Completely stumped: An error occurred while preparing the installation. Try running this application again.

Completely stumped: An error occurred while preparing the installation. Try running this application again.

Hey all, I'm not even sure where to begin. My Hack - in all cases otherwise - works fine. But here, absolutely not.

I'm trying to upgrade from High Sierra to Big Sur. Updating before was just as you would on a normal Mac - download from the store, follow the prompts, series of reboots, new OS. Done deal. However, I can't even get past the first step. It downloads fine, but then when it starts the "time remaining" screen, it gets to about 12 minutes, then moves on as if it's done or needs to reboot to finish. Every single time, it ends here:

https://preview.redd.it/xxhx51ygyw061.png?width=912&format=png&auto=webp&s=d9d96080165fb9534108faac145016940abdeeca

I've searched high and low for solutions before posting here and I found a few things:

  • Redownload the installer
  • Format the drive as APFS
  • Update to the latest macOS version of the current OS
  • Leave developer program to get betas
  • Restart the computer
  • Try another day

I have redownloaded the installer upwards 10 times now, my drive is already APFS, High Sierra is on its latest release, I was never on a developer release program to get betas, I've restarted my computer more times that I've pissed in my entire life, and I've tried redownloading over the course of three separate days.

I have no idea what could be causing this and what to even do to begin finding out what the cause is.

The only reason I haven't shared any logs or EFI or whatever people share these days when seeking help is because I don't think it'd be worthwhile. my Hack boots and operates fine - it just doesn't let me make this major OS update, but has no problem updating otherwise (like from 10.15.6 to 10.15.7).

My build is as follows:

Motherboard: ASUS Z-170A

CPU: Intel i5 6600K

GPU: Radeon RX 5700 XT 8 GB

SMBIOS: iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015)

submitted by /u/hotcereal
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