Hi all. I was running maverick for ages. About a month ago my 8year old decided to upgrade to El Capitan. The reason I did not do this before was because it still isn't compatible with my works infrastructure. Anyways, somehow he managed to upgrade yet again to Sierra. Now I have all kinds of issues. I lose connectivity with drives, and I cannot restart without having one of those kernal panic errors. I have reinstalled several times and same thing. This last time I even wiped the disk. This is driving me bananas since i cannot reboot at all. Any ideas? Thanks.
Mac Crashing at startup - Sierra
- Thread starter rdec873
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Cory Cooper
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Hello and welcome.
-Which exact model Mac?
-What peripherals are attached?
-Do you have any third-party utilities installed, such as MacKeeper, CleanMyMac, anti-virus, etc?
C
-Which exact model Mac?
-What peripherals are attached?
-Do you have any third-party utilities installed, such as MacKeeper, CleanMyMac, anti-virus, etc?
C
Hi, it is a 21.5 inch late 2009 iMac. I did have both ClenMyMac and also Sophos running, but just removed. I am going to try and reboot it again. Not sure what you mean by perpherals unless it is what I mentioned above. Thanks for the response as well. Appreciate any help I can get.
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By peripherals, Cory means devices like a printer, a mouse, a DVD drive, etc.
Oh ok thanks. Here is the inventory:
1) Printer - connected to network not direct to iMac
2) mouse via Bluetooth
3) keyboard directly connected
4) external HD with time machine directly connected
Also as an update, I uninstalled all of the 3rd party utilities and same problem. It gives me the kernal panic error. I restart in recovery and reinstall the OS, and it works until I reboot again.
1) Printer - connected to network not direct to iMac
2) mouse via Bluetooth
3) keyboard directly connected
4) external HD with time machine directly connected
Also as an update, I uninstalled all of the 3rd party utilities and same problem. It gives me the kernal panic error. I restart in recovery and reinstall the OS, and it works until I reboot again.
Cory Cooper
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OK, thanks for the additional information.
Since your iMac starts up normally from the Recovery Partition without a kernel panic, then it sounds like a software issue in the normal OS X install. It's good that you uninstalled CleanMyMac and Sophos, as they cause for more issues than they are worth.
The next thing to check would be Login Items. You could try safe mode into the normal OS X install, which is done by holding the Shift key until you see the Apple logo and progress bar. It will take longer than normal to startup, as it prevents many things from loading, including Login Items. It will also show Safe Boot in red in the upper right corner of the screen in the menu bar.
If that successfully starts your iMac, go to > System Preferences... > Users & Groups > your user > Login Items and let us know what is listed there.
C
Since your iMac starts up normally from the Recovery Partition without a kernel panic, then it sounds like a software issue in the normal OS X install. It's good that you uninstalled CleanMyMac and Sophos, as they cause for more issues than they are worth.
The next thing to check would be Login Items. You could try safe mode into the normal OS X install, which is done by holding the Shift key until you see the Apple logo and progress bar. It will take longer than normal to startup, as it prevents many things from loading, including Login Items. It will also show Safe Boot in red in the upper right corner of the screen in the menu bar.
If that successfully starts your iMac, go to > System Preferences... > Users & Groups > your user > Login Items and let us know what is listed there.
C
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rdec873,
You are getting excellent advice from our resident "guru", Cory Cooper. But, there could be another issue that you need to look into.
Given that there have been two OS upgrades "in place", ie, first to El Capitan, and then to Sierra, if you are using any third party software, there is a good chance you need to see if upgrades are available to whatever such software you are using. This site can help you with that:
http://roaringapps.com/apps
The best way to use that is to 1) click on Options, 2) "de-select" El Capitan, Yosemite, and Mavericks, 3)"de-select" iOS 10 and iOS 9, and 3) "de-select" Windows 10 and Windows 8.1. You will then just be left with Sierra, and you can then search the remaining table. For #2, assuming you want to stay on El Capitan, you would "de-select" Sierra, Yosemite, and Mavericks.
Additionally, please explain your statement "Also as an update, I uninstalled all of the 3rd party utilities and same problem. It gives me the kernal panic error. I restart in recovery and reinstall the OS, and it works until I reboot again.". That is, 1) what software did you specifically uninstall, and 2) have you used Disk Utility to first Erase and Format your internal drive, then do a clean, "virgin" installation of whatever Mac OS you are trying to install, and then use Migration Assistant to "migrate"/copy any needed stuff from your backup? You have been making backups to an external device, right?
You are getting excellent advice from our resident "guru", Cory Cooper. But, there could be another issue that you need to look into.
Given that there have been two OS upgrades "in place", ie, first to El Capitan, and then to Sierra, if you are using any third party software, there is a good chance you need to see if upgrades are available to whatever such software you are using. This site can help you with that:
http://roaringapps.com/apps
The best way to use that is to 1) click on Options, 2) "de-select" El Capitan, Yosemite, and Mavericks, 3)"de-select" iOS 10 and iOS 9, and 3) "de-select" Windows 10 and Windows 8.1. You will then just be left with Sierra, and you can then search the remaining table. For #2, assuming you want to stay on El Capitan, you would "de-select" Sierra, Yosemite, and Mavericks.
Additionally, please explain your statement "Also as an update, I uninstalled all of the 3rd party utilities and same problem. It gives me the kernal panic error. I restart in recovery and reinstall the OS, and it works until I reboot again.". That is, 1) what software did you specifically uninstall, and 2) have you used Disk Utility to first Erase and Format your internal drive, then do a clean, "virgin" installation of whatever Mac OS you are trying to install, and then use Migration Assistant to "migrate"/copy any needed stuff from your backup? You have been making backups to an external device, right?
Hi
Cory, I started in safemode without issue. When I checked the login items, the only thing that was there was "airport utility".
Honestone, I checked roaringapps.com and didnt seem to see any apps that would be in conflict. What I meant by the "also as an update" was that to update my last response, I had removed the 3rd party utilities. I uninstalled cleanmymac and sophos. I do have a backup via time machine. I have not used disk utility to erase and formal. Will I be able to restart in recovery if I do that or will I need disks (which I no longer have). Just want to be sure I have the ability to restart somehow. Do you know of instructions on how to reformat properly?
thanks all,
Rich
Cory, I started in safemode without issue. When I checked the login items, the only thing that was there was "airport utility".
Honestone, I checked roaringapps.com and didnt seem to see any apps that would be in conflict. What I meant by the "also as an update" was that to update my last response, I had removed the 3rd party utilities. I uninstalled cleanmymac and sophos. I do have a backup via time machine. I have not used disk utility to erase and formal. Will I be able to restart in recovery if I do that or will I need disks (which I no longer have). Just want to be sure I have the ability to restart somehow. Do you know of instructions on how to reformat properly?
thanks all,
Rich
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I understand about updating your recent responses, but what I was referring to is which 3rd party utilities did you remove. CleanMyMac, of course, would be one of them, and also Sophos (although that is, technically speaking, not a utility). Are there any other programs that you uninstalled? If you have no other third party apps (whether utilities or other kinds of software), then you should be OK. But, if you do, you need to take an inventory of them.
Now, from this:
http://www.everymac.com/systems/app...uo-3.06-21-inch-aluminum-late-2009-specs.html
it looks like the original OS that was on your machine was the "second" version of Snow Leopard, OS 10.6.1. The last version of that OS was 10.6.8. Given that you have upgraded to Sierra, I suspect that the (hidden) Recovery HD partition was created by Sierra. (By the way, what version of Sierra is on the machine now? Apple has issued two updates to the first one, OS 10.12). This link explains how to boot to that partition, and what its capabilities are:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201314
So, what you could do is to boot to that partition, use Disk Utility there to 1) perform Disk First Aid on your internal drive, both at the Volume and Partition levels, 2) assuming 1) said no problems/issues/errors, have Disk Utility Erase and Format (and if necessary, partition (that would be up to you)) that internal drive, 3) do a clean, "virgin" re-installation of the Mac OS (again I would think it would be Sierra), and 4) use Migration Assistant to "migrate"/copy any needed "stuff from your Time Machine backup (you will be offered to do that after the installation of the OS completes). Part of that migration includes admin account setups, password, etc.
Now, here is where I am a little "deficient" about that last piece. I myself keep my Macs "lean and clean", constantly removing stuff I no longer need, and every week, I perform a somewhat comprehensive "script" of disk cleanup/maintenance/repairs, and backups. I also keep all the apps I have up to date. So, when I do that last step, I don't anticipate any "bad" stuff being copied. In your case, though, given there were two Mac OS upgrades done in place, not sure how clean things are. I also use SuperDuper! for my backups, although that should not make much of a difference (except that I can boot my Mac from such a backup).
So, hopefully someone else on here can provide more guidance about your situation.
Now, from this:
http://www.everymac.com/systems/app...uo-3.06-21-inch-aluminum-late-2009-specs.html
it looks like the original OS that was on your machine was the "second" version of Snow Leopard, OS 10.6.1. The last version of that OS was 10.6.8. Given that you have upgraded to Sierra, I suspect that the (hidden) Recovery HD partition was created by Sierra. (By the way, what version of Sierra is on the machine now? Apple has issued two updates to the first one, OS 10.12). This link explains how to boot to that partition, and what its capabilities are:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201314
So, what you could do is to boot to that partition, use Disk Utility there to 1) perform Disk First Aid on your internal drive, both at the Volume and Partition levels, 2) assuming 1) said no problems/issues/errors, have Disk Utility Erase and Format (and if necessary, partition (that would be up to you)) that internal drive, 3) do a clean, "virgin" re-installation of the Mac OS (again I would think it would be Sierra), and 4) use Migration Assistant to "migrate"/copy any needed "stuff from your Time Machine backup (you will be offered to do that after the installation of the OS completes). Part of that migration includes admin account setups, password, etc.
Now, here is where I am a little "deficient" about that last piece. I myself keep my Macs "lean and clean", constantly removing stuff I no longer need, and every week, I perform a somewhat comprehensive "script" of disk cleanup/maintenance/repairs, and backups. I also keep all the apps I have up to date. So, when I do that last step, I don't anticipate any "bad" stuff being copied. In your case, though, given there were two Mac OS upgrades done in place, not sure how clean things are. I also use SuperDuper! for my backups, although that should not make much of a difference (except that I can boot my Mac from such a backup).
So, hopefully someone else on here can provide more guidance about your situation.
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Ok so here is the latest. I did a virgin instal and the problem seemed to have subsided. The problem is that when I restore to the last time machine to get all my libraries and configurations back, there must be something that is corrupting the software. Any ideas how I can retrieve only certain parts of the time machine?
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Glad you got the "major" part of your issue resolved. But, how to retrieve certain "sub-parts" of a backup could be a challenge. Your experience is a perfect example of why I always 1) clean stuff off both of my Macs every day, and 2) go through a comprehensive script of disk cleanup/maintenance/repairs, and backups, for both of my Macs once a week. The tools I use for that are Onyx, TechTool Pro, and SuperDuper!. TechTool Pro and SuperDuper! are not free, but they do the job. If one wants to do such tasks in a "free" manner, then run Onyx, Disk Utility (in an isolated manner), and Time Machine. However, be forewarned that Disk Utility, while good at what it does, could become inefficient with more difficult disk problems.
Do you know what specifically you would need from the backup?
Do you know what specifically you would need from the backup?
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So, by that I assume you mean your iMovie movies, your iPhoto Photos, and your iTunes music library. I'd be surprised if there is not a way of doing that, but I have no clue how to do it, especially given I have never had issues. (For myself, it is just the iTunes music library).
Too bad about your apps, though. Are any of those third party apps? If they are Apple apps, you should already have them via your clean installation. Which third party ones are you talking about?
Too bad about your apps, though. Are any of those third party apps? If they are Apple apps, you should already have them via your clean installation. Which third party ones are you talking about?