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Macbook Pro keeps returning to the login screen

My laptop rebooted itself yesterday afternoon. Since then, I can't get logged in again. When I restart, the login prompt comes up almost immediately and looks like it's going through the normal login process. Then an error message is displayed (attached) that says "Your computer restarted because of a problem. Press a key or wait a few seconds to continue starting up." Regardless of what I do, the screen returns to the login.


The machine was purchased in 2011 and I believe it's running OS X 10.11.x El Capitan.


MacBook Pro 17", macOS 10.13

Posted on Jan 21, 2020 6:56 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jan 21, 2020 8:04 PM

See if you can boot into Safe Mode.


If Safe Mode works, then download and run EtreCheck and allow it "Full Disk Access" so that the report includes the most recent system logs. Post the report here using the "Additional Text" icon which looks like a piece of paper.


Also make sure to disconnect all external devices in case one of them is causing the problem.


Edit: Also see if you can run the Apple Hardware Test.

1 reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jan 21, 2020 8:04 PM in response to lcvincent

See if you can boot into Safe Mode.


If Safe Mode works, then download and run EtreCheck and allow it "Full Disk Access" so that the report includes the most recent system logs. Post the report here using the "Additional Text" icon which looks like a piece of paper.


Also make sure to disconnect all external devices in case one of them is causing the problem.


Edit: Also see if you can run the Apple Hardware Test.

Macbook Pro keeps returning to the login screen

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