After the recent security release for Mojave my Mac Mini (2018) crashes when it goes to sleep. Every time I have to restart it and Finder reports that my Mac crashed. I have an eGPU which has been working like a champ to date... but curious if other people are seeing this problem.
Thanks in advance.
Mac mini, macOS 10.14
Sorry, I haven’t read this whole thread, but it seems, these are the issues that are also discussed in this thread:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251244094?page=1
I’d like to sum up the results, we had collected so far:
Possible issues:
The Security Update installed a Firmware Update for the T2 chip. This seems the reason, why the actual problems cannot be fixed by a re-installation of macOS: the new T2 firmware (build: 17P4263), located in a protected memory area of the T2 chip itself, will not be replaced with an older version during a fresh macOS installation.
The T2 chip holds the SMC, which is related to sleep and shut down.
The Security Update 2020-002 also installed changes to IOThunderboltFamily and Kernel, which might be the cause for the troubles with eGPU and failing power supply on 1 TB port.
Found solutions so far:
We have send in lots of Kernel Panic Report and bug reports (via Apple Product Feedback).
So far nobody got any response by Apple. We’re actually waiting for a fix with upcoming updates, as this is clearly a software problem.
Expected solution:
Apple must release bug fixed versions of BridgeOS and Safari for High Sierra, Mojave and probably Catalina. (Catalina users encounter some other issues since the SecUpd that need to be addressed).
You might also want to have a look at:
German: https://www.macgadget.de/Forum/T2-BridgeOS-crashes-durch-Security-Update-2020-002
Hope, this might help a bit.
The latest Mojave update (might have been a beta update, I’m not sure) has finally fixed my Mac Mini 8,1 “crash immediately on sleep” issue. I haven’t fully tested, but for the first time since the last update, I’ve been able to put it to sleep, see it pulling just 1.4 watts, and then wake it up. (It uses around 14-20 watts at idle.)
I was pleasantly surprised! It seemed to do a large number of reboots and had some silent time, so just let it run when it comes. Go away and do something for at least an hour. It will look as though it’s done when it isn’t!
On Wednesday, 7/15 new updates appeared: Security Update 2020-004 10.14.6 and Safari 13.1.2. These are the two categories of updates that I applied a few months ago that initiated the crashing on my Mac mini with T2. Hopefully, these updates will fix the issue.
SecUpd2020-004Mojave did not fix the crashes although it once again updated the FW.
The same crash after 40 seconds when putting the Mac mini 2018 to sleep or a crash report after a cold boot. Especially if Safari is used in the previous session. Resetting SMC and PRAM and doing a safe boot did not help.
The latest update fixed this for me, at least on a Mini 8, though I did not try disconnecting an eGPU.
I did report all my crashes via the feedback tool - signed up for beta releases first so I could use that tool.
It was indeed the bridge firmware that was the problem for me. I suspect there was other boot firmware that was also a problem, because my 2011 has some issues.
I do strongly suggest the usual gamut of PRAM and SMC resets after installing the update, if the update did not fix the issue, because there may be some weird cache issue as well.
What wasn't fixed was electrical interference: I can't use Bluetooth without disconnecting my TB3 drive, regardless of cable.
Same here, macOS 10.14.6
What I have not seen noted yet is that my mac mini 2018 is very hot when I encounter this. It should have slept, and be totally cool, but mine was not.
In Energy Saver there is an option "Prevent computer from sleeping automatically when the display is off". I now switched that off. The displays sleep when mac mini sleeps, perhaps there is some idiosyncrasy. Same for power nap, that is now off. Hope it will help.
Hi Rick Jansen1,
I seem to recall someone else mentioning the Mac mini seemed to be running hot along with the crashes/sleep issue. Not sure why it is related to the infamous security/Safari update earlier in the year. Maybe there is a thermal component that is triggering a shutdown. Any chance you or someone else experiencing this problem can put a reasonably strong fan blowing on the Mac mini and see if the problem still happens? Just curious. Thanks!
I noticed the heat coming from the Mac Mini 2018 from the day I put it together. Surprisingly hot.
(Side story-I added RAM to the Mini and when I put it all together, the CPU got really hot and was clocked severely. I also did not notice the fan running. Turns out I forgot to re-connect the fan wire while putting the Mini back together!)
Back to the issue at hand, the excessive heat from the Mac Mini has been around from day one (from my experience), while the T2 crash started after a specific firmware/Security Update from Apple back in March. Many users all of a sudden had the crash issue after the update.
Overheating is an issue, if nothing else than for the longevity of electronic parts of the computer. I don't think it caused the T2/BridgeOS crashes to so many people within days of each other and around the time of the 002 update.
We have had two updates (003 and 004) and the problem persists. Sending the crash report to Apple has just become part of my morning ritual. As is meditation so I am in acceptance mode now.
Something I found this weekend: I had disabled (T2 chip related?) startup security, because I ran into problems trying out Catalina, some time ago, and disabling security was suggested as a solution. I have re-instated "full security, and did not experience crashes since. You may want to check what is configured for your mac, as following:
I don't insist crashes are caused by other devices like ram or bluetooth. I just believe the root of the problem is in different place, not in T2. For example, what if it is caused by some piece of firmware installed by SU 2020-002 that changed internal power management rules, and now T2 chip crashes because of wrong power regime? T2 is just a single symptom from a row of different other symptoms of a 'crashes' problem caused by SU 2020-002. Some pre-T2 Macs are plagued too. They behave the same but show different error message, not T2 related. That's why I believe T2 related exercises can not help.
It definitely related to memory in my case. "2 pairs of" 16GB Crucial memories kept causing random crash, and now with 32GB TEAMGROUP, I don' t see any more crash at least last 7 days. It's hard to believe 2 pairs of Crucial memories are defective, and each 8GB memory card actually did work perfectly if only 1 slot was used. It can be a power management related issue,
Sleep still causes crash, which is most probably due to T2.
Looks like there is a new Mojave Security Update, 2020-005.
Anyone update yet and find the crash issue to be fixed?
Unfortunately I no longer rush to update anything coming from Apple. Let the dust settle a bit first.
I was made aware of issues with the Mojave SecUpd 2020--05. It appears to not fix the crash issue and actually can cause more problems.
This update appears to affect a wide range of Macs, not just Minis.
My mac Mini 2018 has 32 GB of memory and the crash still happens from time to time when the machine is put to sleep. since the last security update.
As far as I experience this is not a memory issue, e.g no fan overspinning or other symptom of a resource bottleneck.
Today a new supplemental update for 10.14.6, reporting later.
Nope, still crashes.
{"caused_by":"unknown","macos_version":"Mac OS X 10.14.6 (18G6032)","os_version":"Bridge OS 4.6 (17P6610)","macos_system_state":"running","incident_id":"934CD5DF-2942-4940-9922-32CD71F7EE52","timestamp":"2020-10-04 11:45:44.00 +0000","bug_type":"210"}
I'm going to upgrade to Catalina, as I need that for development..
duncanc4, that's great to read!
I'm in the process of doing the same thing. I cloned Mojave 10.14.6 to a Samsung T5 drive and will boot from it and then try updating the T5 to Catalina. Hopefully this will update BridgeOS and end the crash reports on my normal Mojave drive.
If not, I'll stay with Mojave a while longer.
I only have one 32-bit application where the developer's 64-bit version is a step backwards (EyeTV4). So far, the "free" Catalina upgrade has cost me about $400 in updated 64-bit apps and equipment (like a new Harmony remote).
I will report back as well.
Mac Mini crashing on sleep
