Windowserver crashing

Ever since upgrading my MBP 15 inch Core i7 I too have had problems with WindowServer using so much CPU that it makes it impossible to do anything on the computer.

I had the computer in to the Geniuses at the Aberdeen Apple Store, yesterday. They did a clean install of Lion, but the problem persists.

The result is that, whenever I leave the computer running, I come back to find everything frozen, WindowServer using 99% or 100% of the CPU and the fans on overdrive.

I'm having it (4 or 5 times as of a few days ago), and I have 2 ATI cards in my Mac Pro 3,1 (early 2008). The cards I have are:

• ATI 4870 (not officially supported, but works great)
• ATI 5770

I never had this problem until Lion, which is seeming more and more like a poorly-conceived and poorly-executed update to an otherwise great operating system.

I've now been several weeks without a crash after I uninstalled an old version of the program WebSnapper; you'll note from the program's support FAQs that it can cause Safari to crash, it seems that in my case this incompatibility was causing the entire WIndowServer to crash. So, if you are still experiencing this please try updating all of your software (I found Bodega to be good for helping with this) and uninstalling anything that adds either a kernel extensions or system hack (like WebSnapper uses) until you identify the culprit.

Happened today for the first time on this MBP 13-inch Mid 2009 (NVIDIA GeForce 9400M, MacOS 10.7.1). The windowserver.log has only:

Aug 30 08:46:42 [200] kCGErrorIllegalArgument: CGXGetConnectionProperty: Invalid connection 121751 Aug 30 08:46:54 [4229] Server is starting up [...]

And the kernel.log says:

Aug 30 08:46:48 mallory kernel[0]: NVDA: Unable to make all textures resident prior to start of command buffer processing! Aug 30 08:46:48 mallory kernel[0]: NVDA: Calling glrKillClient for task 0xffffff800d33da98 Aug 30 08:46:48 mallory kernel[0]: The graphics driver has detected a corruption in its command stream.

I'll see if it happens more often. Anyone got an idea how to deal with that?

Thanks for the tip. I do have WebSnapper installed, although (knock on wood), I haven't run into this problem since my last post. This could be helpful info though... Cheers.

The culprit may have actually been the Boom app, which can boost the output of your speakers, the new v1.2 has the following in its release notes: "Fixed the sudden logout issue experienced by some users." So if you are using the Boom app make sure you update to v1.2!!

Mjrblood: you have EXACTLY the same MBP configuration as I and this problem is driving me crazy!! Noone at Apple appears to be willing to step up and even acknowledge that the problem exists, let alone provide a fix.

Have you had any luck finding a solution yet? Thanks!

I verified my disk and found problems as well. I fixed the disk and am hoping this problem is resolved. Have you experienced the blue screen since fixing your disk?

Donald Shade, since doing the disk repair have not had any more problems, hope it works the same for you.

(sennekkah_mac)

Hello

i had this problem too on my MacBook Pro 15" Mid2007 and Nvidia Geforce 8600m GT Graphic Card.

The crash was most times when i used iMovie or iDVD.

The Problem was the Graphic Card. I had the "Nvidia issue".

What i have done to find the issue:

Checked the console for crashed applications (for me: windowsserver), then i have found an entry that a crash-log was made. In this crashlog the thread 0 has crashed and this was (always on my MBP) the Geforce Driver.

I brought the MBP to my AASP and they made the Diagnostic for the Nvidia Graphic Card and they have found an error on it. They have replaced the logic board and since them, one month ago, i dont have this behavior. 🙂

So check your Console, look for the Crash-Log and make the Apple Hardware Test (AHT) or bring the Mac into a AASP to let them make a full hardware check of your machine.

Sincerly, Kurry

www.mactipps.com

All,

I had the problem of windowserver crashing 2-3 times a week with a segmentation fault. I have a 15" MBP 3.1 2007 running Snow Leopard. Reading all of these replies, especially the Websnapper one made me wonder if Safari was the root cause of the windowserver crashes. What makes Safari crash? Flash.

I installed ClicktoPlugin for Safari, which blocks plugins like Flash and others from running automatically and haven't had a windowserver crash since, which is about 2 months. Funny thing, I just read the open letter from Steve Jobs from last year about Flash, link below. In it he says "We also know first hand that Flash is the number one reason Macs crash." Based on my experience, I'd have to agree.

http://mashable.com/2010/04/29/steve-jobs-flash-is-no-longer-necessary/

Though it's good that the "workaround" (disabling Flash) seems to prevent the Windowserver from crashing, I believe that no software -no matter how crappy- should be able to crash other parts of the OS or the OS itself.

From looking at the crashdumps in this discussion thread, it seems that the video driver is often involved too. Since the video driver is part of the OS, I hope Apple has someone looking at these dumps and is working on it to fix it.