stuck on up grade

[Mac Man 2007]

It depends what you mean by "all from 32 bit"? Mojave is a 100% 64 bit OS - however, it will run 32 bit apps. So there shouldn't be any problems migrating your data using TM ... AS LONG AS you remember that any 32 bit apps you currently run will not run in Catalina.

Ah thank you. I was confused about Mojave 64 bit. I knew moving to Catalina would mean I could not run 32 bit apps. So I assumed that Mojave was 32 bit. That makes my question moot as Mojave is 64 bit that will run 32 bit apps. This is why I put off upgrading my Mac Air as I didn't want to loose 32 bit apps.

 

[MacBiter]

Ah thank you. I was confused about Mojave 64 bit. I knew moving to Catalina would mean I could not run 32 bit apps. So I assumed that Mojave was 32 bit. That makes my question moot as Mojave is 64 bit that will run 32 bit apps. This is why I put off upgrading my Mac Air as I didn't want to loose 32 bit apps.

Snow Leopard was the first full 64 bit OS X but it was a hybrid containing some 32 bit elements that were counterparts to their 64 bit equivalents. Mountain Lion removed those so it's been 64 bit only since then, but Catalina was the first to stop allowing ANY (i.e. non-Apple) apps to run. In other words, 10.8 - 10.14 were full 64 bit OS's in which 32 bit apps could run, but not from 10.15.

 

[Rod]

I have thought about wiping the drive and doing a clean install of Catalina. The last time I did a clean install I used USB flash drives to save all the files and such and then moved them into the fresh install. This time I would like to use time machine as a back up after I do a clean install.
Will there be any problems I should expect when I use a backup that is all from 32 bit and then moving them into the 64 bit Catalina???

No problems with the OS but as I think you already know 32 bit apps and any data (files) they have created will not be accessible.

 

[Mac Man 2007]

I want to make sure I do this correctly. I want to wipe clean Mojave from 2013 Mac Air and do a clean install of Catalina. Those of you followed this thread know I kept having trouble with a regular "upgrade" at the 9 minute mark. After a clean install I will use an external HD/time machine to finish it. I have 2 time machines. Interestingly one of them became unmounted when I accidentally bumped the USB while it was backing up the drive. At that point I thought it was goner as Backups did not recognized the drive. I went into disk utility and it found numerous problems that it could not fix. So I thought crap I'll need to get another drive. then I put it back in the time machined and it recognized it. From there I hit the back up now and I then entered the time machine. Slowly it began to repopulate and eventually completed a back up! I put it back in disk utilities and the backup now remounted and was functioning. I have since done 3 more backups without a hitch. So go figure.
Anyhow please hold my hand an walk me through the procedure of wiping the internal SSD clean, then doing a clean install of Catalina and then finishing the process with a time machine. I did one years ago but this one is different and I do not want to screw this up. Thanks ahead of time. I understand 32 bits will not longer work on Catalina. But that said my printer is 32 bit (confirmed by Go 64) and it works on Catalina on my MacPro.

 

[Mac Man 2007]

OK so I received zero answers to my previous query to hand walk me through it. So I need to ask one question. I need to erase what in order to do a clean install of Catalina. What I am not sure of is do I erase the main Hard Drive in my case called Aura Pro X2 Media or do I erase OWC SSD APFS Volume? I have read everything I can: notably there seems to be multiple ways to clean install using USB flash depending on what version of OS you are running and depending if it is Intel or Silicone or whatever. Last time I did a clean install there was only one way. So what do I erase Auro Pro or OWC SSD? I got the USB easy peasy. I erase ???? and then restart hold option and then the only thing that should appear is my USB and I start from there. Phew. Come on you genius geeks help this fella out. LOL. BTW my best guess with a gun to my head is I erase OWC SSD.

 

[Rod]

Sorry about the delay Mac Man, we're all in different time zones.

So can I assume you have an installer for macOS Catalina that is Bootable?

If so and to confirm that simply plug it in and trun your computer off.

Now start up again holding the Option key down until you see the Apple logo.

The next screen you see will display Bootable Sources.

Your USB drive should be one of them, if it is select it and allow the Mac to boot up.

I'll send you this now just to let you know I'm on the case, okay?

Please reply an I'll continue.

 

[Rod]

The next step is to erase the Mac at the "media" level. In your case that will be the Aura Pro X2 Media.

On the screen that comes up when you boot from the USB installer you will see Disk Utility open it.

Choose Aura Pro X2 Media and click Erase.

Now you have a few tasks; you need to name it Macintosh HD
you need to format it APFS
and you need to Map it GUID

 

[Rod]

Assuming all that works as expected you will now have an empty HD called Aura Pro X2 Media with a Container and a Volume called Macintosh HD

Quit the Disk Utility and returning to the original window you should see Instal macOS Catalina or words to that effect. Click that.

This will begin the installation of a fresh copy of macOS Catalina eventually (it will take a while) at the end of the process the Mac should restart, thus booting from the internal drive which should open as the "Hello" screen you see on a brand new Mac.

from there it is exactly the same as setting up a new Mac. You can eject the USB if you can see it, not a necessity.

Plug in your External HD with Time Machine on board and continue the setup process until it asks things like "Do you want to encrypt the contents?" Say NO, you can always do this later. "Do you want to store Documents and Desktop folders in iCloud?" Say NO, again you can do this later. BE AWARE some of these options may be ON by default so read carefully and turn them OFF.

Eventually you will get to "Do you want to import data from another source?" or words to that effect. Say YES, choose your Time Machine backup.

You will be given options of what to Restore usually I would choose ALL but this is up to you. You can obviously restore stuff you've missed later but deleting is easier than restoring so...

 

[Rod]

Do update me any time, especially if you have a problem.

 

[Mac Man 2007]

Do update me any time, especially if you have a problem.

Thanks This is the easiest directions I have read. As to you first question yes I have a bootable USB drive. As for this quote "
The next screen you see will display Bootable Sources.

Your USB drive should be one of them, if it is select it and allow the Mac to boot up.

I'll send you this now just to let you know I'm on the case, okay?

Please reply an I'll continue"
So it is at this point that I previous did not stop the boot up. It is at the point where it sounds like I should be stopping it after the initial boot and go into disk utility where I will wipe Aura Pro X2 Media. At earlier attempts I bypassed this and continued on to what I was expected to be an over- write upgrade. BTW I used that process on 2015 Mac Pro. successfully and therefore I expected the same on the 2013 Mac Air. But it froze 3 times in the same place

Now my pathway is it choose the below direction erasing and formatting. And I expect it will fall into place.

Choose Aura Pro X2 Media and click Erase.

Now you have a few tasks; you need to name it Macintosh HD
you need to format it APFS
and you need to Map it GUID

This is falling into place.
I understand the directions you made for me to continue the process and use time machine. I have 2 for this Mac. I think I'll choose the one with a much shorter volume. The Long volume goes back to 2018 and I just do not need to go back that far.
**Thanks** for everything and I will follow up.

Do update me any time, especially if you have a problem.

I will re-read this a couple times and maybe even do a copy and paste and print it so I can underline a few important places and I can also check some thing after they have been completed. It's not that complicated but there is a method to the madness. The Xs and Os have to be in place.
Thumbs up! Rod.

 

[Rod]

I'm glad you find my description easy to follow. It is a process I have performed many times over the years and I hope I have not left anything out. There may well be some minor variations of text and order dependent on device and Operating System but the basic process remains essentially the same.
If you encounter any undecipherable crossroads stop and ask, bearing in mind I am currently in Indonesia UTC +8.