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Macbook Pro 2017 13" has problems with booting up 70 % of the time.

Hi guys.


I'm experiencing problems such as kernel panics, restarts and shut downs because of a problem and question mark with a folder. I've tried a ton of solutions for these problems and none seems to work. I've tried resetting the SMC, NVRAM, you name it. I find that my Macbook only has problems booting up when it's below 60 % battery. I can't even close the screen down for 30 seconds without having to do a whole restart. And sometimes there's problem with restarting too because sometimes it wont boot up because of black screen or the question mark with a folder. The kernel panic I get says that theres a PCI link down. I'm using the newest updates and everything. I'd really appreciate some help because it's near impossible working with this Macbook if I have to deal with these boot problems.

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 12.0

Posted on Nov 29, 2021 4:23 PM

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Posted on Nov 30, 2021 6:15 PM

I'm not sure about the report, but it does mention memory corruption & Code Signature Invalid.


Run the Apple Diagnostics and EtreCheck.


It appears you have the MBPro 13" (2017) non-Touchbar model. If you sometimes get the blinking folder with question mark and are doing nothing to fix it, then suspect the SSD is beginning to fail. I've seen this occur with several of our organization's 2016-2017 non-touchbar laptops. Many times they will leave behind a Kernel Panic log referencing "nvme: A fatal error occurred". It can be very difficult to troubleshoot a failing SSD unless it leaves this Kernel Panic log or the failure occurs while booted to external media where you can confirm the SSD disappears from the bus.


Make sure to have frequent and regular backups just in case the SSD or Logic Board fails. Also, It is impossible to recover accidentally deleted data from an SSD after the Trash has been emptied plus an SSD can fail at any time without any warning signs.


See if your laptop qualifies for either the free SSD repair program or the free Battery repair program (only an Apple tech can confirm whether the laptop qualifies):

https://support.apple.com/13-inch-macbook-pro-solid-state-drive-service


https://support.apple.com/13inch-macbookpro-battery-replacement


FYI, here is the current list of the publicly acknowledged free repair programs for various Apple products (some products such as your laptop have multiple programs available):

https://support.apple.com/service-programs

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11 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Nov 30, 2021 6:15 PM in response to marcusye

I'm not sure about the report, but it does mention memory corruption & Code Signature Invalid.


Run the Apple Diagnostics and EtreCheck.


It appears you have the MBPro 13" (2017) non-Touchbar model. If you sometimes get the blinking folder with question mark and are doing nothing to fix it, then suspect the SSD is beginning to fail. I've seen this occur with several of our organization's 2016-2017 non-touchbar laptops. Many times they will leave behind a Kernel Panic log referencing "nvme: A fatal error occurred". It can be very difficult to troubleshoot a failing SSD unless it leaves this Kernel Panic log or the failure occurs while booted to external media where you can confirm the SSD disappears from the bus.


Make sure to have frequent and regular backups just in case the SSD or Logic Board fails. Also, It is impossible to recover accidentally deleted data from an SSD after the Trash has been emptied plus an SSD can fail at any time without any warning signs.


See if your laptop qualifies for either the free SSD repair program or the free Battery repair program (only an Apple tech can confirm whether the laptop qualifies):

https://support.apple.com/13-inch-macbook-pro-solid-state-drive-service


https://support.apple.com/13inch-macbookpro-battery-replacement


FYI, here is the current list of the publicly acknowledged free repair programs for various Apple products (some products such as your laptop have multiple programs available):

https://support.apple.com/service-programs

Nov 29, 2021 6:36 PM in response to marcusye

Post the complete kernel panic here using the "Additional Text" icon which looks like a piece of paper. Post several kernel panic logs if available so we can see if there are any patterns. Kernel Panic log file names begin with "kernel" and end in ".panic" and are located in "/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports".


You can look for possible software issues by running EtreCheck and posting the report here using the "Additional Text" icon which looks like a piece of paper. If you give EtreCheck "Full Disk Access", then the report will also include the summary of recent logs which may contain some clues as well.


You can run the Apple Diagnostics to see if any hardware issues are detected.


Make sure to disconnect all external devices in case one of them is causing the problem.


Dec 6, 2021 5:44 PM in response to marcusye

Most likely your SSD is failing since the important part of the Kernel Panic file is the reference to "nvme" which is the SSD. There is a small chance that you may have some third party software installed that is interfering with the NVMe driver which controls the SSD. If you post the EtreCheck report here we can see if you have any third party software installed that could interfere. Within the EtreCheck app click the "Share Report" icon and select "Copy" or "Copy Report" so you can paste it here in the "Additional Text" box which is accessed using the "Additional Text" icon which looks like a piece of paper.



Like I said earlier the MBPro 2016/2017 non-Touchbar models tend to have a higher SSD failure rate even if they don't qualify for the free SSD repair program. If a third party driver is not causing the problem, then you will need to have the SSD replaced.


I asked you to post the EtreCheck report here because other contributors can examine the report for you. Paying for the app is another way as well. Even without seeing the EtreCheck I am fairly certain from my own personal experience repairing these laptops that the SSD is most likely failing although there is a slim chance the Logic Board could be bad. In 99% of the cases I see, the SSD is the most likely point of failure (assuming there is no accidental liquid damage).


Also the diagnostics are not always able to detect hardware failures especially intermittent failures. The only really useful diagnostic is one that shows an error.


Make sure to have a good backup since the SSD could fail completely at any time.

Dec 7, 2021 5:15 AM in response to marcusye

I don't see anything in the report that would interfere with the SSD's driver so I think your SSD is failing and needs replaced. There is always a possibility the Logic Board could be bad instead, but 99% of the time the SSD will be at fault. Just make sure to have frequent & regular backups because it is nearly impossible to recover data from an SSD because the SSD will get worse perhaps even completely failing at any moment. However, the intermittent nature of the failure may make it difficult for you to get Apple to replace the SSD since Apple techs usually don't read or understand Kernel Panic reports. Maybe you will get lucky and your SSD qualifies for the free Apple SSD repair program.


OWC recently released a third party SSD upgrade option. If you choose this option make sure to keep the original SSD just in case it may ever be needed later on to install a system firmware update or to install a newer version of macOS.

https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ssd/owc/macbook-pro-13-inch-non-touch-bar/2016-2017


You have some version of the CleanMyMac app installed. It appears to just be a health monitoring app, but most contributors do not trust anything from this developer because their other cleaning app is notorious for causing all sorts of problems with macOS. Since the app you have installed does not have any actual drivers installed, its impact to macOS should be less troublesome.


Good luck.

Macbook Pro 2017 13" has problems with booting up 70 % of the time.

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