MacBook Pro 13 early 2011 random restarts and verbose log needed

Question

I have a MacBook Pro 13 Early 2011 model that has been experiencing some random restarts (across OS’s Mavericks and Yosemite). I have tried almost every fix offered online. SMC PRAM reset, reseating the RAM, verify repair disk and permissions, safe mode reboot, clean install of the OS… everything humanly possible.

The only clue I have is in the log:

Previous Shutdown Code : -62

Now the crux of my problem. When this restart is gonna happen/happening the screen freezes, I see a white screen, a few seconds pass, Apple logo with loading bar, 4-5 seconds later another reboot, chime, this time it boots properly and I’m able to log into Mac OS X. A kernel panic is not registered because of the second reboot and so I cannot diagnose the problem well enough.

So I used cmd+v as soon as I saw the screen freeze and voila! Verbose mode opened up. I thought I could finally figure out real time what had really gone wong. I saw a lot of text swishing by. I even read words like EFI panic but could not find anything more because it was so quick. The second reboot happened and I was lost again. The 1 minute between the freeze and the proper boot (2nd) into Mac OS X does not document/logged…

How do I find the verbose log? These random restarts are driving me insane?

Answer 1

It is unlikely that it is panicking. All logs are easily readable using the Console application in your /Applications/Utilities folder. What you're experiencing is more likely to be related to a damaged filesystem on your startup disk, or possibly but less likely the startup disk could be showing early signs of mechanical issues.

The best troubleshooting steps to take first would be to run a hard drive S.M.A.R.T. test. You do this with an application like SMARTreporter or SMART Utility which are free to download on sites like cnet or sourceforge. They test the mechanical functions of your startup disk and can tell you if it needs to be replaced or may be failing. Assuming it is not failing, then you may have to repair disk/repair disk permissions from the recovery mode startup which you hold command-r on boot to access. After arriving in the recovery mode click the "Utilities" menu item at the top of the screen and open disk utility. Click on your machines built-in hard drive's icon on the top left of the window, then click "Repair Disk" and then "Repair Disk Permissions".

If this does not resolve the issue take the machine to an Apple retail store and see the Genius Bar for a full hardware diagnostic.