Multiple crashes and kernel panics

Hello. I have been experiencing a growing number of kernel panics and crashes recently. They occur randomly, whether I am on battery or not, whether I have hardware connected through USB or not. Sometimes the system logs me out and sometimes the computer crashes. It is very unpredictable. I ran first aid from the recovery drive and also ran the diagnostics test, which found no hardware issues. So I reinstalled Mojave hoping this will solve the problem, but it has not. Below is my EtreCheck report. I hope someone can help me identify the source(s) of the problem. Thanks!



MacBook Pro

Posted on Aug 27, 2019 5:50 AM

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Posted on Aug 27, 2019 6:04 AM

outside of a bunch of things running with your computer no one thing for me stands out. It may be several of these things in conjunction. In most cases the system error report may not be useful for most people outside of developers, but in your case it could shed more light on what's not happy.


in the mean time shut down and disconnect all external devices then reset the System Management Controller

How to reset the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac - Apple Support

repeat 3 times

then reset the NVRAM

How to reset NVRAM on your Mac - Apple Support

repeat 3 times then boot into safe mode

Use safe mode to isolate issues with your Mac - Apple Support

then reboot normally with external devices disconnected and see if the behavior is ay better.

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Aug 27, 2019 6:04 AM in response to Llaborie

outside of a bunch of things running with your computer no one thing for me stands out. It may be several of these things in conjunction. In most cases the system error report may not be useful for most people outside of developers, but in your case it could shed more light on what's not happy.


in the mean time shut down and disconnect all external devices then reset the System Management Controller

How to reset the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac - Apple Support

repeat 3 times

then reset the NVRAM

How to reset NVRAM on your Mac - Apple Support

repeat 3 times then boot into safe mode

Use safe mode to isolate issues with your Mac - Apple Support

then reboot normally with external devices disconnected and see if the behavior is ay better.

Sep 2, 2019 5:04 AM in response to Llaborie

You have a metric crap ton of kernel extensions installed.

My guess is the kernel panics are because of at least one of them.

Since you haven't reloaded them after reinstalling and you don't see panics, it was likely one of them.


You certainly have no need for TechTool.

I have no idea what SmartSwitch is. Probably not as smart as it thinks, especially since it takes six kernel extensions to do whatever it does.

TrimEnabler is unnecessary.

Citrix is known to produce the worst kernel extensions ever.


If you want them back, install one at a time and test to see if you get panics before installing the next.


I can't find much in the way of kcm. I don't see it running on my Mac. There is a reference to it being part of Centrify kerberos cache.

The Etrecheck report stated you have configuration profiles present. Is the Mac managed by a company?

Sep 29, 2019 12:38 PM in response to Nels17

Thanks for pointing at my VPN. What is the EtreCheck report makes you think it may be the culprit?

Nothing. You have VPN software installed (ok, that is from Etrecheck). KCM is a kerberos ticket caching scheme. Kerberos is one of the few methods of establishing a secure connection. The two may be linked.


You are still experiencing kernel panics with no third-party kernel extensions loaded. That implies a hardware fault. Take it to an Apple Store or certified repair center for evaluation.

Sep 4, 2019 7:59 AM in response to Llaborie

KCM is a credential cache for Kerberos security. If you are logging into a managed account that could be the problem. My (very limited) understanding is if a Group Policy Organization (GPO) is not configured on the other end (the server you're logging into) it can cause a problem with the KCM "service"

The "Service exited with abnormal code: 1" is a very generic error message meaning; "I don't know what happened, but something happened"

Aug 27, 2019 6:32 AM in response to JimmyCMPIT

Thanks for your suggestions. I do suspect it is a combination of things that causes all these crashes and kernel panics. Right now it seems spotlight is hogging my system as I can see lots of mdworker processes in Activity Monitor, but I know this is not the only issue because my system reports are always different. I have already reset the SMC and NVRAM, but only once. I’ll try three times in a row to see if it makes a difference.

Sep 2, 2019 4:41 AM in response to JimmyCMPIT

Hi JimmyCMPIT. So I tried everything, but was unable to isolate the cause(s) of what was crashing my computer. I then wiped out my entire drive and did a clean install after that. I did not restore anything from TimeMachine to avoid migrating old plugins or preference files, and only moved my documents manually. No crashes so far, but this morning my computer suddenly logged me out while I was reading an article in Safari. I went to Console and found this:


Sep 2 09:56:37 User-MacBook-Pro kcm[826]: DEPRECATED USE in libdispatch client: Setting timer interval to 0 requests a 1ns timer, did you mean FOREVER (a one-shot timer)?; set a breakpoint on _dispatch_bug_deprecated to debug

Sep 2 09:56:41 User-MacBook-Pro com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.WindowServer[181]): Service exited due to SIGSEGV | sent by exc handler[181]

Sep 2 09:56:41 User-MacBook-Pro sessionlogoutd[830]: DEAD_PROCESS: 89 console

Sep 2 09:56:41 User-MacBook-Pro com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.ViewBridgeAuxiliary[831]): Service exited with abnormal code: 2

Sep 2 09:56:41 User-MacBook-Pro VDCAssistant[189]: BUG in libdispatch client: mach_recv, monitored resource vanished before the source cancel handler was invoked { 0x7ff72a503c30[source], ident: 10003 / 0x2713, handler: 0x102eeda6c }

Sep 2 09:56:42 User-MacBook-Pro com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.WebKit.WebContent.FF95A7D1-D4B3-4054-94BE-EC89416E9EC6[499]): Service exited with abnormal code: 1


Any thoughts? Thanks.

Sep 2, 2019 6:02 AM in response to Barney-15E

Thanks for your reply. The first report I posted was before I wiped out my hard drive. I have accumulated tons of plugins and preference files over the years, which I migrated from one drive to the next, so I knew one or several of these caused the crashes, but I could not determine which one because it was so random. So all of the kernel you see in my first message are gone. SmartSwitch is an app from Samsung to transfer files when Android FileTransfer does not work (depending on the device). Citrix I use for work, but only occasionally, so I have not reinstalled it yet (good to know it causes problems). As for my configuration profiles, I had Eduroam, which I need to connect to my university wifi, and ProtonMail bridge installed.


I have not had any crashes since I did a clean install last week, only the issue that logged me out this morning (see my third post), which I am trying to understand. Thanks for your help!

Sep 29, 2019 12:29 PM in response to Barney-15E

Well, I did wipe out my entire drive, reinstall Mojave and downloaded fresh copies of the apps I use the most. I didn't even transfer any preference files, but entered all my license keys and settings from scratch, so my system is as clean as it gets, I would think.


Thanks for pointing at my VPN. What is the EtreCheck report makes you think it may be the culprit?


My computer worked fine for the last ten days or so, until it crashed twice today again. The weird thing is that I was not even using it when it happened. It had been left on for a while and when I needed to use it again, I found out that it had restarted. So presumably this has something to do with a background process? Or could it be hardware-related?


Here are my two ÊtreCheck reports from today. Does it still point at my VPN? Thanks so much for your help.


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Multiple crashes and kernel panics

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