Failed AMD GPU - Unable to make fix permanent

[vrasp]

Hi guys,

I have disabled AMD GPUs more than once and have always had success. I follow the method in which I boot into single user mode, disable the GPU on boot through nvram ....gpu-power-prefs... and finally move the AMD kext files to Extensions-off.

I recently recieved a Macbook Pro 2011 17" and encountered an issue that I have not been able to fix.

The issue is the following:

I boot into single user mode and disable the GPU through the gpu-power-prefs. I then reboot the laptop and everything works fine. I can login and do use it normally. However if I reboot it I get the loading screen with the Apple logo and then I get stuck on a white screen. If I reboot it once again in single user mode and disable the GPU on boot everything works fine.

So basically, I have to disable the GPU on every boot.

Here are some details that might be relevant to find out what the issue is:

-There is no AMDRadeonX3000.kext in Extensions.
-The Extensions folder contains some other AMD kext files. I have not been able to delete them because it tells me disk1s1 is write locked (even if i mount in -rw).
-The macbook was given to me by someone who said the laptop used to have three beeps on boot. So a ram issue. However I have not experienced that so I still believe it has something to do with the GPU (I might be wrong of course).
- The hard drive is an SSD and running Sierra. It is actually a clone from macbook pro 2011 13" that does not have a secondary GPU.

This is all I can think of right now. I am currently reinstalling a fresh Sierra in order to try and unlock the drive (I am not sure if that is the way to go). I also hope that reinstalling Sierra will rewrite the kext files and provide me with an AMDRadeonX3000.kext so I can move it out of the way into Extensions-off.

Your help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[vrasp]

Hi Guys,

After doing some research I figured out the solution to my problem.

First of all I installed El Capitan externally on a mechanical hard drive. I chose a mechanical hard drive because I read somewhere that SSDs may cause compatibility issues. I used El Capitan because I thought Sierra might be part of my problem.

I tried disabling the GPU and was faced with the same "Disk is write locked problem". I connected the hard drive externally and saw the AMDRadeonX3000 kext file was in the Extension folder. However it does not appear when I run "ls -l | less" in Extensions in single user mode. I proceeded to move all the AMD kext files into a folder I called OFF. After putting the hard drive back into the macbook everything worked fine.

The OFF folder I created does not show up in Extensions when I check through single user mode but it is there when I browse the disk externally.

I still get "disk write is locked" even after SIP is disabled and I check the disk and mount with -uw

However the macbook runs fine and the GPU is disabled so I am not too worried about that right now.

I believe the issue might be due to either a bad hard drive or a bad cable but I have no way of verifying that. I also do not understand why the list of kext files I see in single user mode are different from the ones I see externally. It always shows me the same list of files even if I remove them externally.

If you have any information or documentation regarding that issue let me know.

Otherwise the problem is fixed.

Thank you