High Sierra installer, where are you?

Discussion:

Carl Hoefs

2018-09-28 19:41:09 UTC

I have a 10.12.6 Mac Pro (mid 2010) I'm trying to upgrade to Mojave. The Mojave installer tells me to first upgrade to High Sierra, referencing Apple doc HT208898.

Where can one download the High Sierra installer? It doesn't show in the AppStore, nor online at https://developer.apple.com/download <https://developer.apple.com/download>

Am I screwed?
-Carl

Carl Hoefs

2018-09-28 19:52:20 UTC

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Okay, I finally came up with the "URL" for where Apple hides the High Sierra installer:

macappstores://itunes.apple.com/app/id1246284741 <macappstores://itunes.apple.com/app/id1246284741>

Wow, Apple really dropped the ball on this one! I wonder how may others are in the same boat...?

-Carl

Post by Carl Hoefs
I have a 10.12.6 Mac Pro (mid 2010) I'm trying to upgrade to Mojave. The Mojave installer tells me to first upgrade to High Sierra, referencing Apple doc HT208898.
Where can one download the High Sierra installer? It doesn't show in the AppStore, nor online at https://developer.apple.com/download <https://developer.apple.com/download>
Am I screwed?
-Carl
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Carl Hoefs

2018-09-29 05:55:52 UTC

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Thanks for the link, but the problem with going that route is that it redirects back to the App Store!

On numerous Sierra systems, the App Store shows Mojave as the only upgrade path, even on systems that are not Mojave-capable! And for the mid-2010 Mac Pros, upgrading to Mojave errors out, saying to upgrade first to High Sierra, then to Mojave, but it gives no link to find HS. Catch-22.

That is the reason I needed to manually locate, download, and apply the High Sierra installer. Surely I'm not alone in this!

-Carl

28 September 2018
Try going to this Apple support page.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208969 <https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208969>
Look at bullet item 4 where they talk about getting High Sierra âif you still need itâ.
This is where I was able to get a copy to re-image a Mac laptop from scratch (per institutional requirement at my current workplace).
Cheers,
Larry
Caltech grad 1991

Macs R We

2018-09-29 06:16:00 UTC

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This happens every release. This is why I safe-store installers for every Mac OS release on an external drive of my own. Once you get one installed, the App Store will be happy t provide you the upgrades for it, but good luck finding the original upgrade installer once Apple releases a subsequent release.

Post by Carl Hoefs
Thanks for the link, but the problem with going that route is that it redirects back to the App Store!
On numerous Sierra systems, the App Store shows Mojave as the only upgrade path, even on systems that are not Mojave-capable! And for the mid-2010 Mac Pros, upgrading to Mojave errors out, saying to upgrade first to High Sierra, then to Mojave, but it gives no link to find HS. Catch-22.
That is the reason I needed to manually locate, download, and apply the High Sierra installer. Surely I'm not alone in this!
-Carl

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Andy Ringsmuth

2018-09-28 19:47:33 UTC

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Carl,

I suspect that machine is too old to run either High Sierra or Mojave.

-Andy

Carl Hoefs

2018-09-29 17:10:28 UTC

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Post by Andy Ringsmuth
I suspect that machine is too old to run either High Sierra or Mojave.

Not according to HT208898. And if the machine were too old, the App Store shouldn't show me Mojave to upgrade to. The really annoying thing is that they HIDE the previous installers like they're radioactive. Macs R We is right - you gotta archive off all the previous installers for that rainy day. Apple seems paranoid about their mere existence.

- - -

With respect to Mojave, I generally like the "dark mode", but the dark mode login screen has a 2-inch vertical white bar on the left hand side. Is there a purpose for that (other than burning in the screen)? This doesn't appear in "light mode".

And FWIW, what some people are saying is true for me: All the machines I've upgraded so far are now S-L-O-W (they weren't before). Lots of spinners. GUI response is also slow. Nothing else is running on the systems, and it's been a day already, it's not Spotlight indexing... Feels like swimming through motor oil. Will 10.14.1 address this?

-Carl

Macs R We

2018-09-29 17:52:11 UTC

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Post by Carl Hoefs
And if the machine were too old, the App Store shouldn't show me Mojave to upgrade to.

"Shouldn't" is unfortunately an insufficient condition (ah, I remember when that wasn't SOP at Apple). It's a proven fact that the App Store will show any machine whatever is the current release, never bothering to temper its recommendation until the point when you finally agree to install it. Then it refuses. But afterwards it will eagerly pitch you the upgrade again.

Post by Carl Hoefs
And FWIW, what some people are saying is true for me: All the machines I've upgraded so far are now S-L-O-W (they weren't before). Lots of spinners. GUI response is also slow. Nothing else is running on the systems, and it's been a day already, it's not Spotlight indexing... Feels like swimming through motor oil. Will 10.14.1 address this?

Unlike High Sierra, Mojave *requires* APFS on the boot drive. A platter drive running APFS is about as much fun as a platter drive running 10% bad blocks. If you can't swap in an SSD, resign yourself to permanent pain.

Carl Hoefs

2018-09-29 19:47:48 UTC

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Post by Macs R We
Unlike High Sierra, Mojave *requires* APFS on the boot drive. A platter drive running APFS is about as much fun as a platter drive running 10% bad blocks. If you can't swap in an SSD, resign yourself to permanent pain.

Yep, and this is done *surreptitiously* when you upgrade! :D

If you're a person owning one or two Macs, it's not the end of the world. But if you have a lab with 100 iMacs... We got "Apple'd" before when they yanked the xServe, xGrid, etc without warning. That move cost a lot of money, and people got fired over it.

It's deja vu all over again...

-Carl