I have a MacBook Pro 15” with Retina display from early 2013 which I am unable to run Diagnostics on. Due to ongoing problems with crashing, I recently wiped the hard drive and reinstalled macOS, but I am continuing to have the crashing and hardware issues.
I attempted to run Diagnostics, but it did not work and I found I had lost the “.diagnostics” folder when I wiped the hard drive. I followed the instructions in this post (Replacing "apple hardware test" with "apple diagnostics") but the problem that I’m having is I get to the point where I’ve installed the AHTxx.dmg
file and found the .diagnostics
folder, but I am unable to copy it onto my hard drive. It appears as a faded, grayed out folder which I cannot touch, even though I’ve double checked and it is not locked or anything.
My question is, how can I copy this folder into my /System/Library/CoreServices
folder in order to be able to run the diagnostics?
Best Answer
When you reinstall, Apple Diagnostics will get reinstalled as well. If it’s missing, it calls into question how you did said reinstall. Booting from Recovery, wiping the drive and installing macOS will leave a pristine, fully functional version of macOS on your drive. If you’re missing things, this was an “out of band” re-install (meaning non-standard). When that happens, you’ll have the devil’s own time trying to pinpoint the cause of your troubles.
No! Don’t do this! First off, Apple has diagnostic procedures specific to their machines. You can’t “willy-nilly” change them because you feel one is better than the other. Even when you upgrade, Apple doesn’t change your diagnostics. For example, a Mid 2012 MacBook Pro which is capable of running Catalina still uses AHT. Catalina doesn’t upgrade it to Apple Diagnostics.
How do we know this?
Apple tells us in their support document How to use Apple Diagnostics on your Mac:
Secondly, it’s well known that Apple’s diagnostics lose usability with each subsequent version, so “upgrading” to a later version will actually give you less useful diagnostic data.
Use Internet Diagnostics
Your Mac has the ability to boot from Internet Recovery; it should also have the ability to boot Internet Diagnostics. Boot your computer while holding OptionD (obviously you need an Internet connection). This will ensure that you download and use the correct diagnostic utility for your Mac.
Do a clean, proper install of macOS
Based on what you described, it sounds like your install is a bit of a bodge. My advice is to clean things up so you’re working on a solid footing.