High Sierra spontaneously (and faulty) re-installation

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Level 1

8 points

High Sierra spontaneously (and faulty) re-installation

Hi forums

I own an approximately one month old MAcBook Pro 15, 2016 with High Sierra 10.13.2 installed.

I put it to sleep yesterday evening (43 % battery left on a brand new battery), expecting it to just "wake up" this morning, but instead rebooted and presented me with this screen:

The image contains the error message: The path /System/Installation/OSInstall.mpkg appears to be missing or damaged. Quit the installer to restart your computer and try again.

What I find worrisome is that I didn't initiate an update, and if this is the behavior of MAC OS High Sierra, I can't rely on my computer to be available when I need it.
So please, I hope that someone can explain why this might suddenly happened!

If you're reading this because you face a similar problem:

I was able the get the system up and running again, by simply rebooting into recovery mode (holding down Cmd + R during boot) and reinstall the system, which returned it to pretty much the state where I left off yesterday.

Additional information:

Before reinstalling, I searched the system for the missing OSInstall.mpkg to no avail (by using a Terminal from recovery mode with the command "find / -iname osinstall.mpkg").

Corrected various typos.

MacBook Pro TouchBar and Touch ID, macOS High Sierra (10.13.2), 2016 model

Posted on Dec 15, 2017 1:15 AM

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Answer 1

xmetienne

Level 2

192 points

Dec 15, 2017 1:29 AM in response to fitfot

Hi Fitfot,

macOS High Sierra 10.13.2. update has been a disaster for many of us... either couldn't install and when we eventually managed to install it, it created a lot of issues, such a slow system, crash finder, system freeze, spotlight issues... Also looking at your picture, it seems that 10.13.2 has not been installed!!!

Luckily there is a way around it! Anyway try this:

Reboot with the option key and get out of the macOS install drive and restart with your normal Mac drive
Check on App Store update if the 10.13.2 update has been installed
If not and the update is not present on the available update download then download the combo update 10.13.2
10.13.2 Combo Update
Make sure you have a full backup, ideally time machine, as if there is anything going wrong it is the safest way to reinstall it from the recovery!
Update

Once done, I would suggest to install 10.13.3 beta, this update has resolved a lot of issues, but you need to take part to the Apple Beta Program, here is what you need to do:

Subscribe to Apple Beta:

Apple Beta Software Program AppleConnect Sign In enroll your Mac

Download Feedback Assistant:

Feedback Assistant

Do another backup with Time Machine:

How to use Time Machine to back up or restore your Mac - Apple Support

Once done then go to App Store and update the above mentioned update!

Doing the above steps will stabilize your OS

Let me know if it was helpful and more importantly, in a later stage if you have resolved this issue, as it seems that there are a high volume of issue with the 10.13.2 update, and it would be important to inform other users of a way to resolve it!

Good luck!

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Answer 2

fitfot Author

Level 1

8 points

Dec 15, 2017 2:07 AM in response to xmetienne

Thank you for the elaborate answer 🙂

I seems that I have 10.13.2 installed when I choose  → About This Mac, but I'm just starting to use it now… I'll definitely consider the beta-program if I encounter the problems that you describe.

Do you think that the laptop just started the update process by itself when I closed the lid? Because the last time I remember installing updates were a week ago or so, and at that time the computer restarted without issues.

I installed updates to the XCode command line tools yesterday, but I'd be surprised if that have any impact on the startup process 😕

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Answer 3

xmetienne

Level 2

192 points

Dec 15, 2017 2:24 AM in response to fitfot

You're most welcome, and it is with pleasure to help out when I can, as I have gone through major issues in the past and I would have love to have someone helping me out 😉 I hope that my reply was Helpful and get you back on track...

Now depending on your settings the update will download automatically, but normally closing the lid should not restart the computer and therefore move on with the update process, you have to restart it to install it!

I have in the past clicked inadvertently the pop up with "update in an hour, tonight or tomorrow" and it started the installation of the update!

Or you're MacBook Pro restart it, maybe due to a power failure and therefore started the installation process!

As you said XCode will not have an impact on the startup process, unless its installation require a restart of the MBP and does it automatically, but that I couldn't tell you as I have installed mine ages ago and don't remember...

Back on the topic of the latest update, as I have mentioned 10.13.2 has given a lot of headaches around and installing 10.13.3 beta solved many of the issues I've had... That's the way to go as it seems to work as a patch for 10.13.2 and will stabilize your OS High Sierra!

Let me know if that solved your issue!

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Answer 4

Jan 24, 2018 3:58 PM in response to fitfot

I am having the same problem 22.01.2018 and I need to get a Key from Apple Care? I can not get in to even do anything else.

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