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User profile for user: Tony Spina
Tony Spina Author
User level: Level 2
281 points

MacPro freezes. Cursor moves but all is locked. Need to do a hard reboot

Hello Everyone,


I need your help in trying to figure out why my MacPro in the last 3 days has locked up twice. I just happend this morning again. What I get is a frozen screen. I can move the cursor, but clicking, or using the keyboard has not effect. I also noticed that the time on the screen is not updating as well. I need to press and hold the power button to reboot.


When I check the console log I see the following info... Note that the screen froze at 6:18 if that is of any help


User uploaded file

Mac Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5), 2008 Mac Pro 2.8Ghz, 8 Cores. 16GB

Posted on Oct 4, 2013 8:43 AM

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19 replies
User profile for user: MarkusWinter
MarkusWinter
User level: Level 1
8 points

Feb 17, 2017 1:13 AM in response to Tony Spina

I had it happen nearly daily but I think I have found the culprit. In my case the issue only appeared on two Macs (iMac & MBP) that had Evernote installed, and usually when scrolling in Safari, so I suspect Evernote's web clipping feature is at fault. Uninstalled Evernote from the iMac and it hasn't frozen in a week. Installed Evernote again, and it froze within 24 hours. So I removed it again and things work fine.

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User profile for user: Singleton Makin
Singleton Makin
User level: Level 1
33 points

Oct 21, 2017 1:17 AM in response to Linc Davis

Linc,


my cursor hard freezes the entire system OSX mountain lion just after about 30 secs after the desktop displays.


i just installed Silverfast scanner software

and a Blackmagic Design HDlink usb driver for external hardware that needed a restart


i tried disk permissions as they got screwed up, but the disk appears ok.


i tried reinstall mountain lion


what causes the Hard Freeze like OS9 days on OSX ?

this is the first time this has happened.


thank you for any advice i am grateful and perplexed

do i need to clean install wiping the drive again?

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User profile for user: Linc Davis
Linc Davis
User level: Level 10
209,541 points

Oct 4, 2013 12:08 PM in response to Tony Spina

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:

syslog -k Sender kernel -k Message CReq 'GPU D|I/O|nspace-h|n Cause: -|timed? ?o' | tail | open -ef

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.

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User profile for user: Linc Davis
Linc Davis
User level: Level 10
209,541 points

Oct 10, 2013 5:48 PM in response to Tony Spina

The logs are unrevealing. The messages about stackshots are routine and don't indicate a problem.


Please read this whole message before doing anything.

I've tested these instructions only with the Safari web browser. If you use another browser, they may not work as described.

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 anywhere in 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.

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User profile for user: Tony Spina
Tony Spina Author
User level: Level 2
281 points

Oct 10, 2013 6:12 PM in response to Linc Davis

Hi Linc,


The result from step 1 is:


com.bresink.driver.BRESINKx86Monitoring (8.0)



The result from step 2 is:


com.vmware.launchd.vmware

com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper

com.bombich.ccc

com.adobe.fpsaud



The result from step 3 is:


com.hp.messagecenter.launcher

com.hp.devicemonitor

com.canon.MFManager

com.adobe.CS5ServiceManager

com.akamai.single-user-client

com.adobe.AAM.Scheduler-1.0



The result from step 4 is:


/Library/Components:



/Library/Extensions:



/Library/Frameworks:

AEProfiling.framework

AERegistration.framework

Adobe AIR.framework

AudioMixEngine.framework

EWSMac.framework

HPDeviceModel.framework

HPPml.framework

HPServicesInterface.framework

HPSmartPrint.framework

HPSmartX.framework

MacFUSE.framework

NyxAudioAnalysis.framework

PluginManager.framework

TSLicense.framework

iLifeFaceRecognition.framework

iLifeKit.framework

iLifePageLayout.framework

iLifeSQLAccess.framework

iLifeSlideshow.framework

iTunesLibrary.framework



/Library/Input Methods:



/Library/Internet Plug-Ins:

AdobeExManDetect.plugin

CANONiMAGEGATEWAYDL.plugin

Disabled Plug-Ins

Flash Player.plugin

Flip4Mac WMV Plugin.plugin

JavaAppletPlugin.plugin

OfficeLiveBrowserPlugin.plugin

Quartz Composer.webplugin

QuickTime Plugin.plugin

SharePointBrowserPlugin.plugin

SharePointWebKitPlugin.webplugin

Silverlight.plugin

flashplayer.xpt

iPhotoPhotocast.plugin

nsIQTScriptablePlugin.xpt



/Library/Keyboard Layouts:



/Library/LaunchAgents:

.DS_Store

com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist

com.adobe.CS5ServiceManager.plist

com.canon.MFManager.plist

com.hp.devicemonitor.plist

com.hp.messagecenter.launcher.plist



/Library/LaunchDaemons:

com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist

com.adobe.fpsaud.plist

com.bombich.ccc.plist

com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist

com.vmware.launchd.vmware.plist



/Library/PreferencePanes:

Flash Player.prefPane

Flip4Mac WMV.prefPane

Growl.prefPane

MacFUSE.prefPane



/Library/PrivilegedHelperTools:

com.bombich.ccc

com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper



/Library/QuickLook:

GBQLGenerator.qlgenerator

VMware Fusion QuickLook.qlgenerator

iBooksAuthor.qlgenerator

iWork.qlgenerator



/Library/QuickTime:

AppleIntermediateCodec.component

AppleMPEG2Codec.component

CanonMJPEGAVI.component

CanonMJPEGAVIDec.component

CanonText.component

Flip4Mac WMV Advanced.component

Flip4Mac WMV Export.component

Flip4Mac WMV Import.component



/Library/ScriptingAdditions:

Adobe Unit Types.osax



/Library/Spotlight:

GBSpotlightImporter.mdimporter

LogicPro.mdimporter

Microsoft Office.mdimporter

iBooksAuthor.mdimporter

iMovie.mdimporter

iWork.mdimporter



/Library/StartupItems:

BRESINKx86Monitoring

HP IO

HP Trap Monitor



/etc/mach_init.d:



/etc/mach_init_per_login_session.d:



/etc/mach_init_per_user.d:



Library/Address Book Plug-Ins:

SkypeABDialer.bundle

SkypeABSMS.bundle



Library/Fonts:



Library/Frameworks:

EWSMac.framework



Library/Input Methods:

.localized



Library/Internet Plug-Ins:



Library/Keyboard Layouts:



Library/LaunchAgents:

com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist

com.akamai.single-user-client.plist

com.apple.AddressBook.ScheduledSync.PHXCardDAVSource.E55662E8-2466-4382-9477-142 2C7DD3BF5.plist

com.apple.SafariBookmarksSyncer.plist



Library/PreferencePanes:

AkamaiNetSession.prefPane



The result from step 5 is:


VMware Fusion Helper, EEventManager, iTunesHelper, Dropbox, EEventManager, HP Scheduler




Thanks again for your help

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User profile for user: Linc Davis
Linc Davis
User level: Level 10
209,541 points

Oct 10, 2013 6:32 PM in response to Tony Spina

Please read this whole message carefully, especially the warnings, before doing anything.

1. I can only guess which of the modifications you've made to your system is causing the problem. The changes suggested here should be considered provisional; they may not help, or they may remove functionality that you find useful. If a third-party system modification that you want to keep is at fault, refer to its developer for support.

2. WARNING: Back up all data now if you haven’t already done so. Before proceeding, you must be sure you can restore your system to its present state, even if it becomes unbootable. If you’re not sure you can do that, STOP — DON’T CHANGE ANYTHING.

If you don't like the results of the procedure suggested below, restore from your backup.

I will not be responsible for the consequences, and I will not be able to help, if you ignore this warning.

3. You should either remove or update the following system modification(s), if an update is available from the developer:

N/A

and definitely remove at least the following:

† MacFUSE

Hardware Monitor kernel extension

VMWare (incomplete installation)

Dropbox

4. Whatever you remove must be removed completely, and (unless otherwise specified in this message) the only way to do that is to use the uninstallation tool, if any, provided by the third-party developers, or to follow their instructions. If the software has been incompletely removed, you may have to re-download or even reinstall it in order to finish the job. I can't be more specific, because I don't install such things myself. Please do your own research.

You will generally have to reboot after uninstalling a system modification. Until you do that, the uninstallation may have no effect, or unpredictable effects.

Here are some general guidelines to get you started. Suppose you want to remove something called “BrickYourMac.” First, consult the product's Help menu, if there is one, for instructions. Finding none there, look on the developer's website, say www.brickyourmac.com. (That may not be the actual name of the site; if necessary, search the web for the product name.) If you don’t find anything on the website or in your search, contact the developer. While you're waiting for a response, download BrickYourMac.dmg and open it. There may be an application in there such as “Uninstall BrickYourMac.” If not, open “BrickYourMac.pkg” and look for an Uninstall button.

Again, please don't ask me to do this research for you. You can do it better than I can, because I haven't installed the product and I may not even know what it is.

If you can’t remove software in any other way, you’ll have to erase and install OS X. Never install any third-party software unless you're sure you know how to uninstall it; otherwise you may create problems that are very hard to solve.

WARNING: Trying to remove complex system modifications by hunting for files by name often will not work and may make the problem worse. The same goes for "utilities" that purport to remove software.

5. I recommend that you never reinstall the modifications marked with a dagger (†) above, if any. If your problem is resolved after uninstalling all the above modifications and rebooting, but you still want to use some of those not marked with a dagger, you can experiment with putting them back, one at a time, testing carefully after each step. Keep in mind that system modifications may be incompatible with each other or with future OS X updates, so it may not be clear which one is at fault.

6. If you still have problems after making the suggested changes and rebooting, post again. Remember: if you don’t like the results of this procedure, you can undo it by restoring from the last backup you made before you started.

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MacPro freezes. Cursor moves but all is locked. Need to do a hard reboot

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