Mac Sierra 10.13.6 won't install

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Level 1

9 points

Mac Sierra 10.13.6 won't install

I have a MacBook Pro (late 2013), and am currently running macOS High Sierra, v. 10.13.2.

In iTunes App Store, it says there is an update to v. 10.13.6. I click to update, and restart. The update downloads onto my MacBook, then restarts. During restart, I get the Mac symbol, with a bar below showing “Installing Software Update” … but the bar remains only about 5% full, then the MacBook reboots. Everything seems fine — no error messages — but once it's fully up and running agin, then I’m still back at v. 10.13.2, with iTunes still telling me I can update to 10.13.6. Rinse, and repeat … about 5 times so far. Still always the same outcome … the update does not take for some reason that I do not understand, as there is no error or failure message to guide me, just the simple “update available” button all over again.

MacBook Pro with Retina display, macOS High Sierra (10.13.2)

Posted on Nov 20, 2018 12:08 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Kappy

Level 10

362,017 points

Nov 20, 2018 12:13 PM in response to cadamsesq

Repair the Drive for El Capitan or Later

Restart the computer and after the chime hold down the Command and R keys until the Utility Menu appears.
Select Disk Utility and press the Continue button.
Then select the indented (usually, Macintosh HD) volume entry from the side list.
Click on the First Aid tab in the toolbar and wait for the Done button to activate. Click on it, then quit Disk Utility.
Select Restart from the Apple menu.

Give this a try: Download macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 Combo Update.

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Answer 2

BDAqua

Level 10

250,259 points

Nov 20, 2018 12:51 PM in response to cadamsesq

Bootup holding CMD+r keys, choose Reinstall OS.

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Answer 3

cadamsesq Author

Level 1

9 points

Nov 26, 2018 9:42 AM in response to wotsgoingon

I had Windows based computers for 28 years before getting this Mac. Trust me, there is nothing simple about them. This minor update issue is the only problem I've ever had in 5 years, whereas all the Windows-based computers I had, no matter who made them, would average about 5 of these sorts of issue every year, plus they would have constant, unexplained crashes and shutdowns. Switching to Mac was the best tech decision I've ever made.

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Answer 4

Nov 27, 2018 11:43 AM in response to cadamsesq

I used to use windows for 20 years - no problems. Occasional hiccup with updates but they’d issue a patch to fix. Guess I was lucky. But now I have 2 Apple devices, both of which I can’t use. Mac in constant update loop, the “genius” at shop said I’ll have to wipe computer, start again. Also a 6 plus, ios 12.1, 2.5 years old, never dropped, but has black “screen of death”. “Genius” said she’d never heard of problem, is a hardware issue, fix will cost $500(!). There’s actually plenty on net with this problem. Coincidence it’s just out of warranty? Maybe, but the cynic in me says probably not. I’m going to take my chances again with android and windows.

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Answer 5

cadamsesq Author

Level 1

9 points

Nov 27, 2018 12:41 PM in response to wotsgoingon

Fine, but can we quit discussing Windows, please, and get back to the original point? I'm trying to get help to get Mac High Sierra 10.13.6 to install. I even tried giving up on it, and jumping ahead to installing Mojave. But that didn't work either. With each attempt at installing these updates, upon rebooting, I'm always right back at 10.13.2, with messages saying that I have updates to install. How do I overcome the error message I received that reads: "The recovery server could not be contacted."?

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Answer 6

cadamsesq Author

Level 1

9 points

Nov 20, 2018 12:41 PM in response to Kappy

Thanks Kappy. I just tried both options. Still no change, I still get the same result after update attempts, even after the Combo Update ... once rebooting is complete, I'm still back at 10.13.2.

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Answer 7

cadamsesq Author

Level 1

9 points

Nov 23, 2018 9:36 AM in response to BDAqua

Thanks, I tried that, and during that process I get an error message that reads: "The recovery server could not be contacted."

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Answer 8

Nov 24, 2018 4:06 AM in response to cadamsesq

i was hoping for a response too, as i have exact same problem. have been in update loop for weeks now. There’s a simple fix - i’m getting a windows computer!

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Answer 9

Nov 30, 2018 3:53 PM in response to cadamsesq

i’ve tried to do same thing so so many times, with no luck, and not a lot of help from apple. it simply shouldn’t be this hard! Good luck. My new Windows computer has just been delivered

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Mac Sierra 10.13.6 won't install

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