mdaecher

Q: OSX stuck somewhere between Yosemite & El Capitan

So, I tried to upgrade to El Capitan and my iMac hung up, had to shut down.  Gets stuck early in process and hangs, have read numerous posts on that.

 

After shutting down, i could not start up normally, as it would not see operating system and try to install El Capitan with same hanging result.

 

Could not boot into safe mode - hangs at "checking catalog file". Boot into recovery mode to try to reinstall osx, and it is trying to reinstall El Capitan.  Tried disk utility First Aid for Macintosh HD in recovery mode, and this also hangs at "Checking Catalog Hierarchy".

 

I tried normal boots several times until it actually booted up - system indicates it is running Yosemite.  System is slow and having problems.  Ran disk verify and repair, fixed disk permissions.

 

I want to get the system running better, so I am simply trying to simply re-install Yosemite at this point.  Remember,  I can't do this from recovery because recovery thinks I have El Capitan.

 

I have made a bootable Yosemite install USB drive.  Question is, if I re-install from this USB, will it completely overwrite everything on Macintosh HD?  Or will my files there be ok and it will only overwrite osx system files?  I know you can do a non-destructive reinstall of OSX from recovery, but I do not see an answer for re-installing from a bootable USB.

 

Need to know so I can take steps if necessary - one of the components not working since my attempted upgrade is Time Machine.

 

TIA for any help and guidance

iMac (21.5-inch Mid 2011), null

Posted on Aug 3, 2016 1:46 PM

Close

Q: OSX stuck somewhere between Yosemite & El Capitan

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by JimmyCMPIT,

    JimmyCMPIT JimmyCMPIT Aug 3, 2016 1:48 PM in response to mdaecher
    Level 5 (7,491 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 3, 2016 1:48 PM in response to mdaecher

    if you have a TM backup you can restore to the disks that shipped with your computer via a clean install, then restore the system with TM, then update the OS using apples suggested method

    Create a bootable installer for OS X - Apple Support

  • by Allan Eckert,Helpful

    Allan Eckert Allan Eckert Aug 3, 2016 1:56 PM in response to mdaecher
    Level 9 (53,606 points)
    Desktops
    Aug 3, 2016 1:56 PM in response to mdaecher

    "I have made a bootable Yosemite install USB drive.  Question is, if I re-install from this USB, will it completely overwrite everything on Macintosh HD?  Or will my files there be ok and it will only overwrite system files?  I know you can do a non-destructive reinstall of OSX from recovery, but I do not see an answer for re-installing from a bootable USB."

     

    Yes. It will because in order install an older version of OS X, the installer requires that the disk be erased so that doesn't see a newer version of OS X which will cause the installer to abort.

  • by mdaecher,

    mdaecher mdaecher Aug 3, 2016 2:57 PM in response to Allan Eckert
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 3, 2016 2:57 PM in response to Allan Eckert

    Got it - thanks.  Final question - since I seemingly won;t be able to get around a clean install, should I just make a bootable usb of El Capitan, or is there a good reason to clean reinstall Yosemite and then try to upgrade again?

  • by Eric Root,Apple recommended

    Eric Root Eric Root Aug 4, 2016 11:01 AM in response to mdaecher
    Level 9 (71,284 points)
    iTunes
    Aug 4, 2016 11:01 AM in response to mdaecher

    If the system indicates it is running Yosemite and you boot off a Yosemite install USB drive, it shouldn't erase the drive because you are replacing the OS with the same OS. Do a backup, preferable 2 separate ones on 2 drives.

     

    On your second question, if you do a clean El Capitan install, your will have to restore your data from your backup. If you reinstall Yosemite successfully and then upgrade, you won't have to restore your data.