Macbook Pro Late 2013 - Catalina & FCPX Problems

[XerxesII]

Stupidly updated to Catalina [10.15.4 (19E266)] on my MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013) earlier this year. I have had nothing but problems since, but thought I could work through them. I was thinking about wiping and downgrading to Mojave, but now with apple stores closed, I'm terrified that I'm going to brick this thing and not be able to get it fixed. I absolutely NEED my computer to work, so I can't afford to have it go out of commission.

Every time I try to open Final Cut Pro X (10.4.8), it opens to the main workscreen, but immediately freezes with the beachball and nothing loads. It stays this way until I force quit.

Same exact story with iMovie.

I've tried multiple updates to Catalina hoping a patch would solve it, uninstalling and reinstalling FCPX, resetting PRAMS (I also get occasional monitor glitches so I'm working through that too), deleting preferences with Option/Command, and more. I've booted in safe mode, but the system won't allow me to launch either program there too and says something about Open GL Hardware Accelerator not working in safe mode.

I'm nearing the the end of my rope here. What in the world could be wrong?

(It might be important to note that I've downloaded FPCX from my sister's Apple ID account, but am currently logged into mine. I've read multiple places this shouldn't matter. Also, iMovie is downloaded under my account, so I'm almost certain this can't be the issue.)

 

[chscag]

Welcome to our forums.

It appears that the copy of Final Cut Pro X that you have is the latest so we can assume that does not need to be updated. One note though, since you downloaded it from your Sister's account, anytime it does need to be updated will have to be from her account since your Apple IDs are not the same. (unless they are)

Okay... have you run First Aid on your SSD? You should be able to do that easy enough from Recovery. Also, since it appears you're having trouble with both Final Cut and iMovie, that might indicate a graphics chipset problem with your GPU. Your model MacBook Pro is known for GPU failures and problems. You might want to run a hardware check to see if it comes up with anything. Also, there is a program that will allow your MacBook Pro to use the integrated graphics chipset (Intel) rather than the discrete chipset which is known to cause problems.

 

[XerxesII]

Thanks!

I have not run First Aid. What is that? Not sure what Recovery is either.

Looked up how to run a Hardware check and did that, but that got stuck too. It said 2 minutes remaining, and when I came back 15 mins later, it had not moved or changed at all. Also the mouse was frozen, so I couldn't select restart or shut down below. Is that a common occurrence? Should I wait longer for it to diagnose?

What is the program that allows you to use the integrated graphics chipset (Intel)?

 

[chscag]

I have not run First Aid. What is that? Not sure what Recovery is either.

Okay, sorry for the terminology you're not familiar with. Booting to Recovery is easy: Reboot the machine holding down your Command Key and R key as soon as you hear the chime noise or the screen lights up (later model Macs), keep holding them down until you see the Apple appear. Then select Utilities from the top menu, then Disk Utility. Select your working drive (bottom drive name) and then First Aid on that drive.

This program allows you turn off discrete graphics and select the Intel integrated chip set: gfxCardStatus by cody krieger

Let us know the results.

PS: Curious that you picked the name XerxesII? I would venture to guess not many folks know who King Xerxes was and have read the Book of Esther.

 

[ferrarr]

Try Safe boot, How to use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support.

 

[XerxesII]

From my initial post: "I've booted in safe mode, but the system won't allow me to launch either program there too and says something about Open GL Hardware Accelerator not working in safe mode."

 

[XerxesII]

I've tried booting the hardware test several times, but it just keeps sitting on the loading bar saying 2 minutes remaining. The mouse freezes up and nothing happens. I left it like this for 30 minutes and nothing changed. What's going on now?

(Thanks for all this help by the way!)

 

[chscag]

I've tried booting the hardware test several times, but it just keeps sitting on the loading bar saying 2 minutes remaining. The mouse freezes up and nothing happens. I left it like this for 30 minutes and nothing changed. What's going on now?

(Thanks for all this help by the way!)

The hardware test freezing up does not sound good. Try using the program above that I gave you the link for. It's free and should allow you to turn off the discrete GPU.

 

[ferrarr]

The 2013 MBP came with either dual graphics cards (DG) or integrated graphics card (IG), do you know if you have a dual graphics card MBP model?

 

[XerxesII]

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013)
Processor - 2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7
Memory - 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Graphics - Intel Iris Pro 1536 MB

 

[ferrarr]

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013)
Processor - 2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7
Memory - 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Graphics - Intel Iris Pro 1536 MB

That is an Integrated Graphics (IG) model.

 

[XerxesII]

In this situation is that a bad thing?

 

[ferrarr]

It only means there is only one graphics chipset, and not dual. So it would need a logic board replacement.