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After Yosemite 10.10.3 late-2013 iMac Crashes Randomly and Frequently

Environment: late-2013 iMac bought used in February. Yosemite was installed to replace the existing Mavericks from the seller. It was a clean installation and not an upgrade. Apps were migrated from the previous system using the Apple Migrator and categories were excluded as advised by Apple.

All was stable until Yosemite 10.10.3 and then problems started immediately.

Symptom: screen goes black. Pressing power switch does nothing. Only way I found to boot is to unplug from the wall, wait for about thirty seconds or so, and then boot. If I don't wait long enough before restoring power, it definitely won't boot.

Occurrence: up to twenty times a day (e.g. yesterday). Relentless crashing ever since 10.10.3 vs outstanding stability prior.

Triggers: generally unknown as it appears random. One common fails is right after the Finder appears as it has crashed multiple times at that point. Beyond that it seems random. Final Cut may have its own problems.

Final Cut was upgraded to 10.2 at the same time and shows the same symptoms but more often. I cannot back out as there is insufficient disk space to back up data disks and Time Machine covers only the system disk, as I have it configured here. Unknown if it is a victim of the overall problem.

In the following, com.techsmith.TACC is identified. It comes from Techsmith software and is associated with Camtasia 2, a screen-to-video utility. The vendor has been contacted to determine how to get rid of it as the uninstaller didn't do it. I have not been able to locate the file so I cannot delete it manually.

The system crashes with or without peripherals. The only things common to every crash were Yosemite and Safari as the browser was also. Switching to Chrome seemed productive for some hours but this morning the crashes come again.

Booting into Hardware Diagnostics has yielded a clean result in three tests separated by days.

EtreCheck version: 2.2 (132)

Report generated 5/19/15, 10:22 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: 0:23:49

Disk Information: ℹ️

APPLE SSD SM0512F disk0 : (500.28 GB)

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

iMac System (disk0s2) / : 499.42 GB (351.28 GB free)

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

USB Information: ℹ️

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)

Audio Prime (disk1s3) /Volumes/Audio Prime : 999.65 GB (301.69 GB free)

Recovery HD (disk1s4) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB

Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Burr-Brown from TI USB Audio CODEC

Logitech Logitech USB Headset

Thunderbolt Information: ℹ️

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

Gatekeeper: ℹ️

Anywhere

Kernel Extensions: ℹ️

/Applications/Transmit.app

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

/System/Library/Extensions

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

User Launch Agents: ℹ️

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

User Login Items: ℹ️

None

Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️

Default Browser: Version: 600 - SDK 10.10

QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

JavaAppletPlugin: Version: 15.0.0 - SDK 10.10 Check version

Safari Extensions: ℹ️

AdBlock

Translate

Stop/Reload Button

3rd Party Preference Panes: ℹ️

None

Time Machine: ℹ️

Time Machine not configured!

Top Processes by CPU: ℹ️

5% WindowServer

4% fontd

3% Google Chrome Helper(8)

0% taskgated

0% Google Chrome

Top Processes by Memory: ℹ️

1.12 GB Google Chrome Helper(8)

841 MB kernel_task

557 MB mdworker(14)

279 MB Dock

197 MB Spotlight

Virtual Memory Information: ℹ️

11.00 GB Free RAM

5.32 GB Used RAM

0 B Swap Used

Diagnostics Information: ℹ️

May 19, 2015, 09:59:02 AM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/awdd_2015-05-19-095902_[redacted].crash

May 19, 2015, 09:58:54 AM Self test - passed

May 19, 2015, 06:02:00 AM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/awdd_2015-05-19-060200_[redacted].crash

May 18, 2015, 08:45:09 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/awdd_2015-05-18-204509_[redacted].crash

Final Cut Pro X, OS X Yosemite (10.10.3), null

Posted on May 19, 2015 8:26 AM

30 replies

etresoft

Level 8

46,966 points

May 24, 2015 11:52 AM in response to Silas Scarborough

Hello again Silas,

It isn't cause and effect I am asking for, but a stable target. I am not asking you to reinstall Yosemite again, unless you have reinstalled more system modifications that can't be removed. You said earlier "However, even with the extensions removed, the system crashed several more times and I'm now running in Safe Mode".

I'm sorry, but I have no idea what state your system is in. I don't know for sure what those extensions are. I know what you say they are, but I have no idea where you got them. There are many "AdBlock" extensions. Which one do you have? Did you install only the safari extension or a kernel extension too? I don't know.

The thing is, to identify the problem, once you have a clean system and have reinstalled something that reproduces the problem, then you know what the problem is. You can remove it and it should be fine. But you say you did that and it isn't fine. Does that mean that you now have a factory-fresh 10.10.3 system with an unexplained lock up? If so, there is no more perfect time to start running diagnostics. I say start because any diagnostics you did with 3rd party system modifications (other than uninstalling them) is just wasted time you will never get back. You have to run Console.app and see if there are any log messages. To repeat - anything you did, anything you checked, any logs you read, are now completely irrelevant. Ideally, I would like some confirmation that you really do have a factory-fresh 10.10.3 system.

You might even want to consider a new thread, because I'm quite confused at this point. You need to explain, exactly, precisely, what is now happening. What is this "crash"?Does the system have 3rd party software or not? Can you verify this? Without 3rd party software installed, does the system crash or not? I know you have done a lot of this before, but it doesn't matter. Once you erase the hard drive and reinstall the OS, you are starting over from scratch. The only difference is that you have a suspicion that some 3rd party software may be cashing a problem. You also might have some additional experience on running diagnostics. You have to take that new knowledge and use it track down exactly what the cause is.

May 24, 2015 11:58 AM in response to etresoft

There's no need for a new thread as the system has been rendered so unstable by the Apple-recommended Safari extensions that it crashes repeatedly even after they are removed. The iMac is unplugged and sitting on the floor. I'm not going on another snipe hunt. This has cost an enormous amount of time, accomplished nothing, and wrecked every creative project I've got running.

etresoft

Level 8

46,966 points

May 24, 2015 12:41 PM in response to Silas Scarborough

I know the feeling.

May 24, 2015 3:32 PM in response to etresoft

I apologize for the anger as that's neither professional nor useful.

The system was box stock Yosemite 10.10.3 as initialized by the Apple Store. Nothing much was done to it except setting system preferences and bring devices online, none of which loaded any software directly although possibly device drivers or some such comes from the disks. The only software running was Safari as I wanted to keep the focus as narrow as possible. Absolutely nothing shall run before Yosemite 10.10.3 is fully vindicated. So it went for about thirty hours of blissful peace. I loaded the extensions from the Apple Extensions page and the system was down in minutes. I removed them and it stay up all night. I loaded them again as no test means anything if it can't be duplicated and, again, it crashed immediately. The difference this time was it wouldn't come back up again and whatever problem existed previously has been triggered again as it even crashes in Safe Mode. At that point I threw up my hands and unplugged it.

I'm back now on a laptop and every time I go back to a laptop, it reminds how these underpowered dolts should not be used anywhere but aircraft, the middle of the desert, or Starbucks, none of which hold any interest for me. The iMac was sparkling and the general speed was impressive. Previously I ran a couple of Mac Pros and they had nothing on a newer iMac for snappy performance. I'm sure it can't touch them for the long-haul stuff such as video rendering / transcoding but I saw it running 10.10.2 for long enough to know it's an excellent machine.

My strongest move seems to be to take it back to the Apple Store to keep it until it works or burns. Maybe 10.10.4 fixes it. The situation is extremely frustrating so it's probably best to do nothing for the moment. Unknown.

etresoft

Level 8

46,966 points

May 24, 2015 4:37 PM in response to Silas Scarborough

If you can reliably cause the machine to crash with no 3rd party software other than Safari extensions, then that would be something that the Apple Store should see. I have not heard of a problem like this before, so installing 10.10.4 would likely only make it worse.

May 25, 2015 7:26 AM in response to etresoft

Thirty years with Apple systems and I've never seen a system crash like this. (I would use a Windows system but only if paid for it). It has been to the Apple Store and they did two additional rounds of hardware diagnostics beyond the home routine of booting into it I had already performed three times. Every hardware test has come up green.

However, I could not leave the iMac on the floor. I reset the SMC coming out of Safe Mode and then repeated the process after booting normally and shut down the system to do it again.

The iMac booted and has been running ever since. What I conclude is those Safari exits skanked something so much that it required this to clean up from it. The problem isn't so much the exits are so destructive but something in Yosemite is not fault-tolerant and, seemingly, different kinds of problems result in the same symptom of a black screen crash and I've seen it reported by multiple people here on the forums ever since 10.10.3 with many reporting different things as the trigger. In this circumstance I know nothing else could have done it other than the Safari exits as I had not installed anything, even additional Apple software.

When it is recoverable in this way, a hardware problem seems unlikely, particularly given the multiple types of hardware diagnostic testing performed already.

May 25, 2015 8:01 AM in response to Silas Scarborough

Scratch that. I started WiFi so I could test Safari before moving the iMac back to the primary space on the desk and it crashed again to a black screen. I have made an appt with the Apple Store and it will go back to them early this evening. This time I will insist, please don't give it back until you're sure you know what's wrong with it. Perform an exorcism if you must.

KKK_

Level 1

0 points

May 29, 2015 6:03 PM in response to Silas Scarborough

Having the same issue (sudden shutdown / black screen) after 10.10.3. so far could not find any reasonable fix/workaround to this issue in all the threads i read. downgrading to 10.10.2 helped few ppl it seems, thats my last resort!

May 29, 2015 8:05 PM in response to John Galt

There was another round at the Apple Store which again revealed no hardware error. On crashing again after bringing it back here, I got in touch with AppleCare and that went to using the Apple utility for seeing my screen. That culminated with an Apple capture tool to send system information and all of that will go off to Engineering for review.

The system has nothing in it other than three Safari extensions, all of which were reviewed by Apple and the system was verified to crash even when the extensions were not installed. Data and notes now go to Engineering for more review. Will post with the outcome.

Aug 21, 2015 6:15 AM in response to Silas Scarborough

Is there anything to report on this? I'm having the *exact* same problem. Troubleshooting a directionless nightmare to this point. The machine is being stressed on a bench now, but that never seems to produce the crash. Also, the crash doesn't leave a trail, so I'm not sure what they would learn if they could stress it into a crash.

The need to remain unplugged a bit before attempting restart gave tech's a vague indication that logic board could be the problem (power management resides there), but without certainty. Trying out new logic board as troubleshooting step around $1k. Would be an easy decision to trash the machine, except that it is quite new and in performs well when...it's on. So, try new logic board? Could be a $1k misstep.

Aug 21, 2015 11:21 AM in response to Silas Scarborough

Just out of curiosity, you may want to check the brand of RAM that is installed

which is something that may have been overlooked.

I have a late 2013 27" iMac as well and when I purchased it it had Mavericks installed

on it. I upgraded to Yosemite then the mass of fecal matter hit the proverbial air movement

device. I had many unexplained crashes and kernel panics. Narrowed it down to the fact

that I had purchased PNY RAM as an upgrade when I bought the iMac. It passed hardware

tests but in actual use with Yosemite it was horribly unstable. I purchased new 32 GB of RAM

from OWC and the machine has been a smooth running as it should.

It may not ultimately be the problem, but symptoms sure sound like what I had. Macs can be very

fussy with the brand of RAM used.

Aug 21, 2015 11:31 AM in response to woodmeister50

Very interesting, woodmeister. Than random wildness of the crashes does kind of sound RAM-like. My machine does not have any upgraded RAM, factory or otherwise, so maybe that fork is a non-starter in my case.

Aug 21, 2015 11:45 AM in response to Silas Scarborough

This iMac had very similar issues starting with 10.10.3 - and not resolved by 10.10.4.

All hardware tests were good - tried multiple clean installs of OS.

Finally had the GPU replaced ( under warranty - even though they could not get it to fail any hardware tests!) and like magic, all spontaneous rebooting went away. I surmise that it was a HIDDEN latent hardware problem (something in a video driver being used differently now) which only surfaced since 10.10.3 ...

I still had frequent ugly crashes after that, but no spontaneous reboots.

BUT: Crashes were solved ENTIRELY by disabling all of the iCloud services!! And they are staying disabled! Hope this might help...

Aug 21, 2015 12:07 PM in response to rotechflightsafety

Thanks, rotechflightsafety. It sounds like your ailment may have been different from the original poster's, or mine might be. My trouble fits the description to a tee, including the inability to restart until after the plug had been pulled for 30 seconds. Self-reboot apparently not possible in my case

Aug 21, 2015 12:12 PM in response to rotechflightsafety

Rotechflightsafety: was your machine Late 2013?

After Yosemite 10.10.3 late-2013 iMac Crashes Randomly and Frequently