Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

kevloucat Author

Level 1

0 points

Diagnosing cause of kernel panic on a Mac Pro

I've got an early 2009 Mac Pro with the following specs:

2.66 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon

16 GB 1066 MHz DDR3 ECC

NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 512 MB

OS X 10.8.1

Problem is, at random times, my Mac would just shut down and then restart after I clicked through the "gray your Mac shut down without telling you because it's selfish" warning screen.

I took it to a local computer shop and they couldn't really tell, and suggested I do a clean install of Mountain Lion. I did that, got everything back on from Time Machine (just Documents and Music, no Libraries per the technician's instructions), and then last night it did it again. Restarted while I was working on a web site. No notice.

I wondered if someone could help me diagnose the problem or problems(s), since I can't make ANY sense of the sytem report.

Here is the complete system report when the panic occurred. Thanks for ANY help at all you can provide.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Interval Since Last Panic Report: 228862 sec

Panics Since Last Report: 1

Anonymous UUID: 300EE43F-9F5E-478A-A738-158466678DEC

Fri Sep 7 22:25:11 2012

panic(cpu 2 caller 0xffffff800f2b7b95): Kernel trap at 0xffffff7f90a27975, type 13=general protection, registers:

CR0: 0x0000000080010033, CR2: 0xffffff81fe852000, CR3: 0x0000000011b01000, CR4: 0x0000000000000660

RAX: 0xffffff804da3e400, RBX: 0xffffff804e2ea800, RCX: 0xffffff803113c2c1, RDX: 0x0000000000000000

RSP: 0xffffff81e0f3bd90, RBP: 0xffffff81e0f3bdb0, RSI: 0xffffff8033581b00, RDI: 0xffffff8033581b00

R8: 0x00000000000007bf, R9: 0x0000000000000000, R10: 0x000000000000f784, R11: 0x0000000000000000

R12: 0x0000000000000001, R13: 0xffffff81af85b0b4, R14: 0xffffff81af85b000, R15: 0xffffff804df41800

RFL: 0x0000000000010286, RIP: 0xffffff7f90a27975, CS: 0x0000000000000008, SS: 0x0000000000000010

Fault CR2: 0xffffff81fe852000, Error code: 0x0000000000000000, Fault CPU: 0x2

Backtrace (CPU 2), Frame : Return Address

0xffffff81e0f3ba30 : 0xffffff800f21d5f6

0xffffff81e0f3baa0 : 0xffffff800f2b7b95

0xffffff81e0f3bc70 : 0xffffff800f2ce4ad

0xffffff81e0f3bc90 : 0xffffff7f90a27975

0xffffff81e0f3bdb0 : 0xffffff7f90a276f3

0xffffff81e0f3be00 : 0xffffff7f90a276ab

0xffffff81e0f3be50 : 0xffffff7f90a27936

0xffffff81e0f3be80 : 0xffffff7f90a0c5d2

0xffffff81e0f3bed0 : 0xffffff7f90a0a59f

0xffffff81e0f3bef0 : 0xffffff800f647078

0xffffff81e0f3bf30 : 0xffffff800f645b8a

0xffffff81e0f3bf80 : 0xffffff800f645cb9

0xffffff81e0f3bfb0 : 0xffffff800f2b2677

Kernel Extensions in backtrace:

com.apple.GeForce(8.0)[4B9BE287-5251-398E-96B0-BB16C9BFB2D9]@0xffffff7f90a06000 ->0xffffff7f90ac8fff

dependency: com.apple.NVDAResman(8.0.0)[6A699209-FB98-316B-A3C0-DCA82AA8C86B]@0xffffff7f8f8 d8000

dependency: com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport(2.3.4)[99CA4184-8D92-31B2-8726-46139E8E3DFF]@0xff ffff7f8f8c4000

dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.7)[8C9E06A4-13D0-33F5-A377-9E36F0ECC229]@0xffffff 7f8f84d000

dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(2.3.4)[2600903C-EEDE-321B-A023-169DC9B26EA6]@0 xffffff7f8f881000

BSD process name corresponding to current thread: kernel_task

Mac OS version:

12B19

Kernel version:

Darwin Kernel Version 12.1.0: Tue Aug 14 13:29:55 PDT 2012; root:xnu-2050.9.2~1/RELEASE_X86_64

Kernel UUID: 3005059E-270B-3B9F-940D-7A66C05DDC9D

Kernel slide: 0x000000000f000000

Kernel text base: 0xffffff800f200000

System model name: MacPro4,1 (Mac-F221BEC8)

System uptime in nanoseconds: 200816362998684

last loaded kext at 46599045324: com.apple.driver.AppleHWSensor 1.9.5d0 (addr 0xffffff7f91145000, size 36864)

last unloaded kext at 120527452575: com.apple.driver.AppleIntel8254XEthernet 3.1.1b1 (addr 0xffffff7f90492000, size 69632)

loaded kexts:

com.logmein.driver.LogMeInSoundDriver 1.0.0

com.apple.driver.AppleHWSensor 1.9.5d0

com.apple.iokit.IOBluetoothSerialManager 4.0.9f8

com.apple.filesystems.ntfs 3.10

com.apple.filesystems.autofs 3.0

com.apple.driver.AppleTyMCEDriver 1.0.2d2

com.apple.driver.AGPM 100.12.69

com.apple.driver.AppleMikeyHIDDriver 122

com.apple.driver.AppleHDA 2.3.0f2

com.apple.driver.AppleMikeyDriver 2.3.0f2

com.apple.driver.AudioAUUC 1.60

com.apple.driver.AppleUpstreamUserClient 3.5.10

com.apple.driver.AppleMCCSControl 1.0.33

com.apple.iokit.BroadcomBluetoothHCIControllerUSBTransport 4.0.9f8

com.apple.iokit.IOUserEthernet 1.0.0d1

com.apple.driver.AppleLPC 1.6.0

com.apple.GeForce 8.0.0

com.apple.driver.ACPI_SMC_PlatformPlugin 1.0.0

com.apple.Dont_Steal_Mac_OS_X 7.0.0

com.apple.driver.ApplePolicyControl 3.2.6

com.apple.driver.XsanFilter 404

com.apple.iokit.IOAHCIBlockStorage 2.2.1

com.apple.iokit.SCSITaskUserClient 3.5.1

com.apple.AppleFSCompression.AppleFSCompressionTypeDataless 1.0.0d1

com.apple.AppleFSCompression.AppleFSCompressionTypeZlib 1.0.0d1

com.apple.BootCache 34

com.apple.driver.AppleUSBHub 5.1.6

com.apple.driver.AppleFWOHCI 4.9.5

com.apple.driver.AirPort.Brcm4331 601.15.21

com.apple.driver.Intel82574L 2.3.0b4

com.apple.driver.AppleAHCIPort 2.4.0

com.apple.driver.AppleUSBEHCI 5.1.5

com.apple.driver.AppleUSBUHCI 5.1.5

com.apple.driver.AppleEFINVRAM 1.6.1

com.apple.driver.AppleRTC 1.5

com.apple.driver.AppleHPET 1.7

com.apple.driver.AppleACPIButtons 1.6

com.apple.driver.AppleSMBIOS 1.9

com.apple.driver.AppleACPIEC 1.6

com.apple.driver.AppleAPIC 1.6

com.apple.driver.AppleIntelCPUPowerManagementClient 196.0.0

com.apple.nke.applicationfirewall 4.0.39

com.apple.security.quarantine 2

com.apple.driver.AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement 196.0.0

com.apple.iokit.IOSerialFamily 10.0.6

com.apple.kext.triggers 1.0

com.apple.driver.DspFuncLib 2.3.0f2

com.apple.driver.AppleSMBusController 1.0.10d0

com.apple.iokit.AppleBluetoothHCIControllerUSBTransport 4.0.9f8

com.apple.iokit.IOAudioFamily 1.8.9fc9

com.apple.kext.OSvKernDSPLib 1.6

com.apple.iokit.IOSurface 86.0.2

com.apple.driver.AppleSMBusPCI 1.0.10d0

com.apple.iokit.IOBluetoothFamily 4.0.9f8

com.apple.iokit.IOFireWireIP 2.2.5

com.apple.driver.AppleHDAController 2.3.0f2

com.apple.iokit.IOHDAFamily 2.3.0f2

com.apple.nvidia.nv50hal 8.0.0

com.apple.NVDAResman 8.0.0

com.apple.driver.IOPlatformPluginLegacy 1.0.0

com.apple.driver.IOPlatformPluginFamily 5.2.0d16

com.apple.driver.AppleSMC 3.1.3d11

com.apple.driver.AppleGraphicsControl 3.2.6

com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport 2.3.4

com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily 2.3.4

com.apple.driver.AppleUSBHIDKeyboard 165.5

com.apple.driver.AppleHIDKeyboard 165.5

com.apple.iokit.IOUSBHIDDriver 5.0.0

com.apple.driver.AppleUSBMergeNub 5.1.5

com.apple.iokit.IOSCSIBlockCommandsDevice 3.5.1

com.apple.iokit.IOUSBMassStorageClass 3.5.0

com.apple.driver.AppleUSBComposite 5.0.0

com.apple.iokit.IOSCSIMultimediaCommandsDevice 3.5.1

com.apple.iokit.IOBDStorageFamily 1.7

com.apple.iokit.IODVDStorageFamily 1.7.1

com.apple.iokit.IOCDStorageFamily 1.7.1

com.apple.iokit.IOAHCISerialATAPI 2.5.0

com.apple.iokit.IOSCSIArchitectureModelFamily 3.5.1

com.apple.iokit.IOFireWireFamily 4.5.5

com.apple.iokit.IOUSBUserClient 5.0.0

com.apple.iokit.IO80211Family 500.15

com.apple.iokit.IONetworkingFamily 3.0

com.apple.iokit.IOAHCIFamily 2.2.0

com.apple.iokit.IOUSBFamily 5.1.6

com.apple.driver.AppleEFIRuntime 1.6.1

com.apple.iokit.IOHIDFamily 1.8.0

com.apple.iokit.IOSMBusFamily 1.1

com.apple.security.sandbox 220

com.apple.kext.AppleMatch 1.0.0d1

com.apple.security.TMSafetyNet 7

com.apple.driver.DiskImages 344

com.apple.iokit.IOStorageFamily 1.8

com.apple.driver.AppleKeyStore 28.18

com.apple.driver.AppleACPIPlatform 1.6

com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily 2.7

com.apple.iokit.IOACPIFamily 1.4

com.apple.kec.corecrypto 1.0

Model: MacPro4,1, BootROM MP41.0081.B07, 4 processors, Quad-Core Intel Xeon, 2.66 GHz, 16 GB, SMC 1.39f5

Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GT 120, NVIDIA GeForce GT 120, PCIe, 512 MB

Memory Module: DIMM 1, 4 GB, DDR3 ECC, 1066 MHz, 0x857F, 0x463732353155363446393333334700000000

Memory Module: DIMM 2, 4 GB, DDR3 ECC, 1066 MHz, 0x857F, 0x463732353155363446393333334700000000

Memory Module: DIMM 3, 4 GB, DDR3 ECC, 1066 MHz, 0x857F, 0x463732353155363446393333334700000000

Memory Module: DIMM 4, 4 GB, DDR3 ECC, 1066 MHz, 0x857F, 0x463732353155363446393333334700000000

AirPort: spairport_wireless_card_type_airport_extreme (0x14E4, 0x8E), Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0 (5.106.98.81.21)

Bluetooth: Version 4.0.9f8 10405, 2 service, 18 devices, 1 incoming serial ports

Network Service: Wi-Fi, AirPort, en2

PCI Card: NVIDIA GeForce GT 120, sppci_displaycontroller, Slot-1

PCI Card: NVIDIA GeForce GT 120, sppci_displaycontroller, Slot-2

Serial ATA Device: HL-DT-ST DVD-RW GH41N

Serial ATA Device: WDC WD6400AAKS-41H2B0, 640.14 GB

Serial ATA Device: ST31000333AS, 1 TB

USB Device: Keyboard Hub, apple_vendor_id, 0x1006, 0xfa200000 / 2

USB Device: USB Receiver, 0x046d (Logitech Inc.), 0xc526, 0xfa230000 / 4

USB Device: Apple Keyboard, apple_vendor_id, 0x0220, 0xfa220000 / 3

USB Device: LaCie Hard Drive USB, 0x059f (LaCie), 0x1018, 0xfd100000 / 2

USB Device: BRCM2046 Hub, 0x0a5c (Broadcom Corp.), 0x4500, 0x5a100000 / 2

USB Device: Bluetooth USB Host Controller, apple_vendor_id, 0x8215, 0x5a110000 / 3

FireWire Device: built-in_hub, 800mbit_speed

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Mac Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.1)

Posted on Sep 8, 2012 2:00 PM

228 replies

r winn

Level 1

4 points

Jun 11, 2013 1:54 PM in response to kevloucat

This GT/ATI approach has worked for me for a month too without a KP. Curious of 10.8.4 release will fix it all too. I noticed an NVIDIA CUDA update that launched right after I did the OS update. Might be because I had installed updated NVIDIA drivers during the search for a solution before...although they didn't work. Only taking out one GT and replaceing with 5770 did the trick. And I run 4 monitors, 2 25s, 26 and 27 (I think). Although I don't do major video work, etc. Just a lot of programs, docs, browsers etc. for running a small marketing company.

The hatter

Level 9

60,990 points

Jun 11, 2013 1:57 PM in response to Pierre Igot

So the "rule" is not just more than one GT120 which took a while to confirm and substantiate, but to expand that to "more than one Nvidia card" actually makes more sense and logical.

And annoying. That means two GTX 670s might break the system, too. A glaring defect.

Some people still have trouble swallowing and accepting the GT120 "theory" except that everyone that changed to ATI + Nvidia or just one card if possible, the problem would always go away.

Thank you.

myaka

Level 4

2,777 points

Jun 12, 2013 3:52 PM in response to Pierre Igot

Interesting. Waited for 10.8.4, hoping for a fix. Kernel panics resumed. Then I stopped using Safari, and switched to Chrome for browsing. I haven't had a KP in a couple of days, a serious improvement. Still running two GT120s and two (minidisplay port) Cinema 24s on an early 2009 MacPro.

devinci

Level 1

4 points

Jun 14, 2013 7:52 AM in response to Jsh111

I went with purchasing a single Sapphire 7950 for Mac, and its been 3 weeks and no KP! I pulled all the nvidia GPU; since I freed up my PCIe, I got a USB3.0 controller too.

The Mac 2009, should handle two 5770 (they each use 1 PCIe supplemental power; and the the Mac has 2 available), the GT120 does not need supplemental power.

myaka

Level 4

2,777 points

Jun 16, 2013 5:11 PM in response to myaka

New drivers for the GT120 out from NVidia; kernel panics while using Safari unchanged.

Jun 20, 2013 4:40 AM in response to myaka

Hi, for those who are interested, since I unistalled flash and use chrome which has a native flash application inside, I don't have any KP for more than 3 weeks.

Only Skype is causing troubles, so if you don't need flash and use facetime instead of skype, maybe it's a half solution but for now it's working and i can have time to think about buying an expensive new video card.

I know i've been upset agaisnt mac on my last posts, but to answer to some people who were a bit nervous against me, i want to say that it's not because i own a mac pro that my bank account is unlimited, the radeon card is probably nice, but sometimes you just can't afford to buy one just to avoid KP.

Cheers

macbitz

Level 1

14 points

Jun 23, 2013 2:00 AM in response to zenondelay

Same here, I installed the new drivers from NVIDIA (313.01.02f01) but still had KPs, but since uninstalling Flash and sticking to Safari & Chrome, I haven't had a KP for quite a while now. Fingers crossed...!

macbitz

Level 1

14 points

Jun 28, 2013 1:14 AM in response to macbitz

Well it happened... latest drivers, uninstalled Flash, not using Firefox and I got a Kernel Panic last night, then another this morning! 😠

All I can do now is remove the GT120 card and use two monitors off the 8800 card for now and then see if OS X Mavericks will sort the problem? Guess I'm lucky in that my ageing Early 2008 Mac Pro is going to be supported by Mavericks, although whether or not it fixes the multiple video card issue remains to be seen.

grrbach

Level 1

4 points

Jun 28, 2013 3:46 PM in response to macbitz

No More Panics!

This is my first post to this thread, and thanks to all for guiding me to a solution

I am all but certain that the display-related kernel panics are due to the presence of two nVidia graphics cards, not necessarily two GT 120's.

I came by my certainty when I replaced one of my GT 120's with an nVidia GTX 650 Ti—and the kernel panics continued—then replaced the nVidia 650 with a Radeon 7700—and the kernel panics stopped. That is, I have 80 hours of use on the Radeon card (paired with one of my GT 120's) and have experienced no panics. With two nVidia cards, there would have been 12 to 24 panics over the same period.

(It is possible that the problem may be caused by a combination of a GT 120 and any other nVidia graphics card, not necessarily another GT 120, but I just didn't want to invest any more time troubleshooting.)

It irked me to lay down my money to "fix" a problem of Apple's creation, but given how much these display-related kernal panics have cost me in productivity, I wish I had set my principals aside a few months ago.

Hope this is helpful.

•••••

About the new graphics card:

It's an ASUS HD7770-2GD5, and I'm very happy with it. It's ever so slightly noisier than the GT 120 it replaced, is much faster, and cost only $120 (after a $15 rebate). My system sleeps properly, wakes faster than it used to, and can play full-screen, streaming HD video on the secondary display without video stuttering.

The only downside I've discovered so far, and it's a small one, is that System Report can no longer gather info on the PCI slots, but I understand that this would be the case with any other non-EFI graphics card installed.

The ASUS is in PCI slot 1 and a GT 120 in slot 3. I separated the cards to allow for better ventilation, and "yes", the GT 120 runs just fine in a 4-lane slot. The ASUS drives the main and secondary monitor, the GT 120 the tertiary.

•••••

Some observations and suspicions concerning the nVidia graphics card-related kernel panics:

ALL of the panics my system experienced had the following in common:

- In the panic's System Diagnostic Report, two kext's were always back-traced, "com.apple.NVDAResman" and "com.apple.GeForce".

- Safari and/or Firefox were open, but not necessarily the active application.

MOST of the panics had these in common:

- A browser window was open in the secondary or tertiary display. (Panics were less likely to occur if only one browser window was open and it was on the main display.)

- One of the browser windows was being scrolled.

Other observations:

- The panics started when I installed 10.8.2. (I didn't upgrade to Mountain Lion until 10.8.2 was released.)

- The panics increased with OS 10.8.4.

- Every two weeks or so, my Mac Pro would refuse to recognize the tertiary monitor when waking from sleep. The display would not appear in Display Preferences. Sleeping & re-waking the system might solve the problem, but a restart was usually required.

Suspicions:

My gut tells me that the WebKit is involved, but I'm so completely "done" dealing with this long-standing issue, that I'm going to leave it to some more patient soul to investigate.

myaka

Level 4

2,777 points

Jun 30, 2013 5:15 PM in response to grrbach

Just to note that with two NVidia graphics cards (GT120s in my case -- each attached to a 24" LED Cinema), giving up Safari and moving to Chrome has at this point decisively eliminated kernel panics for me. I was poised to buy a new graphics card, but I can live less expensively this way.

Jul 8, 2013 5:42 AM in response to kevloucat

<Anyone tried with the latest webdrivers for geforce cards?

http://www.nvidia.com/object/macosx-313.01.02f01-driver.html

I will be testing this during the week, to see if it resolves the issue, I've got a lot of mxed 2009 and 2010 mac pros most of them with dual 120 cards, hopefully this works so I can continue deploying 10.8.4 throughout the organization.

myaka

Level 4

2,777 points

Jul 8, 2013 6:09 AM in response to Mr.Oddball

Mr.Oddball:

I tried the latest NVidia drivers. No change. Kernel panics continued unabated in my 2009 Mac Pro with two GT120s.

What worked: I eliminated use of Safari, switching to Chrome for browsing. No KPs since.

Jul 8, 2013 8:17 AM in response to myaka

I use Chrome mostly, and I get the KP only about every 1-2 weeks (Early 2009 Mac Pro, Dual 120s, 3 monitors). I occasionally have to use Safari or Firefox to check my sites work in them.

I suspect that it's some kind of timing bug, so happens randomly but is more likely under certain situations that stress the system, meaning using certain bits of software. Something like the OS is not properly marking video memory as used in a thread safe manner, so two processes get a hold of it, then one releases it, then when the second one tries to, it's gone, so it crashes.

The most likely thing would seem to be video codecs. In particular I noticed a KP happened immediately upon playing a DivX video. I would also expect some games to have the problem, but I don't use the Mac for games that much.

I uninstalled Perian (multiple video codecs), that might have helped. Maybe removing other quicktime components might also help.

Jul 9, 2013 2:05 AM in response to Graham Miln

Having previously replaced the kernel panic inducing dual GT120 graphics cards, I recently re-introduced a single GT120 to my Mac Pro without problems.

My Mac Pro has been stable with a single GT120 and ATI 5770 for a month now.

jkhademi

Level 1

5 points

Jul 28, 2013 9:49 PM in response to Graham Miln

I've had two GT120's in my 2009 MacPro/12Gig 4x450GB15K RAID for over 18 months with no KPs...but mostly running one display...a 27" iMac using the Apple proprietary cable...the miniDP version of this cable:

http://store.apple.com/us/product/MD861ZM/A/apple-thunderbolt-cable-20-m?fnode=5 1

Upgrading to the varios OSs along the way to 10.8.4.

No problems. On for months at a time.

Recently, I got an LG 27EA83-D that does 2560 x 1440 (same res as iMac) native running off the DVI of the GT120 as I deployed the iMac at my office and needed a panel for the MacPro. No problems.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824005400

Then I bought a second LG panel, discovered what many know here that you can't run 2560 x 1440 off the passive miniDB to DVI or HDMI...so I plugged it into the second GT120 DVI port. Rigged it actually for four panels...Powerpoint is totally wierded out...doesn't paint or update correctly if the second display is running off a different board. Hmmm...

So I get a KP while I'm "doing nothing." Hmmm... Then another. Then another. Then another...

I'm getting them consistently using Safari and LogMeIn. Can almost set my watch. Hmmmm...

Anyways, I too ordered the 5770...hoping to drive four displays...two at 2560x1440 and two at 1080p.

What else do I need?

Thanks you for everyone who helped debug this.

Diagnosing cause of kernel panic on a Mac Pro