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Regular restarts after installing Ventura

Hi,

I have an M2 MacBook Air. Ever since I upgraded to OSX Ventura 13.5, the computer insists on re-starting about once an hour. The only way to stop this behaviour is to have an application open that tends to prevent restarts, e.g. Terminal. This is rather silly, and I see no obvious reason for it. The system and the apps all seem up-to-date. Does anyone know other possible reasons for this, and likely fixes?

Many thanks.

MacBook Air, macOS 13.5

Posted on Sep 26, 2023 1:49 PM

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Posted on Sep 27, 2023 2:01 PM

When it restarts, the normal cause is a kernel panic cause by third-party kernel extensions. While you have some third-party kernel extensions installed, the EtreCheck report does not indicate you have had kernel panics.

There is an option to Logout after a period of inactivity, but not to Restart.

Any chance someone is messing with you and enabled a restart schedule? Run this command in Terminal:

pmset -g sched   

You might see a couple that get set by Apple for some purpose, but you are looking for ones that restart on some time period.

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Sep 27, 2023 2:01 PM in response to evoecogen

When it restarts, the normal cause is a kernel panic cause by third-party kernel extensions. While you have some third-party kernel extensions installed, the EtreCheck report does not indicate you have had kernel panics.

There is an option to Logout after a period of inactivity, but not to Restart.

Any chance someone is messing with you and enabled a restart schedule? Run this command in Terminal:

pmset -g sched   

You might see a couple that get set by Apple for some purpose, but you are looking for ones that restart on some time period.

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Oct 1, 2023 1:55 AM in response to evoecogen

It appears I need to stop it from going to sleep. I have all the Lock Screen options set to Never.

I also tried to play with the Battery settings, but the options I have are actually different from what the official Apple website describes: Set sleep and wake settings for your Mac – Apple Support (UK)

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Sep 26, 2023 4:35 PM in response to evoecogen

First, there is no reason to ever install or run any 3rd party "cleaning", "optimizing", "speed-up", anti-virus, VPN or security apps on your Mac.  This documents describe what you need to know and do in order to protect your Mac: Effective defenses against malware and other threats - Apple Community and Recognize and avoid phishing messages, phony support calls, and other scams - Apple Support.  


There are no known viruses, i.e. self propagating, for Macs.  There are, however, adware and malware which require the user to install although unwittingly most of the time thru sneaky links, etc.   


Anti Virus developers try to group all types as viruses into their ad campaigns of fear.  They do a poor job of the detecting and isolating the adware and malware.  Since there are no viruses these apps use up a lot of system resources searching for what is non-existent and adversely affect system and app performance.


There is one app, Malwarebytes, which was developed by a long time contributor to these forums and a highly respected member of the computer security community, that is designed solely to seek out adware and known malware and remove it.  The free version is more than adequate for most users.  


Unless you're using a true VPN tunnel, such as between you and your employer's, school's or bank's servers, they provide false security from a privacy standpoint.  Read these two articles: Public VPN's are anything but private and Former Malware Distributor Kape Technologies Now Owns a Number of Public VPNs and a Collection of VPN “Review” Websites.  


I would recommend you uninstall all all software that fall in the categories were listed above. If the VPN is required for work, bank or school then use it for those entities.

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Sep 27, 2023 11:47 AM in response to evoecogen

Do you really need Microsoft Defender by decree? Here's why I'm asking: There is no reason to ever install or run any 3rd party "cleaning", "optimizing", "speed-up", anti-virus, VPN or security apps on your Mac.  This documents describe what you need to know and do in order to protect your Mac: Effective defenses against malware and other threats - Apple Community and Recognize and avoid phishing messages, phony support calls, and other scams - Apple Support.  


There are no known viruses, i.e. self propagating, for Macs.  There are, however, adware and malware which require the user to install although unwittingly most of the time thru sneaky links, etc.   


Anti Virus developers try to group all types as viruses into their ad campaigns of fear.  They do a poor job of the detecting and isolating the adware and malware.  Since there are no viruses these apps use up a lot of system resources searching for what is non-existent and adversely affect system and app performance.


There is one app, Malwarebytes, which was developed by a long time contributor to these forums and a highly respected member of the computer security community, that is designed solely to seek out adware and known malware and remove it.  The free version is more than adequate for most users.  


If you're not directed to use it uninstall it according to the developer's instructions.

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Sep 27, 2023 2:28 PM in response to Barney-15E

Thanks!

No, no restarts scheduled. Unclear to me what these are, though. Perhaps related to Ventura 13 Power Events - Apple Community


pmset -g sched

Scheduled power events:

 [0] wake at 09/27/2023 22:30:00 by 'com.apple.alarm.user-visible-com.apple.calaccessd.alarmEngine.alarm.name'

 [1] wake at 09/28/2023 00:39:00 by 'com.apple.alarm.user-visible-com.apple.acmd.alarm'

 [2] wake at 09/28/2023 21:27:33 by 'com.apple.alarm.user-visible-com.apple.acmd.alarm'


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Sep 27, 2023 10:31 AM in response to evoecogen

The next investigory step would be to download and run Etrecheck. Be sure to give it Full Disk access before running.



Copy and paste the results into your reply. Etrecheck is a diagnostic tool that was developed by one of the most respected users here in the ASC and recommended by Apple Support  to provide a snapshot of the system and help identify the more obvious culprits that can adversely affect a Mac's performance.


Copy the report


and use the Additional Text button to paste the report in your reply.



Then we can evaluate the report to see if we can determine what the cause of the problem may be.



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Sep 27, 2023 1:02 AM in response to Old Toad

Thank you. It is clear that you have strong views on VPN clients and other third party apps.

Could you please specify why you think that any of these would be the source of my problem? I would like to keep the discussion focused on my laptop restarting.

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Sep 27, 2023 9:55 AM in response to evoecogen

The reason I'm against them except in those three situations is that they can drag down the system performance and can interfere with apps.


Users use them to watch videos in other countries that they wouldn't be able to do which is fine. But they should not expect the privacy that some claim to provide.


We won't know if the VPN is affecting you and is part of the problem until it's removed entirely and the results checked.


I post that warning so that others can learn about public VPNs. I give similar warnings about "cleaning", "optimizing", "speed-up" and anti-virus apps.



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Sep 27, 2023 2:33 PM in response to evoecogen

That's what I meant about the ones Apple schedules. I don't really know their purpose.


What happens when it restarts? Any messages? Perhaps it is kernel panicking but not writing the log.

Cisco kernel extensions have caused kernel panics, but they tend to quickly fix them. Perhaps see if there is an update for it.

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Sep 27, 2023 2:46 PM in response to Barney-15E

"Cisco kernel extensions have caused kernel panics, but they tend to quickly fix them. Perhaps see if there is an update for it." - are you referring to the Cisco VPN? I uninstalled it before generating the last report.


There are no messages when it restarts. I walk away for a cup of tea, and come back three minutes later to the computer freshly restarted - unless some software prevents it. It did not happen prior to Ventura.

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Sep 27, 2023 4:27 PM in response to evoecogen

There are no messages when it restarts. I walk away for a cup of tea, and come back three minutes later to the computer freshly restarted - unless some software prevents it. It did not happen prior to Ventura.

That's when kernel extensions break, at OS updates and especially upgrades.

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Regular restarts after installing Ventura

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