I have a 2010 MBP that randomly shuts down after the el cap upgrade--

These instructions must be carried out as an administrator. If you have only one user account, you are the administrator.

Launch the Console application in any of the following ways:

☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)

☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

☞ Open LaunchPad and start typing the name.

In the Console window, select

DIAGNOSTIC AND USAGE INFORMATION ▹ System Diagnostic Reports

(not Diagnostic and Usage Messages) from the log list on the left. If you don't see that list, select

View ▹ Show Log List

from the menu bar.

There is a disclosure triangle to the left of the list item. If the triangle is pointing to the right, click it so that it points down. You'll see a list of reports. A panic report has a name that begins with "Kernel" and ends in ".panic". Select the most recent one. The contents of the report will appear on the right. Use copy and paste to post the entire contents—the text, not a screenshot.

If you don't see any reports listed, but you know there was a panic, you may have chosen Diagnostic and Usage Messages from the log list. Choose DIAGNOSTIC AND USAGE INFORMATION instead.

In the interest of privacy, I suggest that, before posting, you edit out the “Anonymous UUID,” a long string of letters, numbers, and dashes in the header of the report, if it’s present (it may not be.)

Please don’t post other kinds of diagnostic report.

I know the report is long, maybe several hundred lines. Please post all of it anyway.

When you post the report, you might see an error message on the web page: "You have included content in your post that is not permitted," or "The message contains invalid characters." That's a bug in the forum software. Please post the text on Pastebin, then post a link here to the page you created.

If you have an account on Pastebin, please don't select Private from the Paste Exposure menu on the page, because then no one but you will be able to see it.

You have the MacBookPro6,2—the Edsel of Macs. It may have the logic-board defect that was covered by a recall program that has now ended.

Make a "Genius" appointment at an Apple Store, or go to another authorized service provider, to have the machine tested. The routine hardware diagnostics used by service providers do not detect the fault. There is a specific test for this issue that Apple calls "VST" (for "Video Switching Test.") Ask for it. A "Failed" result means that the fault is present.

You may be quoted a price of about $350 (in the U.S.) for a "depot repair," which involves shipping the unit to a central repair facility and takes about two weeks. For that flat fee, anything found wrong with it should be fixed, not just the logic board.

Sometimes the replacement part is also defective, so be prepared for that possibility. If you decide to pay for a new logic board, test thoroughly during the 90-day warranty period on the repair. Some owners have reported that they went through as many as three replacement boards before getting one that worked.

If you don't want to pay for the repair, you may (or may not) be able to work around the problem by disabling automatic graphics switching. To use the discrete graphics processor, you'll need a third-party utility to switch to it manually.

Often the problems start after an OS upgrade. If the upgrade was recent, and you have backups, then you can revert to a previous OS X version.