Unable to install macOS Sequoia update 15.4 on my MacBook Pro

I’ve tried updating my MacBook Air M2 and Pro M1 to MacOS Sequoia 15.4. I’ve tried using both Ethernet cable and WiFi, it’s starts off ok but then they both freeze and stay on “estimated about 30mins”. What’s up with that ?

You won't believe what happened after `sudo softwareupdate --fetch-full-installer -a --launch-installer -R`

It downloaded Sonoma MacOS and surely rejected it to launch. I have no clue why Sonoma if I'm on macOS Sequoia (MacBook Pro M3Pro)

Attempts to run the "softwareupdate --fetch-full-installer --full-installer-version 15.4" command failed after several hours of downloading for me.

If it is like someone here suggests, that this is just a shoddy half-released update from Apple, I'm just going to wait, try again maybe every other day and hope it resolves.

This is precisely the problem I'm having. Earlier this year an iOS update did the same thing to my iPhone; stuck in the infinite reboot loop with no option but to wipe the system. Over 30 years using Apple products, I can't recall ever having this kind of catastrophic failure, let alone twice in six months. Sure, there were bad updates that got next-day patches, but a "you need to wipe your entire hard drive and start all over again" kind of failures just never happened.

Now I have to spend my weekend resetting and reinstalling and re-setting up the system.

This is a MacBook Pro 14" M3.

The upgrade was suggested by the system itself in Settings; I was just using the normal upgrade mechanism.

macOS 15.3.2 -> 15.4 was attempted.

Same , had to reinstall to a different volume and move all the data.

Thankfully it s much easier these days with lots of cloud based app , just a few config files and I was all set .

Still pretty ****** at Apple , lost abt 2 days and I m still not running 15.4

My panic log starts with

panic(cpu 3 caller 0x0): t8020dart 0xfffffdf028490000 (dart-disp0): Can't ignore lock validation @t8020dart.c:535

This thread suggests the "dart-disp0" is likely a crash in a low-level display / GPU driver.

My M1 mac mini was connected like this:

M1 Mini -> Apple USBC to VGA Adapter [VGA output ] -> 4 port KVM Switch -> VGA Monitor

Apple USBC to VGA Adapter [USBA output ] -> 4 port KVM Switch -> Keyboard and Mouse

So thinking the KVM switch or VGA adapter might be causal, I repeated my test after making this change:

M1 Mini -> HDMI cable -> HDMI monitor

M1 Mini -> USBA -> keyboard -> mouse

So both the VGA monitor and 4 port VGA/USB KVM switch were totally removed.

Result: exact same crash.

panic(cpu 0 caller 0x0): t8020dart 0xfffffdf052308000 (dart-disp0): Can't ignore lock validation @t8020dart.c:535

Bummer.

I am experiencing a similar condition on an M1 MacBook Air. I have tried more or less everything except the DFU route. My system was actually unusable for a few days until I managed to make a Sonoma installer SD card using an older mac.

after erase i cannot install Sequoia 15.4 on my macbook air m1, after installing and restarting the notebook says „the version of macOS on the selected disk needs to be reinstalled“

this happen over and over again

Having the same problem. That bricked my m1 mba. It says the version of macOS on the selected disk needs to be reinstalled. Then I went into recovery mode and reinstalled macOS sequoia. After it did the install and want to reboot I just get the same message again. I can’t recover my M1 MBA.

Yup, this sounds familiar … exactly the same thing I did and the feeling experienced.

But at least you contacted Apple support … so they don’t tell when this will be fixed and how we will be able to install this update or if we need to wait for the next one available ?

I decided to end the call when the agent informed me that nothing could be done, so I took matters into my own hands and resolved backing up my files. A few hours later, I called back to speak with a different agent, who sounded more optimistic about troubleshooting, although I was still in the process of creating backups. I plan on calling again tomorrow, hoping to speak with someone more experienced who can help resolve the issue.

Edward Martz wrote:

But my heart sank. All my projects and important documents weren’t backed up, and there was no way I was about to delete everything.

Always back up your data! Time Machine is an excellent facility.

See:- Back up your Mac with Time Machine – Apple Support (UK)

This applies to everyone! 😎

Just sayin'!

l could go down that path but I'm taking it in to attempt further recovery methods before reinstalling a new os.

I did use an older late 2013 Macbook pro to move my files/data using Recovery > Utilities > Share Disk... Manually backed up on a 4gb SSD.

I'm hoping that by taking it in that they are able to fix the installation process or boot up instead of having to do a fresh reinstall. We'll see how it goes. I'll report back with the outcome.

A few days ago the App Store had 15.3.2 as the "current" Sequoia OS. I downloaded that and ran it. It resulted in the same failure that I was getting from the "Software Update" in "System Settings".

Mr. Martz - Thank you for taking the time to keep us all up to date on your progress. I'm curious - Did the Genius Bar have any insights into MacOS 15.5? I ask because I've seen a couple folks here say that they were able to update to 15.5 bta without problems. If there is hope for 15.5 maybe folks running Sonoma 14.7.5 could just wait until the full version of 15.5 comes out.