USB Devices freezing OS X Lion 10.7.4

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USB Devices freezing OS X Lion 10.7.4

Same issue affecting two brand new notebooks (by 'brand new' I mean they've been out-of-the-box for less than two weeks):

Notebook #1: MacBookPro8,2 - 15", i7, 2,4GHz, 4GB SDRAM (Late 2011)

Notebook #2: MacBookPro9,1 - 15", i7, 2,6GHz, 8GB SDRAM (Mid 2012)

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The facts:

As soon as I plug in any USB device the available memory (say, 6,60Gb in the Mid '12 MacBook) starts dropping to only 18Mb or so after about 30 seconds... couple of minutes if I'm lucky. After about 5 minutes the MacBook(s) becomes fully unresponsive, dock won't show up, cursor won't move and so on (the only thing moving on the screen would be the spinning pinwheel) and all of a sudden the force quit applications window would show up displaying only finder in the list, since I have no other apps running. Relaunching finder doesn't solve the problem, in case you were wondering. Software, firmware, drivers, system and everything is up-to-date, so, that's not it. Unplugging and re-plugging the device won't work, resetting the PRAM and NVRAM would make the trick only once and the only way a device would work properly is by shutting down the MacBook, plugging the device in while it's still off and then turning it on again (which is extremely annoying when you have to switch USB devices 20-30 times a day.)

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Something of a solution:

While monitoring the system I found out every time I plug in a USB device a process named SystemUIServer is the one exhausting the available memory, therefore, the one responsible for freezing the computer. (Force) quitting the process has proven to be an effective-yet-not-satisfactory solution: this way devices would work just fine, available memory would go back to normal and I can keep working, but it's not the way it's supposed to be, right?

Does anyone know how to fix this issue for good?

P.S.

I'm new to Mac, so, if I said/asked something obvious, please let me know.

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Devices tested so far:

- Wacom Intuos3 pen tablet (PTZ-630).

- Windows-formatted LG external HDD HXD5 500GB

- Epson Stylus CX3200 printer

- Mac-formatted iPod classic 160GB (Late 2009)

- Windows-formatted iPod 30GB (5,5Gen)

- Kingston DataTraveler flash drive 2GB

- Kingston DataTraveler Vault-Privacy 64GB

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.4)

Posted on Jul 24, 2012 12:35 AM

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Answer 1

markwmsn

Level 6

14,987 points

Jul 24, 2012 12:40 PM in response to LOBO v.2

You are right. It's not supposed to work that way.

If you are seeing these same symptoms on two MacBooks across multiple reboots and seven devices, this is going to be tricky to diagnose.

Do you happen to know what device first provoked these symptoms on each MacBook? Was it by any chance the same device? If so, it might have caused physical damage to the USB hardware in both MacBooks.

Have you asked Apple for help? The both systems should still be under Applecare.

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Answer 2

LOBO v.2 Author

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Jul 24, 2012 1:32 PM in response to markwmsn

Well, as far as I can remember, the first conflicting device on the MacBookPro8,2 was the Epson CX3200 printer. On the MacBookPro9,1 it was the Wacom tablet. There's a chance I plugged in the Kingston flash drive (2GB) on both computers before noticing the actual problem, but I can't be sure.

I asked Apple for help with the MacBook 8,2, they fixed it by formatting the hard drive and re-installing the OS X. The same issue showed up again after a couple of days of use. At that time I thought it might have been one of the devices damaging the hardware somehow, but guys at technical support told me that after formatting, the hardware test showed no physical damage to the USB ports.

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Answer 3

markwmsn

Level 6

14,987 points

Jul 24, 2012 1:55 PM in response to LOBO v.2

When you took the one machine in to Apple, did you mention your SystemUIServer observation and that you were having the same problems on two machines?

Have you installed any unusual software on both systems (and the 8,2 after in was rebuilt)? Maybe software that accomanied one of the devices?

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Answer 4

LOBO v.2 Author

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Jul 24, 2012 9:13 PM in response to markwmsn

I didn't mention the conflicting process to Apple tech support since I didn't know about it by then. I found out what the problem was just yesterday.

I haven't installed any unusual software, only a few apps and drivers. Here's the list:

- Ccleaner

- The Unarchiver

- Nikon software

- Wacom tablet utility

I'm waiting for Mountain Lion to be available before installing any software. The OS upgrade might fix the issue, but I'm not holding my breath, though.

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Answer 5

Jul 25, 2012 1:14 AM in response to LOBO v.2

What are:

- Ccleaner

- The Unarchiver

?

Clinton

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Answer 6

markwmsn

Level 6

14,987 points

Jul 25, 2012 11:49 AM in response to LOBO v.2

Have you run Ccleaner, or just installed it? I'm always skeptical of purported clean-up programs, which may not always be kept up to date with the latest system software, and so might damage your system.

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Answer 7

LOBO v.2 Author

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Jul 25, 2012 11:29 PM in response to clintonfrombirmingham

CCleaner: Optimization and cleaning tool. (http://www.piriform.com/mac/ccleaner)

The Unarchiver: Uncompression utility, for .rar, .zip, etc files. (http://unarchiver.c3.cx)

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Answer 8

LOBO v.2 Author

Level 1

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Jul 25, 2012 11:35 PM in response to markwmsn

I've ran Ccleaner on a daily basis since the time I installed it. But I'm pretty sure that't not the problem. I've been using it for quite a while now on both Mac and PC and never had any trouble before.

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Answer 9

Jul 26, 2012 12:03 AM in response to LOBO v.2

I don't recommend using any sort of 'disk cleaning' software - OS X is based on Unix and cleans up after itself very well: no need to use utilities that purport to 'clean' your system and certainly not on a daily basis. If you must use anything I would recommend use Onyx - and just using it to clear logs and caches maybe a couple of times a year.

I'm not suggesting that Ccleaner had/has anything to do with your problem. It could even be out-of-date Wacom tablet drivers.

As for the Unarchiver software, the Mac has zip unarchiving built in and I would suggest using one of the unrar apps available in the App Store if you run into rar files for some reason. Again, it's likely not at the root of your problems, but there are free or nearly free alternatives.

Have you tried upgrading to Mountain Lion, particularly on your 2012 machine? It's supposed to fix some USB problems. Also make certain again that you have the very latest Wacom drivers - that's really the only thing that I can see that might be causing the problem on both of your machines.

Good luck,

Clinton

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Answer 10

LOBO v.2 Author

Level 1

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Jul 26, 2012 12:53 AM in response to clintonfrombirmingham

I'm upgrading to Mountain Lion before the weekend. After that I'll double-check all the drivers, just in case.

Thanks!

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Answer 11

fmedery

Level 1

30 points

Jul 27, 2012 1:46 PM in response to LOBO v.2

Hello, Just to let you know that Wacom tables do not work with 10.8 atm

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Answer 12

LOBO v.2 Author

Level 1

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Jul 27, 2012 6:59 PM in response to LOBO v.2

Okay. Just upgraded to Mountain Lion and everything went back to normal. USB ports work properly, all devices tested before are working as expected (except for the Wacom tablet, haven't tested it yet), SystemUIServer is still running but it's not acting out anymore, etc.

Still don't know what was corrupted in my old OS X version, but everything seems to be okay after only a simple upgrade.

Thank you all. Cheers.

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Answer 13

LOBO v.2 Author

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Jul 28, 2012 4:25 AM in response to LOBO v.2

UPDATE:

Finally decided to test the Wacom tablet and same issue showed up again. So, this was actually the source of the problem. Contacted Wacom tech support asking for a safe way to remove tablet drivers/software and here's the answer provided:

"- Open your Applications folder and locate any Tablet or Wacom Tablet folders you

have

- Use the Utility in each of these folders and click ‘Remove’ under ‘Tablet Software’

- Once the software is removed, restart the computer

- After restarting, repair your hard disk permissions using your Disk Utility (in

your Utilities folder)

- Once this is complete, download and install the latest driver."

This worked for me on Mountain Lion. Hope this would help anyone experiencing the same issue. As for now, we can only wait for Wacom to realease a fully-functional driver for OS X 10.7.x and 10.8.

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Answer 14

Aug 15, 2012 11:16 AM in response to LOBO v.2

I'm having the same problem. I bought a brand new macbook pro 15" 2.6ghz i7, running Lion. intermittant problems with power to the usb and firewire ports, problems waking up from sleep, sometimes problems restarting.

I'm using a Wacom Bamboo Pen & Touch

So I went right back to the apple store, and got another one. I'm now having the same problems.

And them my co-designer beside me, also using a Wacom tablet starting having the same issues...

I'm hoping the suggestions in this thread help me...

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Answer 15

LOBO v.2 Author

Level 1

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Aug 15, 2012 11:56 AM in response to superreggie

I fixed the USB issue by upgrading to Mountain Lion and my computer is running perfectly now. Still, haven't been able to use my Wacom tablet since there's no available software for OS X 10.8. If you work with your tablet on a daily basis, I'd suggest you keep Lion, remove tablet software as explained before and update your drivers to the latest version, which would be the 5.2.6-3(RC) (January 2012) release.

Keep the activity monitor open and check for any process using more RAM than expected or not respoding at all. Maybe that way you could figure out what the actual problem is.

Good luck.

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