10.15 Catalina....bricked my Mid 2014 13" Macbook Pro? Blinking file icon

On 10/07/2019 I saw the update for 10.15 pop up in system preferences, and downloaded and attempted to install it. I clicked install once it downloaded and then walked away. Like I normally do.

When I return to my Mac, it is sitting there with the blinking file icon. here

WHAT I HAVE TRIED:

reset SMC

reset PRAM

Disconnected battery, held power button for 5 seconds (same as SMC reset I think)

(⌘)-R

(⌘)-R-option

(⌘)-R-option-shift

Removed SSD and tried to boot into internet recovery without it (done on the same machine in the past)

I also tried any and all other key combos I could find, but it seems it just does not want to boot into anything at all. I have a 10.14.5 bootable disk and time machine back ups, but cannot seem to get the machine to a point where I can use them.

The computer was perfectly fine before I pressed install, never had any issues with this machine. Any ideas? To me it seems the Catalina upgrade corrupted the firmware on my logic board. Did the Catalina update brick my logic board?

I also had a call with Apple phone support. They were not able to help me. They suggested it was hardware related and had nothing to do with the software. I disagree. Another user seems to have the exact same issue, linked below on apples website. If you have this issue it is not a hardware failure coincidentally at the time of the Catalina install! There are others with this issue. It is the 10.15 software that has caused this problem!

link

Posted on Oct 9, 2019 5:23 AM

Top-ranking reply

tmprulez

Level 1

4 points

Posted on Feb 20, 2020 4:53 PM

Apple store got me all fixed. Issue was the Catalina update. It created two extra hard drive partitions and caused a (T2) EFI issue. Had to erase and repartition the hard drive, set and remove EFI password and then restored Time Machine Backup. Took them two hours but it worked. No Apple Care and no charges. The people at the Apple Store are great. They said they have had five come in with the same issue this week so they were very familiar with the resolution.

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109 replies

Apr 9, 2020 1:01 PM in response to JamminJP

I tried to update and it would not complete. I got scared and thought it killed it. I managed to reinstall HS and thankfully back to running smoothly. I guess I will keep it on HS forever, it is still getting security updates.

Leanne_68

Community Specialist

Oct 11, 2019 3:37 PM in response to alexscheppert

Hello and welcome to Apple Support Communities, alexscheppert.

If I understand your post correctly, after updating your Mac you see a flashing file with a question mark. I’d like to help.

It sounds like you've done some great troubleshooting so far. Make sure you've completed all the steps in this article:

If a flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac

Let us know if that resolves this issue for you.

Thanks for using the Apple Support Communities. Take care.

Oct 11, 2019 3:45 PM in response to Leanne_68

Hi. I have tried those steps, on my own and with Apple support on the phone. I am unable to boot into the OS. I am unable to use any key combinations, such as those shown in that link to access recovery. I cannot boot into internet recovery. I cannot boot off a bootable disk. I cannot access disk utility. This is a problem that I, and other users are experiencing when attempted to install the 10.15 upgrade. See here, here (from beta 7), and here.

Keep in mind that as far as I can tell, the update did not complete.

Oct 11, 2019 4:59 PM in response to Allan Eckert

I am. I have an appointment set up tomorrow. I felt it necessary to make a posting so other Mac users can see that there are others having this issue, and potentially get some input on fixes. As you can see from the post here, there are several people (8) that "also have this question."

Jaygrow

Level 1

14 points

Oct 15, 2019 7:45 AM in response to alexscheppert

To those who've experienced this issue: please let Apple know today. These threads are not actively followed and the more users that report to Apple, probably the more likely that there will be some resolution.

I initiated a chat and was then called by a Senior Advisor. I reported the details of the update corrupting my firmware, and sent links to the relevant threads here. Be nice and don't expect a fix over the phone, but they need to be made aware of the number of users affected. For reference, here are the related threads I am following:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250716026

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250745000

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250719221

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250728927

Oct 15, 2019 10:10 AM in response to Jaygrow

Jay, excellent advice. I have followed it. I had a long conversation with a Senior Advisor about the issues. I went over mine, gave links to everyone else's post as well. She said I should expect a call by next Tuesday, October 22nd. She said they are going to look into the problem during that time. She also mentioned it may help if more people call in and report this issue. So please, if you are having this issue, please get in touch with Apple support. You are increasing the chances that Apple takes action against this problem for both yourself, and everyone else. For reference, I first initiated chat, then was transferred to a tech specialist, then was transferred to a Senior Advisor. I told her I would not be the last to call, so please initiate contact so the issue becomes known to Apple.