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Monterey Installer app fails preparing installation

mr100percent

mr100percent

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 16, 2013
28
2
Ohio
When upgrading from Big Sur 11.6 to Monterey, the software update launches an installer app which goes through the preparing progress bar prior to restart. At the point where it says “closing applications and preparing to restart…” there’s a popup saying “An error occurred while preparing the installation. Try running the application again.”

Running the installer again fails at this step. Rebooting, resetting SMC, erasing and re-downloading the installer all do not fix the problem. The date and time are accurate. Disk Utility first aid doesn’t make any changes and skips over repairs. Has anyone managed to find a solution to this problem?
 
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taxi_driver

macrumors regular
Sep 26, 2017
129
24
I've been in a loop unable to get mine to update either, keep having to redownload as well. might be a sign to hold off...
 
eccentricglow

eccentricglow

macrumors member
Mar 16, 2010
92
36
mr100percent said:
When upgrading from Big Sur 11.6 to Monterey, the software update launches an installer app which goes through the preparing progress bar prior to restart. At the point where it says “closing applications and preparing to restart…” there’s a popup saying “An error occurred while preparing the installation. Try running the application again.”

Running the installer again fails at this step. Rebooting, resetting SMC, erasing and re-downloading the installer all do not fix the problem. The date and time are accurate. Disk Utility first aid doesn’t make any changes and skips over repairs. Has anyone managed to find a solution to this problem?
Click to expand...
I made a boot drive in terminal and booted into the installation media that way. After the first run of the installation process, I got an error that said “A required firmware update could not be installed. Compatible internal storage is required in order to update.” Probably happened because I upgraded from a 1tb SSD that came with the laptop to a Apple Polaris 2TB from an iMac. I’m running a 2015 MacBook Pro.

It makes it suspect that it can possibly be the same error occurring while still logged into the previous installation.
 
Artsman

Artsman

macrumors newbie
Oct 25, 2021
5
0
Same issues. I can't imagine it has anything to do with the ssd upgrade. I don't see why it would. It is very strange to get the "required firmware update could not be installed" error. I checked and my firmware seems to be up to date. After going through the SMC resetting, re-downloading, rebooting, etc., still no success. Am about to resort to the longer process of making the bootable USB. Think I'm going to wait until tomorrow though. Seems a lot of people are having this problem. Perhaps Apple will have something to offer tomorrow or the next day.
 
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tomdringer

macrumors newbie
Jan 2, 2012
6
0
Mmmmm...that's slightly worrying. I also replaced my SSD a while back, although i haven't got as far as making boot drives and stuff.
 
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sashavegas

macrumors regular
Jul 11, 2018
122
86
Having the same problem with iMac 2017. Original iMac come with Fusion (32GB SSD + 1TB HDD). I replace SSD with drive from other macbook. While many people using Syntech adapter to place any NVME, i was using original Apple drive, without adapter. Now cannot install Monterey, stuck on Firmware update. Was using option "--downloadassets", but it did not help. Funny, i was trying to install Monterey Beta, but that time was hit with message "unable to verify firmware". So i guess apple include some checking mechanism to see if all hardware is original.
 
Artsman

Artsman

macrumors newbie
Oct 25, 2021
5
0
This whole business with having the original Apple SSD is a completely ridiculous issue. Not only is it late in the game to have this pop up as an issue after so much bata testing, to require this level of proprietary hardware seems insane. Luckily, I still have the original but this does not make me happy.
 
T

tomdringer

macrumors newbie
Jan 2, 2012
6
0
Ok so going through some forums, I've seen two supposed fixes. Firstly, "Turn off networking". Not sure why that would change anything, but it's worth a try.
Second thing I found was "uninstall any software that makes use of and installs kernel extensions. Examples of these are Parallels, Intel CPU gadget, and Little Snitch". I actually have 2 out of 3 of those, so let me give it try and i'll come back with some info.
 
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WestonHarvey1

macrumors 68030
Jan 9, 2007
2,789
2,241
Same issue on 2013 Mac Pro with a replaced SSD... the old SSD is broken. I used a non-OEM SSD with an M.2 adapter since Apple doesn't sell replacement parts for this.
 
mr100percent

mr100percent

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 16, 2013
28
2
Ohio
I spoke to OWC tech support, their workaround is that if you can reinstall the original Apple-supplied drive and then install Monterey on it, then it will update the EFI firmware for the device and then you can install Monterey on your Big Sur volume. It seems this is also mentioned on Apple support thread as a successful solution.

Unfortunately whatever mess that happened so far with the Monterey installer failure has deleted my recovery partition and made the network recovery unable to see my drives. It looks like I'm going to have do get some hardware to fix this, and of course Apple has stopped all genius bar appointments.
 
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chris78665

chris78665

macrumors newbie
Aug 13, 2010
3
0
Hmm I have two of the Mac Pro trashcans from OWC with SAME config and one upgraded and one did not. This is not cool. But at least it did not toast the configuration like the Catalina upgrade.
 
W

WestonHarvey1

macrumors 68030
Jan 9, 2007
2,789
2,241
So I guess another question is does it have to be *the* original drive or just *an* original drive? I can get what looks like some salvaged 256gb OEM trashcan drives off eBay for $30.
 
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sashavegas

macrumors regular
Jul 11, 2018
122
86
I swapped imac 2017 SSD (32GB) with SSD from macbook 2016 (512GB) both apple original. I am not using Syntech adapter. Still does not work.
 
cobra521

cobra521

macrumors 6502
Dec 14, 2016
392
136
FL
I have a Macbook Pro, Retina, 15 inch, Mid 2015 with a 2.8Ghz quad core Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM and a 2TB disk I think is original. It fails the install with the same error as above “An error occurred while preparing the installation. Try running the application again.”

The hard drive is listed as Aura Pro X2, media name AppleAPFSmedia

Tried twice, downloading a new copy of monterey and reinstalling. No joy. Not sure where to go from here...

Tom
 
rcoden

rcoden

macrumors member
Aug 29, 2014
45
31
Virginia Beach
Have not had the time (or the interest yet) to try the steps in the video below. If someone tries this and it works, obviously let us know.

 
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sashavegas

macrumors regular
Jul 11, 2018
122
86
This one has nothing to do with that. Apple with Monterey failed to install BridgeOS, if SSD is not original. Maybe they will fix it in the future. I was trying to update it manualy from Mojave, or BigSur, but it did not work.
 
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netchov

macrumors newbie
Sep 2, 2020
16
10
cobra521 said:
I have a Macbook Pro, Retina, 15 inch, Mid 2015 with a 2.8Ghz quad core Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM and a 2TB disk I think is original. It fails the install with the same error as above “An error occurred while preparing the installation. Try running the application again.”

The hard drive is listed as Aura Pro X2, media name AppleAPFSmedia

Tried twice, downloading a new copy of monterey and reinstalling. No joy. Not sure where to go from here...

Tom
Click to expand...
Your drive was upgraded with OWC! It is not the original.
 
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Artsman

Artsman

macrumors newbie
Oct 25, 2021
5
0
This is a ridiculous issue that Apple should have addressed before this OS release. Changing to the original SSD does fix the failure to load firmware issue. And, it's clear that the firmware issue has nothing to do with whether Monterey will ultimately work with SSD's other than the original. After putting back my original SSD Monterey loaded flawlessly from a bootable flash drive. I then put back the upgraded larger SSD that had failed every time giving the "could not prepare" or the "could not load firmware" messages. Having downloaded the Monterey installer to that HD, I booted up holding the option key, chose the Monterey installer and the installation proceeded from where it had failed all those previous times with out a hitch. The firmware update must have to do with a controller or something other than the SSD. Anyway, after much frustration Monterey is up and running on my 2013 Mac Pro. Thanks for all your help everyone. Couldn't have done it without you.
 
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