Photos crashing with Exception on dispatch queue thread

Question

Level 1

22 points

Photos crashing with Exception on dispatch queue thread

Photos is crashing after a few seconds on my iMac Core i3. Everything seemed fine after upgrading to High Sierra, but yesterday Photos crashed and since then it has crashed after a few seconds every time I open the app.

I have tried rebuilding the library but while that seems to be working fine initially it seems to just stop and the window showing progress disappears, with no message.

This is the crash report I am getting for the Photos app when it closes:

Process: Photos [1405]

Path: /Applications/Photos.app/Contents/MacOS/Photos

Identifier: com.apple.Photos

Version: 3.0 (3201.11.120)

Build Info: PhotoApp-3201011120000000~1

Code Type: X86-64 (Native)

Parent Process: ??? [1]

Responsible: Photos [1405]

User ID: 503

Date/Time: 2017-09-30 13:06:29.342 +0100

OS Version: Mac OS X 10.13 (17A365)

Report Version: 12

Anonymous UUID:

Time Awake Since Boot: 8500 seconds

System Integrity Protection: enabled

Crashed Thread: 6 Dispatch queue: GL0.low.run

Exception Type: EXC_CRASH (SIGABRT)

Exception Codes: 0x0000000000000000, 0x0000000000000000

Exception Note: EXC_CORPSE_NOTIFY

Application Specific Information:

abort() called

Then the detail under Thread 6 is:

Thread 6 Crashed:: Dispatch queue: GL0.low.run

0 libsystem_kernel.dylib 0x00007fff737e7fce __pthread_kill + 10

1 libsystem_pthread.dylib 0x00007fff73925150 pthread_kill + 333

2 libsystem_c.dylib 0x00007fff7374432a abort + 127

3 com.apple.CoreImage 0x00007fff4cbbf1ac CI::Context::recursive_render(CI::TileTask*, CI::Node*, CGRect const&, CI::Node*) + 2802

4 com.apple.CoreImage 0x00007fff4cbbe993 CI::Context::recursive_render(CI::TileTask*, CI::Node*, CGRect const&, CI::Node*) + 729

5 com.apple.CoreImage 0x00007fff4cbbe993 CI::Context::recursive_render(CI::TileTask*, CI::Node*, CGRect const&, CI::Node*) + 729

6 com.apple.CoreImage 0x00007fff4cbbe993 CI::Context::recursive_render(CI::TileTask*, CI::Node*, CGRect const&, CI::Node*) + 729

7 com.apple.CoreImage 0x00007fff4cbbe993 CI::Context::recursive_render(CI::TileTask*, CI::Node*, CGRect const&, CI::Node*) + 729

8 com.apple.CoreImage 0x00007fff4cbbf2f9 CI::Context::render(CI::ProgramNode*, CGRect const&) + 95

9 com.apple.CoreImage 0x00007fff4cbd5d99 invocation function for block in CI::_image_render(char const*, CI::Context*, CI::Image*, CGRect, CGColorSpace*, CI::PixelFormat, unsigned long, CGPoint const&) + 23

10 com.apple.CoreImage 0x00007fff4cbd5ae6 CI::recursive_tile(CI::RenderTask*, CI::Context*, char const*, CI::Node*, CGRect const&, CI::PixelFormat, CI::swizzle_info const&, CI::TileTask* (CI::ProgramNode*, CGRect) block_pointer) + 1074

11 com.apple.CoreImage 0x00007fff4cbcfb59 CI::tile_node_graph(CI::Context*, char const*, CI::Node*, CGRect const&, CI::PixelFormat, CI::swizzle_info const&, CI::TileTask* (CI::ProgramNode*, CGRect) block_pointer) + 513

12 com.apple.CoreImage 0x00007fff4cbd0073 CI::_image_render(char const*, CI::Context*, CI::Image*, CGRect, CGColorSpace*, CI::PixelFormat, unsigned long, CGPoint const&) + 525

13 com.apple.CoreImage 0x00007fff4cbcfe13 CI::image_render_to_display(CI::Context*, CI::Image*, CGRect, CGColorSpace*, CI::PixelFormat) + 183

14 com.apple.CoreImage 0x00007fff4cb77389 -[CIContext drawImage:inRect:fromRect:] + 1467

15 com.apple.photo.PAImaging 0x00007fff699685f4 __82-[PATextureRenderer _renderImage:inRect:workingColorSpace:context:target:barrier:]_block_invoke + 218

16 com.apple.photo.PAImaging 0x00007fff6996780d -[PAGLFramebuffer _withFramebuffer:] + 57

17 com.apple.photo.PAImaging 0x00007fff699676a6 -[PAGLFramebuffer withFramebuffer:] + 117

18 com.apple.photo.PAImaging 0x00007fff69967573 -[PAGLTexture attachToFramebuffer:withBlock:] + 92

19 com.apple.photo.PAImaging 0x00007fff699674e3 -[PAGLTexture drawWithBlock:context:] + 82

20 com.apple.photo.PAImaging 0x00007fff699670e7 -[PATextureRenderer _renderImage:inRect:workingColorSpace:context:target:barrier:] + 828

21 com.apple.photo.PAImaging 0x00007fff69966da5 __73-[PATextureRenderer renderImage:inRect:workingColorSpace:target:barrier:]_block_invoke + 95

22 com.apple.photo.PAImaging 0x00007fff698ebff3 -[PAOpenGLContext executeBlock:] + 65

23 com.apple.photo.PAImaging 0x00007fff6996663b -[PATextureRenderer renderImage:inRect:workingColorSpace:target:barrier:] + 391

24 com.apple.photo.PAImaging 0x00007fff69966441 -[PARenderer _doRenderImage:inRegion:workingColorSpace:target:barrier:] + 223

25 com.apple.photo.PAImaging 0x00007fff69966246 -[PARenderer _renderImage:inRegion:workingColorSpace:target:barrier:] + 266

26 com.apple.photo.PAImaging 0x00007fff69965ea5 -[PARenderer renderImage:inRegion:workingColorSpace:target:barrier:] + 310

27 com.apple.photo.PAImaging 0x00007fff69965cde -[PARenderJob _renderImage:inRegion:] + 190

28 com.apple.photo.PAImaging 0x00007fff69965a0f -[PARenderJob _renderRegion:] + 103

29 com.apple.photo.PAImaging 0x00007fff69965810 -[PARenderJob run:] + 357

30 com.apple.photo.PAImaging 0x00007fff69965635 -[PAJob _run:] + 192

31 com.apple.photo.PAImaging 0x00007fff6995d3c5 -[PAJob start:] + 104

32 com.apple.photo.PAImaging 0x00007fff6995d195 -[PAJobQueue _runJob:] + 96

33 com.apple.photo.PAImaging 0x00007fff6995cce9 -[PAJobQueue _runNextJobFromQueue:] + 124

34 com.apple.photo.PAImaging 0x00007fff6995cc2d -[_PAJobPriorityQueue _runOnce:] + 36

35 com.apple.photo.PAImaging 0x00007fff6995cbfc -[_PAJobPriorityQueue _run:] + 43

36 libdispatch.dylib 0x00007fff736667a2 _dispatch_call_block_and_release + 12

37 libdispatch.dylib 0x00007fff7365ef64 _dispatch_client_callout + 8

38 libdispatch.dylib 0x00007fff7367342b _dispatch_queue_serial_drain + 635

39 libdispatch.dylib 0x00007fff7366630e _dispatch_queue_invoke + 373

40 libdispatch.dylib 0x00007fff73674117 _dispatch_root_queue_drain_deferred_wlh + 332

41 libdispatch.dylib 0x00007fff73677ef0 _dispatch_workloop_worker_thread + 880

42 libsystem_pthread.dylib 0x00007fff73922033 _pthread_wqthread + 980

43 libsystem_pthread.dylib 0x00007fff73921c4d start_wqthread + 13

I'd be most grateful for any advice as to how to get Photos back up and running as it is the app I rely on for most of my work on the iMac.

Thanks

iMac, macOS High Sierra (10.13), Core i3 3.2oGHZ

Posted on Sep 30, 2017 5:55 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Nov 22, 2017 6:22 AM in response to Ken McEwen

I had this problem with "Dispatch queue: GL1.low.run" crashes happening momentarily after iCloud finished updating each and every time I opened Photos. Of course, this made Photos totally useless on my Mac while everything seemed to work fine on my iPhones and iPad.

Recently, I broke down and called support. They asked me to change the permissions on the Photo Library package file/folder, apply, and then change the permissions back, and apply again to "reset" permissions. That didn't seem to help, so I finally bit the bullet and created a blank photo library and let it sync down from iCloud.

I have about 55k photos, so this took a while, and it took most of a week to process all the photos and do all the face detection. I can't fit my whole library on my internal drive, so I have the Mac Photos set to "optimize". I fully expected the error to return after the processing finished, but luckily it did not. I've been running a few days now, and I have been able to open and quit Photos and come back in a number of times without hitting the crash as before. Fingers crossed.

I have had Photos crash while editing, so it still doesn't feel incredibly stable. But it is working. I have not added very many photos, and that will be my next test as I do have bunch to import.

I hope this means whatever bug is confined to upgraded photo libraries.

Some additional details:

I have an older Mac running an older OS (can't remember the exact version), and it never had this problem while sync'ing from the same iCloud Photo Library the whole time.
None of my iOS devices seemed to have any issues with the same iCloud Photo Library.
My crashes only happened after iCloud sync finished. Once it said "Updated Just Now", it crashed within seconds.
Once it happened the first time, it happened 100% of the time (until I rebuilt the library).
Everything seemed fine after my initial upgrade to High Sierra, but I suspect Photos had not completed processing my library, so there was a delay between my upgrade and triggering the crash.
My MBP has an Nvidia GPU, and I did upgrade to the web driver as part of my early troubleshooting. It did not seem to help, but I am still running the latest.

Reply

Answer 2

Ken McEwen Author

Level 1

22 points

Sep 30, 2017 8:34 AM in response to LarryHN

Hi Larry

Thanks for the reply, much appreciated.

Yes, Photos is opening OK with option held down and I have created a test album and imported photographs. All is working fine (but, of course, I can't test it linked to iCloud because only the system album can be on iCloud).

But, as soon as I go back to the main photo library, it launches OK, then crashes after 15 to 20 seconds.

Thanks

Ken

Reply

Answer 3

Ken McEwen Author

Level 1

22 points

Sep 30, 2017 10:23 AM in response to LarryHN

I had been hoping to avoid having the whole lot download as I have rather a lot of photos. But, I guess it should help tidy things up – so with the extra confidence of your responses, I will set it up as the system library. Thanks for your help.

Reply

Answer 4

LarryHN

Level 10

106,110 points

Sep 30, 2017 11:51 AM in response to Ken McEwen

At this stage it is very likely that fixing the problem would require a new upload and download which often requires getting additional iCloud storage for a while so a download is faster and less problem than an upload adn download

LN

Reply

Answer 5

Ken McEwen Author

Level 1

22 points

Oct 8, 2017 8:31 AM in response to LarryHN

One week on the newly created library has started crashing with the same error: Dispatch queue: GL0.low.run. Last time it was thread 6, this time thread 2.

With thousands of photos in the library I cannot keep creating a new library and waiting for gigabytes of photos to download, especially if the issue could recur in a week's time.

Process: Photos [700]

Path: /Applications/Photos.app/Contents/MacOS/Photos

Identifier: com.apple.Photos

Version: 3.0 (3201.11.120)

Build Info: PhotoApp-3201011120000000~1

Code Type: X86-64 (Native)

Parent Process: ??? [1]

Responsible: Photos [700]

User ID: 503

Date/Time: 2017-10-08 16:21:03.431 +0100

OS Version: Mac OS X 10.13 (17A405)

Report Version: 12

Anonymous UUID:

Time Awake Since Boot: 480 seconds

System Integrity Protection: enabled

Crashed Thread: 2 Dispatch queue: GL0.low.run

Exception Type: EXC_CRASH (SIGABRT)

Exception Codes: 0x0000000000000000, 0x0000000000000000

Exception Note: EXC_CORPSE_NOTIFY

Application Specific Information:

abort() called

Thread 2 Crashed:: Dispatch queue: GL0.low.run

0 libsystem_kernel.dylib 0x00007fff73b1cfce __pthread_kill + 10

1 libsystem_pthread.dylib 0x00007fff73c5a150 pthread_kill + 333

2 libsystem_c.dylib 0x00007fff73a7932a abort + 127

3 com.apple.CoreImage 0x00007fff4cef41ac CI::Context::recursive_render(CI::TileTask*, CI::Node*, CGRect const&, CI::Node*) + 2802

4 com.apple.CoreImage 0x00007fff4cef3993 CI::Context::recursive_render(CI::TileTask*, CI::Node*, CGRect const&, CI::Node*) + 729

5 com.apple.CoreImage 0x00007fff4cef3993 CI::Context::recursive_render(CI::TileTask*, CI::Node*, CGRect const&, CI::Node*) + 729

6 com.apple.CoreImage 0x00007fff4cef3993 CI::Context::recursive_render(CI::TileTask*, CI::Node*, CGRect const&, CI::Node*) + 729

7 com.apple.CoreImage 0x00007fff4cef3993 CI::Context::recursive_render(CI::TileTask*, CI::Node*, CGRect const&, CI::Node*) + 729

8 com.apple.CoreImage 0x00007fff4cef42f9 CI::Context::render(CI::ProgramNode*, CGRect const&) + 95

9 com.apple.CoreImage 0x00007fff4cf0ad99 invocation function for block in CI::_image_render(char const*, CI::Context*, CI::Image*, CGRect, CGColorSpace*, CI::PixelFormat, unsigned long, CGPoint const&) + 23

10 com.apple.CoreImage 0x00007fff4cf0aae6 CI::recursive_tile(CI::RenderTask*, CI::Context*, char const*, CI::Node*, CGRect const&, CI::PixelFormat, CI::swizzle_info const&, CI::TileTask* (CI::ProgramNode*, CGRect) block_pointer) + 1074

11 com.apple.CoreImage 0x00007fff4cf04b59 CI::tile_node_graph(CI::Context*, char const*, CI::Node*, CGRect const&, CI::PixelFormat, CI::swizzle_info const&, CI::TileTask* (CI::ProgramNode*, CGRect) block_pointer) + 513

12 com.apple.CoreImage 0x00007fff4cf05073 CI::_image_render(char const*, CI::Context*, CI::Image*, CGRect, CGColorSpace*, CI::PixelFormat, unsigned long, CGPoint const&) + 525

13 com.apple.CoreImage 0x00007fff4cf04e13 CI::image_render_to_display(CI::Context*, CI::Image*, CGRect, CGColorSpace*, CI::PixelFormat) + 183

14 com.apple.CoreImage 0x00007fff4ceac389 -[CIContext drawImage:inRect:fromRect:] + 1467

15 com.apple.photo.PAImaging 0x00007fff69c9d5f4 __82-[PATextureRenderer _renderImage:inRect:workingColorSpace:context:target:barrier:]_block_invoke + 218

16 com.apple.photo.PAImaging 0x00007fff69c9c80d -[PAGLFramebuffer _withFramebuffer:] + 57

17 com.apple.photo.PAImaging 0x00007fff69c9c6a6 -[PAGLFramebuffer withFramebuffer:] + 117

18 com.apple.photo.PAImaging 0x00007fff69c9c573 -[PAGLTexture attachToFramebuffer:withBlock:] + 92

19 com.apple.photo.PAImaging 0x00007fff69c9c4e3 -[PAGLTexture drawWithBlock:context:] + 82

20 com.apple.photo.PAImaging 0x00007fff69c9c0e7 -[PATextureRenderer _renderImage:inRect:workingColorSpace:context:target:barrier:] + 828

21 com.apple.photo.PAImaging 0x00007fff69c9bda5 __73-[PATextureRenderer renderImage:inRect:workingColorSpace:target:barrier:]_block_invoke + 95

22 com.apple.photo.PAImaging 0x00007fff69c20ff3 -[PAOpenGLContext executeBlock:] + 65

23 com.apple.photo.PAImaging 0x00007fff69c9b63b -[PATextureRenderer renderImage:inRect:workingColorSpace:target:barrier:] + 391

24 com.apple.photo.PAImaging 0x00007fff69c9b441 -[PARenderer _doRenderImage:inRegion:workingColorSpace:target:barrier:] + 223

25 com.apple.photo.PAImaging 0x00007fff69c9b246 -[PARenderer _renderImage:inRegion:workingColorSpace:target:barrier:] + 266

26 com.apple.photo.PAImaging 0x00007fff69c9aea5 -[PARenderer renderImage:inRegion:workingColorSpace:target:barrier:] + 310

27 com.apple.photo.PAImaging 0x00007fff69c9acde -[PARenderJob _renderImage:inRegion:] + 190

28 com.apple.photo.PAImaging 0x00007fff69c9aa0f -[PARenderJob _renderRegion:] + 103

29 com.apple.photo.PAImaging 0x00007fff69c9a810 -[PARenderJob run:] + 357

30 com.apple.photo.PAImaging 0x00007fff69c9a635 -[PAJob _run:] + 192

31 com.apple.photo.PAImaging 0x00007fff69c923c5 -[PAJob start:] + 104

32 com.apple.photo.PAImaging 0x00007fff69c92195 -[PAJobQueue _runJob:] + 96

33 com.apple.photo.PAImaging 0x00007fff69c91ce9 -[PAJobQueue _runNextJobFromQueue:] + 124

34 com.apple.photo.PAImaging 0x00007fff69c91c2d -[_PAJobPriorityQueue _runOnce:] + 36

35 com.apple.photo.PAImaging 0x00007fff69c91bfc -[_PAJobPriorityQueue _run:] + 43

36 libdispatch.dylib 0x00007fff7399b7a2 _dispatch_call_block_and_release + 12

37 libdispatch.dylib 0x00007fff73993f64 _dispatch_client_callout + 8

38 libdispatch.dylib 0x00007fff739a842b _dispatch_queue_serial_drain + 635

39 libdispatch.dylib 0x00007fff7399b30e _dispatch_queue_invoke + 373

40 libdispatch.dylib 0x00007fff739a9117 _dispatch_root_queue_drain_deferred_wlh + 332

41 libdispatch.dylib 0x00007fff739acef0 _dispatch_workloop_worker_thread + 880

42 libsystem_pthread.dylib 0x00007fff73c57033 _pthread_wqthread + 980

43 libsystem_pthread.dylib 0x00007fff73c56c4d start_wqthread + 13

Reply

Answer 6

janmaj

Level 1

9 points

Oct 12, 2017 3:58 AM in response to Ken McEwen

I started having exactly the same crashes after a fresh install of macOS High Sierra. I also set-up a completely new Photos Library and had all originals downloaded to the MacBook Pro (15-inch, integrated + discrete graphics card) -- ca. 80.000 photos / 600 GB stored in the iCloud Photo Library, which alone took some 2 to 3 days.

Everything worked perfectly on Sierra (and previous versions), but now on High Sierra in about 30 - 60 secs after Photos launch the Photos crashes and I ALWAYS get:

-- Dispatch queue: GL1.low.run --

—> New Photos Library (re-download) does not help

—> Fresh system install (macOS High Sierra) does not help

Frustrating!

Reply

Answer 7

Ken McEwen Author

Level 1

22 points

Oct 12, 2017 4:06 AM in response to janmaj

There seems to be a growing number of people reporting this some with GL1 instead of GL0 and some with high.run instead of low.run.

Apple Support have advised me to set up a new user account, which I have done and so far (although only about 16 hours into it) Photos is working fine but it will take several days on our slow broadband to download my pics.

Will update on progress and report whether the new user account has solved the problem.

It is all very frustrating, not just in the amount of time but the struggle to download from the cloud on what is a very slow broadband connection. The download traffic means there is very little bandwidth to do anything else!

Reply

Answer 8

janmaj

Level 1

9 points

Oct 13, 2017 9:27 AM in response to Ken McEwen

It worked ok at the beginning -- for some 3 days -- until all photos were downloaded to the MacBook from iCloud. After that, with the local Photos Library being around 600 G, problems started.

It cannot be that, similar to earlier Windows iterations of old days, now on every new major macOS release there is something like reinstall, reboot, new user, new database ... sounds not good, sorry.

Reply

Answer 9

Ken McEwen Author

Level 1

22 points

Oct 12, 2017 5:14 AM in response to janmaj

That has a horrible ring of truth to it. When I set up a new library (before being advised to create a new user) it worked OK for several days then started the dispatch queue crashes all over again, rendering Photos useless once more.

Reply

Answer 10

janmaj

Level 1

9 points

Oct 16, 2017 5:59 AM in response to Ken McEwen

So, once more, I tried the steps recommended here or elsewhere:

- fully erased system SSD on the MacBook

- reinstalled the High Sierra (to be on the safe side -- via Internet Recovery), incl. creation of a brand new user account

- created a fresh new local Photos Library

- had all originals downloaded (80k photos, 600 GB of data) from the iCloud Photo Library, it took the whole week-end

- and, once this has been done

==>

Apple Photos for Mac started crashing againupon launch (after approx. 1 minute of run time) with the crash reason being, again, the -- Dispatch queue: GL1.low.run --

I cannot believe this is one of my trusty and beloved Macs ...

Reply

Answer 11

Ken McEwen Author

Level 1

22 points

Oct 29, 2017 1:25 PM in response to Ken McEwen

Apple Support has confirmed that this is an "emerging issue" and that the engineers are working on a fix. It seems to be affecting those of us with larger libraries, which is presumably why it wasn't necessarily picked up at beta stage.

Reply

Answer 12

Oznerm

Level 1

8 points

Nov 4, 2017 9:17 PM in response to Ken McEwen

I also have this issue since I updated to MacOS High Sierra. I used PowerPhotos to copy the photos from my library to a new library. Photos worked fine while my library was syncing with the iCloud library. Once it finished syncing the problem came back - Photos again crashes all the time.

I restarted my Mac with the shift key pressed and Photos worked, but it was very slow and cumbersome to do anything.

The only thing I can think of is that since my library is in an external drive (because it´s so big) this is causing the problem. Maybe if it is in the internal HD it will work. Do any of you guys have the library in the local drive and have the problem?

Reply

Answer 13

janmaj

Level 1

9 points

Nov 5, 2017 6:24 AM in response to Oznerm

No, on all Macs I use the internal SSD, all of them have at least 1 TB, so no problem housing my 600+ GB library.

Interestingly enough, my Mac Pro (Late 2013) with 64 GB RAM and 2 TB internal SSD, which I upgraded in-place to High Sierra works ok so far with the full iCloud Photo Library.

The other Mac — a freshly installed Macbook Pro 15 with 16 GB RAM and 1 TB internal SSD starts regularly crashing as described above making the Photos useless on this MacBook upon fully downloading the library from iCloud.

Reply

Answer 14

Ken McEwen Author

Level 1

22 points

Nov 19, 2017 2:01 PM in response to Ken McEwen

Cautiously reporting that the problem seems to be resolved. At least, Photos worked fine tonight with no crashes. One reason for being cautious is that there was no intervention on my computer. So was it a fix at the iCloud server?

So, happy to get Photos back and just hope it was not a fluke and the crashes return.

Reply

Answer 15

Ken McEwen Author

Level 1

22 points

Nov 20, 2017 1:32 AM in response to Ken McEwen

Sadly, it was a false dawn. At 21:43 having worked since about 17:00 Photos crashed with the same old "GL0 low.run" error and now, when I reopen, it crashes after about 30 seconds each time. The computer was idle at the time of the crash.

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