Problems upgrading to macOS Mojave on MacBook Pro 2018

You know iFrog, that’s a great question and I’ve only had the chance really to experience some of Mojave’s features - (spending time upgrading some apps and adjusting some settings) but once again, there appears to be an expected, understandable, and measurable difference between what gets hyped at Apple’s grandiose conference announcements and that with which we ultimately end up. The “Dynamic” screen is rather fascinating as the sun went down outside of my office and it’s this kind of innovation that quite frankly ****** me off - as to how Apple with all of the brilliance over the years of its innovation - can stumble and be so irresponsive on an issue like this, rather than upfront and transparent with their fiercely loyal customers - of which I have long been one!

Well, unfortunately, the one person that really held Apple together and brought all the growth and quality we long term users have come to expect is gone now. So, while I can understand the frustration and disappointment here.

For me, Mojave has things I like, and things that feel no different form what I had already.

I did watch WWDC, but I didn't watch the iPhone release event. I just don't expect what I used to from Apple. Plus, it's gotten to the point, where they aren't offering anything new that I need over what I have. So, there is no reason for me to really get hyped anymore.

I've had thoughts as I've mentioned before moving away from Apple for computing, not because I hate the company, or have bad feelings toward them. For me, it's more about not supporting them in putting out things that are of lesser quality then we've all come to love and expect, and there are other options being developed that I'm also interested in exploring at some point.

I agree...and really no different than the days when “we” all knew Apple was superior to MS and yet, MS was slowly working its way into the educational arena where they finally reigned supreme...often their own worst enemy but their shareholders would likely not agree.

Quirkz and the appleuser on another thread get the credit, not I. I simply tried it out, refined their posted instruction a bit and it worked. It is THEY who get the credit and thanks, not I. So happy for you to end off a long week!

Hi. Well I got Mojave installed. The only way was to do wipe my ssd with drive utility. And install Mojave. I couldn’t do it in place upgrade from High Sierra for some reason. Something was preventing it from installing. After going to Apple Support Genius Bar stay there for four hours tried everything and it still wouldn’t work. So in the white been the whole drive base install of High Sierra and then from there upgrade to Mojave. Then I did a migration assistant and restored all my apps and everything works fine. I couldn’t do it in place upgrade from High Sierra for some reason. Something was preventing it from installing. After going to Apple Support Genius Bar stay there for four hours tried everything and it still wouldn’t work. So and I wipe in the whole drive base install of High Sierra and then from there upgrade to Mojave. Then I did a migration assistant and restored all my apps and everything works fine.

This worked for me, too, on a 2015 27 inch iMac and a 2015 MBP. Thank you! Such a simple solution, too. My sysctl file was dated back to 2005. No wonder it sent the computer into a tizzy.

Now that it is renamed, what if anything does this do to the computer? Does this just neutralize this file from being used by the system? Does the system have an alternative file that does whatever the original file was supposed to be doing? Are we just sweeping dirt under the rug, so to speak?

Ann, I posted above what sysctl is for. It's nothing specific to the Mac. It's part of the underlying UNIX system.

I believe I also had the file and it did not cause problems for me. It's possible the people who had issues had a corrupted file. Likely when upgrading to Mojave, when the old file was renamed, a clean file was created in it's place.

systole.config is the configuration for the sysctl utility which is for dealing with the kernel and various flags / settings.

As mentioned, it's not Mac specific, it's a Unix tool.

You raise a question that I too have considered and I don’t know the answer. The fact however, that the file has been renamed rather than removed, would presumably allow us to “resurrect” it if need be. We can only hope that Apple’s engineers will take this question into consideration when they release Mojave’s first patch. Nevertheless, the solution we’ve all used should provide Apple’s engineers will the necessary focus on what it was they obviously missed in their beta tetsting prior to the 10.14 release. Great to hear that it worked for you!!

dmauch, you're welcome. Was just going to say the post to Ann also applies to you, and everyone else here.

I just want to remind everyone when dealing with the Mac OS as we know it today, We're also dealing with the UNIX system as part of it. Apple has done a great job making it user friendly for the average user. However, that doesn't mean it wouldn't be a bad idea for people to have at least a basic understanding of the Unix Operating system, especially when it comes to troubleshooting. Since sysctl was brought up here, I provided a couple links about it earlier in the thread.

"File does not exist...."

Also waiting for an updated Mojave

Thanks everyone for keeping this thread alive - we appear to be a non-statistically significant subset.

I wish we were able to run a command that will produce a log of our individual machine configs (h/w and s/w) and had a place to submit to for analysis by Apple Engineers

Even though I never had issues upgrading from day one:

I also did the check and the file doesn't exist for me either.

I had done a clean install of High Sierra when it came out, then an in place upgrade to Mojave from High Sierra.

Here is my terminal output:

Last login: Mon Oct 15 07:57:37 on ttys000

iFrog5K:~ tron$ ls -l /etc/sysctl.conf

ls: /etc/sysctl.conf: No such file or directory

iFrog5K:~ tron$ which sysctl

/usr/sbin/sysctl

iFrog5K:~ tron$

So, I have the sysctl utility, but not the configuration file. Chances are those of us that don't have the conf file, either haven't done anything to have it created, or it was default pre High Sierra. I'll do some digging to give more information.

I wouldn’t at all doubt that as you say iFrog that “it was a default pre HS. Unfortunately, for those where the “file does not exist,” it raises additional issues with 10.14 which I doubt surprises any of us.

dmauch, I just did some testing, and I came up with results that brings up more questions, as how anyone ended up with the file at all.

As you know, I run virtual machines, and many of those include versions of macOS / OS X back to snow leopard.

I tested from Snow Leopard - High Sierra, and that file wasn't present on a factory install of any version.

I ran the command ls -l /etc/sysctl.conf in all virtual machines and they all came back with the file wasn't present.

So, if Apple isn't creating the file, and the users aren't manually creating it, something else is. I'll continue digging and try to come up with an answer as to why some people have it, and others don't.

I did confirm I was using the correct command (in response to your comment) by picking a file I know exists, and I got feedback. I also cd /etc, and manually looked for sysctl.conf. That's how I know it wasn't present. So as posted above, it brings up questions as to people end up with the file, if Apple isn't creating it by default.

The most problematic issue that the file creates upon the Mojave upgrade is the loss of all connectivity - wi fi, bluetooth, ethernet (despite the connection being acknowledged but no hardware detected,) which obviously also effects the wireless keyboard/strokes and mouse. Is there a path to follow here tied in with the HD+ to APFS conversions?