Problems upgrading to macOS Mojave on MacBook Pro 2018

...or a 3 month old 27” iMac (not as expensive richsark as yours) but the same problems. I have seen no ”official” or for that matter “unofficial” response from Apple - thus we may assume, it IS what it IS - a major FLOP! The BEST advice from the various posters hereon is WAIT, WAIT, WAIT - and DO NOT ATTEMPT THE MOHAVE UPGRADE until these problems have been resolved. Day ago, I suggested that Apple pull the Mohave app so as to not inconvenience so many loyal Apple users! They obviously have chosen not to do so.

I suggest you use the program created by Etresoft, a frequent contributor. It will provide a snapshot of your system which we can analyze to possibly determine the cause of your problem. Please use copy and paste as screen shots can be hard to read. On the screen with Options, please open Options and check the bottom 2 boxes before running. Click “Share Report” button in the toolbar, select “Copy to Clipboard” and then paste into a reply. This will show what is running on your computer. No personal information is shown.

Etrecheck – System Information

OK, putting aside that Apple has to admit the problem exists, have you been able to diagnose anything on your own using console or any logs? such as system logs? Might be a good place to start (if you haven't already.)

It's not just the 2018 models. My well-maintained and regularly updated mid-2015 top-of-the-line MBP had the same catastrophic Mojave install failure as described here. Despite trying every remedy I could find online (SMU reset, NVRAM purge, disk first aid, and multiple attempted reinstalls including creating a bootable USB drive with a fresh download), the only solution was a Time Machine restore of High Sierra. Not only was my "wi-fi hardware not found" (but wi-fi was mysteriously still fully functional in command-R mode and command-D mode with no hardware problems found), the Systems Preferences > Network pane was empty and my libraries had no network preferences anywhere. I could not even add a network to the Network pane. I never did get the usual upgrade welcome pages to set up the new system. Hideously bad behavior included repeated freezing, stuttering, recurrent spinning beach ball of death, very slow keyboard responses, failure to log into my other accounts including the guest account, and just general brain damage. Like the other posters, I have been using numerous Macs for 25 years and have never, ever experienced anything like this. The OS X original version in 2001 was a pokey pain and didn't do much but it sure behaved better than this.

Hello all,

Just a quick update. I've just been to the Apple Shop and they've downloaded and installed Mojave on my MacBook Pro 💻 13" (2018 model with Touch Bar) via an Ethernet cable.

The file downloaded OK and the installation went beyond the 15-second error threshold! I'm now typing this reply on it and it seems fine so far ...

Again, this may or may not work for everyone, but it certainly did for me.

Good luck!

I'd have to test that. Something possibly related: I noticed a few weeks ago, when booted into Recovery Mode, that the base system had not stored my WiFi credentials that I had entered during a previous visit to Recovery Mode. So it's possible that the installer needs to contact the Apple Servers, which then fails because WiFi is disconnected from your AP unless you're logged in. So yeah, maybe doing it over Ethernet might solve the problem.

Are you familiar with Virtual Machines?

VMWare Fusion, and Parallels Desktop are two popular Virtual Machine solutions for the Mac.

Esentually you would install Mojave into a Virtual Machine and run it alongside High Sierra until you could install it as the host OS.

I was suggesting a Virtual machine trial to see if You could even get it installed and running. Doing it this way won't affect your high Sierra install. Keep in mind a Virtual machine will not be as fast as running an OS on direct hardware, but it would still have you a chance to try Mojave.

Hi dmauch,

You have a couple options here that I would recommend.

1. Depending on the type of passwords, they should be stored in your iCloud Keychain, which when you sign back into iCloud, iTunes, and the App Store, and other services on the new install will be automatically available.

2. I would (if you get Mojave to install) run it for a while before restoring backups to see how well it runs, and if it's stable. (if not restore to your High Sierra install.)

3. It may have been your time machine backup causing the issues with the Mojave install (if you tried to restore.)

Usually an in place upgrade doesn't require a time machine restore, (unless something gets broken.)

4. If in the event you get a successful install. Instead of running migration assistant, manually restore your backups from the time machine drive.

I have found in my own experience that this works the more reliable, and is the most dependable. While time machine is built into OS X, it's not the recommended solution for everyone for backups as it has a history and known issues of corrupting the backups. (especially over periods of long term use.)

I find to guarantee a clean experience, any applications should be installed and configured cleanly. Some apps are fine restoring the settings from backup, others it's just easier to start clean.

If you are going to try this, I would focus on the clean install, get Mojave running, use it for a couple hours. Then report back your findings. Then after that, decide on how to restore the backups.

These are the best solutions I can give anyone here to isolate all possible factors of something corrupt in the backup.

Those who have done the clean install, and still have been unsuccessful, there are other issues most likely going on with hardware preventing the os from installing.

I would have to sort through the thread for the answer, but did you ever take your computer to the Apple store to let Apple try to get things installed? I remember there were a couple people here, and the Genius saw and documented the problem, or they got it installed, and the people were able to move on. Just don't remember who was who since there have been a quite a few different situations here, and I am not working with the people directly.

dmauch - Same exact issues for me on my iMac - OS Version 10.13.6, Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017, Processor 4.2 GHz Intel Core i7, Memory 24GB 2400 MHz DDR4 when upgrading to Mohave this week. Went through the same tests with the Senior Tech. Like you, after the 2nd attempt failed, I ended up reinstalling High Sierra from Time Machine backup.

DON'T UPGRADE UNTIL NEW RELEASE SPECIFICALLY ADDRESSES THESE ISSUES

Are you signed in to your AppStore?

wait

I was able to upgrade my 2016 MacBook and my 2018 15 inch MacBook Pro to Mojave but I had four failed attempts to upgrade my mid 2012, 15 inch, MacBook Pro. IK downloaded the installer file from the Apple Store banner. I stayed up most of last night trying to get that installer to work. After a few minutes the installer could not find the the hard drive. Even in disk utility I could not find it. I had to remove the installer and reselect the main hard drive in Preferences in High Sierra to get it to work without using the reboot with the options key.

Mohave Upgrade - WARNING!!! Not ready for prime time on my iMac - OS Version 10.13.6, Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017, Processor 3.4 GHz Intel Core i5, Memory 8GB 2400 MHz DDR4. Following first download from the App Store, complete corruption losing all connectivity - bluetooth, internet, My Passport/Time Machine - multiple other issues essentially rendering the computer inoperable. Managed to retry installation of OS through Command R/Disk Utility - Second try resulted in same issues. Senior tech advisor from Apple said he would call back in 20 minutes following installation - didn’t hear back for several hours later - after I had already decided to Command R a second time and erasing my HD and reinstalling High Sierra from Time Machine backup. If you haven’t upgraded...DON’T until Apple works out all of these issues. It’s truly disappointing that they would decide to release this —- and shame on me for being so quick to do so!

no, I dont think anyone is doing anything wrong.

The only thing I did differently is to do a disk utility clean up (via onyX). This can also be done via first aid.

Something went wrong with the testing on various models to lead to this.

It should be pointed out apple do do extensive beta testing but for what ever reason that did not pick up on these issues.