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Level 1

4 points

Can't log in to Mac OS or Reinstall Mac OS

Hi all,

I've got a 2017 15" MacBook pro that's got an issue. It has a windows partition of 75GB and the Mac OS (Big Sur) partition is around 400GB. Before the issue happened, I would just use it for general browsing, watchin videos and for my studies.

Now, I'm unable to log in. It would show the log in screen, I'd enter my password and it would stop loading at 50%. I contacted support and they recommended I reinstall Mac OS. I tried to do that and that also stopped at around 50%. What has caused this issue? Disk Utility weirdly says there is nothing wrong. I'm still able to access the windows partition and that's what I've been using for a couple of weeks. I've also got an APFS software which allows me to view all the files on the Mac partition and copy it over to an external hard drive. So I'm able to view the files but I'm not able to use Mac OS.

Is there any way to fix the issue with the Mac partition? Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Posted on Nov 12, 2021 1:18 PM

Best reply

HWTech

Level 9

55,610 points

Posted on Nov 12, 2021 5:06 PM

Try booting into Safe Mode which disables Login Items and third party drivers as well as deleting some temp & cache files. If Safe Mode works, but booting normally does not, then it indicates some issue with third party software that is installed. To look for possible software issues run EtreCheck and post the report here using the "Additional Text" icon which looks like a piece of paper. If you give EtreCheck "Full Disk Access" the report will also include the summary of the recent system logs which may provide additional clues.

You can also try booting into Recovery Mode (Command + R) or Internet Recovery Mode (Command + Option + R) to run Disk Utility First Aid on the hidden Container. You will need to click "View" within Disk Utility and select "Show All Devices" so that the hidden Container appears on the left pane of Disk Utility. Even if First Aid reports everything as "Ok" click "Show Details" and manually scroll back through the report looking to see if any unfixed errors are listed. If there are any unfixed errors listed, then you will need to erase the whole drive (or at least the Container) and restore from a backup or clone. I have found by personal experience that First Aid is known to outright lie about the condition of the file system.

You can also run the Apple Diagnostics to see if any hardware issues are detected.

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Can't log in to Mac OS or Reinstall Mac OS

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