Macbook Air stuck at start after update to 10.15.3

This morning my MacBook Air (13" Core i5 1.8GHz 8GB RAM 256GB SSD – MQD42Y/A – A1466 – 2017), prompted me for updating to Mac OSX Catalina 10.15.3. So I did.

Everything went fine during install. But after restarting it got stuck at the black screen with the white apple logo and the white progress bar at 100%. So I waited about half an hour before restarting manually. Same issue : stuck at 100%.

So I started into safe mode and it got stuck as well. I went into recovery mode and checked the disks: no errors. I reinstalled OS without previous formatting : brought no change.

I also tried resetting NVRAM/PRAM and SMC to no avail 🙁

I exported the logfile: (just an excerpt)

Feb  5 12:44:31 MacBook-Air opendirectoryd[212]: [session] found via filename '/private/var/db/dslocal/nodes/Default/computers/localhost.plist'
Feb  5 12:44:31 MacBook-Air opendirectoryd[212]: [session] ODNodeCopyDetails completed, delivered 1 result
Feb  5 12:44:31 MacBook-Air opendirectoryd[212]: [session] UID: 0, EUID: 0, GID: 0, EGID: 0, PID: 655, PROC: ReportCrash ODNodeRelease request, NodeID: C71144CE-436F-4BB3-B337-F5C5220012B9
Feb  5 12:44:31 MacBook-Air opendirectoryd[212]: [session] ODNodeRelease completed
Feb  5 12:44:31 MacBook-Air opendirectoryd[212]: [session] UID: 0, EUID: 0, GID: 0, EGID: 0, PID: 655, PROC: ReportCrash ODNodeCreateWithNameAndOptions request, SessionID: 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000, Name: /Search, Options: 0x0
Feb  5 12:44:31 MacBook-Air opendirectoryd[212]: [session] ODNodeCreateWithNameAndOptions failed with result 2000
Feb  5 12:44:31 MacBook-Air opendirectoryd[212]: [session] UID: 0, EUID: 0, GID: 0, EGID: 0, PID: 655, PROC: ReportCrash ODNodeCreateWithNameAndOptions request, SessionID: 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000, Name: /Search, Options: 0x0
Feb  5 12:44:31 MacBook-Air opendirectoryd[212]: [session] ODNodeCreateWithNameAndOptions failed with result 2000
Feb  5 12:44:31 MacBook-Air opendirectoryd[212]: [session] UID: 0, EUID: 0, GID: 0, EGID: 0, PID: 655, PROC: ReportCrash ODNodeCreateWithNameAndOptions request, SessionID: 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000, Name: /Local/Default, Options: 0x0
Feb  5 12:44:31 MacBook-Air opendirectoryd[212]: [session] node assigned UUID - 52B8A089-C008-45A6-9BFA-5F004570084F
Feb  5 12:44:31 MacBook-Air opendirectoryd[212]: [session] ODNodeCreateWithNameAndOptions completed
Feb  5 12:44:31 MacBook-Air opendirectoryd[212]: [session] UID: 0, EUID: 0, GID: 0, EGID: 0, PID: 655, PROC: ReportCrash ODQueryCreateWithNode request, NodeID: 52B8A089-C008-45A6-9BFA-5F004570084F, RecordType(s): dsRecTypeStandard:Users, Attribute: dsAttrTypeStandard:RecordName, MatchType: Any, Equality: CaseIgnore, Value(s): dsRecordsAll, Requested Attributes: dsAttrTypeStandard:GeneratedUID,dsAttrTypeNative:LinkedIdentity,dsAttrTypeStandard:RealName,dsAttrTypeStandard:GroupMembership,dsAttrTypeNative:IsHidden,dsAttrTypeStandard:Picture,dsAttrTypeStandard:UserCertificate,dsAttrTypeStandard:AppleMetaNodeLocation,dsAttrTypeStandard:RecordType,dsAttrTypeStandard:Comment,dsAttrTypeStandard:NestedGroups,dsAttrTypeStandard:PrimaryGroupID,dsAttrTypeStandard:AuthenticationAuthority,dsAttrTypeStandard:Keywords,dsAttrTypeStandard:RecordName,dsAttrTypeStandard:JPEGPhoto,dsAttrTypeNative:_guest,dsAttrTypeStandard:AppleMetaRecordName,dsAttrTypeStandard:UserShell,dsAttrTypeStandard:GroupMembers,dsAttrTypeStandard:UniqueID,dsAttrTypeStandard:EMailAddress,dsAttrTypeStandard:NFSHomeDirectory, Max Results: 2147483647
Feb  5 12:44:31 MacBook-Air opendirectoryd[212]: [session] queuing request to connection - 2AE0A7D0-F8D7-4A69-A5AC-8552326F4304 - CFBundle 0x7fd973d48910 </System/Library/OpenDirectory/Modules/PlistFile.bundle> (bundle, loaded)
Feb  5 12:44:31 MacBook-Air opendirectoryd[212]: [session] flushing dirty record '/private/var/db/dslocal/nodes/Default/computers/localhost' from line 6025
Feb  5 12:44:31 MacBook-Air opendirectoryd[212]: [auth] failed to write file <private>
Feb  5 12:44:31 MacBook-Air opendirectoryd[212]: [session] ODQueryCreateWithNode completed, delivered 100 results
Feb  5 12:44:31 MacBook-Air opendirectoryd[212]: [session] UID: 0, EUID: 0, GID: 0, EGID: 0, PID: 655, PROC: ReportCrash ODNodeRelease request, NodeID: 52B8A089-C008-45A6-9BFA-5F004570084F
Feb  5 12:44:31 MacBook-Air opendirectoryd[212]: [session] ODNodeRelease completed
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: Process:               com.apple.appkit.xpc.openAndSavePanelService [633]
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: Path:                  /System/Library/Frameworks/AppKit.framework/Versions/C/XPCServices/com.apple.appkit.xpc.openAndSavePanelService.xpc/Contents/MacOS/com.apple.appkit.xpc.openAndSavePanelService
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: Identifier:            com.apple.appkit.xpc.openAndSavePanelService
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: Version:               1.0 (1)
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: Build Info:            AppKit_executables-1894030142000000~4
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: Code Type:             X86-64 (Native)
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: Parent Process:        launchd [1]
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: Responsible:           macOS Utilities [608]
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: User ID:               0
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]:  
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: Date/Time:             2020-02-05 04:44:23.314 -0800
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: OS Version:            Mac OS X 10.15.3 (19D76)
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: Report Version:        12
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: Anonymous UUID:        3D0F652D-5A36-475D-B697-4A266E478CE2
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]:  
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]:  
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: Time Awake Since Boot: 420 seconds
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]:  
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: System Integrity Protection: disabled
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]:  
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: Crashed Thread:        0  Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]:  
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: Exception Type:        EXC_BAD_INSTRUCTION (SIGILL)
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: Exception Codes:       0x0000000000000001, 0x0000000000000000
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: Exception Note:        EXC_CORPSE_NOTIFY
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]:  
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: Termination Signal:    Illegal instruction: 4
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: Termination Reason:    Namespace SIGNAL, Code 0x4
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: Terminating Process:   exc handler [633]
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]:  
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: Application Specific Information:
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: Crashing on exception: *** -[NSMutableDictionary __addObject:forKey:]: key cannot be nil
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]:  
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: Application Specific Backtrace 1:
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: 0   CoreFoundation                      0x000000010ef6c38b __exceptionPreprocess + 250
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: 1   libobjc.A.dylib                     0x000000010ee29552 objc_exception_throw + 48
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: 2   CoreFoundation                      0x000000010f01b9e6 _CFThrowFormattedException + 194
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: 3   CoreFoundation                      0x000000010f01ebef -[NSMutableDictionary __setObject:forKey:].cold.1 + 0
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: 4   CoreFoundation                      0x000000010eea90d8 -[NSMutableDictionary __addObject:forKey:] + 155
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: 5   MetadataUtilities                   0x000000011477464d ___init_block_invoke + 488
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: 6   libdispatch.dylib                   0x000000011077450e _dispatch_client_callout + 8
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: 7   libdispatch.dylib                   0x0000000110775686 _dispatch_once_callout + 20
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: 8   MetadataUtilities                   0x000000011477239a __MDQueryCreateQueryDictionaryWithOptionsDict + 1960
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: 9   MetadataUtilities                   0x00000001147723c1 __MDQueryCreateQueryStringWithOptionsDict + 26
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: 10  FinderKit                           0x000000010c049d3c _ZN17TMDQueryAliasNode15MakeQueryStringEv + 176
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: 11  FinderKit                           0x000000010c049ab3 _ZN17TMDQueryAliasNode10ResetQueryERK7TStringS2_PK14__CFDictionary11SearchScopebbbbb + 249
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: 12  FinderKit                           0x000000010c04c0eb _ZN17TMDQueryAliasNode22CreateMDQueryAliasNodeERK7TStringPK14__CFDictionaryRK7TFENode15QueryCreatedForS8_S8_S8_S2_bbbS5_PK9__CFArrayb17TBackupQueryStyle + 655
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: 13  FinderKit                           0x000000010c04ddd6 _ZN29StFetchAndReleaseNodeForQuery17NodeForQueryAliasEv + 202
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: 14  FinderKit                           0x000000010c2ff636 -[FI_TBrowserContainerController targetToSearch:] + 504
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: 15  FinderKit                           0x000000010c30e068 -[FIContainerController searchTextChanged:] + 156
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: 16  FinderKit                           0x000000010c226df8 -[FIFinderViewGutsController searchTextChanged:] + 28
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: 17  AppKit                              0x000000010d8c7d38 -[NSApplication(NSResponder) sendAction:to:from:] + 299
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: 18  AppKit                              0x000000010d8c7bd4 -[NSControl sendAction:to:] + 86
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: 19  AppKit                              0x000000010ddb6b65 -[NSSearchField sendAction:to:] + 71
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: 20  AppKit                              0x000000010d8c7b06 __26-[NSCell _sendActionFrom:]_block_invoke + 136
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: 21  AppKit                              0x000000010d8c7a08 -[NSCell _sendActionFrom:] + 171
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: 22  AppKit                              0x000000010ddb8a44 -[NSSearchFieldCell(NSSearchFieldCell_Local) _sendPartialString] + 207
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: 23  Foundation                          0x000000010c9e2af5 __NSFireTimer + 67
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: 24  CoreFoundation                      0x000000010ef0b456 __CFRUNLOOP_IS_CALLING_OUT_TO_A_TIMER_CALLBACK_FUNCTION__ + 20
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: 25  CoreFoundation                      0x000000010ef0b010 __CFRunLoopDoTimer + 872
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: 26  CoreFoundation                      0x000000010ef0aae3 __CFRunLoopDoTimers + 317
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: 27  CoreFoundation                      0x000000010eeef660 __CFRunLoopRun + 2227
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: 28  CoreFoundation                      0x000000010eeee738 CFRunLoopRunSpecific + 503
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: 29  HIToolbox                           0x000000010f5d665d RunCurrentEventLoopInMode + 292
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: 30  HIToolbox                           0x000000010f5d639d ReceiveNextEventCommon + 600
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: 31  HIToolbox                           0x000000010f5d6127 _BlockUntilNextEventMatchingListInModeWithFilter + 64
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: 32  AppKit                              0x000000010d683ba4 _DPSNextEvent + 990
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: 33  AppKit                              0x000000010d682380 -[NSApplication(NSEvent) _nextEventMatchingEventMask:untilDate:inMode:dequeue:] + 1352
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: 34  ViewBridge                          0x000000010be38a6b -[NSViewServiceApplication nextEventMatchingMask:untilDate:inMode:dequeue:] + 95
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: 35  AppKit                              0x000000010d67409e -[NSApplication run] + 658
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: 36  AppKit                              0x000000010d646465 NSApplicationMain + 777
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: 37  libxpc.dylib                        0x0000000110bca834 _xpc_objc_main.cold.3 + 56
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: 38  libxpc.dylib                        0x0000000110bba059 _xpc_objc_main + 609
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: 39  libxpc.dylib                        0x0000000110bb9b5a _xpc_copy_xpcservice_dictionary + 0
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: 40  ViewBridge                          0x000000010be2fd36 xpc_connection_handler + 0
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: 41  ViewBridge                          0x000000010be334f8 NSViewServiceApplicationMain + 4450
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: 42  com.apple.appkit.xpc.openAndSavePan 0x000000010be10c88 main + 192
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]: 43  libdyld.dylib                       0x00000001108077fd start + 1
Feb  5 12:44:32 MacBook-Air ReportCrash[655]:  

If anyone has an idea what else I could try, I'd be very grateful.