I posted the below on
discussions.apple.com
Folks, one last update from myself.
Might be it gets deleted again by the moderators, but at
least you receive it via email.
As you read it tried all suggested NVRAM, SMC reset, unplugging battery, running battery down
to zero etc. suggestions, but for my MBP Mid 2014 it did not work.
During my initial installation using the installer downloaded via software update
on top of Catalina with latest patch applied after time maschine backup & CCC clone,
I had my transcend jetdrive lite 128GB SD card inserted in the card reader.
This seemed to have triggered somehow during the installation process
a HARDWARE defect BY THE BIG SUR INSTALLATION PACKAGE.
As a workaround I unplugged i/o card then reinstalled Catalina and on top of that Big Sur
using an external USB keyboard and mouse on my functional left USB port.
Today my replacement i/o board I bought on ebay Germany (8.90 EUR) and thermal paste
(2.99 EUR) arrived and I successfully replaced the fried i/o board
by the new one.
Et voila after NVRAM, SMC reset I had a successful reboot.
Everything is working fine again (WLAN, Bluetooth, HDMI port and SD Card reader even with my JetDrive 128GB).
Big Sur performs pretty fast on my MBP Mid 2014 now.
Summary: if your i/o board of a MBP 13 inch Late 2013/ mid 2014
has been fried by the Big sur installer it might be coinciding
with you having an SD Card or other peripherals connected to the right
side of your MBP.
If the i/o board has been permanently damaged (try on your own risk)
to disconnect the i/o board (see step 18) of the ifix guide
Try to finish your reinstallation or installation of the os
reconnect the i/o board
if black screen continues even after all the tipps like NVRAM/ SMC reset etc.
buy yourself a replacement i/o board
use the ifixit guide to replace your i/o board if you are confident
or ask an authorized Apple repair shop to do it for you
then reboot (NVRAM, SMC reset) and if you are lucky like me
you have fixed the black screen issue permanently.
For me the total cost in EUR incl. tools, thermal paste & i/o card
did not accumulate to 25 EUR as I could do the replacement
myself using ifixit guide.
I still think it is a shame that hardware damage has been
obviously caused by a OS upgrade package, but to be honest
Sh.... happens
What I am grateful for is that so many Mac users helped
putting information together for their fellow Mac users
to collect evidence, give advice what works and what does not.
I like you guys!
What I am reluctant about is that obviously like I read happened
in the past, posts on the apple discussion forum incl. my summary
have been deleted by moderators even though there was nothing
wrong with them.
What I also do not like is what happened to a lot of users
that were contacting Apple support and adviced that HW damages
were their issue or that a logic board replacement for several hundred
dollars would be needed.
Macbook Pros even from 2013 or 2014 are still fast & reliable devices
for most use cases.
Even if some sh.... hits the fan as it did for me. If one can fix the
caused damage for such a small amount of money, I think
it is not ok to tell customers nothing about it.
And I am not talking about liability claims. I am also not directly
blaming Apple to be responsible for shipping green bananas
and being liable for hardware damages.
But one could be more relaxed about analysing what happens
and what can be done about.
Especially during a global pandemic people in Ukraine, Brasil, Belgium,Italy, France,
UK, Denmark, USA & Germany were cooperating with each other to help each other
analysing. Would it be to bad for Apple support to help these people?
Some of them do not even have access to a repair shop near them.
Apple users like Apple hardware & software. They also like it to be pretty reliable
and they like that support is not only given by Apple but also by fellow customers.
Apple, please do not upset your customers by deleting simple
information exchange on this forum.
The information flow cannot be stopped anyway.
The same information you deleted here was flowing on external forums around the
world anyway.
The Apple management should take care that this does not repeat itself.
Even if mistakes were made, it is not a shame to say sorry.
Even if Apple does not want to pay for damages or does not feel liable
you could give correct & appropriate information flow between your customers
a chance. Apple can also use the evidence to find the root cause and fix it.
Nothing is wrong about making mistakes, but hiding information is wrong.
I wish all people affected good luck in fixing your situation as fast and cheap as possible.
Thanks, Markus!