Meaning of the grey spinning wheel on black screen?

Question

Meaning of the grey spinning wheel on black screen?

On an iMac (2011) running perfectly on Yosemite 10.10.5 (uptime = 196 days without a problem and without a crash, this is a server), I recently made 4 upgrades (Security, Safari, ARD & iTunes). All these upgrades went fine.

After the restart everything was OK.

A few hours later, I just terminated my session.

The Finder terminated, and I get a black screen as usual, but not immediatly the account and password login window. In place I got a black screen, and a few seconds later a grey spinning wheel appeared:

Since this iMac is the router and firewall for my home network I can't reboot it at will like a pig.

I tried to access it through ssh, but this failed.

What is the meaning of this grey spinning wheel on a black screen?

What is the official name of this problem signaling screen?

Where is officially documented this grey spinning wheel on a black screen?

Is there any secret command to let my iMac say where it is suffering?

How long might this last?

iMac(s), MacBook Pro(s), iPhone(s)-OTHER, Yosemite, El Capitan, Sierra

Posted on Dec 4, 2016 9:11 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Eric Root

Level 10

684,045 points

Dec 4, 2016 9:36 AM in response to daniel Azuelos

Clarification question - when you posted you terminated your session, does that mean you logged out of your user account? It appears some program isn't quitting. Can you shut down the computer using the power button and then restart? If so, after logging in, try running this program in your normal account , then copy and paste the output in a reply. The program was created by Etresoft, a frequent contributor. Please use copy and paste as screen shots can be hard to read. On the screen with Options, please open Options and check the bottom 2 boxes before running. Click “Share Report” button in the toolbar, select “Copy to Clipboard” and then paste into a reply. This will show what is running on your computer. No personal information is shown.

Etrecheck – System Information

Reply

Answer 2

Dec 4, 2016 10:01 AM in response to Eric Root

Yes, you are right. To terminate a session is exactly to log out of the actual account (, ⇧+⌘+Q).

Thank you for your help to analyse this problem. I will run this shell script ASAP.

Meanwhile, the core of my question is in the title.

Yosemite attempts to say me something! What is the meaning of this grey spinning wheel on black screen?

Reply

Answer 3

Eric Root

Level 10

684,045 points

Dec 4, 2016 10:38 AM in response to daniel Azuelos

It is trying to log out as you requested it to, but since something isn't quitting the spinning wheel shows it is in the process, but not complete. Sometimes you might see a spinning wheel on startup. Same thing.

Reply

Answer 4

Dec 4, 2016 2:43 PM in response to Eric Root

EtreCheck version: 3.1.3 (337) Report generated 2016-12-04 22:39:58 Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com Runtime 2:23 Performance: Excellent Click the [Support] links for help with non-Apple products. Click the [Details] links for more information about that line. Problem: Other problem Description: End of session not terminating Hardware Information: ⓘ iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2011) [Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty & Service] iMac - model: iMac12,1 1 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 (i5-2400S) CPU: 4-core 4 GB RAM Upgradeable - [Instructions] BANK 0/DIMM0 2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok BANK 1/DIMM0 2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok BANK 0/DIMM1 Empty BANK 1/DIMM1 Empty Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported Wireless: en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n Video Information: ⓘ AMD Radeon HD 6750M - VRAM: 512 MB iMac 1920 x 1080 System Software: ⓘ OS X Yosemite 10.10.5 (14F2009) - Time since boot: about 12 hours Disk Information: ⓘ ST3500418AS disk0 : (500,11 GB) (Rotational) [Show SMART report] EFI (disk0s1) : 210 MB milky-way 1 250 Go (disk0s2) / [Startup]: 249.40 GB (169.43 GB free) Recovery HD (disk0s3) [Recovery]: 650 MB milky-way 2 250 Go (disk0s4) /Volumes/milky-way 2 250 Go : 249.58 GB (19.60 GB free) OPTIARC DVD RW AD-5680H () USB Information: ⓘ Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in) Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller Apple Internal Memory Card Reader Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver Thunderbolt Information: ⓘ Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus Configuration files: ⓘ /etc/sysctl.conf - File exists but not expected /etc/hosts - Count: 13 Gatekeeper: ⓘ Mac App Store and identified developers Unknown Files: ⓘ /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/RCS /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/ssh.plist_10.7 /usr/libexec/sshd-keygen-wrapper -i 2 unknown files found. [Check files] System Launch Agents: ⓘ [not loaded] 5 Apple tasks [loaded] 154 Apple tasks [running] 53 Apple tasks System Launch Daemons: ⓘ [not loaded] RCS (2013-05-25) [Support] [not loaded] 44 Apple tasks [loaded] 134 Apple tasks [running] 87 Apple tasks Launch Agents: ⓘ [failed] com.epson.eventmanager.agent.plist (2012-05-08) [Support] - /Applications/Epson Software/Event Manager.app/Contents/Resources/Assistants/Event Manager/EEventManager.app/Contents/MacOS/EEventManager: Executable not found! [running] org.macosforge.xquartz.startx.plist (2015-10-16) [Support] Launch Daemons: ⓘ [loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (2015-04-25) [Support] [loaded] com.bombich.ccc.plist (2014-08-10) [Support] [loaded] com.bombich.ccchelper.plist (2016-01-10) [Support] [loaded] com.skype.skypeinstaller.plist (2016-12-04) [Support] [loaded] org.macosforge.xquartz.privileged_startx.plist (2015-10-16) [Support] [running] org.macports.Squid.plist (2016-03-28) [Support] [not loaded] org.macports.rsyncd.plist (2015-05-02) [Support] User Launch Agents: ⓘ [loaded] uk.co.markallan.clamxav.freshclam.plist (2013-04-24) [Support] User Login Items: ⓘ iTunesHelper Application (2016-12-03) (/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app) Internet Plug-ins: ⓘ FlashPlayer-10.6: 17.0.0.188 - SDK 10.6 (2015-05-16) [Support] QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (2016-12-03) Flash Player: 17.0.0.188 - SDK 10.6 (2015-05-16) Outdated! Update JavaAppletPlugin: 15.0.0 - SDK 10.10 (2013-05-25) Check version Default Browser: 600 - SDK 10.10 (2016-03-28) 3rd Party Preference Panes: ⓘ Flash Player (2015-04-25) [Support] Time Machine: ⓘ Auto backup: YES Volumes being backed up: milky-way 1 250 Go: Disk size: 249.40 GB Disk used: 79.97 GB Destinations: milky-way 2 250 Go [Local] Total size: 249.58 GB Total number of backups: 66 Oldest backup: 23/03/2016 00:01 Last backup: 04/12/2016 22:19 Size of backup disk: Adequate Backup size 249.58 GB > (Disk used 79.97 GB X 3) Top Processes by CPU: ⓘ 3% fontd 3% WindowServer 1% kernel_task 0% askpermissiond Top Processes by Memory: ⓘ 627 MB firefox 482 MB kernel_task 160 MB mdworker(10) 115 MB mds_stores 94 MB (squid-1) Virtual Memory Information: ⓘ 1.37 GB Available RAM 43 MB Free RAM 2.63 GB Used RAM 1.33 GB Cached files 1 MB Swap Used Diagnostics Information: ⓘ Dec 4, 2016, 10:32:09 AM Self test - passed

Reply

Answer 5

Eric Root

Level 10

684,045 points

Dec 5, 2016 10:23 AM in response to daniel Azuelos

Clarification question - does the spinning wheel eventually stop and the normal page appear?

I don't see anything unusual in the report. You might try quitting Skype before logging out.

Reply

Answer 6

Dec 5, 2016 1:44 PM in response to Eric Root

No. A few hours later my iMac was still stuck on the same grey spinning wheel on a black screen. Since I wasn't able to reach it through

ssh

, I finally decided to kill it like a pig: 5s on power button.

After the reboot I checked

the file-system: no error.
virus or malware: none.
I checked for hardware error: none.

I don't think I used

Skype

on my previous session. What let you think this might have been the case?

Here is the apparently most interesting part of all my logs around the grey spinning wheel event.

/var/log/system.log

:

Dec 3 23:16:37 ••My__Mac•• WindowServer[177]: CGXDisplayDidWakeNotification [25968161857868]: posting kCGSDisplayDidWake Dec 3 23:16:37 ••My__Mac•• WindowServer[177]: handle_will_sleep_auth_and_shield_windows: Deferring. Dec 3 23:16:37 ••My__Mac•• identityservicesd[348]: : notification observer: com.apple.iChat notification: __CFNotification 0x7fd331626330 {name = _NSDoNotDisturbDisabledNotification} Dec 3 23:16:37 ••My__Mac•• identityservicesd[348]: : NC Disabled: NO Dec 3 23:16:37 ••My__Mac•• identityservicesd[348]: : DND Enabled: NO Dec 3 23:16:37 ••My__Mac•• identityservicesd[348]: : Updating enabled: YES (Topics: ( )) Dec 3 23:16:37 ••My__Mac•• kernel[0]: 25968.494500: Invoking getKEY_RSC Dec 3 23:16:46 ••My__Mac•• universalaccessd[281]: Zoom error: unexpected lock screen login window end. (Current state: 0) Dec 3 23:16:51 ••My__Mac•• CoreServicesUIAgent[385]: unexpected message { count = 1, contents = "XPCErrorDescription" => { length = 18, contents = "Connection invalid" } }> Dec 3 23:16:51 ••My__Mac•• com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.WebKit.WebContent.E77C12CD-323E-4DD1-ADBA-589E7BF60115[374]): Service exited with abnormal code: 1 Dec 3 23:16:52 ••My__Mac•• warmd[72]: [_bootcachectl_playlist_for_file:3202] Unable to generate playlist for file: 2 No such file or directory Dec 3 23:16:53 ••My__Mac•• org.macosforge.xquartz.startx[472]: /opt/X11/bin/xinit: connection to X server lost Dec 3 23:16:53 ••My__Mac•• org.macosforge.xquartz.startx[472]: Dec 3 23:16:53 ••My__Mac•• loginwindow[108]: ERROR | __34-[SessionLogoutManager quitFinder]_block_invoke | Finder is killable, calling SMJobRemove Dec 3 23:16:53 ••My__Mac•• WindowServer[177]: CGXGetConnectionProperty: Invalid connection 62467 Dec 3 23:16:53 --- last message repeated 15 times --- Dec 3 23:16:53 ••My__Mac•• loginwindow[108]: Login Window point of no return Dec 3 23:16:53 ••My__Mac•• CoreServicesUIAgent[385]: unexpected message { count = 1, contents = "XPCErrorDescription" => { length = 18, contents = "Connection invalid" } }> Dec 3 23:16:53 ••My__Mac•• SystemUIServer[316]: Spotlight: Service connection interrupted! Dec 3 23:16:53 ••My__Mac•• com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.lateragent[396]): Service exited due to signal: Killed: 9 Dec 3 23:16:53 ••My__Mac•• com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.AirPlayUIAgent[331]): Service exited due to signal: Killed: 9 Dec 3 23:16:53 ••My__Mac•• com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.xpc.launchd.oneshot.0x10000004.iTunesHelper[1230]): Service exited with abnormal code: 1 Dec 3 23:16:53 ••My__Mac•• com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.universalaccessd[281]): Service exited due to signal: Killed: 9 Dec 3 23:16:53 ••My__Mac•• com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.cloudphotosd[661]): Service exited due to signal: Killed: 9 Dec 3 23:16:53 ••My__Mac•• sharingd[329]: 23:16:53.772 : SIGTERM received, shutting down. Dec 3 23:16:53 ••My__Mac•• com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.storeuid[380]): Service exited due to signal: Killed: 9 Dec 3 23:16:53 ••My__Mac•• com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.coreservices.uiagent[385]): Service exited due to signal: Killed: 9 Dec 3 23:16:53 ••My__Mac•• com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.noticeboard.agent[1303]): Service exited due to signal: Killed: 9 Dec 3 23:16:54 ••My__Mac•• sessionlogoutd[2079]: sessionlogoutd Launched Dec 3 23:16:54 ••My__Mac•• sessionlogoutd[2079]: DEAD_PROCESS: 108 console Dec 3 23:16:54 ••My__Mac•• org.macosforge.xquartz.startx[472]: waiting for X server to shut down Dec 3 23:16:54 ••My__Mac•• WindowServer[177]: CGXRestartSessionWorkspace: session workspace exited for session 257 (on console)

Reply