Error updating Monterey "An error occurred migrating user data during an install. Reinstall macOS" loop

[theracal]

I'm having trouble updating Monterey for the last 2 updates. When I do it restarts in recovery saying:
"Your computer started up in Recovery because a failure occurred during installation. An error occurred migrating user data during an install. Reinstall macOS to resolve the issue".

Reinstall macOS does not solve the issue. The only way I found to fix the issue (update before this one) is by wiping my macOS partition clean and then reinstall the macOS. Unfortunately, because I have a third party SSD on my MBP, that would not work unless I replaced the SSD with an official Apple SSD, upgrade to the latest version, then swap it back with my third party SSD, do a clean install, and restore my backups. Needless to say, this is super painful and I'd really rather not do that.

Has anyone had the same problem? A quick search online yielded no solution

 

[rm5]

What Mac are you using? I know some T2 and M1 Macs have this issue occasionally—I've never had it myself, but there are other posts from way back talking about this issue.

Try a DFU restore with a second Mac.

 

[theracal]

What Mac are you using? I know some T2 and M1 Macs have this issue occasionally—I've never had it myself, but there are other posts from way back talking about this issue.

Try a DFU restore with a second Mac.

I have a mid early MBP (back when SSD's can be easily swapped), not M1 or T2. What do you mean DFU restore with a second Mac?

 

[rm5]

Oh never mind... a DFU restore won't work anyway, sorry for the confusion!

Hmmm, try going into Disk Utility (in Recovery obviously), and erase the ENTIRE APFS CONTAINER.

And if that doesn't work, get ahold of a second Mac, create a Monterey USB installer, and erase the ENTIRE DISK—the whole thing, and then reinstall.

 

[theracal]

Oh never mind... a DFU restore won't work anyway, sorry for the confusion!

Hmmm, try going into Disk Utility (in Recovery obviously), and erase the ENTIRE APFS CONTAINER.

And if that doesn't work, get ahold of a second Mac, create a Monterey USB installer, and erase the ENTIRE DISK—the whole thing, and then reinstall.

The problem with erasing the entire APFS container/disk is that because I have an third party SSD, I would need to swap the SSD for an original Apple SSD first, upgrade it, and swap it back.

 

[rm5]

Not necessarily—I've done that with SEVERAL Macs on various SSDs, and it's worked every time.

You HAVE to create a macOS USB installer to do this, though.

 

[theracal]

Not necessarily—I've done that with SEVERAL Macs on various SSDs, and it's worked every time.

You HAVE to create a macOS USB installer to do this, though.

I did use a USB, and it didn't work. I only erased the Macintosh HD partition though, and not the macOS Base system - should I erase that?

The USB worked in originally getting the system installed though, but for some reason updates don't work.

 

[rm5]

No, I don't think you have to do that, and it'll probably error out if you try. It's literally the "whole disk" i.e. the "Apple SSD blah blah blah" thing that shows up at the top—nothing else.

So that's very strange how a clean install works but an update doesn't work... unfortunately I don't have an answer since you already tried what I suggested.

 

[bobbyclobber49]

Mac Mini M1. When updating from OS 12.5.1 to 12.6 my system failed and I got the same message as the OP above. Nothing I could do would allow me to reboot my system. I talked to three Apple reps and finally had to take my computer into the shop where my HD was reformatted and OS 12.6 installed. Brought the computer home and no joy. Still wouldn't boot properly into the setup/migration mode and would lock up on the privacy page. Talked to Apple again who finally concluded that my problem was hardware-related and we were making plans to ship it back to Apple (we have no Apple store where I live). As we were about to wrap up, the agent asked if I had any external hard drives attached to my computer. I told him I had two, one for TM and one for CCC. He told me to disconnect both. Bingo! The computer came to life and started the migration process. I reconnected the hard drive with TM and left it overnight to migrate. Woke up to a fully-functioning computer running 12.6. He told me having an external hard drive connect during an upgrade can sometimes cause this kind of error. Interestingly none of the first three agents twigged to this. I just off this as a possible consideration. Cheers.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:
"Unfortunately, because I have a third party SSD on my MBP, that would not work unless I replaced the SSD with an official Apple SSD, upgrade to the latest version, then swap it back with my third party SSD, do a clean install, and restore my backups. Needless to say, this is super painful and I'd really rather not do that."

Want things to work properly again?
Then my advice is... "you're going to have to do that" ...
(an "unintended consequence" of replacing the OEM factory drive with a 3rd party drive...)