What is the cause of the Spinning Wheel of Death (SWOD) and how can we fix it?
I get the SWOD using Safari, Mail, Google chrome, Firefox, Mathematica, and other programs. This cannot be a browser plug-in issues as other forums suggest. I suspect a windows process at the root but I don't enough to know how to trace. Does anyone know what's causeing this epidemic?
MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.5)
The SWOD occurs when an application has been unresponsive to system events for a number of seconds.
Potential causes are myriad. Sometimes it's a badly behaved (often 3rd party) driver locking up some critical I/O. Sometimes it's running out of memory. Sometimes it's hard drive corruption. Sometimes it's badly written software tying up system resources in one way or another. The list goes on.
Activity Monitor may be able to shed some light on what is happening. You could look for unusually high CPU, disk, or memory swapping activity. You could also get info on specific stalled applications to see what they are up to. Are they using a lot of CPU? Are they thrashing memory? If you hit Sample, you may get some hint about where the application is stuck from the function call stack.
The system log may also shed some light on persistent problems. You can view it through the Console utility.
Are you suggesting I delete the "sysctl.conf" file?
I looked on the internet & it is associated with "Red Hat Linix" system. I am not using a Linix system. Do not know where it came from. Think it is safe to remove it? If so, how do I remove it?
Thank you so much for your help with this issue. I am about ready to throw this computer out & go back to a windows based system.
sysctl.conf is a concept that some Unix implementations use. OS X is one of them. However, typically it is empty. The fact that you have something in your sysctl.conf, and you do not remember doing it, is a strong indication that one of the 3rd party programs you had installed was changing system configuration variables.
Thank you for your reply. Is there any way to find out what 3rd party program would have put something in that sysctl.conf file?
Well, if it's not too big, print it out & copy it here.
from /applications/utilities/terminal
cd to what ever directory sysctl.conf is in.
cat sysctl.conf
You need to open a new discussion on this topic. It can be confusing on how to start a new discussion.
1) Find the community you wish to create a new question.
Site map of Communities and Categories
2) Look to the right of the panel, click "New" then click "Discussion".
I did not start a new discussion as I thought this may be the reason or one of the reasons for my SWOD.
susieqk wrote:
Thank you for your reply. Is there any way to find out what 3rd party program would have put something in that sysctl.conf file?
no. There is no audit trail. Just a modified sysctl.conf file.
susieqk wrote:
I agree, and please pardon my ignorance. I should have started a new thread but do not see how to do so. I believe that was the first time I had ever visited this forum. I see how to start a new 'discussion', is that the same thing?
At the top of the forum web page you will see "New". Click on that create a new thread where you are in control.
If you think another long thread strongly relates to your problem, feel free to include a link, but know that SBOD, as well as a lot of other symptoms on the outside can have totally different causes on the inside.
First of all... you don't speak for most of us.
I have the problem too. I've had it with Microsoft word and powerpoint for mac. I thought it was USB interface with my iMac because my iMac likes to unmount my Lacie external if the computer goes to sleep so I had to disable sleep mode.
Now I get the SWOD in word and powerpoint now and then and I have to force quit which looses any work I've done since last saves.
The files I'm working on have been on my Lacie external so I suspect it's the iMac's inability to maintain connection via USB to this drive and the software just freezes.
Either way, the problem is more prevalent than your tight nit group.
This is a rather old thread, and perhaps starting a new "Post" explaining your specific situation would be helpful.
SBOD just means the application stuck in that mode has stopped removing items from the Event Queue. Events are things like mouse clicks, keyboard entries, etc... An application must remove items from the queue on a timely basis, otherwise the operating system suspects it is not responding to events and changes the cursor to the spinning beach ball until the app starts to remove items from the event queue again.
Why the application has stopped processing its event queue can be anything from a disk I/O that is not returning (disk drives do fail over time and have been known to cause problems like this), it could be an external device problem (USB devices, keyboards, mice, hubs, disks, etc...) have been known to cause problems, as well as thunderbolt devices), a network I/O problem (many apps at the minimum phone home to see if there is a new version, and some apps do much more with the network). It could be a 3rd party kernel extension installed that is interfering with the proper operating of the operating system.
And a bug in an application can just cause it to get lost (although if this happens to multiple applications, it is more likely a problem with the system, not the app).
When you start your new "Post", you might include the EtreCheck output which will list 3rd party applications, and other useful configuration information about your Mac.
<https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-6174> or <http://etrecheck.com>
What is the cause of the Spinning Wheel of Death (SWOD) and how can we fix it?
