Hawkeye0203
Level 1 (8 points)
Desktops

Q: Mac Mini OS X 10.11.5 Time machine locks up apps

Hello everyone!  I'm running a late 2012 Mini with the latest 10.11.5 OS X.  I installed a SSD about 6 months ago and recently started using the old, slow mechanical drive as my Time Machine disk (hard lesson learned after the SSD somehow got stuck in write-lock and I had to re-clone my 6 month old data from the old drive).  The problem is that randomly when Time Machine is "Preparing Backup", apps will start to lock up and I get the beach ball.  That app will never be usable again and eventually all the running apps become frozen.  I've tried canceling the backup, but then Time Machine freezes also.  I have to physically unplug my external hard drive and once I do, everything pops back to life again!  It's very frustrating as this is my work computer and I'm on it all day long.  Any ideas on whats happening or how to fix it?

 

Thanks!

Mac mini, OS X El Capitan (10.11.5)

Posted on Jul 11, 2016 8:07 AM

by Drew Reece,Apple recommended
Drew Reece Drew Reece
Level 5 (7,490 points)
Notebooks
A:

So your Mac freezes when it tries to use to the 'old, slow mechanical drive'. They can be slow, but they should not cause total 'lock ups' like this.

 

Have you checked this external disk in Disk Utility? Run First Aid on it to see if the disk needs repairs. I'd also recommend checking the boot disk too, since you have apparently had to force reboot a few times.

Using Disk Utility to verify or repair disks - Apple Support

OS X: About OS X Recovery - Apple Support  (Recovery mode is needed to repair the OS disk).

 

It is also possible that your disk is simply failing, it concerns me that the SSD was broken at one point too, is it still the same drive? Do you have another Mac to try writing using the external disk with?

 

It is possible for other USB devices to cause issues, so try to rule out those by disconnecting as many as possible when testing - obviously if your external disk uses Thunderbolt or Firewire do the same with other devices.

 

What case is the external disk inside? Are you certain that the case is working - cheap ones can fail easily, can you try another case or 'drive dock' etc?

Posted on Jul 11, 2016 8:56 AM

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Hawkeye0203

Q: Mac Mini OS X 10.11.5 Time machine locks up apps

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  • Helpful answers

  • by lllaass,

    lllaass lllaass Jul 11, 2016 8:24 AM in response to Hawkeye0203
    Level 10 (188,087 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 11, 2016 8:24 AM in response to Hawkeye0203

    • Note the time of the next freeze. After unplugging the TM drive open the Console app in Finder>Applications>Utilities and look for log entries at the time of the freeze. Post suspicious ones here.

  • by Drew Reece,Apple recommended

    Drew Reece Drew Reece Jul 11, 2016 8:56 AM in response to Hawkeye0203
    Level 5 (7,490 points)
    Notebooks
    Jul 11, 2016 8:56 AM in response to Hawkeye0203

    So your Mac freezes when it tries to use to the 'old, slow mechanical drive'. They can be slow, but they should not cause total 'lock ups' like this.

     

    Have you checked this external disk in Disk Utility? Run First Aid on it to see if the disk needs repairs. I'd also recommend checking the boot disk too, since you have apparently had to force reboot a few times.

    Using Disk Utility to verify or repair disks - Apple Support

    OS X: About OS X Recovery - Apple Support  (Recovery mode is needed to repair the OS disk).

     

    It is also possible that your disk is simply failing, it concerns me that the SSD was broken at one point too, is it still the same drive? Do you have another Mac to try writing using the external disk with?

     

    It is possible for other USB devices to cause issues, so try to rule out those by disconnecting as many as possible when testing - obviously if your external disk uses Thunderbolt or Firewire do the same with other devices.

     

    What case is the external disk inside? Are you certain that the case is working - cheap ones can fail easily, can you try another case or 'drive dock' etc?

  • by Hawkeye0203,

    Hawkeye0203 Hawkeye0203 Jul 11, 2016 10:05 AM in response to lllaass
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 11, 2016 10:05 AM in response to lllaass

    It just happened.  The clock said 1:00pm so I just copied everything from the 1:00pm minute as there weren't any log entries for 6 minutes prior to that.

    7/11/16 1:00:34.000 PM kernel[0]: disk1s2: device/channel is not attached.
7/11/16 1:00:34.000 PM kernel[0]: disk1s3: device/channel is not attached.
7/11/16 1:00:34.000 PM kernel[0]: disk1s2: media is not present.
7/11/16 1:00:34.000 PM kernel[0]: disk1s2: media is not present.
7/11/16 1:00:34.000 PM kernel[0]: jnl: disk1s2: do_jnl_io: strategy err 0x6
7/11/16 1:00:34.000 PM kernel[0]: jnl: disk1s2: write_journal_header: error writing the journal header!
7/11/16 1:00:34.000 PM kernel[0]: disk1s2: media is not present.
7/11/16 1:00:34.000 PM kernel[0]: disk1s2: media is not present.
7/11/16 1:00:34.000 PM kernel[0]: disk1s2: media is not present.
7/11/16 1:00:34.000 PM kernel[0]: disk1s2: media is not present.
7/11/16 1:00:34.000 PM kernel[0]: disk1s2: media is not present.
7/11/16 1:00:34.000 PM kernel[0]: disk1s2: media is not present.
7/11/16 1:00:34.000 PM kernel[0]: disk1s2: media is not present.
7/11/16 1:00:34.000 PM kernel[0]: disk1s2: media is not present.
7/11/16 1:00:34.000 PM kernel[0]: disk1s2: media is not present.
7/11/16 1:00:34.000 PM kernel[0]: disk1s2: media is not present.
7/11/16 1:00:34.000 PM kernel[0]: disk1s2: media is not present.
7/11/16 1:00:34.000 PM kernel[0]: disk1s2: media is not present.
7/11/16 1:00:34.000 PM kernel[0]: disk1s2: media is not present.
7/11/16 1:00:34.000 PM kernel[0]: disk1s2: media is not present.
7/11/16 1:00:34.000 PM kernel[0]: disk1s2: media is not present.
7/11/16 1:00:34.000 PM kernel[0]: disk1s2: media is not present.
7/11/16 1:00:34.000 PM kernel[0]: disk1s2: media is not present.
7/11/16 1:00:34.000 PM kernel[0]: disk1s2: media is not present.
7/11/16 1:00:34.000 PM kernel[0]: disk1s2: media is not present.
7/11/16 1:00:34.000 PM kernel[0]: disk1s2: media is not present.
7/11/16 1:00:34.000 PM kernel[0]: disk1s2: media is not present.
7/11/16 1:00:34.000 PM kernel[0]: disk1s2: media is not present.
7/11/16 1:00:34.000 PM kernel[0]: disk1s2: media is not present.
7/11/16 1:00:34.000 PM kernel[0]: disk1s2: media is not present.
7/11/16 1:00:35.024 PM com.apple.backupd[857]: Error determining directory contents for /Volumes/Macintosh HD: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file “MACINTOSH HD SSD” couldn’t be opened." UserInfo={NSFilePath=/Volumes/Macintosh HD, NSUserStringVariant=(
    Folder
), NSUnderlyingError=0x7fc8604174b0 {Error Domain=NSOSStatusErrorDomain Code=-36 "ioErr: I/O error (bummers)"}}
7/11/16 1:00:35.244 PM lsd[355]: LaunchServices: Could not store lsd-identifiers file at /private/var/db/lsd/com.apple.lsdschemes.plist
7/11/16 1:00:35.283 PM lsd[355]: LaunchServices: Could not store lsd-identifiers file at /private/var/db/lsd/com.apple.lsdschemes.plist
7/11/16 1:00:35.291 PM WindowServer[164]: Untrusted client (pid=918) attempted to set debug options.
7/11/16 1:00:35.638 PM com.apple.backupd[857]: statfs call failed, error: 2 No such file or directory
7/11/16 1:00:35.669 PM com.apple.backupd[857]: Backup failed with error 2: 2
7/11/16 1:00:35.673 PM UserEventAgent[44]: Failed to send message because the port couldn't be created.
7/11/16 1:00:36.000 PM kernel[0]: disk1s2: media is not present.
7/11/16 1:00:36.000 PM kernel[0]: disk1s2: media is not present.
7/11/16 1:00:36.000 PM kernel[0]: disk1s2: media is not present.
7/11/16 1:00:36.000 PM kernel[0]: hfs: unmount initiated on Macintosh HD on device disk1s2
7/11/16 1:00:36.000 PM kernel[0]: jnl: disk1s2: close: journal is invalid.  aborting outstanding transactions
7/11/16 1:00:36.244 PM fseventsd[48]: disk logger: failed to open output file /Volumes/Macintosh HD/.fseventsd/0000000000782c86 (No such file or directory). mount point /Volumes/Macintosh HD/.fseventsd
7/11/16 1:00:36.245 PM fseventsd[48]: disk logger: failed to open output file /Volumes/Macintosh HD/.fseventsd/0000000000782c86 (No such file or directory). mount point /Volumes/Macintosh HD/.fseventsd
7/11/16 1:00:36.625 PM UserEventAgent[44]: Failed to send message because the port couldn't be created.
7/11/16 1:00:39.316 PM com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.adobe.ARMDC.Communicator[842]) Service exited due to signal: Killed: 9
7/11/16 1:00:39.372 PM com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.adobe.ARMDC.SMJobBlessHelper[843]) Service exited due to signal: Killed: 9
7/11/16 1:00:39.833 PM com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.apple.xpc.launchd.domain.system) Caller not allowed to perform action: launchctl.1015, action = service remove, code = 1: Operation not permitted, uid = 502, euid = 502, gid = 20, egid = 20, asid = 100000
7/11/16 1:00:40.686 PM UserEventAgent[44]: Failed to send message because the port couldn't be created.
7/11/16 1:00:41.000 PM kernel[0]: proc 1017: load code signature error 2 for file "com.adobe.ARMDC.Communicator"
7/11/16 1:00:41.000 PM kernel[0]: CODE SIGNING: cs_invalid_page(0x101b2c000): p=1017[com.adobe.ARMDC.] final status 0x2000000, allowing (remove VALID) page
7/11/16 1:00:41.000 PM kernel[0]: USBMSC Identifier (non-unique): 000012345678 0x357d 0x7788 0x0, 3
7/11/16 1:00:44.000 PM kernel[0]: jnl: disk1s2: replay_journal: from: 20143104 to: 22336000 (joffset 0x1a38a000)
7/11/16 1:00:44.000 PM kernel[0]: jnl: disk1s2: journal replay done.
7/11/16 1:00:45.000 PM kernel[0]: hfs: mounted Macintosh HD on device disk1s2
7/11/16 1:00:45.677 PM fseventsd[48]: event logs in /Volumes/Macintosh HD/.fseventsd out of sync with volume.  destroying old logs. (566 1 7637)
7/11/16 1:00:45.878 PM fseventsd[48]: log dir: /Volumes/Macintosh HD/.fseventsd getting new uuid: 33E65C76-B140-49FB-BA4C-FEC130E68043
7/11/16 1:00:48.401 PM com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.apple.quicklook[1035]) Endpoint has been activated through legacy launch(3) APIs. Please switch to XPC or bootstrap_check_in(): com.apple.quicklook
7/11/16 1:00:50.696 PM lsd[355]: LaunchServices: Could not store lsd-identifiers file at /private/var/db/lsd/com.apple.lsdschemes.plist
7/11/16 1:00:53.600 PM sandboxd[129]: ([1034]) mdworker(1034) deny mach-lookup com.apple.distributed_notifications@1v3
7/11/16 1:00:57.756 PM lsd[355]: LaunchServices: Could not store lsd-identifiers file at /private/var/db/lsd/com.apple.lsdschemes.plist
7/11/16 1:00:57.950 PM Console[1036]: Failed to connect (_consoleX) outlet from (NSApplication) to (ConsoleX): missing setter or instance variable
7/11/16 1:00:57.955 PM lsd[355]: LaunchServices: Could not store lsd-identifiers file at /private/var/db/lsd/com.apple.lsdschemes.plist
7/11/16 1:00:57.973 PM lsd[355]: LaunchServices: Could not store lsd-identifiers file at /private/var/db/lsd/com.apple.lsdschemes.plist
7/11/16 1:00:58.545 PM mds[64]: (DiskStore.Normal:1705) Starting health check...

  • by lllaass,

    lllaass lllaass Jul 11, 2016 10:18 AM in response to Hawkeye0203
    Level 10 (188,087 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 11, 2016 10:18 AM in response to Hawkeye0203

    Dis you do this as Dew suggested:

    Have you checked this external disk in Disk Utility? Run First Aid on it to see if the disk needs repairs. I'd also recommend checking the boot disk too, since you have apparently had to force reboot a few times.

    Using Disk Utility to verify or repair disks - Apple Support

    OS X: About OS X Recovery - Apple Support  (Recovery mode is needed to repair the OS disk).

     

    The log entries tend to indicate a disk problem

  • by Drew Reece,

    Drew Reece Drew Reece Jul 11, 2016 10:42 AM in response to Hawkeye0203
    Level 5 (7,490 points)
    Notebooks
    Jul 11, 2016 10:42 AM in response to Hawkeye0203

    Looks like the media becomes inaccessible & eventually the OS unmounts it and tries to rebuild some of the filesystem from the journal. Basically that is bad news, if repairs fail try other cables, disk caddies and/or cases.

    If that fails I'd get a new disk or wipe it out of desperation (assuming you have other backups). Doing a full zero may cause any bad blocks to be mapped (the disk controller should already do that), but I would be wary of using it for an only backup copy, backups are one thing you can't have too many of. Time Machine backups are a complex structure, it may be that it has keeled over as Time Machine can inexplicable do from time to time (in my experience).

     

     

     

    Gotta love the error codes…

    Hawkeye0203 wrote:

    7/11/16 1:00:35.024 PM com.apple.backupd[857]: Error determining directory contents for /Volumes/Macintosh HD: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file “MACINTOSH HD SSD” couldn’t be opened." UserInfo={NSFilePath=/Volumes/Macintosh HD, NSUserStringVariant=(     Folder ), NSUnderlyingError=0x7fc8604174b0 
    

    {Error Domain=NSOSStatusErrorDomain Code=-36 "ioErr: I/O error (bummers)"}}