security update 2018-02 10.13.6 installation log loop

First time ever an update borked any Mac we own. This and the Safari 12.0.1 update appeared. I clicked to update all. Both downloaded and installed. And yet, when I was back at the desktop, the App Store said the security update needed to be downloaded and installed. I knew that was wrong since I watched it download that 1.8 GB file the first time and go through the whole installation restart and such.

I clicked to install anyway just to clear it. Sure enough, it downloaded the entire thing again. Only this time when the Mac was supposed to restart back to the desktop, I got something similar to the desktop background of Recovery Mode, a window filled with log errors, and a box with choices to shut down, restart and a couple of others. I restarted and ended up back at the same place.

Good thing for backups. I booted to another partition I have High Sierra on and saved my updated email from the non-bootable drive, then restored my very recent clone backup with Super Duper!. This time, I only allowed the App Store to install the Safari update. I downloaded the security update separately.

Download Security Update 2018-002 (High Sierra)

That worked without issue.

I had similar issue as you described.

The symptom is that the App Store asked to download and install a security update 2019.002 and then it asked for a restart.

During the first restart the update did "something" and then the high sierra OS booted as normal. After then the New Security update apppeared again in the App Store utility and it was downloading files again, but suddenly it disappeared somwhere in half of the downloading. That means it looked like everything is fine. However after the next reboot the loop error log appeared on my iMac (mid 2011). I have to mention that I noticed it had installed some Safari update sucessfully, which was shown in the App Store utility. To me it looked like the Safari update had installed, but that was not a complete Security update installaton. I guess that the Security update installs first the Safari update. Then if it downloaded all the rest of the remaining files the update completes the installation on the next reboot. However in case it hadn't downloaded all necessary files (this was my case) then fails to complete the installation and the loop error log appears.

To get to he point. I was able to recover my iMac and installed the latest cecurity update. I used the Safe Mode ( holding Shift button after initial sound until the Apple logo). Then the OS X started in Safe Mode and I went into the App store to check latest updates again. All Security updates have been downloaded once again. And then when the download finished after next restart leaving to boot normal, the installation completed successfully.

I am quite new user of Apple OS X . I bought my iMac second hand and and have only been using it for a few months. I must say I have seen this error second time. In the first case I just reinstalled the OS X. But knowing that it really takes time to reinstall all apps and updates, this time I started to analyse the problem deeper. I am a bit disappointed by the way the Security update is poorely secured from the crash. On the other hand the recovery wasn't such painfull and as slightly more experienced I would know what to check during similar update like this one in case it happens again.

The conclusion is: guys in Apple should really deal with this problem and I guess it is all connected with the conflicting Safari update.

I'm running a late 2015 5k iMac and had the same issue. It appeared to install fine day before yesterday, used the computer throughout the day. Shut it down that night and when I started it yesterday morning, it went into the same crashing install loop described here. I booted in recovery mode and reinstalled 10.13.6 and it's been fine since. Update still appears in the App store, but I'm holding off on installing...

I also had this issue with my mid-2010 MacBook Pro after starting the 10.13.6 2018-002 security update from the app store. My fix was to go into recovery mode, select 'Startup Disk' from the dropdown menu to boot from my main drive to skip the reboot installation loop. There is also an ongoing discussion here:

New High Sierra Security Update 2018-002 10.13.6 Won't Install | MacRumors Forums

I had the same problem on a MacPro 17 (2012), on HighSierra.

After a number of trials, here are the various cleaning actions I ran on Terminal (but I don't know for sure which of these commands really wiped away the problem, it is only affecting caches functions, anyway), please type them in a Terminal session, one-by-one :

1. rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/*
2. rm -rf ~/Library/Saved\ Application\ State/*
3. sudo rm -rf /Library/Caches/*
4. sudo rm -rf /System/Library/Caches/*
5. atsutil databases -removeUser
6. sudo atsutil databases -remove
7. sudo atsutil server -shutdown
8. sudo atsutil server -ping
9. sudo rm -rf /var/folders/*

After performing the last Terminal command, Restart. If the update is not automatically restarting during the boot, you may need to have it installed via the AppleStore.

Safe Boot from the HD, (holding Shift key down at bootup), does the problem occur in Safe Mode?

Then, instead of using the App Store, download it directly...

https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1997?locale=en_US

Then install it while in Safe Mode.

Restored my MBP using Time Machine. Works perfectly. Won't download security update, until I know it is safe.

Today I've got into this loop with Security Update 2019-002 High Sierra. Fortunately, there are a few NetInstall images provided in the office network, so I've started with the latest of them which is suitable for my system and run Disk Utility's First Aid. Though there were no errors found, after a couple of restarts I got rid of the loop and loaded my system successfully.

Just for an update. The latest securiry update 2019-001 had the same effect on my Late 2013 Mac Pro as many have reported. I had my computer set for automatic updates, and it froze earlier today. I think it downloaded the update and was just waiting for the restart, and when it did, I got initially the apple with the progress bar underneath on a black background and it froze about 5% into the progress bar when it went to a straight black screen.

I waited for awhile and nothing changed. I remembered older updates not taking this long, so even giving the computer time, there was still no progress. So, finally I did a restart. Andthat's where the problems multiplied. My screen flickered. I have multiple monitors, so I unplugged a few, and that seemed to help a little. After about an hour of troubleshooting, and rebooting into different modes, I finally reloaded the system software using recovery mode.

Following that, and being a glutton for punishment, I tried doing the update again. And had the same problem, only worse. For a small amount of time, I couldn't even boot the computer into different modes. Finally, after zapping the PRAM and getting the computer into recovery mode, an odd thing happened. The screen for updating High Sierra appeared, and finished up.

My guess is that this High Sierra update takes a long time, or is getting stuck. The problem is, because of lack of any indicators on the screen, we just don't know. At least I didn't know. I followed some of the suggestions here, but I felt like I was flying blind. I've done a casual look and there should be a video released by Apple that basically takes someone through what an update feels like nowaday. Will we have black screens to contend with? Yes. Will there be times where the system appears to be hanging or freezing? Yes, and you should probably let it finish. Are the display issues and startup issues real, or are they a symptom of interrupting the update progress? I imagine you can check for sure using the terminal, but my feeling is (and I could be wrong) that the display issues erupted due to me restarting the computer while it might have been updating.

Long story short, the update today was a big pain.

In looking through all the threads it seems to me that many people who are reporting this same problem are running Mac Book Pros. I am wondering if this issue is localized to just this device or if people running desktops are experiencing the same issue. When I performed the Safari 12.0.1 update on a MBP, the update seemed to to take. In fact it shows it as Installed on Nov 1, 2018. However, when the updated Mac Book Pro was started this morning, the Installer and crash log launched with the same error message. Tried to do a restart to finish the supposed installation with the same error being reported. Sent the error log to Apple and I was able to use the Start Up Disk Utility to select my Mac HD that has the original Mac OS on it and restarted the device. There is also now another Security Update 2018-002 10.13.6 which may address this issue. Running a security scan though - just to be safe.

I too have had this issue. This security update was applied about two weeks ago to my MacBook Pro 15" mid 2015 v10.13.6.

I didn't use it for two week and then switched on this morning. The start up ended with an unusual screen (toned grey) with a start up log displayed and a dialog box saying "The macOS installation couldn't be completed". The options were: Shutdown, Restart, Save Log..., View log. The save log option wouldn't work - no permissions to any folder selected, and shutdown/restart lead eventually to the same screen.

It took 5 or 6 attempts before it finally booted properly. This update clearly did not pass it's beta test!

I am VERY loath to installing the latest security update!

As to moving to Mohave ... I am even less interested in this update. It may "brick" the laptop altogether! ;-)

Just finished restore from a month back before all this rubbish started. Have set updates to manual so there is no possibility this update can be installed. I have noticed that there is an update called 2018-005 which is compatible with OS X 10.13.6 yet inexplicably the update downloaded was to cover 10.13.4 according to the Apple KB page.

I'm in the exactly same boat and also got my MacBook Pro (Late 2011) to boot again after selecting the start drive manually – was not the first try though...

Anyway, tossed and turned in bed and finally decided to restore the OS from a TimeMachine backup. Crazy, no problems updating since Lion and then this...

002 Secuirity update is on hold for now. However, does anybody know if it would have been save to use the mac after the installation log loop?

Hi,

I just tried to update my Mac Pro (late 2013) with Apple security update 2018-002 10.13.6, both via the Mac App Store and by downloading it directly from Apple. The problem I'm having is that just after the restart the screen goes black and then nothing happens. I have tried several times now but the update doesn't start after the restart.

/Johnny

I have iMac 2011 so cannot upgrade to latest OS no issue yet the update still downloaded and attempted to install which ended in me restoring from Time Machine back up 01/12/18. I also have MacBook Air mid 2013 which supports upgrade to 10.14. The update 2018-003 also downloaded to my MacBook Air but also failed to install. There is definitely something not right with this download. Will not be trying anymore until something comes out from Apple or there is some positive feedback on the web.