pkeller1

Q: El Capitan installs & boots OK, but crashes on restart

The El Capitan installation went fine, it booted the first time without any problems, then it crashes after a restart. Often (but not always) I see "PCI configuration begin/end" messages. Then it automatically reboots, so it's in an infinite loop of reboots.

 

I cannot boot in safe mode: it just hangs with the progress bar showing 0%.

 

I rebooted to the recovery volume (which went swimmingly) and reinstalled the OS; this did the same thing: install, boot OK, restart goes into infinite loop of crashes.

 

I tried resetting the Parameter RAM. No change.

 

This is a 2009 iMac 27, 16 GB RAM, SSD & HD.

 

Thanks in advance for any help.

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11.1)

Posted on Nov 9, 2015 10:33 AM

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Q: El Capitan installs & boots OK, but crashes on restart

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  • by Linc Davis,Solvedanswer

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Nov 9, 2015 11:41 AM in response to pkeller1
    Level 10 (208,000 points)
    Applications
    Nov 9, 2015 11:41 AM in response to pkeller1

    Back up all data to at least two different storage devices, if you haven't already done so. One backup is not enough to be safe. The backups can be made with Time Machine or with Disk Utility. Preferably both.

    Erase and install OS X. This operation will destroy all data on the startup volume, so you had be better be sure of the backups. If you upgraded from an older version of OS X, you'll need the Apple ID and password that you used, so make a note of those before you begin.

    When you restart, you'll be prompted to go through the initial setup process. That’s when you transfer the data from a backup.

    Select only users and Computer & Network Settings in the Setup Assistant dialog—not Applications or Other files and folders. Don't transfer the Guest account, if it was enabled.

    If the problem is resolved after the clean installation, reinstall third-party software selectively. I can only suggest general guidelines. Self-contained applications that install into the Applications folder by drag-and-drop or download from the App Store are usually safe. Anything that comes packaged as an installer or that prompts for an administrator password is suspect, and you must test thoroughly after reinstalling each such item to make sure you haven't restored the problem. I strongly recommend that you never reinstall commercial "security" products or "utilities," nor any software that changes the user interface or the behavior of built-in applications such as Safari. If you do that, the problem is likely to recur.

    Before installing any software, ask yourself the question: "Am I sure I know how to uninstall this without having to wipe the volume again?" If the answer is "no," stop.

    Never install any third-party software unless you know how to uninstall it.

  • by pkeller1,

    pkeller1 pkeller1 Nov 9, 2015 1:19 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Mac OS X
    Nov 9, 2015 1:19 PM in response to Linc Davis

    Thanks for the suggestion, but that is unfortunately not a feasible solution: I'd be spending a week reinstalling stuff. Instead, I'm restoring Yosemite from my backup. Too bad for El Capitan.

     

    Incidentally, I wasn't even able to start up in single-user or verbose mode, to try to find out what's hosed. I've wasted the better part of a working day on this, and I'm not a happy camper.

  • by pkeller1,

    pkeller1 pkeller1 Nov 13, 2015 8:20 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Mac OS X
    Nov 13, 2015 8:20 AM in response to Linc Davis

    For what it's worth: I decided to (sort of) follow Linc Davis' advice after all. I figured that something was obviously amiss, and that it would probably come back to bite me later on, at some highly inconvenient moment. Here's what I did:

    1. Restored my Yosemite installation from Time Machine.
    2. Partitioned my startup volume (the SSD).
    3. Clean install of El Capitan on the second partition.
    4. In the Setup Assistant, copied "Users" and "Computer & Network Settings" only, as per Linc's recommendation. I first tried copying "Applications" and "Other files and folders" as well, but that produced exactly the same symptoms I had with the in-place upgrade. Sigh.
    5. Went through my installation archive and installed the applications that were still relevant. At the same time I verified I had the most recent version, and that each application still functioned. I was surprised at how much deadwood I had accumulated: my Yosemite installation weighed in at 94 GB, and the new El Capitan installation at 56 GB.
    6. Had a bit of a kerfuffle with migrating my mail. I found this article useful: http://www.needhelp4mac.com/2015/10/troubleshooting-apple-mail-in-os-x-10-11-el- capitan/
    7. Discovered that you can't delete the first partition (makes sense, I guess), so copied the completed El Capitan installation to the former Yosemite partition, using Carbon Copy Cloner.
    8. Rebooted on the cloned partition and deleted the El Capitan installation partition.

    Whew. As expected, it took me the better part of a week. So, despite what you may have read, this is not necessarily a minor upgrade. But at least the dual-boot configuration allowed me to occasionally get some real work done.