riadfromhabsheim

Q: 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

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Q: macOS Sierra freeze on iMac late 2009 using Safari

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  • by JP from EG,

    JP from EG JP from EG Oct 3, 2016 12:37 AM in response to GibsonChess
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 3, 2016 12:37 AM in response to GibsonChess

    Having removed one Safari plug in (Add to Pocket) and also changed my browser to Chrome I have not had a single crash. Worth trying a different browser although by the sound of it, from the experience of others, other factors maybe relevant or crucial.

     

    Julian

  • by Arthur Drewitt1,

    Arthur Drewitt1 Arthur Drewitt1 Oct 3, 2016 9:44 AM in response to riadfromhabsheim
    Level 1 (78 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 3, 2016 9:44 AM in response to riadfromhabsheim

    I'm having exactly the same issue on a late 2009 27" iMac. Reset PRAM, checked HD, ran Etrecheck, reset SMC, etc. Still having the problem

  • by aihometech,

    aihometech aihometech Oct 3, 2016 11:12 AM in response to riadfromhabsheim
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 3, 2016 11:12 AM in response to riadfromhabsheim

    I also have this issue on a Late 2009 iMac. I posted 8 hours ago, but didn't get any replies. You got 18! Nobody loves me...

     

    Also getting an issue I have seen reported in this forum re incomplete shutdown, just a black screen, no desktop items, but Dock still auto-unhiding with mouse, but still non-responsive.

     

    I did a Safe Boot eight hours ago (apparently this does some checks & things), then went into Disk Utility for First Aid on the drive. Said it couldn't be completed because of errors, so I should do it in Recovery. Did that, re-booted normally, and I haven't had any issues all day, and my iMac shut down nicely this evening.

     

    I'm not saying it's sorted, but its looking good so far.

     

    gimbers

  • by already_here,

    already_here already_here Oct 3, 2016 2:48 PM in response to riadfromhabsheim
    Level 1 (18 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 3, 2016 2:48 PM in response to riadfromhabsheim

    I had the same problem, iMac late 2009 27", Safari kept freezing (Safari 10 and Safari Technology Preview - same webkit) all the time, only hard reboot helped.

    The solution:  disable ALL extensions in preferences.

    It seems many extensions haven't been updated fully to work with Safari 10.x hence causing these freezes.

    Try adding back extensions one at a time (if you really need it) to investigate the bad apples (oh the pun).

  • by riadfromhabsheim,

    riadfromhabsheim riadfromhabsheim Oct 3, 2016 11:05 PM in response to GibsonChess
    Level 1 (19 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 3, 2016 11:05 PM in response to GibsonChess

    @GibsonChess,

     

    No, my hard disk is the original HDD.

  • by riadfromhabsheim,

    riadfromhabsheim riadfromhabsheim Oct 3, 2016 11:10 PM in response to already_here
    Level 1 (19 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 3, 2016 11:10 PM in response to already_here

    @already_here,

     

    Yep, I thought the same and I'm trying that.

     

    I let you know!

  • by mrquesty,

    mrquesty mrquesty Oct 4, 2016 12:15 AM in response to riadfromhabsheim
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Oct 4, 2016 12:15 AM in response to riadfromhabsheim

    Folks, I have a Macbook Pro Retina with 8GB RAM (late 2012) and a regular Intel HD4000.

    After an upgrade to MacOS Sierra I experience terrible slowness with Safari, especially when working with G Suite apps (gmail, calendar, docs, spread sheets, etc): activity monitor shows Safari (itself) consumes over 1GB memory and each Google-app tab eats ~1.5-3GB of memory. Therefore my laptop is always in swap (over 3GB used)...

    I don't know what/who to blame: either Sierra, or Safari 10, but it's not a good situation, when you upgrade to get better performance (as said by Apple), but you get dramatic "freezes" and non-responsive interface (as told in the top of the conversation).

     

    Please advise what to check/change/etc to get at least performance of El Captain...

     

    Thanks in advance.

  • by aihometech,

    aihometech aihometech Oct 4, 2016 12:40 AM in response to already_here
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 4, 2016 12:40 AM in response to already_here

    I don't have any extensions installed in Safari, so this wasn't the issue for me.

  • by rmzmark,

    rmzmark rmzmark Oct 4, 2016 12:56 AM in response to riadfromhabsheim
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Oct 4, 2016 12:56 AM in response to riadfromhabsheim

    I have the exact same problem with the same iMac 2009. It is very frustrating for me. I will install back 10.11 and see if that helps. So far ive tried many things to solve it but no luck such as disable webGL, clear history, clear cache etc. I'll keep you posted about the results with el capitan.

  • by Arthur Drewitt1,

    Arthur Drewitt1 Arthur Drewitt1 Oct 4, 2016 1:12 AM in response to aihometech
    Level 1 (78 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 4, 2016 1:12 AM in response to aihometech

    Fixing the disk errors with disk utility should help you out to some extent. I've disabled Safari extensions so we shall see.

  • by already_here,

    already_here already_here Oct 4, 2016 1:29 AM in response to aihometech
    Level 1 (18 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 4, 2016 1:29 AM in response to aihometech

    i can say that after having disabled extensions completely the freezing never occured again, Safari flies as it should.

    Go to preferences and disable extensions (and if it's still freezing, disable plug-ins as well).

  • by already_here,

    already_here already_here Oct 4, 2016 1:52 AM in response to already_here
    Level 1 (18 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 4, 2016 1:52 AM in response to already_here

    ...bummer...

    Safari freezing came back after two days of usage with no extensions enabled.

    It must be a system problem, not third-party, it seems.

  • by riadfromhabsheim,

    riadfromhabsheim riadfromhabsheim Oct 4, 2016 10:24 AM in response to already_here
    Level 1 (19 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 4, 2016 10:24 AM in response to already_here

    @already_here,

     

    Me too. All extensions disabled and still the freeze..

  • by Bimmerboytje,

    Bimmerboytje Bimmerboytje Oct 4, 2016 12:24 PM in response to riadfromhabsheim
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Oct 4, 2016 12:24 PM in response to riadfromhabsheim

    Hi all,

     

    I have the same problem. Specifics:

    - iMac 11,1 (late 2009, Core i5, ATi Radeon HD 4850 512 MB)

    - Refitted with an SSD (Sandisk 1TB - too lazy to look up the exact type )

    - Total CLEAN vanilla install of Sierra (since 1 day actually!)

    - Plugins installed: Silverlite (for Netflix, was actually running in a different tab when it happened) / 1Password

    - For the rest, only PixelMator (image edit app - guess unrelated) and DropBox installed - so yes, a VERY vanilla system

     

    And indeed, - Indeed when running Safari, scrolled down in a website, it crashed like advertised. The only thing I couldn't see was the logging as originally described when logging in remotely, but also with me, the WindowServer was down.

     

    Doing tricks like reenabling WindowServer (using launchctl load /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.WindowServer.plist) didn't help.

     

    First aid on my drive showed nothing wrong (would have actually surprised me).

     

    Will follow this thread as well!

  • by Moscool,

    Moscool Moscool Oct 4, 2016 12:48 PM in response to riadfromhabsheim
    Level 1 (21 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 4, 2016 12:48 PM in response to riadfromhabsheim

    So the report say there's something wrong with you startup items and with some Adobe startup processes. Have you had a chance to disable?

     

    I have an iMac like yours with the same amount of RAM. Only difference is that I migrated my HD to an SSD running on Firewire 800. My internal HD is now used for Data/Photo backup. The system and Apps are on the SSD.

     

    The only time I experience crashes is when I daisy chain to the SSD something require lots of bandwidth (like a video camera).

     

    Otherwise Sierra has been pretty zippy.

     

    Good luck

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