Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

El Capitan hangs in boot

After upgrading Yosemite to El Capitan my Mac hangs in a boot. After my first attempt I recovered my system from a TimeMachine backup. The second attempt to upgrade gave the same result: After rebooting I omly get the apple logo on my screen.

I performed disk checks.... everything is reported as ok.

How to get El Capitan running on my new Mac?

Mac mini, OS X El Capitan (10.11)

Posted on Oct 5, 2015 2:47 AM

Reply
15 replies

Oct 13, 2015 7:36 AM in response to blegi

Hi blegi,


In the meantime lots of other entries appeared. Most of them seem to be in relation with the problem we are facing.

It is almost sure the unsigned 'kext files' are cause in this.

Could be from Soundflower, Parallels, VirtualBox and other software not obtained from the Appstore.

The weird thing is that Apple is reported about this problem weeks before the official release....

Not so very kind of Apple... Or is 'sloppy' the right word.

Anyway.... ****!

For now my suggestion is to wait for the next release solving the many problems people are facing.

Hopefully also this problem will be solved.


best regards, Jos

Oct 13, 2015 8:35 AM in response to joszwa

The problem is that some third party kernal extension (kext) files are incompatible with El Capitan.


Knowon problem kexts are Eltima SyncMate and VirtualBox. Older versions of Parallels than the current version may also be problematic.


Step 1: Get a verbose debug to identify the problematic kext. Hold down Command-V when rebooting, or Command-S for single-user mode. Look for the kernel panic stack trace, and find the kext causing it. In my case it was SyncMate


Step 2: Get to a terminal prompt. One way to get to the terminal is in Recovery Mode (hold down Command-R after powering on). Go to utilities, terminal.


Step 3: Hit Google with the name of your problematic kext, along with "el capitan boot" as keywords, and find the command to remove it. Many posts are on apple developer forum, use the cached view instead of logging in. In my case the command was

rm -R System/Library/Extensions/Eltima*


Step 4: Reboot. All is well.


Alternate version:

Step 1: Reinstall OS X. It works the first time.

Step 2: Type kextstat -l | grep -v com.apple

Step 3: Find where all those are in either /System/Library/Extensions, or in /Library/Extensions

Step 4: temporarily move ALL to another folder

Step 4 alternate: only move the ones you think are problems, like SyncMate and VirtualBox... worth a shot!

Step 5: reboot. On success, begin moving them back one at a time from the temp folders. Repeat until you've identified and removed the bad ones.

Oct 13, 2015 9:03 AM in response to dbwiddis

HI Dbwiddis,


thanks for this excellent written procedure.

I Will use it when the next release doesn't contain a fix for the problems we are facing today.

unfortunately I have quite some entries in the extensions folder with 'unsigned' kext files. Some of them are not traceable.

Apple made a change in the security area causing these problems. Apple should come with a solution.

lets see what is in the next release......

Meanwhile I keep your proceduere close at hand.

thanks!

Oct 18, 2015 7:29 AM in response to joszwa

Mine is MacBook Pro 15-inch, Early 2011, and I have Mac 2011 Office upgraded to 14.5.7, and other applications including Safari browser (I have no other browser) upgraded by clicking the installed applications and checking their websites one by one. I checked to ensure no more Apple Store upgrade.

I also have FireVault off.

But after installed El Capitan, at the first boot up after first power shut down, I still got the same problem of grey screen with no progress in progress bar.

Apple Store could not solve the problem except asked me either to clean install or to wait for El Capitan patches or other applications upgrade gradually.


I tried to boot up in Startup Manager (Option + Power on) but after I selected my only hard disk, it did not work to boot into El Capitan.

Today I tried again to boot up in Command R to look for any more clues.

After choosing language, in the next screen, I clicked the top left Apple logo to bring up Startup Disk.

In the screen shown, I selected my only hard disk shown once, then I clicked the top left menu to Quit Startup Disk.

It took a short while before the top menu changed to show Language Chooser.

I clicked Shut Down instead.

After a few minutes, I boot up the Macbook normally and it could log into El Capitan and now everything is smooth.


As there is no file to remove or no tweaks or terminal command to make, see if others have similar issue can try your luck this way.

Oct 22, 2015 11:49 PM in response to carlosip

HI all, I have the same problem - upgraded to El Capitan on Mac book air 13 and was using it ok for couple of weeks. Yesterday I was watching a movie in ITunes on external hard drive. first strange thing was that external drive was not displayed in Finder, only on desk top. But ok, it worked, then I finished, clicked Eject - it was warning that it can't eject as some other program uses it. But no program was running, I clicked force eject and then restart the computer. And when it started it now hangs on the grey screen with apple logo and a progress bar below showing no progress. Worst thing is I do not have a latest back up! Please help! I could do skype video session, ready to pay for the service!

Oct 25, 2015 8:55 AM in response to joszwa

After upgrading from 10.11 to 10.11.1 my MacBook Pro got stuck on Apple Logo screen and progress bar.

After 2 hours with Apple support and finding out I could start it in Single User mode (cmd-S after boot chime), the solution was reached following the instructions on http://www.tonymacx86.com/el-capitan-desktop-support/173991-big-list-solutions-e l-capitan-install-problems.html#CategoryFreeze


Thank you TONY MAC X86 !!!! You just saved me another week of sleepless nights (well almost)!


I am a longtime mac user but only know little or no LINUX or UNIX. But still pulled it off!

Oct 25, 2015 12:01 PM in response to dbwiddis

This really helped point me in the right direction, but a slight variation. SyncMate was my problem too, but the terminal remove command didn't work because the Eltima folder didn't exist.


Instead I booted from an external backup disk, used Finder to browse to the problem drive's System>Library>Extensions folder where I found "EltimaAsync.kext".


Once that file was banished from the system folder, I was able to boot up again. The system was very slow however, and it took quite a while for all the startup apps to load. After a couple more restarts, and some patience in just letting it do it's thing, all was fine again.


Reboot speed and performance is back to normal.

Oct 25, 2015 5:59 PM in response to Chip_M

I restored MBP early 2011 (which was upgraded to El Craptian 10.11 by luck) back to Yosemite to test whether direct upgrade from Yosemite to El Craptian 10.11.1 can do or not.

It did not and progress bar hang after first reboot.

With no exterminal startup disk, and terminal opened at bash 3.2, cannot do remove kext or touch after entered Utilities.

So a slight suggestion is to update all softwares while still at Yosemite, and clean up caches and fonts (using Onyx, CCleaner or similar softwares) to get ready.

Doing kext removal seems to be a good choice, thanks to all above's suggestions.

Jan 31, 2016 10:26 AM in response to joszwa

Hi, I was having problem with hanging as well. I tried Comd r as well and it said it was fine. What I did do that got me into my computer ( I had planned to restore to factory setting IF I got it but it seems okay now) was start in safe mode. I googled and found this article- http://www.tekrevue.com/tip/mac-startup-options/ . press and hold shift at start up. It took a while but it does seem to have cured the problem. I am however afraid to turn it off! (i'm not a techie- just desperate) Apple macbook pro late 2011

El Capitan hangs in boot

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple ID.