iMac (Late 2013) 27" i7 Haswell constant crashing with 32GB RAM

Question

Level 1

0 points

iMac (Late 2013) 27" i7 Haswell constant crashing with 32GB RAM

I have Crucial 4x 8GB DDR3L (dual voltage 1.35/1.5 v) RAM sticks and it is very unstable! If I reduce to two sticks i.e. 16GB the system is stable. I have tried them in different orders, but every time I have 32GB in, it crashes at least every couple of hours. Any order of RAM at 16GB is fine.

Have performed Apple Diagnostics + RAM memtest and nothing appears the matter.

Anyone else with ideas or experincing similar issues? I have installed Windows 7 via Bootcamp and running with VirtualBox, but the crashes were happening on the iMac just out of the box with nothing installed with the 32GB in.

Setup:

27-inch, Late 2013

Processor 3.5 GHz Intel Core i7

Graphics NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M 4096 MB

Software OS X 10.8.5 (12F45)

HDD 1TB Fusion Drive

Here's an example error log:

Interval Since Last Panic Report:  65334 sec
Panics Since Last Report:          1
Anonymous UUID:                    9CF2ECB9-F21B-1AD0-6570-6EC17A22DE55

Sun Nov  3 10:16:52 2013
panic(cpu 0 caller 0xffffff8002ab8945): Kernel trap at 0xffffff8002ad3434, type 14=page fault, registers:
CR0: 0x000000008001003b, CR2: 0x00000000000007aa, CR3: 0x00000000056f3000, CR4: 0x00000000001606e0
RAX: 0x0000000039b59589, RBX: 0x0000000000000580, RCX: 0xffffff80030edf18, RDX: 0x0000000039b59589
RSP: 0xffffff8391f9bce0, RBP: 0xffffff8391f9bd00, RSI: 0x000004070f0f8ced, RDI: 0xffffff8003001f20
R8:  0x0000000000000001, R9:  0x00000000000003ff, R10: 0xffffffffffffffff, R11: 0x00000000ffffffff
R12: 0x0000000000000000, R13: 0xffffff837fde0600, R14: 0xffffff80030d1b00, R15: 0x0000000000000002
RFL: 0x0000000000010002, RIP: 0xffffff8002ad3434, CS:  0x0000000000000008, SS:  0x0000000000000010
Fault CR2: 0x00000000000007aa, Error code: 0x0000000000000002, Fault CPU: 0x0

Backtrace (CPU 0), Frame : Return Address
0xffffff8391f9b980 : 0xffffff8002a1d636 
0xffffff8391f9b9f0 : 0xffffff8002ab8945 
0xffffff8391f9bbc0 : 0xffffff8002acebfd 
0xffffff8391f9bbe0 : 0xffffff8002ad3434 
0xffffff8391f9bd00 : 0xffffff8002acf884 
0xffffff8391f9bd30 : 0xffffff8002abff46 
0xffffff8391f9bd50 : 0xffffff8002a2c269 
0xffffff8391f9bd70 : 0xffffff8002a42123 
0xffffff8391f9bdc0 : 0xffffff8002b3fd7c 
0xffffff8391f9be30 : 0xffffff7f838422d4 
0xffffff8391f9be50 : 0xffffff7f838423a3 
0xffffff8391f9be70 : 0xffffff7f83c134fa 
0xffffff8391f9bea0 : 0xffffff7f83c05b12 
0xffffff8391f9bef0 : 0xffffff8002e50e58 
0xffffff8391f9bf30 : 0xffffff8002e4f95a 
0xffffff8391f9bf80 : 0xffffff8002e4fa89 
0xffffff8391f9bfb0 : 0xffffff8002ab3257 
      Kernel Extensions in backtrace:
         com.apple.iokit.IONetworkingFamily(3.0)[F02560D1-ADE6-3AD9-8D05-43CB2B7C8B87]@0xffffff7f83838000->0xffffff7f83862fff
         com.apple.iokit.AppleBCM5701Ethernet(3.6.2b4)[6E5242BB-5BD2-3BC6-ADBB-F05D02568DC0]@0xffffff7f83c04000->0xffffff7f83c3bfff
            dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOACPIFamily(1.4)[A35915E8-C1B0-3C0F-81DF-5515BC9002FC]@0xffffff7f83b98000
            dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.8)[6C1D646D-7E5E-3D7F-A557-2CBA398FF878]@0xffffff7f8308e000
            dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOEthernetAVBController(1.0.2b1)[4CE25B46-E77B-3CCC-939A-DD10DA6EBE97]@0xffffff7f83bfd000
            dependency: com.apple.iokit.IONetworkingFamily(3.0)[F02560D1-ADE6-3AD9-8D05-43CB2B7C8B87]@0xffffff7f83838000

BSD process name corresponding to current thread: kernel_task

Mac OS version:
12F45

Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 12.5.0: Sun Sep 29 13:33:47 PDT 2013; root:xnu-2050.48.12~1/RELEASE_X86_64
Kernel UUID: EA38B02E-2B88-309F-BA68-1DE29F605DD8
Kernel slide:     0x0000000002800000
Kernel text base: 0xffffff8002a00000
System model name: iMac14,2 (Mac-27ADBB7B4CEE8E61)

System uptime in nanoseconds: 4427395803894
last loaded kext at 427144044534: com.apple.filesystems.smbfs    1.8.4 (addr 0xffffff7f85097000, size 229376)
last unloaded kext at 278163156098: com.apple.iokit.IOUSBMassStorageClass    3.5.2 (addr 0xffffff7f838e1000, size 69632)
loaded kexts:
org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetAdp    4.3.2
org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetFlt    4.3.2
org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxUSB    4.3.2
org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxDrv    4.3.2
com.apple.filesystems.smbfs    1.8.4
com.apple.driver.AppleHWSensor    1.9.5d0
com.apple.filesystems.autofs    3.0
com.apple.driver.AppleBluetoothMultitouch    75.19
com.apple.driver.AudioAUUC    1.60
com.apple.iokit.IOBluetoothSerialManager    4.1.7f4
com.apple.driver.AGPM    100.13.12
com.apple.driver.ApplePlatformEnabler    2.0.7d2
com.apple.driver.X86PlatformShim    1.0.0
com.apple.driver.AppleMikeyHIDDriver    124
com.apple.driver.AppleHDA    2.4.7fc4
com.apple.driver.AppleUpstreamUserClient    3.5.12
com.apple.GeForce    8.1.6
com.apple.iokit.IOUserEthernet    1.0.0d1
com.apple.driver.AppleMikeyDriver    2.4.7fc4
com.apple.driver.AppleIntelHD5000Graphics    8.1.6
com.apple.driver.AppleBacklight    170.3.5
com.apple.iokit.BroadcomBluetoothHostControllerUSBTransport    4.1.7f4
com.apple.Dont_Steal_Mac_OS_X    7.0.0
com.apple.driver.AppleSMBusPCI    1.0.11d1
com.apple.driver.AppleSMCLMU    2.0.3d0
com.apple.driver.AppleLPC    1.6.3
com.apple.driver.AppleMCCSControl    1.1.11
com.apple.driver.ApplePolicyControl    3.4.5
com.apple.driver.AppleIntelFramebufferAzul    8.1.6
com.apple.AppleFSCompression.AppleFSCompressionTypeDataless    1.0.0d1
com.apple.AppleFSCompression.AppleFSCompressionTypeZlib    1.0.0d1
com.apple.BootCache    34
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBHub    635.4.0
com.apple.driver.XsanFilter    404
com.apple.iokit.IOAHCIBlockStorage    2.3.5
com.apple.driver.AppleSDXC    1.4.3
com.apple.iokit.AppleBCM5701Ethernet    3.6.2b4
com.apple.driver.AirPort.Brcm4360    641.15.1
com.apple.driver.AppleAHCIPort    2.6.6
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBXHCI    635.4.0
com.apple.driver.AppleACPIButtons    1.8
com.apple.driver.AppleRTC    1.5
com.apple.driver.AppleHPET    1.8
com.apple.driver.AppleSMBIOS    1.9
com.apple.driver.AppleACPIEC    1.8
com.apple.driver.AppleAPIC    1.7
com.apple.nke.applicationfirewall    4.0.39
com.apple.security.quarantine    2.1
com.apple.driver.AppleBluetoothHIDKeyboard    170.2.4
com.apple.driver.AppleHIDKeyboard    170.2.4
com.apple.kext.triggers    1.0
com.apple.driver.IOBluetoothHIDDriver    4.1.7f4
com.apple.driver.AppleMultitouchDriver    237.4
com.apple.iokit.IOSerialFamily    10.0.6
com.apple.driver.DspFuncLib    2.4.7fc4
com.apple.iokit.IOAudioFamily    1.9.2fc7
com.apple.kext.OSvKernDSPLib    1.12
com.apple.nvidia.gk100hal    8.1.6
com.apple.NVDAResman    8.1.6
com.apple.iokit.IOSurface    86.0.4
com.apple.iokit.IOAcceleratorFamily2    74.15
com.apple.driver.AppleBacklightExpert    1.0.4
com.apple.iokit.IOBluetoothHostControllerUSBTransport    4.1.7f4
com.apple.iokit.IOBluetoothFamily    4.1.7f4
com.apple.driver.AppleHDAController    2.4.7fc4
com.apple.iokit.IOHDAFamily    2.4.7fc4
com.apple.driver.X86PlatformPlugin    1.0.0
com.apple.driver.AppleSMC    3.1.5d4
com.apple.driver.IOPlatformPluginFamily    5.4.1d13
com.apple.driver.AppleSMBusController    1.0.11d1
com.apple.driver.AppleGraphicsControl    3.4.5
com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport    2.3.7
com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily    2.3.7
com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltEDMSink    1.2.0
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBMergeNub    621.4.6
com.apple.iokit.IOSCSIArchitectureModelFamily    3.5.6
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBComposite    621.4.0
com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltDPOutAdapter    2.5.0
com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltDPInAdapter    2.5.0
com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltDPAdapterFamily    2.5.0
com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltPCIDownAdapter    1.3.2
com.apple.driver.CoreStorage    296.18.2
com.apple.iokit.IOUSBUserClient    630.4.4
com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltNHI    1.9.2
com.apple.iokit.IOThunderboltFamily    2.7.7
com.apple.iokit.IOEthernetAVBController    1.0.2b1
com.apple.iokit.IO80211Family    530.5
com.apple.iokit.IONetworkingFamily    3.0
com.apple.iokit.IOAHCIFamily    2.5.1
com.apple.iokit.IOUSBFamily    635.4.0
com.apple.driver.AppleEFINVRAM    2.0
com.apple.iokit.IOHIDFamily    1.8.1
com.apple.driver.AppleEFIRuntime    2.0
com.apple.iokit.IOSMBusFamily    1.1
com.apple.security.sandbox    220.3
com.apple.kext.AppleMatch    1.0.0d1
com.apple.security.TMSafetyNet    7
com.apple.driver.DiskImages    345
com.apple.iokit.IOStorageFamily    1.8
com.apple.driver.AppleKeyStore    28.21
com.apple.driver.AppleACPIPlatform    1.8
com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily    2.8
com.apple.iokit.IOACPIFamily    1.4
com.apple.kec.corecrypto    1.0
System Profile:
Model: iMac14,2, BootROM IM142.0118.B00, 4 processors, Intel Core i7, 3.5 GHz, 16 GB, SMC 2.15f2
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M, PCIe, 4096 MB
Memory Module: BANK 0/DIMM1, 8 GB, DDR3, 1600 MHz, 0x859B, 0x435438473353313630424D2E4D3136464444
Memory Module: BANK 1/DIMM1, 8 GB, DDR3, 1600 MHz, 0x859B, 0x435438473353313630424D2E4D3136464444
AirPort: spairport_wireless_card_type_airport_extreme (0x14E4, 0x111), Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0 (6.30.225.29.1)
Bluetooth: Version 4.1.7f4 12974, 3 service, 21 devices, 3 incoming serial ports
Network Service: Ethernet, Ethernet, en0
Network Service: Wi-Fi, AirPort, en1
Serial ATA Device: APPLE HDD WD10EZES-40UFAA0, 1 TB
Serial ATA Device: APPLE SSD SD0128F, 121.33 GB
USB Device: HD-GDU3, 0x0411  (Melco, Inc.), 0x0235, 0x15600000 / 10
USB Device: FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in), apple_vendor_id, 0x8511, 0x14700000 / 5
USB Device: BRCM20702 Hub, 0x0a5c  (Broadcom Corp.), 0x4500, 0x14800000 / 1
USB Device: Bluetooth USB Host Controller, apple_vendor_id, 0x828d, 0x14830000 / 2

Many thanks

iMac (27-inch, Late 2013), OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5)

Posted on Nov 3, 2013 4:03 AM

Reply

Answer 1

cdanr

Level 1

39 points

Mar 6, 2014 3:10 PM in response to cdanr

Colojo, you also want to have a look at this page regarding Mavericks support on Drobo devices:

Almost all external hard drives these days will mount in OS X without special software but apparently Drobo is a bit of a throwback in that regard. Also, a lot of users complain that once new OS revisions are released by Apple, Drobo is often very slow in offering updated drivers.

Do a Google search for com.drobo.SCSI.ThunderBolt or even just search it here in these forums and you will find a lot of recent posts from folks dealing with kernel panics.

Reply

Answer 2

Colojo

Level 1

0 points

Mar 6, 2014 3:16 PM in response to cdanr

Thank you for your ideas and suggestions, cdanr. I do have Drobo's latest drivers.

I'm very leery of the Drobo unit because, as you mentioned, they have their own proprietary Thunderbolt driver as well as their own proprietary data storage format. So I've ordered a Promise Pegasus2 R4 to replace it. That unit should arrive tomorrow and once I move my data from the Drobo to the Pegasus, I'll remove Drobo's drivers and begin my testing anew. I'll be sure to report back with the results.

Reply

Answer 3

cdanr

Level 1

39 points

Mar 6, 2014 8:08 PM in response to Colojo

Colojo wrote:

So I've ordered a Promise Pegasus2 R4 to replace it.

Now that's a sweet machine! Looking forward to your update and I wouldn't be surprised to hear that your problems have magically disappeared. 🙂

Reply

Answer 4

Mar 7, 2014 2:11 PM in response to shaunumb

I received my replacement RAM from Kingston earlier this week. The only visible difference is in the extended part number. The replacement chips are marked as 9905428-087.A00LF (orginal were 9905428-155.A00LF). So far I have made it nearly 48 hours without a KP or application crash. The original chips started crashing less than 24 hours after installation.

While waiting for the replacements to arrive I upgraded to Mavericks (10.9.2) and setup a 3rd external drive for Time Machine. The entire system does seem more responsive than it did with the original 32GB installed. I don't want to get my hopes up but maybe it will be stable this time.

Reply

Answer 5

Mar 12, 2014 4:54 AM in response to curtfleenor

The replacement RAM from Kingston has been installed and stable for a full week with no sign of any issues. In fact, I have only had to perform one reboot and that was only because Spotlight search went into a death spiral and froze Finder.

I'm still reluctant to pronounce my particular issue as resolved but it is looking pretty good so far.

Reply

Answer 6

cdanr

Level 1

39 points

Mar 12, 2014 3:36 PM in response to curtfleenor

I read on another forum that with the Kingston, if the RAM module supplier on the DIMMs is Micron then it's fine but that the problems occur with other maker chips onboard. Kingston uses a lot of different suppliers in their products so it can be hit or miss as is indicated by users in this thread,

Speaking of Micron, It is 3 weeks today with my Crucial replacement and smooth, kernel panic-free sailing. Only one more week until I call this case closed at last.

Reply

Answer 7

DYostAZ

Level 1

10 points

Mar 16, 2014 9:19 PM in response to John.Orban.who.lives.in.USA

Are you using the CyberPower PowerPanel v1.0 software? It caused kernel panics on my iMac running 10.8.5. I have sent the crash logs to CyberPower so that they can to try to fix the problem - so far, no luck. When I stopped using the sofware the panics stopped immediately. I did not see any such panics when I was using the 0.9 version of PowerPanel so something changed. Good luck.

Reply

Answer 8

cdanr

Level 1

39 points

Mar 20, 2014 7:33 AM in response to shaunumb

I just posted this to the Crucial Forums and I wanted to follow up in here as well:

Well, I never thought I'd get here but it has now been one solid month of heavy usage with my replacement set of Crucial CT2C8G3S160BM and it has been rock solid. I haven't had a single crash nor kernel panic and I am going to go out on a limb and say that if it hasn't happened yet at one month in, I'm probably OK.

It was a hellish ride to get to this point but I want others out there to know that there is hope for stable operation at 32GB with the Haswell iMacs.

I will continue to monitor this thread, and of course in the extremely unlikely event that problems occur in the future I will post about that as well.

I wish a happy resolution to all those dealing with RAM issues in their iMacs.

Reply

Answer 9

morcera

Level 1

0 points

Mar 24, 2014 10:56 AM in response to shaunumb

Hello all,

My two cents : I had the same errors, apart from some other ones, like : boot up the machine, connect an external disk -> copy files from internal disk to external disk and ... the copy stops although no errors appears. I also had some kernel panics without a clear reason.

We are on the way to resolve it, so take a look at the following:

KTA-MB1600L/8GB

9905428-155.A00LF

KTA-MB1600L/8GB

9905428-087.A00LF

We are testing this : although they seems to be the same part number, there are a couple of revisions. The one with 155 does not work and shows a lot of problems. The one with 087 seems to work.

Hope it helps.

Reply

Answer 10

Mar 24, 2014 10:03 PM in response to shaunumb

FYI, I bought four of

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231704

giving 4 x 8GB = 32GB and had constant problems (brand new 27" iMac bought at the end of Jan 2014).

Eventually (yesterday) I contacted GSKILL customer support and received the following answer:

---

Dear Customer

Exchange for this model and it will work great:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231727

You need a DDR3-1600 CL11, not CL9. Apple computers can only support DDR3-1333 CL9 and DDR3-1600 CL11

Thank you

GSKILL SUPPORT

---

Instead of exchanging (it's too late at this point), I'm going to try programming the EEPROM/SPDs on my ram to CL11-11-11-28 (from CL9-9-9-28) and see how that works out. I've done that previously on some Mushkin ram in a Linux HTPC to get better timings since the SPDs were programmed for safe defaults instead of the RAMs higher performance real values and that worked fine.

(You can theoretically always safely increase latency by flashing higher values into the SPD)

If that works out, then this is something apple could fix with a firmware upgrade, because it simply means the machine's firmware is too aggressive with tuning for low latency memory and could (for example) simply interpret CL9-9-9 from the ram SPDs as CL11-11-11.

We'll see...

Reply

Answer 11

Colojo

Level 1

0 points

Apr 29, 2014 11:01 AM in response to MaZePallas

UPDATE: After much troubleshooting with Apple to no avail, they offered to replace the computer. I've had the replacement for over a week now and no matter how hard I stress it it doesn't crash. I've therefore come to the conclusion that I had a lemon iMac and that neither Drobo nor Promise were to blame for the crashes I had.

BTW, the Promise Pegasus2 rocks. I absolutely love it.

Thanks to all for your tips and advice along the way.

Reply

Answer 12

May 9, 2014 5:45 AM in response to morcera

@morcera Thanks for pointing this out! We see similar issues with some of our iMac 27-inch 2013 machines.

iMac 27-inch 2013 with 4 of these memory modules have almost daily issues with kernel panics.

KTA-MB1600L/8GB

9905428-155.A00LF

iMac 27-inch 2013 with 4 of these memory modules DO NOT seem to have issues with kernel panics.

KTA-MB1600L/8GB

9905428-087.A00LF

Reply

Answer 13

May 10, 2014 3:32 AM in response to Thomas Berglund

Btw. I have reason to believe that the problem is that some 8GB modules are just a _tad_ bit too power hungry (probably on the data lines) when you use 4 of them leading to signal degredation which sporadically causes bit flips (and thus crashes).

Flashing SPDs from CL9 to CL11 improved the situation drastically, but was still seeing occasional crashes. I've since removed a stick and gone from 32 (4x8GB) to 24 (3x8GB) GB of memory and issues have apparently vanished.

That said, I do want to have the full 32, so I guess it's time to get these swapped.

Reply

Answer 14

May 14, 2014 7:41 AM in response to shaunumb

Hi there, I bought my brand new iMac 27" 3,5 GHz i7, 500GB SSD, 8GB (2x4GB HYNIX) and replaced it with
4xKINGSTON
KTA - MB1600/8G
9905428 - 186.A00LF

The iMac crashed many times a day. What shuld I do?

Reply

Answer 15

fototypo

Level 1

30 points

Jun 2, 2014 2:23 AM in response to shaunumb

Any news on this issue? I do have the same problems with a total of 32GB of Kingston KTA-MB1600/8G. Sometimes 2 panics a day. But also 14 days in a row of heavy usage without any crashes! Crazy. it's absolutely randomly. Did various things suggested here and else where (reseated ram, another order, periperals ...)

Tested with "rember" for 24 hours without finding anything, also apple diagnostics. I read a lot, seems like it's really some VERY esoteric fault somewhere. Obviously it's rather hit and miss whether the modules work or not (you can find any brand, any voltage rating and so on ...) so I really don't know what to think of it.

And still no apple statement?

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