Unable to boot my MacBook Pro running Sequoia 15.2 into Safe Mode

farrelli wrote:

Hi,

I have another thread about a search issue I'm having on Sequoia which remains undiagnosed, either here or by Apple. As part of the troubleshooting, they asked me to reproduce it in safe mode, but I can't boot into safe mode.

Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support

farrelli wrote:

Why is it that every question is always "answered" by someone forwarding instructions for something that you've stated you already tried?

Because 99.9% of the time, when someone states they can't boot into Safe Mode it's because they didn't do it correctly. So one posts the support page to make sure they go through the steps correctly.

farrelli wrote:

If someone tells you that not only are they Mac competent AND have had Apple watch them do something, the first order of business is not to tell them something that Apple Support would have undoubtedly corrected if in error.

Many people make such a claim. You're welcome to wait for other replies.

farrelli wrote:

As I said, I already did it right, including having Apple watch me.

Why is it that every question is always "answered" by someone forwarding instructions for something that you've stated you already tried? I don't mean to be ungrateful, but it's like very bad bots patrol this site. Either that, or people who can't be bothered to read.

I think it's probably inappropriate for you to suggest that very experienced volunteer responders here like dialabrain are like "very bad bots." This is a user forum, Apple employees do not respond, and since we cannot inspect or see your Mac or how you are booting it, and since you provided no information about what happens when you try to boot into safe mode, providing detailed instructions for booting into safe mode is about all we can do here. If you are doing it right and it won't boot into safe mode, either there is a simple explanation (like a firmware password), or there is something wrong with your Mac and it should receive service from Apple, 3 hour trip or not. Perhaps you can find another certified Apple authorized service provider that is not as far, those are third party shops and my experience with them has been excellent.

My opinion: you should make two complete and verified backups of all your files and erase your internal drive and do a "clean install," as if preparing the Mac for sale. Then create just one administrator user, say "admin," update to the latest MacOS, then test for proper functionality (both the search issue and the safe mode issue). If it works properly, then run Migration Assistant to bring over only your files and user account, nothing else, no apps, no settings, no "misc." It might even be worth the extra hassle of manually bringing over just files to avoid migration of anything problematic. Then reinstall apps one or two at a time and retest in case you recreated the problem. If a clean install doesn't resolve this, you have a hardware problem, most likely.

farrelli wrote:

That said, thanks for your suggestions but I was really hoping that I would get a response that revolved more around how a Mac boots into safe mode and what might get in the way of that.

FWIW, assuming you are doing it correctly, the only thing that would get in the way is a hardware problem.

farrelli wrote:

That said, thanks for your suggestions but I was really hoping that I would get a response that revolved more around how a Mac boots into safe mode and what might get in the way of that. What you're suggesting is pretty time consuming, and have done it before on other Macs over the years for other problems (usually booting from another disc) but it's a fair bit of work for usually little to no return.

I have also done this -- erase, format, reinstall -- and I have found it to not take very long, maybe a few hours. A Mac boots into safe mode much as it boots normally, except that many extensions are disabled, and also for some models certain graphics hardware or firmware is not used. Hence refusing to boot into safe mode can be indicative of something fairly intrusive that is installed or configured, or hardware (including one or more FPGAs) is not operating properly. The clean install would definitively tell you that hardware is the problem (if it is). Or you can simply hope that Apple will be able to do something for you.

Can you boot into recovery and run First Aid? I am wondering what other problems your Mac has. How old is it, and which model? Older Macs are more likely to have hardware degradation and Intel versus Silicon have other differences.

+1 Well said. :)