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Mcthings

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 10, 2008
55
0
I am having trouble installing macOS Sierra on my 2010 MBP.

It tries to install, then gives me an error that says "macOS could not be installed on your computer" and "An internal error has occurred"

I have attached a picture of the error.

Any ideas? Before attempting the download/install, it told me I didn't have enough room on my disk for the upgrade. So I deleted some stuff, and then it let me download and install. Looking at the disk utility, I have almost zero room left on the disk now that the upgrade image is there. Could this be related?

Thanks...
 

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Mcthings

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 10, 2008
55
0
you need more room for the upgrade to expand files. id recommend freeing up 15 to 20 gb of space or backup and do a fresh install

How do I free up space? it won't boot past the screenshot I posted.

It told me to free the space before the install. I freed up a few GB and then it let me proceed with the install.
 

Tarek

macrumors 6502
Jun 25, 2009
398
78
Cairo
I am guessing you won't have the ability to 'free up' space using Disk Utility, but rather format the whole drive; however, have you thought about loading your Mac in target disk mode and accessing it from another computer that way? On my older MacBook Pros, I could do that using FireWire, and I am guessing you can do so using Thunderbolt now? You'd just need the proper cable and a tutorial on how to actually access Target Disk Mode (Reboot Mac and hold "T" button while it is booting up). With that being said, it requires that you don't have FileVault Encryption turned on to begin-with.
 

CoastalOR

macrumors 68040
Jan 19, 2015
3,029
1,150
Oregon, USA
Since your disk is full and the state of the OS is unknown since the install failed, you may have to (assuming you have the Install DVDs that shipped with your MBP, a working optical drive, and a good recent backup of your system):

1. Your MBP shipped with Snow Leopard, so boot from the install DVD, erase your internal drive (WARNING: all data will be wiped from the internal drive) and install Snow Leopard. Then update to 10.6.8 so you have access to the Mac App Store.

2. Install macOS Sierra from the Mac App Store.

3. Use Migration Assistant to copy your old data, settings and apps.
 

Mcthings

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 10, 2008
55
0
Thanks. I'm having trouble navigating. My thought is to use Terminal to delete a folder on my desktop called "Cool Pics". I think that will free up enough room on the HDD to make the install.

Any idea on the path/command to get to it?
 

Tarek

macrumors 6502
Jun 25, 2009
398
78
Cairo
Try choosing the hard disk using this guide by @jsw:

In Terminal, if you
Code:
ls /Volumes
you'll see all of your drives. You can then cd to one of them (or just cd directly - no need to list the volumes first). For example:
Code:
cd /Volumes/My\ Other\ Drive
Spaces are replaced by '\ '. Or you can put the whole thing in quotes:
Code:
cd /Volumes/"My Other Drive"
If the drive name has no spaces, then you'd just use the name:
Code:
cd /Volumes/MyOtherDrive

And follow the instructions here.

Hopefully that works.
 

Mcthings

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 10, 2008
55
0
I was able to navigate to it, see it, etc.

When I run the rm –Rf /Volumes/HDDName/Users/UserName/Desktop/"Cool Pictures" command, it comes back with a list of every item in that folder, and at the end of each item it says "Read-only file system".

Then I use the ls command at Desktop, and I can see "Cool Pictures" is still there.

Am I in a read-only mode because I'm using Terminal within the MacOS updater?
 

MickeyP63

macrumors newbie
Jun 27, 2017
1
0
I got the same error. I had about 200G available on my HD before install.
It got part way through the install and waxed my system. Tries to boot but I get a failure after entering my user credentials and then crash screen.
 

treekram

macrumors 68000
Nov 9, 2015
1,849
411
Honolulu HI
I got the same error. I had about 200G available on my HD before install.
It got part way through the install and waxed my system. Tries to boot but I get a failure after entering my user credentials and then crash screen.

If you're getting the "sudo: command not found" message and you're running from the Terminal in the Recovery utilities, try the entire command but without the "sudo" and see if it works. Otherwise, I would suggest starting a new thread explaining the details of your problem including configuration, what media you're using for installation, etc.
 
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