The TrashCan Mac Pro. We all know there's a reason why it's called that. Not only because it looks like an office trash can but also because of a long, ugly road of issues that have prompted several class-action lawsuits over the Mac Pro's performance. But as users await the newly announced Cheesegrater vs. 2.0 Mac Pro, an ugly issue has arisen with Avid Media Composer on the Mac Pro, which, according to AppleInsider, is causing the TrashCan to slowly crash and then refuse to boot back up.

What's going on?

The issue started creeping up last night in Los Angeles in Hollywood post houses, with users of the 2013 Mac Pro running macOS 10.13x (High Sierra) and Media Composer experiencing the crash. When trying the reboot, the Mac Pro would refuse to come back. Apple doesn't really know what is happening yet, though Variety is reporting that most of the problem stems from users running an older version of macOS. But one Avid Editor says that there's corruption going on a key UNIX root-level folder called the "iLok app/folder," and if users shut down their machines, they may not come back up.

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From what I can gather, the issue just suddenly occurred, and that only happens in one or two situations:

  1. There's a malware attack that is affecting your computer.
  2. An update has caused more problems than it was designed to solve.

The latest news seems to indicate that it could be a virus, and it's attacking the root level folder system by changing the user to a standard user and then refusing to boot up after it has been shut down due to an "ilok licensing" issue. MarcusPun, on Twitter, says that if users boot up using a USB thumb drive with macOS 10.12 on it, and then reinstalling, it seems to bypass the issue and boot back up.

But it doesn't fix the issue completely. 

Apple and Avid are quietly working on a solution since there has been no official word just yet on what to do.

So, the conventional wisdom seems to be that users running macOS 12.13x (High Sierra) would be well advised to disconnect their Mac Pros from the internet, back up their data, and do NOT shut your TrashCan Mac Pro down until Apple or Avid releases a fix. 

You can also try the thumb drive workaround if you're bold enough. 

Source: AppleInsider

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Editing & Post-Production