Constant Kernel Panics – userspace watchdog timeout: no successful checkins from com.apple.WindowServer

[JZiss]

This worked for me today after about 30 crashes over the past 2 weeks. I also hear that the new beta solves this. Until then, here's a workaround for anyone experiencing my issue.

"Instructions for Preventing the Hang in macOS 10.15.4"

Why Mac Hangs When Copying Files in macOS Catalina 10.15.4

If you have encountered hangs copying large files after upgrading to macOS 10.15.4, here is a temporary workaround until the next Catalina release.

blog.macsales.com

 

[CMMChris]

So those things didn't seem to do anything.

As I said numerous times already: Those workarounds just reduce the amount of panics you get. They don't resolve the underlying issue of random kernel panics being triggered after sleep when a process utilizing AppleGVA / video acceleration is running. Apple have to fix up their ****** drivers which it seems they just don't want to do. Issue is still not fixed in 10.15.5 including many other driver bugs.

Edit:
Here is a bug report template for anyone wanting to report the Navi / RDNA wake from sleep crashes:

Issue:
Ever since Navi/RDNA support in macOS started there are issues with freezing UI followed by a kernel panic after waking from sleep. This happens with all Navi10 and Navi14 GPUs. In my case I reproduce it with {YOUR PRODUCT}. MacBook Pro 16" is affected as well. Also Mac Pro with Radeon Pro W5700X is affected. The issue has been reported since day one of Navi support yet Apple never did something about it. This starts to become hilarious. The only improvement regarding the issue is that since 10.15.4 it doesn't happen with every sleep / wake cycle but randomly now. Issue has still not been fixed in 10.15.5.

How the issue looks:
After waking from sleep and running a process using hardware accelerated video decoding / encoding, the UI will freeze for a couple of seconds, then starts working again, then freezes again, and so on. The mouse can still be moved but the UI is non-responsive. Eventually, after waiting for long enough, a kernel panic occurs and the machine reboots.

How to reproduce:
1. Use any Navi10 or Navi14 graphics card inside a Mac Pro 2019, eGPU case or use a MacBook Pro 16.
2. Open Video Proc or any other app utilizing hardware video acceleration (e.g. Safari playing Youtube, exporting with FCPX / iMovie).
3. Run the video acceleration test in Video Proc, start playing a H.264 / H.265 video in Safari or export a H.264 / H.265 file from FCPX / iMovie.
4. Put the machine to sleep.
5. Wake it again and re-test video acceleration.
6. If machine doesn't freeze, repeat the cycle from step 4.
7. Repeat this until the UI starts freezing / video acceleration stops working.
8. Eventually the machine will kernel panic after several minutes.

Affected products:
- Any MacBook Pro 16"
- Any Mac Pro with aftermarket Navi10 or Navi14 GPU
- Any Mac Pro with Radeon Pro W5700X
- Any Mac with a Navi10 or Navi14 GPU attached via Thunderbolt
- Any Hackintosh with a Navi10 or Navi14 GPU

Issue present since:
- 10.15.1 Beta 2 - introduction of Navi / RDNA support (issue triggered with EVERY sleep / wake cycle)
- 10.15.2
- 10.15.3
- 10.15.4 (from here on issue not appearing with every sleep / wake cycle but randomly instead)
- 10.15.5 (kernel panic not guaranteed to happen anymore, but the UI freezes are still an issue and video acceleration stops working when freezes do happen)

Maybe it will put some pressure on Apple if more people start to complain through their feedback assistant.

 

[prdg.alex]

Anyone on here still experiencing the same issues after upgrading to the official version of 10.15.5?

 

[bug]

Anyone on here still experiencing the same issues after upgrading to the official version of 10.15.5?

It was basically happening 100% of the time if it slept for an hour or two before, and post 10.15.5 I have not had the issue come up at all.

Can't say its solved at this point but so far so good.

 

[CMMChris]

Still happening on every 5th sleep / wake cycle or so on my RX 5700 XT. But most of the time the OS just freezes now without getting a panic. Put my Radeon VII back in yesterday and issue is gone. So Navi drivers still screwed up.

 

[ydn.ydn]

I updated to latest Catalina ,10.15.5 and still happening, 4 times in the morning already and this is very frustrating!

 

[Jacob Roy]

Yes, even on 10.15.5.
On my setup, a 2015 15" MBP with AMD M370X in clamshell mode with a thunderbolt display, I can mitigate the issue by not closing the lid.

I guess that when I close the lid with the display plugged-in, it goes in a really short sleep cycle.

 

[smmehta]

I am on 10.15.5 on a MacBook Pro 16 2019 Model, and in past 24 hours had 7 to 8 crashes. New pattern is when I put the BMP to sleep overnight, it never starts. I have to open the lid and it restarts. I am using an external monitor using an Avery USC-C Adapter (HDMI). I am on a Samsung monitor.

@Jacob Roy - So when you keep the lid open, do you also experience a crash? How long your Mac is up since 10.15.5 upgrade?

 

[CMMChris]

@smmehta Make sure to submit the crash report every time and write in the comment field "Navi / RDNA wake from sleep crash". Also make sure to submit feedback describing the issue: https://feedbackassistant.apple.com/

 

[smmehta]

Yeah, so far I have submitted at leat 12 to 15 crash reports. I even engaged Apple Support twice and did not help.

 

[Jacob Roy]

I am on 10.15.5 on a MacBook Pro 16 2019 Model, and in past 24 hours had 7 to 8 crashes. New pattern is when I put the BMP to sleep overnight, it never starts. I have to open the lid and it restarts. I am using an external monitor using an Avery USC-C Adapter (HDMI). I am on a Samsung monitor.

@Jacob Roy - So when you keep the lid open, do you also experience a crash? How long your Mac is up since 10.15.5 upgrade?

With the lid open, I was not able to reproduce the crash for more than a week now. It has some other problem that I can't explain, the whole display becomes laggy under load, and the CPU is throttling even at 60 degrees (it will often run at 800MHz while at 61 degree. With the lid closed, it will rise to 2.5GHz. and climb the temp too, until it reaches 99 degrees).

As soon as I close the lid, I'll get flickers in the next 2 minutes (that goes away), but it will crash in the next hour.

I've ben on 10.15.5 since the 4th beta, so probably 2-3 weeks now.

My external display is a 24" Apple LED Cinema Display with mini-displayport plugged-in the thunderbold 2 port.

 

[bug]

Does anyone here have a Mac Pro with a W5700X who can confirm they are experiencing this problem as well?

 

[tiess]

Have this problem as well.

MacBook Pro 16" i9 AMD Radeon Pro 5500M 4 GB

Problem occurs when waking while connected to 2 external displays via a Elagto Thunderbolt 3 Dock. This only happens when the MacBook lid is closed! Also does not happen when I use 1080p Retina setting for the external displays (they get reset to 1080p after the panic)

I cannot reproduce this with the video playback example

 

[CMMChris]

Yeah, so far I have submitted at leat 12 to 15 crash reports. I even engaged Apple Support twice and did not help.

I feel you! I am reporting that bug since October 2019 when Navi / RDNA support was introduced in 10.15.1 Beta 2. Anyhow, the more bug and crash reports they get, the more likely it is they will finally fix things up.

 

[smmehta]

With the lid open, I was not able to reproduce the crash for more than a week now. It has some other problem that I can't explain, the whole display becomes laggy under load, and the CPU is throttling even at 60 degrees (it will often run at 800MHz while at 61 degree. With the lid closed, it will rise to 2.5GHz. and climb the temp too, until it reaches 99 degrees).

As soon as I close the lid, I'll get flickers in the next 2 minutes (that goes away), but it will crash in the next hour.

I've ben on 10.15.5 since the 4th beta, so probably 2-3 weeks now.

My external display is a 24" Apple LED Cinema Display with mini-displayport plugged-in the thunderbold 2 port.

Thanks Jacob. I just started using Mac with Lid Open and it is connected to Samsung 32" LED using USB-C Anker 5 in 1 Adapter. External monitor is connected via HDMI cable.

I will monitor it and it's been 4+ hours...Let's see.
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Does anyone know if a power adapter plays any role in the case? Reason I ask, I bought Henge Dock Stone Pro. This is compatible with 2019 MBP 16". However it has 85 watts Thunderbolt 3 available to computer and the Apple power adapter is 94 watts. I stopped using it thinking watts could be a factor for the crash. It does charge the Mac fully.

 

[Taz Mangus]

With the lid open, I was not able to reproduce the crash for more than a week now. It has some other problem that I can't explain, the whole display becomes laggy under load, and the CPU is throttling even at 60 degrees (it will often run at 800MHz while at 61 degree. With the lid closed, it will rise to 2.5GHz. and climb the temp too, until it reaches 99 degrees).

As soon as I close the lid, I'll get flickers in the next 2 minutes (that goes away), but it will crash in the next hour.

I've ben on 10.15.5 since the 4th beta, so probably 2-3 weeks now.

My external display is a 24" Apple LED Cinema Display with mini-displayport plugged-in the thunderbold 2 port.

Out of curiosity, have you tried doing a SMC reset after you applied the 10.15.5 update?

 

[smmehta]

Out of curiosity, have you tried doing a SMC reset after you applied the 10.15.5 update?

No. I read somewhere that for this issue SMC reset does not help. I did it while I was on 10.15.4 but that was with lid closed and did not really help.

While lid open does your display in MBP is on or off? Just curious and does it make any difference ?

 

[Jacob Roy]

No. I read somewhere that for this issue SMC reset does not help. I did it while I was on 10.15.4 but that was with lid closed and did not really help.

While lid open does your display in MBP is on or off? Just curious and does it make any difference ?

I, too, have tried numerous SMC reset on 10.15.4 and 10.15.5 beta 4. I haven't tried it on the latest release, but it hasn't changed anything the last times I tried.

With the lid open, the MBP display is on, but I set it to the lowest brightness level (not black).

 

[bug]

Still happening on every 5th sleep / wake cycle or so on my RX 5700 XT. But most of the time the OS just freezes now without getting a panic. Put my Radeon VII back in yesterday and issue is gone. So Navi drivers still screwed up.

When you say the OS freezes (I just want to make sure I'm clear) - the UI becomes unresponsive forever and requires a manual reboot, and after that reboot there's no crash report, just a warning that the system was not shut down correctly (or whatever that other warning is)? ....or does it freeze but sometimes come back after a minute or two (which I've seen on mine back at about 10.15.3).

 

[tommiy]

My issues with external displays started at 10.14.6 SU which caused the WindowServer to go high CPU if the nightshift was enabled and it started to switch. Deep in the kernel logs you could see that it was trying to switch resolutions every 10-100ms. I'll go back and look to see in my work with apple if I can find what log i found that in. It may give you some more information. Note that the continued external display issue has continued since then as 10.15.1 fixed my immediate issue but introduced 3 others. Since then, when coupled with work from home, I've not been game to touch apple updates as the 10.15.1 upgrade bricked my 2017 MAC. I may have 3-4 manual work arounds to get the monitors to work but knowing they will work is far better than what is continuing to be reported of the OS ability to deal with external monitors.

No other new work arounds on apple communities where the thread started in Oct2019 has over 25k views and at 22 pages.

 

[smmehta]

Does anyone know if a power adapter plays any role in the case? Reason I ask, I bought Henge Dock Stone Pro. This is compatible with 2019 MBP 16". However it has 85 watts Thunderbolt 3 available to computer and the Apple power adapter is 94 watts. I stopped using it thinking watts could be a factor for the crash. It does charge the Mac fully.

I, too, have tried numerous SMC reset on 10.15.4 and 10.15.5 beta 4. I haven't tried it on the latest release, but it hasn't changed anything the last times I tried.

With the lid open, the MBP display is on, but I set it to the lowest brightness level (not black).

thanks Jacob.

 

[smmehta]

Does anyone know if a power adapter plays any role in the case? Reason I ask, I bought Henge Dock Stone Pro. This is compatible with 2019 MBP 16". However it charges with 85 watts Thunderbolt 3 to computer and the Apple power adapter has 94 watts. I stopped using it thinking watts could be a factor for the crash. It does charge the Mac fully.

Currently I am using Avery USB-C adapter using Apple power adapter and HDMI cable connected to Samsung monitor. With Lid open and have not see any crash for past 26+ hours.

Appreciate if someone can comment if power adapter is a factor here or not.

Thank You.

 

[SMC23]

After updating to MacOS 10.15.5 I experiencing constant "userspace watchdog timeout:" reboots after returning to my 16" MacbookPro.

Never had this issue prior to the update.

 

[aihkas]

After updating to MacOS 10.15.5 I experiencing constant "userspace watchdog timeout:" reboots after returning to my 16" MacbookPro.

Never had this issue prior to the update.

Same here, before the recent update, I don't remember facing a constant issue like this. I had a couple of restarts here and there (rarely though). Now it's happening whenever the device goes to sleep. Unbelievable.

The errors vary randomly between:

panic(cpu 2 caller 0xffffff7f9d3a1ad5): userspace watchdog timeout: no successful checkins from com.apple.WindowServer in 120 seconds

panic(cpu 0 caller 0xffffff800f49169c): Sleep transition timed out after 180 seconds while calling power state change callbacks. Suspected bundle: com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily.

 

[Airyui]

Same here, before the recent update, I don't remember facing a constant issue like this. I had a couple of restarts here and there (rarely though). Now it's happening whenever the device goes to sleep. Unbelievable.

The errors vary randomly between:

panic(cpu 2 caller 0xffffff7f9d3a1ad5): userspace watchdog timeout: no successful checkins from com.apple.WindowServer in 120 seconds

panic(cpu 0 caller 0xffffff800f49169c): Sleep transition timed out after 180 seconds while calling power state change callbacks. Suspected bundle: com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily.

Same here, before I updated to 10.15.15, I did not have this issue. My device is 16" MacBook pro.