Help! Updated to macOS 10.12.4, MBP randomly shuts off

[williamrb]

TL;DR: Correction: disabling the AppleThunderboltNHI.kext driver WORKED for me!

Yes, I've had the sporadic shutdown problems, sometimes occuring very frequently (like every 3-5 minutes), essentially making my MBP mid-2014 unusable. I was skeptical, but disabling the Thunderbolt ethernet driver really works -- I have not had shutdowns for months since I did this. Then I updated to the latest version of Mojave and the update process reenabled the driver, and I immediately had several sequential shutdowns. So I disabled it again and back to a well-running mac.

It is a bummer to not be able to use hardwired ethernet, as I liked doing that when in the office. But it is not a serious enough drawback to cause me to get a new mac. I am hoping that my whole logic board is not in the process of degenerating, as some previous posts have suggested might be happening.

 

[Arcady]

I know this thread is kind of old, but I wanted to mention that the fix of removing AppleThunderboltNHI.kext to stop the random shutdowns has worked for me, but I'm not using a laptop. For the last year or so, my Mac Mini Late 2012 Server has been randomly shutting down. Apparently when there was very little activity, it would just shut off. This happened so much that eventually the computer was not reliable enough to keep in service. Recently I decided to install a new SSD and a fresh copy of Mac OS, and it worked for a while, but the shutdowns started again. I found this thread, tried removing the AppleThunderboltNHI.kext file, and it's been rock-solid for a week now.

TL;DR: The AppleThunderboltNHI.kext fix works on MAC MINI. (At least my 2012 model.)

 

[zarathu]

I know this thread is kind of old, but I wanted to mention that the fix of removing AppleThunderboltNHI.kext to stop the random shutdowns has worked for me, but I'm not using a laptop. For the last year or so, my Mac Mini Late 2012 Server has been randomly shutting down. Apparently when there was very little activity, it would just shut off. This happened so much that eventually the computer was not reliable enough to keep in service. Recently I decided to install a new SSD and a fresh copy of Mac OS, and it worked for a while, but the shutdowns started again. I found this thread, tried removing the AppleThunderboltNHI.kext file, and it's been rock-solid for a week now.

TL;DR: The AppleThunderboltNHI.kext fix works on MAC MINI. (At least my 2012 model.)

These are the MBP’s affected by the random shutdown issue:

Any model with a 820-3662 Logic Board
Any model with a 820-3787 Logic Board
Macbook Pro 15″ 2013
Macbook Pro 15″ 2014
Macbook Pro 15″ 2015
Macbook Pro 13″ 2013
Macbook Pro 13″ 2014
Macbook Pro 13″ 2015

If you don’t have one of the above two logic boards in one of the 6 MBP's, and you have shutdowns, then you should do the other things(like the PRAM, the scd, replacing your SSD, etc) or you really have a broken logic board.

The NoCrashMBP Python script needs to run all the time, so you have to put it into your Login Folder(in the System Preferences/Users).

It really does work. If you should restart your MBP and not have it in the Login file you could forget and have it not work, and then wonder why you have shutdowns.

More information at: https://realmacmods.com/product/macbook-pro-nocrash-utility/

 

[williamrb]

Now that I've disabled my thunderbolt ethernet, is there any way to use a hardwired ethernet connection? In particular, would the apple USB ethernet adapter work with the thunderbolt ethernet driver disabled?

 

[Arcady]

If you don’t have one of the above two logic boards in one of the 6 MBP's, and you have shutdowns, then you should do the other things(like the PRAM, the scd, replacing your SSD, etc) or you really have a broken logic board.

None of those things worked on my Mac Mini. Disabling the thunderbolt networking kext is what fixed it. I couldn't get 1 day up uptime on the mini while it sat idle before. Now it's been running for 12 days straight and this is the first time I logged into it since I posted my previous reply.
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Now that I've disabled my thunderbolt ethernet, is there any way to use a hardwired ethernet connection? In particular, would the apple USB ethernet adapter work with the thunderbolt ethernet driver disabled?

I can confirm that the Apple USB Ethernet adapter works fine on two MacBooks and a Mac Mini with the thunderbolt ethernet extension disabled. It also works better in Windows while running bootcamp, providing reliable hot-plugging, unlike the thunderbolt to ethernet adapter.

 

[michaelafcadio]

Has anyone tried replacing the thermal paste on CPU and GPU as described elsewhere as a fix for premature thermal throttling? If so, does it have any effect on the shutdown issue described in this thread?

 

[Pavel Katkov]

Hello!
I can confirm Hardware fix of this problem.
MBP 15 mid-2014 with 1tb ssd
Was problem with 'random-shutdown' (it worked OK with the Thunderbolt-Ethernet-Driver removed)
SSD was original MZ-KPU1T0T/0A6 - 1tb - 'random-shutdown'
After installing MZ-KPV1T00/0A4 - 1tb - problem is gone.
All work perfect without removing drivers on 0A4 ssd!
Bonus - write\read speed increased by 30\50 percents.

Thank you!

Hello!
After 2 months, I can confirm that there were no reboots at all!
Extremely recommend this method!

 

[williamrb]

I can confirm that the Apple USB Ethernet adapter works fine on two MacBooks and a Mac Mini with the thunderbolt ethernet extension disabled. It also works better in Windows while running bootcamp, providing reliable hot-plugging, unlike the thunderbolt to ethernet adapter.

Arcady, thank you so much, I'm going to buy a USB Ethernet adapter now.

 

[bivalvegruff]

Hello!
After 2 months, I can confirm that there were no reboots at all!
Extremely recommend this method!

How can I find out which drive to use for my MBA 2013 13"?

 

[Chris Gough]

Just a quick update and a WARNING! The Thunderbolt ethernet driver fix worked for me on Mojave but now testing macOS Catalina 10.15 and it seems they have protected the macOS install with a read only partition. The fix no longer works with the instructions provided, so the shutdowns are back until someone more knowledgeable than me can figure out an updated fix...

 

[jennyp]

Just a quick update and a WARNING! The Thunderbolt ethernet driver fix worked for me on Mojave but now testing macOS Catalina 10.15 and it seems they have protected the macOS install with a read only partition. The fix no longer works with the instructions provided, so the shutdowns are back until someone more knowledgeable than me can figure out an updated fix...

This "fix" never worked for me anyway, yet I seem to have the exact same problem that people are describing.

The most intractable - and frustrating - problem I think I've ever seen on a Mac: it's totally random and seems related to nothing I can discern, and even appears after a clean install of the OS.

 

[Suzatlarge]

Just a quick update and a WARNING! The Thunderbolt ethernet driver fix worked for me on Mojave but now testing macOS Catalina 10.15 and it seems they have protected the macOS install with a read only partition. The fix no longer works with the instructions provided, so the shutdowns are back until someone more knowledgeable than me can figure out an updated fix...

Oh, ouch. Thanks for the heads up. Most of the time my MBP lives on the desk, connected to two monitors. So the random shutdown issue doesn't arise.

But. The reason I spent all the $$ for it is to use Lightroom, Photoshop, and other photo editing apps, and the reason I chose the MBP vs. an iMac is portability. I attend photo processing seminars/workshops, and take the occasional road trip, where I use the MBP without a monitor.

I hope you will keep us posted on the Catalina situation.

This MBP just may end its days running Mojave. Or, I'll update the MBP to Catalina and leave it at home. And just take my old 11.6" MBA along as my portable 'puter, knowing it won't be as fast/powerful at the photo processing as the MBP. TBH if it weren't for my photography hobby [addiction], the new generation of MBA's could take care of all my computing needs anyway. If I weren't so fond of the now-discontinued 11.6" form factor I'd probably have updated to a new Air already.

 

[samuelheinrich]

Hi everyone

I want to update you guy about my case with my MBP 15" mid 2014 model.

I used the thunderbolt method, which was working fine for a long time. I was just about to try out the SSD method, which was mentioned by "Pavel Katkov" a few posts back in this thread, when the macbook died completely. no more fanspin, unable to power on, dead.

so I bought a new model, but just for the sake of it, i sent in the old laptop to a repairshop (Rossman nyc) to diagnose the issue. They told me that the CPU was dead and its unfixable. They made me an offer for a board replaced, which i accepted.

After I received the laptop back, i reinstalled the Thunderbolt Kext file.
Guess what, the problem is gone. Even with the same old SSD installed.

But here comes the catch, they did not use the exact same motherboard for the replace.
I had a 2014/16g/2.5ghz board and they replaced it with a 2013/8g/2.2ghz board.

so what are the findings here?
- Its not a software bug, since I did not reinstall macOS after the board replace
- its not directly related to the SSD, but somehow to the combination btwn. SSD and board?
- it looks like it affects only specific series motherboards.

cheers

 

[karthik02]

This "fix" never worked for me anyway, yet I seem to have the exact same problem that people are describing.

The most intractable - and frustrating - problem I think I've ever seen on a Mac: it's totally random and seems related to nothing I can discern, and even appears after a clean install of the OS.

What worked for me was to unload the keyboard kext and use an external keyboard, which made it effectively into a desktop pc.

 

[crowhill]

Just a quick update and a WARNING! The Thunderbolt ethernet driver fix worked for me on Mojave but now testing macOS Catalina 10.15 and it seems they have protected the macOS install with a read only partition. The fix no longer works with the instructions provided, so the shutdowns are back until someone more knowledgeable than me can figure out an updated fix...

OK. I've have loaded macOS Catalina 10.15 Beta (19A512f) on my Mid 2014 MBP. I now no longer can remove/delete the Thunderbolt kext file and get a "...can't be deleted or modified because it's required by macOS" message every time I try to delete the file.

I HAVE disable csrutil, but that alone doesn't do the trick to allow me to delete the Thunderbolt kext file.

Does anyone have an idea what I am missing?

 

[karthik02]

OK. I've have loaded macOS Catalina 10.15 Beta (19A512f) on my Mid 2014 MBP. I now no longer can remove/delete the Thunderbolt kext file and get a "...can't be deleted or modified because it's required by macOS" message every time I try to delete the file.

I HAVE disable csrutil, but that alone doesn't do the trick to allow me to delete the Thunderbolt kext file.

Does anyone have an idea what I am missing?

Not sure what you’re missing ...But what has worked for me (without making any changes to files) is to close the lid, and leave it connected to a monitor, keyboard and mouse. It renders the laptop into a desktop, but I even upgraded to 10.14.6 without any problems.
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Not sure what you’re missing ...But what has worked for me (without making any changes to files) is to close the lid, and leave it connected to a monitor, keyboard and mouse. It renders the laptop into a desktop, but I even upgraded to 10.14.6 without any problems.

I’m able to reset the laptop without problems... but starting from a cold shutdown was a problem so I had to hold down a key until the external monitor started showing an image - from there I closed the lid and hid the laptop behind my monitor. No problems yet despite multiple reboots from installing stuff.

 

[crowhill]

Connecting to an external monitor works for me too. That's how I am using my MBP for most of the time. Right now I am on vacation and took my MBP along, because I need it to check in for work, and the thing is driving me crazy because it shuts down every few minutes.

 

[arrrrny]

This "fix" never worked for me anyway, yet I seem to have the exact same problem that people are describing.

The most intractable - and frustrating - problem I think I've ever seen on a Mac: it's totally random and seems related to nothing I can discern, and even appears after a clean install of the OS.

Try Removing all the Thunderbolt drivers. That worked for me.

AppleThunderboltIP.kext
AppleThunderboltNHI.kext
AppleThunderboltEDMService.kext
AppleThunderboltDPAdapters.kext
AppleThunderboltPCIAdapters.kext
AppleThunderboltUTDM.kext

 

[arrrrny]

Just a quick update and a WARNING! The Thunderbolt ethernet driver fix worked for me on Mojave but now testing macOS Catalina 10.15 and it seems they have protected the macOS install with a read only partition. The fix no longer works with the instructions provided, so the shutdowns are back until someone more knowledgeable than me can figure out an updated fix...

Python Script Fix will work for Catalina, So that would be the trade-off for upgrading to Catalina.

 

[malaujai]

I have a Cinema Display on Mojave and the fix works for me to stop the random shut downs... That being said, I've noticed that the Cinema Display doesn't always turn on and is pretty buggy once the AppleThunderboltNHI.kext fix was applied. FWIW, I've got two external monitors plugged into my rMBP 2014 (one is a cinema display and the other is a regular monitor plugged into the thunderbolt port for miniDP).

 

[Suzatlarge]

The NoCrashMBP Python script needs to run all the time, so you have to put it into your Login Folder(in the System Preferences/Users).

It really does work. If you should restart your MBP and not have it in the Login file you could forget and have it not work, and then wonder why you have shutdowns.

More information at: https://realmacmods.com/product/macbook-pro-nocrash-utility/

Thanks for this! I've had good luck disabling that thunderbolt/ethernet extension, but I usually forget to go in and do it again after an OS update, until the random shutdowns start up.

I bought and installed the NoCrashMBP script a couple of days ago, and it really does take care of business. Got it into my login apps and all. Re-enabled that extension, with the script running there are no shutdowns.

I'm one happy camper. A tiny price to pay to remove this issue. It would be a financial hardship for me to try to replace this RMBP in the near future, and now I'm not so worried that I'll have to. At any rate, if I do, I doubt it will be because of the random shutdown problem.

 

[jacekw]

OK. I've have loaded macOS Catalina 10.15 Beta (19A512f) on my Mid 2014 MBP. I now no longer can remove/delete the Thunderbolt kext file and get a "...can't be deleted or modified because it's required by macOS" message every time I try to delete the file.

I HAVE disable csrutil, but that alone doesn't do the trick to allow me to delete the Thunderbolt kext file.

Does anyone have an idea what I am missing?

The system volume is mounted read-only in Catalina. In order to be able to modify files in S/L/E you need to mount in read-write mode i.e. sudo mount -u -o rw / Having SIP disabled before that.

The thing is, removing ThunderboltNHI.kext worked for me until Beta 6. After installing it, removing the kext doesn't help and my macbook reboots randomly Python still works, fortunately.

I'm going to try removing all Thunderbolt kexts later...

 

[bkeenan]

I cannot believe this is still an issue. Can't Apple just make a software fix? - or at least an easy way to disable Thunderbolt in System Preferences?

I made the AppleThunderboltNHI.kext fix ages ago and had forgotten my macbook even had an issue, but recently updated to Mojave 10.14.6 and my laptop started shutting off again! Arg! There's nothing wrong with my trusty laptop, and I don't want to buy a new one just because of this issue. How do we petition Apple to make a god damn fix?

 

[karthik02]

Disabling the keyboard and using it as a desktop (with a Magic Mouse) still works for me. Have you tried loading a different OS, like Linux on it to confirm its a MacOS issue?

 

[bivalvegruff]

Disabling the keyboard and using it as a desktop (with a Magic Mouse) still works for me. Have you tried loading a different OS, like Linux on it to confirm its a MacOS issue?

How do you disable the keyboard?

I tried removing macOS and installing Linux but the problem persisted. I read somewhere that this is because their both built upon Unix, and that it wouldn't persist on Windows, but I haven't tried.