SparkLabs Forum

Hello,

I am rexently experiencing stuck macos update on multiple computers.
There is always no other option just to ersse reinstall.
Stuck in logo load after update.
Happened to me on 2 devices, m1 and intel.
Happened 3 times 11->11.1, 11.1->11.2, 11.2->11.2.1
On Intel mac safe mode boots on m1 nothing work.

All of them have just viscosity as any custom software installed (latest one) so I think this is problem.

Hi Mathewst,

[Edit] We have identified a situation where Viscosity could inadvertently trigger a bug in the macOS update process when updating macOS 11 from version 11.0 or 11.1 to version 11.2.x. We've just released version 1.9.2 to address this. More information can be found on our blog:
https://www.sparklabs.com/blog/viscosit ... ion-1-9-2/

I'm going to assume you've been lead here from a Reddit thread where a couple of users have speculated it may be caused Viscosity. The comments I looked at started under the belief that Viscosity loads one or more kernel extensions which are active at update time, which is incorrect.

There are several reasons why Viscosity itself can't be the cause of your macOS update failure:

• Viscosity does not install or load any kernel extensions, which are about the only thing with enough permissions to interfere with macOS.
• The Viscosity application and helper tool are not active while updating. Indeed, the helper tool does not even start unless the Viscosity application is running.
• Viscosity does not make any permanent network changes to your machine. Nor does it make any changes or alter any of the permissions of system files. Even if Viscosity were to crash, its network settings would not remain after a re-launch, and certainly wouldn't remain after a reboot.
• The macOS updater terminates all unneeded applications/processes while the update is being performed.

Now could the macOS 11.2 updater have a problem where it gets stuck on something normal, like the presence of a helper tool on disk or something like that? It's possible, but that would be a bug with the updater or macOS 11, and nothing to do with Viscosity itself. It's also unlikely, as we've been able to update our Viscosity test machines to macOS 11.2 without any issue, including our Apple Silicon DTK machine.

There are some helpful threads on the Apple Discussions forum and MacRumours forum where people are discussing problems with the updater. At least one known issue appears to be that it doesn't handle running out of free space properly during the update process and can get stuck or display an error.

If you're a Viscosity user there is also a chance you may have used other VPN clients in the past. I would suggest checking whether you may have any left over kernel extensions from these clients, such as Tunnelblick (which does install kernel extensions to the machine) or a VPN Service Provider app. However I should add that it's highly unlikely any third-party software is to blame or could cause problems with the macOS update process: you are almost certainly running into a bug with the macOS updater.

At any rate, you should report your experience to Apple using their feedback page (or via the Feedback Assistance app).

Cheers,
James

Well at this moment I am trying to update to 11.2.1 with nothing just viscosity.
Its 2tb ssd so drive space is not an issue.

Trying to avoid futher problems. Viscosity is only common thing among them.

Its going to be something else not viscosity, it updated with nothing else but viscosity installed to 11.2.1

Thu Feb 11, 2021 10:11 pmMathewst wrote:

Its going to be something else not viscosity, it updated with nothing else but viscosity installed to 11.2.1

Glad to hear you were able to update without issue.

We have identified a situation where Viscosity could inadvertently trigger a bug in the macOS update process when updating macOS 11 from version 11.0 or 11.1 to version 11.2.x. We've just released version 1.9.2 to address this. More information can be found on our blog:
https://www.sparklabs.com/blog/viscosit ... ion-1-9-2/

Cheers,
James

Well it could be I wasnt having imported connection yet.

Good it is fixed for future.

Also I happened to me often with 1.9.1 it wasnt possible to quit viscosity, it was hanging in menu bar even after quitting, maybe those problems are linked?

Sun Feb 21, 2021 7:05 pmMathewst wrote:

Also I happened to me often with 1.9.1 it wasnt possible to quit viscosity, it was hanging in menu bar even after quitting, maybe those problems are linked?

It sounds likely you may be describing an issue that has been addressed in the latest beta version:
https://www.sparklabs.com/support/kb/ar ... -versions/

Cheers,
James

guys I am running beta version and sucesfully updated to 11.2.2, so it seems workaround is working