System Freezes Randomly after 10.6.3 Update

Hi,

I have seen other people post various other problems they have experienced after 10.6.3. But I want to dedicate this thread specifically to Macs freezing randomly during operation after applying the 10.6.3 update.

It has happened twice in the past 24 hours. While using my iMac, the system becomes unresponsive and exhibits the following symptoms:

1. Though the mouse pointer moves, I cannot click on icons, links, select text or interact with anything using the mouse.
2. The system is also unresponsive to key presses on the keyboard, whether they be individual key presses or pre-defined keyboard shortcuts.
3. The only way to make the system respond is by holding down the power button until the iMac shuts down.

I cannot tell if the problem is related to the specific activity I was performing on the Mac - the freezing may seem random to me but it could be caused by the same event (maybe Flash, Javascript, or some background program)

If you are having the same issue, please post here by copying and pasting the text below and entering your answers:

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

I'll fill in mine to start:
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. Can you click anything with the mouse? No
5. Does the system respond to keyboard key presses? No
6. Only way to re-animate system is by holding down power button? Yes
7. Mouse/Keyboard Model? Magic Mouse/Apple Aluminum KB w/number pad

iMac 24" (Late 2008), Mac OS X (10.6.3)

Posted on Mar 30, 2010 11:06 PM

Reply
682 replies

May 5, 2010 1:42 PM in response to norwichrob

norwichrob wrote:
My issue is apparently so complex that three "senior Apple advisors" have been collaborating to assist. It appears that the spotlight reindexing of my boot internal drive was at least part of the problem. They had me drag the main drive into the "privacy" area of spotlight system preferences then back out which causes a reindexing. After that I did not have any issues with the free space changing widely.

Today my new 251 G solid state drive arrived and I installed it. After formatting the drive and installing 10.6.3 I have had no issues whatsoever. No freezing, no drive space fluctuations. I am going to keep the computer with only the bare essentials for 48 hours then begin installing applications one at a time. I have been requested by the Apple senior advisors to let them know of my progress. I will also post it here.


Norwichrob, do you have any news for us?
Did the Solidstate drive solve your issues?
Or are you still experiencing freezes in your 10.6.3 installation?

May 5, 2010 1:51 PM in response to sherifhanna

So it did work for a while, but the update to 10.6.4 from a friend that developes for apple didn't work.
This does not automatically mean it's not going to work for the 'real' update off course.
Also take into account this was a delta update, so really, it's supposed to fail isn't it?
It built 10.6.4 on top of the 'faulty' 10.6.3.
2 freezes today with it.

I reinstalled 10.6.2 just now and whooot, that's the way my imac will stay until someone posts that 10.6.4 has been released and fixes all our issues concerning the freezing.

May 6, 2010 4:16 AM in response to sherifhanna

Posted this on other threads. Thought it may be of interest.

Humble pie time.
wiped my drive, installed leopard then SL to 10.6.2, migrated my old files from time machine backup (iMac worked as pre 10.6.3 update with odd glitches like slow searches and selecting windows in exposé), removed extraneous usb cables (including a USB1 hub to rarely used printer), for good measure disabled Office auto updates (having run update revealing no new Office updates) reset permissions, ran Verify on HD (previously run same no probs. identified) showed 2 file number errors, restart with SL install as startup disk, ran disk utilities to repair HD successfully, bit the bullet and ran previous download of MacOSUpdCombo10.6.3v1.1, repaired permissions again, ran Verify an HD again (very fast this time cf. 20 mins it took with first verify above) iMac working perfectly and v fast in comparison to last 2 weeks. Not sure which intervention worked but definitely no problem with 10.6.3 and my hardware (I have given it 24 hours and keep checking the relatively inactive activity monitor on my desktop).

May 6, 2010 7:33 PM in response to sanmarcos

Today I also had the problem report:


Interval Since Last Panic Report: 277358 sec
Panics Since Last Report: 1
Anonymous UUID: 50CF4D79-081C-4E72-A8E3-A0C9018B193E

Thu May 6 21:25:09 2010
panic(cpu 1 caller 0x28d4b9): "pmap flushtlbs() timeout: " "cpu(s) failing to respond to interrupts, pmap=0x84b6e0 cpus torespond=0x1"@/SourceCache/xnu/xnu-1504.3.12/osfmk/i386/pmap.c:3548
Backtrace (CPU 1), Frame : Return Address (4 potential args on stack)
0x5be63928 : 0x21b449 (0x5ce420 0x5be6395c 0x2238a5 0x0)
0x5be63978 : 0x28d4b9 (0x58c4e8 0x84b6e0 0x1 0x2339ff)
0x5be639e8 : 0x290ef1 (0x84b6e0 0x3c2fc000 0x0 0x8bcae)
0x5be63a98 : 0x26b637 (0x8bcae 0x0 0x1 0x0)
0x5be63b38 : 0x260862 (0xb80ad4c 0x0 0x0 0x1000)
0x5be63c68 : 0x260e32 (0x3c2fd000 0x0 0x1 0x0)
0x5be63ca8 : 0x260fb2 (0x27bccd0 0x3c2fc000 0x0 0x3c2fd000)
0x5be63d98 : 0x217d4d (0x27bccd0 0x3c2fc000 0x0 0x4)
0x5be63e18 : 0x240e7a (0x9989e30 0xdeff 0x9a7dda0 0x9a7ddb8)
0x5be63e58 : 0x21d7eb (0x1185fa98 0x9a7dd84 0x1268f8 0xa07)
0x5be63e98 : 0x210977 (0x1185fa00 0x0 0x8e90340 0x68f4650)
0x5be63ef8 : 0x216bda (0x1185fa00 0x0 0x0 0x0)
0x5be63f78 : 0x293dd1 (0x9f18208 0x0 0x0 0x0)
0x5be63fc8 : 0x29f48d (0x9f18204 0x1 0x10 0x952b964)

BSD process name corresponding to current thread: Safari

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-F4238CC8)

System uptime in nanoseconds: 753939304296
unloaded kexts:
com.apple.driver.AppleFileSystemDriver 2.0 (addr 0xe95000, size 0x12288) - last unloaded 124082319317
loaded kexts:
com.vmware.kext.vmnet 3.0.0
com.vmware.kext.vmioplug 3.0.0
com.vmware.kext.vmci 3.0.0
com.vmware.kext.vmx86 3.0.0
com.parallels.kext.prl_vnic 5.0 9308.543312
com.parallels.kext.prl_netbridge 5.0 9308.543312
com.parallels.kext.Pvsvnic 3.0
com.parallels.kext.prl usbconnect 5.0 9308.543312
com.parallels.kext.prl hidhook 5.0 9308.543312
com.parallels.kext.vmmain 3.0
com.parallels.kext.prl_hypervisor 5.0 9308.543312
com.intego.kext.AppBarrierKPI 2.0
com.parallels.kext.hypervisor 3.0
com.intego.kext.NetBarrierKPI 10.5
com.vara.driver.VaraAudio 1.0.2
com.Cycling74.driver.Soundflower 1.5.1
com.parallels.kext.Pvsnet 3.0
com.parallels.kext.ConnectUSB 3.0.0
com.AmbrosiaSW.AudioSupport 2.3.8
com.apple.filesystems.msdosfs 1.6.1 - last loaded 69041847821
com.apple.filesystems.autofs 2.1.0
com.apple.filesystems.ntfs 3.2
com.apple.driver.AppleHWSensor 1.9.3d0
com.apple.driver.AppleHDA 1.8.4fc3
com.apple.driver.AudioAUUC 1.4
com.apple.driver.AppleUpstreamUserClient 3.3.2
com.apple.kext.ATIFramebuffer 6.1.0
com.apple.driver.AppleLPC 1.4.11
com.apple.driver.AppleBacklight 170.0.16
com.apple.ATIRadeonX2000 6.1.0
com.apple.Dont Steal_Mac_OSX 7.0.0
com.apple.iokit.CHUDUtils 200.1
com.apple.iokit.CHUDProf 208.4
com.apple.driver.AudioIPCDriver 1.1.2
com.apple.driver.AppleIntelMeromProfile 19
com.apple.driver.ACPI SMCPlatformPlugin 4.1.1d0
com.apple.driver.AppleIRController 303
com.apple.iokit.SCSITaskUserClient 2.6.2
com.apple.driver.AppleIntelPIIXATA 2.5.1
com.apple.BootCache 31
com.apple.AppleFSCompression.AppleFSCompressionTypeZlib 1.0.0d1
com.apple.iokit.IOAHCIBlockStorage 1.6.1
com.apple.driver.AppleFWOHCI 4.5.7
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBHub 3.9.6
com.apple.iokit.AppleYukon2 3.1.14b1
com.apple.driver.AppleAHCIPort 2.1.1
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBEHCI 3.9.6
com.apple.driver.AirPortBrcm43xx 422.91.27
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBUHCI 3.9.6
com.apple.driver.AppleEFINVRAM 1.3.0
com.apple.driver.AppleRTC 1.3.1
com.apple.driver.AppleHPET 1.5
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.driver.AppleIntelCPUPowerManagementClient 104.3.0
com.apple.security.sandbox 0
com.apple.security.quarantine 0
com.apple.nke.applicationfirewall 2.1.11
com.apple.driver.AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement 104.3.0
com.apple.driver.DspFuncLib 1.8.4fc3
com.apple.driver.AppleProfileReadCounterAction 17
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.IOFireWireIP 2.0.3
com.apple.driver.AppleHDAController 1.8.4fc3
com.apple.iokit.IOHDAFamily 1.8.4fc3
com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport 2.1
com.apple.kext.ATI2400Controller 6.1.0
com.apple.kext.ATISupport 6.1.0
com.apple.iokit.IOSurface 74.0
com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily 2.1
com.apple.iokit.IOBluetoothSerialManager 2.3.1f4
com.apple.iokit.IOSerialFamily 10.0.3
com.apple.iokit.CHUDKernLib 198.2
com.apple.iokit.IOAudioFamily 1.7.6fc2
com.apple.kext.OSvKernDSPLib 1.3
com.apple.iokit.AppleProfileFamily 41
com.apple.driver.AppleSMC 3.0.1d2
com.apple.driver.IOPlatformPluginFamily 4.1.1d0
com.apple.driver.CSRUSBBluetoothHCIController 2.3.1f4
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBBluetoothHCIController 2.3.1f4
com.apple.iokit.IOBluetoothFamily 2.3.1f4
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBHIDKeyboard 1.2.0a3
com.apple.driver.AppleHIDKeyboard 1.2.0a3
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBHIDMouse 1.4.0d7
com.apple.driver.AppleHIDMouse 1.4.0d7
com.apple.iokit.IOUSBHIDDriver 3.9.6
com.apple.iokit.IOSCSIBlockCommandsDevice 2.6.2
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBMergeNub 3.9.6
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.IOUSBMassStorageClass 2.6.1
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBComposite 3.9.0
com.apple.iokit.IOATAPIProtocolTransport 2.5.1
com.apple.iokit.IOSCSIArchitectureModelFamily 2.6.2
com.apple.driver.XsanFilter 402.1
com.apple.iokit.IOATAFamily 2.5.1
com.apple.iokit.IOFireWireFamily 4.2.6
com.apple.iokit.IOUSBUserClient 3.9.6
com.apple.iokit.IOAHCIFamily 2.0.3
com.apple.iokit.IO80211Family 310.6
com.apple.iokit.IONetworkingFamily 1.9
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

May 7, 2010 9:07 AM in response to R C-R

same here! i just downgraded to 10.6.2 after two weeks of random freeze. sometimes twice the day, some days without any problem. i had freezed screen, black one and grey one, also randomised…
i'll keep you updated if the problem is "solved" with the downgrade.

1. Problem started happening after 10.6.3 update? Yes, i updated on 16.04., it worked well for one week
2. Did you get any errors during 10.6.3 update process? No
3. Mouse cursor moves? No
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? Aluminum Keybord/Magic Mouse

iMac8,1
Prozessortyp: Intel Core 2 Duo
Prozessorgeschwindigkeit: 2,8 GH
Anzahl der Prozessoren: 1
Gesamtzahl der Kerne: 2
L2-Cache: 6 MB
Speicher: 2 GB
Busgeschwindigkeit: 1,07 GHz
Boot-ROM-Version: IM81.00C1.B00
SMC-Version (System): 1.30f1

ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro
Typ: GPU
Bus: PCIe
PCIe-Lane-Breite: x16
VRAM (gesamt): 256 MB
Hersteller: ATI (0x1002)
Geräte-ID: 0x9583
Versions-ID: 0x0000
ROM-Version: 113-B2250L-259
EFI-Treiberversion: 01.00.259

May 7, 2010 6:54 PM in response to sherifhanna

There are some clear similarities of problems in other threads. The MacBook Pro discussion documents a 10.6.3 freezing problem with the new MBP's that some have worked around by using a different hard drive.

The 10.6 Server discussion documents problems with time machine backups, afp, and other services that crash and eventually crash the server. There hasn't been a work around for SLS yet. Downgrading to 10.6.2 is impossible I think given the amount of time it would take to reconfigure a server.

Sounds like a driver problem, perhaps related to the hard disk. That would make it consistent across these threads.

Message was edited by: Steven Slupsky

May 8, 2010 8:29 PM in response to Steven Slupsky

That means the thread has been removed from public view by the moderators, usually because of a terms of use violation. Sometimes only selected posts are removed, other times the whole thread has been deemed too provocative to be 'saved' by selectively removing just some posts.

If you want to comment about that, please do so in the Feedback about Discussions forum, not here. That is one of that forum's purposes & the topic comes up fairly often.

May 12, 2010 5:07 PM in response to sherifhanna

fwiw, this happened to me twice this morning. In Console I see the same sequence of messages that starts with:

5/12/10 7:59:11 AM kernel ** Device in slot: SLOT--1 **
5/12/10 7:59:11 AM kernel ** GPU Debug Info Start **
5/12/10 7:59:11 AM kernel 0x000094c8
5/12/10 7:59:11 AM kernel 0x000000d6
5/12/10 7:59:11 AM kernel 0x00000001
5/12/10 7:59:11 AM kernel 0x00000018
5/12/10 7:59:11 AM kernel 0x0000d062
...

There are probably 50 lines like that in one case and hundreds in the other. I'm only seeing those messages in the console when it corresponds to the time the screen freezes.

So it does seem like a GPU-related problem. I'm guessing this is debug code from the kernel or driver that sprays out when something bad is happening.

Model Identifier: iMac7,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Chipset Model: ATI,RadeonHD2400

Message was edited by: tdowney

May 12, 2010 10:09 PM in response to tdowney

tdowney:

Your experience and configuration resembles my own to the point where an acknowledgment seems warranted...

... see http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2419698&tstart=0

In particular, your debug trace resembles the one that I generated at the request of Apple support after having submitted a bug report to Apple upon the recommendation and direction of an acquaintance who has an intimate knowledge of Mac OS X internals (going back to NextStep days). I have not received any confirmation of my suspicion that the problem is somewhat generic at the level of GPU integration, whether in Core Graphics or in the OpenGL features, but I still believe that to be the case.

For what it's worth, my solution that consisted of replacing the X2000 driver files from 10.6.3 with those from 10.6.2 is still operating without any problems in an otherwise unchanged 10.6.3 v1.1; however, if you do not want to go this far, you might try a simpler approach:

1) Safe-boot onto the iMac (hold "Shift" when powering up...)

2) Login as administrator (or root)

3) cd /System/Library/Extensions

4) mkdir ./SavedX2000Driver

5) mv ATIRadeonX2000* ./SavedX2000Driver

6) reboot

The system should start in 10.6.3 v1.1 with the generic driver that runs under Safe Boot - I just tested it on my iMac and it did just that! You can see which drivers are loaded with the System Profiler (On This Mac -> More Info -> Software+Extensions... look for entries starting w/ "ATI").

It is very clear to me (and apparently to Apple Support) that there is a concrete and serious system problem being observed here, but I agree with "R C-R" that there is a risk when moving drivers by hand; however, it works fine for me and I offer it as an option for whomever is really stuck. I wish I had tried it before doing a complete erase/install that simply reproduced the problem that is now being debugged by Apple support, but I also cannot guarantee that it will fix a machine that is fully operational with additional software... though I believe it will, and I am very confident that "disabling" the accelerated X2000 drivers by "hiding" them can do no harm and can easily be undone by moving them back.

Fwiw, I am refraining from using this iMac without reservations while waiting for either instructions from the support team looking at my bug report or a more general update that might fix it more generally...

Good luck.

May 13, 2010 3:44 AM in response to batondor

FWIW, my 20" iMac with the ATI 2600 GPU (which has no problems with 10.6.3 & was updated to it with the original 10.6.3 combo update) shows 4 ATI extensions loaded in System Profiler, all versions 1.6.10, all last modified August 3, 2009 (long before 10.6.3 was released).

It is true that within those packages there are files with a later 'last modified' date (3/23/10), but that does not necessarily mean those files were actually changed, or were changed in any significant way. For instance, if the extension was recompiled from exactly the same source code as the original, the modified date might change to the recompile date, even though its executable code did not. Something similar can happen if a related file not part of the package itself changes so that it has a different UUID -- any internal references to that file in the package are updated even though there is no functional change to the package.

A byte-by-bite file comparison is really the only way to know what, if anything, changed. Apple provides an app that will do that in the developer tools installation (FileMerge) but it isn't really well suited to comparing binary files, & tends to hang on large ones. Still, if you have both the 10.6.2 & 10.6.3 updaters, you might want to try it with the smaller files (CodeResources, CodeSignature, the plist files) to see what it shows.

May 13, 2010 7:04 AM in response to R C-R

R C-R... You miss the point by focusing on the drivers both because you'll never know if the problem lies within them or whether it's in a more generic aspect of the hardware integration...

Here's the thing: OpenGL (and presumably, the Core Graphics underpinnings) implement some functions that are executed in hardware on the GPU and others that are executed in software. Valuable efforts have been made over the past few years to execute more and more on the GPU, and my suspicion is that the 10.6.3 update included some additional steps in that direction...

This is why "hiding" the X2000 libraries or using the older X2000 libraries from 10.6.2 might help: the functions that are executed on the GPU in the 10.6.3 drivers go back to the more stable, but slower, software implementations when the simpler or older drivers are used because they do not attempt a hardware implementation.

So in my humble opinion it is not worthwhile to attempt to analyze the internal aspects of specific drivers. The very fact that the "freezing" problem occurs on different platform, albeit under varied circumstances, is what leads me to this conclusion.

I hope this is clear. I am happy for those users who have not had problems with 10.6.3, but that is not my experience and I hope that Apple will find a solution soon...

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

System Freezes Randomly after 10.6.3 Update

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