Coops_la
Level 1 (4 points)
Mac OS X

Q: El Capitan update failure?

My late 2012 Mac attempted an El Capitan update this morning (sorry not sure which one but assume the latest) and, coming back to it several hours later, it was still stuck on "14 minutes remaining" as it had been when I left it. I decided to force a reboot and eventually got a mainly black screen with flashes of the logo and progress bar every 10 seconds or so. That went on for a while with no obvious progress so I force rebooted again with same result. One more force reboot later but this time attempting safe mode and I now have a mainly logo and progress bar screen with a black flash every 10 seconds (which seems like progress of a sort) but with the addition of a timer wheel which was whirring at first but has now been stopped for some time. The progress bar is stuck at about 3/4.

 

Any suggestions what I can do to get out of this? Thanks in advance.

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11.5)

Posted on Jul 27, 2016 9:41 AM

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Coops_la

Q: El Capitan update failure?

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  • by Joseph_S.,

    Joseph_S. Joseph_S. Jul 28, 2016 6:57 AM in response to Coops_la
    Community Specialists
    Jul 28, 2016 6:57 AM in response to Coops_la

    Hi Coops_la,

     

    Thanks for using Apple Support Communities. 

     

    Based on your post, I understand that after trying to update to the latest OS X El Capitan update, it was stuck on 14 minutes remaining, and you force rebooted your system. Since then, you haven't been able to perform a complete startup of your Mac, and I'm sure you are ready to get this issue resolved. I have something that I would like you to try. 

     

    First, use About OS X Recovery, and see if you can start up from OS X Recovery, specifically, this section: 

     

    Start up from OS X Recovery

    To start up from OS X Recovery, hold down Command (⌘)-R immediately after turning on or restarting your Mac. Release when you see the Apple logo. If you can't start up from OS X Recovery, try holding down Option-Command-R to start up from OS X Internet Recovery*.

    Startup is complete when you see the OS X Utilities window.

    OS X Utilities window

    To quit OS X Utilities, choose Restart or Shut Down from the Apple menu (). To start up from a different startup disk, if available, choose Startup Disk from the Apple menu, then select a startup disk and click Restart.

     

    If you are able to start into OS X Recovery, use Disk Utility to repair your startup disk. Disk Utility can fix certain disk problems—for example, multiple apps quit unexpectedly, a file is corrupted, an external device doesn’t work properly, or your computer won’t start up. 

     

    Once you've done that, restart your computer, and see if it will complete the startup. 

     

    Additionally, if you have a Time Machine backup, you can restore from that backup and try to update again. The following article will help:

    Use Time Machine to back up or restore your Mac

     

    Best Regards.