My iMac died
Dec 18, 2015 14:10:40 #
David Popham
Loc: French Creek, British Columbia
Hi all,
I have an iMac and have been putting off upgrading my operating system to Yosemite. Last night I took the plunge and "downloaded" it. Bad news. The download never completed and now I have no computer. The download is 90% complete. (This note is being written from my iPad). I am seeking your advice as to how I might resolve this catastrophe in a sane and sensible manner.
David
Once this mess is resolved I'll upload some shots of the Argentine. Great experience, stayed on an Estancia and pretended that we were gaucho and gaucha.
I have an iMac and have been putting off upgrading my operating system to Yosemite. Last night I took the plunge and "downloaded" it. Bad news. The download never completed and now I have no computer. The download is 90% complete. (This note is being written from my iPad). I am seeking your advice as to how I might resolve this catastrophe in a sane and sensible manner.
David
Once this mess is resolved I'll upload some shots of the Argentine. Great experience, stayed on an Estancia and pretended that we were gaucho and gaucha.
Dec 18, 2015 14:15:29 #
Do you have an Apple Store near you. You can go to them and they can probably fix it for you. If it's out of warranty you'll have to pay for the fix, but it will be a lot cheaper than buying a new computer.
Dec 18, 2015 14:18:18 #
David Popham wrote:
Hi all, br I have an iMac and have been putting of... (show quote)
How long has it been stuck at 90 %? One of my computers took 17 hours to download and install Yosemite and it was stuck at some % for a long long time. The other one took about 6 hours. My connection is not particularly slow,
Dec 18, 2015 14:21:04 #
Assuming you have a complete backup of your computer contents somewhere not on your iMac from TimeMachine, I suggest you do a complete restart. Check with Applecare from your iPad to see the correct key to hold down upon restart.
Dec 18, 2015 14:24:11 #
Jim216
Loc: South Carolina
cambriaman wrote:
Assuming you have a complete backup of your computer contents somewhere not on your iMac from TimeMachine, I suggest you do a complete restart. Check with Applecare from your iPad to see the correct key to hold down upon restart.
:thumbup: :thumbup:
Dec 18, 2015 14:29:30 #
David Popham wrote:
Hi all, br I have an iMac and have been putting of... (show quote)
Hopefully you backed up all your apps and important data before attempting such an upgrade. I would reinstall your previously working version of OSX before attempting an OS upgrade again.
Dec 18, 2015 14:40:21 #
plaza
Loc: london uk
David Popham wrote:
have you got a backup via time machine if so just do a system restoreHi all, br I have an iMac and have been putting of... (show quote)
Dec 18, 2015 14:52:33 #
David Popham wrote:
Hi all, br I have an iMac and have been putting of... (show quote)
Have you called Apple Customer Care?
Dec 18, 2015 14:55:17 #
David Popham wrote:
Hi all, br I have an iMac and have been putting of... (show quote)
This is why I always have TWO hard drives that can boot my Mac an Internal and an External. Actually, on my Mini, I have a 64GB SD card with OS X installed, along with all sorts of apps like Onyx, Data Rescue, Disk Utility, and Disk Warrior, for use in emergencies. Everything is also backed up regularly to another hard drive using Carbon Copy Cloner.
99% of the time, I can get all my DATA back, reinstall the OS, and boogie on. The other 1%, I have a drive hardware failure and have to replace the hard drive and copy the cloned drive to it.
Murphy's law is alive and well. If you have a spare drive with a current backup, you won't need it. If you don't, Bzzzzt!
The point made earlier about waiting for downloads to complete during upgrades is true they can take hours when Apple's server farm is busy, as it is during the holiday season.
Dec 18, 2015 16:25:22 #
David Popham wrote:
Hi all, br I have an iMac and have been putting of... (show quote)
if you use backup feature, it will take you back to last software save
Dec 18, 2015 17:13:18 #
burkphoto wrote:
This is why I always have TWO hard drives that can... (show quote)
You should write an instruction sheet for us. :D
Dec 18, 2015 18:58:43 #
David Popham wrote:
Hi all, br I have an iMac and have been putting of... (show quote)
Here's what I would do:
1: Purchase a Thunderbolt cable ( http://www.amazon.com/Apple-Thunderbolt-Cable-2-0-White/dp/B00YHUBV6Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1450482142&sr=8-1&keywords=thunderbolt+transfer+cable )
2: Track down an external hard drive with enough space to copy all your files to it - find two if you can. This should be either Thunderbolt or USB 3. Some Macs only have one Thunderbolt port so USB 3 may be the only option
3: With your Mac powered off connect the two Macs together with the cable.
4: Hold down the T key on your Mac and then turn it on. After you see the Thunderbolt symbol on your Macs screen you can release the T key. Your Macs hard drive should soon show up on your friends Mac as an external hard drive.
5: Navigate you your home folder and copy all your stuff over to the external hard drive(s). Get ALL your stuff - Documents, Desktop, Photos, Music, etc... Anything you want to keep.
This is called Target Disk Mode - http://support.apple.com/kb/PH10725?locale=en_US
Follow the suggestions of others to restore your Mac from a time machine backup or reinstall the os.
Dec 18, 2015 19:02:23 #
sloscheider wrote:
Here's what I would do: br br 1: Purchase a Thund... (show quote)
:thumbup:
Yep! That'll work.
Dec 18, 2015 19:27:32 #
David Popham wrote:
Hi all, br I have an iMac and have been putting of... (show quote)
Well ideally you have an install disk of some osx version. Maybe a friend with another mac.
If you have data that you want to save from the imac hdd you might want to swop that drive for a new one and use a sata /usb dock for the original drive.
If you get really stuck a hackintosh install disk would get you started and then upgrade from that point.
Theres a whole bunch of options really it depends what you have available but at least a PC or an install disk as a minimum really.
Dec 18, 2015 19:32:35 #
blackest wrote:
Well ideally you have an install disk of some osx ... (show quote)
One of the neat things about Macs is no install disk needed - you can boot into a recovery mode that will install your os straight from Apple over the internet
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