Any ideas why Sierra upgrade would fail due to memory?

[HantaYo]

Hi all,

Tried to upgrade to Sierra and it failed due to a hardware memory error.    Apple support not very helpful on the memory issue - just bring it by the store (unfortunately the store is 3 hrs away).  They did get me up and running with Mtn Lion though.  Memory error has not reappeared as of yet.

Makes me suspicious there are issues with Sierra.  I am too afraid to run hardware check again.  Perhaps I'll open the box and reseat the memory.

Any ideas why a software Sierra upgrade would fail on a memory error but Mtn Lion would be fine? 

[xairbusdriver]

Just about every OS upgrade puts more "pressure" or work on memory. One of the first things the computer does is testing of the memory. These tests may be more critical for Sierra than Mt Lion. With the current problems with Siera and WC, I have even less incentive to put that OS on the machine that runs WC 24/7/365. Nor will I be installing it on any of our other Macs before at least the .1 update. What's the rush?!

[Weatheraardvark]

Just about every OS upgrade puts more "pressure" or work on memory. One of the first things the computer does is testing of the memory. These tests may be more critical for Sierra than Mt Lion. With the current problems with Siera and WC, I have even less incentive to put that OS on the machine that runs WC 24/7/365. Nor will I be installing it on any of our other Macs before at least the .1 update. What's the rush?!

My dad used to say " If it ain't broke, don't fix it."    I do have Sierra on board and was very apprehensive when I upgraded.  the computer is new so I figured WTF?   If I had an older model, I would hesitate on doing that.   Apple lists somewhere what computers that can take the update and it is worth looking for and consulting.

What I do like about it is how it deals with clutter and files.  Storing stuff in the cloud and on the machine and other things.  It doesn't play nice with some external things and some software.

Waiting is a good thing as well as making sure what you are upgrading is on the approved list.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201475

[xairbusdriver]

I would also suggest you take the time to install all the free upgrades between Mt. Lion and Sierra, if you can find them. That's a pretty big jump and there will be many more 'surprises' when you start using 10.12 that you would be familiar with if you'd made the step by step move. You may find out that one of those steps will fail for the same reason as Sierra did, thus the newest OS may not be the problem at all.

Certainly, check the link Ardvark provided to make sure your machine is suitable.

[Blicj11]

I would also suggest you take the time to install all the free upgrades between Mt. Lion and Sierra, if you can find them.

Not to disagree, but ...

Apple says you can go from Lion to Sierra, which I am going to attempt at my son's house in the coming week. If you haven't downloaded each OS along the way, it ain't gonna happen now because you can't find them short of divine intervention. 

[xairbusdriver]

There are places that archived them. It would be better to have downloaded and archived the final versions, of course. My point is that we should not jump to conclusions about what any particular OS might be causing a problem if we haven't used each of hem a they (eventually) matured. I also try to use a "combo" installer than than the delta updaters once they start arriving. There is also a lot of grief to be saved by making sure one has at least two bootable backups before even downloading any upgrade. Many people get away with doing a lot less cleaning, fixing, backing up. However, if you don't have a plan, you are planing to fail.

Jumping from ML to Sierra will be a huge change in the UI, alone! Not to mention the need to update many apps to work with it. The longer you wait, the bigger the differences and the more changes and work that will be required.

I'm not arguing either. Just do things like I say and we'll be fine!  

[elagache]

Dear HantaYo, X-Air, Blick, and WeatherCat cautious sys-admins,

I would also suggest you take the time to install all the free upgrades between Mt. Lion and Sierra, if you can find them.

That's the sort of advice I wish I could take to heart, but Apple is making this sort of prudent action next to impossible.  Every time there has been an OS X update I have made myself a bootable installer thumb-drive for emergencies.  Recently my Time machine backup drive died and I keep a bootable rescue partition on the same drive.  When I tried to install Yosemite, I got an error message insisting that I need to download Yosemite from the App store account were I purchased it.  Okay that's a serious waste of time when I created the thumb drive precisely for emergencies like this.

However wait . . . . Apple is nastier than that.  Every time I try to download a fresh copy of Yosemite it fails about 5 minutes before completion with some sort of a mysterious error.  It suggests I try again - which I have several times.  I haven't had time to get on the Apple support forums to complain but this looks like the sort of really nasty behavior to force people to upgrade no matter what.

I know I've been something of a grouch when it comes to Apple but no kiddin' Apple is really stooping to some outrageous dirty pool.

Oh well, . . . . . . Edouard

[Weatheraardvark]

Is your computer on the list of computers that the update will work.  I think you have to look there first. 
Then update your present software with your current oS  as well as any other software.
Waiting until the next set of updates to Sierra isn't a bad suggestion either.

Regardless if it is Apple or WIndows they have been one of those that seem to let you know that you need to upgrade your computer if you want to run the latest system.  Granted I have done that with no real issues.  Some software is a tad wonky and needed to be adjusted a bit.  But I do have the late 2015 4k unit.    Something I read is that you want to have as much disk space as possible before you do the upgrade. Hence I have two external drives full of stuff.

OR  you can keep what you have.  I am not noticing that much of an improvment.  Siri is Siri,  the system uses cloud based storage more  and a very few perks. 

If I could do everything over again is to get a 16 Gig RAM, and a honking big HD.   Maybe the next life.

[Weatheraardvark]

I know this doesn't answer your question, but I am looking out on the net;

http://www.gottabemobile.com/2016/09/29/12-common-macos-sierra-problems-fixes/

http://osxdaily.com/2016/09/24/troubleshooting-macos-sierra-problems

[HantaYo]

All, on my phone, so I'll be brief.

Tied another update to Sierra due to Mtn lion not being compatible to a lot lot of my programs. Failed again, memory.  Fortunately had a Dr appointment in the big city so I made an appointment at the Apple store.  They said not a memory error but likely OS kernel panics.  They installed Sierra after format of drive, took baby home and, this time I have fresh time machine backup.  Installing programs and personal files.  Just 6 hours to go, then see if baby is functional again.

Thanks,

[BartonCamberley]

May not be related but when I upgraded my iMac to Sierra, when accessing WeatherCat screen I got the dreaded spinning beach ball and backdated data.
At the same time I started getting emails from Wunderground saying I was offline.
Eventually traced the problem to the energy saving settings. The upgrade to Sierra had untucked the box 'Prevent computer from sleeping automatically...' So WeatherCat was not able to run 24/7/365 as I had set before the upgrade.
Hope this helps anyone with a similar problem

Cheers,

Ron

[Blicj11]

A couple of days ago I upgraded a Mac from Lion to Sierra (not the Mac running WeatherCat). Everything went off without a hitch.

[elagache]

Dear Blick and WeatherCat memory dieters,

A couple of days ago I upgraded a Mac from Lion to Sierra (not the Mac running WeatherCat). Everything went off without a hitch.

Now that you have a machine running Sierra how does it compare on memory use?  Does it seem to be better at managing memory use or worse?

A curious mind would like to know!

Cheers, Edouard

[Blicj11]

Great question. Unfortunately, we didn't have a baseline on that machine. I did put an additional 8 GB of RAM into it, which made a noticeable improvement on the speed of opening intensive programs like Photos.

[Blicj11]

This morning I upgraded all three of our macs to Sierra (two iMacs and a MacBook Air). Everything went off without any problem whatsoever. I had to download an updated System Preferences widget from Logitech. Otherwise, I had no issues at all.