MacBook Pro - Single app starts freezing, then spreads to all apps/entire system.

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Level 1

0 points

MacBook Pro - Single app starts freezing, then spreads to all apps/entire system.

For the past two days my MBP has been freezing up on about once/hour, if not more often than that. It starts with a single program giving me the spinning beach ball. Other programs still remain responsive, but they don't function correctly. For example, the last time it happened, my text editor initially was giving me the beach ball. I could still, however, go back to Chrome and switch between open tabs. However, I couldn't open any new tabs or navigate to a new page. After a minute or so I then got the beach ball on Chrome, and then it was everywhere. The dock is unresponsive, the menu bar is unresponsive. My only option is to hold the power button down and restart.

So far I have run the Repair Disk utility, and it says the volume appears to be OK. I also ran 2 memory tests using a program called MemTest. Those results also came back with no problems. I also turned off automatic brightness, but the problem has persisted.

One thing I should mention is that a few hours before this first happened, I downloaded a program from the AppStore called Memory Clean. I never actually ran it to free up memory, because the computer froze shortly after installing it, and so I uninstalled it immediately after rebooting, just incase that was what was freezing up my computer. Since it has been removed the problem has still happened several times.

Any suggestions on what I could try?

Here is my EtreCheck dump:

Hardware Information:

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2011)

MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro8,2

1 2.2 GHz Intel Core i7 CPU: 4 cores

8 GB RAM

Video Information:

Intel HD Graphics 3000 - VRAM: 512 MB

AMD Radeon HD 6750M - VRAM: 512 MB

Startup Items:

ciscod - Path: /System/Library/StartupItems/ciscod

System Software:

OS X 10.8.4 (12E55) - Uptime: 0 days 0:16:6

Disk Information:

M4-CT128M4SSD2 disk0 : (128.04 GB)

disk0s1 (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB

Macintosh HD (disk0s2) /: 127.04 GB (86.89 GB free)

Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted>: 650 MB

HL-DT-ST DVDRW GS31N

USB Information:

Logitech USB Receiver

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

Apple Inc. BRCM2070 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

FireWire Information:

Thunderbolt Information:

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

Kernel Extensions:

com.Logitech.Control Center.HID

com.Logitech.Unifying.HID Driver

com.avatron.AVExVideo (1.7)

com.avatron.AVExFramebuffer (1.7)

com.cisco.kext.acsock (1.1.0)

org.pqrs.driver.KeyRemap4MacBook (8.3.0)

Problem System Launch Daemons:

Problem System Launch Agents:

Launch Daemons:

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist

[loaded] com.binaryage.asepsis.daemon.plist

[loaded] com.cisco.anyconnect.vpnagentd.plist

[loaded] com.google.keystone.daemon.plist

[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist

[loaded] com.realvnc.vncserver.plist

[loaded] org.pqrs.KeyRemap4MacBook.load.plist

Launch Agents:

[loaded] com.binaryage.asepsis.updater.plist

[loaded] com.cisco.anyconnect.gui.plist

[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist

[loaded] com.Logitech.Control Center.Daemon.plist

[loaded] com.realvnc.vncserver.peruser.plist

[not loaded] com.realvnc.vncserver.prelogin.plist

[loaded] org.pqrs.KeyRemap4MacBook.server.plist

User Launch Agents:

User Login Items:

UNKNOWN

Alfred 2

Dropbox

HyperDock Helper

Google Drive

DragThing

AirDisplayStatusItem

ScreenCapture

3rd Party Preference Panes:

Air Display Preferences

Flash Player

HyperDock

Logitech Control Center

Witch

Internet Plug-ins:

Flash Player.plugin

FlashPlayer-10.6.plugin

googletalkbrowserplugin.plugin

JavaAppletPlugin.plugin

npgtpo3dautoplugin.plugin

o1dbrowserplugin.plugin

QuickTime Plugin.plugin

SharePointBrowserPlugin.plugin

User Internet Plug-ins:

Dashlane.plugin

WebEx64.plugin

Bad Fonts:

None

Top Processes by CPU:

3% WindowServer

2% Flowdock

2% EtreCheck

1% fontd

1% Google Chrome

1% mongod

0% FluidApp

0% DashlaneAgent

0% LCCDaemon

0% Finder

Top Processes by Memory:

270 MB FluidApp

131 MB Google Chrome

131 MB Sublime Text 2

131 MB Flowdock

115 MB mds

90 MB GitHub

90 MB WindowServer

74 MB Google Drive

74 MB Dropbox

66 MB Finder

Virtual Memory Statistics

4.09 GB Free RAM

2.41 GB Active RAM

202 MB Inactive RAM

1.29 GB Wired RAM

549 MB Page-ins

0 B Page-outs

Thanks!

MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.4)

Posted on Aug 30, 2013 11:23 AM

Reply

Answer 1

poikkeus1

Level 4

2,454 points

Aug 30, 2013 12:24 PM in response to RML604

If your computer is still freezing, the process is still going on - even if you've deleted/uninstalled the software. So, the safest way of handing this is also the most conservative:

1. Back up your computer.

2. Make sure the application is deleted. Perform a Spotlight search to make sure you haven't missed anything.

3. Download and run a free diagnistic program like Onyx.

4. Reboot your computer.

Post here with the results!

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Answer 2

RML604 Author

Level 1

0 points

Aug 30, 2013 12:41 PM in response to poikkeus1

Thank you for the reply. I installed Onyx. It says the SMART Status is verified and the hard disk seems to be working correctly, and the Structure of Volume tab says the HD appears to be ok.

Are there any other tests I should run with Onyx?

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Answer 3

poikkeus1

Level 4

2,454 points

Aug 30, 2013 3:40 PM in response to RML604

Most users incorporate a cache cleaning and permissions check, then reboot. If you still notice problems...well, we can deal with that later.

Reply

Answer 4

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Aug 30, 2013 10:16 PM in response to RML604

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 the test is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party software that loads automatically at startup or login, by a peripheral device, or by corruption of certain system caches.

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. Note: If FileVault is enabled on some models, or if a firmware password is set, or if the boot volume is a software RAID, you can’t do this. Ask for further instructions.

Safe mode is much slower to boot and run than normal, and some things won’t work at all, including sound output and Wi-Fi on certain iMacs. The next normal boot may also be somewhat slow.

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?

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.

Reply

Answer 5

RML604 Author

Level 1

0 points

Sep 2, 2013 8:12 PM in response to Linc Davis

When you say "Test while in safe mode.", do you mean to try and reproduce the issue while in safe mode? Or am I supposed to be running an actual diagnostics test?

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Answer 6

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Sep 2, 2013 8:36 PM in response to RML604

do you mean to try and reproduce the issue while in safe mode?

Yes.

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Answer 7

nbar

Level 5

7,019 points

Sep 2, 2013 8:38 PM in response to RML604

The only thing playing around with Onyx will do is make your problem worse. Just follow Linc's instructions.

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Answer 8

RML604 Author

Level 1

0 points

Sep 4, 2013 7:44 AM in response to Linc Davis

I had the computer in safemode yesterday evening until this morning without any problems. Unfortunately I have to boot back into standard mode for work.

Also, I'm not sure if this helps, but when it starts to freeze up, I can't save any files or run any commands in Terminal. I don't remember what it told me when I tried to save a file in Sublime Text 2, but when I tried to do "ls" in terminal, I got back "bash: /bin/ls: Operation not permitted". I'm not sure if that helps, but I figured I'd mention it.

Reply

Answer 9

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Sep 4, 2013 10:16 AM in response to RML604

when I tried to do "ls" in terminal, I got back "bash: /bin/ls: Operation not permitted"

Does that happen all the time, or only when the system is freezing up? Does it happen in safe mode?

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Answer 10

RML604 Author

Level 1

0 points

Sep 4, 2013 10:45 AM in response to Linc Davis

That only happens when the system is freezing up. Often times if I see the beach ball, I'll switch over to terminal and type ls. If I get that error message, I know the computer is about to completely freeze and I need to restart.

In safe mode, everything worked without any problems. Is it possible a program is causing this that wasn't running in safe mode but runs in normal mode?

Reply

Answer 11

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Sep 4, 2013 10:50 AM in response to RML604

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 copy 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 icon grid.

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

Triple-click the line of text below on this page to select it:

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

Copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. Then click anywhere in the Terminal window and paste (command-V). A TextEdit window will open with the output of the command. If the command produced no output, the window will be empty. Post the contents of the TextEdit window (not the Terminal window), if any — the text, please, not a screenshot. You can then close the TextEdit window. The title of the window doesn't matter, and you don't need to post that. No typing is involved in this step.

Step 2

Repeat with this line:

{ sudo launchctl list | sed 1d | awk '!/0x|com\.(apple|openssh|vix\.cron)|org\.(amav|apac|cups|isc|ntp|postf|x)/{print $3}'; echo; sudo defaults read com.apple.loginwindow LoginHook; echo; sudo crontab -l; } 2> /dev/null | open -ef

This time you'll be prompted for your login password, which you do have to type. Nothing will be displayed when you type it. Type it carefully and then press return. You may get a one-time warning to be careful. Heed that warning, but don't post it. If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you're not logged in as an administrator.

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|org\.(x|openbsd)/{print $3}'; echo; crontab -l 2> /dev/null; } | open -ef

Step 4

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

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 login items' | open -ef

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

You can then quit Terminal.

Reply

Answer 12

RML604 Author

Level 1

0 points

Sep 4, 2013 10:58 AM in response to Linc Davis

Step 1 Results:

com.Logitech.Control Center.HID

com.Logitech.Unifying.HID Driver

com.avatron.AVExVideo (1.7)

com.displaylink.driver.DisplayLinkDriver (2.0)

com.avatron.AVExFramebuffer (1.7)

com.cisco.kext.acsock (1.1.0)

org.pqrs.driver.KeyRemap4MacBook (8.3.0)

(It might be worth noting that I uninstalled KeyRemap4MacBook, thinking that might be the problem, but the freezing persisted, so I reinstalled it.)

Step 2 Results:

org.pqrs.KeyRemap4MacBook.load

com.realvnc.vncserver

com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper

com.google.keystone.daemon

com.displaylink.displaylinkmanager

com.cisco.anyconnect.vpnagentd

com.binaryage.asepsis.daemon

com.adobe.fpsaud

Step 3 Results:

org.pqrs.KeyRemap4MacBook.server

com.realvnc.vncserver.peruser

com.Logitech.Control

com.google.keystone.system.agent

com.displaylink.useragent

com.cisco.anyconnect.gui

com.binaryage.asepsis.updater

homebrew.mxcl.redis

homebrew.mxcl.mongodb

Step 4 Results:

/etc/launchd.conf

/Library/Components:

/Library/Extensions:

/Library/Frameworks:

AEProfiling.framework

AERegistration.framework

Adobe AIR.framework

AudioMixEngine.framework

NyxAudioAnalysis.framework

PluginManager.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

googletalkbrowserplugin.plugin

npgtpo3dautoplugin.plugin

nsIQTScriptablePlugin.xpt

o1dbrowserplugin.plugin

/Library/Keyboard Layouts:

/Library/LaunchAgents:

com.Logitech.Control Center.Daemon.plist

com.binaryage.asepsis.updater.plist

com.cisco.anyconnect.gui.plist

com.displaylink.useragent-prelogin.plist

com.displaylink.useragent.plist

com.google.keystone.agent.plist

com.realvnc.vncserver.peruser.plist

com.realvnc.vncserver.prelogin.plist

org.pqrs.KeyRemap4MacBook.server.plist

/Library/LaunchDaemons:

com.adobe.fpsaud.plist

com.binaryage.asepsis.daemon.plist

com.cisco.anyconnect.vpnagentd.plist

com.displaylink.displaylinkmanager.plist

com.google.keystone.daemon.plist

com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist

com.realvnc.vncserver.plist

org.pqrs.KeyRemap4MacBook.load.plist

/Library/PreferencePanes:

Air Display Preferences.prefPane

Flash Player.prefPane

Logitech Control Center.prefPane

/Library/PrivilegedHelperTools:

DisplayLink

Google Drive Icon Helper

com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper

/Library/QuickLook:

iBooksAuthor.qlgenerator

iWork.qlgenerator

/Library/QuickTime:

AppleIntermediateCodec.component

AppleMPEG2Codec.component

/Library/ScriptingAdditions:

Notifications Scripting.app

TotalTerminal.osax

/Library/Spotlight:

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:

Library/Fonts:

Library/Input Methods:

.localized

Library/Internet Plug-Ins:

Dashlane.plugin

WebEx64.plugin

Library/Keyboard Layouts:

Library/LaunchAgents:

com.apple.FolderActions.enabled.plist

com.apple.FolderActions.folders.plist

homebrew.mxcl.elasticsearch.plist

homebrew.mxcl.mongodb.plist

homebrew.mxcl.redis.plist

Library/PreferencePanes:

HyperDock.prefpane

Witch.prefPane

Step 5 Results:

Alfred 2, Dropbox, HyperDock Helper, Google Drive, DragThing, Google Chrome, AirDisplayStatusItem, ScreenCapture

Reply

Answer 13

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Sep 4, 2013 11:13 AM in response to RML604

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

Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:

Copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C).

Paste into the Terminal window (command-V).

The command may take a noticeable amount of time to run. Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign (“$”) to appear.

A TextEdit window will open with the output of the command. If the command produced no output, the window will be empty. Post the contents of the TextEdit window (not the Terminal window), if any — the text, please, not a screenshot. The title of the window doesn't matter, and you don't need to post that.

Reply

Answer 14

RML604 Author

Level 1

0 points

Sep 4, 2013 11:15 AM in response to Linc Davis

Aug 30 21:10:59 localhost kernel[0] <Debug>: Previous Shutdown Cause: 5

Sep 2 17:18:37 localhost kernel[0] <Debug>: Previous Shutdown Cause: 3

--- last message repeated 4 times ---

Sep 3 11:21:34 H86515 kernel[0] <Debug>: Previous Shutdown Cause: 3

Sep 3 11:22:21 localhost kernel[0] <Debug>: Previous Shutdown Cause: 3

--- last message repeated 7 times ---

Sep 3 17:54:14 H86515 kernel[0] <Debug>: Previous Shutdown Cause: 5

Sep 4 09:10:02 localhost kernel[0] <Debug>: Previous Shutdown Cause: 5

Sep 4 10:08:23 localhost kernel[0] <Debug>: Previous Shutdown Cause: 3

--- last message repeated 4 times ---

Reply

Answer 15

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Sep 4, 2013 12:31 PM in response to RML604

Your system is so heavily modified that, instead of trying to remove the modifications piecemeal, you should erase your boot volume, reinstall OS X, and then go through the initial setup process, importing only your user data and settings from backup — not applications or other files.

Back up all data to at least two different storage devices, if you haven't already done so. The backups can be made with Time Machine or with a mirroring tool such as Carbon Copy Cloner. Preferably both. You must be certain that you can restore everything to the state it's in now.

Note that if you're running in safe mode, you can't connect to a Time Capsule or other network volume. You'll have to back up to a locally-attached hard drive.

Boot into Recovery, launch Disk Utility, and erase the startup volume with the default options. This operation will destroy all data on the volume, so you had be better be sure of your backups.

Quit Disk Utility and install OS X. If you upgraded from an older version of OS X, you'll need the Apple ID and password that you used to purchase the upgrade from the App Store, so make a note of those before you begin.

When you reboot, you'll be prompted to go through the initial setup process in Setup Assistant. That’s when you transfer the data from one of your backups. For a description, see here.

Transfer only "Users" and "Settings" – not "Applications" or "Other files." Don't transfer the Guest account, if it was enabled on the old system.

After that, run Software Update.

If the problem is resolved after the clean installation, reinstall your third-party software selectively. I can only suggest general guidelines. Self-contained applications that install into the Applications folder by drag-and-drop or download from the App Store are usually safe. Anything that comes packaged as an installer or that prompts for an administrator password is suspect, and you must test thoroughly after reinstalling each such item to make sure you haven't restored the problem.

I recommend that you never reinstall commercial "anti-virus" products or "utilities," if they're packaged as an installer.

Before installing any software, ask yourself the question: "Am I sure I know how to uninstall this without having to wipe the volume again?" If the answer is "no," stop.

Never install any third-party software unless you know how to uninstall it.

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