2012 Macbook Pro keeps kernel panic restarting

drew_garri wrote:

I have a 2012 Macbook Pro, running MacOS Catalina 10.15.7.

A few days ago, my laptop had a kernel panic and restarted. I was only using safari and a note taking app (Bear) when this happened. The kernel panics haven’t stopped. Sometimes my laptop will load and run for an hour at the longest but usually less, and then kernel panics and restarts again. There is no particular app that I’ve used each time that seems to be causing it. It will happen when I’m only using Finder, when I’m using only Safari, there doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to the panics. I don’t have any external monitors or drives attached, and didn’t when the first kernel panic happened. The computer runs incredibly slowly.

Things I have tried:

1. Turning the computer off and letting it sit for 30 secs before restarting.

2. Resetting the NVRAM

3. Resetting the SMC

4. Booting in safe mode (it crashes even in safe mode) Of note, I got an error log report that identified a userspace watchdog timeout. I can post the whole error log report if that would help.

5. Removing potentially problematic antivirus software.

6. Trying to install updates. The updates don’t show up in the App Store even when I reload the page. They show up in System Preferences, but when I hit “Update Now” or “more info” and then “Install”, nothing happens. I tried downloading the June 2021 Catalina security update that the computer is due for from the internet, and it doesn’t work. The first time the computer crashed and restarted part way through install, the second time it wouldn’t even start, giving me an error that the “image couldn’t be recognized.”

7. I ran Diagnostics, which found no issues.

8. Trying to reinstall the OS. I booted in recovery mode and tried to reinstall the OS from there, but I keep getting the following error: “macOS could not be installed on your computer, storage system verify or repair failed (-69716)”. I tried running first aid in disk utility first, and then tried resetting the NVRAM again, running first aid, and reinstalling. Same error.

It’s been three days, does anyone have a possible solution? I’ve read that erasing the hard drive and reinstalling the OS from scratch helped some people, but others said it didn’t work for them, and I’d rather not do that.

Kernel Panics are predominately caused by hardware faults or faulty third-party kernel extensions.

Uninstall any and all third party Antivirus, Cleaners, Optimizers, VPN, speeder uppers....

Learn what to do if your computer restarts or shuts down unexpectedly, or you get a message that your computer restarted or shut down because of a problem.

If your Mac spontaneously restarts or displays a ... - Apple Support

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT200553

Given that kernel panics can be hardware issues, and that in 2012 there were two very different hardware profiles, we need to know your MBPs screen size and whether it is a Retina or non-Retina model. The non-Retina 2012 MBPs have an optical drive.

So, rather that our posting two versions of a troubleshooting list, it is more efficient if you tell us the exact sub-model. Then we can give you very targeted suggestions.

The most common hardware causes for Kernel Panics for the 13" non-Retina model is a bad memory module or a bad memory slot. The memory slot nearest the Bottom Case tends to develop cracked solder joints after several years. Usually this issue can be triggered by pressing on the center area of the Bottom Case or better yet pressing on the black base of the memory slot which can trigger a system freeze or graphical anomalies. Once in a while I will come across an issue with the other memory slot although that is much more rare. It is also extremely rare for more than one memory module to fail at the same time.

Sometimes the memory can become loose as Apple uses very weak plastic arms to hold the memory in place. Sometimes one of these arms can pop loose (even when inserting the memory).

Did you install a memory upgrade? Macs are very picky about the memory used.

The other two most common problems with this particular Mac are not as likely to cause a Kernel Panic although there is always a slight possibility. A worn out or failing hard drive is very common as is a bad internal hard drive SATA Cable which has an extremely high rate of failure in this particular model. It sounds like you at least have a drive issue and/or a SATA cable issue. You can run DriveDX to check the health of the hard drive. Post the complete report here using the "Additional Text" icon which looks like a piece of paper.

You should also post several of the Kernel Panic logs as well so we can see if there is any clues or patterns to them. You can find these logs within the "/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports" folder with the file names beginning with "kernel" and ending in ".panic". Post the logs here using the "Additional Text" icon which looks like a piece of paper.

Edit: Link for DriveDx:

https://binaryfruit.com/drivedx