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Level 1

0 points

Sudden Log-out in Snow Leopard (+ Blue Screen)

Similar posts here show that other people are being spontaneously logged out of 10.6, faced with a blue screen, and then the login window. In my case it is caused by connecting my bluetooth (BT) headphones, as the log below states.

Short of never using my BT headphones or any other peripherals, has anyone found a solution to this terrible bug? Comments like "[Many applications shut down here]" are added to show that the log is just repeating with different applications.

[Console Log Excerpt]
9/4/09 6:11:35 AM BluetoothAudioAgent[2390] Error loading /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/HAL/DVCPROHDAudio.plugin/Contents/MacOS/DVCPROHDAudio: dlopen(/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/HAL/DVCPROHDAudio.plugin/Contents/MacOS/DVCPROHD Audio, 262): no suitable image found. Did find:
/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/HAL/DVCPROHDAudio.plugin/Contents/MacOS/DVCPROHDAudio: no matching architecture in universal wrapper
9/4/09 6:11:35 AM BluetoothAudioAgent[2390] Cannot find function pointer NewPlugIn for factory C5A4CE5B-0BB8-11D8-9D75-0003939615B6 in CFBundle/CFPlugIn 0x100130990 </Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/HAL/DVCPROHDAudio.plugin> (bundle, not loaded)
9/4/09 6:11:44 AM GrowlHelperApp[5408] CGSShutdownServerConnections: Detaching application from window server
9/4/09 6:11:44 AM Library Books[5402] CGSShutdownServerConnections: .
Detaching application from window server
.
.
[Many applications shut down here]
.
.
Dock[5365] MIG: server died: CGSReleaseShmem : Cannot release shared memory
9/4/09 6:11:44 AM Dock[5365] CGSDisplayServerShutdown: Detaching display subsystem from window server
9/4/09 6:11:44 AM DashboardClient[7864] MIG: server died: CGSReleaseShmem : Cannot release shared memory
.
.
[Message Repeated with other applications]
.
.
DashboardClient[7869] kCGErrorFailure: Set a breakpoint @ CGErrorBreakpoint() to catch errors as they are logged.
.
.
[Message Repeated with other applications]
.
.
9/4/09 6:11:44 AM com.apple.Dock.agent[5365] Fri Sep 4 06:11:44 [MYNAME]-MacBook-Pro-2.local DashboardClient[7865] <Warning>: CGSDisplayServerShutdown: Detaching display subsystem from window server
.
.
[Many applications shut down here]
.
.

9/4/09 6:11:45 AM Dock[5365] kCGErrorInvalidConnection: CGSSetBackgroundEventMaskAndShape: Invalid connection
.
.
[Many applications shut down here]
.
.
9/4/09 6:11:47 AM com.apple.ReportCrash.Root[2398] 2009-09-04 06:11:47.468 ReportCrash[2398:1407] Saved crash report for loginwindow[5344] version ??? (???) to /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/loginwindow 2009-09-04-061147localhost.crash
9/4/09 6:11:49 AM com.apple.SecurityServer[25] Session 0x34b085 created
9/4/09 6:11:49 AM com.apple.SecurityServer[25] Session 0x34b085 attributes 0x30
9/4/09 6:11:51 AM loginwindow[2406] Login Window Started Security Agent
9/4/09 6:11:52 AM WindowServer[2408] kCGErrorFailure: Set a breakpoint @ CGErrorBreakpoint() to catch errors as they are logged.
9/4/09 6:11:52 AM com.apple.WindowServer[2408] Fri Sep 4 06:11:52 [MYNAME]-MacBook-Pro-2.local WindowServer[2408] <Error>: kCGErrorFailure: Set a breakpoint @ CGErrorBreakpoint() to catch errors as they are logged.
9/4/09 6:11:55 AM com.apple.SecurityServer[25] Session 0x234edb dead
9/4/09 6:11:55 AM com.apple.SecurityServer[25] Killing auth hosts
9/4/09 6:11:55 AM com.apple.SecurityServer[25] Session 0x234edb destroyed
9/4/09 6:11:56 AM com.apple.ReportCrash.Root[2398] 2009-09-04 06:11:56.175 ReportCrash[2398:2b03] Saved crash report for DashboardClient[7867] version ??? (???) to /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/DashboardClient 2009-09-04-061156localhost.crash
9/4/09 6:11:56 AM SecurityAgent[2414] Showing Login Window
9/4/09 6:11:57 AM com.apple.notifyd[11] EV_DELETE failed for file watcher 295
9/4/09 6:11:57 AM com.apple.notifyd[11] EV_DELETE failed for file watcher 292
.
.
[Message Repeated]
.
.
9/4/09 6:11:58 AM com.apple.loginwindow[2406] 2009-09-04 06:11:58.519 loginwindow[2406:107] Error loading /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/HAL/DVCPROHDAudio.plugin/Contents/MacOS/DVCPROHDAudio: dlopen(/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/HAL/DVCPROHDAudio.plugin/Contents/MacOS/DVCPROHD Audio, 262): no suitable image found. Did find:
9/4/09 6:11:58 AM com.apple.loginwindow[2406] /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/HAL/DVCPROHDAudio.plugin/Contents/MacOS/DVCPROHDAudio: no matching architecture in universal wrapper
9/4/09 6:11:58 AM com.apple.loginwindow[2406] 2009-09-04 06:11:58.521 loginwindow[2406:107] Cannot find function pointer NewPlugIn for factory C5A4CE5B-0BB8-11D8-9D75-0003939615B6 in CFBundle/CFPlugIn 0x100151fc0 </Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/HAL/DVCPROHDAudio.plugin> (bundle, not loaded)
9/4/09 6:11:59 AM SecurityAgent[2414] User info context values set for [MYNAME]
9/4/09 6:11:59 AM authorizationhost[2413] Failed to authenticate user <[MYNAME]> (tDirStatus: -14090).
9/4/09 6:12:03 AM SecurityAgent[2414] User info context values set for [MYNAME]
9/4/09 6:12:03 AM SecurityAgent[2414] Login Window Showing Progress
.
.
[Login window showed up]
.
.
[End Console Log Excerpt]

Message was edited by: chacha22

MBP Late 08, Mac OS X (10.6), upgraded from leopard, spontaneous, logout, sudden, blue screen

Posted on Sep 4, 2009 3:34 AM

94 replies

JTSuggs

Level 1

0 points

Oct 21, 2009 12:34 PM in response to Davert

This may be a stretch, as I am not on 10.6 yet, but I think this may be a CoreGraphics issue related to a setting in System Preferences->Desktop & Screen Saver.

I was having the same thing happen to me for a while and it really bugged me, not to mention the repetitive loss of work made me want to pull my hair out. My MBP would work fine for a week and then "POW" ... login screen with all of my unsaved work sent to the bitosphere.

Nailing it down was difficult because there was no set pattern, and it did not seem to matter if I had Rosetta apps running or not. Although I did see it happen with Excel/Word 2004 and Quicken 2006, it also occurred with only FireFox running or while working in Pixelmator and iPhoto '07. It also occurred if when either using my MBP normally or closed with an external display. CrashReporter.log in Console essentially kept pointing to the same thing: a crash in WindowServer.

Thinking back to recent changes I made, I remembered that a couple weeks earlier I had set System Preferences->Desktop & Screen Saver to rotate my desktop picture every 30 minutes. A friend had told me that this setting caused Quartz Extreme (part of WindowServer) to die after a while and led to iMovie issues with his iMac unless he reboot. When he initially told me this, I was skeptical, but this made me think it might also be the culprit here.

After a series of recurrences over sequential days, some over the same day, I was at my wits end and decided to test it out. First, I removed the rotating desktop setting in System Preferences. Then, for good measure, I did a full reboot. (Note: I decided to reboot in order to completely reset Core Graphics and WindowServer. Simply logging out then in does not do the trick.) My system hummed along for a month with no issues (far longer then it had previously before the issue came up).

Then, for grins, I re-enabled the desktop rotation and again reboot. A little over a week later, recurrence with the same WindowServer CrashReporter log.

Anyway, YMMV of course, but I hope this helps.

pkdesign

Level 1

4 points

Oct 23, 2009 10:00 AM in response to chacha22

I only have this crash while using Office (mostly Entourage). Very frustrating.

BUT, did anyone have issues with Entourage crashing using 10.4? It was the ONLY app that crashed consistently while I was using 10.4. It would only crash Entourage and leave everything else alone but I wonder if SL is doing something different and is more sensitive to whatever Entourage is, and was, doing before?

ssayre

Level 1

0 points

Oct 27, 2009 1:58 PM in response to chacha22

I am having a similar problem but in MS Word 2004. When cutting and pasting I am suddenly dropped to be blue screen of death and then back to the log-in screen.

Oct 27, 2009 4:22 PM in response to chacha22

Just add me to the list of people who get logged out when they hit return (most frequently) or some other key (less frequently) in Excel 2004. I've got a macbook running 10.6.1. I'm getting the windowserver error that everyone else is getting, with nothing else obvious in the error logs. I've verified and repaired permissions (didn't help) and just used Font Book as suggested. I did have a few problems there which I fixed, but I don't know yet if it has solved the problem.

The odd thing for me is that I upgraded at launch and have been using SL extensively with Excel 2004 and have not had a single problem until last week. The frequency of the crashes seems to be increasing steadily which is a little unnerving.

As an aside, I called Apple Care today and was told that it is a Microsoft problem and that I should uninstall/reinstall office and if that doesn't work, I should call Microsoft. I explained to him that it seems unlikely (as I think we can all agree) that this is a Microsoft problem and it seems more likely that it is a Rosetta problem. He was not at all helpful and this was by far my least useful interaction with Apple support.

I'll keep checking back here to see if anyone comes up with a solution, but hopefully 10.6.2 will solve the problem!

Oct 29, 2009 11:39 AM in response to chacha22

I'm having the same problem

I have installed Rosetta

and the blue screen happens mostly with Microsoft products

but today the blue screen happened in Pages after I copied some text from a Word document

This is sooooo frustrating.

Is there any solution??

Davert

Level 1

12 points

Oct 29, 2009 11:42 AM in response to musiquegirl

AFAIK the thing we can do now is wait a few more days for 10.6.2 and hope it solves the problem.

BTW, I finally managed to run OS 9 under Sheepshaver, but I don't see myself running Eudora entirely in that environment! Much as I'm tempted to.

Nem Wan

Level 1

0 points

Oct 29, 2009 1:50 PM in response to chacha22

Sudden insta-logout seems to be a problem with lots of Mac OS X apps of a certain age. I blame Rosetta, because only something running that deep in the system could crash the entire user space. Apple needs to do something: fix it, declare that pre-Intel apps are no longer supported, or at minimum come up with a more graceful way to fail.

Oct 29, 2009 2:05 PM in response to chacha22

10/29/09 4:42:21 PM Skype[5963] HIToolbox: received notification of WindowServer event port death.
10/29/09 4:42:21 PM Skype[5963] port matched the WindowServer port created in BindCGSToRunLoop
10/29/09 4:42:21 PM Mail[5958] HIToolbox: received notification of WindowServer event port death.
10/29/09 4:42:21 PM Finder[5902] HIToolbox: received notification of WindowServer event port death.
10/29/09 4:42:21 PM Cyberduck[6002] HIToolbox: received notification of WindowServer event port death.
10/29/09 4:42:21 PM Cyberduck[6002] port matched the WindowServer port created in BindCGSToRunLoop
10/29/09 4:42:21 PM com.apple.SystemUIServer.agent[5901] Thu Oct 29 16:42:21 Chris-Desktop.local SystemUIServer[5901] <Error>: kCGErrorFailure: _CGSLockWindow: Cannot synchronize window backing store
10/29/09 4:42:21 PM HPEventHandler[5946] HIToolbox: received notification of WindowServer event port death.
10/29/09 4:42:21 PM com.apple.SystemUIServer.agent[5901] Thu Oct 29 16:42:21 Chris-Desktop.local SystemUIServer[5901] <Error>: kCGErrorFailure: Set a breakpoint @ CGErrorBreakpoint() to catch errors as they are logged.
10/29/09 4:42:21 PM com.apple.SystemUIServer.agent[5901] Thu Oct 29 16:42:21 Chris-Desktop.local SystemUIServer[5901] <Error>: kCGErrorFailure: _CGSLockWindow: Cannot synchronize window backing store
10/29/09 4:42:21 PM com.apple.SystemUIServer.agent[5901] Thu Oct 29 16:42:21 Chris-Desktop.local SystemUIServer[5901] <Error>: kCGErrorFailure: _CGSLockWindow: Cannot synchronize window backing store
10/29/09 4:42:21 PM com.apple.SystemUIServer.agent[5901] Thu Oct 29 16:42:21 Chris-Desktop.local SystemUIServer[5901] <Error>: kCGErrorFailure: _CGSLockWindow: Cannot synchronize window backing store
10/29/09 4:42:21 PM com.apple.SystemUIServer.agent[5901] Thu Oct 29 16:42:21 Chris-Desktop.local SystemUIServer[5901] <Error>: kCGErrorFailure: _CGSLockWindow: Cannot synchronize window backing store
10/29/09 4:42:21 PM com.apple.SystemUIServer.agent[5901] Thu Oct 29 16:42:21 Chris-Desktop.local SystemUIServer[5901] <Error>: kCGErrorFailure: _CGSLockWindow: Cannot synchronize window backing store
10/29/09 4:42:21 PM Dock[5900] HIToolbox: received notification of WindowServer event port death.
10/29/09 4:42:21 PM Dock[5900] port matched the WindowServer port created in BindCGSToRunLoop
10/29/09 4:42:21 PM HPEventHandler[5946] port matched the WindowServer port created in BindCGSToRunLoop
10/29/09 4:42:21 PM com.apple.launchd.peruser.501[105] (com.apple.Dock.agent[5900]) Exited with exit code: 1
10/29/09 4:42:21 PM com.apple.launchd[1] (com.apple.WindowServer[5886]) Job appears to have crashed: Segmentation fault

HB3

Level 1

4 points

Nov 2, 2009 8:01 PM in response to musiquegirl

Same thing happened to me today. I was working on a document in Pages and copied from Microsoft Word (because there were comments in a Word document that I was responding to). All of a sudden, no mouse activity, no switching apps, no response whatsoever, blue screen for a few seconds, then logon window. When I logged back in, documents were lost and No acknowledgement of a system failure (this is a MAJOR OS failure).

I specified Rosetta in installation. I was working in Microsoft Word, copying to pages.

I can't remember whether I was working in a Microsoft app, but this is the third time this has occurred. Regardless of the application (incompatible or not, Microsoft or not), SL should have trapped it and not let it affect the OS. Apple needs to move quickly on this. In addition to legal issues (as far as I know this is not an industry accepted defect), the PR from their first release of OS at reduced cost and this kind of problem is very serious. I don't want my favorite company to start fudging on this kind of thing.

GeMenRe

Level 1

16 points

Nov 8, 2009 7:36 AM in response to chacha22

adding one of my MacBooks to the list as well...

no office 2004 installed and the only active process is the time machine, trying to do an initial backup on time capsule now for the last two days.

Nov 10, 2009 3:59 AM in response to GeMenRe

With the reboot problems I was having, I went back to 10.5.8. With Snow Leopard's recent update - 10.6.2 - how long do you think it will be before we know if the problem has been fixed? Thanks.

Nov 10, 2009 7:51 AM in response to Richard Green2

The release notes for 10.6.2 specifically address this topic. I'm hopeful.

macnoel

Level 4

2,624 points

Nov 10, 2009 11:51 PM in response to Richard Green2

Richard,
I realize you may just be posing a rhetorical question but, even so, others are surely wondering the same thing.

My experience (which actually goes back to Mac OS 7.x) is that the first 2 or 3 updates of major releases usually fix all major problems. Subsequent updates, it may be said, are usually refinements and small improvements. Like any rule of thumb, there have been exceptions. If you look at the entire history of OS X, you will notice right away that the "average" number of updates from first release of major upgrades so far (10.1 through 10.5) is over 5.

There're "phases" to these updates, the first few occur quite rapidly (10.6.0 to 10.6.2 in 43 days.) Obviously, Apple will run full throttle on early updates to avoid serious backlash and to maintain good customer relations. Once the pressure to fix widespread problems is over, the pace slacks off a bit. Time between major updates is over one year - but the record for point upgrades is at "10.x.11" during such a period.

So, watching Apple's 10.6 Support forum (here) is one way and doing the same kind of monitoring on other Mac websites is going to give the answer to "how long before?" in a week or maybe three at most.

I am very cautious about installing new releases (I never do it!). In this case, even if 10.6.2 fixes most or all major problems I will still wait some more. I've delayed this way until the "10.x.5" release several times. By doing so, I have saved uncounted hours of wrestling with these new releases and lost time due to failures in key operations. (Current example is that 10.6.2 causes a minor problem with POP email accounts - easily fixed but still "critical" if you're depending on outgoing and incoming emails.) But I bring my approach up only for those who may find it useful: plenty of people do fine by "adopting early."

Cohi

Level 1

139 points

Nov 11, 2009 12:25 AM in response to Richard Green2

For me, 10.6.2 seems to have fixed the problem...

Nov 11, 2009 5:15 AM in response to macnoel

Macnoel,

Yes my question was both rhetorical and hopeful. As you stated, I also usually wait to upgrade but didn't this time. And to be honest, if I did wait I don't know if I would have spotted this discussion of "sudden log-out..." I might have missed it, upgraded at 10.6.1 and still had the problem. Now that I've down-graded back to 10.5.8 it's going to take me a while to trust upgrading again. Obviously I want this problem to be fixed, there were certain other improvements with 10.6 that I liked, but not all problems get fixed in a timely manner. In iPhoto, making slideshows with soundtracks, there's a problem (fading music) that Apple still hasn't fixed after all this time.

Rich Green

Sudden Log-out in Snow Leopard (+ Blue Screen)