normally for a few days, but then suddenly reverted to the grey screen. All I can do now is to open in Safe mode, which will allow Safari, Apple Mail etc., so at least some work can be done. I have removed ALL login items, but that hasn't changed anything. I have used Disk Utility to look at my hard disk - no errors reported. I can access my external backup disk and second monitor in Safe mode, and I've tried booting with and without these. I just can't see what I can do next. I would like to revert to 10.10.3 but I don't know how - I have regular Time Machine backups, but they don't include the OS, do they (it's a long time since I set TM's parameters)?

This is the first time I've ever had a major issue with an OS X upgrade. Can anyone suggest my next move?

iMac, OS X Yosemite (10.10.3), New for 2012. 8Gb

Posted on Jul 19, 2015 8:45 AM

16 replies

Living Fossil Author

Level 1

132 points

Jul 22, 2015 3:23 AM in response to Living Fossil

OK - this is really a reply to Linc Davis - I got my system back. I did everything you said up to and including 'Reset Directory Permissions and ACLs' in the Reset Password window: a curious bit of info about that was when I clicked on 'Reset', the button changed to a greyed-out 'Done', but this never un-greyed (I left it overnight), so I just quit and assumed it had happened. At this point, I was still getting the grey screen: then I had the idea of going back to the log as you had explained in an earlier reply, and sure enough this time there was a lot of detail of the last failure there. I noticed a couple of things from 'netbarrier' which is part of the Intego virus checking software that you were warning about - so my uninstall had not worked completely. I went back to Intego's uninstall process and ran it and this time my system booted up normally with no loss of data. I have eliminated CleanMyMac (which I still think was harmless), Intego VirusBarrier (obviously not so harmless) and SnapzPro, which I think delves into the OS a bit, and is anyway only partly supported nowadays. The only dodgy app from your point of view left in my machine (as far as I know) is Splashtop Streamer which I actually use (it's that living in two countries thing).

So, fingers crossed, I'm back in the land of the living. I think I'll write to Intego.

I am infinitely grateful for the help you have given me.

Yosemite 10.10.4 upgrade issues - what to do?