Big Sur Beta 5 Constant Kernel Panics

Same issue here. BigSur beta 5 is the worst update so far. I will think twice before installing betas on my main machine MBP Touchbar 2016 henceforth.
I have issues with Norton Wifi Privacy ever since i installed Big Sur on my machine, it doesn’t start and it freezes. Even Norton Internet Security is also giving trouble. I have uninstalled both but no luck. Looking for a solution/update so that i am able to restore my macbook without loosing data (without erasing the drive).

The same issue seems to there on public beta 2 also.

Same issue with MBP 13' 2020. Going from developers beta 4 to 5. Kernel Panic during reboot after installation. Safe mode seems to work. Downloaded Public Beta 2 via VM in windows machine. I could start the installation within safe mode. But at the same installation step of beta 5, the installation crashed. Seems PB2 = DB5. Hopefully we can install the new beta 6 via safe mode 😞

Same with iMac 21.5” 2017 4K Retina + external SSD. Could only start in safe mode. Otherwise the computer is dead.

Same problem here.

• ---MBP 16" 2019

What seems to solve it for me :

"Safe Mode"
Open terminal> run "brew doctor"
Your output should provide you with enough information.

for me the problems were:
1)broken symlinks with python library , solved by removing symlinks then run "brew link python"
2) run "brew cleanup"
3)Xcode 11.6 , removed and installed v12
4) run "softwareupdate --all --install --force"


After this my system seems stable somewhat on beta 5.
Still dealing with the issue that CLT is not supported in this version.

It would be really nice if they released an update since so many people are affected. I put in a ticket in the fb assistant but nothing.

I encountered the same problem, I finally found that it was caused by Symantec, and I solved it with the following method:

1. Reboot into "Recovery mode"

2. Open terminal, execute command "csrctl disable" to disable system integrity protection

3. Reboot into "Safe mode"

4. Open terminal, execute command "systemextensionsctl list", find the symantec extension, then execute command "systemextensionsctl uninstall <teamID> <extensionName>"

5. Reboot into "Normal mode". Everything is OK!

I encountered the same problem as @thorup:

Get to login screen and log in.
Progress bar get's part of the way and then the Mac book reboots.
When trying to log in with safe mode, the reboot happens even faster.

When booting, try holding Option/Alt key so you could choose your partition/disk to be booted. Try choosing your normal Mac disk.
My installation was not smooth (I guess it failed to install the DP 5). After failed installation, when booting, it was choosing the macOS Installer disk instead (as a default one). Therefore, I could not boot the computer up. My progress bar reached 50% every time, and computer restarted once again to enter the credentials (I have FireVault enabled).

Thanks Sqrabs!!
Yes, It is the Symantec which is culprit and has been causing system un-stability issue.

I followed the steps as below:

1. Reboot into Recovery mode
2. Open the Terminal, execute command, csrutil  disable
3. This will disable system integrity protection
4. Reboot into Safe Mode,
5. Open the Terminal, execute command, systemextensionsctl list
6. This command will produce the information regarding system extensions.
7. After this, In my case I executed command, systemextensionsctl uninstall 9PTGMPNXZ2 com.symantec.mes.systemextension
8. This will take a few seconds to uninstall
9. After this you would need to uninstall all the Norton Apps from your system
10. Finally Download RemoveSymantecMacFiles.zip
11. Unzip and run RemoveSymantecMacFiles.command file
12. Restart into Normal mode

After this I have noticed that the issue has been resolved completely. I am able to use my MBP without any difficulty. Please make sure that you do not install Symantec apps again because it may cause system instability issues again.

@RM9981 I followed your method, yet when I boot into normal mode endpointsecurityd is still mysteriously able to attempt to start despite there supposedly being no Symantec files anywhere on the system. I feel like this is going to have to be a fix on Apple's end, just forcibly removing the extension from everyone's system. Kind of like what they did with Zoom around a year ago.

I'm really regretting ever installing Norton now. It's been nothing but problems. I just love it when you uninstall a program extremely thoroughly and it still leaves remnants that cause problems.

(I'm on the public beta by the way, not developer beta)

What sqrabs suggested worked for me with one change: I had to run step 4 a couple of times, each time rebooting back into safe mode, until "systemextensionsctl list" showed that thing finally gone. Then rebooted to normal mode. All awesome now. Thanks, sqrabs!

I too, have this train wreck after upgrading to latest Beta early yesterday morning. I have had only minor issues with the previous revs. With this rev, I am experiencing kernal panics every time about 20 sec after booting finishes, and I log into my account. I try to hit the error log send to Apple button before each crash.

The error logs points every time to “endpointsecurityd”. So, net net, I am able to replicate this ridiculous issue.

I don't even have to log into account to have the reboots happen. About 20 seconds after boot up is completed and account log in screen is presented POOF! reboot. I guess the good news is that it faithfully reboots and gets to log in screen, then repeats itself... but I digress...

Interestingly, my Bootcamp with Windows 10 boots very quickly and without issue.

I also tried to disable Norton suite just for fun, but their techies said one can only launch it to disable things in normal mode. Which of course is currently impossible. So, they recommended trying to drag to trash in Safe mode. But, this has not solved the issue.

I also tried the terminal commands that sqrabs posted, (but terminal wouldn't recognize the initial commands in recovery mode). But since it seems to work for others, I will give it another try.

I also tried install via recovery mode. It didn't help.

So, I guess we just wait for something from Apple to fix this.

I cannot believe that Apple actually tested this before sending it out. AND with all of us sending in our reports and reporting through feedback assistant, has anyone heard anything from Apple? Acknowledgement? works arounds, patch, anything?

I have been an Apple die hard since 1984. I have never, ever had a debacle like this one. I have never feared installing betas on my main MAC before, and have not had any major issues, but I got seriously bit this time for sure...

Update:

I tried the systemextensionsctl uninstall 9PTGMPNXZ2 com.symantec.mes.systemextension routine mentioned below and it says the extension is gone. But like was pointed out below, it also took me about 4 times before it removed the extension...

But rebooting into Normal yields same result: reboot, crash, reboot, repeat.

Downloaded and ran the Mac removal tool twice (RemoveNortonMacfiles) from Norton/Symantec website

But rebooting into Normal yields same result: reboot, crash, reboot, repeat.

error log: panic
Process name endpointsecurityd

Thank everyone for the process and tips below. If anyone has any other ideas, please let us know.

Good luck folks.

Have a MBP Pro 16
Followed the instructions. The extension was gone.
Rebooted but the panic error re-occurred.
Rebooted to safe mode.
Ran Cleanmymac to remove system junk then trash bins.
Rebooted and now it works flawlessly.
Did have to run the utility to delete Norton files again - some stragglers were not deleted the first time but this had no effect on the machine working.
Hope this helps others.

@RM9981 thanks fir the fix worked perfectly especially when I followed the instructions in the Norton uninstall scrip