Why am I unable to launch Apple Diagnostics?

Question

Why am I unable to launch Apple Diagnostics?

I have a 2009 Mac Pro running macOS 10.11.6 (latest available for this model). I have tried both startup approaches (holding down the D key and holding down Option-D) to no avail.

I have disconnected everything except keyboard, track ball and ethernet cable. The first step of Apple's instructions here are a bit confusing:

Disconnect all external devices except keyboard, mouse, display, Ethernet connection (if applicable), and connection to AC power. (emphasis mine)

I never see what the instructions predict, a dialog "asking you to choose your language."

What am I missing?

Posted on Jun 2, 2018 1:21 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Eau Rouge

Level 8

42,656 points

Jun 3, 2018 5:44 AM in response to Frank Lowney1

The 2009 Mac Pro came with 2 install disks, which are grey, the second disk has the Apple Hardware Tests on it.

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Answer 2

Eau Rouge

Level 8

42,656 points

Jun 2, 2018 11:16 PM in response to Frank Lowney1

You could try this, https://github.com/upekkha/AppleHardwareTest scroll down the page till you see the Mac Pro section and select your model.

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Answer 3

Jun 3, 2018 5:44 AM in response to Frank Lowney1

Your 2009 MacBook Pro is too old to have Internet Recovery in its ROM, and Recovery HD does not include that trick.

The diagnostics folder was placed by the factory in a folder at:

/System/LibraryCoreServices/.diagnostics

However, if you ever replaced your boot drive with a different drive, or completely erased your drive, no program is responsible for putting it back there, so it will not appear when you hold Command-D, unless you provide release disc 2.

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Answer 4

Jun 3, 2018 6:01 AM in response to Frank Lowney1

Eventually, I was able to construct a USBstick version of AHD for my CPU using the GitHub reference. This resolved the issue for me. Thanks all for the gracious help.

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Answer 5

Jun 2, 2018 2:36 PM in response to Eau Rouge

Thanks for that Eau. I will try to locate those disks. Note also, though, that I attempted to launch Apple Diagnostics by holding down Option-D at startup to attempt to start Apple Diagnostics over the Internet. This was ineffective.

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Answer 6

Jun 3, 2018 3:04 AM in response to Eau Rouge

Thanks Eau. I did find that resource and downloaded the .diagnostics folder but was unable to use Finder to place that folder in /System/Library/CoreServices/

I also recalled why I don't have the original disks. I purchased this machine used from OWC and they didn't include the physical media (DVD).

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Answer 7

Jun 3, 2018 3:00 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Thanks Grant. That explains why I was unable to find that folder even after making invisible files visible with Terminal:

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles YES

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Answer 8

Jun 3, 2018 3:07 AM in response to Frank Lowney1

I have also tried to locate a *.dmg file for that second disk but so far haven't been able to locate it. If I were a developer I might be able to get it from Apple but I am not. Any hints on that?

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Why am I unable to launch Apple Diagnostics?

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