Kernel panics, beachballing, etc.

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Level 1

8 points

Kernel panics, beachballing, etc.

My iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2019) running macOS 12.5.1 is becoming increasingly unusable due to frequent beachballing, kernel panics, apps becoming unresponsive and crashing. I frequently have to force-quit apps and restart to get the computer operational again. Sometimes it will go for hours without problems, sometimes they happen almost as soon as I start up but they always seem to recur. I have disconnected all external drives and uninstalled some old apps and extensions but the problem persists. I have thought about reinstalling the OS but haven't done so yet. Any suggestions on what to do next? I have attached my most recent EtreCheckPro report.

EtreCheck Report

iMac

Posted on Aug 29, 2022 11:52 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

BobPioneer

Level 1

23 points

Aug 31, 2022 11:00 AM in response to ScorpioX3

I just looked at your report and it looks like you have a Windows partition:

disk0s3 - N********D (MS-DOS FAT12) 1.12 TB

I'm pretty darn sure the answer to your problem is to exclude BOOTCAMP from Spotlight. Go to System Preferences->Spotlight, Privacy tab, and add BOOTCAMP by dragging and dropping it from Finder.

I suffered through the same issues for a week and after excluding BOOTCAMP, my problem was immediately solved and my Mac has been fine since.

See my previous post for more info.

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Answer 2

Barney-15E

Level 10

113,094 points

Aug 29, 2022 1:24 PM in response to ScorpioX3

Anything listed under /Library/Extensions could be a culprit. Startup in Safe Mode and see if it panics. If it doesn’t, then one of those System Extensions is causing the panics.

The panic log could reduce the list if it has a loaded kexts section. Any third-party kexts listed there would be a suspect.

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Answer 3

ScorpioX3 Author

Level 1

8 points

Aug 30, 2022 2:33 PM in response to Barney-15E

Thanks for your response and your help, Barney-15E. I started up in and stayed in Safe Mode yesterday for most of the day and had no crashes or panics. Restarted this am normally and experienced beach-balling within an hour. I checked the panic log today and found 2 things that were recently related to kernel panics: AppleMobileDeviceHelper (BAD ACCESS/KERN_INVALID ADDRESS) and Safari (BAD ACCESS/KERN_PROTECTION_FAILURE). Not sure what to do next. What do you suggest?

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Answer 4

ScorpioX3 Author

Level 1

8 points

Aug 31, 2022 11:14 AM in response to BobPioneer

Thanks for your response, BobPioneer. I do have a BOOTCAMP partition for Windows. As in the discussion you referenced, I believe my troubles started after updating to macOS 12.5 and no improvement with 12.5.1 (maybe worse). I'll try excluding Bootcamp from Spotlight and see what happens. Will report back on results.

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Answer 5

Barney-15E

Level 10

113,094 points

Aug 31, 2022 11:19 AM in response to ScorpioX3

ScorpioX3 wrote:

Don't see any section called "loaded kexts."

Then you would need to uninstall each of your kernel extensions using directions or uninstaller from the developer of the kernel extension. Start with the ones you don't think you need and check after each uninstall. Excluding BOOTCAMP will certainly be easier to start with.

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Answer 6

ScorpioX3 Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 1, 2022 5:52 PM in response to ScorpioX3

Problem solved! I excluded Bootcamp from Spotlight yesterday afternoon and have had no further issues since doing so; things appear to be back to normal. Thanks for suggesting that, BobPioneer. I never would have made that connection or figured it out on my own. Thanks for your help as well, Barney-15E. Starting up in Safe Mode and having the problem disappear pointed me away from it being possibly a hardware problem and got me focused on the software.

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Answer 7

Aug 30, 2022 5:49 PM in response to ScorpioX3

This may be way off base but I had similar problems. Do you by any chance have a BOOTCAMP partition for Windows? If so, check this post: UVFS service - Apple Community

If not, just ignore me :-)

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