OS X hangs on for minimal 2 minutes

The next time you have the problem, note the exact times when it starts and ends: hour, minute, second.

If you have more than one user account, these instructions must be carried out as an administrator.

Launch the Console 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 Console in the page that opens.

Make sure the title of the Console window is All Messages. If it isn't, select All Messages from the SYSTEM LOG QUERIES menu on the left.

Scroll back in the log to the time you noted above. Post any messages timestamped during that interval – the text, please, not a screenshot.

Important: Some private information, such as your name, may appear in the log. Edit it out by search-and-replace in a text editor before posting.

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:

1. Be sure your Mac is shut down.
2. Press the power button.
3. 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.
4. Release the Shift key when you see the gray Apple icon and the progress indicator (looks like a spinning gear).

*Note: If FileVault is enabled under OS X 10.7 or later, or if a firmware password is set, you can’t boot in safe mode.

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) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of the test.

Please read this whole message before doing anything.

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

Third-party system modifications are a common cause of usability problems. By a “system modification,” I mean software that affects the operation of other software — potentially for the worse. The following procedure will help identify which such modifications you've installed. Don’t be alarmed by the complexity of these instructions — they’re easy to carry out and won’t change anything on your Mac.

These steps are to be taken while booted in “normal” mode, not in safe mode. If you’re now running in safe mode, reboot as usual before continuing.

Below are instructions to enter some UNIX shell commands. The commands are harmless, but they must be entered exactly as given in order to work. If you have doubts about the safety of the procedure suggested here, search this site for other discussions in which it’s been followed without any report of ill effects.

Some of the commands will line-wrap or scroll in your browser, but each one is really just a single line, all of which must be selected. You can accomplish this easily by triple-clicking anywhere in the line. The whole line will highlight, and you can then either copy or drag it. The headings “Step 1” and so on are not part of the commands.

Note: If you have more than one user account, Step 2 must be taken as an administrator. Ordinarily that would be the user created automatically when you booted the system for the first time. The other steps should be taken as the user who has the problem, if different. Most personal Macs have only one user, and in that case this paragraph doesn’t apply.

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.

When you launch Terminal, a text window will open with a line already in it, ending either in a dollar sign (“$”) or a percent sign (“%”). If you get the percent sign, enter “sh” and press return. You should then get a new line ending in a dollar sign.

Step 1

Copy or drag — do not type — the line below into the Terminal window, then press return:

kextstat -kl | awk '!/com\.apple/{printf "%s %s\n", $6, $7}'

Post the lines of output (if any) that appear below what you just entered (the text, please, not a screenshot.) You can omit the final line ending in “$”.

Step 2

Repeat with this line:

sudo launchctl list | sed 1d | awk '!/0x|com\.(apple|openssh|vix)|edu\.mit|org\.(amavis|apache|cups|isc|ntp|postfix|x)/{print $3}'

This time, 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. You don't need to post the warning.

Note: If you don’t have a login password, you’ll need to set one before taking this step. If that’s not possible, skip to the next step.

Step 3

launchctl list | sed 1d | awk '!/0x|com\.apple|edu\.mit|org\.(x|openbsd)/{print $3}'

Step 4

ls -1A /e*/mach* {,/}L*/{Ad,Compon,Ex,Fram,In,Keyb,La,Mail/Bu,P*P,Priv,Qu,Scripti,Servi,Spo,Sta}* L*/Fonts 2> /dev/null

Important: If you formerly synchronized with a MobileMe account, your me.com email address may appear in the output of the above command. If so, anonymize it before posting.

Step 5

osascript -e 'tell application "System Events" to get name of every login item' 2> /dev/null

Remember, steps 1-5 are all drag-and-drop or copy-and-paste, whichever you prefer — no typing, except your password. Also remember to post the output.

You can then quit Terminal.

Are you using iCloud? If so, disable it and see whether there's any change.

i have the exact same problem and it is driving me crazy! i hope you can help me, too!

Step 1:

at.obdev.nke.LittleSnitch (3862)

com.manycamllc.driver.ManyCamDriver (0.0.9)

net.telestream.driver.TelestreamAudio (1.0.5)

com.github.osxfuse.filesystems.osxfusefs (2.3.8)

Step 2:

us.pandamonia.Bark-Helper

com.orbicule.uc

com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper

com.bombich.ccc

com.bjango.istatlocaldaemon

com.adobe.fpsaud

at.obdev.littlesnitchd

Step 3:

info.lokiware.attachmenttamer.helper

com.growl.GrowlLauncher

com.paragon.ntfs.upd

com.paragon.ntfs.trial

us.pandamonia.Bark-Helper

info.lokiware.attachmenttamer.setupagent

com.orbicule.UCAgent

com.bjango.istatlocal

at.obdev.LittleSnitchUIAgent

ws.agile.1PasswordAgent

com.google.keystone.user.agent

Step 4:

/Library/Components:

/Library/Extensions:

/Library/Frameworks:

AEProfiling.framework

AERegistration.framework

Adobe AIR.framework

AudioMixEngine.framework

MacFUSE.framework

NyxAudioAnalysis.framework

OSXFUSE.framework

PluginManager.framework

XSKey.framework

iLifeFaceRecognition.framework

iLifeKit.framework

iLifePageLayout.framework

iLifeSQLAccess.framework

iLifeSlideshow.framework

iTunesLibrary.framework

/Library/Input Methods:

/Library/Internet Plug-Ins:

Flash Player.plugin

JavaAppletPlugin.plugin

Quartz Composer.webplugin

QuickTime Plugin.plugin

SharePointBrowserPlugin.plugin

SharePointWebKitPlugin.webplugin

flashplayer.xpt

iPhotoPhotocast.plugin

nplastpass.plugin

nsIQTScriptablePlugin.xpt

/Library/Keyboard Layouts:

/Library/LaunchAgents:

at.obdev.LittleSnitchUIAgent.plist

com.bjango.istatlocal.plist

com.orbicule.UCAgent.plist

com.teamviewer.teamviewer.plist

com.teamviewer.teamviewer_desktop.plist

info.lokiware.attachmenttamer.setupagent.plist

us.pandamonia.Bark-Helper.plist

/Library/LaunchDaemons:

at.obdev.littlesnitchd.plist

com.adobe.fpsaud.plist

com.apple.aelwriter.plist

com.bjango.istatlocaldaemon.plist

com.bombich.ccc.plist

com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist

com.orbicule.uc.plist

com.teamviewer.teamviewer_service.plist

/Library/Mail/Bundles:

Attachment Tamer.mailbundle

/Library/PreferencePanes:

Flash Player.prefPane

JavaControlPanel.prefpane

NTFSforMacOSX.prefPane

Xmarks.prefPane

/Library/PrivilegedHelperTools:

com.bombich.ccc

com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper

/Library/QuickLook:

GBQLGenerator.qlgenerator

iBooksAuthor.qlgenerator

iWork.qlgenerator

/Library/QuickTime:

AppleAVCIntraCodec.component

AppleHDVCodec.component

AppleIntermediateCodec.component

AppleMPEG2Codec.component

AppleProResCodec.component

DVCPROHDCodec.component

FCP Uncompressed 422.component

IMXCodec.component

ManyCamVDig_RGB.component

ManyCamVDig_YCbCr.component

/Library/ScriptingAdditions:

Adobe Unit Types.osax

/Library/Spotlight:

GBSpotlightImporter.mdimporter

LogicPro.mdimporter

Microsoft Office.mdimporter

iBooksAuthor.mdimporter

iWork.mdimporter

/Library/StartupItems:

/etc/mach_init.d:

/etc/mach_init_per_login_session.d:

/etc/mach_init_per_user.d:

com.adobe.SwitchBoard.monitor.plist

Library/Address Book Plug-Ins:

Library/Fonts:

Library/Input Methods:

.localized

Library/Internet Plug-Ins:

Library/Keyboard Layouts:

Library/LaunchAgents:

com.apple.AddressBook.ScheduledSync.PHXCardDAVSource.8B261FF5-B259-46C1-974D-80C F863B6E41.plist

com.google.keystone.agent.plist

info.lokiware.attachmenttamer.cleanup.plist

ws.agile.1PasswordAgent.plist

Library/Mail/Bundles:

Attachment Tamer.mailbundle

Library/PreferencePanes:

Library/Services:

AppDelete.workflow

Sync with MacDropAny.workflow

Step 5:

iTunesHelper, Fantastical, Alfred, BetterTouchTool, Reeder, Twitter, Mail, CrossOver CD Helper, Dropbox

Thank you for your help!

This is also happening to me. Each time it happens the system.log captures exceptions from IMKClient (IMK = Input Method Kit is a toolkit OSX uses for key input, I think. It has server with an API and a client (IMKClient)).

It doesn't matter what app I've got open, it has been triggered from Google Chrome, Sublime Text2, System preferences, etc.

Here is an example output from the system.log file:

Aug 26 18:32:24 s8-dw006.rhi.hi.is Google Chrome[12052]: IMKClient: exception caught trying to get the rootProxy for connection ((** NSConnection 0x849bb6d0 receivePort <NSMachPort: 0x849beac0> sendPort <NSMachPort: 0x8497e7b0> refCount 7 remoteUsesKeyedDO: 0 **)):

NSPortTimeoutException : connection timeout: did not receive reply

Aug 26 18:32:24 s8-dw006.rhi.hi.is Google Chrome[12052]: This exception was thrown inside thread: <NSThread: 0x78641520>{name = (null), num = 1}. This thread is the main thread.

Aug 26 18:32:29 s8-dw006.rhi.hi.is Google Chrome[12052]: IMKClient: exception caught trying to get the rootProxy for connection ((** NSConnection 0x8099ff30 receivePort <NSMachPort: 0x809174b0> sendPort <NSMachPort: 0x8497e7b0> refCount 7 remoteUsesKeyedDO: 0 **)):

NSPortTimeoutException : connection timeout: did not receive reply

Aug 26 18:32:29 s8-dw006.rhi.hi.is Google Chrome[12052]: This exception was thrown inside thread: <NSThread: 0x78641520>{name = (null), num = 1}. This thread is the main thread.

Aug 26 18:32:34 s8-dw006.rhi.hi.is Google Chrome[12052]: IMKClient: exception caught trying to get the rootProxy for connection ((** NSConnection 0x7e4c9f70 receivePort <NSMachPort: 0x7feab140> sendPort <NSMachPort: 0x8497e7b0> refCount 7 remoteUsesKeyedDO: 0 **)):

NSPortTimeoutException : connection timeout: did not receive reply

Aug 26 18:32:34 s8-dw006.rhi.hi.is Google Chrome[12052]: This exception was thrown inside thread: <NSThread: 0x78641520>{name = (null), num = 1}. This thread is the main thread.

Aug 26 18:32:39 s8-dw006.rhi.hi.is Google Chrome[12052]: IMKClient: exception caught trying to get the rootProxy for connection ((** NSConnection 0x809b3750 receivePort <NSMachPort: 0x8093bc80> sendPort <NSMachPort: 0x8497e7b0> refCount 7 remoteUsesKeyedDO: 0 **)):

NSPortTimeoutException : connection timeout: did not receive reply

Aug 26 18:32:39 s8-dw006.rhi.hi.is Google Chrome[12052]: This exception was thrown inside thread: <NSThread: 0x78641520>{name = (null), num = 1}. This thread is the main thread.

Aug 26 18:32:44 s8-dw006.rhi.hi.is Google Chrome[12052]: IMKClient: exception caught trying to get the rootProxy for connection ((** NSConnection 0x84a3e9c0 receivePort <NSMachPort: 0x7fe76e80> sendPort <NSMachPort: 0x8497e7b0> refCount 7 remoteUsesKeyedDO: 0 **)):

NSPortTimeoutException : connection timeout: did not receive reply

Aug 26 18:32:44 s8-dw006.rhi.hi.is Google Chrome[12052]: This exception was thrown inside thread: <NSThread: 0x78641520>{name = (null), num = 1}. This thread is the main thread.

As you can see it's always an exception in connection to rootProxy. I saw it in the output you just pasted as well.

I'm not sure why this happens. I've tried using the computer with no 3rd party kernel extensions, didn't matter. I've also cleaned the cache folders in case of some invalid caches after the upgrade from Lion to Mountain Lion.

This is so annoying!

Is there any follow up on this. It's now happening to me too. Oddly, it just started approx a week ago, although my machine has been getting weird - occasional short hangs - now it's up to many minutes. It's was low on disk space although I've cleaned it up now, and I thought that might be causing it, but apparently not. I haven't installed anything new in well over six months, I think. Certainly nothing near to when this started happening.

Some more detail: When this happens the top and a bottom tool bars still function. In fact, I can open the system prefs, and they work normally. I can open a terminal, and it gives the welcome, but never finishes logging. (There is almost literally nothing in my bash profiles and login scripts - I alias ls and rm, and that's about it.) Task manager comes up, but when I try to force quit anything, it pinwheels. Otherwise, the window system appears to be working fine - I can select text from my emacs window, but the emacs task itself is to be hung.

Actually, this one's been going on for ten minutes at this point, I think I'm going to just hard boot it.