Weirdest mac boot error.. please help

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LokiLoki

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#222506 15-Aug-2017 02:18

Hey guys i fix alot of mac issues for people on a daily basis but this has me stumped and whats more this time its my own machine.
I did a minor software update and now i cant finish the boot sequence. Ive done everything. Single user mode fsck repair. Recovery mode disk utility. Reinstalled os x via recovery (keeping my files).. reset pram. Cant boot into safe mode. Run full hardware tests. Replaced ram..
When i boot into verbose mode it gets stuck on this error..
PSYNCH: pid[*]: cvwait: thread entry with same sequence already

* being a slowly increasing number.

This has totally crippled me. And to make things worse literally the day before it happened my son knocked my time machine off the desk and the my backup drive is stuffed.
This has put all my work and income on hold and im desperate to get it up and running again

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Geek
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#1846784 15-Aug-2017 02:20

Ps. Its a 2011 imac 27".
Has worked without a single problem since new.
Hardware tests show nothing. When i run fsck on the first pass it will always modify the system and on second pass not. All hardware checks out.
Basically cant find anything of use online.
Heeeeeeellllp

LokiLoki

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#1846785 15-Aug-2017 02:24

Sorry at the end of the error its meant to say
.... already present

wellygary

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#1846788 15-Aug-2017 06:30

Will it usb boot?

LokiLoki

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#1846846 15-Aug-2017 08:51

Well it will load the startup disk options when i restart + option so i imagine it will boot into a usb. Im just trying to install a functioning os onto a flash now

LokiLoki

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#1846847 15-Aug-2017 08:51

Well it will load the startup disk options when i restart + option so i imagine it will boot into a usb. Im just trying to install a functioning os onto a flash now

jonherries

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#1846856 15-Aug-2017 09:00

It may be similar to an error I ran into recently when I swapped out an old spinning drive for an ssd. It felt like the install had hung, but was cycling through an increasing series of numbers in the install log. Maybe try the os repair, and bring up the install log.

I vaguely recall it being something to do with checking two byte characters in non-english language packs in the install. I needed to wait for a long time (60mins) for it to cycle through all the options,and then it finished and was fine...

Jon

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LokiLoki

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#1846908 15-Aug-2017 09:58

I let it cycle through that error in verbose with increasing numbers literally overnight. Like 5 hours. And it still was just looping. Ive tried disk utility repair in recovery mode like 20times. Done single user fsck -fy like 25 times. Run multiple hardware tests. Reinstalled os x via recovery keeping my data in place.. still nothing. And i cant boot into safe mode either. Its stressing me out so badly.
Single dad and all my work is on it and everything has grinded to a halt. I can access the drive and see my data is all in place and fine. But with my back up destroyed the day before this happened i cant format the drive. And im not in a position to take it to a mac tech who can play around with the programming or whatever as they cost me more than i can spare.
I write front and back end web code but i dont want to go messing about in single user mode too much unless someone who knows more than me can guide me through

ANglEAUT

altered-ego
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#1846914 15-Aug-2017 10:07

LokiLoki: ... Has worked without a single problem since new. ...

Considering the age of the machine, have you considered running a physical check of the disk for sector errors? No file system check (fsck) but more like DOS's SCANDISK or Spinrite?

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LokiLoki

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#1846919 15-Aug-2017 10:27

Thanks for the reply.
I havent removed the drive and mounted it externally and done a proper drive scan with disk warrior or similar. Im guessing there is no way to do something like this from single user mode? Im 99% sure the drive is free of physical errors tho

coffeebaron

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#1847001 15-Aug-2017 12:42

Can you at least get the drive out, put it on another system and get your files off? That at least gives you the option of full fresh install.

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FineWine

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#1847028 15-Aug-2017 13:50

Thinking outside the box

Can you connect the bad computer to a good computer via cable and then run Target Disk mode on the bad computer and see if it pops on the good computer. If it does try some maintenance stuff from there. You may even be able to see the files you want to save.

Just a thought

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wellygary

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#1847029 15-Aug-2017 13:51

coffeebaron: Can you at least get the drive out, put it on another system and get your files off? That at least gives you the option of full fresh install.

it sounds like it will boot in target Disk Mode, ( it will show the startup disk options)

So if he has access to another Mac, ( which he would need to mount an HFS disk anyway) getting the files off should be possible that way...

[snap}

LokiLoki

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#1847155 15-Aug-2017 15:52

Thanks for the replies guys. I could just whip the drive out mount it and drag files onto the system once I install a new hard drive however my computer was used solely for Web Development with various files everywhere and with Web Development means Photoshop files but more importantly is all my audio production stuff.. sure I can get all my samples and plugins and whatnot however all music I've been working on which I do professionally as well will not be so easy but it is possible and looks like it might be my only option as no one seems to know a fix for this problem. Guess I was really hoping for some magical command line to fix the launch sequence so I can keep using my current system and make another time machine..
Just seems like such an odd small problem... im baffled..

LokiLoki

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#1847158 15-Aug-2017 15:53

But yes ill find a FireWire and try target disk mode

FineWine

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Nurse (R)

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#1847229 15-Aug-2017 17:57

LokiLoki: I did a minor software update and now i cant finish the boot sequence.

LokiLoki: ......but more importantly is all my audio production stuff.. sure I can get all my samples and plugins and whatnot .....

Ah Ha 💡 now we are getting somewhere. Though you don't say what macOS you are running and what software updates you actually did, here is a thought;

By any chance did that minor software update include updated audio plugins and more importantly were those plugins from Avid? I remember reading in one of the Mac forums around the time El Captain that people were having problems with booting and the problem was the Avid Audio plugin. Apparently the OS did not like it as it was unsigned. Try this in Terminal:

CMD + R (boot)
Terminal

mount -rw /
cd /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD/Library/Extensions/
mkdir Unsupported
mv *.kext Unsupported
reboot

Oh on further research found this rather long article, OS X El Capitan / Sierra Hanging on Boot [FIXED]

He also mentions the above Terminal script But the interesting bit is here; scroll down to: "Script to Disable Non-Default Kext Files" which is a more safer script.

Good luck 🙏

Whilst the difficult we can do immediately, the impossible takes a bit longer. However, miracles you will have to wait for.

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