Boot stuck on Apple logo – runs in safe mode

tomasgf wrote:

I am trying to find a way to identify which third-party software could be causing this issue.

That's what Etrecheck allows you to do. You can research it, it is a safe and useful program. Etrecheck basically lists everything that was installed, and identifies known problematic software and extensions. It reveals no identifying info about you. It does not "do" anything except show what is there. Etrecheck basically crowd sources your problem and you get to have dozens or hundreds of others examine what is there to bring their knowledge to bear on the problem, e.g. they know of many extensions and third party apps that conflict with parts of the MacOS. Many people there to help you find the culprit.

Or you can do this. Make a complete Time Machine backup, then for redundancy make a complete clone backup on a separate external drive. So you have two backups, using different methods.

Then boot into Recovery, erase/format your internal drive, and install a new vanilla generic operating system. Allow it to create one new admin user. Reboot and confirm normal operation. This should work because you basically have the equivalent of a brand new computer with only Apple applications.

Then use Migration Assistant to migrate your previous user accounts and files, nothing else. Reboot and confirm normal operation.

Then install your third party software one or two at a time, reboot after each and confirm normal operation. Eventually you will find the culprit, or you might find that the clean install fixed whatever it was.

The Etrecheck approach is worth trying because it might be a lot faster.

Boot into Safe Mode and download and run Etrecheck. Etrecheck is a diagnostic tool that was developed by one of the most respected users here in the ASC and recommended by Apple Support  to provide a snapshot of the system and help identify the more obvious culprits that can adversely affect a Mac's performance.

IMPORTANT:

Before running Etrecheck assign Full Disk Access to Etrecheck in the Etrecheck's Privacy preference pane so that it can get additional information from the Console and log files for the report:

Also click and read the About info to further permit full disk access.

Copy the report

and use the Additional Text button to include the report in your reply.

Then we can examine the report and see if we can determine what might be causing the problem.

But at the moment, I am reluctant to give full disk access to a third-party application. I can be wrong, but from my understanding,

Up to about a year ago, every app had full disk access. Not sure what the big deal is, now.

what this application does is consolidating analysis that can be done with available tools already installed.

After spending months of time on researching all of those available tools.

But from all the things that Etrecheck runs, I need only a small part to isolate this problem.

Since you know you only need a small part of it, you must know what that small part does, so just run whatever built-in tool you know will isolate the problem.

Seems like the macOS installation is getting stuck. You can try to boot in recovery to run first aid. I would also suggest you to check the available storage ss upgrading to Big Sur requires 35.5GB free space. If that's not working, reinstall macOS Big Sur using internet recovery. You can go through the below articles.

If your Mac starts up to an Apple logo or progress bar - https://support.apple.com/HT207019

How to use safe mode on your Mac - https://support.apple.com/HT201262

If an error occurred while updating or installing macOS - https://support.apple.com/HT212526

One can be reluctant and struggle for a long time and still not find the problem and therefore not find the solution.

As others have already mentioned the Etrecheck Application with Full Disk Access has been and is the go to for such issues.

It is safe and trusted application to trouble shoot a problem.

You might be able to duplicate what's in the report with the Console, Terminal, Finder and others but it would take you probably a week or more scanning thru reports getting the info. The author of Etrecheck is one of the most respected contributors to these communities. Etrecheck is the most valuable tool we have in reviewing a Macs setup and condition. Without it we can only blindest throw out possible fixes. It also saves us many back and fourth questions about the Mac's components, etc., as it's all included in the report. The report is totally anonymous. Even the name of the hard drives are reduced to the First letter followed by asterisks and the last letter. So Macintosh HD becomes M**********D.

Your call.