Q: 10.11.2 update crashes my iMac
I've been trying all day to update my mid 2011, 21.5" iMac from 10.11.1 (with all updates) to 10.11.2. It's failed to complete successfully every time.
Attempt 1: I updated directly from the Apple Store. The update appeared to complete successfully. The desktop appeared. However, all the files on the desktop displayed the icon that means OSX doesn't know what app to open the file with. When I clicked the Mail icon, a pop-up appeared that said it couldn't run the mail app. In Finder, the Applications folder was empty except for the Utilities folder which was also empty. The usual drop-down menu appeared when I clicked the Apple icon in the menu bar and Restart worked. The restart seemed about as usual except it hung for maybe 15-30 seconds about 3/5s of the way through according to the status bar. It came back up in the same state; i.e., the desktop appeared but it couldn't find or run any apps. I restored the iMac to the last 10.11.1 Time Machine update from yesterday sucessfully.
Attempt 2: I just installed Norton a week or so ago. I thought maybe it was interfering so I ran a script from Symantec's website that says it removes all traces of Norton from a Mac and restarted the Mac. I updated directly from the Apple Store again. This time when the update was complete, the screen came up solid white all over. The mouse still moved so I tried clicking where I thought some of the menu bar and dock icons should be. No response. I restarted by cycling the power button and restored the 10.11.1 Time Machine update. I ran First Aid in the Disk Utility on the system disk. It didn't report any problems.
Attempt3: I downloaded osxupdcombo10.11.2.dmg from Apple's website and did the update with it. The desktop appeared but, again, all the apps appeared to be gone. I restored the 10.11.1 Time Machine update. That's where I'm at now.
Actually, I tried several other variations. I didn't keep a log so I can't describe them precisely. I'm pretty sure the the above captures the important steps. I see from other forum posts that a few other people have had problems installing 10.11.2 but most people seem to be getting along all right so there must be something peculiar about my 10.11.1 installation. I'd surely appreciate any ideas what else to try or how to diagnose the problem
iMac (21.5-inch Mid 2011), Mac OS X (10.7.3)
Posted on Dec 13, 2015 7:28 PM
If you can boot your system, then post the panic report.
<http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2546>
<https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201753>
If you cannot boot, then boot into Safe mode, and then post the panic report
<http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1564>
After posting the Panic report, add a new reply with the EtreCheck output (even if you have to do this via Safe mode)
<https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-6174>
Many panics when upgrading are caused by 3rd party kernel additions that have been installed on a prior version that are not compatible with the new OS X version.
Posted on Dec 13, 2015 8:05 PM