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Level 1

0 points

Spontaneous logout in Snow Leopard

Looking for anyone who has experienced the blue screen and logout issue with Leopard or Snow Leopard and who has resolved the issue.

I have been having this problem with my Macbook Pro 3,1 since Snow Leopard first came out. I have seen the variety of discussions and it appears that Rosetta is the problem for some people, while 10.6.2 fixed the issue for others, but it appears that the problem remains for many. As of 10.6.7, this problem still exists on my machine. I do not have Rosetta installed. It happens when plugged in or unplugged, with an external monitor or without, with USB attached and without. There appears to be no rhyme or reason to it. It will happen 10 times in a day, sometimes while the machine is not being touched. I can go a month without it happening, and then pop back up when I least expect it.

Apple has looked at my crash logs but has not offered any real solution. While I appreciate their willingness to look at the logs, it is strange to me that the logs cannot point specifically to what is causing the problem.

So, has anyone solved this problem or heard any updates?

Mac OS X (10.6.7)

Posted on May 3, 2011 10:10 PM

47 replies

PatrickL

Level 1

71 points

Aug 13, 2012 3:59 PM in response to StephenCCH

I think it's FCPX 10.0.5-related. I just updated to the latest version and it happens nearly every time I launch FCPX. I've been running my MBP all day, with multiple apps open, but not FCPX, without a problem. Then as soon as I launch FCP, click a few events, then BAAM, there it goes.

Aug 13, 2012 4:32 PM in response to PatrickL

I've been using it since 10.0.5 first came out and I only experienced it that one time. That is a relief in a way. It probebly won't happen again unless I am working in FCPX. Thank you for the info.

Rust

Level 1

4 points

Aug 13, 2012 8:32 PM in response to James DeRosa

Log out / crash happened to me twice today. Both times I was playing a video in Safari 5.1.7.

I have fcpx installed, but I haven't used the program for several months.

-mid 2010 MBP 13" snow leopard

Aug 13, 2012 10:07 PM in response to Rust

But do you have 10.0.5 installed or an older version. I am wondering if FCPX is one of the culprits or not.

James DeRosa Author

Level 1

0 points

Aug 13, 2012 10:14 PM in response to StephenCCH

I had this problem on my previous MBP and it persisted even after a complete hard drive format and fresh Snow Leopard re-install. I never had FCP on my machine, and FCPX wasn't even out at the time. Mine seemed to happen most often in Safari for what it's worth.

In the end, I believe it was/is a flaky video card issue, seems that it is limited to a few models (not sure if they have similar video or not) and would usually be Flash (especially video in Safari) or MS Office that seemed to be catalyst. FCPX might just be doing the same thing.

Rust

Level 1

4 points

Aug 13, 2012 10:21 PM in response to StephenCCH

I have FCPX 10.0.5 installed, so that may be part of the problem. I haven't used the program in several months, but perhaps the install messed with something in an unexpected way.

I'm suspicious of Safari (v.5.1.7) and/or Parallels (v.6). When I've quit Parallels, but not yet rebooted the machine, I find myself unable to do a restart. I have to force a user logout or do a hard boot. In my experience Parallels 6 is buggy and affects user logout protocols when used in conjunction with Snow Loepard.

Aug 13, 2012 10:35 PM in response to Rust

I have VMware and MS Office installed but not Parallels. No problems with VMware thus far. Haven't used Office in a week or more since I always use iWork.

Aug 13, 2012 10:39 PM in response to James DeRosa

After all this reading, it is like it is mainly a MBP graphics issue, except I am using a Mac Pro with ATI graphics. So manybe it is tied to the graphic card or VRAM getting corrupted or slowly causing errors somehow.

guguii

Level 1

54 points

Aug 14, 2012 3:28 AM in response to StephenCCH

I'm thinking the same.

Hoping it were just an Qt 7 (or X) corrupt plugin, but to optimistic I suspect...

Related to hardware it's most probable, and it's not related just to the MBP. I update to lion, and then mountain lion, BUT!, and here comes the key, I change my MBP with a rMBP, and did a time machine "only files" restore, AND THE PROBLEM PERSIST!!

Mine was a Santa rosa mid 2007, and i dont have any Final Cut, but I have lots of Qt plugins and Qt 7 Pro active.

New is a rMBP with mountailn lion and everything updated, and then a TM file restores (it restores qt plugins as well)

Always the trigger comes when i'm working in some way with video, mostly having few videos opened,( vlc, Qt..) and using mission control (o spaces before)

So maybe its not hardware related, maybe a corrupted plugin?? Could be different for eachone of us

Aug 14, 2012 10:46 AM in response to guguii

I've got an idea on that note. Do we all have Perian installed? If not then it could be another QT plug-in (not sure whether it would be QT 7 or X architecture related). Another idea, it might have to do with hardware acceleration?

I have a SR mid 2007 MBP too and I just remembered that it happened with that machine once before, except I don't use it but I got a complaint from someone else, about it doing the log-out thing. I thought it was something else but this fits the bill.

It seems to travel with files so it is something not completely hardware dependant and maybe not defult OS related either. Maybe why Apple hasn't been able to annihilate the problem? You might be on to something here.

Rust

Level 1

4 points

Aug 14, 2012 11:04 AM in response to StephenCCH

I do not have Perian installed. I do have QT7 pro and VLC.

Aug 14, 2012 11:25 AM in response to Rust

Well that kills the Perian idea. I too have QT7 Pro and VLC and MPlayer installed, along with the latest Flash.

guguii

Level 1

54 points

Aug 14, 2012 5:14 PM in response to StephenCCH

After restoring from TM, when i try to export mp4 from Qt 7, it crashes, i dont know if it cloud be another clue, meybe qt pro and x could have some conflicts.

I have also vlc, handbrake, mplayerx, divx, perian, some avid-mpeg2-wmv plugins..

PatrickL

Level 1

71 points

Aug 20, 2012 1:09 PM in response to StephenCCH

Only happens to me when FCP X is running. Can't replicate it. It's very random, but usually happens when I'm clicking on something, FCP X element or not.

Feb 15, 2013 9:49 AM in response to PatrickL

I can confirm it happening in FCPX and apparently only FCPX on our machines. However, this is in a networked lab. I assumed it was something about the image used in the lab but maybe not. My question is does this still happen in Lion or Mt Lion? I'm hoping for an IT lab OS upgrade ASAP and hope this will help.

thanks.

Spontaneous logout in Snow Leopard