mac system crashes not showing in consolelogs

Unless the system is having Kernel Panics the Console system logs are pretty much worthless for the more recent versions of macOS. The Kernel Panic logs if any exist are located in the "/var/log" folder or the "/private/var/log" folder on the left pane of the Console app. The System logs are also located in this folder as well, but I doubt you will find the System logs of much use. The older archived versions of the System log should be located here as well if they haven't been removed by macOS.

You can run EtreCheck to look for possible software issues. Feel free to post the report here using the "Additional Text" icon which looks like a piece of paper.

You could try running the Apple Hardware Test.

You can check the health of the drive by running DriveDX and posting the report here using the "Additional Text" icon which looks like a piece of paper.

IIRC this model laptop had known GPU issues. There are ways to force the laptop to use the Intel GPU instead if this is the case.

Kernel panics are stored in abbreviated form in NVRAM when the panic occurs, and "puffed up" to human-readable form after a Restart. The human-readable versions are stored here:

/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports

You can navigate there by copying and pasting the above string into:

Finder > Go Menu > Go to Folder

The useful ones are named by Date&time and end in .panic

If you find some of those, you can post the most recent .panic to a reply on the forums by using the third Icon from the right in the forum reply window. Icon looks like a page with writing, ToolTip "Additional text".

Please do not post more than 20 lines of other kinds of reports, they are interminable and all the useful information for these purposes is well within the first 20 lines.

That panic is a GPU Panic.

MacBook Pro 6,2 had many problems with its discrete GPU, and there were (now long expired) Service Bulletins that would replace mainboards on units that exhibited certain behavior, and also failed the Video Switching Test.

It appears that 8 year run of good behavior has ended. If you would like a way to disable the Discrete GPU and run only the Integrated GPU, I can post some solution for you to try. But these sophisticated, are not for novice users, and could damage your computer, so you have to ask.

a lot of the panics shown is the 7-day digest are (lack of) memory problems. You Mac can accept up to an 8GB DIMM in each of its two slots for a total of 16GB, and you can upgrade by the each DIMM. Consider adding one 8GB DIMM in place of one of your 4GB DIMMs.

An SSD drive of at least 500-ish GB has a typical read and write speed of about 500 Mytes/sec more than 10 time faster that the drive you have installed now.

Your battery seems to need help.

<<I'm puzzled by the advice about memory - according to the Apple memory upgrade page, I've already got the max of 2x4GB.>>

You are correct. Your 2010 model can not accept any more than two at 4GB each, for a total of 8GB.

The link has picked up a trailing period. Remove that, and you get this:

https://github.com/julian-poidevin/MBPMid2010_GPUFix

.

This is a collection of solutions, NOT a single Procedure, in no particular order. Read everything before you do anything:

Install gfxCardStatus (https://gfx.io) and set it to "i" (integrated graphics only). It will allow your MBP to run on integrated graphics only, bypassing the discrete GPU which has the issues. This may allow your MBP to run normally, although it will have reduced graphics performance when permforming demanding graphics tasks. The alternative is replacing the logic board, which is not cost effective on a machine that old, unless gfx does not resolve the issue and you really want to keep this MBP.

There is an acknowledged bug in the current version of Cody Kreiger's Open-Source gfxcardstatus, and the developer has confessed he does not have time to fix it right now.

There is a fork off the main build by steveschow available that seems to fix that problem for current versions of MacOS such as ElCapitan and Sierra. He provides a finished .app for direct download -- you do not have to compile anything.

https://github.com/steveschow/gfxCardStatus/releases

Also note that if your Mac does not run long enough to allow gfxcardstatus to be added, this is not really practical.

In addition, Steve Schow writes that he has abandoned further development -- because there are better solutions available [for both the 2010 model and 2011 models].

2010 model:

I have discontinued use of gfxCardStatus to solve the MBP kernel panic problem as the issue is better solved on 2010 models with the nVidia GPU by the following hack:

https://github.com/julian-poidevin/MBPMid2010_GPUFix.

2011 model:

the use of ArchLinux bootable CD to gain access to and re-write the EFI on the drive, and permanently disable the discrete graphics chip. This page and scroll down past the list to the blog:

http://github.com/steveschow/gfxCardStatus

There are two similar procedure listed. I used the second from MacRumors as it seemed easier. I have made the Arch Linux bootable CD on another Mac, and tried this approach. I now have a perfectly-functioning MacBook Pro late 2011 15-in model with Discrete Graphics disabled. Runs just fine. But NO external display support any more.

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There is a completely different hack developed more recently. It requires only single-User mode to get started, then type a complicated string into NVRAM, then disable System Integrity Protection and run an additional little program (direct-download link provided there) to make the change semi-permanent.

http://dosdude1.com/gpudisable/

.or a similar procedure with a bit more manual work:

Power up and boot into Single User Recovery by holding Command + r + s

if you are on high sierra 10.13.6+ you might need to use Command + r instead

Disable SIP (This takes a bit to complete so wait for it)

csrutil disable

Disable Discrete GPU on boot by running

nvram fa4ce28d-b62f-4c99-9cc3-6815686e30f9:gpu-power-prefs=%01%00%00%00

Enable verbose boot mode (This will show text everytime you boot up, shutdown or restart your mac)

nvram boot-args="-v"

Reboot

reboot

Boot into Single User-mode by holding

Command + s + r

It might look as if it hanged, but press enter and you should see the shell (root#)

Mount root partition writeable

/sbin/mount -uw /

Make a kext-backup directory

mkdir -p /System/Library/Extensions-off

Move ONLY ONE offending kext out of the way

mv /System/Library/Extensions/AMDRadeonX3000.kext /System/Library/Extensions-off/

Inform the system to update its kextcache:

touch /System/Library/Extensions/

Reboot

reboot

It will show a bunch of text in the screen (don't be alarmed, let it finish) and then it will restart again In second restart it will show text in the screen again and then it will show normal login screen Your computer now should work properly (dGPU off and iGPU on.