Messages app hangs and chews up memory on Yosemite

Question

Level 1

20 points

Messages app hangs and chews up memory on Yosemite

I installed Yosemite 10.10.2 on a 2010 imac over Mountain Lion. Messages opens, but then hangs, and as long as it's allowed to run at all it will eat up more memory, then virtual memory. I had it running today, but not using it, and found it had generated 20GB of virtual memory on disk. I can force quit the app, but cannot get it to run properly. It DID run for a while after the OS X update, but no longer. As soon as it's the active window, I get beachballs.

I've done disk permissions repair, reset the SMC and PRAM. Same story.

12GB ram in the machine.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

Posted on Feb 11, 2015 4:03 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Feb 11, 2015 4:41 PM in response to bigdaddy999

Launch the Console 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 and start typing the name.

The title of the Console window should be All Messages. If it isn't, select

SYSTEM LOG QUERIES ▹ All Messages

from the log list on the left. If you don't see that list, select

View ▹ Show Log List

from the menu bar at the top of the screen.

Click the Clear Display icon in the toolbar. Then launch Messages. Select any lines that appear in the Console window. Copy them to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. Paste into a reply to this message by pressing command-V.

The log contains a vast amount of information, almost all of which is irrelevant to solving any particular problem. When posting a log extract, be selective. A few dozen lines are almost always more than enough.

Please don't indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.

Please don't post screenshots of log messages—post the text.

Some private information, such as your name or email address, may appear in the log. Anonymize before posting.

Reply

Answer 2

bigdaddy999 Author

Level 1

20 points

Feb 11, 2015 5:03 PM in response to Linc Davis

Here's the info you requested. Messages launch is underlined.

Thank you for the help.

2/11/15 7:56:13.018 PM TOCGenerator[2727]: WARNING: The Gestalt selector gestaltSystemVersion is returning 10.9.2 instead of 10.10.2. Use NSProcessInfo's operatingSystemVersion property to get correct system version number.

Call location:

2/11/15 7:56:13.018 PM TOCGenerator[2727]: 0 CarbonCore 0x9a7cb7c7 ___Gestalt_SystemVersion_block_invoke + 135

2/11/15 7:56:13.018 PM TOCGenerator[2727]: 1 libdispatch.dylib 0x94dbf130 _dispatch_client_callout + 50

2/11/15 7:56:13.018 PM TOCGenerator[2727]: 2 libdispatch.dylib 0x94dbf0b5 dispatch_once_f + 251

2/11/15 7:56:13.018 PM TOCGenerator[2727]: 3 libdispatch.dylib 0x94dc00d8 dispatch_once + 31

2/11/15 7:56:13.018 PM TOCGenerator[2727]: 4 CarbonCore 0x9a75de88 _Gestalt_SystemVersion + 1050

2/11/15 7:56:13.018 PM TOCGenerator[2727]: 5 CarbonCore 0x9a75da39 Gestalt + 150

2/11/15 7:56:13.018 PM TOCGenerator[2727]: 6 TOCGenerator 0x000023da -[AppDelegate applicationDidFinishLaunching:] + 28

2/11/15 7:56:13.193 PM com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.hp.help.tocgenerator) Service only ran for 0 seconds. Pushing respawn out by 10 seconds.

2/11/15 7:56:15.493 PM com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.apple.imfoundation.IMRemoteURLConnectionAgent) The _DirtyJetsamMemoryLimit key is not available on this platform.

2/11/15 7:56:15.529 PM Messages[2729]: schema version 8009

2/11/15 7:56:20.474 PM com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.aladdin.hasplmd[2734]) Service exited due to signal: Trace/BPT trap: 5

2/11/15 7:56:20.474 PM com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.aladdin.hasplmd) Service only ran for 0 seconds. Pushing respawn out by 10 seconds.

2/11/15 7:56:20.476 PM ReportCrash[2712]: Saved crash report for hasplmd[2734] version ??? to /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/hasplmd_2015-02-11-195620_MyImac.crash

2/11/15 7:56:23.321 PM TOCGenerator[2736]: WARNING: The Gestalt selector gestaltSystemVersion is returning 10.9.2 instead of 10.10.2. Use NSProcessInfo's operatingSystemVersion property to get correct system version number.

Call location:

2/11/15 7:56:23.321 PM TOCGenerator[2736]: 0 CarbonCore 0x9a7cb7c7 ___Gestalt_SystemVersion_block_invoke + 135

2/11/15 7:56:23.321 PM TOCGenerator[2736]: 1 libdispatch.dylib 0x94dbf130 _dispatch_client_callout + 50

2/11/15 7:56:23.321 PM TOCGenerator[2736]: 2 libdispatch.dylib 0x94dbf0b5 dispatch_once_f + 251

2/11/15 7:56:23.321 PM TOCGenerator[2736]: 3 libdispatch.dylib 0x94dc00d8 dispatch_once + 31

2/11/15 7:56:23.321 PM TOCGenerator[2736]: 4 CarbonCore 0x9a75de88 _Gestalt_SystemVersion + 1050

2/11/15 7:56:23.321 PM TOCGenerator[2736]: 5 CarbonCore 0x9a75da39 Gestalt + 150

2/11/15 7:56:23.321 PM TOCGenerator[2736]: 6 TOCGenerator 0x000023da -[AppDelegate applicationDidFinishLaunching:] + 28

2/11/15 7:56:23.449 PM com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.hp.help.tocgenerator) Service only ran for 0 seconds. Pushing respawn out by 10 seconds.

2/11/15 7:56:30.611 PM com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.aladdin.hasplmd[2738]) Service exited due to signal: Trace/BPT trap: 5

2/11/15 7:56:30.611 PM com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.aladdin.hasplmd) Service only ran for 0 seconds. Pushing respawn out by 10 seconds.

2/11/15 7:56:30.614 PM ReportCrash[2712]: Saved crash report for hasplmd[2738] version ??? to /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/hasplmd_2015-02-11-195630_MyImac.crash

2/11/15 7:56:33.568 PM TOCGenerator[2739]: WARNING: The Gestalt selector gestaltSystemVersion is returning 10.9.2 instead of 10.10.2. Use NSProcessInfo's operatingSystemVersion property to get correct system version number.

Call location:

2/11/15 7:56:33.568 PM TOCGenerator[2739]: 0 CarbonCore 0x9a7cb7c7 ___Gestalt_SystemVersion_block_invoke + 135

2/11/15 7:56:33.569 PM TOCGenerator[2739]: 1 libdispatch.dylib 0x94dbf130 _dispatch_client_callout + 50

2/11/15 7:56:33.569 PM TOCGenerator[2739]: 2 libdispatch.dylib 0x94dbf0b5 dispatch_once_f + 251

2/11/15 7:56:33.569 PM TOCGenerator[2739]: 3 libdispatch.dylib 0x94dc00d8 dispatch_once + 31

2/11/15 7:56:33.569 PM TOCGenerator[2739]: 4 CarbonCore 0x9a75de88 _Gestalt_SystemVersion + 1050

2/11/15 7:56:33.569 PM TOCGenerator[2739]: 5 CarbonCore 0x9a75da39 Gestalt + 150

2/11/15 7:56:33.569 PM TOCGenerator[2739]: 6 TOCGenerator 0x000023da -[AppDelegate applicationDidFinishLaunching:] + 28

2/11/15 7:56:33.759 PM com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.hp.help.tocgenerator) Service only ran for 0 seconds. Pushing respawn out by 10 seconds.

2/11/15 7:56:40.675 PM com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.apple.ReportCrash.Root[2742]) Endpoint has been activated through legacy launch(3) APIs. Please switch to XPC or bootstrap_check_in(): com.apple.ReportCrash.DirectoryService

2/11/15 7:56:40.842 PM com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.aladdin.hasplmd[2741]) Service exited due to signal: Trace/BPT trap: 5

2/11/15 7:56:40.842 PM com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.aladdin.hasplmd) Service only ran for 0 seconds. Pushing respawn out by 10 seconds.

2/11/15 7:56:40.873 PM ReportCrash[2742]: Saved crash report for hasplmd[2741] version ??? to /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/hasplmd_2015-02-11-195640_MyImac.crash

2/11/15 7:56:43.874 PM TOCGenerator[2743]: WARNING: The Gestalt selector gestaltSystemVersion is returning 10.9.2 instead of 10.10.2. Use NSProcessInfo's operatingSystemVersion property to get correct system version number.

Call location:

2/11/15 7:56:43.875 PM TOCGenerator[2743]: 0 CarbonCore 0x9a7cb7c7 ___Gestalt_SystemVersion_block_invoke + 135

2/11/15 7:56:43.875 PM TOCGenerator[2743]: 1 libdispatch.dylib 0x94dbf130 _dispatch_client_callout + 50

2/11/15 7:56:43.875 PM TOCGenerator[2743]: 2 libdispatch.dylib 0x94dbf0b5 dispatch_once_f + 251

2/11/15 7:56:43.875 PM TOCGenerator[2743]: 3 libdispatch.dylib 0x94dc00d8 dispatch_once + 31

2/11/15 7:56:43.875 PM TOCGenerator[2743]: 4 CarbonCore 0x9a75de88 _Gestalt_SystemVersion + 1050

2/11/15 7:56:43.875 PM TOCGenerator[2743]: 5 CarbonCore 0x9a75da39 Gestalt + 150

2/11/15 7:56:43.875 PM TOCGenerator[2743]: 6 TOCGenerator 0x000023da -[AppDelegate applicationDidFinishLaunching:] + 28

2/11/15 7:56:44.064 PM com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.hp.help.tocgenerator) Service only ran for 0 seconds. Pushing respawn out by 10 seconds.

Reply

Answer 3

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Feb 11, 2015 6:09 PM in response to bigdaddy999

There may be other issues, but one that you must deal with first is that the "Sentinel HASP" license manager is crashing repeatedly. It was installed along with some professional content-creation software. Either remove the software, update it, or refer to its developer for support.

Reply

Answer 4

bigdaddy999 Author

Level 1

20 points

Feb 12, 2015 5:20 AM in response to Linc Davis

Thanks. I deleted the only software that has requested an update recently (I didn't use it), as I found someone else with a Hasp-related error to that same software. However, after restart, it' still there. How can I determine what those com.apple.xxxxx(com.alladin.hasp) entries tie to, if it's not that.

I'll try re-installing that software and see what happens, but is there another way to determine what might be using HASP? It appears that safe-net.com was late to updating this, so there's a number of people with this issue..... with a variety of different software involved, however.

Reply

Answer 5

bigdaddy999 Author

Level 1

20 points

Feb 12, 2015 6:31 AM in response to bigdaddy999

Ok. figured out how to get rid of those errors. One was from safe-net.com (HASPLMD error), and the other was from HP printer software. To delete the HASPLMD, I downloaded the latest driver package and ran the uninstaller from here:

http://sentinelcustomer.safenet-inc.com/sentineldownloads/?s=&c=End+User&p=Senti nel+HASP&o=all&t=all

The HP was accomplished by deleting the software, then running two commands, per this post:

For anyone else getting annoying com.hp.help.tocgenerator messages

So, here's the remaining Console message. I start Messages, then force quit it at the end. When I forced quit Messages, it was taking 546MB of RAM and growing. For a time it was also over-using CPU.

2/12/15 9:20:35.251 AM SystemUIServer[235]: Attempt to use XPC with a MachService that has HideUntilCheckIn set. This will result in unpredictable behavior: com.apple.backupd.status.xpc

2/12/15 9:20:37.116 AM spindump[365]: Saved hang report for Messages version 8.0 (4733) to /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Messages_2015-02-12-092037_MyImac.hang

2/12/15 9:20:49.250 AM com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.apple.imfoundation.IMRemoteURLConnectionAgent) The _DirtyJetsamMemoryLimit key is not available on this platform.

2/12/15 9:20:49.287 AM Messages[455]: schema version 8009

2/12/15 9:21:25.063 AM XPCKeychainSandboxCheck[466]: Can't get sandbox fs extension for /Library/Sophos Anti-Virus/Sophos.keychain, status=-1 errno=No such file or directory ext=(null)

2/12/15 9:22:19.000 AM kernel[0]: process Messages[455] thread 13696 caught burning CPU! It used more than 50% CPU (Actual recent usage: 99%) over 180 seconds. thread lifetime cpu usage 90.034850 seconds, (86.776068 user, 3.258782 system) ledger info: balance: 90007467611 credit: 90012861295 debit: 5393684 limit: 90000000000 (50%) period: 180000000000 time since last refill (ns): 90232271040

2/12/15 9:22:19.419 AM com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.apple.ReportCrash[474]) Endpoint has been activated through legacy launch(3) APIs. Please switch to XPC or bootstrap_check_in(): com.apple.ReportCrash

2/12/15 9:22:19.421 AM ReportCrash[474]: Invoking spindump for pid=455 thread=13696 percent_cpu=99 duration=91 because of excessive cpu utilization

2/12/15 9:22:20.175 AM spindump[365]: Error loading dyld shared cache uuid 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000: 0x8

2/12/15 9:22:20.533 AM spindump[365]: Saved cpu_resource.diag report for Messages version 8.0 (4733) to /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Messages_2015-02-12-092220_MyImac.cpu_resource. diag

2/12/15 9:23:34.187 AM CoreServicesUIAgent[275]: unexpected message <OS_xpc_error: <error: 0x10ef0ec60> { count = 1, contents =

"XPCErrorDescription" => <string: 0x10ef0ef70> { length = 18, contents = "Connection invalid" }

}>

2/12/15 9:23:34.267 AM com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.apple.iChat.61376[455]) Service exited due to signal: Terminated: 15

2/12/15 9:23:35.664 AM spindump[365]: Saved hang report for Messages version 8.0 (4733) to /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Messages_2015-02-12-092335_MyImac.hang

That crash log at the end is a large text file, so I'm not posting it here unless requested

THANK YOU.

Reply

Answer 6

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Feb 12, 2015 7:54 AM in response to bigdaddy999

Remove the Sophos product by following the instructions on this page. If you have a different version, the procedure may be different.

Back up all data before making any changes.

Reply

Answer 7

bigdaddy999 Author

Level 1

20 points

Feb 13, 2015 5:22 AM in response to Linc Davis

Thanks. That page didn't work but I found another page which indicated how to remove the sophos keychain manually.

http://openforum.sophos.com/t5/Mac-tools-help/How-to-remove-the-read-only-Sophos -keychain-after-uninstalling/td-p/15027

So now my console is clear after startup finishes.

Starting Messages gives this in console. I did a force-quit after it had beach-balled for a while (not responding), then started word to copy the log. It still hangs and will consume GB's of disk space with VM if not forced to quit.

Do you know what causes the call out to another computer (bold/underlined xxxxxxx). this was another machine of mine, but it's not connected, and at one point would have been on the local network.

Thanks again for helping me through this.

2/13/15 8:06:02.384 AM com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.apple.imfoundation.IMRemoteURLConnectionAgent) The _DirtyJetsamMemoryLimit key is not available on this platform.

2/13/15 8:06:02.420 AM Messages[520]: schema version 8009

2/13/15 8:06:54.350 AM CoreServicesUIAgent[250]: unexpected message <OS_xpc_error: <error: 0x10bd48c60> { count = 1, contents =

"XPCErrorDescription" => <string: 0x10bd48f70> { length = 18, contents = "Connection invalid" }

}>

2/13/15 8:06:54.444 AM com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.apple.iChat.61376[520]) Service exited due to signal: Terminated: 15

2/13/15 8:06:56.339 AM spindump[380]: Saved hang report for Messages version 8.0 (4733) to /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Messages_2015-02-13-080656_MyImac.hang

2/13/15 8:07:09.350 AM Microsoft Word[537]: WARNING: The Gestalt selector gestaltSystemVersion is returning 10.9.2 instead of 10.10.2. Use NSProcessInfo's operatingSystemVersion property to get correct system version number.

Call location:

2/13/15 8:07:09.350 AM Microsoft Word[537]: 0 CarbonCore 0x9a7cb7c7 ___Gestalt_SystemVersion_block_invoke + 135

2/13/15 8:07:09.350 AM Microsoft Word[537]: 1 libdispatch.dylib 0x94dbf0b5 dispatch_once_f + 251

2/13/15 8:07:09.350 AM Microsoft Word[537]: 2 libdispatch.dylib 0x94dc00d8 dispatch_once + 31

2/13/15 8:07:09.350 AM Microsoft Word[537]: 3 CarbonCore 0x9a75de88 _Gestalt_SystemVersion + 1050

2/13/15 8:07:09.350 AM Microsoft Word[537]: 4 CarbonCore 0x9a75da39 Gestalt + 150

2/13/15 8:07:09.351 AM Microsoft Word[537]: 5 MicrosoftComponentPlugin 0x0223a3be McpInitLibrary_ + 505

2/13/15 8:07:09.351 AM Microsoft Word[537]: 6 MicrosoftComponentPlugin 0x0223a1ee McpInitLibrary_ + 41

2/13/15 8:08:16.499 AM com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.apple.imfoundation.IMRemoteURLConnectionAgent) The _DirtyJetsamMemoryLimit key is not available on this platform.

2/13/15 8:08:19.675 AM WindowServer[156]: disable_update_timeout: UI updates were forcibly disabled by application "Mail" for over 1.00 seconds. Server has re-enabled them.

2/13/15 8:08:19.886 AM WindowServer[156]: common_reenable_update: UI updates were finally reenabled by application "Mail" after 1.21 seconds (server forcibly re-enabled them after 1.00 seconds)

2/13/15 8:08:21.445 AM com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.apple.imfoundation.IMRemoteURLConnectionAgent) The _DirtyJetsamMemoryLimit key is not available on this platform.

2/13/15 8:08:31.850 AM com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.apple.imfoundation.IMRemoteURLConnectionAgent) The _DirtyJetsamMemoryLimit key is not available on this platform.

2/13/15 8:08:43.960 AM sandboxd[269]: ([557]) com.apple.WebKit(557) deny file-read-data /Library/Preferences/com.apple.security-common.plist

2/13/15 8:08:44.050 AM sandboxd[269]: ([552]) com.apple.WebKit(552) deny file-read-data /Library/Preferences/com.apple.security-common.plist

2/13/15 8:08:44.175 AM com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.apple.imfoundation.IMRemoteURLConnectionAgent) The _DirtyJetsamMemoryLimit key is not available on this platform.

2/13/15 8:09:02.275 AM com.apple.kextcache[447]: VBoxDrvTiger.kext - no dependency found for com.apple.kernel.bsd.

2/13/15 8:09:02.275 AM com.apple.kextcache[447]: VBoxDrvTiger.kext - no dependency found for com.apple.kernel.mach.

2/13/15 8:09:02.276 AM com.apple.kextcache[447]: VBoxDrvTiger.kext - no dependency found for com.apple.kernel.bsd.

2/13/15 8:09:02.277 AM com.apple.kextcache[447]: VBoxDrvTiger.kext - no dependency found for com.apple.kernel.mach.

2/13/15 8:09:02.278 AM com.apple.kextcache[447]: VBoxDrvTiger.kext - no dependency found for com.apple.kernel.bsd.

2/13/15 8:09:02.278 AM com.apple.kextcache[447]: VBoxDrvTiger.kext - no dependency found for com.apple.kernel.mach.

2/13/15 8:09:02.279 AM com.apple.kextcache[447]: VBoxDrvTiger.kext - no dependency found for com.apple.kernel.bsd.

2/13/15 8:09:02.279 AM com.apple.kextcache[447]: VBoxDrvTiger.kext - no dependency found for com.apple.kernel.mach.

2/13/15 8:09:02.280 AM com.apple.kextcache[447]: VBoxUSB.kext is missing dependencies (including anyway; dependencies may be available from elsewhere)

2/13/15 8:09:02.793 AM com.apple.kextcache[447]: kext file:///Library/Extensions/VBoxUSB.kext/ is in hash exception list, allowing to load

2/13/15 8:09:02.794 AM com.apple.kextcache[447]: VBoxDrvTiger.kext - no dependency found for com.apple.kernel.bsd.

2/13/15 8:09:02.794 AM com.apple.kextcache[447]: VBoxDrvTiger.kext - no dependency found for com.apple.kernel.mach.

2/13/15 8:09:03.465 AM com.apple.kextcache[447]: kext file:///Library/Extensions/VBoxDrv.kext/ is in hash exception list, allowing to load

2/13/15 8:09:12.249 AM com.apple.kextcache[447]: kext file:///System/Library/Extensions/Soundflower.kext/ is in hash exception list, allowing to load

2/13/15 8:09:13.428 AM com.apple.kextcache[447]: kext file:///System/Library/Extensions/MotMobileUSB.kext/Contents/PlugIns/MotMobileU SBSwch.kext/ is in hash exception list, allowing to load

2/13/15 8:09:13.768 AM com.apple.kextcache[447]: kext file:///System/Library/Extensions/MotMobileUSB.kext/Contents/PlugIns/MotMobileU SBLANMerge.kext/ is in hash exception list, allowing to load

2/13/15 8:09:14.005 AM com.apple.kextcache[447]: kext file:///System/Library/Extensions/MotMobileUSB.kext/Contents/PlugIns/MotMobileM TP.kext/ is in hash exception list, allowing to load

2/13/15 8:09:14.433 AM com.apple.kextcache[447]: kext file:///System/Library/Extensions/MotMobileUSB.kext/Contents/PlugIns/MotMobileM S.kext/ is in hash exception list, allowing to load

2/13/15 8:09:14.745 AM com.apple.kextcache[447]: kext file:///System/Library/Extensions/JMicronATA.kext/ is in hash exception list, allowing to load

2/13/15 8:09:15.435 AM rpc.statd[50]: Failed to contact host xxxxxxxxxs-computer-4.local - error 2 resolving

2/13/15 8:09:27.472 AM com.apple.kextcache[447]: VBoxDrvTiger.kext - no dependency found for com.apple.kernel.bsd.

2/13/15 8:09:27.472 AM com.apple.kextcache[447]: VBoxDrvTiger.kext - no dependency found for com.apple.kernel.mach.

2/13/15 8:09:27.549 AM com.apple.kextcache[447]: /Library/Extensions/VBoxDrvTiger.kext doesn't support architecture x86_64; omitting from prelinked kernel.

2/13/15 8:09:27.718 AM com.apple.kextcache[447]: VBoxDrvTiger.kext - no dependency found for com.apple.kernel.bsd.

2/13/15 8:09:27.718 AM com.apple.kextcache[447]: VBoxDrvTiger.kext - no dependency found for com.apple.kernel.mach.

2/13/15 8:09:27.718 AM com.apple.kextcache[447]: Prelink failed for org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxUSB; omitting from prelinked kernel.

2/13/15 8:09:37.634 AM com.apple.kextcache[447]: Created prelinked kernel copy "/System/Library/PrelinkedKernels/prelinkedkernel"

2/13/15 8:09:37.634 AM com.apple.kextcache[447]: Created prelinked kernel "/System/Library/Caches/com.apple.kext.caches/Startup/kernelcache"

2/13/15 8:09:37.634 AM com.apple.kextcache[447]: Created prelinked kernel using "/System/Library/Kernels/kernel"

Reply

Answer 8

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Feb 13, 2015 7:34 AM in response to bigdaddy999

Please read this whole message before doing anything.

This procedure is a test, not a solution. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.

Step 1

The purpose of this step is to determine whether the problem is localized to your user account.

Enable guest logins* and log in as Guest. Don't use the Safari-only “Guest User” login created by “Find My Mac.”

While logged in as Guest, you won’t have access to any of your documents or settings. Applications will behave as if you were running them for the first time. Don’t be alarmed by this behavior; it’s normal. If you need any passwords or other personal data in order to complete the test, memorize, print, or write them down before you begin.

Test while logged in as Guest. Same problem?

After testing, log out of the guest account and, in your own account, disable it if you wish. Any files you created in the guest account will be deleted automatically when you log out of it.

*Note: If you’ve activated “Find My Mac” or FileVault, then you can’t enable the Guest account. The “Guest User” login created by “Find My Mac” is not the same. Create a new account in which to test, and delete it, including its home folder, after testing.

Step 2

The purpose of this step is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party system modifications that load automatically at startup or login, by a peripheral device, by a font conflict, or by corruption of the file system or of certain system caches.

Please take this step regardless of the results of Step 1.

Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards, if applicable. Start up in safe mode and log in to the account with the problem. You must hold down the shift key twice: once when you turn on the computer, and again when you log in.

Note: If FileVault is enabled in OS X 10.9 or earlier, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is a software RAID, you can’t do this. Ask for further instructions.

Safe mode is much slower to start up and run than normal, with limited graphics performance, and some things won’t work at all, including sound output and Wi-Fi on certain models. The next normal startup 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, restart as usual (not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of Steps 1 and 2.

Reply

Answer 9

bigdaddy999 Author

Level 1

20 points

Feb 13, 2015 9:55 AM in response to Linc Davis

Guest account: works fine

Safe mode: Messages fails

After normal restart: Messages Fails

So it appears related to my profile? It DID work for a while after the update to 10.10.2 from Mountain Lion and I don't recall installing or updating other software since that time. All I did was a Time Machine backup (big one which updated from the old OS)

Thanks.

Reply

Answer 10

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Feb 13, 2015 1:17 PM in response to bigdaddy999

Please sign out of all your messaging accounts, then sign back in and test. If there's no change, see below.

Back up all data.

Quit Messages if it’s running. Force quit if necessary. Relaunch it and test after each of the following steps. If the problem isn't resolved, quit again and go on to the next step.

Step 1

Make sure you know the ID and password you use with iMessage. Launch the Keychain Access 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 and start typing the name.

Select the login keychain from the list on the left side of the Keychain Access window. If your default keychain has a different name, select that.

If the lock icon in the top left corner of the window shows that the keychain is locked, click to unlock it. You'll be prompted for the keychain password, which is the same as your login password, unless you've changed it.

From the menu bar, select

Keychain Access ▹ Keychain First Aid

from the menu bar and repair the keychain.

From the Category list in the lower left corner of the window, select

My Certificates

Look carefully at the list of certificates in the right side of the window. If any of them is marked with a red "X" as expired or invalid, delete it. Also delete all items with "iMessage" or "com.apple.idms" in the name, whether valid or not.

Now select

Passwords

in the Category list. Enter "ids" (without the quotes) in the search box in the toolbar of the window. Delete all items of type "application password" that have a name beginning in any of the following ways:

ids:

IDS:

com.apple.ids:

Quit Keychain Access. Log out and log back in.

Step 2

Hold down the option key and select

Go ▹ Library

from the Finder menu bar. Move the following items from the Library folder to the Trash (some may not exist):

Containers/com.apple.corerecents.recentsd

Caches/com.apple.Messages

Caches/com.apple.imfoundation.IMRemoteURLConnectionAgent

Containers/com.apple.iChat

Containers/com.apple.soagent

IdentityServices

Leave the Library folder open. Log out and log back in.

Step 3

Go back to the Finder and move the following item from the open Library folder to the Desktop:

Messages

Note: you are not moving the Messages application. You’re moving a folder named “Messages.”

If Messages now works, delete the Messages folder on the Desktop. Otherwise, quit Messages again. Put back the folder you moved, overwriting the newer one that may have been created in its place.

Step 4

In the Preferences subfolder, there may be several files having names that begin with any of the following strings:

com.apple.iChat

com.apple.ids

com.apple.imdsmsrecordstore

com.apple.imessage

com.apple.imservice

Move them all to the Desktop. There may also be a file with the name "com.apple.imagent.plist". Move that to the Trash.

Also in the Preferences folder, there's a subfolder named "ByHost". Open it and do the same thing.

Log out and log back in. Test again. This time Messages should perform normally, but your settings will be lost. You may be able to put back some of the files you moved to the Desktop in this step. Relaunch and test after each one. Eventually you should find one or more that causes Messages to malfunction. Delete those files and recreate whatever settings they contained.

If the issue is still not resolved, quit Messages again and put all the items you moved to the Desktop back where they were. You don’t need to replace the items you moved to the Trash. Stop here and post your results.

If you later decide that you don’t like the results of Steps 3 and 4, you can undo them completely by quitting Messages and restoring the items you deleted in those steps from your backup.

Reply

Answer 11

bigdaddy999 Author

Level 1

20 points

Feb 13, 2015 3:16 PM in response to Linc Davis

That did it. Step 3 allowed it to work again. I did save the "archive" folder from the messages folder and put it back into the new version and it seems to work just fine with that little modification of what you suggested.

Thank you so very much for all of your help. There is no way I would have figured this out.

Reply

Answer 12

bigdaddy999 Author

Level 1

20 points

Apr 15, 2015 5:19 AM in response to bigdaddy999

Happened again. I am not certain why, but it MIGHT have happened after having set my status to "Away". Now Messages is just beach balling and consuming memory again. I'll work through these steps. Jumping to "step 3" in your last post did not fix the problem.

Reply