Jorgen Udvang
Subscriber Member
Background:
My Late 2014 MBP 15 with all the bells and whistles that were available back then have acted up on me lately, for more than a year actually. Part of it has been physical, so I've had keyboard, trackpad, battery etc. changed (cheap to do in this country). Two issues of problematic nature remained though. It wouldn't connect to 4TB external discs without the power adapter connected (2TB and less, presumably with lower power consumption, was unproblematic), and even worse, the computer froze and switched itself off without warning. Also, the cooling fan started for no apparent reason, even if internal temperatures were low.
I eventually figured out that some things triggered the freezing more frequently than others. Certain Adobe programs like Photoshop and Acrobat Pro (not the Reader though) were the worst, some advanced websites, particularly when running on Firefox. Also, it often stopped while inactive and folded.
I tried more or less everything, de-installing Adobe, re-installing everything using a Time Machine backup etc. I also bought one of these external cooling devices with a couple of fans to place the computer on. But no, computer idling, fans running, I went for lunch, and when I returned, it had stopped.
So I transferred all my data to another MBP computer using Time Machine. After a few weeks, it started getting slower. It was an older model too, so I thought it was the age of the computers and some kind of incompatibility problem. Then I restored to a new iMac. Same thing. After a few weeks, that one started to slow down too.
Only then I realised that it could be a software problem deeper down, something that couldn't just be deleted. So in my mind, I went back to my IBM days during the mid seventies. What did we do when the old 370 became troublesome? We cold started it.
Apparently, if your problem can't be solved using a (Time Machine) backup of your OS, Apple wants you to buy a new computer. It's hard or impossible to find a description of this procedure on heir websites. Makes sense. They make a living from selling computers. I started to search the internet, and the definition of cold (or clean) start can vary, but I found this article:
www.macworld.co.uk
with some references to these:
www.macworld.co.uk
www.macworld.co.uk
Following the instructions is quite straightforward. What is important is that the system drive (Macintosh HD or whatever you have chosen to call it) is erased when starting in recovery mode before attempting to re-install OS. I needed two or three attempt to get the installation procedure started after the erases. What it does then is contacting its mother in Seattle or wherever (it could actually remember the last WiFi network and password), starting to rebuild the system disc with the OS that the Mac came with back then. In my case, that was Mavericks, and it took the best part of 12 hours before it had finished. Once you see a spinning globe in black and white, you're on your way.
After the process was finished, I upgraded to Big Sur without problems. I now have a clean machine which is again very fast, a machine that I will use only for photo and video editing. All Adobe programs run fine, as does DaVinci Resolve (which didn't have much problems to start with. Rendering 4K videos never caused the computer to stop.), and I can now connect 4TB bus powered 2.5" discs on battery power.
Conclusion: don't give up. This saved me $1,500-2,500 depending how I calculate it, at least for the foreseeable future. I hope this can be useful for somebody.
Edit:
Just to be fair to Apple, they do actually describe the procedure on these pages:
support.apple.com
support.apple.com
However, the explanation is very brief, and I only really understood it after reading the links above.
My Late 2014 MBP 15 with all the bells and whistles that were available back then have acted up on me lately, for more than a year actually. Part of it has been physical, so I've had keyboard, trackpad, battery etc. changed (cheap to do in this country). Two issues of problematic nature remained though. It wouldn't connect to 4TB external discs without the power adapter connected (2TB and less, presumably with lower power consumption, was unproblematic), and even worse, the computer froze and switched itself off without warning. Also, the cooling fan started for no apparent reason, even if internal temperatures were low.
I eventually figured out that some things triggered the freezing more frequently than others. Certain Adobe programs like Photoshop and Acrobat Pro (not the Reader though) were the worst, some advanced websites, particularly when running on Firefox. Also, it often stopped while inactive and folded.
I tried more or less everything, de-installing Adobe, re-installing everything using a Time Machine backup etc. I also bought one of these external cooling devices with a couple of fans to place the computer on. But no, computer idling, fans running, I went for lunch, and when I returned, it had stopped.
So I transferred all my data to another MBP computer using Time Machine. After a few weeks, it started getting slower. It was an older model too, so I thought it was the age of the computers and some kind of incompatibility problem. Then I restored to a new iMac. Same thing. After a few weeks, that one started to slow down too.
Only then I realised that it could be a software problem deeper down, something that couldn't just be deleted. So in my mind, I went back to my IBM days during the mid seventies. What did we do when the old 370 became troublesome? We cold started it.
Apparently, if your problem can't be solved using a (Time Machine) backup of your OS, Apple wants you to buy a new computer. It's hard or impossible to find a description of this procedure on heir websites. Makes sense. They make a living from selling computers. I started to search the internet, and the definition of cold (or clean) start can vary, but I found this article:
How to reinstall macOS
Here's how to restore a Mac by reinstalling macOS via the internet using macOS Utilities and Recovery mode.
www.macworld.co.uk
with some references to these:
How to factory reset a MacBook or Mac: Reset a Mac to factory settings
Need to reset a MacBook? Want to wipe a Mac and reinstall macOS before selling? Here's how to erase a Mac - including a new process for M1 and T2 Macs.
www.macworld.co.uk
How to clean install macOS on your Mac
Speed up your Mac and rid it of problems by reformatting it before doing a clean install of macOS Sonoma.
www.macworld.co.uk
Following the instructions is quite straightforward. What is important is that the system drive (Macintosh HD or whatever you have chosen to call it) is erased when starting in recovery mode before attempting to re-install OS. I needed two or three attempt to get the installation procedure started after the erases. What it does then is contacting its mother in Seattle or wherever (it could actually remember the last WiFi network and password), starting to rebuild the system disc with the OS that the Mac came with back then. In my case, that was Mavericks, and it took the best part of 12 hours before it had finished. Once you see a spinning globe in black and white, you're on your way.
After the process was finished, I upgraded to Big Sur without problems. I now have a clean machine which is again very fast, a machine that I will use only for photo and video editing. All Adobe programs run fine, as does DaVinci Resolve (which didn't have much problems to start with. Rendering 4K videos never caused the computer to stop.), and I can now connect 4TB bus powered 2.5" discs on battery power.
Conclusion: don't give up. This saved me $1,500-2,500 depending how I calculate it, at least for the foreseeable future. I hope this can be useful for somebody.
Edit:
Just to be fair to Apple, they do actually describe the procedure on these pages:
How to reinstall macOS - Apple Support
You can use macOS Recovery, your computer's built-in recovery system, to reinstall the Mac operating system. Reinstalling macOS doesn't remove your personal data.
Use Disk Utility to erase an Intel-based Mac – Apple Support (UK)
How to erase (format) the built-in startup disk of an Intel-based Mac.
However, the explanation is very brief, and I only really understood it after reading the links above.
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