oharag Author

Level 1

48 points

Bootcamp/Win 10 corruption - Macbook Pro 2015 is crashing

Here is my scenario:

I've had a Macbook Pro Retina 2015 for a while.
I recently upgraded to Catalina
I decided to give bootcamp a try after wanting to do this for a long time!
So i go through the procedure with a few hickups. I partitioned my exisiting 1 TB SSD to 500/500.
I installed Win 10 on one 500 GB partition.
Everything seemed fine. I could switch between MacOSX and Win 10 without issues (by holding Option Key).
A few days ago I decided to try to install a Printer connected via USB Cable to my Mac. I was having issues so I decided to boot into Win 10 to see if it worked. Win 10 could not see the Printer so I decided to boot back into MacOSX. I think i may have performed a hard shutdown to force a reboot. So by holding Option key I decided to go to MacOSX.
So somehow I believe the win side of things got corrupted. I noticed while on the MacOSX side, after a bit, my mouse would show the spinning beach ball. Then y MacOSX would freeze, and then eventually MacOSX would reboot, and I would get a blue screen of death:
So I have to hold down the power button to reboot. If I do nothing I get booted right into the blue screen of death.
So I have to always hold down the Option key to boot into MacOSX. When in MacOSX I have less than 5 mintues before the spinning ball shows up - then system locks - then crash - then blue screen.
If I hit F1 in Recovery Enviro - nothing happens - if I hit F8 the screen just blinks on/off.
So I figured I would at least try to fix this using Bootcamp Assistant - maybe try to remove my installation of Win 10.
When I launched Bootcamp it only gave me the option to create a new Win Bootdisk. There was nothing in options to remove an existing Win installation.
So I figured I would use Disk Utility and just remove the Win10 Partition. I thought that would fix my woes. Ha - no go. My Mac still thinks there is a Win Partition, I still get booted into Blue Screen of Death on reboot.
QUESTION: How does this happen - if there is no WIn 10 why does it still think there is one?????
So here is my dilemma: I called Apple support. They said no problem we will go through the process of using web install of Catalina while erasing your HD (so a fresh install). So I hold down Option/CMD/R. I get to the Password screen - input my password - spinning ball - nothing - try again and the password input shakes to say wrong password. So Apple support says to select Forgot PW. It then asks for my apple ID and PW - that works - asks for two form identification from my iPhone - then gives me a message that my apple ID does not allow for erase of my Macbook! So Apple support says okay then hold cmd/R and try that. I'm like what the heck is the difference. Well same thing thing happened - I can not erase my Mac and reinstall Catalina.
So I figure I'll create an external MACOSX boot disk (USB) by downloading full install from internet. Well i can never get passed the spinning ball/freeze/crash/bluescreen of death.
So Apple says - go to an authorized Apple dealer since Apple stores are closed. i'm like is this going to cost me money - they say of course. It turns out I got quoted for $125 to force a erase and reinstall of Catalina.
Questions: How did this happen? Why is it so hard to recover from this blue screen of death? Is it too late to fix this issue - or at least allow for my Mac to not shutdown?
I'm disappointed with MacOSX/Bootcamp. Something like this should NEVER happen, and if it did there should be a recovery mode.
I look towards your expert knowledge - PLEASE HELP!
Thanks

MacBook Pro Retina

Posted on Jun 3, 2020 6:44 AM

Similar questions

53 replies

oharag Author

Level 1

48 points

Jun 9, 2020 6:04 AM in response to oharag

I just tried my bootable Catalina Usb Drive - no HD shows up.

Hre is the error I get if I hold cmd+r on Mini with MBP SSD in Target Mode

Again why is erasing a HD and reinstalling macOS sooooo hard or impossible?

oharag Author

Level 1

48 points

Jun 9, 2020 6:08 AM in response to Loner T

As stated none of the four methods I tried allowed me to complete macOS install.

When I hold Option key down at least the Windows option is no longer available. I guess we managed to clear all references to Bootcamp/Windows. Which was one of the things I wanted to accomplish. Now it's trying to get an macOS onto my MBP!

oharag Author

Level 1

48 points

Jun 9, 2020 11:08 AM in response to Loner T

I didn't do SMC or NVRAM - but I tried everything and disk doesn't showup! I gave up on your method - sorry.

So I watched a video on utube - and it stated there were three methods to install MacOS. One of the methods was to clone one HD to another using Carbon Cloner. It seemed like this was at least a decent way to at least get my MBP up and running. The fact I can do this while MBP was in TD Mode also made it appealing.

So I ran CC and it finished the job. I rebooted into MBP - and it worked. The instructions stated I should NVRAM it and reboot. Well my MBP is back and running.

Though still seems to be an issue. While connecting iCloud, iTunes, and messing around, the Spinning Beach Ball would appear. Didn't matter what i was doing - within 5 mintues the beach ball appears. If I just sit there my MBP will crash/reboot. Rinse and repeat.

I ran DU Repair on MBP HD - any everything seemed okay. I ran Diagnostics - and I got no faults. This was the issue I had prior to this fiasco led me to this site. I thought it was due to BootCamp/Win corruption (blue screen of death).

If SSD HD is fine, and diagnostics shows no issues what could be problem? Remember I did do NVRAM prior to booting into MBP. i did not do SMC. My mini does not have this issue.

In cloning the Mini to MBP is there something missing that the MBP needs? Since this issue occurred before on my MBP could there be a HW issue that is not being detected?

So I figured I would use my USB catalina Repair Disk and attempt reformat and fresh install of Cataline - SSD HD does not show up. Using DU prior to attempt this is how the cloned HD looks:

It's just like my Mini (though it has name Untitled).

I can supply you the output from diskutil list, but it's on my other computer. I also can supply you disk repair output.

Loner T nothing we have tried worked. I tried cmr+r (Mavericks) I've tried option+cmd+r (catalina). I tried USb Boot Disk. I tired cmd+r on mini with MBP is TD Mode. So far the only thing that worked was cloning. Though there still seems to be an issue with my MBP, and i still cannot do clean install since HD disappears.

Loner is my MBP hosed? Do you see any value in sending this to Apple for $300? I would like to keep the MBP for at least 2 more years.

Thanks

oharag Author

Level 1

48 points

Jun 9, 2020 6:28 PM in response to Loner T

I bought it used from someone on amazon. I’ve had it for maybe 3 years? No issue until windows got corrupted, and then I started getting spinning ball. Thought I could erase SSD and perform a clean install of Catalina. You know story from there. Again no errors during diagnosis. No errors for file repair. Do you know where error output files are located? Is this a kernel panic?

i find it strange that even after cloning I do not see HD during recovery mode

oharag Author

Level 1

48 points

Jun 11, 2020 2:09 PM in response to Loner T

How do SSD go bad? It's Solid State!!!

So for $300 wouldn't it be better to just purchase a replacement SSD? I've heard of horror stories trying to get Catalina to recognize a blank drive inside an MBP. I'm sure it's not an easy process - similar to what we went through these past few weeks.

Do you have a recommendation on an ssd replacement for 2014 MBP?

oharag Author

Level 1

48 points

Jun 6, 2020 3:18 PM in response to oharag

BTW when I inserted my repair USB my MBP immediately started to boot up. I'll try Disk Utility again if I can find mt MBP HD.

BTW MBP is an SSD. Why can't I find IT!

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Jun 6, 2020 8:38 PM in response to oharag

Command line diskutil should still show the physical disks, even untitled ones.

oharag Author

Level 1

48 points

Jun 7, 2020 12:41 PM in response to oharag

So after supposedly formatting the SSD in Target Mode using Mini. I booted the MBP using my USB Catalina Repair Disk. The SSD does not show up:

This is screwed up.

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Jun 7, 2020 1:02 PM in response to oharag

Can you post the output of diskutil list from the Mini?

oharag Author

Level 1

48 points

Jun 7, 2020 1:23 PM in response to Loner T

i did above

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Jun 8, 2020 6:20 AM in response to oharag

About the read-only system volume in macOS Catalina - Apple Support should explain the reason why you have OpusIII - Data and OpusIII 1 . We may need to create the volumes by hand.

oharag Author

Level 1

48 points

Jun 9, 2020 3:29 AM in response to Loner T

I tried this. The MBP SSD shows up but it’s grayed out. Says OS can’t be installed on this volume in Target mode.

I tried booting MBP using option+cmd+r and cmd+r. The MBP SSD doesn’t show up.

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Jun 9, 2020 4:05 PM in response to oharag

I do not see a reason why you have an issue with the SSD on a 2015 MBP. I have 2013 MBPs with original SSDs which work very well. Has any hardware been ever replaced on your MBP? Any Repairs?

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Jun 9, 2020 6:46 PM in response to oharag

Can you identify the exact model of the MBP?

oharag Author

Level 1

48 points

Jun 10, 2020 7:23 AM in response to Loner T

Macbook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014)

2.8 GHz QC i7

16GB

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Bootcamp/Win 10 corruption - Macbook Pro 2015 is crashing