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Catalina download failure
#52653 10/11/19 06:18 PM
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Several times now, probably half a dozen or so, I have attempted to download Catalina. However, every time it only downloads just over 4GB of 8.09GB before returning the error message below. I have tried downloading via my own ISP and via the FON network in case it was a provider problem.

I am UK based.

The error message reads: A server with the specified hostname could not be found. An error occurred while installing the selected updates.

Can anyone help me get over this and download the whole upgrade? Is there another server to which I can go rather than the one to which Software Update automatically connects?

If it helps, the specification of the machine that I have is:

macOS Mojave v10.14.6 (18G103)
iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017)
3.8 GHz Intel Core i5
64 GB (at the ime of this post 32GB free)2400 MHz DDR4
Radeon Pro 580 8 GB
2TB HD (1 TB free)

Incidentally, I do have "Automatically keep my Mac up to date" checked in Software Update and yet it seems to have failed to download Catalina in the background as it suggests in the Apple Support pages and I have run both TechTool pro and Disk Utility to make sure my HD is "healthy".


iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017); 3.8 GHz Intel Core i5; 2TB HD; 64 GB 2400 MHz DDR4 RAM; Radeon Pro 580 8 GB. iPad Pro 10.5" Model MPME2B/A with 512GB capacity; iPhone SE 2020 256GB
Re: Catalina download failure
iBozz #52656 10/11/19 07:13 PM
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I have seen other reports of users having difficulty downloading or installing Catalina. It is not unusual with a major new release like Catalina for the servers to get hammered with heavy traffic resulting in disconnects and other download errors. Usually the traffic settles down after a day, or two, or three and the download problems disappear.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Catalina download failure
joemikeb #52657 10/11/19 07:20 PM
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Thanks, that makes sense but I find it a little bit odd that it always [seems to] fail at the same 4+GB rather than it just not starting the download in the first place!

I'll try again next week.

Thanks again.

Last edited by iBozz; 10/11/19 07:21 PM.

iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017); 3.8 GHz Intel Core i5; 2TB HD; 64 GB 2400 MHz DDR4 RAM; Radeon Pro 580 8 GB. iPad Pro 10.5" Model MPME2B/A with 512GB capacity; iPhone SE 2020 256GB
Re: Catalina download failure
iBozz #52659 10/11/19 07:35 PM
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Originally Posted By: iBozz
Thanks, that makes sense but I find it a little bit odd that it always [seems to] fail at the same 4+GB rather than it just not starting the download in the first place!

I can think of a couple of reasons for the ~4GB failure, one of which is a server with a bad download image at about the 4GB level. If that is the case it will get sorted in a day or two as well.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Catalina download failure
joemikeb #52662 10/12/19 08:42 AM
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Many thanks.

As I said, I'll keep trying next week. The 4GB figure is an estimate but I chanced to be looking at the screen shortly before a couple of failures and that is the point it had reached. Unfortunately, the error message covers the progress statistics so I lose to opportunity to check them when the machine is unattended.

I'll report back in due course and let the FTM Members know whether the matter is resolved and how or, if continuing, seek further advice.

Thanks again.


iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017); 3.8 GHz Intel Core i5; 2TB HD; 64 GB 2400 MHz DDR4 RAM; Radeon Pro 580 8 GB. iPad Pro 10.5" Model MPME2B/A with 512GB capacity; iPhone SE 2020 256GB
Re: Catalina download failure
iBozz #52663 10/12/19 09:28 AM
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I had already d/l'ed Catalina successfully, but I tried again just now to see if anything was up, and I was successful a second time.
  • I wonder if the UK d/l comes from a different server than the U.S. d/l?
  • Have you maybe run into an ISP/bandwidth problem?
More: That consistent 4 GB cutoff point just doesn't sound right for an overloaded server; I've experienced slow, even ridiculously slow, d/l speeds, but I've never been cut off mid-d/l.

Last edited by artie505; 10/12/19 10:27 AM.

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Re: Catalina download failure
artie505 #52665 10/12/19 03:09 PM
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The only time I have been cut off in mid-download in the last fifteen or twenty years has been when there was a damaged download file otherwise the download software is sufficiently robust to resume the download at the point where it was interrupted. (Remember when it was necessary to buy download managers that could do that? They were essential utilities in the 32 and 56 Kbs dialup era.) FWIW, the UK has its own Apple download and App Store servers as do most major market zones.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Catalina download failure
joemikeb #52668 10/12/19 03:56 PM
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My ISP doesn't throttle connections, so they say, and I've no evidence that they ever have. Anyway, I've tried via my own UK ISP and also via FON, a Spanish network to which I have access, represented in the UK by BT.

The result has been failure via each! :-(

It would seem to be either a problem on my iMac (yet Disk Utility, TechTool Pro, Memory Clean 2 etc, report nothing amiss) or with the particular Apple target server to which my Software Update points.

Incidentally, I have tried direct via the Software Update panel in System Preferences and also going via the Apple UK website with the same result.

I shall let the dust settle for a few days and then try again.



iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017); 3.8 GHz Intel Core i5; 2TB HD; 64 GB 2400 MHz DDR4 RAM; Radeon Pro 580 8 GB. iPad Pro 10.5" Model MPME2B/A with 512GB capacity; iPhone SE 2020 256GB
Re: Catalina download failure
iBozz #52670 10/12/19 04:29 PM
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You can eliminate the possibility of any problem being caused by errors in your system by
  1. shutting down your computer,
  2. waiting 15 or 20 seconds
  3. rebooting while holding Option+Command+R
  4. run the installer from the Recovery Drive. Note: you may have to manually log onto your WiFi network as everything, including the Recovery drive is downloaded from the internet.


Option+Command+R installs the latest version of MacOS that is compatible with your computer as opposed to Command+R which installs the version currently installed on your computer and Shift+Option+Command+R which installs the version of MacOS that came on your computer from the factory or the closest available version.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Catalina download failure
joemikeb #52676 10/13/19 02:08 PM
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Originally Posted By: joemikeb
You can eliminate the possibility of any problem being caused by errors in your system by
  1. shutting down your computer,
  2. waiting 15 or 20 seconds
  3. rebooting while holding Option+Command+R
  4. run the installer from the Recovery Drive. Note: you may have to manually log onto your WiFi network as everything, including the Recovery drive is downloaded from the internet.


Option+Command+R installs the latest version of MacOS that is compatible with your computer as opposed to Command+R which installs the version currently installed on your computer and Shift+Option+Command+R which installs the version of MacOS that came on your computer from the factory or the closest available version.


I learn something new every day! Many thanks for that.

I am assuming, before I embark on the Option+Command+R route, that if the problem lies with the particular Apple server to which my Software Update is repeatedly pointing and failing and not my own iMac, that it won't fail at the same point and leave me with a broken OS?

The answer may be obvious but it isn't to me and, having lost 100% of my data once before (many moons since and back-up lessons learnt!), I just want to make sure that I'm not doing anything which may lead to disaster! shocked

I do back up automatically to Time Capsule via Time Machine so there is, I hope, a 100% back up available but I'm all for an easy life and would prefer not to have to restore unless as a last resort.

Thanks again.


iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017); 3.8 GHz Intel Core i5; 2TB HD; 64 GB 2400 MHz DDR4 RAM; Radeon Pro 580 8 GB. iPad Pro 10.5" Model MPME2B/A with 512GB capacity; iPhone SE 2020 256GB
Re: Catalina download failure
iBozz #52678 10/13/19 11:06 PM
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Wise people always have a known good backup or clone before upgrading. I seldom remember to do that so I guess that tells you how much credence to put in my advice. I suggested the Recovery Drive as that would eliminate any problem emanating from your existing MacOS installation. Whether that would be from a different server or not I have no idea. On the other hand it can't hurt and it might help.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Catalina download failure
joemikeb #52686 10/14/19 07:31 PM
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OK, I am now up and running with Catalina.

Before I posted on here, I had posted my problem on the Apple Support Forum but had no response, which is why I came here. However today someone has posted a suggestion on my original thread and it worked. Neither they nor I know why, but I post justaglo's suggestion below.

if anyone can explain what was happening and why this fix overcomes it then I would be interested to hear it!

Just before the usual 4GB failure point, I clicked the small cancel cross to stop the download. Once it had stopped, I clicked Update again and the download restarted from the same point. After it had reached the 5GB download it was well past the point of previous failure (which I estimated to be just over 4GB although the error message covered the progress bar) and, possibly unnecessarily, I then repeated the stop/restart every half hour or so until completion.

The download completed and Catalina installed.

And that has resolved it and I am indebted to justaglo and also to those who offered advice on FTM.

Many thanks, I hope this workaround helps others who may expereince a similar problem.

Last edited by iBozz; 10/14/19 07:33 PM.

iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017); 3.8 GHz Intel Core i5; 2TB HD; 64 GB 2400 MHz DDR4 RAM; Radeon Pro 580 8 GB. iPad Pro 10.5" Model MPME2B/A with 512GB capacity; iPhone SE 2020 256GB
Re: Catalina download failure
joemikeb #52721 10/19/19 03:43 PM
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....so, after reading about the possibility of email data loss in the Mail.app after upgrade to Catalina, I've taken a particularly cautious approach to installing macOS 10.15. I pre-stripped my existing Mojave SSD of as many 32 bit tidbits and apps as I could find, ensured that I had not one, but two Time Machine backups PLUS a CCC clone on a fresh backup drive...then found that my every attempt to download the upgrade installer was thwarted by the same sort of failure issues that iBozz was experiencing! In my case it was even a bit worse in that I couldn't even get the download process to begin. I even tried joemikeb's suggested process from the Recovery Drive and had the same issue....on several different machines and accounts. This led me to suspect some form of connectivity issue, so I fired up my iPhone X hot spot and that worked!

Going back to continue picking the scab after a successful download over cellular, I tried a restart into SafeBoot mode to eliminate any third party system level conflicts and had a partial improvement, but still hung and error'd out after only a few hundred MB's.....then I tried the iBozz interrupt and that got me a few hundred MB's further.....then I pointed my VPN to a San Francisco server while still booted in SafeBoot mode and having stutter-stepped up to a few hundred MB's of the 8.09 GB upgrade total, et voila! That finally got me a normally-paced successful download/upgrade installer in my Applications directory.

That ran just fine and I am now on Catalina......and I still don't know why the connectivity issues existed. Router resets, local pings, Speed Test throughput, other downloads, other Software Update system updates, direct Cat6 connection to the router, etc all failed to resolve the Catalina upgrade failure for me until using SafeBoot mode and a VPN to a San Francisco exit point, then it ran normal.

confused



Freedom is never free....thank a Service member today.
Re: Catalina download failure
MacManiac #52722 10/19/19 04:08 PM
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That is weird. I ran into a similar issue downloading an XCode update from the App Store a couple of days ago which I initially attributed to the resort WiFi network I was using. But I tried the next day on the same network and the download completed normally and quite rapidly for such a big download. It is sounding as if Apple may be having server problems.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Catalina download failure
joemikeb #52723 10/19/19 05:17 PM
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Their System Status page didn't show any active issues.....it showed some resolved issues, but everything was in the green each time I checked.


Freedom is never free....thank a Service member today.
Re: Catalina download failure
MacManiac #52734 10/23/19 12:44 PM
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Whatever the problem is, it is still ongoing. A neighbor just ran the latest Catalina updates on both his and his wife’s iMacs. His downloaded and installed flawlessly, hers on the other hand went through several “corrupted” downloads over a three day period before achieving a successful installation. mad


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Catalina download failure
joemikeb #52749 10/24/19 10:52 PM
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I just came across this OS X Daily on how to fix the issue. Interestingly enough their solution has often failed.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein

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