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Level 1

5 points

Mac applications still not responding after multiple attempts to fix

Hello you wonderful people of Apple.

I'm a university student using a MacBook Pro (early 2011) that in the last week has started falling apart on me. Before last week I had no big issues.

The first thing I noticed was one week ago. I tried to save a file in TextEdit I had been writing code in. When I hit Command+S to save, I got the Beach Ball and no save dialog ever appeared. I ended up force quitting Finder, but after that I couldn't get it started again. I restarted my Mac.

This happened three more times whenever I wanted to use a Save, Open, or Print Dialog. Each time I would need to restart, which would fix the problem for about 6 hours.

I went online and found instructions for deleting the .plist files, which is supposed to help but did not help.

The next thing I noticed was Time Machine stopped backing up on a daily basis. It was then (and still is now) stuck on "Looking for backup disk..." when I attempt to connect to my Time Machine to back up. To remedy this I tried going to System Preferences and into the Time Machine screen, then clicking the "options" button to see what would happen. It froze. I haven't yet been able to get this to work. Each time I must end the process in Activity Monitor.

Starting three days ago, random base applications have begun freezing upon exit or normal execution. iTunes does this most often (because I use it most often, I think). As I type, this is happening with iTunes, Console, TextEdit, and System Preferences. The only way to get them working is to forcibly restart the computer. When I try to restart with the simple "restart" button in the top-left, it does not execute because Finder stops responding.

I have verified and repaired disk permissions and verified and repaired the disk itself twice. Earlier today I reinstalled OSX from my most recent Time Machine backup, now a week old.

I'm not sure what my next step should be. Note that I cannot use Console whatsoever. It does not show a screen when open.

Things I have noticed:

-Safari and Safari Web Content are together taking up 700MB Real Memory. I have no previous statistic to compare this to, but it seems high.

-I've been monitoring processes on Activity Monitor for days, and nothing horrible seems to be popping up. Average User CPU%: 7, Average System CPU%: 11 (by my guess)

I have used ClamXav to check my system; no problems. I used EtreCheck to check my system; the first time it told me a process took 99% of CPU, and I copied the info down but I can't find that file anymore (it was not backed up to Time Machine). Subsequent runs have proven to freeze EtreCheck.

I'm lost as to what to do next. This is a great computer, but I've always felt it's a little slow for 8GB of RAM. Is it possible I have a system leak? Or a non-detectable virus?

So far the only things I can do reliably are surf the web and... that's it.

Thanks in advance for any help!

I tried to attach a screenshot of my Activity Monitor showing 5 applications frozen, but Preview froze; trying to save it in Paintbrush, the old "no save dialog" problem occurred (see above).

MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5)

Posted on Sep 29, 2013 6:33 PM

Best reply

tjk

Level 9

51,116 points

Posted on Sep 29, 2013 6:57 PM

MessMan64 wrote:

I have verified and repaired disk permissions and verified and repaired the disk itself twice. Earlier today I reinstalled OSX from my most recent Time Machine backup, now a week old.

Given that you installed an older OS that was working, it would seem not to be a software issue.

When you repaired disk, did it repair anything either/both times? If so, this could indicate a HD issue.

View in context

44 replies

MessMan64 Author

Level 1

5 points

Sep 30, 2013 10:52 AM in response to Linc Davis

Reply to Linc:

Midway through the day:

I am still having issues, however I am now fairly confident this is a Time Machine issue. I experienced no issues until I attempted a Time Machine backup. (Immediately before this, I tested thrououghly.)

Once I began backup, it went to "Looking for backup disk". Five minutes later, this message persisted. I opened iTunes, then tried to quit it. It froze. I opened Activity Monitor and used it to quit iTunes; Activity Monitor then froze. I get Beach-Balled.

I am in the process of cycling the power on both machines. I will update this post with results.

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Sep 30, 2013 11:31 AM in response to MessMan64

Disconnect your backup device and try backing up to another one. You should do that anyway. One backup is not enough to be safe/

MessMan64 Author

Level 1

5 points

Sep 30, 2013 11:33 AM in response to Linc Davis

Alright, here is the situation.

I have checked that my Time Capsule is running. It seems to be, without problem. In both AirPort Utility and AirPort Utility 5.6, no issues come up when observing my Time Capsule. I am using the Internet from it now. The light on the physical box is green and has been for a while.

When I open System Preferences, I can mess around with the Time Capsule options (meaning exclude directories, etc) all I want. After I hit the icon in the menu bar and say "Back Up Now", it begins looking for the disk and I get a "Looking for Backup Disk..." message under the icon on click.

That's when things get weird. If I open iTunes after this, it hangs. I can't do anything with it. Usually Console hangs too, but I think since it was open before I started I'm okay. Here is the console output for when I hit the "Back Up Now":

9/30/13 2:13:23.498 PM Dock[176]: CGSBindWindow: Unable to obtain window information

9/30/13 2:13:23.499 PM Dock[176]: CGSGetWindowTags: Invalid window 0x1b7

9/30/13 2:13:23.499 PM Dock[176]: find_shared_window: WID 438

9/30/13 2:13:23.499 PM Dock[176]: CGSGetWindowTags: Invalid window 0x1b6

9/30/13 2:13:23.499 PM Dock[176]: find_shared_window: WID 437

9/30/13 2:13:23.499 PM Dock[176]: CGSGetWindowTags: Invalid window 0x1b5

9/30/13 2:13:23.500 PM Dock[176]: find_shared_window: WID 436

9/30/13 2:13:23.500 PM Dock[176]: CGSGetWindowTags: Invalid window 0x1b4

9/30/13 2:13:23.500 PM Dock[176]: find_shared_window: WID 435

9/30/13 2:13:23.500 PM Dock[176]: CGSGetWindowTags: Invalid window 0x1b3

9/30/13 2:13:23.500 PM Dock[176]: find_shared_window: WID 434

9/30/13 2:13:23.500 PM Dock[176]: CGSGetWindowTags: Invalid window 0x1b2

9/30/13 2:13:23.501 PM Dock[176]: find_shared_window: WID 433

9/30/13 2:13:23.501 PM Dock[176]: CGSGetWindowTags: Invalid window 0x1b1

9/30/13 2:13:23.501 PM Dock[176]: find_shared_window: WID 432

9/30/13 2:13:23.501 PM Dock[176]: CGSGetWindowTags: Invalid window 0x1b0

9/30/13 2:13:23.501 PM Dock[176]: find_shared_window: WID 431

9/30/13 2:13:23.501 PM Dock[176]: CGSGetWindowTags: Invalid window 0x1af

9/30/13 2:13:24.469 PM WindowServer[78]: CGXGetWindowType: Invalid window 463

9/30/13 2:13:24.470 PM Dock[176]: find_shared_window: Invalid depth WindowID 0x1cf

9/30/13 2:13:24.470 PM Dock[176]: CGSGetWindowTags: Invalid window 0x1cf

9/30/13 2:13:24.470 PM Dock[176]: find_shared_window: WID 462

9/30/13 2:13:24.470 PM Dock[176]: CGSGetWindowTags: Invalid window 0x1ce

9/30/13 2:13:28.209 PM SystemUIServer[161]: *** WARNING: -[NSImage compositeToPoint:operation:] is deprecated in MacOSX 10.8 and later. Please use -[NSImage drawAtPoint:fromRect:operation:fraction:] instead.

9/30/13 2:13:28.210 PM SystemUIServer[161]: *** WARNING: -[NSImage compositeToPoint:fromRect:operation:] is deprecated in MacOSX 10.8 and later. Please use -[NSImage drawAtPoint:fromRect:operation:fraction:] instead.

9/30/13 2:13:35.927 PM com.apple.backupd[690]: Starting manual backup

9/30/13 2:13:35.962 PM com.apple.backupd[690]: Backup failed with error: 19

9/30/13 2:13:46.144 PM com.apple.backupd[690]: Starting manual backup

9/30/13 2:13:46.218 PM com.apple.backupd[690]: Attempting to mount network destination URL: afp://{{{IBLOCKEDTHIS}}};AUTH=SRP@{{{IBLOCKEDTHIS}}}.local/Data

9/30/13 2:13:46.000 PM kernel[0]: AppleSRP started.

9/30/13 2:13:57.332 PM com.apple.backupd[690]: Mounted network destination at mount point: /Volumes/Data using URL: afp://{{{IBLOCKEDTHIS}}};AUTH=SRP@{{{IBLOCKEDTHIS}}}.local/Data

9/30/13 2:13:57.000 PM kernel[0]: AFP_VFS afpfs_mount: /Volumes/Data, pid 695

9/30/13 2:13:57.000 PM kernel[0]: AFP_VFS afpfs_mount : succeeded on volume {{{IBLOCKEDTHIS}}} /Volumes/Data (error = 0, retval = 0)

9/30/13 2:14:20.619 PM coreaudiod[178]: Disabled automatic stack shots because audio IO is active

9/30/13 2:14:20.825 PM coreaudiod[178]: Enabled automatic stack shots because audio IO is inactive

9/30/13 2:14:20.885 PM coreaudiod[178]: Disabled automatic stack shots because audio IO is active

9/30/13 2:14:21.419 PM coreaudiod[178]: Enabled automatic stack shots because audio IO is inactive

9/30/13 2:14:23.212 PM coreaudiod[178]: Disabled automatic stack shots because audio IO is active

9/30/13 2:14:23.746 PM coreaudiod[178]: Enabled automatic stack shots because audio IO is inactive

9/30/13 2:14:30.043 PM coreaudiod[178]: Disabled automatic stack shots because audio IO is active

9/30/13 2:14:30.577 PM coreaudiod[178]: Enabled automatic stack shots because audio IO is inactive

9/30/13 2:14:40.000 PM kernel[0]: jnl: disk2s2: replay_journal: from: 113131520 to: 113266688 (joffset 0x3a2b000)

9/30/13 2:14:41.000 PM kernel[0]: jnl: disk2s2: journal replay done.

9/30/13 2:14:41.455 PM fseventsd[50]: could not open <</Volumes/Time Machine Backups/.fseventsd/fseventsd-uuid>> (No such file or directory)

9/30/13 2:14:42.407 PM com.apple.backupd[690]: Disk image /Volumes/Data/{{{IBLOCKEDTHIS}}}.sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/{{{IBLOCKEDTHIS}}}

9/30/13 2:14:42.410 PM com.apple.backupd[690]: Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Backups.backupdb

9/30/13 2:19:29.817 PM WindowServer[78]: CGXDeferSurfaces : Invalid source window 674

9/30/13 2:19:29.817 PM WindowServer[78]: CGXDeferSurfaces : Invalid source window 73

9/30/13 2:20:51.632 PM com.apple.launchd.peruser.501[136]: ([0x0-0x44044].com.apple.iTunes[796]) Exited: Terminated: 15

9/30/13 2:20:53.417 PM coresymbolicationd[862]: /System/Library/Caches/com.apple.coresymbolicationd/data did not validate, resetting cache

9/30/13 2:21:53.170 PM com.apple.backupd[690]: Cancellation timed out - exiting

9/30/13 2:27:51.338 PM coreservicesd[64]: SendFlattenedData, got error #{{{IBLOCKEDTHIS}}} (ipc/send) timed out from ::mach_msg(), sending notification kLSNotifyApplicationDeath to notificationID=272

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Sep 30, 2013 11:47 AM in response to MessMan64

I have checked that my Time Capsule is running. It seems to be, without problem.

Nevertheless, I suggest you delete it as a backup destination temporarily and back up to a locally-attached hard drive.

MessMan64 Author

Level 1

5 points

Sep 30, 2013 3:55 PM in response to Linc Davis

Unfortunately, my locally-attached hard drive is now having the same issue! I plugged in my new 1TB Western Digital and set it up as the new Time Machine backup destination. I had it start and left it for two hours. When I returned, it was still "Looking for backup disk...".

Now I'm a little lost.

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Sep 30, 2013 4:26 PM in response to MessMan64

Back up all data immediately as your boot drive may be failing.

This diagnostic procedure will query the system log for messages that may indicate a hardware fault. It changes nothing, and therefore will not, in itself, solve your problem.

If you have more than one user account, these instructions must be carried out as an administrator. I've tested them only with the Safari web browser. If you use another browser, they may not work as described.

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

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

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.

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. Normally the command will produce no output, and the window will be empty. If the TextEdit window (not the Terminal window) has anything in it, post it — the text, please, not a screenshot. The title of the TextEdit window doesn't matter, and you don't need to post that.

MessMan64 Author

Level 1

5 points

Sep 30, 2013 4:35 PM in response to Linc Davis

I ran the command in Terminal and a TextEdit box appeared with no output whatsoever.

I also have no way to back up my data now, right? Other than online backup, I guess.

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Sep 30, 2013 5:32 PM in response to MessMan64

There are several ways to back up a Mac that is not fully functional. You need an external hard drive to hold the backup data.

1. Boot from the Recovery partition or from a local Time Machine backup volume (option key at startup.) Launch Disk Utility and follow the instructions in this support article, under “Instructions for backing up to an external hard disk via Disk Utility.”

2. If you have access to a working Mac, and both it and the non-working Mac have FireWire or Thunderbolt ports, boot the non-working Mac in target disk mode. Use the working Mac to copy the data to another drive. This technique won't work with USB, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth.

3. If the internal drive of the non-working Mac is user-replaceable, remove it and mount it in an external enclosure or drive dock. Use another Mac to copy the data.

MessMan64 Author

Level 1

5 points

Oct 1, 2013 11:52 AM in response to Linc Davis

Okay, I've successfully completed the first option you listed. I'm all backed up.

I've also run the diagnostic procedure via terminal and I've received no output.

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Oct 1, 2013 1:29 PM in response to MessMan64

Problems such as yours are sometimes caused by files that should belong to you but are locked or have wrong permissions. This procedure will check for such files. It makes no changes and therefore will not, in itself, solve your problem.

First, empty the Trash.

Triple-click the line below on this page to select it, then copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C):

find ~ $TMPDIR.. $ -flags +sappnd,schg,uappnd,uchg -o ! -user $UID -o ! -perm -600 -o -acl $ 2> /dev/null | wc -l

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.

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.

The output of this command, on a line directly below what you entered, will be a number such as "41." Please post it in a reply.

MessMan64 Author

Level 1

5 points

Oct 1, 2013 1:35 PM in response to Linc Davis

The output of this command yielded the number 3846. Seems pretty big to me!

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Oct 1, 2013 1:43 PM in response to MessMan64

Back up all data. Don't continue unless you're sure you can restore from a backup, even if you're unable to log in.

This procedure will unlock all your user files (not system files) and reset their ownership and access-control lists to the default. If you've set special values for those attributes on any of your files, they will be reverted. In that case, either stop here, or be prepared to recreate the settings if necessary. Do so only after verifying that those settings didn't cause the problem. If none of this is meaningful to you, you don't need to worry about it.

Step 1

If you have more than one user account, and the one in question is not an administrator account, then temporarily promote it to administrator status in the Users & Groups preference pane. To do that, unlock the preference pane using the credentials of an administrator, check the box marked Allow user to administer this computer, then reboot. You can demote the problem account back to standard status when this step has been completed.

Enter the following command in the Terminal window in the same way as before (triple-click, copy, and paste):

{ sudo chflags -R nouchg,nouappnd ~ $TMPDIR.. ; sudo chown -R $UID:staff ~ $_ ; sudo chmod -R u+rwX ~ $_ ; chmod -R -N ~ $_ ; } 2> /dev/null

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 to be careful. If you don’t have a login password, you’ll need to set one before you can run the command. If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you're not logged in as an administrator.

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

Step 2 (optional)

Take this step only if you have trouble with Step 1 or if it doesn't solve the problem.

Boot into Recovery. When the OS X Utilities screen appears, select

Utilities ▹ Terminal

from the menu bar. A Terminal window will open.

In the Terminal window, type this:

res

Press the tab key. The partial command you typed will automatically be completed to this:

resetpassword

Press return. A Reset Password window will open. You’re not going to reset a password.

Select your boot volume ("Macintosh HD," unless you gave it a different name) 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.

MessMan64 Author

Level 1

5 points

Oct 1, 2013 2:50 PM in response to Linc Davis

After attempting both Step 1 and, after it failed to make a significant change, Step 2, I still have my problem.

Time Machine is still stuck on "Looking For Backup Disk".

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Oct 1, 2013 3:38 PM in response to MessMan64

This simple procedure will clear your Time Machine settings, including exclusions. The backups won't be affected. If you have a long exclusion list that can't be recreated easily, you may prefer a more complicated procedure that preserves the exclusion list. In that case, ask for instructions. Otherwise, do as follows.

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

/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TimeMachine.plist

Right-click or control-click the highlighted line and select

Services ▹ Reveal

from the contextual menu. A Finder window should open with a file selected. Copy the file to the Desktop. Then move it (the original, not the copy) to the Trash. You'll be prompted for your administrator password. Reboot and recreate your settings in the Time Machine preference pane. It will show that you have no backups. Don't worry; that's expected. Run a backup to test. The backup may take much longer than usual. If TM now performs as expected, delete the file you copied to the Desktop.

MessMan64 Author

Level 1

5 points

Oct 1, 2013 3:49 PM in response to Linc Davis

I copied to the desktop, removed the original, rebooted, and went to the preferences pane. It had me select the disk, but it had my Time Capsule right there as an option; I didn't have to "recreate my settings" really. I just selected my Time Capsule and hit "backup now". It did show that there were no previous backups.

Same thing happened; It's still looking for backup disk. I guess that's not the solution.

Mac applications still not responding after multiple attempts to fix