kitkatbug

Q: Two kernel panics in two days   endless beachballing. Help?

Okay, so here we go:

 

I'm the proud parent of a trusty iMac that has served me well for the past few years (I think I got him in 2012). He's got antivirus software and I use him for illustration work a lot. He's running Mac OS X Version 10.7.5.

 

He's been running kind of slow for a while now, but it was nothing I couldn't ignore. And then yesterday he had a kernel panic, out of the blue. I restarted him and after about a million years he finally rebooted. Unfortunately, he was running RIDICULOUSLY slowly after that--we're talking it took about seven minutes just to open Finder. Freaking out, I ran a virus scan--Sophos Antivirus turned up nothing.

 

Today, he had another kernel panic, and he's running slower than ever.

 

I looked at the error report after the panics, and the term "machine check" wasn't there, which leads me to believe this isn't a hardware thing.

 

As of right now my baby is really freaking near unusable. We're beachballing for sometimes hours at a time. I have no idea what to do.

 

Should I just bite the bullet and upgrade to Yosemite, even through the horror stories I've heard about it? Yikes.

 

Thanks in advance, guys.

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.5)

Posted on Feb 15, 2015 9:12 PM

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Q: Two kernel panics in two days   endless beachballing. Help?

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  • by MichelPM,

    MichelPM MichelPM Feb 15, 2015 10:16 PM in response to kitkatbug
    Level 6 (13,922 points)
    iPad
    Feb 15, 2015 10:16 PM in response to kitkatbug

    First of all completely and properly uninstall Sophos Antivirus.  It is NOT necessary on OS X and can significantly affect OS X normal operations and performance.

     

    http://www.sophos.com/en-us/support/knowledgebase/119182.aspx


    Next,


    It would help us to help you if we could have some more technical info about your iMac.

    If you like, please go ahead and download, install and run Etrecheck.

    Etrecheck was developed as a simple Mac diagnostic report tool by a regular Apple Support forum user and technical support contributor named Etresoft.

    Etrecheck is a small, unobstrusive app that compiles a static snapshot of the current state of your entire Mac hardware system and installed software.

    This is a free app that has been honestly created to provided help in diagnosing issues with Macs running newer versions of OS X.

    It is not malware and can be safely downloaded and installed onto your Mac.


    http://www.etresoft.com/etrecheck


    Copy/paste and post its report here in another reply thread so that we have a complete profile of your Mac's hardware and installed software so we can all help with your Mac performance issues.


    Thank You.

  • by kitkatbug,

    kitkatbug kitkatbug Feb 15, 2015 11:19 PM in response to MichelPM
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 15, 2015 11:19 PM in response to MichelPM

    Um, bad news.

     

    I tried to install Yosemite. However my computer says "OS X could not be installed on your computer. File system verify or repair failed."

     

    Now when I restart the computer, it just instantly tries to install Yosemite again. Which fails. Again.

     

    I tried booting from the hard disk, like the instructions onscreen say. But then I get an error message saying that it just can't boot from the Macintosh HD. And it tries to install Yosemite again when I restart.

     

    Now my Mac is a really expensive paper weight. I can do literally nothing with it--including and up to installing that utility you said to install. It just tries and fails over and over to download Yosemite and I can't stop it.

     

    Help?

  • by kitkatbug,

    kitkatbug kitkatbug Feb 15, 2015 11:23 PM in response to MichelPM
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 15, 2015 11:23 PM in response to MichelPM

    To be super clear, here's the exact error:

     

    "You can't change the startup disk to the selected disk. Startup Disk could not gather enough information on the selected disk."

     

    I clicked the only disk in the Choose Startup Disk field.

     

    Again I'm at a standstill.

  • by rkaufmann87,

    rkaufmann87 rkaufmann87 Feb 15, 2015 11:24 PM in response to kitkatbug
    Level 9 (58,795 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Feb 15, 2015 11:24 PM in response to kitkatbug

    kitkatbug wrote:

     

    Um, bad news.

     

    I tried to install Yosemite. However my computer says "OS X could not be installed on your computer. File system verify or repair failed."

     

    Now when I restart the computer, it just instantly tries to install Yosemite again. Which fails. Again.

     

    I tried booting from the hard disk, like the instructions onscreen say. But then I get an error message saying that it just can't boot from the Macintosh HD. And it tries to install Yosemite again when I restart.

     

    Now my Mac is a really expensive paper weight. I can do literally nothing with it--including and up to installing that utility you said to install. It just tries and fails over and over to download Yosemite and I can't stop it.

     

    Help?

    NEVER try to attempt to install a new version of OS X unless your system is running well to begin with. All you have done is make it more difficult to diagnose your system. Please re- read MichelePM's advice and do as he has recommended!

  • by MichelPM,

    MichelPM MichelPM Feb 15, 2015 11:37 PM in response to kitkatbug
    Level 6 (13,922 points)
    iPad
    Feb 15, 2015 11:37 PM in response to kitkatbug

    You shouldn't have installed any OS X upgrades/updates until you ran the report I advised you to run to check your Mac for issues

    No system upgrades or updates "magically" fix Macs with problems!!!

    Why did you do this???!!!

    Do you even have a backup of your previous working system to revert back to?

    No clue how to help you, now, at this stage...

  • by MichelPM,

    MichelPM MichelPM Feb 15, 2015 11:36 PM in response to kitkatbug
    Level 6 (13,922 points)
    iPad
    Feb 15, 2015 11:36 PM in response to kitkatbug

    Time, I think now, to call an Apple Store, make an appointment to bring your iMac in for diagnosis and quote for cost to repair.to get your Mac running, again.

    Do you have any Extended AppleCare and, if so, any time left?

    Maybe somebody else here can HeLo get your iMac back up and running, again.

    I cannot do anymore for you, in the situation you have placed yourself.

  • by kitkatbug,

    kitkatbug kitkatbug Feb 15, 2015 11:36 PM in response to MichelPM
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 15, 2015 11:36 PM in response to MichelPM

    MichelPM, I did it before I saw your advice. I didn't blatantly disregard it at all--I just had started the Yosemite process already when you posted your reply.

     

    I did it because a lot of articles on kernel panics advise you to update your system to all the latest updates, which should help.

     

    "To help avoid kernel panics, install all available software updates until Software Update reports "Your software is up to date". OS X updates improve the tolerance for external issues such as malformed network packets and so forth. For most kernel panics, updating your software is all you have to do."

     

    OS X: About kernel panics - Apple Support

     

    so I tried to update.

     

    And now am I just plain screwed? Is it time for the Genius Bar?

  • by kitkatbug,

    kitkatbug kitkatbug Feb 15, 2015 11:39 PM in response to kitkatbug
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 15, 2015 11:39 PM in response to kitkatbug

    Yep, looks like I'm just plain screwed. Lmao I sure frickin hope I have some applecare left. One would think that following the advice on apple's actual support page would HELP a problem rather than make it worse, but hey, i guess you can't win em all

  • by MichelPM,

    MichelPM MichelPM Feb 15, 2015 11:48 PM in response to kitkatbug
    Level 6 (13,922 points)
    iPad
    Feb 15, 2015 11:48 PM in response to kitkatbug

    Unless, someone smarter than I comes along to try and help you get your Mac running, then

     

    Genius Bar Appointment.

     

    FYI for the future.

    Kernel panics can be of the software kind and/or hardware caused Kernel panics.

    Kernel Panics, in general, do not get solved or simply "go away" with a major system upgrade or update. This info you have found is simply NOT true, or, at least, not entirely true or accurate.

    And, as you have found in your case, a system upgrade/update can just make things that much worse!

     

  • by Pancenter,

    Pancenter Pancenter Feb 16, 2015 1:29 AM in response to kitkatbug
    Level 6 (9,998 points)
    Audio
    Feb 16, 2015 1:29 AM in response to kitkatbug

    kitkatbug wrote:

     

    Yep, looks like I'm just plain screwed. Lmao I sure frickin hope I have some applecare left. One would think that following the advice on apple's actual support page would HELP a problem rather than make it worse, but hey, i guess you can't win em all

     

    Reading your early descriptions of the problem, first thing I thought of was a hard drive beginning to fail. Does your Mac have a DVD/CD drive and if so do you have a system DVD disk? (I think the answer will be no but thought I'd ask).

     

    Unless you have the above I don't see any options available to you, you will have to take it in.

    Have you made any backups? if not and you have valuable data you need to keep.... and the hard drive IS the problem, tell them NOT to erase/format your original hard drive, you will need to get a replacement drive and then salvage the files off the original drive.

     

    Other possibilities:

    -Hard drive full, no space left.

    -Cooling fan(s) beginning to fail (heat can make a system run slow)

    -There have been reports of Spotlight getting stuck in a loop trying to index the drive, doesn't happen often but it does happen. Slow computer is the main symptom.

     

    Personally, I never use virus software, if there's one thing that can mess up a good running system it's poorly written virus software.

  • by K Shaffer,

    K Shaffer K Shaffer Feb 16, 2015 1:44 AM in response to kitkatbug
    Level 6 (14,434 points)
    Desktops
    Feb 16, 2015 1:44 AM in response to kitkatbug

    Did your computer ship with a copy of the installer of original system?

    If you have an original install-restore System media DVD, that may help.

     

    {Only one iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2011) shipped with Lion 10.7. Later

    than that, the iMac models shipped with Mountain Lion 10.8. Prior to

    the Late 2011, they all shipped with Snow Leopard 10.6.x. Later, of

    course, by Late 2013, the iMac began shipping with Mavericks 10.9.}

     

    So even though the computer may have shipped with an optical drive, at

    some point there were no install-restore DVDs included, but it may have

    been possible to make a boot-able system install disc, or USB flash, from

    which to reinstall a system when a App Store download may not be possible.

     

    Some that shipped with Snow Leopard on DVD or another OS X version, prior

    to the advent of 'no-install/restore discs included' models, can be started up

    from a DVD or in some rarer cases, a few shipped with Lion 10.7 on USB flash.

     

    If you had a clone of the working system on an externally enclosed hard drive

    it could be used to start the computer + its Utilities may be used to try & fix it.

     

    How much installed RAM was in the computer? How about the hard disk drive?

    It may have been doggy because it may have been failing. Too bad the etrecheck

    report or some other information hadn't been saved & posted first to this thread.

     

    Oh, the printed advice from Apple, to 'update and OS X' to help with some aspects

    of kernel panic, is only partly true. Do not confuse an Update with Upgrade. First, is

    a slight change, such as a step in Snow Leopard from 10.6.3, to SL 10.6.8.

     

    Given your computer had been running OS X Lion 10.7.5, that indicates that it

    may have been one of the last ones to ship with Snow Leopard 10.6 on DVD.

    Unless it was one of a few with Lion on USB flash or special grey DVD.

     

    Without more information on the machine specification and build year data, it is

    more difficult to match up the real with other possibilities from the databases online.

     

    If you have a media install-restore DVD, even if not Lion, that shipped with the iMac

    it can be used to try & start the computer and get it away from the Yosemite damage.

     

    {If the computer is not ideal for use with Yosemite, the Mountain Lion 10.8.5 system

    may have been a better bet; but only when the computer is running well, and be

    sure to always have at least two different kinds of backups. One, a full working clone.}

     

    However there may be a problem with the hard disk drive. A genius bar appointment

    or a visit to a Apple specialist, may be your best bet if you have no disc utility access

    and if the computer may have a hardware problem behind these Kernel Panics.

     

    Did you try these  •OS X: About kernel panics - Apple Support  suggested methods?

     

    Troubleshooting kernel panics can be a long & tedious path. It may have been due

    to some software combination or other source, not necessarily hardware...

     

    •Technical Note TN2063: Understanding & Debugging Kernel Panics:

    https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/technotes/tn2063/_index.html

     

    At this point, it would seem as though this angle of attack is no longer open when you

    cannot get past the basic startup to see what else is going on. Did you try SafeBoot?

    If you don't have an original install-restore DVD for a system older than Lion 10.7.

     

    Troubleshooting gets incredibly more difficult with a logjam on top of an earlier issue.

     

    In any event...

    Good luck in this matter.

  • by thomas_r.,

    thomas_r. thomas_r. Feb 16, 2015 5:28 AM in response to kitkatbug
    Level 7 (30,924 points)
    Mac OS X
    Feb 16, 2015 5:28 AM in response to kitkatbug

    kitkatbug wrote:

     

    I tried to install Yosemite. However my computer says "OS X could not be installed on your computer. File system verify or repair failed."

     

    This means that your hard drive is damaged. Most likely, this means that the hard drive is dying and will need to be replaced. Any other troubleshooting measures are not likely to be of much use.

     

    Hopefully you have backups of the data that was on that drive! If not, this is probably going to be a very harsh lesson on the importance of maintaining a good set of backups.

  • by Baby Boomer (USofA),

    Baby Boomer (USofA) Baby Boomer (USofA) Feb 16, 2015 12:11 PM in response to kitkatbug
    Level 9 (57,623 points)
    Feb 16, 2015 12:11 PM in response to kitkatbug

    I sure frickin hope I have some applecare left.

    Hopefully you do.  AC provides onsite repair for desktop computers.  No need to lug your iMac to your local AS or an AASP.


    Other options:

    How to save money on Mac repairs with your credit card’s extended warranty

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

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