Is it normal for the operating system to reset on its own?

[a-m-k]

My Mid-2012 MBP has been running great since the last time I had to call , however, out of nowhere a few minutes ago, it slowed down majorly. Then acted like it froze. I had to force-shut (for lack of a better discription) my MBP. I turned it back on immediately. When it turned back on, it went to the screen that starts the installation of the operating system. What was that? Is it normal? Should I check any software specifications?

I am running on MacOS Hi Sierra 10.13.1.

Thank you in advance for any help you have for me.

 

[Maxx Power]

That is strange. Was it updating the OS ? I have only seen Windows 10 resetting a bunch of your settings when it updates, but never on Mac OS.

 

[a-m-k]

That is strange. Was it updating the OS ? I have only seen Windows 10 resetting a bunch of your settings when it updates, but never on Mac OS.

No, I was just on the radio station's web site I listen to, to listen to actually listen to the station so I didn't waste my battery on my iPhone.

 

[Maxx Power]

No, I was just on the radio station's web site I listen to, to listen to actually listen to the station so I didn't waste my battery on my iPhone.

Hmmm, does not seem to me that what you were doing had anything to do what happened. My guess is that the machine was doing some kind of an OS update in the background. Your machine is back to normal for now ?

 

[a-m-k]

Hmmm, does not seem to me that what you were doing had anything to do what happened. My guess is that the machine was doing some kind of an OS update in the background. Your machine is back to normal for now ?

Yes, right now it seems as if it is. I saw your reply earlier, but it was too early to tell still. I used it for a few hours just to monitor things. I never got an automated report to send to Apple, though.

 

[Fishrrman]

Important question:
Is your MacBook Pro a retina model, or a non-retina model?

If it's NON-retina, it could be the internal drive ribbon cable.
These have a high probability of failure.
When this part fails, it will "look to the user" like the hard drive has locked up or failed -- computer won't respond, won't boot, etc.
But it's NOT the drive -- it's just the ribbon cable.

Apple -was- replacing these for free for a while.
Not sure if that replacement program is still in effect.
Again ... if it's a non-retina... take it to the nearest brick-n-mortar Apple Store genius bar and ask them to check the ribbon cable.

 

[adrianlondon]

It might have automatically installed the "root hack" patch.

 

[mw360]

Probably two different things. Your Mac had a bad day and hung - it happens. Then when you restarted it, the OS took the opportunity to install the patch for the root bug. Apparently the patch will install automatically without asking.

 

[The Mercurian]

So my 2014 MBP occasionally does something like you describe. It happened just now in fact.

Usually happens shortly after I start using the machine. I sat down, logged in, worked for a few mins, then everything froze up, first doens't respond to mouse clicks, then trackpad no longer moves pointer. Then I'm suddenly presented with a log in screen - uusually the display settings changed so the login is at bottom right of screen instead of middle. I log in, and all programs are restarting as if from a restart - but this all happens much quicker than a restart. Occasionally it gets stuck in the frozen phase and I need to do a restart.

No clue what this is. I think of it a 'soft crash' - not enough to force a restart usually, but the OS does reset itself somehow. Happens once or twice a month maybe. I figure there is some program with a memory leak or something but I'm not really sure which one it could be!

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

Please reread post 6, and then reply.

 

[a-m-k]

I didn't have the ribbon cable replaced, but I did have the hard drive bracket (going on memory here) replaced, but I was actually coming back with a strange theory that I could test out for a few days. I was thinking of adding a new internet browser to use. Do you all have any preferences?