My Mac has been crashing and restarting regularly. It is usually when I am downloading or editing video. It didn't have this problem before so I am wondering if it is a program that I installed. Attached is the EtreCheck report.
iMac 27″, macOS 14.0
Your computer is having Kernel Panics which is what your EtreCheck report stated, see below:
"Anything that appears on this list needs immediate attention.
Kernel panics - This system has experienced kernel panics. This could be a sign of hardware failure."
KP's can be tough to diagnose as they can be caused by either hardware or software. Common hardware causes are RAM related and failing HD's. My guess is you may have upgraded the RAM yourself. If that guess is correct, if you used anything other than either Crucial RAM or www.macsales.com RAM than you may have a RAM issue. To diagnose if it is RAM, please remove all the upgraded RAM and install the original RAM that Apple installed when the compute was originally sold. If the KP's disappear then you know it's the upgraded RAM.
To test if the problem is related to the HD, you should download the free version of DriveDX and test both the HD and your SSD portion of your Fusion Drive. If ANY errors appear that confirms the HD is causing your KPs and needs to be replaced!
While at it you should test all external HD's too with DriveDX as they can also cause KPs.
As for software causes, the BEST method to test for those is to ensure all third party apps are 100% up-to-date! You may have older versions that are simply not optimized for the version of Mac OS installed on your computer.
Best of luck, you have some work ahead of you.
Your computer is having Kernel Panics which is what your EtreCheck report stated, see below:
"Anything that appears on this list needs immediate attention.
Kernel panics - This system has experienced kernel panics. This could be a sign of hardware failure."
KP's can be tough to diagnose as they can be caused by either hardware or software. Common hardware causes are RAM related and failing HD's. My guess is you may have upgraded the RAM yourself. If that guess is correct, if you used anything other than either Crucial RAM or www.macsales.com RAM than you may have a RAM issue. To diagnose if it is RAM, please remove all the upgraded RAM and install the original RAM that Apple installed when the compute was originally sold. If the KP's disappear then you know it's the upgraded RAM.
To test if the problem is related to the HD, you should download the free version of DriveDX and test both the HD and your SSD portion of your Fusion Drive. If ANY errors appear that confirms the HD is causing your KPs and needs to be replaced!
While at it you should test all external HD's too with DriveDX as they can also cause KPs.
As for software causes, the BEST method to test for those is to ensure all third party apps are 100% up-to-date! You may have older versions that are simply not optimized for the version of Mac OS installed on your computer.
Best of luck, you have some work ahead of you.
Etrecheck report sys you installed Antivirus One, is that so?
Can we see a new etrecheck report to compare things?
Yup a failing HD. Your next step is to take it to your local Apple Authorized Service Provider to be serviced. If you don't know of any AASPs near you please click Apple Authorized Service Provider Locator (AASP) & Genius Appointment to start finding one or you can call AppleCare. To find AppleCares number for your area click AppleCare Contact Info
You can, however what I'd do in your situation is to get an external SSD from MacSales.com. To get it setup correctly please follow the instructions in How to setup an external SSD as your startup disk
thank you! So I upgraded the RAM because it was crashing and restarting before that. I figured I needed better RAM anyway because I was video editing. I just ran the DRIVEDX Report and it says it may be hardware.
Ok so I tested the RAM (Item: 64.0GB (4 x 16GB) OWC 2666MHz DDR4) and it’s not that. So I bought the (2.0TB OWC Mercury Extreme Pro 6G SSD upgrade kit) and followed the OWC video to install. It worked fine until I started my video editing software. I was mid-video edit and the fans started blowing hard and then it did the crash restart again. Now I’m not sure what to do. I checked the apps and everything is up to date. Is there anything else I can upgrade? What about getting an external graphics card? Could it be that?
**Also forgive me if I missed something idk about computer internals but it does interest me so that’s why I’m doing it myself.
ok and I can just get a new ssd from macsales to fix and upgrade, right? thank you again for your help!
To show you what rkaufmann87 is talking about, here's my 2019 iMac external boot SSD from Mac Sales...
Compared to it's Internal fusion drive...
iMac - Sonoma - Restarting frequently when editing or downloading
