How to resolve KERN_PROTECTION_FAILURE error

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Level 4

1,872 points

How to resolve KERN_PROTECTION_FAILURE error

Hi all,

I've been getting some strange crashes and error messages when using MS Word 2008.
It's happening when I run the spell check feature; I can successfully check most of the document, but the crash happens towards the end of the checking.

Yesterday I had a few crashes while editing RAW photos in PhotoShop. I haven't noticed problems with other applications.

I've repaired permissions, verified disk (OK) and removed and resinstalled MS Word but still having the same problem.

I recently installed Google Voice, so removed that also but to no avail.

The error message is long, but here are some snippets below.

Any ideas or suggestions for troubleshooting would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Exception Type: EXC BADACCESS (SIGBUS)
Exception Codes: KERN PROTECTIONFAILURE at 0x0000000000000004
Crashed Thread: 0 Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread

(...)

Thread 0 Crashed: Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread
Thread 1: Dispatch queue: com.apple.libdispatch-manager
(...)
Thread 2:
(...)
Thread 3:
(...)
Thread 4:
(...)
Thread 5:
(...)
Thread 6:
(...)
Thread 7:
(...)
Thread 8:
(...)

Thread 0 crashed with X86 Thread State (32-bit):
eax: 0x00000004 ebx: 0x209a5d88 ecx: 0x014ae8c0 edx: 0x00001574
edi: 0xbfffa72c esi: 0x00000004 ebp: 0xbfffa6e8 esp: 0xbfffa6b0
ss: 0x0000001f efl: 0x00010202 eip: 0x008abaa9 cs: 0x00000017
ds: 0x0000001f es: 0x0000001f fs: 0x00000000 gs: 0x00000037
cr2: 0x00000004

(...)

15" uMBP antiglare, 2.53 GHz, 4 GB RAM, 250 GB HD, Mac OS X (10.6.4)

Posted on Nov 3, 2010 1:58 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

CMCSK

Level 6

11,452 points

Nov 3, 2010 2:36 PM in response to Lutetia

I've been getting some strange crashes and error messages when using *MS Word 2008.*

Contact MS troubleshooting website since you are using one of their products - http://www.microsoft.com/mac/support

For your other issue - User Tips: Kernel Panics. Try the suggestions mentioned.

_*Disconnect all peripherals from your computer.*_ Boot from your install disc & run _*Repair Disk*_ from the utility menu. To use the Install Mac OS X disc, insert the disc, and restart your computer while holding down the C key as it starts up.
Select your language.
Once on the desktop, select Utility in the menu bar.
Select *Disk Utility.*

Select the disk or volume in the list of disks and volumes, and then click *First Aid.*
Click _*Repair Disk.*_
Restart your computer when done.

Repair permissions after you reach the desktop and restart your computer afterwards.

Message was edited by: CMCSK

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Answer 2

Lutetia Author

Level 4

1,872 points

Nov 3, 2010 3:11 PM in response to CMCSK

Thank you, CMCSK!

I did as you suggested and so far all appears well, i.e. I've successfully spell checked two documents without any further crashes.

Interesting that when I repaired the disk, Disk Utility said the disk was OK and did not show that any repairs were actually made.

When I rebooted and repaired permissions, though, there were lots of things showing up.

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Answer 3

CMCSK

Level 6

11,452 points

Nov 3, 2010 4:57 PM in response to Lutetia

You're welcome & thank you for reporting back your success.

Repairing the disk and repairing permissions are 2 different actions.
Since Leopard, you will have a lot of stuff showing up when repairing permissions. The most important thing to look for is *"permissions have been repaired."* A lot of the messages shown, you have nothing to worry about. There are 1 or 2 Knowledge Base articles about this.

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