constant SBBOD with high cpu usage

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constant SBBOD with high cpu usage

Hi

since a couple of days ago I constantly get the SBBOD (spinning beach ball of death) on a Mac mini 2011 with Lion 10.7.3.

The system hangs up completely and the only this I can do is click around and move the windows but the clicks don't do anything and at some point after that everything just stops responding.

At this point I'm forced to do a hard reboot (power switch).

After that the system works for a while and then gets the SBBOD again.

During the SBBOD I can see syslog hogging all my cpu usage in activity monitor, but when I try to kill it or click into activity monitor the programm doesn't respond.

I guessed that something else was spaming syslogd with messages but after the hard reboot I don't see anything in console.

Since then I tried almost everything.

- hardware test, the short and long one -> nothing found

- repairing hard drive and permissions -> didn't help

- S.M.A.R.T says verified

- PRAM and NVRAM reset

- logged into guest account and started nothing -> SSBOD after ~hour

- started into save mode and left the comp running -> SSBOD after ~hour

- reformated(not zeroed) and reinstalled Lion(not from a backup) -> SSBOD after ~hour

- ...

Currently I'm trying to disable syslogd to see if some other process hogs all my cpu load instead of it.

I really hope one of you can help me, this thing is driving me nuts :/

Mac mini, Mac OS X (10.7.3)

Posted on Mar 17, 2012 5:20 PM

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Answer 1

narades Author

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Mar 17, 2012 5:43 PM in response to narades

Update: With syslogd disabled the cpu usage didn't go crazy, however thr SBBOD still appeared and I had to do a hard reboot.

The kernel_task process did jump up to 1-20% cpu usage, but dunno if that means anything.

What's really strange that this happens everytime almost excactly 1 hour after I reboot.

Are the any services/demons wich run every hour?

Or can I look that up somewhere?

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Answer 2

Linc Davis

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Mar 17, 2012 7:15 PM in response to narades

Please read this whole message before doing anything.

This procedure is a diagnostic test. It’s unlikely to solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.

The purpose of this exercise is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party system modifications that load automatically at startup or login. Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards. Boot in safe mode and log in to the account with the problem. The instructions provided by Apple are as follows:

Be sure your Mac is shut down.
Press the power button.
Immediately after you hear the startup tone, hold the Shift key. The Shift key should be held as soon as possible after the startup tone, but not before the tone.
Release the Shift key when you see the gray Apple icon and the progress indicator (looks like a spinning gear).

Safe mode is much slower to boot and run than normal, and some things won’t work at all, including wireless networking on certain Macs.

The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.

Test while in safe mode. Same problem(s)?

After testing, reboot as usual (i.e., not in safe mode.)

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Answer 3

narades Author

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Mar 18, 2012 4:59 AM in response to Linc Davis

Just tried that. Entered safe mode and after almost exactly an hour -> SBBOD/high cpu load.

So yeah same problem.

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Answer 4

Linc Davis

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Mar 18, 2012 5:46 AM in response to narades

Ae there any unusual or repetitive entries in the system log at the time the problem is manifested?

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Answer 5

narades Author

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Mar 18, 2012 6:11 AM in response to Linc Davis

Strangely there are no entries at all for that time.

Even though syslogd hogs all the cpu usage.

I'll try to do a a screenshot of activity monitor and console the next time it happens but I dunno if the system will let me take the screenshot :/

Edit:

When I tried to take the screenshot it said I don't have the rights/permission to save the file.

Console shows nothing at the time.

got an entry from 13:59

and the next entry from 14:07 <- the reboot

The usage went up at 14:05.

Message was edited by: narades

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Answer 6

Linc Davis

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Mar 18, 2012 6:45 AM in response to narades

Repairing the permissions of a home folder in Lion is a complicated procedure. I don’t know of a simpler one that always works.

Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:

☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)

☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the page that opens.

Drag or copy – do not type – the following line into the Terminal window, then press return:

chmod -R -N ~

The command will take a noticeable amount of time to run. When a new line ending in a dollar sign ($) appears below what you entered, it’s done. You may see a few error messages about an “invalid argument” while the command is running. You can ignore those. If you get an error message with the words “Permission denied,” enter this:

sudo !!

You'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. You may get a one-time warning not to screw up.

Next, boot from your recovery partition by holding down the key combination command-R at startup. Release the keys when you see a gray screen with a spinning dial.

When the recovery desktop appears, select Utilities ▹ Terminal from the menu bar.

In the Terminal window, enter “resetpassword” (without the quotes) and press return. A Reset Password window opens.

Select your boot volume if not already selected.

Select your username from the menu labeled Select the user account if not already selected.

Under Reset Home Directory Permissions and ACLs, click the Reset button.

Select  ▹ Restart from the menu bar.

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Answer 7

narades Author

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Mar 18, 2012 8:40 AM in response to Linc Davis

I have reinstalled Lion from scratch (no backup).

And choose a different username, so the home folders' permissions should be alright?

After the installation of Lion I logged in and didn't start ANYTHING.

Lo and behold I got the SBBOD again after a while. 😟

Even though the apple hardware test didn't find any problem when I run it.

I now removed one of the RAM modules to rule them out, too.

If I still get a SBBOD after that I will switch the modules.

And if I still get a SBBOD after that I will switch the SSD for a hard drive.

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Answer 8

Linc Davis

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Mar 18, 2012 8:49 AM in response to narades

You certainly have a hardware fault. I don't know whether it's RAM or something else.

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Answer 9

narades Author

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Mar 18, 2012 10:15 AM in response to Linc Davis

I got a crucial m4 SSD and just read these firmware update notes in their forums.

Correct a condition where an incorrect response to a SMART counter will cause the m4 drive to become unresponsive after 5184 hours of Power-on time. The drive will recover after a power cycle, however, this failure will repeat once per hour after reaching this point. The condition will allow the end user to successfully update firmware, and poses no risk to user or system data stored on the drive.

Sounds peretty much like what I am having. I'm gonna update the firmware of the SSD and report back after I let it run for > 1 hour.

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Answer 10

narades Author

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Mar 18, 2012 2:52 PM in response to narades

Seems it really was the crucial m4 firmwares' fault.

Didn't have SBBOD for several hours now after the firmware upgrade.

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Answer 11

Jun 11, 2012 3:05 AM in response to narades

You wouldn't believe the weekend I've had trying to diagnose this issue.

I'm 1 hour 15 minutes into a fresh boot after upgrading my M4 firmware and no freezes!

Thank you very much.

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Answer 12

Jun 20, 2012 11:37 PM in response to narades

Thankyou I had same problem and firmware update fixed it.

FYI, I had to unplug my thunderbolt raid drive for the crucial firmware update to work properly.

Wayne

macintoshhowto.com

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Answer 13

Jul 31, 2013 4:22 PM in response to shuckster

Yes ! Thank you. Amazing that someone has logged this. I was going slowly crazy trying to solve this

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Answer 14

Jul 31, 2013 5:01 PM in response to harvey pekar

Can anyone point me in the right direction of how to update the firmware on the hard drive ?

I've downloaded the .iso

I've formatted a pen drive and used unebootin to create a bootable USB drive with the ISO burnt onto it.

Now I need to boot from the USB in order to update by my understanding

However, unebootin warns that the USB is not bootable from a mac, and that I have to use a PC ?

Is that correct ? do I really have to remove the drive from the mac, put it in a caddy, drive to friends house (with a pc) boot the pc from the USB and overwrite the firmware that way ? is that the only way ?

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Answer 15

narades Author

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Aug 1, 2013 7:55 AM in response to harvey pekar

IIRC I burned the ISO to a CD and used an external usb CD-ROM drive to do the upgrade.

Dunno about unebootin, though.

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