System wont boot after OS X 10.11.2 update

Running a MacBook Pro with Retina Display, 1TB SSD, 16GB RAM. Downloaded and installed the 10.11.2 update, upon restart the progress bar gets to about 3/4 of the way to completion then stops, leaving a black background with the white apple logo and the locked progress bar. Recloned my computer's hard drive off the backup I made prior to installing the update, booted the computer again, then tried to apply the update once more with the same result.

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Yosemite (10.10.1), 16GB RAM

Posted on Dec 9, 2015 7:50 AM

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46 replies

Dec 11, 2015 1:48 PM in response to Whickwithy

Whickwithy wrote:


According to the article, you need to the the OS X installer from the App Store. I don't see an OS X installer to download from the App store. Am I missing something?


Click to Download OS X El Capitan. What you get is an installer. Before you actually install, make a copy of it (because if you just install it will delete itself after it's finished).

Dec 11, 2015 1:49 PM in response to PrasadYR

PrasadYR wrote:


sorry to ask rather simple questions..


I made a bootable drive, but the reinstall OS X option defaults to Network.

Is there a way to reinstall from the flash disk?


Connect the flash drive, start your mac holding down the Option key (a.k.a. as the "Alt" key). This will let you select your installer flash drive as the startup drive, and you can use it to install or to use the utilities in it.

Dec 11, 2015 2:05 PM in response to Luis Sequeira1

Thank you Luis.


It seems I am in a real pickle. Having tried this option too, the progress bar is stuck close to 100% and it stays there forever.


I may have to take your advice and use Time machine back up. Unfortunately my TM back up is about a month old and there is significant work that is probably going to be lost.


Thanks to everyone on the community for help. It was a big mistake installing this update.


Quoting a previous post - "Apple has dropped the ball on this one ....."


Cheers

Yogesh

Dec 12, 2015 2:59 AM in response to Whickwithy

I’m on a perfectly healthy mid-2013 AirBook, maxed-out, but otherwise plain vanilla (no haxies or such), which I had updated to 10.11 without any problems. (I’m backed up with a bootable clone plus Time Capsule, so my data’s safe.) I couldn’t update to .1, and now, not to .2, either. Since the problem with .1, I’ve done - repeatedly - everything I could think of to fix it (repaired with DW and TTP, tried everything relevant listed here <http://macs.about.com/od/MacTroubleshootingTips/tp/Top-10-Troubleshooting-Tips-F or-Mac-Startup-Problems.htm>).


Since I don’t want to stop working on my Mac while updating, I’m attempting to update the clone, on an external disk via Firewire 800, using the 10.11.2 combo update which I have on a flash drive (I had tried .1 directly on my AirBook). The result: progress bar fills - creeps more and more slowly as it nears the end - to what looks like 100%, and stays there. Nothing more happens, even waiting overnight.


Curiously, my wife's slightly newer AirBook had no problem at all with .1 - I haven't tried .2 yet.


I’ve never had a problem like this since I began using Apples, in 1984. It’s surely a software problem, not hardware or disk space. I don’t know how many users worldwide are having this problem, but judging by what I read, it’s probably only a small percentage, not large enough for Apple to attend to it. Still, I don’t know what those of us who are affected can do. Apparently, Genius Bar people can’t help, either. I’m really dismayed and angry. Will I be stuck with 10.11 forever?

Dec 12, 2015 6:46 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

http://www.macworld.com/article/2981585/operating-systems/how-to-make-a-bootable -os-x-10-11-el-capitan-installer-drive.h…


Click to Download OS X El Capitan. What you get is an installer. Before you actually install, make a copy of it (because if you just install it will delete itself after it's finished).


I realize this may be overdoing it but, really, I have tried for months to get a backup boot disk to no avail. The article and your suggestion concerning how to keep the OS X install file from disappearing finally worked.


I was trying to use disk utility before and it just didn't work. I think it probably worked with past versions of OS X but is just not available any longer.


Thanks, Luis!!!!!


By the way, is there any reason I can't add files to that memory stick (it's huge, plenty of room).

Dec 12, 2015 8:26 AM in response to gestler

I finally resolved my issue.

  • I again made a clone of my internal hard drive to an external hard disk,
  • booted from the external disk,
  • turned off Norton Antivirus,
  • applied the MacOS 10.11.2 combo update,
  • rebooted off the external disk to ensure it worked,
  • cloned my internal drive from the external disk


It's possible that Norton Antivirus was the issue this whole time.


Thanks everyone for your suggestions.

Dec 13, 2015 11:05 PM in response to gestler

Same problem, and Apple genius did not help because my 6.5 years iMac 24" is classified as "vintage" and no more supported by Apple.

Really...

Rebooted twice and it didn't help, the same freezing problem at about 75% of the update.

Solved by going backwards to the previous version - rebooting from Time Machine that had the 10.11.1 version.

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System wont boot after OS X 10.11.2 update

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