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macOS Sierra freeze on iMac late 2009 using Safari

Hey guys,

Since the installation of macOS Sierra on my iMac 27 inch late 2009, I'm experiencing freezes of the computer with the following symptoms:

- the freeze occurs when I scroll a webpage in Safari.

- The mouse cursor still moves but I can't click and manipulate the system ; the keyboard doesn't work, as well.

- A force reboot is mandatory to recover.

- I can establish a ssh connection from my MacBook to the iMac, suggesting that Darwin is still running well.

- The log indicates "userspace_watchdog_timeout.spin report for WindowServer version", suggesting that the problem is related to a crash of the WindowServer.

Somebody here with the same machine has the same problem?

Thanks!

VIN,iMac (27-inch Late 2009), macOS Sierra (10.12)

Posted on Sep 28, 2016 11:13 AM

Top-ranking reply

riadfromhabsheim Author

Level 1

91 points

Posted on Feb 3, 2017 2:50 AM

Hey guys,

I have a good news. I asked through my bug report when this problem is supposed to be fixed.

Bug report team told me that the bug is still under investigation BUT they say also that I should test this issue on macOS 10.12.5.

Hopefully, a fix will be proposed in the coming macOS 10.12.5 update. 🙂

View in context

473 replies

Apr 21, 2017 7:45 AM in response to elenianderic

Well, I just updated the Safari Technology Preview and re-tested the page that would always freeze. To my surprise, it kept on working this time. I then went into regular Safari and tested it again... and it worked. No more freezing on the page.

It appears that the Technology Preview update fixed the JavaScript issues I was having.

I have run into GPU issues from time to time, but that was usually when I was testing the nVidia driver on my MacBook Pro. When I used Apple's driver, it rarely had issues outside of being slower.

Apr 28, 2017 3:29 AM in response to riadfromhabsheim

Hello All, but especially riadfromhabsheim,

My Late 2009 iMac suffered from this problem. riadfromhabsheim's Debug menu fix worked. Now running 10.12.4 and reset the Debug menu settings. No freezes for one month.

I am now archiving this thread on my email client, but thank you very much to all.

jlbr

Level 1

9 points

Jul 10, 2017 9:21 AM in response to riadfromhabsheim

Updated my iMac 27-inch, Late 2009 from MacOS Sierra 10.12.1 to 10.12.5 and the MacOS Sierra freeze on iMac late 2009 using Safari issue is gone! Found that MacOS 10.12.5 is very stable and more responsive than 10.12.1 applications now launch faster and also switching from one app to another is much more smoother.

Király

Level 6

10,017 points

Jul 14, 2017 10:55 PM in response to jlbr

Yes I too have had no more freezes since installing 10.12.5. They started for me way back in 10.9 and persisted in 10.10 and 10.11 too. So glad to have it fixed after living with it for so many years!

JimmyCMPIT

Level 7

29,258 points

Sep 28, 2016 11:16 AM in response to riadfromhabsheim

you may post an etrecheck report for further analysis.

www.etrecheck.com

Sep 28, 2016 11:18 AM in response to riadfromhabsheim

Verify and if necessary repair the hard disk using Disk Utility. Disk Utility is located in /Applications/Utilities.

With the Disk Utility app open, select the disk on the left then select the First Aid tab then click Run.

Sep 28, 2016 11:19 AM in response to Carolyn Samit

Hello,

Thanks for you reply

I checked my disk and no problems.

Sep 28, 2016 11:25 AM in response to JimmyCMPIT

EtreCheck analysis:

EtreCheck version : 3.0.5 (309)

Rapport créé le 2016-09-28 20:22:16

Télécharger EtreCheck chez https://etrecheck.com

Runtime 2:24

La vitesse : Excellente

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Cliquez sur les liens [Les détails] pour plus d'informations sur cette ligne.

Problème :Autre problème

Description :

Freeze

Les informations matérielles : ⓘ

iMac (27 pouces, fin 2009)

[Les caractéristiques techniques] - [Le guide de l’utilisateur] - [Garantie & service]

iMac - modèle : iMac11,1

1 2,8 GHz Intel Core i7 CPU : 4-core

16 GB RAM Extensible - [Instructions]

BANK 0/DIMM0

4 GB DDR3 1067 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

4 GB DDR3 1067 MHz ok

BANK 0/DIMM1

4 GB DDR3 1067 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM1

4 GB DDR3 1067 MHz ok

Bluetooth: Obsolète - Handoff/Airdrop2 non disponible

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

Les informations vidéo : ⓘ

ATI Radeon HD 4850 - VRAM : 512 MB

iMac 2560 x 1440

Les logiciel du système : ⓘ

macOS Sierra 10.12 (16A323) - Temps depuis le démarrage : environ un jour

Les informations des disques : ⓘ

Hitachi HDS722020ALA330 disk0 : (2 TB) (Rotational)

EFI (disk0s1) <non monté> : 210 Mo

macOS Sierra (disk0s2) / : 2.00 To (1.72 To libre)

Recovery HD (disk0s3) <non monté> [Restauration] : 650 Mo

HL-DT-ST DVDRW GA11N ()

Les informations USB : ⓘ

Apple Card Reader

Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Apple Inc. Built-in iSight

Les fichiers de configuration : ⓘ

/etc/sudoers, Taille du fichier 2299 mais 1563 prévu

Le gatekeeper : ⓘ

Mac App Store et développeurs identifiés

Les éléments de démarrage : ⓘ

HP IO : Chemin : /Library/StartupItems/HP IO

Les éléments de démarrage sont obsolètes pour OS X Yosemite

Les agents de lancement systèmes : ⓘ

[désengagé] 8 tâches d’Apple

[engagé] 161 tâches d’Apple

[en marche] 102 tâches d’Apple

Les daemons de lancement systèmes : ⓘ

[désengagé] com.apple.jetsamproperties.Mac.plist (2016-08-26) [Aide]

[désengagé] 41 tâches d’Apple

[engagé] 158 tâches d’Apple

[en marche] 105 tâches d’Apple

Les agents de lancement : ⓘ

[échec] com.adobe.ARMDCHelper.cc24aef4a1b90ed56a725c38014c95072f92651fb65e1bf9c8e43c37a2 3d420d.plist (2016-07-11) [Aide]

Les daemons de lancements : ⓘ

[engagé] com.adobe.ARMDC.Communicator.plist (2016-07-11) [Aide]

[engagé] com.adobe.ARMDC.SMJobBlessHelper.plist (2016-07-11) [Aide]

[engagé] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (2016-08-30) [Aide]

[engagé] com.microsoft.autoupdate.helpertool.plist (2016-08-03) [Aide]

[engagé] com.microsoft.office.licensingV2.helper.plist (2015-11-05) [Aide]

Les agents de lancement pour l’utilisateur : ⓘ

[échec] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist (2012-03-24) [Aide]

[engagé] com.apple.SafariBookmarksSyncer.plist (2008-12-15)

[engagé] com.google.keystone.agent.plist (2016-07-12) [Aide]

Les éléments Ouverture : ⓘ

SpeechSynthesisServer Application (/System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks /SpeechSynthesis.framework/Versions/A/SpeechSynthesisServer.app)

Les plug-ins internets : ⓘ

FlashPlayer-10.6 : 23.0.0.162 - SDK 10.9 (2016-09-20) [Aide]

QuickTime Plugin : 7.7.3 (2016-09-14)

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI : 15.017.20053 - SDK 10.11 (2016-08-04) [Aide]

AdobePDFViewer : 15.017.20053 - SDK 10.11 (2016-08-04) [Aide]

Flash Player : 23.0.0.162 - SDK 10.9 (2016-09-20) [Aide]

OfficeLiveBrowserPlugin : 12.2.6 (2010-08-15) [Aide]

SharePointBrowserPlugin : 14.5.7 - SDK 10.6 (2015-10-13) [Aide]

iPhotoPhotocast : 7.0 - SDK 10.8 (2013-04-18)

Les extensions de Safari : ⓘ

1Password - AgileBits - https://agilebits.com/onepassword (2016-09-26)

Wipr - Giorgio Calderolla - http://giorgiocalderolla.com/ (2016-08-04)

Zotero Connector - Center for History and New Media - http://www.zotero.org/ (2015-09-30)

Les panneaux de préférences tiers : ⓘ

Flash Player (2016-08-30) [Aide]

Le Time Machine : ⓘ

Ignorer les fichiers du système : NON

Sauvegardes mobiles : Désactivé

Sauvegarde automatique : OUI

Disques sauvegardés :

macOS Sierra : Taille de disque : 2.00 To Disque utilisé : 284.44 Go

Destinations :

Time Machine Backup [Local]

Taille totale : 499.77 Go

Nombre total de sauvegardes : 4

Sauvegarde la plus ancienne : 14/09/2016 23:06

Dernière sauvegarde : 19/09/2016 18:37

Taille du disque de sauvegarde : Trop petit

Taille de sauvegarde 499.77 Go > (Disque utilisé 284.44 Go X 3)

L’utilisation du CPU par processus : ⓘ

2% mdworker(7)

2% WindowServer

2% fontd

0% kernel_task

0% com.apple.AmbientDisplayAgent

L’utilisation de la RAM par processus : ⓘ

1.98 Go com.apple.WebKit.WebContent(14)

1.36 Go softwareupdated

895 Mo kernel_task

426 Mo Safari

262 Mo iTunes

Les informations de la mémoire virtuelle : ⓘ

5.39 Go RAM Disponible

11.00 Go RAM Utilisée (4.02 Go Cached)

0 o Fichier d’échange utilisé

Les informations du diagnostic : ⓘ

Sep 27, 2016, 10:03:14 PM Auto-examen - succès

Sep 26, 2016, 05:50:27 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/softwareupdate_download_service_2016-09-26-1750 27_[expurgé].crash

/System/Library/CoreServices/Software Update.app/Contents/Resources/softwareupdate_download_service

Sep 29, 2016 12:16 AM in response to riadfromhabsheim

I've got the exact same problem on my iMac 2009. If you ssh and use 'top' the windowserver process is stuck. Everything else runs as normal, i.e sound still plays mouse moves but can not click on anything (window server is stuck). Must hard reboot after that. I had to revert to 10.11 haven't had a crash since.

Sep 29, 2016 1:22 AM in response to riadfromhabsheim

Yes indeed. My iMac is 2010 and since I updated to Sierra I have noticed the same thing. I can hear the disk doing things and as you say the mouse moves but nothing works. It has happened when I am on Safari but equally when I am in Photoshop. It's happened 2-3 times a day!

Shouldn't there be a report one can send through to Apple when it occurs?

I hope that if enough people have this then a fix will ensue as its not a good start to a new OS.