Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Since installing Catalina yesterday, multiple crashes from userspace watchdog timeout

Since I installed Catalina yesterday, I have had around five crashes with the error:


panic(cpu 6 caller 0xffffff7f8879cad5): userspace watchdog timeout: no successful checkins from com.apple.WindowServer in 140 seconds


Any solutions. iMac Pro had been operating fine before update. Only apps running at the time were Chrome and TimeMachine backing up to a Drobo 5N2 (plus of course background apps like Google Backup and Sync, Dropbox, etc).

iMac Pro

Posted on Oct 8, 2019 9:20 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Oct 11, 2019 12:43 PM

This happens to me reliably when i have an external monitor connected though a docking station and system is idle. If i have a video or other non static content displaying on the external monitor, my MacBook Pro I9 does not crash. This is new for Catalina and same configuration did not crash on Mojave. Need a fix...

Similar questions

577 replies
Sort By: 

Dec 6, 2020 12:32 PM in response to star-affinity

Now that the new M1 macs have the exact same issue maybe some thing will happen. I've seen 4 people now return there M1s because of the watchdog failure. If this is a hardware problem then Apple carried over to the new architecture. Its pretty clear that after a year and new hardware this is a software issue with Macos.

Reply

Dec 6, 2020 1:53 PM in response to BradSP

Exactly BradSP. I have no doubt that it’s all related to the OS ever since Catalina was released. I guarantee it’s not hardware related. If all of us downgraded our older AND newer machines to Mojave, the watchdog errors would mysteriously disappear.

Reply

Dec 17, 2020 10:18 AM in response to ProfessorScott

Had this problem for almost a year, it would happen when I connected my LG C9 to imac2019 with vega48.


It was finally solved for me with latest security update for 10.15.7 and I can now use my thunderbolt double hdmi dongle without windowserver crashes.


My iMac is finally running as it should, hope that helps.


Best regards.

Reply

Dec 24, 2020 2:21 PM in response to tomislav276

For me, the problems didn't start UNTIL I installed the latest Catalina Security update for 10.15.7. It was sporadic at first, then it occurred daily, now it's happened 6 times in the last hour. I've been all over the internet reading support threads at Apple and discussions elsewhere....Since this is also happening on the M1 Macs and Big Sur, Apple must surely understand this is a real issue, no?


My set up is quite complex as I'm running a recording studio with all kinds of hardware and multiple monitors connected to an iMacPro 10 core 64gb /4TB machine. Because of that, I do not expect Apple Support to be any help whatsoever; There are too many other things to point to. I don't know...could be legit, but the thing is: It was stable and operating near perfectly before this latest update. Now, I'm afraid to walk away from it for more than 10 minutes....

Reply

Dec 25, 2020 12:27 AM in response to gnapier

I know what you mean, I am also running Ableton with a lot of plugins, Rme Ucx, Elektron ARmkII with Overbridge, 7 Behringer analog synths for which I started using midi just to rule out IO overloading, on top of that I am doing video editing and color grading in Davinci Resolve with Micro Panel and animation in AE and Cinema 4d. Also I have TB Dual Hdmi output to LG C9 and old Apple Cinema display... lots of things that could go wrong...


What first helped was disconnecting C9, but I needed that display for clients so I found out that if I dont use hidpi settings it would work for longer... I tried everything but it would just beachball and restart after a min... I just refused to think its a hardware problem, because all this shouldn't be a problem, I am running Macs for the last 15 years and I know this should be capable computers.


I noticed lots of time it crashed while editing clips in Resolve that had Neat Video OFX plugin so I removed it. Haven't crashed since then so thats something to think about.


My main problem now is with its P3 display and color management problems for color critical work. Its a huge mess...

Reply

Dec 25, 2020 4:14 AM in response to tomislav276

Some hopeful news on my front!


My crashes were coming like clockwork every 760 seconds or so. I want to restate: It was nothing like this before the last Catalina security update I installed a few days ago.


I started disconnecting items. Disconnecting my Drobo 5c made no difference. Disconnecting my external drive enclosure (OWC TB3 ThunderBay 8) made no difference. Disconnecting 2 of my 5 monitors by removing an OWC Thunderbolt 3 Mini Dock w/HDMI 2.0 made no difference. (I have worked with three monitors with this iMac from day one with no problems, but I recently added 2 more monitors in other parts of my studio for ergonomics.)


However, I have a UAD card in an external closure (Sonnet Echo Express SE1 Thunderbolt 3 Expansion Chassis). I removed that, and there have been NO crashes overnight!! I suspect this may be the issue as running the UAD card in the enclosure has mostly been set and forget, but there is the occasional unexplained “hiccup.” But again, nothing like constant crashing before the Apple Catalina security update the other day.


My game plan now is to begin reattaching things one at a time to test for stability. I am going to start with an update of the UAD software to the latest version and reattach the enclosure to see what happens. I really don’t want to have to walk away from my UAD plugins considering their utility and the investment!


Even if I get that to work, I’ll detach it and connect another piece solo to test. Once I’m sure which ones work ok in isolation, I’ll reattach those. (Well, at least I know what I’ll be doing most of Christmas Day!)


I don’t know if you have an analogous piece of equipment but, if you do, give it a hard look!


Best regards, George




Reply

Dec 26, 2020 5:26 AM in response to gnapier

Soooooo....


I downloaded the new UAD software and reattached the Sonnet echo express. No crash for over an hour. I then reconnected the OWC mini dock and two monitors. No crash for over an hour. I then reconnected the OWC Thunderbay 8...and all **** broke loose.


Near as I could figure at the time, it’s was coming down to one of two things: A particular drive in the Thunderbay appears to be problematic and may be causing an issue, OR the fact that the Sonnet and Thunderbay are daisy chained may be causing an issue. I decided that I would explore both options the next day and unplugged the Thunderbay leaving only the Sonnet box attached.


Everything was solid. I was just about to go to bed when suddenly the computer restarted. After 7.58 hours, the panic and crash happened. I shutdown the machine, restarted logged in...and a few minutes later it happened again.


The only thing connected or powered up is the Sonnet box. Why would that configuration have been stable for 8 hours then suddenly start being flaky? It makes NO SENSE.


I disconnected the sonnet box and rebooted and logged in to see if the iMac Pro could make it through the night by itself. It didn’t. So this isn’t about just connections to external gear. Apparently I could fix all of that, and it wouldn’t matter because with no external gear attached/powered on it will still re-boot.


I’ve owned Apple products since the early 90s. I sold Apple computers 20 years ago. Buddies accuse me of being a fanboy. But this is fast becoming my worst Apple experience to date.

Reply

Dec 27, 2020 5:30 AM in response to gnapier

Ok. Another update.


I replaced the problematic drive in the Thunderbay 8. I attached it back to the iMac. I also reattached my Drobo 5c so I could clone the content of the old drive on to the new one.


All of that proceeded without a hitch. So I decided to leave the set-up running to find out how long it would operate without a kernel panic.


Directly attached to the computer and operational is the Thunderbay 8 via TB3, a CalDigit TS3 Plus 15-Port TB3 Dock, a MOTU 1248 via TB2/TB3, an OWC TB3 dual HDMI mini Dock. There’s also a USB 3 hub and various USB devices (mostly synthesizers and modules) connected to the iMac. Essentially, the only thing NOT attached is the Sonnet Echo Express SE I.


So far this set up has remained up and operational with no reboots for over 12 hours.


I’ll leave the Sonnet box disconnected and see how long this lasts, but if it stays stable then my investment in UAD gear may be toast...


Reply

Jan 13, 2021 12:24 AM in response to ProfessorScott

Hi everyone, I'm experiencing this since a few weeks with my 2020 iMac 27 - AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT 16 Go.

Sound remains ok when glitches come, but the iMac completely freezes and I must restart (hard reboot)

NVRAM, PRAM, SMC done but nothing changes.

Any help would be appreciated, thanks.


Reply

Dec 1, 2019 11:45 PM in response to ProfessorScott

I'm having this problem too everytime I dont put the macbook to sleep manually (usb-c screen attached).


panic(cpu 2 caller 0xffffff7f8a79dad5): userspace watchdog timeout: no successful checkins from com.apple.WindowServer in 140 seconds service: com.apple.logd, total successful checkins since wake (8930 seconds ago): 894, last successful checkin: 0 seconds ago service: com.apple.WindowServer, total successful checkins since wake (8930 seconds ago): 880, last successful checkin: 140 seconds ago Backtrace (CPU 2), Frame : Return Address 0xffffff81fb643820 : 0xffffff8009d39a3b 0xffffff81fb643870 : 0xffffff8009e70fe5 0xffffff81fb6438b0 : 0xffffff8009e62a5e 0xffffff81fb643900 : 0xffffff8009ce0a40 0xffffff81fb643920 : 0xffffff8009d39127 0xffffff81fb643a20 : 0xffffff8009d3950b 0xffffff81fb643a70 : 0xffffff800a4d1875 0xffffff81fb643ae0 : 0xffffff7f8a79dad5 0xffffff81fb643af0 : 0xffffff7f8a79d7e6 0xffffff81fb643b10 : 0xffffff800a4663fb 0xffffff81fb643b60 : 0xffffff800a46f393 0xffffff81fb643ca0 : 0xffffff8009e20b92 0xffffff81fb643db0 : 0xffffff8009d3f8b8 0xffffff81fb643e10 : 0xffffff8009d16545 0xffffff81fb643e70 : 0xffffff8009d2cff5 0xffffff81fb643f00 : 0xffffff8009e49085 0xffffff81fb643fa0 : 0xffffff8009ce1226 Kernel Extensions in backtrace: com.apple.driver.watchdog(1.0)[C2A524CF-E318-3225-B25E-BD3E7011FD6F]@0xffffff7f8a79c000->0xffffff7f8a7a4fff BSD process name corresponding to current thread: watchdogd Boot args: chunklist-security-epoch=0 -chunklist-no-rev2-dev Mac OS version: 19B2106 Kernel version: Darwin Kernel Version 19.0.0: Wed Oct 23 18:29:05 PDT 2019; root:xnu-6153.41.3~44/RELEASE_X86_64 Kernel UUID: A2105C6A-7856-3F61-8E00-36E694C78609 Kernel slide: 0x0000000009a00000 Kernel text base: 0xffffff8009c00000 __HIB text base: 0xffffff8009b00000 System model name: MacBookPro16,1 (Mac-E1008331FDC96864) System shutdown begun: NO System uptime in nanoseconds: 27401763700496 last loaded kext at 504568413839: @filesystems.smbfs 3.4 (addr 0xffffff7f910d1000, size 446464) loaded kexts: @filesystems.smbfs 3.4 >AudioAUUC 1.70 >usb.!UHostBillboardDevice 1.0 @filesystems.msdosfs 1.10 @kext.AMDRadeonX6000 3.0.2 @kext.AMDRadeonServiceManager 3.0.2 >!AGraphicsDevicePolicy 4.5.13 @fileutil 20.036.15 @AGDCPluginDisplayMetrics 4.5.13 >!AHV 1 |IOUserEthernet 1.0.1 |IO!BSerialManager 7.0.1f1 >pmtelemetry 1 >AGPM 111.2.5 >!APlatformEnabler 2.7.0d0 >X86PlatformShim 1.0.0 >!AUpstreamUserClient 3.6.8 @Dont_Steal_Mac_OS_X 7.0.0 >AGDCBacklightControl 4.5.13 >!A!IKBLGraphics 14.0.2 >ACPI_SMC_PlatformPlugin 1.0.0 >!ABacklight 180.1 >BridgeAudioCommunication 6.55 >!AThunderboltIP 3.1.3 >!A!ISlowAdaptiveClocking 4.0.0 >!AMuxControl2 4.5.13 >!AMCCSControl 1.13 >!ATopCaseHIDEventDriver 3410.1 >!AHIDALSService 1 >!ABridgeAudio!C 6.55 >!AGFXHDA 100.1.422 >!A!ICFLGraphicsFramebuffer 14.0.2 >!AAVEBridge 6.1 >!AFIVRDriver 4.1.0 >!A!IPCHPMC 2.0.1 @filesystems.autofs 3.0 >BCMWLANFirmware4355.Hashstore 1 >BCMWLANFirmware4364.Hashstore 1 >BCMWLANFirmware4377.Hashstore 1 >!ABCMWLANBusInterfacePCIe 1 >!AFileSystemDriver 3.0.1 @filesystems.hfs.kext 522.0.9 @BootCache 40 @!AFSCompression.!AFSCompressionTypeDataless 1.0.0d1 @!AFSCompression.!AFSCompressionTypeZlib 1.0.0 >!AVirtIO 1.0 @filesystems.apfs 1412.41.1 @private.KextAudit 1.0 >!ASmartBatteryManager 161.0.0 >!AACPIButtons 6.1 >!ASMBIOS 2.1 >!AACPIEC 6.1 >!AAPIC 1.7 $!AImage4 1 @nke.applicationfirewall 303 $TMSafetyNet 8 @!ASystemPolicy 2.0.0 |EndpointSecurity 1 >usb.cdc.acm 5.0.0 >usb.serial 6.0.0 >!UMergeNub 900.4.2 >usb.!UHub 1.2 >!UAudio 320.49 @kext.AMDRadeonX6100HWLibs 1.0 @kext.AMDRadeonX6000HWServices 3.0.2 |IOAVB!F 800.17 >!ASSE 1.0 @kext.AMDRadeonX6000Framebuffer 3.0.2 @!AGPUWrangler 4.5.13 >IOPlatformPluginLegacy 1.0.0 >!ABacklightExpert 1.1.0 >!AHDA!C 283.14 |IOHDA!F 283.14 >!AActuatorDriver 3410.2 |IO!BHost!CUARTTransport 7.0.1f1 |IO!BHost!CTransport 7.0.1f1 >!A!ILpssUARTv1 3.0.60 >!A!ILpssUARTCommon 3.0.60 >!AOnboardSerial 1.0 @kext.AMDSupport 3.0.2 |IOSlowAdaptiveClocking!F 1.0.0 >X86PlatformPlugin 1.0.0 >!AGraphicsControl 4.5.13 >!ASMBus!C 1.0.18d1 @plugin.IOgPTPPlugin 810.1 |IOEthernetAVB!C 1.1.0 >!AHS!BDriver 3410.1 >IO!BHIDDriver 7.0.1f1 >!AMultitouchDriver 3410.2 >!AInputDeviceSupport 3410.1 >!AHIDKeyboard 209 |IOAudio!F 300.2 @vecLib.kext 1.2.0 |IONDRVSupport 568 >!ASMBusPCI 1.0.14d1 @!AGraphicsDeviceControl 4.5.13 |IOAccelerator!F2 438.2.7 |IOGraphics!F 568 >IOPlatformPlugin!F 6.0.0d8 >!AThunderboltEDMSink 4.2.1 >!AThunderboltDPOutAdapter 6.2.3 @kext.triggers 1.0 >usb.cdc.ecm 5.0.0 >usb.IOUSBHostHIDDevice 1.2 >usb.cdc.ncm 5.0.0 >usb.cdc 5.0.0 >usb.networking 5.0.0 >usb.!UHostCompositeDevice 1.2 >!ABCMWLANCore 1.0.0 >mDNSOffloadUserClient 1.0.1b8 >IOImageLoader 1.0.0 |IO80211!FV2 1200.12.2b1 >corecapture 1.0.4 |IOSkywalk!F 1 |IOSurface 269.6 @filesystems.hfs.encodings.kext 1 |IOSerial!F 11 >!AXsanScheme 3 >usb.!UVHCIBCE 1.2 >usb.!UVHCI 1.2 >usb.!UVHCICommonBCE 1.0 >usb.!UVHCICommon 1.0 >!AEffaceableNOR 1.0 |IOBufferCopy!C 1.1.0 |IOBufferCopyEngine!F 1 |IONVMe!F 2.1.0 >!AThunderboltPCIDownAdapter 2.5.2 >!AThunderboltDPInAdapter 6.2.3 >!AThunderboltDPAdapter!F 6.2.3 >!AHPM 3.4.4 >!A!ILpssI2C!C 3.0.60 >!A!ILpssDmac 3.0.60 >!A!ILpssI2C 3.0.60 >!AThunderboltNHI 5.8.0 |IOThunderbolt!F 7.4.6 >usb.!UHostPacketFilter 1.0 >usb.!UXHCIPCI 1.2 >usb.!UXHCI 1.2 |IOUSB!F 900.4.2 >!AEFINVRAM 2.1 >!AEFIRuntime 2.1 >!ASMCRTC 1.0 |IOSMBus!F 1.1 |IOHID!F 2.0.0 $quarantine 4 $sandbox 300.0 @kext.!AMatch 1.0.0d1 >!AKeyStore 2 >!UTDM 489.41.1 |IOSCSIBlockCommandsDevice 422.0.2 >!ACredentialManager 1.0 >KernelRelayHost 1 >!ASEPManager 1.0.1 >IOSlaveProcessor 1 >!AFDEKeyStore 28.30 >!AEffaceable!S 1.0 >!AMobileFileIntegrity 1.0.5 @kext.CoreTrust 1 |CoreAnalytics!F 1 |IOTimeSync!F 810.1 |IONetworking!F 3.4 >DiskImages 493.0.0 |IO!B!F 7.0.1f1 |IO!BPacketLogger 7.0.1f1 |IOUSBMass!SDriver 157.40.7 |IOSCSIArchitectureModel!F 422.0.2 |IO!S!F 2.1 |IOUSBHost!F 1.2 >usb.!UCommon 1.0 >!UHostMergeProperties 1.2 >!ABusPower!C 1.0 |IOReport!F 47 >!AACPIPlatform 6.1 >!ASMC 3.1.9 >watchdog 1 |IOPCI!F 2.9 |IOACPI!F 1.4 @kec.pthread 1 @kec.Libm 1 @kec.corecrypto 1.0


Reply

Since installing Catalina yesterday, multiple crashes from userspace watchdog timeout

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.