Why does Mac keep crashing?

Question

Level 1

110 points

Why does Mac keep crashing?

I'm running OS 10.13.6 (latest) on my Macbook Pro and iMac. About once per month, my Macbook crashes. It goes to sleep and when I try to wake it, nothing. After a while, it finally boots. The progress bar under the Apple logo takes forever then the crash report displays. It says something about not being able to install Mac OS. I wasn't even trying to install Mac OS.

After that, I restart with command + R and reinstall the Mac OS. That's the only way to get past this. I have done First Aid using Disk Utility but that never reports anything.

About a week ago, my iMac did the same thing. Any ideas how to resolve this?

Posted on Dec 30, 2018 7:34 AM

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Answer 1

BDAqua

Level 10

251,359 points

Dec 30, 2018 8:28 PM in response to 4thSpace

Open Terminal & type sudo then a space then type rm & a space, then from FindAnyFile, drag /private/var/run/com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2.Agent.socket to terminal, or paste a copy of it, press enter, it'll ask Password but won't reflect it as you type... & if terminal just comes back with the prompt it's done it's work.

Rinse & Repeat. ;)

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Answer 2

KiltedTim

Level 10

234,270 points

Dec 30, 2018 7:37 AM in response to 4thSpace

Download Etrecheck from the Mac App Store.

Run it and post the report it produces here.

That will give us an idea of what's going on.

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Answer 3

BDAqua

Level 10

251,359 points

Dec 31, 2018 5:56 AM in response to 4thSpace

The Crash log may help us.

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Answer 4

Lexiepex

Level 6

14,118 points

Dec 30, 2018 8:52 AM in response to 4thSpace

There is too much on it:

Why 2 different Virtual machine apps (Parallels, Virtualbox.
Immediately uninstall CleanMyMac, CMM2 and CMM3, a real killer app.
afaik Citric is not supported, uninstall it.
take all entries out of SystemPreferences->Users&Groups->LoginItems, with the minus sign underneath, then restart.
take all Safari Extensions out (Safari->Preferences->Extensions), except the 1Password extension.
You do not really need any InternetPlugins (yourname->Library->InternetPlugins)
You do not need Littlesnitch: it does not make your mac safer, on the contrary.
Soundflower is not supported, I think, uninstall
I do not know about AWS, Prosoft, radiosilence, bizmodeller.
After your actions, restart again.

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Answer 5

BDAqua

Level 10

251,359 points

Dec 30, 2018 6:16 PM in response to 4thSpace

You still need to get rid of com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2 & com.macpaw.CleanMyMac3.

Where did you update Flash from exactly?

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Answer 6

4thSpace Author

Level 1

110 points

Dec 30, 2018 9:05 AM in response to Lexiepex

Parallels is left over. I've removed it. I only use VB now.
I've removed CMM2 and CMM3.
Where do I find Citrix? It isn't listed in my Applications folder.
If I remove LoginItems, doesn't that I mean I have to manually restart these every time I restart the computer? I use all of those apps.
I only see the 1Password and Bitly extensions. Bitly is not checked.
I've removed all the Internet plugins.
I don't use Littlesnitch for safety. I use it to see what may be eating up bandwidth.
I don't see Soundflower in Applications.
I don't see AWS, Prosoft, radiosilence, bizmodeller in the Applications folder. There are DMGs and PKGs files for these though.
Done!

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Answer 7

Lexiepex

Level 6

14,118 points

Dec 30, 2018 9:18 AM in response to 4thSpace

OK, there should be nothing left in a new etrecheck list
the same
There are a lot of leftovers as you can see, you could remove those by hand
Indeed, start one, when done, exit, then the next. See whether it makes a difference.
If you use 1Password, let it be. Nothing wrong with it. Look in yourname->Library->AplicationSupport->Safari.
correct.
without LS you are cleaner and safer.
"Cycling" ? or it might be a leftover, in a clean system there are no eternal kexts.
Remove all those you see in the etrecheck list by hand.
perhaps a new etreheck list after this?

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Answer 8

4thSpace Author

Level 1

110 points

Dec 30, 2018 9:35 AM in response to Lexiepex

#5: There's no such folder.

#7: Ok. It's a crazy thing to remove though.

#8: What do you mean by "Cycling"?

#9: I don't see a /Library/Extensions folder.

#10: Ok.

By the way, why do you say there is too much on the computer? Was that from the report or anecdotal?

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Answer 9

Lexiepex

Level 6

14,118 points

Dec 30, 2018 10:07 AM in response to 4thSpace

Good work so far.

5 Finder->View->Show View Options->check view Library

8 something called Cycling, if you don't see it go to (in Finder) startupdisk->Library->Extensions you will find it there.

9 the same Library

10 List

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Answer 10

4thSpace Author

Level 1

110 points

Dec 30, 2018 10:14 AM in response to Lexiepex

Sigh...I had removed LittleSnitch and was in the process of restarting after that. Then got the crash screen again with the error about:

Mac OS X can't be installed

I did save that log file from the crash screen this time. I'm in now reinstalling the OS. I'll post the new report once it finishes.

That makes two times in two days counting yesterday's crash.

By the way, doesn't that mean all the stuff I did from the report didn't make any difference?

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Answer 11

4thSpace Author

Level 1

110 points

Dec 30, 2018 5:57 PM in response to Lexiepex

EtreCheck report

Here's the latest report. I saw the flash player update warning and did update it.

Safari 12.0.2 update is still pending. I installed it earlier and everything crashed after the restart so I'm leaving it alone for now. Running Safari 11.1.2.

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Answer 12

4thSpace Author

Level 1

110 points

Dec 31, 2018 5:47 AM in response to 4thSpace

Ok, at this point, all citrix and macpaw files have been removed. I left soundflower. It's an audio extension that works with an audio app I no longer use. But I see it may work with Audacity, which I always use.

Should I try the Safari 12.0.2 update or do another report? It takes about an hour to get everything up and running after it crashes. I probably won't try it until later.

Did the report say why the computer crashed? Or do you need the crash log for that?

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