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mac pro late 2013 freezes with spinning wheel

i bought a mac pro (late 2013) 50 days ago, os is yosemite 10.10.3. I often get the spinning wheel of death and the mac freezes, i.e. it doesn't react to mouse click or keyboard. it happens on average 1 time a day. When it happens i have to restart the machine by pressing the computer's power button.

I have already contacted apple support by phone, i have made many reset operations under their control, but nothing changed.


After the restart, when i examine the console log the last message before the reboot is often the following one


windowserver: surface testing disallowed updates for 10 sequential attempts


By searching this message on google i found that the problem might be related with the energy saving settings, i.e. it happens when the mac wakes from sleep. So i changed those settings to prevent the mac going on stop state, and today the problem did not happen, but i'm not sure what wil happen tomorrow ... so i'm looking for information/advice about this kind of problem.

Mac Pro (Late 2013), OS X Yosemite (10.10.3)

Posted on May 16, 2015 12:19 PM

Reply
213 replies

Feb 8, 2017 2:28 PM in response to mauro16

I had this problem. I had everything changed over a period of seven months, and it still did it. They changed the computer in the end as it had to be done. Basically it did not work correctly.


Now I have a new one and the monitor will not wake most of the time after a certain period. I have to unplug it and plug it in again. I have to have this machine checked or perhaps replaced as they believe there is a graphic problem. I also get the start up graphic glitch effect but I am told this is software related although no updates so far have sorted this issue.


In truth, we all need to make Apple aware, and not accept this. It is the top end machine and it has quite clearly a fault, as it is not one or two people with this, but many.


A lot of people will come on here and comment, perhaps suggesting that it is only a few machines etc and that we can't generalise. But there are enough to prove clearly there is a problem on a significant amount of machines, subsequently proving that help is required for consumers. This is a problem, and it needs to be corrected for many people now, regardless of warranty.


I think that we should invite as many people as possible to discuss on here the problem. And then try to get this resolved for everyone who basically can't work on an expensive machine.

Jul 28, 2017 3:15 PM in response to Jazzhead1

I had a longstanding issue (now resolved, see below) with my Mac Pro, where it freezes with a GPU error - sometimes several times a day, sometimes once a week or less. The Genius Bar gave me an endless number of hoops to jump through. When I needed to use the machine on a daily basis, they wanted to keep it for a week or so. Then, after I finally gave up and bought a new machine, they "didn't have space" in their back room to run it over the weekend to see if they could replicate the problem. They complained that "someone would have to spend several days watching it" - no, just come back later and look for the rainbow ball.

They tried to blame it on 3rd-party software, so I made a new partition with nothing but Apple software and proved that it still happened. They finally replaced one of the GPUs, but the problem kept happening. Then they tried to blame it on my monitor and said I had to use an Apple-approved monitor from their website. The only monitor on their website that works with this machine is the $1300 LG UltraFine 5K! So I bought that (and returned it later) and proved that the problem still happened (though it does seem to happen less often with that monitor).

The last time I brought it in, it felt like they were giving me attitude for having the nerve to keep coming back, like it's my fault that it still doesn't work and I still want them to fix or replace it. They repeatedly tried to claim that "How do I know that this console log with hundreds of 'GPU Driver appears to be hung' messages corresponds to a real problem?" Fighting back certain vaguely homicidal impulses, I patiently explained that this is a known symptom of the problem, and that this message appears every time it hangs, and vice versa. I said if they couldn't fix the machine, they should replace it. Unbelievably, they replied that there was no point in replacing the machine, because what if the problem kept happening, what then? What, are all the Mac Pros buggy as ****? But they assured me that it couldn't be a lemon, because it's an Apple, ha ha.


Something is wrong at Apple Store Los Gatos, or maybe Apple in general. Apple launched a repair program for the D500 and D700 graphics cards, but not for the D300, even though it exhibits the exact same problem. I'm paying for AppleCare, but I got the distinct impression that some of their employees don't - they seem to think it's their job to find excuses not to help, instead of saying, Hey, you've been through enough, the machine has frozen hundreds of times, we should make this right. Some of the Geniuses have tried to be helpful, but the last two seemed decidedly unhelpful right off the bat.


They finally refused to do anything further and suggested I call Apple Customer Relations, which apparently doesn't have a phone number. I called AppleCare (again) - the representative was very helpful and suggested taking the machine to a 3rd-party authorized repair center. I took it to ComputerCare, which promptly replaced the other GPU. The problem hasn't happened since.

Things I would have done differently if I'd known:

1. Return it during the initial 14-day period or whatever it is

2. Skip the genius bar and just deal with 3rd-party authorized repair centers

3. If necessary, pay out-of-pocket to replace the GPUs - they're about $160 each plus labor

Jul 29, 2017 7:18 AM in response to evickers

Spoke too soon. So now, after replacing both GPUs (and switching to Sierra, if that matters), I'm no longer getting the "WindowServer: GPU Driver appears to be hung (over 5 continuous seconds of unreadiness)" messages. Instead I'm getting random auto-logouts, accompanied by a message about "10 seconds of continuous GPU Driver unreadiness, relaunching WindowServer". This is certainly an improvement, but it's still not right. It happens after some random number of hours if the screensaver is playing (for example). Seems like the same issue, but instead of hanging they relaunch WindowServer.


I was going to sell this on eBay once it was fixed, but I can't do that in good conscience now.

Sep 10, 2017 7:16 PM in response to mauro16

As previously posted, I also have had this issue. My work around was to schedule an automatic shut down at 5pm and restart everyday at 6.30pm when I had the Mac Pro running all day and night. As long as it did this, the Mac Pro would not freeze.


In August, I finally had a chance to take the Mac Pro into Apple for repair. They kept it for a couple of weeks, whilst they carried out their tests. They were able to see the Mac Pro freeze after a day of staying on continuously (no restarts or logouts). Apple then ran my Mac Pro with their own clean MacOS for 3 days and it did not freeze.


Apple's solution was for macOS Sierra to be re-installed (clean install) and see if that fixes my issue. Which I have done.


2 weeks later I can report that my Mac Pro has not frozen again.


I did have one occasion when it started running really slow but once I quit iTunes it started to run normally again.


I'm now optimistic that the issue with my Mac Pro is now fixed.

May 17, 2015 3:53 AM in response to Linc Davis

it happened again, i left the mac inactive for about 40 minutes, i found the screensaver active and frozen in a fixed position. When i clicked the mouse i got the beach ball. As usual, i was able to move the mouse pointer but any other action was ineffective. This time i disabled the screensaver, i don't know if this makes sense.


This time the log provides more information


17/05/15 12:16:24,000 kernel[0]: Sound assertion - 1002:aab0 FIFO error (Stream 0)

17/05/15 12:16:24,621 WindowServer[136]: Surface testing disallowed updates for 10 sequential attempts...

17/05/15 12:16:29,000 kernel[0]: [6:0:0] GPU HangState 0x00000000, HangFlags 0x00000006: IndividualEngineHang 0, NonEngineBlockHang 1, FenceNotRetired 1, PerEngineReset 0, FullAsicReset 1

17/05/15 12:16:29,000 kernel[0]: ** GPU ASIC Log Start **


.....


17/05/15 12:16:30,000 kernel[0]: : ** GPU Debug Info End **

17/05/15 12:16:30,000 kernel[0]: ------------------------

17/05/15 12:16:30,000 kernel[0]: GPURestartReportEnd

17/05/15 12:16:30,000 kernel[0]: Trying restart GPU ...

17/05/15 12:16:30,604 DumpGPURestart[434]: Saved gpuRestart report for kernel to /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Kernel_2015-05-17-121630_Mac-Pro-di-Mauro.gpuRe start

17/05/15 12:21:14,000 kernel[0]: process WindowServer[136] caught causing excessive wakeups. Observed wakeups rate (per sec): 200; Maximum permitted wakeups rate (per sec): 150; Observation period: 300 seconds; Task lifetime number of wakeups: 114422

17/05/15 12:21:14,635 com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.apple.ReportCrash.Root[436]) Endpoint has been activated through legacy launch(3) APIs. Please switch to XPC or bootstrap_check_in(): com.apple.ReportCrash.DirectoryService

17/05/15 12:21:15,112 spindump[359]: Saved wakeups_resource.diag report for WindowServer version ??? (???) to /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/WindowServer_2015-05-17-122115_Mac-Pro-di-Mauro .wakeups_resource.diag

17/05/15 12:30:21,142 com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: assertion failed: 14D136: launchd + 163781 [7F885D63-B284-3471-B6E3-172489232C37]: 0xe

17/05/15 12:30:21,142 com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: assertion failed: 14D136: launchd + 163781 [7F885D63-B284-3471-B6E3-172489232C37]: 0xe

17/05/15 12:30:38,228 Office365Service[438]: WARNING: The Gestalt selector gestaltSystemVersion is returning 10.9.3 instead of 10.10.3. Use NSProcessInfo's operatingSystemVersion property to get correct system version number.

Call location:

17/05/15 12:30:38,228 Office365Service[438]: 0 CarbonCore 0x988d6291 ___Gestalt_SystemVersion_block_invoke + 135

17/05/15 12:30:38,228 Office365Service[438]: 1 libdispatch.dylib 0x94fb7130 _dispatch_client_callout + 50

17/05/15 12:30:38,228 Office365Service[438]: 2 libdispatch.dylib 0x94fb70b5 dispatch_once_f + 251

17/05/15 12:30:38,228 Office365Service[438]: 3 libdispatch.dylib 0x94fb80d8 dispatch_once + 31

17/05/15 12:30:38,228 Office365Service[438]: 4 CarbonCore 0x9884f69d _Gestalt_SystemVersion + 1050

17/05/15 12:30:38,228 Office365Service[438]: 5 CarbonCore 0x9884e7c0 Gestalt + 150

17/05/15 12:30:38,228 Office365Service[438]: 6 Office365Service 0x00058977 Office365Service + 358775

17/05/15 12:34:19,170 WindowServer[136]: disable_update_timeout: UI updates were forcibly disabled by application "loginwindow" for over 1.00 seconds. Server has re-enabled them.

17/05/15 12:34:33,171 WindowServer[136]: disable_update_likely_unbalanced: UI updates still disabled by application "loginwindow" after 15.00 seconds (server forcibly re-enabled them after 1.00 seconds). Likely an unbalanced disableUpdate call.

May 17, 2015 5:33 AM in response to mauro16

The unit is defective and must be serviced under the warranty.

Make a "Genius" appointment at an Apple Store, or go to another authorized service provider. You may have to leave the machine there for several days.

Back up all data on the internal drive(s) before you hand over your computer to anyone. There are ways to back up a computer that isn't fully functional—ask if you need guidance.

If privacy is a concern, erase the data partition(s) with the option to write zeros* (do this only if you have at least two complete, independent backups, and you know how to restore to an empty drive from any of them.) Don’t erase the recovery partition, if present.

Keeping your confidential data secure during hardware repair

Apple also recommends that you deauthorize a device in the iTunes Store before having it serviced.

*An SSD doesn't need to be zeroed.

May 17, 2015 9:33 AM in response to mauro16

I have had a fully maxed out Late 2013 Mac Pro since mid-January of 2014. I have a lot of software installed on it and use it for video editing, etc. About two weeks ago, I started getting spinning beach balls indicating cpu activity that lasted for anywhere from 10-30 seconds or more. They would always go away, but I had certainly never seen that behavior on this Mac Pro before. I went to Disk Utility and ran Verify Disk. It failed and gave instructions in red to boot in recovery mode and then run Repair Disk. I did, my PCIe flash HD was repaired by this procedure and gave no errors when I ran Verify Disk again. I have not had a single instance of a spinning beach ball since.


Tom

Jun 7, 2015 2:56 PM in response to Linc Davis

i went to an authorized service provider, they say thet cannot find any defect in the unit and it needs not to be repaired. They say the freezing may depend on peripherals that are connected or adapter cables.


So i got back the unit, it worked ok for more than 2 days and then it had again the problem (suddenly after waking up from stop). The log always displays a message


process WindowServer[136] caught causing excessive wakeups

My configuration is


- apple keyboard

- apple wireless mouse

- display is a dell U2713HM, 27 inches, resolution 2560x1440

- modem-router tp-link TD-8840T connected through ethernet port


The monitor is attached to the thunderbolt port using a startech adapter from mini displayport 1.2 to displayport 4K

http://www.amazon.it/gp/product/B0081ZBNCA


We are thinking the adapter might be defective, is this a reasonable conjecture? Which is a correct adapter to use to connect that monitor to the mac pro? I want to maintain the maximum resolution and this is possible only through the displayport or dvi port of the monitor.

Jun 12, 2015 11:15 AM in response to mauro16

I tried with another adapter and with another monitor, the problem is still there. Today it happened two times, the first time i was scrolling over an internet page (the main page of this forum, actually), the second time i downloaded a pdf file in my email and i was scrolling over that file. So the scroll operation seems critical. In the log i find something like

12/06/15 19:27:10,359 com.apple.WebKit.Networking[401]: Stream 0x7fe70a4885d0 is sending an event before being opened

12/06/15 19:27:15,991 com.apple.WebKit.Networking[401]: Stream 0x7fe70b028510 is sending an event before being opened

12/06/15 19:27:16,592 com.apple.WebKit.Networking[401]: Stream 0x7fe70b3b5960 is sending an event before being opened

12/06/15 19:28:15,433 com.apple.WebKit.Networking[401]: Stream 0x7fe70b34feb0 is sending an event before being opened

12/06/15 19:28:15,552 com.apple.WebKit.Networking[401]: Stream 0x7fe70a4586f0 is sending an event before being opened

12/06/15 19:28:31,685 com.apple.WebKit.Networking[401]: Stream 0x7fe70b011a20 is sending an event before being opened

12/06/15 19:28:31,689 com.apple.WebKit.Networking[401]: Stream 0x7fe70a61b740 is sending an event before being opened

12/06/15 19:28:39,517 CoreServicesUIAgent[369]: Error -60005 creating authorization

12/06/15 19:28:40,377 com.apple.Preview.TrustedBookmarksService[465]: Failure to de-serialize bookmark data file.

12/06/15 19:32:25,364 spindump[380]: Saved wakeups_resource.diag report for WindowServer version ??? (???) to /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/WindowServer_2015-06-12-193225_Mac-Pro-di-Mauro .wakeups_resource.diag


and the 'wakeups report' begins like that


Date/Time: 2015-06-12 19:27:31 +0200

OS Version: 10.10.3 (Build 14D136)

Architecture: x86_64

Report Version: 19


Command: WindowServer

Path: /System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Frameworks/CoreGraphic s.framework/Resources/WindowServer

Version: ??? (???)

Parent: launchd [1]

PID: 141


Event: wakeups (microstackshots only)

Wakeups: 155 wakeups per second for 291 seconds

Duration: 291.00s

Steps: 280


Hardware model: MacPro6,1

Active cpus: 8


Fan speed: 789 rpm


Powerstats for: WindowServer [141]

Start time: 2015-06-12 19:28:25 +0200

End time: 2015-06-12 19:32:17 +0200

Parent: launchd

Microstackshots: 70 samples (25%)

Primary state: 35 samples Non-Frontmost App, User mode, Thread QoS Unspecified

User Activity: 0 samples Idle, 70 samples Active

Power Source: 0 samples on Battery, 70 samples on AC

68 start + 1 (libdyld.dylib) [0x7fff912ea5c9]

68 ??? (WindowServer + 3966) [0x103fc9f7e]

68 CGXServer + 839 (CoreGraphics) [0x7fff90ee598b]

35 CGXRunOneServicesPass + 1291 (CoreGraphics) [0x7fff90ee55a1]

35 post_port_data + 237 (CoreGraphics) [0x7fff90ee6baa]

35 eventNotificationHandler + 9 (CoreGraphics) [0x7fff90ef17d4]

35 CGXRunOneEventPass + 38 (CoreGraphics) [0x7fff90eef4da]

34 CGXGetNextEvent + 493 (CoreGraphics) [0x7fff90b9422e]

34 CGXFilterEvent + 81 (CoreGraphics) [0x7fff90c35edd]

34 CGXProcessHIDEvent + 161 (CoreGraphics) [0x7fff90eef295]

34 CGXFilterEvent + 81 (CoreGraphics) [0x7fff90c35edd]

34 sPostContinuation + 7230

I tried almost everything, i changed mouse, changed keyboard. It seems the problem could be labeled as a 'wakeups problem'. I am also thinking the unit is defective but at the apple support center they could not find anything to repair, may be a deeper analysis is needed.

Jun 12, 2015 3:13 PM in response to mauro16

EtreCheck version: 2.2 (132)

Report generated 6/13/15, 12:11 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

Mac Pro (Late 2013) (Technical Specifications)

Mac Pro - model: MacPro6,1

1 3.7 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon E5 CPU: 4-core

12 GB RAM Upgradeable

DIMM1

4 GB DDR3 ECC 1866 MHz ok

DIMM2

4 GB DDR3 ECC 1866 MHz ok

DIMM3

4 GB DDR3 ECC 1866 MHz ok

DIMM4

Empty

Bluetooth: Good - Handoff/Airdrop2 supported

Wireless: en2: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac


Video Information: ℹ️

AMD FirePro D300 - VRAM: 2048 MB

AMD FirePro D300 - VRAM: 2048 MB

227E4LH 1920 x 1080


System Software: ℹ️

OS X 10.10.3 (14D136) - Time since boot: 4:34:39


Disk Information: ℹ️

APPLE SSD SM0256F disk0 : (251 GB)

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / : 250.14 GB (230.17 GB free)

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


USB Information: ℹ️

Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Apple, Inc. Keyboard Hub

Apple Inc. Apple Keyboard


Thunderbolt Information: ℹ️

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus_2

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus_1

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus_0


Gatekeeper: ℹ️

Mac App Store and identified developers


Problem System Launch Daemons: ℹ️

[failed] com.apple.mtrecorder.plist


Launch Daemons: ℹ️

[failed] com.apple.spirecorder.plist

[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist [Click for support]


User Login Items: ℹ️

Dropbox Applicazione (/Applications/Dropbox.app)


Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️

Default Browser: Version: 600 - SDK 10.10

QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.5.1 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]


3rd Party Preference Panes: ℹ️

None


Time Machine: ℹ️

Time Machine not configured!


Top Processes by CPU: ℹ️

3% fontd

2% WindowServer

0% taskgated

0% mdworker(4)

0% cloudpaird


Top Processes by Memory: ℹ️

1.94 GB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent(12)

766 MB kernel_task

135 MB Safari

86 MB Dropbox

86 MB Finder


Virtual Memory Information: ℹ️

6.94 GB Free RAM

5.06 GB Used RAM

0 B Swap Used


Diagnostics Information: ℹ️

Jun 12, 2015, 07:36:56 PM Self test - passed

Jun 29, 2015 3:20 PM in response to mauro16

I am still getting freezings. The new thing is now that about 1 hour ago i had a beach ball but this time i was able to regain control of the mac. In fact i disconnected the monitor from the thunderbolt port and reconnected it, and this way the mac was able again to react to mouse and keyboard. This should provide some hint where the problem is, could the graphic card(s) be defective? This is the console log


un 29 23:18:43 Mac-Pro-di-Mauro kernel[0]: process WindowServer[156] caught causing excessive wakeups. Observed wakeups rate (per sec): 1577; Maximum permitted wakeups rate (per sec): 150; Observation period: 300 seconds; Task lifetime number of wakeups: 426134

Jun 29 23:18:43 Mac-Pro-di-Mauro com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.ReportCrash.Root[913]): Endpoint has been activated through legacy launch(3) APIs. Please switch to XPC or bootstrap_check_in(): com.apple.ReportCrash.DirectoryService

Jun 29 23:18:43 Mac-Pro-di-Mauro.local ReportCrash[913]: Invoking spindump for pid=156 wakeups_rate=1577 duration=29 because of excessive wakeups

Jun 29 23:18:44 Mac-Pro-di-Mauro.local spindump[647]: Error loading dyld shared cache uuid 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000: 0x8

Jun 29 23:18:44 Mac-Pro-di-Mauro.local spindump[647]: Saved wakeups_resource.diag report for WindowServer version ??? (???) to /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/WindowServer_2015-06-29-231844_Mac-Pro-di-Mauro .wakeups_resource.diag

Jun 29 23:18:53 Mac-Pro-di-Mauro.local WindowServer[156]: Received display connect changed for display 0x3f003c

Jun 29 23:18:53 Mac-Pro-di-Mauro.local WindowServer[156]: Found 1 modes for display 0x003f003c [1, 0]

Jun 29 23:18:53 Mac-Pro-di-Mauro.local WindowServer[156]: Received display connect changed for display 0x3f003d

Jun 29 23:18:53 Mac-Pro-di-Mauro.local WindowServer[156]: Found 1 modes for display 0x003f003d [1, 0]

Jun 29 23:18:53 Mac-Pro-di-Mauro.local WindowServer[156]: Received display connect changed for display 0x3f003e

Jun 29 23:18:53 Mac-Pro-di-Mauro.local WindowServer[156]: Found 1 modes for display 0x003f003e [1, 0]

Jun 29 23:18:53 Mac-Pro-di-Mauro.local WindowServer[156]: Received display connect changed for display 0x3f003f

Jun 29 23:18:53 Mac-Pro-di-Mauro.local WindowServer[156]: Found 1 modes for display 0x003f003f [1, 0]

Jun 29 23:18:53 Mac-Pro-di-Mauro.local WindowServer[156]: Received display connect changed for display 0x3f0040

Jun 29 23:18:53 Mac-Pro-di-Mauro.local WindowServer[156]: Found 1 modes for display 0x003f0040 [1, 0]

Jun 29 23:18:53 Mac-Pro-di-Mauro.local WindowServer[156]: Received display connect changed for display 0x43300c0d

Jun 29 23:18:53 Mac-Pro-di-Mauro.local WindowServer[156]: Found 1 modes for display 0x43300c0d [1, 0]

Jun 29 23:18:53 Mac-Pro-di-Mauro.local WindowServer[156]: Display 0x43300c0d changed state to offline

Jun 29 23:18:53 Mac-Pro-di-Mauro.local WindowServer[156]: No display devices are on-line. Switching to virtual display mode

Jun 29 23:18:53 Mac-Pro-di-Mauro.local WindowServer[156]: Surface test allowed updates after 40495 attempts

mac pro late 2013 freezes with spinning wheel

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