I'm already running 12.7.6 but Software Update still shows an update to 12.7.6 as being available?

Re: I'm already running 12.7.6 but Software Update still shows an update to 12.7.6 as being available?

You might want to try restarting your Mac:

ie: Click the black Apple on the left in the top menu bar > Choose "Restart"

(deletes temporary files, may update recent setting changes, re-establishes connections,

and often restores order if something is not working as expected.)

When Mac restarts, log back-in, and see if software update now shows you are up-to=date.

Lee Warren 500 wrote:

Lee Warren 500 wrote:

However, running the update must have done something as my Mac afterwards was slow at boot and seemed slow to respond for a while like it was in the process of rebuilding some files and directories, etc.; e.g. Spotlight seems to have forgotten where anything is and looks like it will need to be rebuilt. I don't recommend running the 12.7.6 update when already at 12.7.6 just to solve its update prompt error.

A follow-up to my last post above: The OS became very buggy the more I used the Mac after applying the 12.7.6 "update" ... I started experiencing kernal panics and crashes during restarts. Spotlight would work for a short while after prompting it to rebuild its search database, however, after a restart, it stopped working and could not find anything unless I forced it to rebuild, but that would again be lost after the next restart. Generally, things in the user interface were slow with random lags and pauses in response to inputs. In my estimation, the installed 12.7.6 system became unreliable and not worth the effort to continue to chase the issues reported in each new crash report.

FYI, It may have been useful to examine those Kernel Panic logs since they may point to the culprit (software or hardware). Chances are the phantom 12.7.6 update was due to the same issue that was causing your problems after updating 12.7.6 again.

Also, deleting the "/Library/Preferences/com.apple.SoftwareUpdate.plist" file would have been another option to try. Sorry I couldn't think of this option before.

To get it up and running again, I reverted to OS 11.7.10 using a good, bootable clone of my Mac Pro's SSD (made prior to the 12.7.6 upgrade) rather than messing with trying to restore it via Time Machine, and everything is now good again. When I do proceed with the upgrade to Monterey in the coming days, I am going to use the 12.7.4 installer that Apple still supports and will ignore the subsequent patch updates to 12.7.6.

Good job. This is a great example of being prepared & having good backups since it gave you multiple options for recovering. Sorry it had to come to that.

Does it work if you update while booted in safe mode via Shift-boot?

Unfortunately for some reason Monterey 12.7.6 full installer is not available from Apple (only 12.7.4. In App Store 12.7.4 is incorrectly labeled as 12.7.6 the last time I tested this a few months ago) so trying to apply that is not possible.

FWIW, My memory isn't that great but I do remember there being two downloads of the same version of macOS. It could have been Monterey. I would go ahead and update it, if you aren't going to upgrade to Tahoe.

dialabrain wrote:

FWIW, My memory isn't that great but I do remember there being two downloads of the same version of macOS. It could have been Monterey. I would go ahead and update it, if you aren't going to upgrade to Tahoe.

Apple pulled the 12.7.6 update since that full installer hasn't been available for a while now....12.7.4 is the latest Apple is allowing these days. I don't recall if I ever knew the reason.

Lee Warren 500 wrote:

Under "Other Updates", it is showing "macOS Monterey 12.7.6 1.34 GB" as being available. This is odd as I am already running 12.7.6; is this some kind of security patch or is it just a bug in the updates that is not correctly reading my current OS version? Should I simply ignore this 12.7.6 "update" that is being offered?

I believe Apple pulled the 12.7.6 update, but I don't recall the details. I guess you can try to install it. I wonder if it may revert the 12.7.6 update to restore the system to 12.7.4 or if it may be 12.7.6.1.

I seem to recall a command line option to clear the software update list, but cannot find a reference to it since it must be undocumented.

Lee Warren 500 wrote:

So, I am curious what are folks supposed to do if they have a Mac with OS 12.7.6 already installed and they need to recover / repair the boot volume for whatever reason, but the only option they have is to create a USB recovery drive using OS version 12.7.4 ... that won't work, correct?

You can use a 12.7.4 installer to repair the file system or anything else except for reinstalling macOS over top of the 12.7.6 installation.

I have installers for 12.7.4, 12.7.5, and 12.7.6 ... using the 12.7.6 version left me with the problem of the "phantom" 12.7.6 update that won't go away, so I suppose it's "safer" to use the 12.7.4 version since Apple must have a good reason to have removed the two later versions. Thanks

Without knowing the cause of that phantom update, we have no clue whether it would also occur with another Mac that may be configured ever so slightly differently. It could be some odd thing with that particular Mac, or it could be due to Apple being unable to deal with a no longer available OS patch state.

It also makes it impossible to know whether 12.7.6 is safe since there is no information that I can find for why it was pulled. I guess the fact that Apple did not release another update to remove the 12.7.6 update patch from those systems which already successfully updated to 12.7.6 would seem to indicate the issue is not catastrophic. Obviously Apple did not feel it worth the effort to fix the issues with the 12.7.5 & 12.7.6 patches, they felt it was better to leave the system with known vulnerabilities of 12.7.4 instead. Without more details it really is up to you whether you think 12.7.6 is safe to use since you have a unique perspective from having a Mac running it.

I honestly don't know which I would choose if it were my system.

Lee Warren 500 wrote:

That is interesting; For my remaining Macs not yet upgraded from Big Sur, is there a compelling reason that I should install 12.7.4 instead of 12.7.6?

macOS 12.7.6 is no longer available AFAIK. You will only be able to install macOS 12.7.4 these days.

Lee Warren 500 wrote:

That is interesting; For my remaining Macs not yet upgraded from Big Sur, is there a compelling reason that I should install 12.7.4 instead of 12.7.6?

When I cleanly installed Monterey a few months ago I downloaded v12.7.4 full installer (which was erroneously labeled as 12.7.6. I prepared a bootable USB installer from that and used that and then applied the 12.7.6 update via software installer. I believe it works still the same way.