System Freezes Randomly after 10.6.3 Update

Alas,


I still have the freezing.
Changing all the users to Admin users seemed to help for a while, but now I just had 2 freezes in a row on my clean 10.6.3 machine. 😟

cvdgenugten , welcome to the club of Mr. Freeze 😉
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Freeze

10.6.2 (which works great for me by the way) and waiting for 10.6.4 it is, alas....

I have a new theory about the sudden freeze - my machine has 2 graphics cards (running 3 monitors),and along with the freezing, I noticed I could no longer power both my FW audio interface and an external FW HD at the same time. Then it started getting flaky with USB bus powered devices. Long story short I'm wondering if the graphics drivers in 10.6.3 are causing my cards to use a lot more power. I've already downgraded to 10.6.2 but I'm tempted to upgrade again just to test the theory by taking one of my graphics cards out. This would jibe with some folks feeling Time Machine is involved, especially if they are using a bus-powered drive or an internal drive which is normally sitting idle. Anyway thought I'd throw it out there for folks to try.

Eric,

I think you might be on to something here... this would make sense as to why Time Machine is triggering the freeze - my drive IS Bus-Powered. It seems to happen when the machine is under heavy graphic load (waking from sleep, getting brought out of the screen saver, running iTunes, etc.) Somehow the graphics card may be drawing too much power in addition to the USB bus load from my external spinning up.

It's all making sense 🙂

Message was edited by: Andrew Artz

OK I did it. Was running the stock HD2600XT + 4870. Downgraded to 10.6.2 freezes/restarts stopped.

Took out the 4870, put back in my 3870 (rated about 55w less power usage). Put all USB & FW peripherals that use bus power on powered hubs.

Upgraded to 10.6.3. tonight. No freezes - 3 QT X windows running movies. 3 Monitors. MPEG Streamclip converting FLV>H.264. Safari running Flash watching YouTube, 'Play' running AppleLossless music to my headphones. NO FREEZES. This would've blown the whole system up instantly 2 days ago.(Mac Pro early 2008 8 core/2.8 Ghz)

One other issue (didn't cause a freeze, but did cause audio dropouts & QT slowdowns - uninstalled Growl - much better.)

No sudden freezes or shutdowns!

The weird thing is I got the best XBench Score (215) that I've ever gotten thruout this mess. But then, I'm not a gamer or do much 3D, so I guess the 4870 was overkill to begin with.

On my Mini & MacBook, 10.6.3 + Growl have given me no problems whatsoever.

So my conclusions are:
#1) If you're on the edge with regard to PCI/USB/FW power drains, 10.6.3 might just put you over the edge & cause sudden shutdowns. The enhanced Open GL/CL performance may be coming at a price in terms of power drain.
#2) Growl, even the latest version, is still not quite ready for prime time on some machines if you use a lot of real-time media playback. It seems to command top priority even when it's not appropriate.

Hi
I have been running 10.6.2 for the last few days (having downgraded from 10.6.3) and have not had one freeze. I haven't altered anything else about my setup, so until 10.6.4 is available, I shall stick to what I know works for me. I must add that this discussion has been very helpful and would like to thank all the posters here. Although it isn't a proper solution it has allowed me unfettered access again to my Mac. Thanks. Bob

Just an update to my freezing issue on 10.6.3: I think we users might have collectively found the workaround...

I used my iMac heavily over the weekend (video rendering, photo editing, DVD burns) and all was well. No freezes, no slowdowns. As a test I plugged my USB Hard Drive back in and let the machine sit idle until the screen saver kicked on and fell asleep. As soon as it woke up from sleep it attempted to do a Time Machine backup, spun up the drive platters on the external and froze like it used to. I then unplugged the drive and plugged in a USB-powered Canon scanner to scan some documents along with the iTunes visualizer running - as soon as the lamp warmed up it froze again!

Since unplugging my external USB HD and running the system "clean" with no peripherals other than a bluetooth keyboard and mouse I have not had any further freezes. I plug my time machine HD in once a day to backup and leave the system alone while it is working. It seems to be behaving well.

I think I am seeing a small ray of hope here in that this may just be a power overload / heat issue introduced with the 10.6.3 OpenCL graphics update. The great news is that it should be easy to fix with just a simple tweak to some drivers on Apple's end for implementation in 10.6.4.

(FWIW, I for one could live without OpenCL if it meant that my system was stable and useable..)

I would advise people that are waiting for an immediate "patch" to not hold their breath. Apple probably wants to kill this bug for good and will only be able to do that through the extensive testing that the developer network can provide for new OS builds.

Until that time comes, try unplugging devices from your USB / FW ports until needed OR do the drastic thing and downgrade to 10.6.2. Keeping the power demands low on the graphics card and I/O ports seems to have worked for me. Hopefully others will see a benefit as well. This should prove that it is indeed a true bug and not just a case of mass hardware failure or random corruption of the OS for many, many people 🙂

I am experiencing similar problem after upgrading to 10.6.3

1. Problem started happening after 10.6.3 update? Yes
2. Did you get any errors during 10.6.3 update process? No
3. Mouse cursor moves? YES
4. Mouse clicking does nothing? Yes
5. Keyboard key presses do nothing? Yes
6. Only way to re-animate system is by holding down power button? Yes
7. Mouse/Keyboard Model? Not using

What is this 10.6.3 OpenCL graphics update you mention? Support for OpenCL was introduced with Snow Leopard & AFAIK there is nothing in the update I can find specific to OpenCL.

Besides, OpenCL processing would only kick in with applications written specifically to take advantage of that technology, & there are very few OS X apps that currently support it.

Are you perhaps confusing OpenCL with something else?

Probably meant OpenGL which 10.6.3 did address.

I've been using Macs since the PowerMac 5300 came out. I've never had problems with updates till 10.6.3 came out. I too had the much talked about screen freezes. First screen freeze came two days after update. First, I wiped the drive and reinstalled 10.6.3. Same freezing behavior. I've reset PRAM, reset SMC, ran permissions checks, scanned hard drive for errors, Apple hardware tests and on and on with no success. Everything checked out as OK. After SMC reset thought I had it fixed. Puter ran a week with no problems then started freezing again. Nuts! Been averaging one freeze every two days or so.

This morning, after 3 freezes in quick succession (getting worse) I decided to do another reinstall and brought it back to 10.6.2. (Decided all these hard shutdowns are going to cause other problems.) Gonna hold it there until a fix comes out. All has been well for 10 hours anyway.

I don't believe that it was anything involving this machine but most likely a hitch in the update. My best guess is a USB power issue or graphics card draw of some kind as others have surmised. The freezes never generated crash reports or any clues in Console as to what might be going on. I'm not the most expert at reading those logs but spent a lot of time perusing.

I hold no particular animosity toward Apple cause stuff happens. This will in no way stop me from being an Apple fan. Still the best platform out there. I wish I had an explanation for why some machines take the update successfully and others don't. By the way, After the first reinstall I tested Snow Leopard with none of my third party apps installed (which are minimal at best) and still had a freeze the second day.

Regards

RM

Yep - I meant OpenGL, not CL. Sorry.

I agree with your stance regarding Apple. There are always going to be bugs. This just happens to be the first that has affected me personally. I always hear horror stories from users saying that "Apple's quality control is going downhill" or "This is the last Apple I will ever buy..."

In my opinion, things like this are bound to happen. I am sure that this freezing issue was noted when the 10.6.3 developer builds were going out, but it may have only affected a few testers and the OS X team at Apple more than likely would have written it off as "isolated" incidents that more than likely related to third-party software or early hardware failure as others are apt to blame.

I'll just wait it out. If it becomes a problem again I will just downgrade to 10.6.2. Sounds like 10.6.4 is on a fast-track to a quick release to address these issues.

In another matter, I feel bad for users going out to buy Snow Leopard online or at the Retail stores. The current "boxed" version now has a green sticker on it that states "10.6.3 inside!" Some users that bite the bullet and buy 10.6 are going to be in for a nasty surprise RIGHT out of the gate. Not everybody, but definitely some. Not the best first impression!!

Your comments illustrate why I'm always leery about attributing all the reported problems to any OS update: the same horror stories pop up about every one of them. Some users get so agitated about it that I sometimes wonder what would happen if a group convinced one update was the source of it all met a group that was convinced another one was. All I have concluded about that is I don't want to be there when it happens -- it isn't going to be the most shining moment in the history of the Mac-using community. 😟

Something else: I have had problems following an update, although not any recent one. Maybe it's because I've used so many Macs for so long, but I'm always surprised by (& a little envious of) users that say this is their first time. Maybe that's why I can't jump on the bandwagon to condemn this or any other update, or to quit using Macs, or any of the rest of it. Believe me, the first time it happened to me I went off the deep end. The next time, not so much. And every time, I managed to get the issue fixed without having to revert to downgrading, although I was tempted to.

I realize mine are just one user's experiences, but that's the point: it will be different for different users. I don't think that will ever change.

So, my best advice is to plan for the worst, hope for the best, & learn from whatever happens. I don't think there is any better alternative.

Backups are always good too.

RM

For me the issue only happens when the machine goes to sleep, when I try to wake up I get this:

1. Problem started happening after 10.6.3 update? Yes
2. Did you get any errors during 10.6.3 update process? No
3. Mouse cursor moves? Yes
4. Mouse clicking does nothing? No
5. Keyboard key presses do nothing? No
6. Only way to re-animate system is by holding down power button? Yes
7. Mouse/Keyboard Model? Mighty Mouse, Alum Keyboard


After messing around SSHing in the machine (still responds), got it to kernel panic

Interval Since Last Panic Report: 2547242 sec
Panics Since Last Report: 1
Anonymous UUID: 5DFBE84B-E87B-48FD-967C-EBE25722E4D6

Tue May 4 10:03:17 2010
panic(cpu 0 caller 0x2a8ac2): Kernel trap at 0x0098bc35, type 14=page fault, registers:
CR0: 0x80010033, CR2: 0x38e023aa, CR3: 0x1b98e000, CR4: 0x000006e0
EAX: 0x38e023aa, EBX: 0x09ca2a6c, ECX: 0x098f95e4, EDX: 0x00000000
CR2: 0x38e023aa, EBP: 0x5d462948, ESI: 0x14428e6c, EDI: 0x088704a0
EFL: 0x00010246, EIP: 0x0098bc35, CS: 0x00000008, DS: 0x08550010
Error code: 0x00000000

Backtrace (CPU 0), Frame : Return Address (4 potential args on stack)
0x5d462738 : 0x21b449 (0x5ce420 0x5d46276c 0x2238a5 0x0)
0x5d462788 : 0x2a8ac2 (0x590478 0x98bc35 0xe 0x590642)
0x5d462868 : 0x29e9a8 (0x5d462880 0x1000246 0x5d462948 0x98bc35)
0x5d462878 : 0x98bc35 (0xe 0x48 0x10 0x550010)
0x5d462948 : 0x9c1a3a (0x88704a0 0x9ca2a6c 0x5d4629b8 0x2000)
0x5d462978 : 0x995358 (0x887b580 0x9ca2a6c 0x0 0x8414a9)
0x5d4629a8 : 0x96f4b1 (0x7e3f000 0x9ca2a00 0x2000 0x8cf000)
0x5d4629e8 : 0x97145e (0x7e3f000 0x0 0x0 0x0)
0x5d462a38 : 0x985030 (0x7e3f000 0x47aa8000 0x0 0x0)
0x5d462a88 : 0x982cda (0x47aa8000 0x0 0x1 0x4f9546)
0x5d462ab8 : 0x97a6d2 (0x47aa8000 0x1 0x0 0x0)
0x5d462b68 : 0x9773a1 (0x905c000 0x0 0x5d462bcc 0x5d462bc8)
0x5d462be8 : 0x561b92 (0x905c000 0x0 0x5d462e3c 0x5d462c78)
0x5d462c38 : 0x5623ef (0xa61120 0x905c000 0xa532988 0x1)
0x5d462c88 : 0x562c9c (0x905c000 0x10 0x5d462cd0 0x0)
0x5d462da8 : 0x28499c (0x905c000 0x10 0xa532988 0x1)
0x5d463e58 : 0x21d7eb (0xa532960 0x9cc75a0 0x1f5938 0x4e07)
0x5d463e98 : 0x210977 (0xa532900 0x0 0x8a252d0 0x971aab0)
0x5d463ef8 : 0x216bda (0xa532900 0x0 0x0 0x0)
0x5d463f78 : 0x293dd1 (0x8afe6c8 0x0 0x0 0x0)
0x5d463fc8 : 0x29f48d (0x8afe6c4 0x0 0x10 0x0)
Kernel Extensions in backtrace (with dependencies):
com.apple.ATIRadeonX2000(6.1.0)@0x96e000->0xb1afff
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.6)@0x92f000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport(2.1)@0x961000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(2.1)@0x940000

BSD process name corresponding to current thread: WindowServer

Mac OS version:
10D573

Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 10.3.0: Fri Feb 26 11:58:09 PST 2010; root:xnu-1504.3.12~1/RELEASE_I386
System model name: iMac7,1 (Mac-F42386C8)

System uptime in nanoseconds: 47156486231254
unloaded kexts:
com.apple.driver.IOFireWireSerialBusProtocolSansPhysicalUnit 2.5.3 (addr 0x5684d000, size 0x8192) - last unloaded 46795649594517
loaded kexts:
com.vmware.kext.vmnet 3.0.0 - last loaded 46711177823826
com.vmware.kext.vmioplug 3.0.0
com.vmware.kext.vmci 3.0.0
com.vmware.kext.vmx86 3.0.0
com.rogueamoeba.hermes 2.0.2
com.vara.driver.VaraAudio 1.0.2
com.Cycling74.driver.Soundflower 1.5.1
com.iospirit.driver.rbiokithelper 1.8.0
com.apple.filesystems.autofs 2.1.0
com.apple.filesystems.msdosfs 1.6.1
com.apple.driver.IOBluetoothBNEPDriver 2.3.1f4
com.apple.driver.AppleHWSensor 1.9.3d0
com.apple.driver.AppleHDA 1.8.4fc3
com.apple.driver.AppleUpstreamUserClient 3.3.2
com.apple.kext.ATIFramebuffer 6.1.0
com.apple.ATIRadeonX2000 6.1.0
com.apple.driver.AppleBacklight 170.0.16
com.apple.driver.AudioAUUC 1.4
com.apple.Dont Steal_Mac_OSX 7.0.0
com.apple.iokit.CHUDUtils 201
com.apple.iokit.CHUDProf 216
com.apple.driver.AudioIPCDriver 1.1.2
com.apple.driver.AppleIntelMeromProfile 19.1
com.apple.driver.ACPI SMCPlatformPlugin 4.1.1d0
com.apple.driver.AppleLPC 1.4.11
com.apple.driver.Oxford_Semi 2.5.3
com.apple.iokit.SCSITaskUserClient 2.6.2
com.apple.BootCache 31
com.apple.AppleFSCompression.AppleFSCompressionTypeZlib 1.0.0d1
com.apple.driver.AirPortBrcm43xx 422.91.27
com.apple.driver.AppleFWOHCI 4.5.7
com.apple.iokit.AppleYukon2 3.1.14b1
com.apple.iokit.IOAHCIBlockStorage 1.6.1
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBHub 3.9.6
com.apple.driver.AppleHPET 1.5
com.apple.driver.AppleAHCIPort 2.1.1
com.apple.driver.AppleIntelPIIXATA 2.5.1
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBEHCI 3.9.6
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBUHCI 3.9.6
com.apple.driver.AppleEFINVRAM 1.3.0
com.apple.driver.AppleRTC 1.3.1
com.apple.driver.AppleACPIButtons 1.3.2
com.apple.driver.AppleSMBIOS 1.5
com.apple.driver.AppleACPIEC 1.3.2
com.apple.driver.AppleAPIC 1.4
com.apple.security.sandbox 0
com.apple.security.quarantine 0
com.apple.nke.applicationfirewall 2.1.11
com.apple.driver.AppleIntelCPUPowerManagementClient 104.3.0
com.apple.driver.AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement 104.3.0
com.apple.driver.DspFuncLib 1.8.4fc3
com.apple.driver.AppleProfileReadCounterAction 17
com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport 2.1
com.apple.kext.ATI2600Controller 6.1.0
com.apple.kext.ATISupport 6.1.0
com.apple.driver.AppleProfileTimestampAction 10
com.apple.driver.AppleProfileThreadInfoAction 14
com.apple.driver.AppleProfileRegisterStateAction 10
com.apple.driver.AppleProfileKEventAction 10
com.apple.driver.AppleProfileCallstackAction 20
com.apple.iokit.IOSurface 74.0
com.apple.iokit.IOBluetoothSerialManager 2.3.1f4
com.apple.iokit.IOSerialFamily 10.0.3
com.apple.iokit.CHUDKernLib 208
com.apple.iokit.IOAudioFamily 1.7.6fc2
com.apple.kext.OSvKernDSPLib 1.3
com.apple.driver.AppleHDAController 1.8.4fc3
com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily 2.1
com.apple.iokit.IOHDAFamily 1.8.4fc3
com.apple.iokit.AppleProfileFamily 41.1
com.apple.driver.IOPlatformPluginFamily 4.1.1d0
com.apple.iokit.IOFireWireIP 2.0.3
com.apple.driver.AppleSMC 3.0.1d2
com.apple.driver.CSRUSBBluetoothHCIController 2.3.1f4
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBBluetoothHCIController 2.3.1f4
com.apple.iokit.IOBluetoothFamily 2.3.1f4
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBHIDMouse 1.4.0d7
com.apple.driver.AppleHIDMouse 1.4.0d7
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBHIDKeyboard 1.2.0a3
com.apple.driver.AppleHIDKeyboard 1.2.0a3
com.apple.iokit.IOUSBHIDDriver 3.9.6
com.apple.iokit.IOSCSIReducedBlockCommandsDevice 2.6.2
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBMergeNub 3.9.6
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBComposite 3.9.0
com.apple.iokit.IOFireWireSerialBusProtocolTransport 2.0.1
com.apple.iokit.IOFireWireSBP2 4.0.6
com.apple.iokit.IOSCSIMultimediaCommandsDevice 2.6.2
com.apple.iokit.IOBDStorageFamily 1.6
com.apple.iokit.IODVDStorageFamily 1.6
com.apple.iokit.IOCDStorageFamily 1.6
com.apple.iokit.IOATAPIProtocolTransport 2.5.1
com.apple.iokit.IOSCSIArchitectureModelFamily 2.6.2
com.apple.driver.XsanFilter 402.1
com.apple.iokit.IO80211Family 310.6
com.apple.iokit.IOFireWireFamily 4.2.6
com.apple.iokit.IONetworkingFamily 1.9
com.apple.iokit.IOUSBUserClient 3.9.6
com.apple.iokit.IOAHCIFamily 2.0.3
com.apple.iokit.IOATAFamily 2.5.1
com.apple.iokit.IOUSBFamily 3.9.6
com.apple.driver.AppleEFIRuntime 1.3.0
com.apple.iokit.IOHIDFamily 1.6.2
com.apple.iokit.IOSMBusFamily 1.1
com.apple.kext.AppleMatch 1.0.0d1
com.apple.security.TMSafetyNet 6
com.apple.driver.DiskImages 283
com.apple.iokit.IOStorageFamily 1.6
com.apple.driver.AppleACPIPlatform 1.3.2
com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily 2.6
com.apple.iokit.IOACPIFamily 1.3.0
Model: iMac7,1, BootROM IM71.007A.B03, 2 processors, Intel Core 2 Duo, 2.4 GHz, 4 GB, SMC 1.21f4
Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro, ATI,RadeonHD2600, PCIe, 256 MB
Memory Module: global_name
AirPort: spairport wireless_card_type_airportextreme (0x14E4, 0x88), Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0 (5.10.91.27)
Bluetooth: Version 2.3.1f4, 2 service, 19 devices, 1 incoming serial ports
Network Service: Ethernet, Ethernet, en0
Serial ATA Device: WDC WD3200AAJS-40RYA0, 298.09 GB
Parallel ATA Device: MATSHITADVD-R UJ-85J
USB Device: Built-in iSight, 0x05ac (Apple Inc.), 0x8502, 0xfd400000
USB Device: Keyboard Hub, 0x05ac (Apple Inc.), 0x1006, 0xfd100000
USB Device: Apple Optical USB Mouse, 0x05ac (Apple Inc.), 0x0304, 0xfd130000
USB Device: Apple Keyboard, 0x05ac (Apple Inc.), 0x0220, 0xfd120000
USB Device: Bluetooth USB Host Controller, 0x05ac (Apple Inc.), 0x8206, 0x1a100000
USB Device: IR Receiver, 0x05ac (Apple Inc.), 0x8242, 0x5d100000
FireWire Device: OWC Mercury Elite-AL 1, Other World Computing, Up to 800 Mb/sec

Message was edited by: sanmarcos

sanmarcos:

Your panic report indicates you are trying to run a number of non-Apple kernel extensions. This is probably at least part of your particular problem. For instance, Soundflower has been linked to several problems with Snow Leopard, including the updates. I'm not sure what the com.rogueamoeba.hermes extension supports but if it is say the non-pro version of Audio Hijack, be advised that product's development was discontinued in 2007.

For all these extensions that do not start with "com.apple." make sure you are using the latest, most up-to-date version of the application that installed them, if possible that they are certified to work with 10.6.3, & that they are installed correctly. (In some cases this may involve first using some uninstaller or special technique to remove all vestiges of an earlier version.)

Also keep in mind that some non-Apple extensions can interfere with the update process itself, causing damage that can only be repaired by reinstalling the OS.