Multiple daily kernel panics

Question

Multiple daily kernel panics

I am having between 3 and 7 kernel panics daily on my 2019 MacPro (128 GB ram) running 15.5 and all apps updated as well.. All of the panics produce a report like this one:

panic(cpu 14 caller 0xffffff80208a389b): userspace watchdog timeout: no successful checkins from logd (0 induced crashes) in 120 seconds

service returned not alive with context : unresponsive dispatch queue(s): com.apple.firehose.io-wl

logd has not exited since first loaded

service: configd, total successful checkins in 47066 seconds: 4705, last successful checkin: 0 seconds ago

servi\ce: opendirectoryd, total successful checkins in 47066 seconds: 4705, last successful checkin: 0 seconds ago

service: remoted, total successful checkins in 47066 seconds: 4703, last successful checkin: 0 seconds ago

service: WindowServer, total successful checkins in 46970 seconds: 4697, last successful checkin: 0 seconds ago

I have run hardware diagnostics with no problems found. I replaced my Ethernet cable and even reseated all of my DIMMs. None of these have helped. I've turned off WiFi and looked thru the various logs with Console but found nothing useful.

Does anyone know what com.apple.firehose.io-wl as listed in the crash does? Web searches have been unhelpful, to say the least. I find it hard to believe that logd is itself the problem.

Mac Pro, macOS 15.5

Posted on Jul 9, 2025 10:17 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Tesserax

Level 10

159,212 points

Jul 9, 2025 10:35 AM in response to BroomfieldBill

AFAIK, That message basically says that logd, the daemon that drains the unified-logging “firehose,” hasn’t been able to empty its io-wl (“I/O work-loop”) queue for two minutes, so the watchdog forcibly rebooted the Mac.

The queue name belongs to the Firehose APIs that push buffered logs from the kernel into logd for writing to disk.. When that queue gets stuck—most often because the SSD can’t take another write, a third-party kernel/system extension is flooding the log, or a low-level I/O error has wedged the process—the kernel treats the stall as fatal.

I suggest trying the following to see if any can help:

Make sure at least 20 % of the internal SSD is free. When the log archive can’t rotate, logd hangs.
Run Disk Utility → First Aid on every APFS container, then inspect the SMART status
- sudo diskutil verifyDisk disk0
Alternately use a third-party diagnostics tool, like DriveDX to fully check out the SSD's condition.
Boot into Safe Mode. Run your Mac in this mode for a couple of hours. If the panic stops, one of the loaded system extensions or launch daemons is the potential culprit.
Re-install macOS “in place. This replaces logd and its launchd plists without touching your data.
Finally, and as a last resort, create a fresh Sequoia 15.5 system on an external APFS-formatted SSD and boot from it. If that stays up for a day, your internal storage or a low-level config file is bad; time to clone data off, erase the internal disk, and restore.

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Answer 2

Jul 21, 2025 6:42 AM in response to Tesserax

Success and Thanks!

I was already normally booting on my external SSD (3 TB used of 8TB) and after 2(!) re-installs, I now seem to be stable. I've now been up for 4 days whereas before I was getting 4 to 6 panics per day.

I dislike such "shotgun" fixes but Apple's documentation is effectively non-existent on these low-level internals.

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Answer 3

BDAqua

Level 10

250,833 points

Jul 9, 2025 10:29 AM in response to BroomfieldBill

See if you an get an etrecheck report to us…

https://etrecheck.com/en/index.html

Restart - Kernel Panic - Userspace Watchd… - Apple Community

In essence, the system kernel (the core of the operating system) detected that a crucial process was not responding as expected, triggering a kernel panic and subsequent system restart. While the precise function of com.apple.firehose.io-wl isn't fully documented by Apple, it seems to be an internal macOS component involved in managing system input/output and data processing, likely as part of the overall "firehose" framework that handles real-time data streams within the operating system.

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Answer 4

Jul 9, 2025 10:26 AM in response to BroomfieldBill

Consider downloading and running this little "discovery" utility, Etrecheck. It changes NOTHING. Etrecheck was developed by a senior contributor here, and uses mostly system calls and simple tests to collect often-needed information.

it contains little tests for speeds of devices, CPU utilization, memory usage, energy usage and a digest of recent problems, in one easy to use package. it does not even need to be Installed. Because less can be learned when your Mac is running great, best time to run is when your problems are actually occurring, if possible.

if you follow the directions faithfully, its report (pre-laundered of all personally-identifiable information) can be "Shared" to the System ClipBoard, then Pasted into an ‘Additional Text’ window in a reply on the forums.

Use Etrecheck Pro for free:

http://Etrecheck.com

The amount of data you get can be daunting. If you POST your report, some Readers here are willing to look over those reports, and can provide valuable insights.

then start a reply on the forums, click the "additional text" icon, and PASTE

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