Apple recently released macOS Catalina as a replacement for macOS Mojave. However, this new software release hasn’t been all rosy for the tech giant. It appears that every new OS update to fix these problems by the tech giant leads to new ones popping up. While we keep our fingers crossed that a “fix-it-all” update gets released, here’s how to fix some of the problems.

MacOS Catalina Download Problems

Make sure you know everything about the OS before you download it. Once you do that, the next step is to visit the Mac App Store. However, during the course of the download, you may see any of the following errors.

1. MacOS Catalina download has failed

If you see this error on your Mac system, then it might mean the Apple server is down or your Wi-Fi connection is slow. To resolve this, there are two possible fixes. However, you may only be able to apply one depending on the resources you have available.

Fix 1: Restart your Wi-Fi

A reboot of your Wi-Fi router might just be what you need to speed up the download. If this does not work, heading to another location with faster Wi-Fi should be your alternative.

Fix 2: Plug in an Ethernet cable to download the update

Sometimes, making use of a your Wi-Fi connection to download large files isn’t the best plan. For one, your downloads can easily be interrupted. Secondly, the bandwidth can slow down the speed of your file’s download. In this case you should make use of an Ethernet cable. Using the cable prevents interruptions and also speeds up the download.

2. The network connection was lost

One reason why you might see this error message is due to downtime on the Apple server. To check if the download error is actually due to server downtime, you can check the live status on Apple’s website. If that is the cause, then there’s no fix for this other than for you to try again another time .

3. Gateway timed out

During the process of downloading the new OS, you might notice that the download progress hangs on 511.5MB. This leads to the downloader throwing out an error message of “bad gateway” or “gateway timed out” error. The best way to resolve this issue is by restarting your Mac in Safe Mode, then trying to re-download the file.

MacOS Catalina installation problems

After passing the download hurdle, the next thing to brace for are macOS Catalina installation problems. The three most common include the following.

4. MacOS could not be verified on your computer

This error message comes with an explanation by the installer about your Mac lacking sufficient space to install the update. You can fix this with any of the methods below.

Fix 1: Make use of Disk Utility

  1. Close the installer before doing anything else.
  2. Open your Disk Utility.
  3. Delete a partition you do not need.

Fix 2: Restore Time Machine update

If you regularly back up your Mac, then you should be able to restore it to the time before you tried installing macOS Catalina. When you restore a previous update, delete files you do not need anymore, then try reinstalling macOS Catalina.

Fix 3: Boot in safe mode

You can also try booting up your Mac in safe mode. Doing this will enable you to clear your cache, delete some files and create more space on the system to install the new OS.

5. Setting up your Mac

After installing macOS Catalina, you should see a “setting up your Mac” message. However, this should not take a long time before your system is available for use. If it does, then you need to reboot your Mac by holding down the power button.

6. Login problems

After installing your new OS, restart your PC. When the system boots up, you are prompted to log in. However, if you find that you can’t log in, or you keep getting logged out, follow these steps:

  1. Restart your Mac and hold down the Command + S keys on your keyboard as it boots up.
  2. When the Command Prompt box pops up, type in the following:
  3. Press Enter, then type the following line in to relaunch Catalina as if it were the first time:
  4. Press Enter and then restart your Mac.
  5. You will be asked to create a new user admin account.

Conclusion

No software is without its faults, and macOS Catalina is no different. However, that is the beauty of updates. When a bug or an issue is noticed, the owner of the software releases new updates to fix these issues. If you do not want to continue relying on new updates to solve a current problem, you should consider downgrading.