Catalina 10.15.7 continuously crashes

Question

Catalina 10.15.7 continuously crashes

Why does Catalina 10.15.7 crash after every boot? It lasts for a few minutes and then as soon as I click on anything the beach ball comes on forever.

To those having the same problem I have a possible answer:

I run an early model (Late 2013) iMac 27.

The problems started when the recent Catalina updates started coming through. With the most recent update to 10.15.7, if you allow the updates, Catalina crashes as soon as you boot up.

Without the update it remains stable.

With more current machines (2019-2020 Intel) it is stable with the updates.

Go figure.

Posted on Dec 30, 2021 8:14 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Jack-19

Level 8

46,020 points

Dec 31, 2021 5:20 AM in response to fredfromorange

It appears that you may not have a Time Machine backup. If this is the case, you should create one. To start, you need an external hard drive. Here’s an excellent one sold by Apple: G-Technology 4TB G-DRIVE mobile USB-C Portable Hard Drive - Apple. You can then follow the steps in this Apple Support article to setup your Time Machine backup: Back up your Mac with Time Machine - Apple Support. Also, moving forward, I recommend that you use iCloud in addition to Time Machine to sync all your files and photos to all your Apple devices. Although iCloud is not a "true" backup service, iCloud can also act as an emergency off-site backup, but this is why iCloud should be used in addition to Time Machine. Here are some resources on setting up iCloud for Mac:

Next, please use DriveDx to check the health of your Fusion Drive and upload the two reports: How to use DriveDx - Apple Community.

Jack

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Answer 2

Jack-19

Level 8

46,020 points

Dec 30, 2021 8:25 PM in response to fredfromorange

Welcome to the Apple Support Communities.

These are the signs of a failing hard drive. There are no widespread issues with any macOS Catalina updates.

I recommend that you run and post an EtreCheck report. EtreCheck is a useful App to diagnose and identify issues, both hardware and software. It is trusted by many users. Please follow the steps outlined below:

Navigate to: https://etrecheck.com and get the free version of EtreCheckPro.
Download it. It is a free and trusted app. It is often recommended here on Apple Support Communities.
Open EtreCheck, and before running the report, be sure to check “Allow full Drive Access” at the bottom of the EtreCheckPro window.
Run the report, and put it in a post, as shown here: https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-250000211. We will then examine the report for issues in your Mac.

Jack

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