Macbook Air M1 - kernel panic

Bought a new mac Mini M1 about a month ago. Started having these kernel panic crashes with pink/purple screens right before a week ago. Twice now. Definitely related to the (external) display(s). Have 2 hooked up, one via HDMI and one via USB-C to DisplayPort. Happens when switching Spaces or turning a monitor on/off.

On a related note, macOS doesn't remember the refresh rate Hertz when booting or waking up. It shows the correct refresh rate selected, but it's not the one that's active. E.g. set to 144Hz, only running at 60Hz.

Just to add to the experience here.

I play "Eve Online", along with my wife. We both have Mac M1 Minis for "desktop" use, and we both have MacBook Air M1s, for casual use. We can and do game on either/all machines.

We have each had the same PSOD (Pink Screen Of Death) with the same kernel panic. This is principally whilst in-game. Not conclusively - but very typically in response to an event (for example, leaving the game unattended overnight is generally safe -no crash), but performing an action does run a low-chance (1-per-day, typical) of a PSOD.

The Minis are connected through built-in HDMI to standard QHD displays.

The Airs are typically presenting on their built-in displays. My Air, occasionally, connected through a USB-C dongle to my main monitor, but that's infrequent.

There's no "killer combination" - they will all PSOD variously at a low rate.

Other applications are not known to affect in the same way.

That this is more often triggered by an in-game action, I don't believe (gut feel) this is a hardware fault, my thoughts are more that this is driver related in response to some illegal parameter being passed through (likely) the graphic stack. It could be a result of the Eve / Wine combination of software.

Carry on reporting the crash dumps....

FYI : I haven't had any panic in 3 weeks, just wanted to summarise what I've done, it might be helpful (I hope!)

• I'm now using an apple thunderbolt 3 cable instead of the cable provided with the monitor.
• I stopped using Microsoft Office, because I noticed that the panic occurred a lot more when I was working on Word/Excell.

I'm kind of convinced that MsOffice is aggravating the issue, or it might just be the old cable.

I will update you if the issue happens again...

Have you kept a record of all the kernel panics? On both M1 Macbooks I kept detailed logs of software installed, panics, software crashes, and the process of elimination I went through to determine the HDMI connection to the external monitor was the (principal) cause. I suspect just digging up your panic logs from Diagnostic Reports in Console (or your Library folder) and creating a quick timeline would suffice. I visited two different Genius Bars and both times they were pretty chilled and offered me replacements or refunds.

Original thread:

panic(cpu 0 caller 0xfffffe0030c844c4): "dart-disp0 (0xfffffe23365ec000): SMMU(SMMU) error: SID 0 PTE invalid exception on read with DVA 0x3304000 (TTBR 0 SEG 0x1 PTE 0x4c1) ERROR_STATUS 0x80000004 TIME 0x2e4ed72a3570 TTE 0 AXI_ID 0)"

Your latest post:

panic(cpu 0 caller 0xfffffe0017f15798): "dart-usb1 (0xfffffe2333430000): DART(DARTLLT) error: SID 1 PTE invalid exception on write with DVA 0x642c0 (TTBR 0 SEG 0 PTE 0x19) ERROR_STATUS 0x81000404 TIME 0x3e8658ca4a TTE 0 AXI_ID 0x1)"

With respect, this isn't the same panic kernel as this thread was originally covering. I believe from the information presented in the recent posts that 11.15.2 fixes the dart-disp0 display-related panics. Your post is different, related to the USB subsystem.

Just to counter the nerf-bat used on the last week of posts - to confirm, 11.5.2 appears to be substantially more stable than other previous releases.

Hey blatny,

It sounds like you're having an issue with kernel panics on your Mac. We can understand wanting to get that resolved. We want to help.

We'd recommend trying the steps in this article to help resolve the issue: If your Mac restarted because of a problem

Thanks!

I have the same issue.

Have updated to 11.3 and the problem seems to be occurring randomly, not when using specific apps or games.

Connected to external screen via Apple hub, as well as magic keyboard and mouse.

Here is the crash log:

panic(cpu 1 caller 0xfffffe0012ec5798): "dart-disp0 (0xfffffe2332e50000): SMMU(SMMU) error: SID 0 PTE invalid exception on read with DVA 0x3680000 (TTBR 0 SEG 0x1 PTE 0x5a0) ERROR_STATUS 0x80000004 TIME 0xcd470240c2a TTE 0 AXI_ID 0)"

Debugger message: panic

Memory ID: 0x6

OS release type: User

OS version: 20E232

Kernel version: Darwin Kernel Version 20.4.0: Fri Mar 5 01:14:02 PST 

Exactly what i said before, mouse stutter and the crash after a few minutes.

A dirty workaround is to lock the Macbook, close the lid, wait a few seconds, then open it again. You'll notice that the mouse is smooth again and no crash will happen this time.

I ordered a thunderbolt cable from Apple, as I'm using the usbc cable provided with the Dell monitor right now.

I'm always using a magic keyboard + trackpad connected via bluetooth. I will update you as soon as I use the Apple cable (if I don't get a Panic within 2 weeks of using it, we can assume that it was the cable)

Hi, I believe I have some useful insight into what's causing this serious issue for so many users. In a nutshell, I believe the engineers failed to adequately test the power management features of the M1 devices with external devices when plugged into the AC power....as so many of us are doing working from home during the pandemic.

After returning a defective refurbished MacBook with the Intel chip to Apple, I decided to go for it this April and buy a brand new M1 Air from Costco. I experienced the same VERY frustrating random reboot issue with the replacement MacBook Air M1 they sent me last week which further confirmed my theory.

As we've all seen, this is now a well-known reoccurring, intermittent issue with both the MacMini and Macbooks with the M1 chip when using one external monitor and/or hub. Still, six months later, Apple doesn’t seem to be addressing it in a timely manner. This issue occurs even with the Apple brand adaptor they sent me.  I can't express how frustrating it is having these brand new devices crash on me with so few apps open right before a business meeting or on deadline for major project....ironically for the tech industry clients sometimes. Ugh!! I definitely feel everyone's frustrations whether depending upon these M1s for work or play....especially during COVID.

So here's my ureka moment in trying to get to the bottom of this. Since observing that the issue doesn't seem to be tied to specific apps or brands, I realized it must deal with the power managment of this first-gen chip. I noticed that if I unplug the power cord the problem won’t occur. This suggests Apple failed to test the power management of the new chip enough when using peripheral devices….as most users are during the pandemic at home especially. It seems 'kernal panic’ events will occur as a result of the power mismanagement. 

I feel that Costco and other retailers should demand that this apparent hardware issue be addressed before selling another M1 devicce. Read the user comments on the most reliable media reports online and you'll see the random rebooting is unlikely due to third-party apps causing this as Apple has asserted. This issue occurs even using just Apple Mail, Safari, etc. 

I hope Costco management will take my message seriously and urge Apple to act swiftly and appropriately with your members. We depend on Apple computers for our livelihoods, not just for fun.  Also, if Apple is aware of certain fixes, I feel they are obligated to inform the retailers who sold them and also the end users who paid good money for the Mercedes of computers.

Yeah, I've lost a few weeks' work due to HDMI-induced panics on two M1s as well. The last time I visited Apple Store they guessed it was the external monitor, which turned out to be correct, but there needs to be wider awareness of this issue.

Hi All

As reported by some others, keeping the lid down while working on an external screen seems to help me. I seem to have had a worse than usual case of the panics with about 10 per week. In lid down mode that number is greatly reduced but its not very good for touch ID!

I don't expect this to solve all of everyone's problems but it might "solve" some of some people's problems until Apple does something.

So, to briefly summarize what seems to have emerged from this now 10-page thread, is the following:

** The M1 MacBooks, both the Air and Pro models, exhibit kernel panics often preceded by a very brief screen freeze and then a pink flash. There have been some instances of similar behavior with the iMac M1, but possibly only one (not sure I've read that correctly). Possibly one MacMini M1 as well.

** A number of affected machines were replaced by Apple, and replacement models have often (usually? not always?) had the the same problem.

** A variety of user setups and activities were in place when the events occurred. Usually (nearly always?) the MacBooks were connected to an external monitor. Dell monitors are frequently mentioned, some but fewer LG monitors. Of course, the MacMini was running an external monitor, but the iMac was not (so it appears, based on account).

** Kernel panics have sometimes (not always?) noted something about power supply issues. Usually there are some other peripherals involved, such as a dock of one kind or another. In at least one instance, it has occurred with no external monitor or peripherals, however.

** Activites underway at the time of the events ranges from composing email to running multiple programs, including use of a browser with many tabs in use. Watching a video seems to be mentioned by several contributors.

** Frequency of the events ranges from only one every few weeks up to many times per day.

** Users seeking help from Apple have been told there is probably hardware fault with the machine, or it's the particular dock that is in use, or the cable is the likely culprit.

** There have been numerous different interventions that led to some limited success in reducing the number of events. Those include use of a different dock, or not using the dock, substituting a different monitor, and changing cables. Reinstalling the OS has generally not provided much help.

So, it seems there is little consensus on the cause of the kernel panic issue. It is not clear that any particular "fix" addresses the issue with any consistency, and such attempts have generally been unsuccessful.

Feel free to add/correct any of the above to more accurately reflect the information.

For me if I don't unplugged the hdmi cable plugged with the adaptateur device it's find . I didn't have any trouble yet of purple screen with automatic restart. Will see ... Just to remind you , my Mac is plugged in with a LG ultra wide screen.