Black screen after Sierra update (today)

So I had the same problem again with the 10.12.3 update. My computer did an automatic update in the middle of the night and I woke up to a black screen. I tried to type in my admin password on the black screen but it did not work. So I had to do a restore back to 10.12.2 (after restarting and holding down the command R). That worked. Then I went into the App Store and did the update for 10.12.3 from there and that worked. So now I turned off all automatic updates. I also made it so I don't have to type in my admin password when I turn the computer back on, it just automatically logs in. I am pretty sure that's why I get the black screen. It has something to do with having to type in your admin password after a restart. So I would turn off automatic updates or set your computer to automatically login after a restart. I did both so hopefully I ever have this problem again.

Hi FineWine, No I didn't revert back to the earlier OS. My problem happened on Jan 1st after upgrading to 10.12.2. A lovely way to start the year! I spent two days calling Apple support to get it fixed. They finally passed me on to a tech who had me typing in UNIX commands and we got it up and running. At the time he blamed it on one of my apps (iStock Pro). He said needed to be updated. I contacted the company but they pointed the finger back at Apple. Now I see they were right. I didn't revert back to 10.12.1 since the tech got me back up and running at least for a few days. At the time I encountered the problem I couldn't find anything on the Internet about this at all. Then... after a few days my computer (in 10.12.2) started showing the black screen periodically after waking from sleep. That's why I started looking on the Internet again, and ended up here. Now I am using 10.12.3 and still haven't had any problems. Scares me though to see so may others continuing to have this issue. It's like playing Russian roulette every time I open my machine. I'm very disappointed in Apple's lack of an appropriate response. For now at least, I've turned off all automatic updates and will be much more careful before updating in the future. I wish you the best of luck! Too bad we're talking about "luck" with the technology we depend on so much!

After High Sierra "upgrade", the boot would go 2/3rds of the way through and then g to "black screen of death BSD". The boot had finished since I can hear the sound responses to keyboard typing etc. Once (out of 20 tries) I left the boot process run overnight and I got the screen back. But as soon as I did a restart, back came the BSD. I'm about 17 minutes away from seeing if a Command R - reinstall works. So far so good.

Somehow my previous post isn't visible. Anyway, after upgrading my 2011 Mac Mini from Sierra to High Sierra I would get the Black Screen of Death about 2/3rds of the way though the boot. [I have heard rumors that if you blindly enter the password at this point, you can progress beyond the BSOD. I can't verify this though.]. Once I got the machine to boot (after leaving it on overnight), but a restart brought back the BSOD. The other 19 times, nada.

To fix: boot with Command - R (or MS Screen - R for MS keyboards), reinstall the OS (it doesn't download a new OS copy again, but uses the previously downloaded and verified disk image), and you will be good to go. You do not need to revert to an old OS version from TM.

Hi

Your post has brought me out of similar problem with macOS-High Sierra when reinstalling it after resetting MacBook Pro 2013 model. I followed your advice and got positive result immediately. Thanks for sharing.

Regards

S.M. Shah

Thanks - after seeing these:

Cannot log in after update to 10.12.3

Can't log in after upgrading to 10.12.3

and a couple of other issues, I think I'll be waiting!

I Too had this problem on 2014 iMac 27" and after 4 hrs of level 1 then level 2 support it was determined that the update did not complete properly. Using CCC diskutils terminal mode had to actually delete partition and start from scratch. All a big serious mess. 5 hrs TM restore and I have 10.12.1 back again. Will hold off for several weeks to see if this is an Apple update/version problem.

I have had same issue 27 iMac 2016, currently trying to roll back to 10.12.1 via time capsule restore.

Hi guys,

I had the same issue on my MacBook Pro Late 2011 after the update to 10.12.2. (but no issue with my r-MBP Early 2015)

You will not believe me that's why I prefer to post the link I've seen:

http://forums.macrumors.com/threads/black-screen-after-update-to-10-12-2-imac.20 21483/

This worked for me !

When the black screen appears with the cursor, try entering your password then press Enter (even if you see nothing on the screen(!), and even if your session is actually booted automatically). After pressing Enter, my session was appeared and no issue after that !

Hope this can help !

Best.

EDIT: works also for other users:Re: After upgrade to 10.12.2 macbook pro has black screen

My MacBook 2012 pro, core i7 exhibits the identical problem after upgrade to 10.12.2, even down to the position of the cursor. I tried several reboots, and in the end did the Command+R at boot and installed a new version. However this has not fixed the problem.

I am really a technical person, so now I'm stuck.

DOES ANYONE ELSE HAVE THIS PROBLEM?

I could do with some guidance on my next step?

when will learn not to install upgrades until 4-8 weeks after their release, so someone else who knows what they are doing can experience the issues before they hit me.

Did you try to enter your password and press Enter as described above ? (when you see the black screen)

Well after 5 hours successfully restored to 10.12.1 from backup, back to the future on this one.

I was more than a little skeptical when I saw your fix. But after struggling for the last 6 or so hours to no avail, I tried your idea.

It worked.

Thank you.