Problems upgrading to macOS Mojave on MacBook Pro 2018

Opened a case Witt apple. They insist it’s my network. I said my two other MacBook MacBook pros upgraded on the same wireless just fine. A 2012 late retina and 2015 no issues. Just the 2018. They also suggested I try a hot spot with I also did. I also tryiefto download from my hotel wifi and still same ****. They also said to use a wired network cable. To try. Something is blocking it.

I have the log I sent if someonr can dicet it to see if anything sticks out. Have a genius appointment Wednesday at 2:30 to basically wash time.

I also have the 2015 MBP and am awaiting a Mojave fix from Apple. I just got a 2018 MBP with the T2 chip and I am just going to keep it happy with High Sierra until this Mojave thing sorts itself out.

Before I bought the 2018 MBP, I tried a demo 2018 MBP in a store which was running Mojave quite nicely, but I don't have endless hours to devote to doing restores and all that.

The transition to the 2018 MBP is also a learning curve. I am still figuring out connectivity with the USB-C ports and various dongles. The 3rd party Tripp Lite USB-C / USB/ethernet/video dock I bought as an adapter for the USB-C ports created such a mess with Time Machine, it hosed my new Seagate USB peripheral drive so badly I had to reformat it on a Windows machine before I could get it to mount on the Mac again. On a retry with Time Machine, same thing happened, I had to reformat the USB drive a 2nd time. Finally I borrowed the Apple dongle from a colleague and Time Machine proceeded without problems. Tripp Lite dongle is also a fail with my old USB Superdrive. I'll test that with the Apple dongle when it arrives. The Tripp Lite may be going back to the store... Planned obsolescence, I guess. I notice that the Mag Safe power connector is gone, too.

The following enabled me to sucessfully upgrade to Mojave from High Sierra and resolved all issues On my 2017 27” iMac.

A. If you can log in (even if slow), or you're still on High Sierra, and have not yet upgraded, follow these instructions:

1. Start the terminal app from Applications/Utilities

2. Check if the file exists, by typing

ls -l /etc/sysctl.conf

If this returns a result like the following, then the file exists. If it does not, then your issues are caused by something else

-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 136 24 Nov 2013 /etc/sysctl.conf

3. Rename the file by typing:

sudo mv /etc/sysctl.conf /etc/sysctl.conf.ba

(You’ll be promoted for your password)

4. Restart your computer, and you should be all set, or if you've rolled back to High Sierra, you should be good to attempt the upgrade again.

In a case like this, unless you specifically created the file yourself and configured sysctl. Then you either had internet software that did it, or another piece of software such as one of the utilities, etc.

I feel confident in saying this though: Since you have been running Mojave, have you checked to see if the file has been recreated (since you renamed the one that was there?). If it has, then possibly the Mac is doing it, or a piece of third party software. If it hasn't been, then whatever created it the first time, hasn't either been run since, or it doesn't need it now.

It does make sense to see where it came from though, especially for those who had it interfere with the upgrade so next time, you can make sure if it's an incompatible piece of software doing it, you can disable or delete it prior to more upgrade issues.

Hey Kladdy

I'm so glad to hear that I am not the minority. I have endured the worst experience I have ever had with a computer of any brand - including Dell with the upgrade of Mojave. MackBook Pro 2017 13" was on High Sierra and I jumped early to Mojave. As a brief summary, this is what happened;

Slow and unresponsive

Boot Camp booted to blue screen in Windows

External hard drives not recognised

Bluetooth not working in Boot Camp (when it eventually worked)

Power draining while charging over night

Printers on the network not being recognised

Internet recovery not showing option for factory reset

Apple Support was not able / willing to provide any assistance for boot camp as they insisted it was a Windows issue. I have been resetting NVRAM daily to keep it working and reviewing Discussions and Reddit for help but nothing was working. The local service agent was wanting to charge me to investigate what was wrong with the laptop. I have ended up enforcing Consumer Rights with my retailer and I now have a new MacBook Pro running High Sierra. All issues have been resolved. My retailer has been superb (JB Hifi in Australia and NZ) and we determined the Mojave install has corrupted firmware and therefore unable to be resolved. This would explain the several restarts while Mojave was being installed.

Been a Mac use for 15 years and never had a major problem and any issues that have occurred I have been able to resolve myself. The experience in dealing with Apple has left a sour taste. To make matters worse, I live in a small city on the far side of the world where we do not have an Apple Store. Almost makes me want to revert to a Windows laptop.

Have you tried this? It has worked for a number of posters on here and resolved the very issues for which you have described:

The following enabled me to successfully upgrade to Mojave from High Sierra and resolved all issues On my 2017 27” iMac. (Watch your spacing and those are lower case “ells,” and not upper case “eyes”)

A. If you can log in (even if slow), or you're still on High Sierra, and have not yet upgraded, follow these instructions:

1. Start the terminal app from Applications/Utilities

2. Check if the file exists, by typing

ls -l /etc/sysctl.conf

If this returns a result like the following, then the file exists. If it does not, then your issues are caused by something else

-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 136 24 Nov 2013 /etc/sysctl.conf

3. Rename the file by typing: sudo mv /etc/sysctl.conf /etc/sysctl.conf.ba

(You’ll be prompted for your password)

4. Restart your computer, and you should be all set, or if you've rolled back to High Sierra, you should be good to attempt the upgrade again.

Just to clarify, I would also reiterate the fact that the “sysctl.conf” was not a file that I KNOWINGLY, manually created or whereby a software tool was used to create custom network settings. (Not even sure I would know how to do either) I tend to doubt that most if not all of the other posters hereon who discovered the file as well, did not knowingly do either of the above as well. Perhaps, as you say, “the file shouldn’t exist on ANY version of OS X/macOS,” but the fact is, one way or another, it did.

In my earlier post on the topic, I was only able to go back as far as Snow Leopard when looking for the file in a stock Apple install. This means I wasn't able to check Leopard or older. Did anyone here with the file and older time machine backups have leopard, or a PowerPC based Mac that the backup came from? That's the only thing untested here.

Either way, it doesn't matter now since the issues have been resolved. It would just be nice to know how that file got involved, and caused problems.

🙂

Happiness is.

Ran the installer from the AppStore today, didn't do anything special, and voila! upgraded to Mojave without any issues.

Apple obviously addressed whatever it was that was causing the problem in the background.

Thanks everyone for all the tips and advice.

Dmauch: Thank you so very much. I had exactly the same install issues that Ann Laux described on my MacBook Pro when going fromHigh Sierra. My MBP is a Late 2012 13 inch. I followed your suggestion to use Terminal program to rename the sky’s to file. As soon as I did the system rebooted quickly, correctly, and has been operating very well ever since. You are my hero!! I was sure that I was permanently toast. I really appreciate the help and am expressly lucky to happen across knowledgeable people on these forums. Thanks again and Happy Holidays. You deserve them!

hello dmauch,

If the assumption is correct about the T2 chip you need to check if your iMac has this chip included. But it does not hurt trying once more to get the OS installed :-)

Good luck

I would suggest something else is wrong with your computer if you cant install high sierra.

Have you done a hardware diagnostic from the inbuilt firmware of computer ?

Make absolutely certain that you use the correct spacing.

ls -l /etc/sysctl.conf

(Notice the space between ls and the -l and between the -l and /etc...)

Sorry - spell correct undid the sysctl file name to give it another name - “sky’s to” in my message. Sorry for the confusion.