Green Apple of Doom on Start Up

Ok, finally solved the problem. Not a hardware problem. (But I did buy and format for Time Machine a beautiful, new LaCie Mobile SSD 500GB from Apple, so that my files are now backed up for the first time, ever.)

My problem was occurring due to a Login Items issue. Old Toad alerted me to a Safe Mode start up Systems Preferences thing to check, and so I read up on what it entailed in the blue highlighted-text "click" information that he included in his reply to me.

Before I was going to do the Safe Mode procedure, I decided to look at the Login Items, and there I found two iTunesHelper files, one above the other, and the lower one had Unknown and an alert ⚠️ symbol next to it. I figured that couldn't be good, so I investigated iTunesHelper, and came across what to do.

Basically, all I had to do was delete the iTunesHelper Unknown item, and then try my computer without it, and see if I'd still get the Green Apple of Doom screen.

To insure I'd get the GAoD screen, I turned on WiFi and opened Safari… and then I clicked on Photos.

Instead of the screen glitching and black/white twitching, Photos opened for the first time in months.

I then turned everything off and restarted the computer, and it starts just fine.

Problem solved… and I don't need a new computer!

Ok, in the latest chapter of my Green Apple of Doom, what I found out was that some Malware would load on my MacBook Pro.

I was actually sitting idle in front of the screen, a little box appeared, and without my doing anything it stated:

"Installing Update…" which it did.

At the time I didn't think anything of it, but when I turned off the computer, upon restart the GAoD problem had returned.

When I finally got the computer to turn on (took 3 hours of repeated attempts) I went into Applications, Utilities, and found Last Modification files, which was the file I believe I saw loading, it had a pretty decent size, like 50 MB+, and I moved it to Trash, and emptied the Trash.

I also got rid of peripheral Software of Adobe stuff that I wondered about, and got rid of free copies of Malwarebytes… all sent to Trash and emptied.

Have not had any problems in days, now. So, my computer hardware has always been fine… and my issues were from installed software from the Internet.

When I installed "stuff" to begin with, I was probably warned by the Apple popup window, "These files are from the Internet, are you sure you want to install them?" They looked legit, from Adobe, but who knows what sort of hidden "infections" were attached to them.

All I can say is everything is back to normal, and I seem to be able to use the computer, unchallenged.

Well, I'm on the computer right now, and as long as I don't try certain things, it works fine and starts up fine. I can watch YouTube videos, visit chatrooms, go to just about any site, and I have zero issues.

Something's not right, though, when it goes to the GAoD. It is interesting that when red and green come together, they make grey. I've seen it with the fringe colored red/green apple, and grey in the center of the apple.

So, it seems I'll have to look into the hardware. It sounds like I've been getting by with just brute force attempts of random occurrence luck, of try something enough, and eventually you get lucky.

Let's say it is the GPU, CPU, or LCD. Are these replaceable, or is it buy a new computer time?

GAoD is just me being lazy and I didn't want to type out Green Apple of Doom. (Green Apple of Doom is just a whimsical expression I made up to describe the screen I see on start up.)

I'll look into some of the things you've recommended.

I sort of like the load El Capitan software comment. I never had problems when that was the software I used.

Incidentally, I never have a problem as long as I do things in an orderly way. It is when I get careless with an inadvertent trackpad swipe, or something hasn't finished and I try to move on, or if I step away from the computer and come back, and then it may be just a black screen, and I'm frozen out.

But the worst case scenario these days is opening up Photos while I'm on the Internet. That is a "death sentence" and I know I'm in trouble.

Yes, may have to go to an Apple Center and get checked out.

For now, I have become very methodical in solving the GAoD. I keep notes of what I try, in the order I try things, and write down the result that happened. It is amazing, when I've been seeing the GAoD time and time again, and try another command+R startup, and a grey apple appears. Then I quickly remove the balsa wood hold down weight (a small Master lock on the balsa wood "tool" I made) and the keys immediately are no longer depressed, and I get a lucky startup.

Anyway, if I have good luck with some of your suggestions, I'll come back and acknowledge your help.

Than you.

Ok, I can't do the methodology you described just yet because I need to first backup my files (which aren't extensive) and I have to investigate how to do that, what I have to buy, and then actually back them up.

However, I just did the Apple Extended Hardware Test, and it came back with no issues. Now… the computer right now is not misbehaving, and so I was expecting a good result from that extended test.

But a while ago, when I could not get out of the GAoD scenario, there were few options I had back then that would get me at least to interacting with the computer from the trackpad, and one of them was the Hardware Test. So I had done that test in the corduroy green appearance of my screen then (no problems detected) and I then followed that up with the Extended Hardware Test, and passed that test, too.

I'll be looking forward to backing up my files, and after doing that, trying El Capitan again, and see if my problems disappear under all circumstances. I never… not once… had the GAoD with El Cap, and only when I got to macOS High Sierra did I first have any issues.

But who know… El Cap may have some vulnerabilities with security that may make it inferior today, and maybe I just have a corrupted version of High Sierra, and all I need is a solid way of storing a good version of it, and having a solid backup version.

Anyway, to be continued…

(And thank you again for your help and interest.)

Kappy, let me just run a few more things by you.

When I'd get the GAoD light-green horizontal-corduroy screen, and then I'd finally get it to go away, I'd decide to test if it had "really" gone away.

The test would involve seeing if my computer would shutdown normally.

So, everything would be normal, and I'd click on the upper left apple, the menu would drop down, and I'd click the Shut Down… line, and then a box would open in the middle of the screen, "Are you sure you want to shut down your computer now?"

When I'd click the blue Shut Down, and the window would disappear, I'd notice that the white outlined arrow would not disappear. It would just remain. And the computer would not shut down. Finally, I'd have to hit the on/off button, and it would shut down after holding the button down for a while.

Then when I'd start it up again, for a normal start, the GAoD screen would be back, and I'd be stuck dealing with it again.

Finally, there would be a couple of other oddities, too. I'd get a normal looking screen on Start Up, but the load bar would not start on the extreme left. It would appear and would show up starting up, pre-loaded from the middle. Then I knew I wasn't out of harms way yet.

P.S. Computer has been working fine for the last two days because I don't open the Photos. I have opened the Photos folder, but the rule of engagement for doing it involves having the WiFi off from the last Shut Down, and the first thing I do is click the Photos icon rather than turning on the WiFi. Photos bounces a little, but then the photos appear, and all is well. If I had done this with the WiFi on and Safari running, then the computer usually gets weird on me, and before you know it I'm back to the GAoD scenario.

From all of this, does this sound like software to you?

I never did the safe mode testing. If I had done that, it wouldn't have narrowed my problem. But it would have made it go away, I guess. Then, perhaps, I would have been asking questions again, and maybe I would have gotten to the Login Items sooner.

But during the last week, I discovered that Photos was key to my problem. I learned that I couldn't open Photos if I had used WiFi and Safari without then shutting the computer off, first.

After a week of zero problems, I tried Photos today (after turning off Safari but not shutting the computer off) and the GAoD came back.

So then I looked around to see if anyone else was having problems with Photos.

That was when things narrowed dramatically to Login Items, and the yellow alert thing reared its head, there: ⚠️

Someone's thread from six years ago then explained what to do. Delete the Unknown iTunesHelper.

At the beginning of last week, I was under the impression that my computer screen was about to die from a hardware problem. Part of that belief was from you expressing an opinion that my screen was about to die because of the bizarre appearances I was seeing on the screen. Or it could have been a video card, or … a million things.

So, I was getting pulled in many different directions. I needed to process things in my head, and I got a backup drive (your GOOD recommendation) on Tuesday, got Time Machine tied in with it, and then I was ready to proceed because I had confidence that if my computer did fail, I'd at least have my files stored elsewhere.

It's all good, from everyone, really. You and others have been very helpful.