Unable to launch Apple Diagnostics

Yep - lots of good info from HandyMac

Well I'm about to buy a used (100% fully functional) logic board on eBay for $240.

It was that or I could order at BTO replacement iMac for $2800

Or I could pop down to the local apple store and drop $5K for entry level iMac Pro....

Just a note, you can get a Refurbed Mac from these good people & even can get a 2 Year Warranty, here's 2012s like yours is?

https://www.macofalltrades.com/shop/apple-desktops/?_bc_fsnf=1&Year=2012

I think everybody should choose the above post as "Helpful", in this way everyone else who visit this thread could take proper action to solve this problem.

I've contacted with the customer support and send them the link of this thread with a short brief about the problem.

I pasted the message that I sent to Apple support to below so everyone can use it as a draft.

Case # 20000052150237 or https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250285425

If you review above topic, you will see that AHT or AD softwares is not working and +150 people have the same problem.

I get the following error when I want to run AHT on my computer

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Error: 0x8000000000000003, Cannot Load 'EFI/Drivers/TestSupport.efi'

Status: 0x00000003

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Please help us to make Apple take action on this issue by passing this problem to corresponding staff.

The problem is that swapping out the logic board will probably fix the issue --- until you then load Mojave firmware which will then screw it up again...

You saw my screen shot earlier where their in house Diagnostics run ok (at least top level tests) whereas built in or Internet based don't...

Anyway... I got an old logic board which I will try and fit this well and I'll report back what happens.

Any Apple employee who sees this….

The photo is good evidence, but… it is highly unlikely that any Apple employee will see it, and even if someone does, it won't make any difference. Posting to this board is not equivalent to reporting a problem to Apple, nor to asking for a solution. You must either call Apple support about it (though the photo won't do any good because they can't see it over the phone), or – best if you can do it – put the photo on one of the computers that can't load the Diagnostics (actually Apple Hardware Test, I believe, on a 2012 model) and take it to an Apple Store to show them the problem, and ask for a solution. Otherwise, we can all discuss this forever but it'll make no impression on Apple. If we could come up with a solution among ourselves here, that would be fine, but we can't; Apple has to fix this.

The problem is that swapping out the logic board will probably fix the issue…

If the replacement board came from a Mac which had not been upgraded to Mojave or High Sierra. I suspect this is why a poster on another board found that his Mac could now load the Diagnostics software after a logic board replacement, where it couldn't before. He had upgraded to High Sierra, which probably caused the problem; but when the logic board was replaced, the HD (or SSD) was simply moved from the old board to the replacement, so High Sierra was not reinstalled after the replacement, thus the Boot ROM was not changed.

You saw my screen shot earlier where their in house Diagnostics run ok (at least top level tests) whereas built in or Internet based don't...

I have no experience with Apple's current diagnostic software, which is closely guarded in-house. The previous, pre-2015 version, Apple Service Diagnostic, which I have run on several Macs, consists of two sets of tests: an OS version and an EFI version. The OS version will still run on a Mac that will not run the basic Apple Diagnostics / Apple Hardware Test which Apple makes available to users (which requires loading an EFI driver), but the EFI version of ASD (which also requires loading an EFI driver) will not. So my guess is that your photo shows an OS-based diagnostic software set, not an EFI-based one. Maybe the current in-house diagnostic software is all OS-based and there is no EFI-based version – though this seems unlikely as the EFI version can do tests the OS version cannot (the OS requires a big chunk of memory to run, so it cannot test that memory, while the EFI version requires only a tiny slice of memory for its own use, so can test more memory).

I have this exact same error show up when I tried to run a diagnostic. Does you or anyone know what this means? Mind you I started having oi internet issues on my iMac (27 Inch, late 2012) with 2.9 GHz Intel Core i5 which caused me to run diagnostic test. Computer still works but want to know what this error means and if I should be concerned or take it to get repaired before it completely stops working. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

“Vintage" ("denoting something of high quality, especially something from the past or characteristic of the best period of a person's work" – New Oxford American Dictionary, included with macOS),

Apple’s definition of vintage:

“Vintage products are those that have not been manufactured for more than 5 and less than 7 years ago. Apple has discontinued hardware service for vintage products with the following exceptions”

The point is that Apple no longer actively supports these unless a repair is necessary and that would depend on the age and/or if parts are still available. There will never be any special “fix” for these unless the exact same problem were found on newer machines.

Rather than spending all this time complaining here, I accept the fact that my 2012 MBP will most likely not be able to run AHT and that is easily fixed by having the Genius Bar run it. Except for having to drive there, it will be quick and done at no charge.

Yep. I agree with all your analysis. I work on embedded systems with UEFI bootloaders and we would certainly try and run tests from internal SoC memory before loading main OS to DDR etc.

So... Getting back to the big picture... I think we conclude that the Mojave or High Sierra latest installers that contain 283.0.0.0 EFI Firmware update (on late 2012 iMac ) load firmware that has got bugs in it that prevent apple hardware tests from running ?

But in my case it's worse - it also stops the machine from booting past UI Process start - suspecting a problem with GPU. The tech in the repair shop then pinned this on the logic board - ok but it was working before the firmware update... So is there not just a big that effects AHT running but maybe also some more aggressive clock or bus configuration setup in EFI boot that is more sensitive to an old maybe a little bit wonky GPU???

That's what is frustrating - I'm about to do a complicated HW swap out of logic board because of something which has been caused by a **** firmware update!!!

What do you think?

You might want to read this to realize that it's not a recent problem - at least not having to do with an OS update; as I had said earlier, things changed with the changeover from a DVD install to a download only method, and, it has to do with what the user did (as in: reinstall from scratch).

https://github.com/upekkha/AppleHardwareTest

So you really need to stop blaming Apple for recent upgrades as the problem goes back much further. As well, you must consider that technology changes/advances; the newer OS versions are all really optimized for newer hardware. Additionally, if there is never an erase and reinstall, the original AHT may still be there. Complicating things may be the fact that any Apple technician/support who was not around at that time may not be aware of that.

I just tried following the instructions linked to in babowa's post - downloading the .diagnotics for Late 2012 iMac (13,2)

I copied the .diagnostics folder to my High Sierra OS Bootable USB (in CoreServices)

When I tried to launch diagnostics with Power On + D, I get the following message:

InitializationFailed: Unable to run diagnostics. DEC500

Press 'S' to shut down or 'R' to restart your computer

Try running AppleDiagnostics again. If this issue persists Contact Apple Support.

Ok... I've had enough... screen coming off... I'm going in....

Yes. And I'm afraid,

We can never run AHT on our Ivy-Bridge Macs , till Apple fix the bug in the BootROM for Ivy-Bridge,

On Sierra, High Sierra, and Mojave.

You have no trouble as long as you're running El Capitan or earlier on your Ivy-Bridge Macs.

That's because of the " Security Update 2019-002 " and later on Sierra and High Sierra, or Mojave 10.14.4 and later.

babowa, you understand?

I agreed it was Apple's fault... just was hoping I could get AHT working - I didn't understand the earlier info that the right version of AHT wouldn't work with this Firmware - anyway - was quick test...

I'm still wondering though - I think there are two issues here... It seems my GPU is (now) not working - so a logic board swap could solve... then there is the firmware version and incompatibility with Apple Diagnostics... do we think EVERYONE with similar models ALL have this problem with latest firmware? That surely would be recognized by more people (including Apple)... ?

The newest BootROM prevents the Ivy Bridge Macs from running AHT.

Thanks for the clarification. I hadn't thought of it that way, but indeed, 2012 thru early 2013 Macs are Ivy Bridge based, while late 2013 models are Haswell based – and don't show this error. (The Mac Pro, though "Late 2013", is also Ivy Bridge.) I note that the Boot ROM now in my 2013 MacBook Pro is v.255.0.0.0.0, while in the 2014 MBP it is v.153.0.0.0.0, and in the 2015 MBP v.192.0.0.0.0. So the older computer has a newer Boot ROM, which seems odd. And the newer computers do not show this error. And from what I recall, all the folks here who mention the Boot ROM have a version above 200.

That's because of the " Security Update 2019-002 " and later on Sierra and High Sierra, or Mojave 10.14.4 and later.

Oh, another wrinkle; I didn't know about that. So even if I hadn't installed Mojave on the 2013 MBP, the Security Update would have done the same thing anyway? Great.

I just tried following the instructions linked to in babowa's post - downloading the .diagnotics for Late 2012 iMac (13,2)

I copied the .diagnostics folder to my High Sierra OS Bootable USB (in CoreServices)

Oh, my. No, that's not how to do it. Read the instructions more carefully: either (a) the .diagnostics folder must be in /System/Library/CoreServices in the OS installed on the computer's internal drive, and will run (though not always in my experience) when you start with the D key; or it must be on a USB drive in raw form, i.e. without an OS, which is why creating such a drive requires Terminal acrobatics, as per the instructions – and then you must select it in Startup Manager (start with option key). I don't believe it will work from an external drive with an OS (though I haven't tried it – but upekkha doesn't say to do it that way). The System won't even see it, which is why it did not report Cannot load 'EFI/Drivers/TestSupport.efi' – which is the problem being discussed here.

It's not that AHT can't be found – which is what the error you show here tells you – but that even when it is found, the computer cannot load the necessary EFI driver to run it – which is what Cannot load 'EFI/Drivers/TestSupport.efi'  tells you – because the "updated" Boot ROM won't allow it.

I haven't tried it, but it may be that if you start from an external drive with D, and your computer is connected to the Internet, it will try to load AHT from the Internet, in which case it will likely report Cannot load 'EFI/Drivers/TestSupport.efi' . Which I believe you've said you've seen before. If you have seen this error before, then your iMac's Boot ROM is trashed, and there is no way to run AHT on it – until Apple supplies a fix for the what its Mojave upgrade or Security Update caused.

Anyway, sorry, but your experiment is not relevant to the subject here, only confuses the issue.

do we think EVERYONE with similar models ALL have this problem with latest firmware?

Only those who (a) have upgraded to Mojave (maybe many, though I wouldn't do it on such an old Mac – though some will give in to Apple's constant nagging) or run the latest Security Update in Sierra or High Sierra (certainly many – if indeed that also causes the problem), and (b) have had reason to try to run AHT (maybe not so many). Maybe the problem doesn't afflict everybody in those two categories, but it seems to have hit at least 200, which is not nobody.

That surely would be recognized by more people (including Apple)... ?

Not necessarily. I doubt Apple would have knowingly shipped a firmware update that caused this problem. So they must be made aware of it – which "complaining" on this forum doesn't do – as noted above. If it's not brought to Apple's attention, Apple doesn't know about it.

I wonder if anybody has tried the hard to find old original ASDs... 3s151, 3s152

Yes. I've run several ASDs on several Macs, including my 2013 MBP. ASD comes in two parts, one OS-based, one EFI-based. Before I installed Mojave on the MBP, both ran fine, but after the upgrade, while the OS version still works, the EFI version of ASD shows the error Cannot load 'EFI/Drivers/TestSupport.efi' . Somehow that seems familiar….

I see that the post recommending the GitHub article on AHTs has been promoted to "Helpful" – I don't by whom. I'm quite familiar with the excellent GitHub post, which I discovered a year and a half ago. Since then I've downloaded numerous versions of AHT and run them on numerous Macs, both by installing the invisible .diagnostics folder in /System/Library/CoreServices and by creating a bootable USB drive per upekkha's instructions. Which worked fine on my 2013 MBP, which also ran AHT fine from the Internet – until I installed Mojave on it (or maybe until I ran the latest Sierra Security Update, I don't know which). Now it won't run AHT from anywhere. 

Otherwise, the post is a recipe for giving up. "Apple trashed my computer, but that's okay, it's an old computer anyway." An old computer that Apple wants you to install Mojave on. If that's what works for whoever checked it as "Helpful", okay. It doesn't work for me. Unfortunately, I can't get to a Genius Bar at this time. I'm hoping that somebody here who can, and who has an affected Mac that will pass the Genius Bar's diagnostic (i.e. with no hardware problems), will go do that and ask "Why can't I run AHT on this Mac?" And mention that there are more than 200 other users with Ivy Bridge Macs who have the same problem. Then maybe we'll get some action. 

Whatever fix works for one should work for all. (Except in the case where a logic board is replaced with one that has never been subjected to the Mojave upgrade, thus does not have the new Boot ROM. In that case, if Mojave is installed again, the error will probably then show up.)

We've done all we can here. The problem requires a fix from Apple. It must be brought to their attention, through the official channel. You can try calling Apple Support about it, but they'll almost certainly want you to bring your Mac to a Genius Bar for diagnosis, so you might as well go ahead and do that to begin with.