Level 1

73 points

"BAD MAGIC! (flag set in iBoot panic header)" — Catalina freezing all the time!

I formatted my Mac and reinstalled macOS, the solution I was hoping to frequent freezing (after about 30 minutes of normal use). To my terrible surprise, my Mac still froze. A hard shutdown and restart and here I am.

The log says this: "BAD MAGIC! (flag set in iBoot panic header), no macOS panic log available"

I'm at a loss. I haven't installed any software and it froze. A quick hardware diagnostics didn't find anything wrong with my hardware. This is a new 2018 MacBook Pro. It was working great until Catalina.

This is terrible. I place myself in the helpful hands of the internet in the hopes of solving this.

MacBook Pro 15”, macOS 10.15

Posted on Nov 5, 2019 6:04 PM

Top-ranking reply

m4de

Level 1

12 points

Posted on Jan 12, 2020 9:51 AM

This question has already been answered in the thread, this bug has no regional limit.

What defines this kernel panic :

Recent hardware with T2 chip on MacOs Catalina (starts late 2018, includes new MBP16 & new MacPros) Some reported the same bug with a different name on HighSierra
Common triggers : sleep-wake mode + external devices connected (any device, from hub, to screens and hard drives)
Some have short burst of high temperature + maxxed fans + global freeze, right before sudden reboot
Non working fixes : Flashing T2 firmware / Changing unit or motherboard
Short lived fixes : SMC + PRAM reset / T2 security disabled / HD encrypting disabled
More solid fixes : Disable all HD & Screen sleep (energy saver panel) / Screen sleep via shortcut or hot corners works / Disconnect all external devices if you don't disable the energy saver mode while away
Note : passes the Apple Service hardware tests but is easy to reproduce once you are plagued with it and know how to trigger it

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414 replies

Dec 19, 2019 3:52 AM in response to Marcwa122

@delarathe

Mine is happening with apple usbc to HDMI connector. So, it is is not aftermarket related.

Dec 19, 2019 3:55 AM in response to Central9

@Central9

I've had that happen to me.

Rob M

Level 1

20 points

Dec 20, 2019 11:21 AM in response to pedro-ale

Same issue. 2018 15" 6-Core i9. Crashes constantly under load. Sometimes not under load (even sleeping). Made appointment at Apple, since nothing I do seems to fix it.

Dec 20, 2019 10:40 PM in response to Marcwa122

Happened today to me on Macbook Pro 16-inch on MacOS 10.15.2. I didn't have any apps opened and I didn't even touch.

Dec 20, 2019 10:47 PM in response to Central9

I did, they replaced it for me, but now today (December 20), it happened again. Same thing, fans spin fast for a sec and then it rebooted.

Dec 20, 2019 11:32 PM in response to DSK_Daniel

Yep, even after replacing it still happens. And I don't know why at all. Probably MacOS is such a ****** and buggy OS.

Dec 21, 2019 12:21 PM in response to TheMostAverageJoe

Looking in the german community, nobody seems to encounter the BAD MAGIC Bug (but other quite serious problems associated with Catalina). Is this perhaps a region-related fault ?

Dec 21, 2019 12:26 PM in response to Netcracker

Just happened to me again. This time the diagnostic didn’t have Bad Magic but a pretty long list of things that doesn’t tell me anything.

Dec 21, 2019 12:33 PM in response to Netcracker

Hmmm, might be, because I didn't find any YouTuber having same issues.

I'm living in California.

Dec 21, 2019 12:36 PM in response to igork3452

Interesting. I’m also in California.

Dec 21, 2019 12:44 PM in response to DSK_Daniel

Yeah, from any "one month later" reviews I watched, I don't recall any of those YouTubers living in California.

Dec 21, 2019 1:01 PM in response to DSK_Daniel

Did you have installed Magnet app (to resize windows like on Windows) on your MacBook?

Dec 21, 2019 1:08 PM in response to Netcracker

Not quite sure if it’s region related, I live in the UK. Even when I took into the Apple store for a full diagnostic they couldn’t find anything wrong with it.

Dec 21, 2019 1:09 PM in response to igork3452

I don’t believe so.

Dec 21, 2019 1:10 PM in response to TheMostAverageJoe

Are on you MacBook Pro 16-inch?

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"BAD MAGIC! (flag set in iBoot panic header)" — Catalina freezing all the time!