KyleOfTheBeard

Q: iMac Installation of El Capitan Stuck or Not Working

Hey everyone,

 

I'm working on a 27-inch, Mid 2011 iMac that's running/was running OS X Lion 10.7.5. It belong's to a friend of mine who forgot her password and wanted me to figure out if I could reset the password for her, and then update the system.

 

Well, I figured out the password issue, changed it and wrote it down for her, and then proceeded to update the OS from Lion to El Capitan. After waiting an excruciatingly long amount of time for it to finish downloading through the App Store, I initiated the install, went through the prompts, and then let it work.

 

After about thirty minutes, I returned and found it still on the white loading screen with the Apple logo, and underneath was a progress bar that was slowly filling. I figured it was still installing as I could see the bar was making incremental progress every few seconds, so I left it to continue to work.

 

I came back after about 15 minutes to the same white screen, only the Apple logo and the progress bar had disappeared for some reason. I sat in front of it for a few minutes waiting for something to happen, but nothing ever did. I tried to move the mouse and found that the cursor showed up on the screen, but everything else remained the same and nothing new appeared. I waited for an hour before I got fed up and started clicking around on the screen and tapping buttons on the keyboard. Nothing happened.

 

After another fifteen minute wait, I reaching behind the iMac and pressed the power button for a few seconds until the whole thing shut down. I waited a few more seconds and then tapped the button again, and the iMac started up, and then went straight to the same loading screen with the Apple logo and the progress bar. The bar was at about 70% from the looks of it, and again, I could see it making tiny amounts of progress every few seconds.

 

Once it got to about 75%, the Apple logo and the progress bar suddenly disappeared and I was left exactly where I was before I turned the computer off. I tried this same process a few more times and every single time, it ended the same way, with me frustrated and staring at a blank screen with a cursor on it.

 

I'm not exactly sure if it's a faulty installation file, some sort of driver issue, a hardware issue, or something else. But I'm slowly running out of ideas and would really appreciate some help from anyone willing!

 

Thank you so much in advance!

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.5), Installation Problem

Posted on Sep 19, 2016 4:57 PM

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Q: iMac Installation of El Capitan Stuck or Not Working

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  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Sep 19, 2016 4:59 PM in response to KyleOfTheBeard
    Level 10 (271,198 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 19, 2016 4:59 PM in response to KyleOfTheBeard

    I'm afraid something is badly hosed. I recommend you do the following:

    Install El Capitan from Scratch

     

         Backup if possible before continuing.

     

    1. Restart the computer. Immediately after the chime hold down the Command and R keys until the Apple logo appears. When the Utility Menu appears:
    2. Select Disk Utility from the Utility Menu and click on Continue button.
    3. When Disk Utility loads select the volume (indented entry, usually Macintosh HD) from the Device list.
    4. Click on the Erase icon in Disk Utility's main window. A panel will drop down.
    5. Set the Format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.)
    6. Click on the Apply button, then wait for the Done button to activate and click on it.
    7. Quit Disk Utility and return to the Utility Menu.
    8. Select Reinstall OS X and click on the Continue button.

     

    If the drive is badly hosed such that you cannot boot from the Recovery HD, then you need to do this:

    Snow Leopard Erase and Install

     

         Be sure you back up your files.

     

    1. Insert Snow Leopard DVD into the optical drive and restart the computer.
    2. Immediately upon hearing the chime hold down the C key.
    3. Release the key when the Apple logo appears and wait for the loading to finish.
    4. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue  button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.  After Disk Utility loads select the out-dented disk entry from the side list (mfgr.'s ID and drive size.)  Click on the Partition tab in the Disk Utility’s right window.  Set the number of  partitions to (1) from the drop down menu. Click on Options button and select GUID, click on OK, set the format type to MacOS Extended, Journaled. Finally, click on the Apply button.
    5. After formatting has finished quit Disk Utility.  Continue with the OS X installation and follow the directions.
    6. When the installation has finished the computer will restart into the Setup Assistant. After you complete the Setup Assistant you will be running a fresh installation of Snow Leopard. Open Software Update and install the recommended updates.
    7. If you are planning to sell or give your computer away, then do the following: After you reformat your hard drive and reinstall Snow Leopard, the computer restarts to a Welcome screen. To leave the Mac in an OOTB (Out Of The Box) state, don't continue with the setup. Instead, press Command and Q keys to shut down the computer. The Setup Assistant will guide the new owner through the setup process after he/she turns on the computer.
    8. Download and install Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1. if needed. It is not needed if you are selling or giving away the computer.

    From here you can download and install  El Capitan from the App Store.

  • by KyleOfTheBeard,

    KyleOfTheBeard KyleOfTheBeard Sep 19, 2016 5:02 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 19, 2016 5:02 PM in response to Kappy

    Is there a way I can roll back to 10.7.5 at this point? Could I just use TimeMachine to stop the install completely and return back to Lion?

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Sep 19, 2016 5:10 PM in response to KyleOfTheBeard
    Level 10 (271,198 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 19, 2016 5:10 PM in response to KyleOfTheBeard

    If you have a complete Lion system on your Time Machine backup, then yes. But if not then you cannot reinstall Lion unless you have a Lion installer disc or USB stick. Your computer came with Snow Leopard so you can install Snow Leopard then re-download the Lion installer from the App Store on your Purchases page assuming you originally got it from the App Store.

     

    Of course, all of these possibilities start with having to first erase the drive. I assume you know how to restore a full system backup from Time Machine.

  • by KyleOfTheBeard,

    KyleOfTheBeard KyleOfTheBeard Sep 19, 2016 8:52 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 19, 2016 8:52 PM in response to Kappy

    So, I think I fixed it.

     

    I really didnt want to erase anything on the drive because I'm an idiot and I didn't make a backup of anything before I started installing El Capitan. But I got lucky.

     

    What I did was restart the iMac in safe mode, and then I redownloaded El Capitan from the App Store, in the hopes that I could just reinstall it cleanly. Once it finished downloading and after I initiated the install, it told me that I needed to log out of all users or something (I guess because I was in Safe Mode). So I just shut the whole thing off and turned it back on.

     

    Well, I guess that did something to it because the white screen came back with the loading bar, but this time it actually reached the end. A few more blank screens later and it was asking me to log in like it normally does. Only this time, El Capitan had definitely been installed. I'm still updating a few programs but as of right now, it seems to be running smoothly. I'll post in here again is there are any more issues.

     

    Thanks so much for your advice and your assistance!