Mac OS Monterey 12.3 Update Stuck

Suggest restarting in Safe Mode. This will perform a Disk Repair, clear cache files and only load Apple Software, extensions and fonts. The boot up will be slow and can take some time - Normal.

It may or may not allow the process to complete.

Do you have a backup of your data via Time Machine or a full disk clone using CCC - Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper?

Here are your options:

1. Boot into Recovery Mode, open Utilities -> Terminal and list the disk identifiers with "diskutil list" and then run fsck_apfs on each of the internal SSD disk identifiers such as /dev/disk3s5, etc. This is the same things as First Aid but there seems to be a bug in Disk Utility where it's not working properly but the command line fsck_apfs has been known to succeed. Still possible you have unrepairable hardware or soft damage to the SSD files.
2. Build a macOS Monterey installer flash drive using a second Mac. Boot from that and use Disk Utility to run first aid on each APFS volume, then the container and then the drive itself starting from the bottom and working your way up. Try the command line fsck_apfs command if Disk Utility cannot repair. Booting from a flash drive means the internal disk is not in use and you can unlock it (if encrypted) and repair it far more effectively if the recovery partition is not being used. How to create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support then you can attempt to let it boot normally and see if the upgrade completes. If not you can boot from the flash drive and nuke and pave. Meaning delete the internal SSD completely and install Monterey from the flash drive. Then restore from backup.
3. Utilize Internet Recovery which is similar to the flash drive method but it boots a recovery mode in RAM from the Internet. At which point you'll be erasing the entire internal disk with Disk Utility and re-installing Monterey from scratch then restoring from backup.

• • Option-Command-R: Start up from macOS Recovery over the internet. Use this key combination to reinstall macOS and upgrade to the latest version of macOS that’s compatible with your Mac.
  • Option-Shift-Command-R: Start up from macOS Recovery over the internet. Use this key combination to reinstall the version of macOS that came with your Mac or the closest version that’s still available.

Good luck...

grayrun wrote:

Can't restart in Safe Mode. It takes me to the logo/progress bar again. Ran Diagnostics - everything okay. Disk Utility found my Data volume is corrupt and can't be repaired. Is it worth trying to reinstall Monterey through Recovery?

You can not repair the volume if you are booted to that volume....

You can try Boot to Internet Recovery and run the DiskUtility from there.

Boot into Internet Recovery (Option Command R) and from the dropdown menu: Utilities>  Disk Utility> run the First Aid on your Macintosh HD (and the "Macintosh HD-Data" volume as well if Catalina/Big Sur/Monterey) If errors are found and repaired, run again until no errors reported.

Disk Utility>View>Show All Devices The best sequence is —

• Volume level
• Container level
• Parent drive

 Recovery (both M1 and Intel) —https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204904

If no resolve reinstall the macOS and restore your user from backup.

I forgot to write that my MBP was updating from 12.2 where was no problem.

However, after a lot of play I got it running again without any data or configuration lose (only some applications needed installation but theyr's data was like before ) with these steps :

1. Copied internal SSD to external SSD (all the partitions) from Recovery manager > Disk Utility;
2. I've confirmed that the partitions and data is on the right place from another MAC;
3. Eresed all the data from internal SSD - that is needed because apple do not allow downgrading the MacOS version from 12.3 to 12.2;
4. Downloaded MacOS 12.2 (from internet ... didn't found how to download it form Apple's site);
5. Created bootable USB like James Brickley recomended : How to create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support, but in my case I've mounted downloaded MacOS 12.2.dmg and the command for creating boot USB was from the mount point like this :

sudo /Volumes/macOS\ 12.2/Install\ macOS\ Monterey.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/USB

1. Instaled fresh copy of Monterey
2. When Migration manager asked me from where I want to restore my data - I've choosen from the External SSD;
3. After selection Migration manager asked me "do I want to update my MacOS, because the External SSD is on newer version" - It is very important to click Skip on that step!
4. And voala - after 3-4 houers of copyng my data - my MBP was working like expected

I hope this will help someone with that stuck upgrading.

Good luck and don't forget to set up automatic backups with Time Machine, it will save you a lot of time ;)

Regards

Empty Space Requirements  >> If upgrading from macOS Sierra or later, your Mac needs 26GB of available storage to upgrade. If upgrading from an earlier release, your Mac needs up to 44GB of available storage. 

Empty Space afterwards - it is suggested to keep at least 15%  to 20% of the Drive Total Capacity as Empty Space for good operations of the computer and for additional updates to Monterey to download, expand and install.

How long have you let it run? Try disconnecting all external accessories except the mouse / keyboard and boot into Safe Mode. Hold the Shift key while powering on to boot into Safe Mode. Then run the upgrade in Safe Mode. It's possible you have something with kernel / system extensions that is either not compatible or otherwise interfering with the upgrade. Safe Mode won't load any extensions nor background services of any kind.

Since the computer will not boot to Safe Mode this tend to re-enforce the idea put forth by @ James Brickley of some Kernel Extension interfering with the update.

Since the computer can get into >> Disk Utilities >> View >> View ALL attached Drives.  and give us a Screen Shoot of each Volume appearing on this machine.

I had the same issue here on MBP 13'' 2016 i7 16GB .

Before two days started to update to 12.3 and stuck on Apple logo and progress bar screan.

Two days I am trying to fix that reading sugestions on the net but without success :(. My backup is from more then 5 days and it is not applicateble now ....

Tried to reinstall without data lose but stuck on apple logo after login screan again (around 95% of progress bar).

Tried to boot in safe mode - same ( around 50% of progress bar )

Any sugestions will be good for me.

Hope that Apple will fix the update as soon as possible.

Thanks

Regards

Thank you for taking the time to write this up. I have also had the same issue on an older laptop (not backed up!).

For step (1) I performed a clone and restore in the Disk Utility - Instructions I followed:

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In Disk Utility’s sidebar, select the destination volume you wish to have data copied to.

With the destination volume selected, click the Restore button in Disk Utility’s toolbar, or select Restore from the Edit menu.

A sheet will drop down, asking you to select the source volume. Use the dropdown menu next to the “Restore from:” text to select the source device, or use the Image button to select a disk image file.

Warning: The selected destination volume will be erased by the next step. If you need any of the information on the destination drive, make sure you have a backup before proceeding.

Click the Restore button in the dropdown sheet.

The restore process will begin; if you wish, you can view the process by clicking the disclosure triangle next to the “Show Details” text.

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- I presume that's what you meant? I only have an old spinning disk so it's going to take a while.

Many thanks

Ken

Also - Took me a whole to find 12.2 - I got it by running this on my other Macbook:

____________________________________________________________________

softwareupdate --fetch-full-installer --full-installer-version 12.2.1

____________________________________________________________________

With "12.2.1" being the Version I wanted.

Just hoping this works!

Ken

Dear friends,

I've successfully updated my MBP 13'' 2016 from MacOS 12.2 to 12.3.1 today.

Best Regards,

I