Error: 8000000000000003, Cannot load 'EFI/Drivers/TestSupport.efi'

Status: 0x00000003

Which sits there for about five minutes, then it restarts into MacOS.

Same result when I try to run AHT from a USB stick, except this time it shows the above message twice – flashing by so quickly I had to get a video of it to see what it said – then immediately restarts into MacOS.

The OS version of Apple Service Diagnostic works okay (it has an OS on it, and shows in the Startup Disk preference Pane), but the EFI version gives the same result as above.

I've reset the SMC and NVRAM, and reinstalled the OS (Sierra) numerous times, to no avail.

I ran both AHT (Internet & USB) and ASD/EFI successfully a couple times only a few months ago; something's changed, but I can't figure out what.

However, MemTest86 (which also starts up from an EFI driver from a USB stick) still works fine with the MacBook Pro. So it seems this MBP is now somehow allergic to Apple's own EFI driver?

The same hardware (USB stick for AHT, external HD or USB stick for ASD) works fine with four other Mac portables, and two of them can access Apple Diagnostic (the 2014 & later version of AHT) from the Internet as they're supposed to (the others are too old to do so). So the problem is definitely something in this MacBook Pro.

The MBP was showing other problems as well; I sent it to a repair service, who said the GPU needed fixing (apparently common in this model), which they did, and said the logic board now tested all good. But it still "Cannot load 'EFI/Drivers/TestSupport.efi'".

I spoke with somebody at Apple Support, who was mystified, suggested maybe it had something to do with the SSD? The SSD seems to work fine otherwise, starts up okay etc., and DriveDx (which gives detailed readout of SMART parameters) says it is good.

Anybody have any idea what the problem might be? I plan to sell this MBP, but can't do so in good conscience as it is, even if it seems to be working okay otherwise.

Thanks for your response, Dan.

Yes! This is an issue with in Apples newer MacOS EFI/SMC updates.

When I posted the above, I thought it was a problem with my MacBook Pro; I've since learned that it's a common problem afflicting hundreds (at least) of Mac users. It is beyond ironic that the software Apple offers to its users to diagnose problems with their Apple hardware… doesn't work. So we're all waiting for Apple to get off their collective posterior and fix it.

There's a ton of people encountering this Unable to launch Apple Diagnostics Apple altered the EFI so all versions of MacOS are effected from Sierra on up is where I've seen it.

Yes, I also posted my query at Apple Discussions: MacBook Pro 2013 - cannot load Apple Hardware Test, and was referred to the Unable to launch Apple Diagnostics thread (which now has 163 "I have this problem too" clicks, while mine has 5). See my posts here and here for more detail and follow-ups.

I spent an hour and a half on the phone with an Apple Senior Advisor on Tuesday (May 28) about this issue, trying everything he could think of (he apparently hadn't heard about this before), ending with sending a bunch of information, which he said would be forwarded to some "engineers", who would get back to me in a few days. I provided links to the two Apple Community threads and emphasized that there are over 150 people now waiting for an answer. I'll post whatever I hear in the Unable to launch Apple Diagnostics thread, for anybody who's interested in following the issue.

The Apple Hardware Test (AHT) repair doens't fix this in Mojave.

Not sure what you mean about the "AHT repair"; the link is to a very helpful post at GitHub that tells how to get and use AHT for various old Macs dated prior to June 2013, when AHT was morphed into Apple Diagnostics, which is now available only over the Internet (or from the Recovery partition in High Sierra or Mojave, as I discovered in my research). See my second post in Unable to launch Apple Diagnostics for more detail about AHT/AD. Anyway, AHT doesn't "repair" anything; it's a simple diagnostic utility – and it won't load/run in any of the Macs that Cannot load 'EFI/Drivers/TestSupport.efi'.

Apple holds the cards for their diagnostic software. You could try calling them most likely they'll send you to a authorized service center if there's one near you.

Oh, yeah, about that… All this started for me in early 2018, when the intermittent crashes etc. I'd been experiencing with this Early 2013 15" MacBook Pro finally became intolerable. I didn't want to be without a computer while I was figuring it out, so I bought a 2015 MBP (still new with warranty, found on eBay). I then took the 2013 MBP to the local AASP, asked them to diagnose it, for which they charged me $60. Presumably they ran Apple's in-house diagnostic utility/ies.(The guy said something about the "EFI version"; I didn't know what that meant at the time.) They told me the 2013 MBP was fine. (The new 2015 MBP turned out to have problems also, and I ended up struggling with both – along with my long-term chronic illness – all year, until finally early this year I got together enough energy to try to deal with them.)

But my MacBook Pro wasn't fine. So I bit the bullet and did some research, learned that both Apple Hardware Test and Apple's pre-2015 in-house diagnostic software Apple Service Diagnostic could be found on the 'Net. So I got them, figured out how to use them, and they both found both several memory problems and a few others that are more of a mystery to me (I'll be posting those elsewhere here to ask if anybody can figure them out).

I was able to run both AHT and ASD on the 2013 MBP several times, until suddenly in the last month it told me it Cannot load 'EFI/Drivers/TestSupport.efi'. (It still runs the OS version of ASD, but won't run the EFI version.) It seems likely the fact that I'd installed both High Sierra and Mojave on it a month or two before, which may have changed the Boot ROM version (I don't know what it was before) might have caused this problem. Although, as noted in my post at Apple Discussions, I recently experimented by installing Mojave on a 2014 MBP, which didn't change the Boot ROM version, and didn't cause the Cannot load 'EFI/Drivers/TestSupport.efi' error. So we still don't know exactly what's going on.

Anyway, the nearest Apple Store is too far away for me as well, and my experience with the local AASP does not give me much confidence.

The ball is in Apple's court.

⟐ Commented December 26, 2021 at 3:17 MST

After a few months, I bought myself some screwdrivers from ifixit and opened the macbook pro to replace the thermal paste since it's out of warranty. It only helped 2-3 degrees while on load and the throttling was still severe. (Turbo is off in bootcamp, First the CPU throttles itself to the minimal amount, then the GPU clocks start to fluctuate between minimum and medium..)

I'm sure that this is a thermal problem because when I open the windows on these cold days, the throttling "almost" disappears completely. I can run the AIDA64 stress test (GPU&CPU) for 10-15 minutes without any throttling. Only the GPU backs itself from 900 mhz to somewhere around 800.

I'd like to get some advices on what could be the problem here.

Is my macbook's heatpipe active (vapor cooled)? Can it somehow got ruptured and let the vapor/liquid out?

Could this actually be a problem with the logicboard or is Apple trying to f me over?

I see my fans are working at their full capacity in monitoring programs (5940 on the left, 5499 on the right). Do fans actually spin at this RPM or does my mac report the speeds only based on the voltage input of my fans?

Lastly, I also powered off my mac just after a stress test to see if the heatpipes are actually hot; the immediate locations of the CPU and GPU were hot but the area next to the fans (where the fins are located) are cool. Does that show that my fans are working correctly, or my heatsink is not performing at all?

I'd be gladly happy if you could help me with those questions and I appreciate the time you spend on looking on this issue. I can provide more details about my temps and other stuff if it helps. I don't want to give Apple lot's of money if it's just a minor problem. And lastly, excuse me if I sound rude or unclear in some parts since english is not my native language. I'd gladly help to clarify any points that I'm not clear at.

Have a nice day and thanks again

========================

sorry about not providing enough details. I use Yosemite + bootcamp win7.

i carry out the stress tests on GPU-CPU and monitoring in Win7 by using AIDA64. In OSX I use iStat Menus for monitoring, GPUTest_GUI for GPU stressing and the "yes > /dev/null & yes > /dev/null..." string in Terminal for CPU stressing. (I don't use both GPUTest_GUI and terminal string at the same time since GPUTest_GUI delivers enough heat just by itself to cause throttling)

The throttling occurs when I'm gaming, rendering, or conducting a stress test (either partitions). Apart from throttling, my idle temps are high too. (Fans are not constantly spinning though)

Currently I'm on OSX. CPU usage and peripheral temperatures are as follows :

Idle CPU Usage

Idle component Temps

CPU stress test PowerGadget results

CPU stress test temps

Continuing this test for more than 1,5 minutes or adding GPU to the stresstest too guarantees a CPU clock of <1.8 ghz...

anyway guys, do we know if the heatsink is active or not? i mean does it have any kind of vapor in it? I'm suspecting the heatsink is the culprit because only the immediate are of the CPU&GPU are hot and the heatpipe is cold in other parts..

I just noticed that changing the fan speed from 2100 rpm to 5900 rpm only helps drop the CPU/GPU temps by 5-7 degrees celsius under a CPU only stress test. Is this something to be taken into consideration? Or is this just how the fans work?

⟐ Commented July 12, 2019 at 3:43 MST

I plugged in the charger and it went to orange indicating it was charging and I turned the laptop on and it booted without issue, indicating 58% battery life. I then unplugged the charger to make sure the battery was working, and the laptop stayed on for about 10 seconds, then just shut off. I plugged the charger back in and the system booted back up on its own and indicated it was still charging. I double checked the battery connection internally and left it charging overnight.

The charge light is now green and once in the OS the battery indicates it is 100% charged, but I'm still experiencing about 10 seconds of run time after disconnecting the charger. I tried a PRAM and SMC reset, and I believe both were successful but I'm not positive on if the charger should or shouldn't be plugged in for the SMC reset so I've tried both.

coconutBattery indicates the new battery is at 100% charge so I'm kind of at a loss for what's going on here, and would really appreciate any help! I'm comfortable with hardware at this level, but I'm not terribly familiar with Macs on a whole so I'm just wondering if I trashed this thing somehow or where to go from here...

⟐ Commented March 02, 2022 at 18:32 MST

⟐ Commented April 22, 2021 at 9:28 MST

⟐ Answer edited September 16, 2021 at 13:51 MST

⟐ Answer accepted October 18, 2020 at 6:50 MST

Unfortunately, when re-assembling the laptop, I broke the retaining flap on the right fan ZIF socket. For reference, it's the socket shown here:

https://d3nevzfk7ii3be.cloudfront.net/ig...

The socket is still intact, and the cable fits in it, but I think without the plastic latch/flap the cable won't engage. I put some electrical tape under the cable to hold it parallel but that doesn't help it engage with the socket.

I ran the apple hardware diagnostic tool (startup while holding the 'D' key) and it gave me this error - 4MOT/4/40000002 - Right-Side-0. It seems like the laptop can't recognize the right fan without the socket being locked down.

Is there any way to fix just the flap? Or the ZIF socket? I have some experience doing SMD soldering so it's not out of the realm of possibility to replace the socket itself if I can find the part.

⟐ Commented March 17, 2019 at 5:02 MST

Closing the lid for several minutes makes the problem temporarily go away.

Applying pressure to the front of the display or just shaking the darn thing also temporarily fixes it. I've only just recently started getting physical with the machine, so you can rule out that I've made the problem worse.

The problem used to go away for a few days. But now I only get about a few more minutes of relief. I'll attach a screenshot showing also a second problem that I've lived with regarding the screen. There are very thin, almost invisible horizontal black lines on the whole display.

They have been permanently there for a year now. One day I was watching a video on the browser, the computer got really hot, there was a quick flicker, the black thin lines showed up and things haven't been the same since. The thick purple lines started to show up some time later.

Also, the underside of the MBP, near the display gets unusually hot no matter what I'm doing.

http://s23.postimg.org/i11altpd7/unnamed...

http://s7.postimg.org/4ki2qqg3f/unnamed....

⟐ Answered July 20, 2023 at 17:11 MST

⟐ Answer deleted January 29, 2019 at 22:33 MST

⟐ Commented October 13, 2025 at 6:17 MST

When I booted with new hardware - just grey Apple screen and a spinning wheel that stopped. Trying to recover, internet recovery, single mode, securety mode or all other suggested boot methods fails. It will not boot or install OS X. Hardware test simple and extended shows no problem with memory (16bg) and the 500 gb ssd.

I have of course tried reseeting pvram..etc nvram

Using thunderbolt and another mac gives me access to the 500gb disk in my rMBP 15". I can even install Maverick using another MBP, but my rMBP will not boot even when OS X is correctly installed (boot the other MBP via thunderbold and my rMBP is OK).

I can install Windows 7 and 8 without any problems, but I need to have OS X installed. I used Mavericks and Windows 8.1 in bootcam earlier.

Linux rescue disk like Systemrescue boots correct and GPARTED can be used to partitionate the disk and formnat it as GUID disk. But trying to boot from a bootable USB or DVD using SuperDrive always stops after the Apple sign and spinning wheel stops.

Could it be the EFI bios settings? Is it poosible to update EFI without OS X installed? Any suggestions?

⟐ Answer accepted August 08, 2016 at 7:38 MST

⟐ Answered June 28, 2014 at 14:59 MST

but does anyone know where the power on pads are for this model?

A1398

thanks

⟐ Answered March 15, 2024 at 19:02 MST

I bought this cheap not long ago. Worked fine, even the battery wasn't bad. But the anti-glare coating was pretty ugly, so I decided to use some online guides to rub it off.

It went pretty well, though it took me a few hours, and I had to use quite a bit of force. Towards the end of the process, I checked if it was still working, and it was. I rubbed some more, and the cleaned it off with a damp cloth.

Next, I power it on, and the screen is black. The apple logo on the lid is not lit. Flashlight thru the apple logo shows no sign of image on the LCD. If I plug it into an external screen via HDMI, everything works perfectly, even the back-lighting on the keyboard works.

So, it seems that the lid with the display is simply not getting powered. I had it lying down on a towel with the screen up when I did the rubbing, and I'm pretty shure that I didn't get any moisture into the motherboard or ports etc.

I might have gotten moisture into the LCD via the edges, and I've tried to help with evaporation for a few days with no luck. It might also be not moisture at all, but my heavy handling of the mac thru the process.

I've never opened a mac laptop before, and from the guides that I find online, I don't think it's worth it to try, at least as long as I don't really know what I'm looking for.

I opened two faulty 27" 2010 imacs a couple of years ago, and managed to merge the working parts into one functional imac. In that process I fixed one of the screens by reconnecting a lead that ran along the edge under the LCD. But I don't feel that I'm in a position to take on this.

I've read that there is a 'fuse' of some kind on the motherboard. Could it be as simple as changing a fuse?

I do have a small shop across town that might be able to at least diagnose the problem, but they would charge me half of what I paid for it, just to have a look.

Any advice?

Thank you.

⟐ Answer edited November 05, 2022 at 16:49 MST

⟐ Commented March 20, 2020 at 0:15 MST

So, while I'm reading more and more about how the bus communicates with the SDXC slot on this PCIe 1.1 powered card slot, I'm wondering if anyone knows if it's possible to use the memory from the SDXC card as functioning system memory (DDR3 --- which would normally be 8GB or 16GB for this model)??? Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks

⟐ Commented October 23, 2018 at 14:05 MST

My early 2013 Macbook Pro will be turning 5 in March, and has had intermittent problems with the fans since I bought it. In its first year, the fans would be super loud and rev up violently, suddenly - that problem was resolved under AppleCare.

Since then, the fans have always seemed unusually loud, but I always just sort of dealt with it.

Earlier this year, the right fan started to rev up to an almost deafening degree (like a blender), randomly. This happened more and more frequently until I bit the bullet, bought the necessary parts and replaced the fan myself. Everything seemed to go smoothly and as planned.

So now I have a new right fan, and the new fan is making strange noises - a buzzing sound, which gets much worse when I physically tilt the machine.

The left fan works perfectly, quiet as always. I've reset the SMC, but that hasn't made a difference. Here's a video to showcase the problem:

The sound isn't as loud as it seems in the video, but it gives a good idea of what I'm hearing.

Does anyone have any ideas for solving this?

I don't want to replace the left fan, since it works perfectly and I'd rather not mess with that. The right fan is loud at low/all speeds, and temperature doesn't seem to be an issue. I've read things about fan "alignment," but can't find any specifics about that or how to address it.

Thanks and please help if you can!

⟐ Answered September 09, 2018 at 12:55 MST

⟐ Answer edited June 28, 2014 at 14:32 MST

I want to upgrade my old wifi card that doesn’t support 802.11 ac and was wondering which is the latest model that supports it ? I am guessing the newer touchbar based macbooks have a different card ? would any of those cards support the early 2013 macbook pro ?

⟐ Commented November 19, 2022 at 15:02 MST

Only way i could get a response from the macbook pro, is if i press the power button (located at the keyboard) and THEN plug in the magsafe 2, and keep pressing the power button, after about 5 seconds fan start spinning extremely fast and theres a chime, no display though, and if i hold the power button it shuts off…tried resetting SMC, PRAM already to no avail…

one odd thing to notice is, when i unplug the battery, and plug the magsafe 2, fans dont spin at all, and if i press the power button, i get no response from it as well…

i usually do small repairs like simple LCD or logic board swapping, sometimes, actually most of the times swapping RAM or Processor fixes the laptop, but ram and cpu is built in in the model….tried removing every non-essential thing as well (SSD, WIFI CARD), Is the motherboard shot to !&&*?, Thanks for reading, im confused as what to do now!

⟐ Commented July 26, 2020 at 16:34 MST