stuart310
Level 1 (4 points)
Notebooks

Q: Macbook Pro - Display Goes Black

I have a 1 year old Macbook Pro.  On startup, everything seems normal. I put in my password, the desktop briefly appears then it goes black.  It works fine on the guest "safari only" account. 

 

Any thoughts on how to fix or trouble shoot?

 

Thanks

 

Stuart

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X El Capitan (10.11.5)

Posted on Aug 27, 2016 1:07 PM

by stevejobsfan0123,Apple recommended
stevejobsfan0123 stevejobsfan0123
Level 8 (43,557 points)
iPhone
A:

I see. There is some third party software that has a launch agent or kernel extension which is causing the issue. Safe mode loads the OS without any of those third party processes, so the fact that it works fine there is what points to third party software. Tracking down which software is the culprit could be difficult. If you want, you can post an EtreCheck report here and someone can look through it: http://etresoft.com/etrecheck.

Posted on Aug 27, 2016 1:26 PM

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stuart310

Q: Macbook Pro - Display Goes Black

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  • Helpful answers

  • by stevejobsfan0123,Helpful

    stevejobsfan0123 stevejobsfan0123 Aug 29, 2016 10:22 AM in response to stuart310
    Level 8 (43,557 points)
    iPhone
    Aug 29, 2016 10:22 AM in response to stuart310

    Try doing a safe boot by holding the shift key during boot up. Does the problem happen there as well?

  • by stuart310,

    stuart310 stuart310 Aug 27, 2016 1:20 PM in response to stevejobsfan0123
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Notebooks
    Aug 27, 2016 1:20 PM in response to stevejobsfan0123

    Safe boot worked fine.  Screen did not go black.  I checked for updates and I am current.  I then restarted and the same problem happened again.

  • by stevejobsfan0123,Apple recommended

    stevejobsfan0123 stevejobsfan0123 Aug 27, 2016 1:26 PM in response to stuart310
    Level 8 (43,557 points)
    iPhone
    Aug 27, 2016 1:26 PM in response to stuart310

    I see. There is some third party software that has a launch agent or kernel extension which is causing the issue. Safe mode loads the OS without any of those third party processes, so the fact that it works fine there is what points to third party software. Tracking down which software is the culprit could be difficult. If you want, you can post an EtreCheck report here and someone can look through it: http://etresoft.com/etrecheck.

  • by stuart310,

    stuart310 stuart310 Aug 27, 2016 3:00 PM in response to stevejobsfan0123
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Notebooks
    Aug 27, 2016 3:00 PM in response to stevejobsfan0123

    I ran the EtreCheck program.  Only two line items came back red.  One was that I did not have TimeMachine running and the other one is as follows:

     

    System Launch Daemons: ⓘ

        [failed]    com.apple.watchdogd.plist (2015-11-13)

     

    I was running in safe mode.  Could this be why this came up?


    I then deleted my recently installed 3rd party apps.  The problem is still happening.  I see the desktop for about 1 second then it goes black.  I am forced to turn it off by holding down the power button. 


    Stuart

  • by stevejobsfan0123,Apple recommended

    stevejobsfan0123 stevejobsfan0123 Aug 27, 2016 3:09 PM in response to stuart310
    Level 8 (43,557 points)
    iPhone
    Aug 27, 2016 3:09 PM in response to stuart310

    At this point I would suggest reinstalling OS X. I would suggest restoring from a Time Machine backup but it sounds like you don't have one. Once this is resolved, I recommend that you start making regular backups.

     

    To reinstall OS X, see How to reinstall OS X - Apple Support.