MenkoH
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: OSX does not complete boot sequence

Hi,

 

I have a MBP 15'' (early 2011). 2.2 GHz i7, 16GB 1333MHz DDR3 RAM and it's running OSX El Capitan Version 10.11.3.

 

A few years ago I moved the "old" SATA HDD to the DVD bay using an adapter kit and installed an SSD drive as the system disk (and added some additional memory in the process). All was working perfectly until a month ago when all of a sudden it didn't get through the boot sequence after entering the system password. The process indicator basically halted at +/- 60%.

 

Using basically all options to restart the Mac as explained here (randomly): Startup key combinations for Mac - Apple Support I have been able to recover the system every time but after a few days or even a week the issue occurs again.

 

Some details of the event and the recovery:

- Mac just quits and reboots

- You here the startup tone and see the Apple logo

- Enter password for user

- Process indicator stops at 50-60%

 

Recovery process (not sure which of the actions below really does the trick though (or which combination / sequence!). After each attempt to boot I have to do a hard reset using the power button.

- Try to startup in safe mode (screen remains white)

- Single user mode (screen remains white and you hear noise of the fan)

- Reset NVPRAM (no difference)

- Boot with "Diagnostics test from the internet" - no fault found in the extensive test

- Boot in verbose mode (machine hangs after "nspace-handler-set-snapshot-time" is shown on the screen)

- Try to boot from bootable OSX thumb drive (screen remains white and you here fan noise)

- Start up in safe mode (it then actually boots in safe mode as expected)

- Do a "normal" system restart (result: the MBP boots normally as it should)

 

Only yesterday (after booting into the normal mode) the screen and MBP froze showing this (actually during the use of the Console application):

IMG_2967.jpg

BTW - I did not see this during any of the other occurrences so I'm not sure if this is purely related to my main issue.

 

My questions (and cries for help :-):

- Does anyone have an idea what the issue may be and how to confirm this?

- In which logfiles could / should I look to find the culprit (assuming something related to this is actually logged)?

- Which other tests / scenario's could I try?

 

Thanks very much in advance for any help, feedback or suggestions!

 

M!

MacBook Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11.3), Early 2011, i7 processor, 16Gb RAM

Posted on Mar 7, 2016 2:59 AM

by Mike Sombrio,Solvedanswer
Mike Sombrio Mike Sombrio
Level 6 (17,233 points)
Apple Watch
A:

https://www.apple.com/support/macbookpro-videoissues/

Posted on Mar 30, 2016 2:33 PM

Close
MenkoH

Q: OSX does not complete boot sequence

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by Lexiepex,

    Lexiepex Lexiepex Mar 7, 2016 3:27 AM in response to MenkoH
    Level 6 (10,477 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 7, 2016 3:27 AM in response to MenkoH

    It looks like a hardware issue (graphics card). That year 2011 a lot of MBPs had this error, there even was a repair action going. I am not sure this action is still running. Check with Apple.

  • by Mike Sombrio,Solvedanswer

    Mike Sombrio Mike Sombrio Mar 30, 2016 2:33 PM in response to MenkoH
    Level 6 (17,233 points)
    Apple Watch
    Mar 30, 2016 2:33 PM in response to MenkoH

    https://www.apple.com/support/macbookpro-videoissues/

  • by MenkoH,

    MenkoH MenkoH Mar 7, 2016 4:25 AM in response to Lexiepex
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 7, 2016 4:25 AM in response to Lexiepex

    Hi Lex,

     

    Many thanks for your reply. This does indeed look like the video issue you mentioned. However, do you think that this would be linked / related to the "main issue" I described whereby the MBP randomly fails to boot (keeping in mind that the screen-freeze seems to only have occurred once until now)?

     

    Thanks!

  • by Lexiepex,Helpful

    Lexiepex Lexiepex Mar 7, 2016 5:11 AM in response to MenkoH
    Level 6 (10,477 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 7, 2016 5:11 AM in response to MenkoH

    I think this issue is enough to cause all problems. It should be repaired.

    If you still have boot problems (you suspect te SSD) you could download an app that can make an estimate of the health of the disk. There are several, the very best I could find is DiveDx  from  http://binaryfruit.com

    you can use a trial version: download, run, open the report, and on each line there is an explanation when you hover the mouse pointer over it. When in doubt, post the report here in this thread.

  • by MenkoH,

    MenkoH MenkoH Mar 7, 2016 5:12 AM in response to Lexiepex
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 7, 2016 5:12 AM in response to Lexiepex

    Thanks Lex, I will follow your recommendation and report back

  • by Lexiepex,

    Lexiepex Lexiepex Mar 7, 2016 6:17 AM in response to MenkoH
    Level 6 (10,477 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 7, 2016 6:17 AM in response to MenkoH

    Let us hear how you fare

  • by MenkoH,

    MenkoH MenkoH Mar 30, 2016 2:33 PM in response to Lexiepex
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 30, 2016 2:33 PM in response to Lexiepex

    Hi Lex and Mike,

     

    Thanks a lot for pointing me in the right direction. Based on your recommendations I raised a ticket with a Apple Premium Service center and dropped the machine off the next day. From what I could read from the ticket updates was that the video card was indeed faulty and a request for out-of-warranty service was approved by Apple. As the video card is embedded in the mother board / logic board, this component was entirely replaced (within 4 working days). Good service from the Service Center, but also a good gesture from Apple, given the MBP is over 5 years old.

     

    The MBP has now been stable for over 2 weeks so I'm pretty certain that this solved the issue. Happy faces again

     

    Thanks again for your help, much appreciated!

  • by Mike Sombrio,

    Mike Sombrio Mike Sombrio Mar 30, 2016 2:41 PM in response to MenkoH
    Level 6 (17,233 points)
    Apple Watch
    Mar 30, 2016 2:41 PM in response to MenkoH

    That's great! Gotta love Apple.....