Mojave install a disaster

I can't speak for Apple. It nevertheless worked and resolved all of my issues such that Mojave is working flawlessly on my 2017 iMac. (I've sent the Apple senior advisor with whom I've been working, the method used to resolve my issues).

My friend instilled Mojave and disaster - your remedy does not work.

MacBook Pro "Core i7" 2.3 15" Retina 2012 2.3 GHz Core i7 (I7-3615QM)

Intro. June 11, 2012 Disc. February 13, 2013

Order MC975LL/A Model A1398 (EMC 2512)

Family Retina Mid-2012 ID MacBookPro10,1

RAM 8 GB VRAM 1 GB*

Storage 256 GB SSD Optical

How does he go back to the previous version?

His backup is presumabably located on an external HD or Time Machine. Hopefully he backed-up before he attempted to upgrade. Shut down the computer. Start up holding down the Command and R keys until the Disk Utility window appears. It should then allow him to select a restore from his back-up.

Quite likely that all files and previous operating system has been lost. Key cardinal rule BEFORE installing any new OS is to BACK-UP!!!! Without a back-up, a clean install of a new operating system is probably the only option available which is like beginning all over again with a new computer. I’ll defer giving any concrete advice here as it would probably be best to take the computer into an Apple Store and let them confirm one way or another if there are any other alternatives.

With respect to supported graphics, my mid-2012 Macbook Pro has the Intel HD Graphics 4000. In the system info it says "Metal: Supported, feature set macOS GPUFamily1 v4" - and this machine took the upgrade to Mojave just fine. Mind you, I have also upgraded to a 500GB SSD and jumped from 4 to 16GB of RAM. Hope that's helpful.

TMM

My friend spent three days with Apple Support on the phone, a very helpful man in Portugal sorted out the problem, and his Mac works fine now. I will not upgrade myself yet -

Model Name: MacBook Air

Model Identifier: MacBookAir6,2

Processor Name: Intel Core i5

Processor Speed: 1.3 GHz

Number of Processors: 1

Total Number of Cores: 2

L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB

L3 Cache: 3 MB

Memory: 4 GB

39GB free

I bought it in 2013

Although it will take Mojave I think I'll wait

Just wanted to report, I updgraded 3 Macs to Mojave using this technique, including a recently purchased 2018 Macbook pro with the T2 processor chip. All 3 are running Mojave successfully. It's actually a pretty speedy system and I am happy with it.

All 3 had the sysctl.conf file found by Terminal, which I removed using your instructions prior to doing the upgrades.

The 2018 MBP did not have the file until I had used it for a week or so and installed some applications (Outlook 2016, Hallmark Cards for Mac 2018, Malwarebytes, Sophos) and been on the internet with Safari and used Mail. I had also done a very brief Migration Assistant run from my 2015 MBP (I terminated it because it was bringing in everything from apps and documents folders, which I did not want to do, but I'm not sure exactly what go imported before I stopped it). I'm glad I did a last minute recheck for the sysctrl.conf file with Terminal before I installed Mojave, because that file had come in somehow and it would have hosed the Mojave installation.

I hope Apple has gotten the message on this and fixes it when they issue their first bug fix.

Just upgraded yesterady my wife’s 2013 MB Air - checked for the infamous file - not to be found - although I discovered that she had NEVER upgraded from the El Capitan OS that came preisntalled. Mojave installed perfectly. (No, I did not admonish my wife for not having upgraded through the years!)

“been on Safari and used Mail...and done a very brief Migration Assistant...Indeed Ann, what and from where did the sysctrl file get imported. I sure hope the Apple engineers are reading these threads/posts. It’s beginning to sound that a Mojave patch shouldn’t be ”rocket science.” Many thanks for the valuable input!

Thanks! I waited from public beta one, knowing this was likely a simple fix. Updated through each beta through recovery, and installed final from USB. SMC and PRAM weren’t the culprits, but everything worked great outside of the main install. Really appreciate the help! Excited to set down the old laptop for a while.

I have had all the above mentioned disastrous problems "upgrading to mojave" and have spent countless hours on the phone with apple support - escalated up to 2 senior advisors, 1 of whom will be calling me back today in a couple hours only to be disappointed that my 3rd install of this awful mojave has not worked yet again. So, when I read this thread and try to look at my 32 vs 64 bit apps (I'm not that computer savvy but am really trying to understand as much as I can), I followed your instructions above - when i went to About This Mac / System Report / Applications....when I hit Applications, i got an error that stated "The plug-in did not respond quickly enough while gathering this information. I can't even decipher which applications may be giving me an issue. Do you have any suggestions on where to go from here? I want to go back to High Sierra and I do have an external hard drive back up that I can restore from. I would just need detailed instructions on how to go about doing that. Is someone willing to provide those for me? Please can somebody help me as I am growing tired of rebooting and waiting tirelessly for the same result....apple is not helping me! Shame on them for releasing this before it's time!!!!! Thank you in advance for anyone willing to lend a hand....

Shut down your computer. Wait 20 or seconds and power it back on holding down tthe Command and R keys. This will bring you to Disk Utility and from there choose the restore option from your external HD. Hopefully you’ve got a fresh backup.

Thank you for the quick reply. I did check the terminal app already to see if that sysctl.conf file was there in hope for a quick fix, but I got the "command not found" message. I'm not sure if it will make a difference to check it again once I revert back to High Sierra and reload a back up. Suffice it to say, I am not going to try to reinstall mojave anytime soon! Thanks again for your help dmauch!

Perefectly understandable TLG. After my 5th restore back to High Sierra, and then subsequently being made aware of the sysctl.conf file I did check for it using the Terminal. I also was at my wit’s end! But voila - there it was. As I’ve emphasized before - just make sure if you look again that your spacing is correct - a space between ls and -ls and another between the -ls and /

Also that the l is a lower case ell and not an upper case eye.

If you’re trying to restore, say back to High Sierra or a previous OS, in order to access the Disk Utility, you need to 1) shut the computer down for 20 seconds or so, 2) power it back on while simultaneously holding down the Command and “R” keys UNTIL YOU SEE THE WHITE APPLE ON YOUR SCREEN. Only then can you let go of the Command and R keys.