Macbook Pro Touch Bar - Consolidated Crash Discussion

I too have the problem of issues after waking from sleep. From time to time every single open program crashes on restart (or during sleep?).

I too have touch bar default display disappearing apparently randomly.

I also have other odd broken items, like a cursor with a vertical line overlaid.

Often open programs themselves, like VPN Tunnelblick, are silently broken after sleep.

I quickly realised that sleep simply cannot be used safely. My 'solution' is to force shutdown (long press of touchid button). Restart is quick and I can open all windows again.

Well that is what happens with mine. The cursor disappears, and the only thing I can do is Option+Command+Escape, which brings me to the Force Quit window. But even there, nothing is functional, and I have to restart.

Is that the same for you?

I have found that the cursor usually reappears after 5-10 seconds. When I don't see it, I quickly move my fingers back and forth across the trackpad and that sometimes helps. I also have a theory that perhaps the start of a backup (if Time Machine is set to "automatic" can cause a temporary lapse when MBP is initiating the backup drive. It could also be one of many other processes in the background. Also, I 'm seeing the problem less and less as time goes on.

As I stated a few days ago, I was having this same problem, and when I called AppleCare, they encouraged me to bring my MBP TB in for a replacement. But it seemed that it was a software rather than a hardware issue, based on what I am reading here.

So I spoke to my IT consultant. She told me to run Font Book first, to check my fonts by launching, selecting "All Fonts" and File Menu>Validate Fonts. Where is says "All" in top of window, change to "Warnings and Errors". See if anything shows.

I found several minor issues, and a few serious issues. I removed all of the corrupted fonts.

Next, she told me to download and run Etrecheck on it, and see if it finds anything not working. If so, I was to remove whatever it finds. She told me to make sure I only have the most current software running on it. Anything that is third party and not current, may be causing this. Could even be a font.

Etrecheck created a full report, and in my case, noted the presence of troublesome Safari Extensions. My IT consultant had me remove those extensions from the System Library>Safari>Extensions. In my case, the only thing remaining now in the Safari>Extensions folder is the Extensions.plist file.

Library is a hidden file, so you need to show the hidden files first to be able to get there.

Since I did these changes on 01/6/17, I have not had a single issue with freeeze-ups.

Fast forward a few days later, and the freeze-ups returned. In another freeze-up thread, someone posted a work-around that solved my issues.

Assuming you are using a Touch Bar mac, the next time you get a freeze-up, press the left arrow key in your Touch Bar. Then press the LaunchPad key in your Touch Bar. That brings me right back to a functioning condition.

Glen Grayson wrote:

Assuming you are using a Touch Bar mac, the next time you get a freeze-up, press the left arrow key in your Touch Bar. Then press the LaunchPad key in your Touch Bar. That brings me right back to a functioning condition.

Can you explain what you mean by functioning condition? It reboots/restarts?

Glen Grayson wrote:

By functioning condition, I mean that it gets immediately unfrozen, fully functioning, without forcing a restart. You just go back to whatever you were doing- nothing lost.

Thanks, I'll try that. It's odd that (at least on this end), what I see after the lid-down crash is just the start up to type in my password. I do so and the Mac starts up. I'll try your suggestion. I've just been leaving the MacBook display up for the time being because I'm so frustrated with it crashing with the lid down and only when the lid is down.

My crashing has always been while I am doing something. All of the windows on my screen shrink slightly, lie when you go into Time Capsule) and then get normal size again and it freezes up. I can still move my cursor, but I cannot click on anything or type anything. I can Command-OIption-Escape to get to the Force Quit window, but again, I cannot click on anything there.

My only way out is to force restart, or do the aforementioned workaround. It happened again this morning, but I must admit, they are getting farther and farther apart.

A month ago, I was freezing up several times a day.

This is my second unit with the same issue. My computer crashes from time to time on sleep/wake and when connected to a display. It went completely bonkers the other day after being plugged in to a new 32" curved LG monitor.

My previous unit had the same issues, but would also freeze the same way as @skysteve1 described and the battery life was HORRENDOUS. My new unit was an upgraded replacement from Apple (1TB HD, 2.9GHz processor, 16GB RAM, dGPU).

This seems like it might be related to the dGPU hardware or switching between the GPU's. This new unit is significantly better, but am still not happy I'm having these issues. I've lost a lot of time and work from these crashes.

Guys, I've got a new MacBook Pro 15. Radeon 455, SSD 512 GB. I was very frustrated because as soon as I started using the system, random freezes began to occur. Everything, everything stopped responding, and the computer automatically shut down. Upon restart, all windows were reopened, but there was no error message. Unfortunately I can not go back to the Apple Store because I bought the equipment in Atlanta, but now I'm in Brazil. Well, after touching many configurations, I decided to install Sierra 10.12.5 Beta. The freezes kept happening. For a moment I realized that this had something to do with the "Automatic graphics switching" option. I deactivated this, rebooted the system, and so far everything is working fine, no freezes. Have you tried to disable this option?

This is my experience too with my 2017 15". I use my computer all day at work, unplug from monitor and power and put it in my backpack. The next morning when I pull it out and open the lid, about two thirds of the time I find it off, with a random battery charge level between 0 and 80%. This was true on High Sierra which I used for 2 months, and has continued on Sierra since I downgraded.

This is beyond frustrating.

Dgroo wrote:

...

In talking with the Sales Rep, she claimed that we are currently in the Holiday Return Policy period - under which we have more time to return machines than the usual 14 day period. I am taking her at her word (I asked them to add that to my file) and continuing to try to test my MBP for a little while before I give up, in the hopes that I really can return it later if it continues to die repeatedly. ...

See the following from http://www.apple.com/shop/help/returns_refund

Holiday Return Policy

Items purchased at the Apple Online Store that are received between November 10, 2016 and December 25, 2016, may be returned through January 8, 2017. Please note that all other terms and conditions provided in the Apple Online Store Sales and Refunds Policy are still applicable with respect to such items purchased. All purchases made after December 25, 2016 are subject to the Standard Return Policy.

Please note that I have posted a much more detailed report to my previous post.