Easiest way to go from 10.14.6 to 10.15.3 ?

[jsbach]

What is the easiest way to go from Mojave (10.14.6) to Catalina (10.15.3)?

The current version in the app store is 10.15.4 and I'd like to stick to a qualified version.

The only version of 10.15.3 that I can find through google is the combo update, but that only works if you are already on Catalina. Is it possible to download full installers of specific versions?

Thanks!

[Teej]

No matter what you do, you should do a completely clean install of macOS. Upgrading existing installations can result in all kinds of weirdness.

If you want 10.15.3, you should do a clean install of Catalina and then use the combo update. As it seems like you're aware, if you download a full installer of Catalina right now it will probably already be the latest version (10.15.4) so you're somewhat SOL. However, it probably won't be too long until 10.15.4 is qualified, so you can either wait until then, or just dive in and see if it works. The latter is obviously a lot more painless if you make an image of your current system first so you can roll it back in case it doesn't work.

Is there any particular reason you want to move to Catalina instead of Mojave?

edit: JFreak and a few others have tried a clean install of 10.15.4 with 2020.3 and haven't had any issues yet: http://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=409168

[JFreak]

^^ This.

If you have all other stuff besides PT then the easiest way to flawlessly working system is here:

1. Upgrade your current system to Catalina
2. Let all your music, photo, etc. libraries update to current format
3. Back up
4. Erase your storage (in recovery mode) and do a clean install
5. Copy your stuff back without using Migration Assassin or Time Machine

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by Teej

JFreak and a few others have tried a clean install of 10.15.4 with 2020.3 and haven't had any issues yet: http://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=409168

Working very well here after clean install. Totally worth it, IMO. I had been using that in-situ upgrade system for testing for some months and was just waiting for a right time to do a clean install. That time is now. Catalina 10.15.4 brought good new features at the same time Avid released 2020.3 and those two are working wonderfully together.

[jsbach]

Thank you Teej and JFreak for the excellent advice!

[JFreak]

No problem. Clean install takes a lot of effort but it is really very much recommended

[asm]

Originally Posted by JFreak

^^ This.



If you have all other stuff besides PT then the easiest way to flawlessly working system is here:

1. Upgrade your current system to Catalina
   
2. Let all your music, photo, etc. libraries update to current format
   
3. Back up
   
4. Erase your storage (in recovery mode) and do a clean install
   
5. Copy your stuff back without using Migration Assassin or Time Machine
   

Hello,

Thanks for the info.

Can you explain in more detail what you did in step 5?

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by asm

Can you explain in more detail what you did in step 5?

The oldskool way of connecting your backup media and manually copying stuff you need where you need it

[Ben Jenssen]

Catalina 10.15.3/4 has been working fine here (non-PTsystem) EXCEPT for one big issue:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread...d=252359246022
Many have reported that their custom artwork in iTunes is completely lost in the transition to the Music/TV applications. So, if you like me have a big library with music and video on disk with custom artwork, be prepared that all playlists will show just generic icons. There's no way to rebuild, and there was no fix in 10.15.4, even though the problem has been known for some time.
If you just use iTunes for stuff bought online, there is no problem.

[dankin]

So is Catalina the best OS option now, or Mohave? I'm still on Sierra, which is running pretty well with 2019.12 even though it's not supported. I plan on updating in the next week are so while I have some time. Most of my friends are on Mohave and have stayed away from Catalina.