Versions working erratically, with xpchelper errors

Hello,

I've just fixed a problem with the xpchelper writing loads of messages to the console. In my case I found I had very high CPU usage (in Safari) and couldn't open new apps. I realised the problem started after I force quit Pages so I opend it up again (for some reason it was the only app that would open), started a new document and then closed Pages without saving. The CPU usage went back to normal, and no more xpchelper additions to the console.

Alas I cannot offer much insight into whats actually going on, perhaps the Safari CPU usage is a red herring maybe someone else knows?

James

confirming that the issue still exists in MacOSX 10.7.3.

in less than 6 minutes the pattern below is repeated over 20000 times;

May  1 17:41:43 ******* xpchelper[8865]: getpwuid_r() failed for UID: 501, ret: 0, errno: 0
May  1 17:41:43 ******* com.apple.launchd[1] (com.apple.xpchelper.F5010000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000[8865]): Exited with code: 1

It seems as if it just occurred out of nowhere. Looking at the logfiles there doesn't seem to be some chain of events prior to when the logging starts, but perhaps interesting are the first three lines exactly before the above two lines start repeating:

May  1 17:19:59 ******* coreservicesd[92]: _scserver_ServerCheckin: client uid validation failure; getpwuid(501) == NULL
May  1 17:24:10 ******* coreservicesd[92]: _scserver_ServerCheckin: client uid validation failure; getpwuid(501) == NULL
May  1 17:29:50 ******* coreservicesd[92]: _scserver_ServerCheckin: client uid validation failure; getpwuid(501) == NULL

But i have no idea if those are themselves caused by the problem, or actually related to the source of it... the timestamps suggest the former..

gr

arri

Same problem on my Macbook Pro running 10.7.3.

Hard reset was necessary to reboot and it apparently caused the index files to be deleted or damaged so Lion is now re-indexing my hard disk.

Happened to me twice in 2 days.

Same problem on my iMac running 10.7.4. This update did not solve this problem. Every time this happened was after the sleep mode. When this problem happens the CPU goes to use 100%, from this moment I can not access the Terminal application and also the System Preferences. The only procedure to fix is to restart the iMac. I was hoping that 10.7.4 solved this problem but it was my mistake. The Lion has greatly improved in version 10.7.3 but there are still bugs to be solved. I think we'll have to wait for the 10.7.5 version...

Me too... 10.7.4. I would agree that the pattern I am finding is after sleep mode. Lightroom took a hard crash the other day glad I had backed things up... Let's go Apple fix this!

10.7.5 too.

Running 10.7.5 here: The issue presented after resuming from sleep. In attempting the fast user switching trick, I forgot my wife's password and got into System Preferences to reset it. As soon as I reset the password for the second account, iTunes stopped beachballing, Activity Monitor launched itself after pending in the background, and the xpchelper errors stopped appearing in Console.

TL;DR: Try to reset the password for another account.

Hope this helps someone.

I'm on 10.7.5 and I've got the same issue.

Looking at system.log I found

Feb 21 14:25:10 skeggia xpchelper[27324]: getpwuid_r() failed for UID: 502, ret: 0, errno: 0

Feb 21 14:25:10 skeggia com.apple.launchd[1] (com.apple.xpchelper.F6010000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000[27324]): Exited with code: 1

Feb 21 14:25:10 skeggia xpchelper[27326]: getpwuid_r() failed for UID: 502, ret: 0, errno: 0

Feb 21 14:25:10 skeggia com.apple.launchd[1] (com.apple.xpchelper.F6010000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000[27326]): Exited with code: 1

Feb 21 14:25:10 skeggia coreservicesd[34]: _scserver_ServerCheckin: client uid validation failure; getpwuid(502) == NULL

Feb 21 14:25:10: --- last message repeated 1 time ---

Feb 21 14:25:10 skeggia xpchelper[27327]: getpwuid_r() failed for UID: 502, ret: 0, errno: 0

Feb 21 14:25:10 skeggia com.apple.launchd[1] (com.apple.xpchelper.F6010000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000[27327]): Exited with code: 1

Feb 21 14:25:10 skeggia xpchelper[27328]: getpwuid_r() failed for UID: 502, ret: 0, errno: 0

Feb 21 14:25:10 skeggia com.apple.launchd[1] (com.apple.xpchelper.F6010000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000[27328]): Exited with code: 1

So I think the _scserver_ServerCheckin messages are not part of the source of the problem but part of the effect.

Looking up the 501 UID I found that it is assigned to the macports user, so I wonder if you are using macports to install software on your machine.

Larsen2k4 wrote:

I recently read that killing the opendirectoy daemon works as a workaround - I'll try it next time.

I've done it. It works.

I've experienced this problem several times, and now I finally found final solution.

Go to Sys pref. and just change your account's password in Users & Groups settings.

In Console, it says...

12/23/13 10:38:23.186 AM com.apple.launchd: (com.apple.xpchelper.F5010000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000[39909]) Exited with code: 1

12/23/13 10:38:23.207 AM xpchelper: getpwuid_r() failed for UID: 501, ret: 0, errno: 0

12/23/13 10:38:23.208 AM com.apple.launchd: (com.apple.xpchelper.F5010000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000[39910]) Exited with code: 1

12/23/13 10:38:23.856 AM System Preferences: Can't ODFDEResetPassword because of NULL authorizationRef!

And it goes back to normal.

It works even if you're not launching Activity Monitor or Terminal.