OS X Yosemite 10.10.3 Crashing Constantly

Question

OS X Yosemite 10.10.3 Crashing Constantly

The crash symptom is the screen goes black. Holding the power button down does nothing. The only recovery is to unplug, wait for SMC to reset, and restart. It has happened at least half a dozen times today with no apparent provocation (i.e. making a text update to my blog). The problem can be duplicated in Final Cut Pro X 10.2 by editing a complex video (i.e. lots of transitions and layers, etc). That will crash the system in milliseconds and it's consistent. Every other crash seems random.

It's maddening as that video is a red-hot development for me and productivity is finished until this is fixed. Any ideas?

Posted on Apr 26, 2015 1:51 PM

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Answer 1

Apr 26, 2015 3:34 PM in response to Silas Scarborough

Boot into the Recovery Drive by holding down Command R when restarting.

Run Repair Drive and Repair Permissions using Disk Utility in Recovery.

Hopefully this will repair any issues on your drive without having to reformat.

I highly suggest you backup your data as a clone and to Time Machine in case this is a system of a dying drive.

Create a Clone backup:

What is a clone backup?

A clone is an exact bootable copy of your internal drive. Unlike standard copying of all files to another drive, the clone software copies hidden files along with other in-use files that are not avaialbe when you copy over files to another drive.

More info on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_cloning

Time Machine is not bootable. You can only restore from Time Machine.

Software used to Clone:

SuperDuper! http://www.shirt-pocket.com/

CCC http://www.bombich.com/download.html

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Answer 2

Apr 26, 2015 4:39 PM in response to dianeoforegon

Thanks but there's no indication of a problem with any of the drives, internal or external. As mentioned previously, the failure in Final Cut 10.2 can be duplicated on-demand. Prior to that release, there was no problem with the video. Now it crashes Final Cut every time but other less complex videos can be edited.

I'm aware of cloned systems but there is no backout because Final Cut 10.2 is a one-way upgrade. I can't back out the software without restoring all the videos and the latter is not possible.

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Answer 3

Apr 26, 2015 6:17 PM in response to Silas Scarborough

Unless you run Repair Disk you might not know your drive has issues. I suggest you run to verify your drive.

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Answer 4

Apr 26, 2015 6:59 PM in response to Silas Scarborough

I have random shut downs and cannot find an answer to solve my related issue. Who can help me?

oldman robert

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Answer 5

Apr 26, 2015 7:50 PM in response to oldmanrobert

We'll need more details in order to help. Start by posting the results from Etrecheck.

http://www.etresoft.com/etrecheck

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Answer 6

Apr 26, 2015 8:21 PM in response to dianeoforegon

I have posted the EtreCheck. The shut downs are random. Some times my mac mini will remain inspiration for several hours. At other ties the shut down will occur within ten minutes of the lack of usage. The shut downs only occur when the computer is idle. The shut down has occurred when the Mac mini is in the sleep state.

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Answer 7

Apr 27, 2015 1:04 AM in response to dianeoforegon

Problem description:

Yosemite 10.10.3 frequent crashes to a black screen. Computer can only be restarted by unplugging from the wall, waiting for SMC to reset, and then restarting. Problem can be triggered instantly by opening a complex Final Cut Pro X video. This is not a disk problem unless disks know how to shut down Internet access before crashing.

EtreCheck version: 2.2 (132)

Report generated 4/27/15, 3:00 AM

Download EtreCheck from http://etresoft.com/etrecheck

Click the [Click for support] links for help with non-Apple products.

Click the [Click for details] links for more information about that line.

Hardware Information: ℹ️

iMac (27-inch, Late 2013) (Technical Specifications)

iMac - model: iMac14,2

1 3.5 GHz Intel Core i7 CPU: 4-core

16 GB RAM Upgradeable

BANK 0/DIMM0

8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

BANK 0/DIMM1

Empty

BANK 1/DIMM1

Empty

Bluetooth: Good - Handoff/Airdrop2 supported

Wireless: en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac

Video Information: ℹ️

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M - VRAM: 4096 MB

iMac 2560 x 1440

System Software: ℹ️

OS X 10.10.3 (14D136) - Time since boot: 0:19:31

Disk Information: ℹ️

APPLE SSD SM0512F disk0 : (500.28 GB)

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

iMac System (disk0s2) / : 499.42 GB (342.83 GB free)

Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB

USB Information: ℹ️

hub_device

Western Digital My Book 1230 4 TB

EFI (disk1s1) <not mounted> : 315 MB

Video Prime (disk1s2) /Volumes/Video Prime : 3.00 TB (1.54 TB free)

Music Prime (disk1s3) /Volumes/Music Prime : 1.00 TB (999.51 GB free)

Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Prolific Technology Inc. USB-SATA Bridge

Logitech Logitech USB Headset

Kensington Kensington Expert Mouse

SanDisk SDDR-189

hub_device

Firewire Information: ℹ️

LaCie d2 Quadra v3C 800mbit - 800mbit max

EFI (disk2s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Music (disk2s2) /Volumes/Music : 750.15 GB (440.28 GB free)

Studio (disk2s3) /Volumes/Studio : 750.15 GB (641.57 GB free)

Spare Video (disk2s4) /Volumes/Spare Video : 349.35 GB (51.95 GB free)

Backup System (disk2s5) /Volumes/Backup System : 400.01 GB (223.08 GB free)

zVideo (disk2s6) /Volumes/zVideo : 749.40 GB (310.71 GB free)

Thunderbolt Information: ℹ️

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

Apple Inc. Thunderbolt to FireWire Adapter

Gatekeeper: ℹ️

Mac App Store and identified developers

Kernel Extensions: ℹ️

/Applications/Transmit.app

[not loaded] com.panic.TransmitDisk.transmitdiskfs (4.0.0 - SDK 10.6) [Click for support]

/Library/Application Support/Avast/components/fileshield/unsigned

[loaded] com.avast.AvastFileShield (2.1.0 - SDK 10.10) [Click for support]

/Library/Application Support/Avast/components/proxy/unsigned

[loaded] com.avast.PacketForwarder (2.0 - SDK 10.10) [Click for support]

/Library/Extensions

[loaded] com.kensington.trackballworks.driver (1.2.0 - SDK 10.8) [Click for support]

/System/Library/Extensions

[loaded] com.techsmith.TACC (1.0.2 - SDK 10.8) [Click for support]

Launch Agents: ℹ️

[running] com.avast.update-agent.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.avast.userinit.plist [Click for support]

Launch Daemons: ℹ️

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.avast.init.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.avast.uninstall.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.avast.update.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.bombich.ccc.plist [Click for support]

[running] com.bombich.ccchelper.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.rockysandstudio.WUHelper.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.rogueamoeba.instanton-agent.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.tunnelbear.mac.tbeard.plist [Click for support]

User Launch Agents: ℹ️

[failed] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.avast.home.userinit.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist [Click for support]

User Login Items: ℹ️

iTunesHelper Application (/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)

TrackballWorksHelper Application (/Library/PreferencePanes/TrackballWorks.prefPane/Contents/Resources/TrackballW orksHelper.app)

Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️

FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 17.0.0.169 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

Flash Player: Version: 17.0.0.169 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

JavaAppletPlugin: Version: 15.0.0 - SDK 10.10 Check version

Default Browser: Version: 600 - SDK 10.10

Safari Extensions: ℹ️

Feeder

avast! Online Security

Google Toolbar

Ultimate Status Bar

DuckDuckGo

Stop/Reload Button

AdBlock

Translate

3rd Party Preference Panes: ℹ️

Flash Player [Click for support]

TrackballWorks [Click for support]

Time Machine: ℹ️

Skip System Files: NO

Mobile backups: OFF

Auto backup: NO - Auto backup turned off

Volumes being backed up:

iMac System: Disk size: 499.42 GB Disk used: 156.59 GB

Destinations:

Backup System [Local]

Total size: 400.01 GB

Total number of backups: 12

Oldest backup: 2015-03-27 22:16:53 +0000

Last backup: 2015-04-11 02:46:01 +0000

Size of backup disk: Too small

Backup size 400.01 GB < (Disk used 156.59 GB X 3)

Top Processes by CPU: ℹ️

8% WindowServer

3% fontd

1% com.avast.daemon

0% Skype

0% com.apple.WebKit.WebContent(11)

Top Processes by Memory: ℹ️

1.66 GB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent(11)

839 MB kernel_task

541 MB mdworker(16)

377 MB Safari

197 MB Skype

Virtual Memory Information: ℹ️

9.07 GB Free RAM

6.92 GB Used RAM

0 B Swap Used

Diagnostics Information: ℹ️

Apr 27, 2015, 02:40:07 AM Self test - passed

Apr 24, 2015, 04:07:42 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Singularity_2015-04-24-160742_[redacted].cpu_re source.diag [Click for details]

Apr 24, 2015, 01:43:28 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/iTunes_2015-04-24-134328_[redacted].cpu_resourc e.diag [Click for details]

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Answer 8

Apr 27, 2015 5:47 AM in response to dianeoforegon

Repair Disk Permissions changed a few things but did nothing to resolve the problem. Editing my latest video project crashes it instantly. Formatting the drive makes no sense whatsoever as there are three of them. Without those, it doesn't matter if the computer restarts.

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Answer 9

Apr 27, 2015 6:13 AM in response to Silas Scarborough

This may be a hardware issue, some macbook models have been recalled.

http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/mac/widespread-2011-macbook-pro-failures-petition -lawsuit-repair-programme-3497935/

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Answer 10

Apr 27, 2015 7:21 AM in response to Erik Martino Hansen

The system is an iMac rather than a Macbook Pro and it has been rock-solid stable since I got it two or three months ago. On installing Yosemite 10.10.3 and Final Cut 10.2 all of this started and there has been no change since. I'm open to the possibility of a hardware problem but the evidence is not convincing.

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Answer 11

Kabelton

Level 1

10 points

Apr 27, 2015 9:12 AM in response to Silas Scarborough

Glad I am not the only one with this massive system crashes with fcpx 10.2.... I have an iMac late 2013 27".

One strange thing... When I look after updates, there is this "pro video format update 2.0.1.0"... I already installed it, but it show up after every system crash.. so I installed it already 5 times! Now, it is listed again, but I will not update... very strange.

I really hope this horrible crashes will be adressed soon.

Thanks

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Answer 12

Kabelton

Level 1

10 points

Apr 27, 2015 10:43 AM in response to Kabelton

I should add that I had these complete crashes with Mavericks, too. But only 2 times in one year. With fcpx 10.2 I had it 10 times in 2 days... 😟

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Answer 13

Apr 27, 2015 9:59 AM in response to Silas Scarborough

com.rogueamoeba.instanton-agent.plist <--I'm not familiar with this app. Verify it works with Yosemite.

Troubleshooting is a process of elimination.

I'm not sure why you think you need Avast and most likely it's not the cause of your problems, but it wouldn't hurt to disable to check. See this post by Linc Davis on using virus software. Re: Spotlight Hanging - MDSWorker Thread Exceptions

Make sure your Kensington Trackball is using the latest software driver. If you have another mouse, try using that instead.

Disable all external drives and test.

If this is directly related to Final Cut Pro X, asking on the Final Cut Pro X discussion forumwould be your next step.

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Answer 14

Apr 27, 2015 10:31 AM in response to Kabelton

Pro Video 2.0.1 is another of the latest shoddy installs. I'm thinking of it as being Cooked (i.e. doesn't work anymore). There is information on forums but mostly they try provide workarounds for a bad install (i.e. it doesn't get fixed but there's a way to install it using some other vendor's software to stop the repeated installs). Lame but apparently effective.

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Answer 15

Apr 27, 2015 10:38 AM in response to dianeoforegon

Is that before or after re-formatting the drive. No, I'm not serious. Apple is not willing to admit a problem exists with Yosemite so I'm screwed.

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