Fixing Common Errors During macOS High Sierra v10.13 Upgrades - Step-by-Step Solutions

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macOS High Sierra 10.13 Problems & Solutions [Updating]

Posted by Kaylee Wood | Last update: April 28, 2020

Yes, the latest version of macOS (10.13 High Sierra) just went live on the Mac App Store for free download, and then followed closely by a list of macOS High Sierra problems. It is a big change for Mac operating system in around 30 years while also a time bomb that may blow down the long-time reputation of macOS 10.13 if Apple can’t handle these macOS High Sierra issues well.

This place gathers and updates all macOS High Sierra not working problems and tries to find solutions to solve them, be it macOS High Sierra won’t install issue, High Sierra password problems or apps won’t work on macOS 10.13.

macOS High Sierra Won’t Download & Install Issue

If you are prevented to download High Sierra by a message “macOS High Sierra download has failed”, or “Installation of macOS could not continue. Installation requires downloading important content. That content can’t be downloaded at this time. Try again later”, please first double check to assure that your internet connection is working and your Mac is connected to the internet. Then try rebooting the Mac App Store.

* Click the Apple menu button in the top left corner of your screen -> Force Quit -> the App Store -> Force Quit -> Click Force Quit again when asked if you’re sure.

Try to download macOS High Sierra again, and then search the ‘Install macOS 10.13’ file in the Mac’s application folder if there is no prompt for the macOS 10.13 installation after downloading. Worth mentioning, you should back up data that is important to you before upgrade to macOS High Sierra.

High Sierra Update Stuck before Finishing Installation

It’s quite annoying that the macOS High Sierra update process is near the end but stops suddenly. The only you should do is to force a shut down by holding the power button and try again.

Unable to Play Videos Encoded with HandBrake via H.265 Setting

Disappointedly, the system-provided player QuickTime can’t play such files on macOS High Sierra though it is supposed to have H265/HEVC support. You can use Handbrake version 20180911184803-6f5e5ea-master or the more current version under the Nightly Builds to encode videos that can be played by QuickTime. Or maybe you can just download a third-party HEVC/H265 player like 5KPlayer to get rid of this macOS High Sierra problem.

macOS High Sierra Password Problem

A security researcher named Wardle at Synack discovered a way to snatch passwords from High Sierra shortly after macOS High Sierra was rolled out. With the “keychainStealer” app, anyone can run malicious code on a Mac to steal the password to unlock the computer and also use Keychain to store the login information, credit cards and WiFi passwords. Any application running on the system can bypass the security components and access all personal information without restrictions. Besides, the “keychainStealer” app had forced the keychain to disclose Facebook, Twitter, and Bank of America passwords. If someone wants to attack your computer, he or she will succeed easily.

Your Mac shipped with macOS High Sierra is vulnerable if you do not take some actions. Wardle said if you had set a different password for the Keychain, the attack would not work. Apple spokesperson also explain “macOS is designed to be secure by default, and Gatekeeper warns users against installing unsigned apps, like the one shown in this proof of concept, and prevents them from launching the app without explicit approval. We encourage users to download software only from trusted sources like the Mac App Store, and to pay careful attention to security dialogs that macOS presents.”

Apps Won’t Work in macOS High Sierra

Some apps can’t work with macOS High Sierra? Apple had said that apps sold on the Mac App Store should be 64bit from January 2018, meaning that Apple is moving away from 32bit apps. When it arrives in 2018 MacOS 10.14 will not support 32-bit apps at all, a little bit like the way iOS 11 doesn’t support 32-bit apps . So, you have to update your 32bit apps to 64bit or just replace them with alternatives to solve this kind of problem. It is helpful for the Mac Mail problem as well.

There are kinds of apps including Apple’s own apps that won’t be supported by macOS High Sierra if you don’t update them, say Final Cut Pro X 10.3.4, Motion 5.3.2, Compressor 4.3.2, Logic Pro X 10.3.1, MainStage 3.3, etc. Make sure you have updated them before upgrade to macOS High Sierra 10.13.

macOS 10.13 Keeps Logging Me out

If macOS High Sierra keeps logging you out of your Mac, you can just go to Preference -> Security & Privacy -> Advanced -> uncheck the box where it says ‘Log out after …minutes of inactivity’. Or Preference -> Security & Privacy -> General -> uncheck the box ‘Require password after sleep or screen saver begins’.

If you are using Chrome and macOS High Sierra is logging you out, you can open up the Chrome web browser -> go to settings -> click ‘Advanced’ -> turn off hardware accleration.

OWC’s Aura SSDs not Working with macOS High Sierra

Some Mac owners who had replaced their Macs’ storage with Aura SSDs can’t install macOS High Sierra because of the incompatibity issue. Everytime they tried to install macOS High Sierra, they would receive an error message about a firmware update and then the installation process crashed. Now, types of Aura SSDs compatible Macs have been affected including MacBook Air (11-inch, Mid 2013/13-inch, Mid 2013/11-inch, Early 2014/13-inch, Early 2014) and Mac Pro (Late 2013).

One customer who had bought Aura SSDs was told that new firmware would not be developed until the High Sierra golden master was released, but new firmware has obviously not made it out yet. Happily, OWC engineering team and Apple is working together to find solution to this issue.

macOS High Sierra File System Won’t Work with Fusion Drives

Actually, many Mac users reflect that High Sierra works fine on Fusion drives but don’t let you convert the drive to APFS. Apple announced that the new Apple File system (APFS) won’t support Fusion Drives immediately and will only support systems with all-flash built-in storage in the initial release of High Sierra. This will be undoubtedly frustrating for users with iMacs, Mac minis, and other machines with Fusion Drives. And Apple has provided instructions for converting from APFS back to the standard HFS+ format, including making a Time Machine Backup, creating a bootable installer, and using Disk Utility to reformat their Macs and reinstall macOS High Sierra.

How to downgrade macOS High Sierra to macOS Sierra?

Black Box Surrounding Cursor on macOS High Sierra

- “So I upgraded to macOS High Sierra. No problems. Then I log in, and there’s this annoying black box around my cursor and following it everywhere I go. In the screenshot I’ve attached, it’s the black box around the google logo.”

Maybe this works: (Apple menu) > System Preferences… > Accessibility > Vision > Zoom > Options… > Show preview rectangle when zoomed out > Toggle that setting.

macOS High Sierra Freezes or Stops Respoding

Before you take actions to your Mac, you can just give your Mac some time to recover itself. If that takes you much time or doesn’t work at all, you can force a reboot. Just hold down the power button on your Mac and wait until it shuts off and turns back on. If it still doesn’t work, you can simply unplug your Mac to shut down.

macOS High Sierra Won’t Restart Error

Try booting in Recovery Mode: Turn off Mac and then turn it on -> Hold Command-R until you hear the startup chime or see the Apple logo -> Click Disk Utility when the macOS Utilities window shows up -> Click the disk that’s running High Sierra -> Click Repair Disk. After the repair, your Mac will restart by itself.

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