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Constant Kernel Panics – userspace watchdog timeout: no successful checkins from com.apple.WindowServer
- Thread starter monstermac77
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Same thing here.
I do not understand why Apple does not fix this, as allegedly it gets the crash reports sent; I'm commenting mine and am really getting more and more unpatient.
MBP 15" Early 2019, i9, Vega 20, 32GB, 2TB. That was NOT a cheap machine.
With 10.15.5 I get these crashes as often as hourly or even more frequent; in the last days it was shut down every single time that I returned to my machine, even when only leaving it for half an hour.
Yesterday, I've not only disabled sleep but also display sleep as well and so far I haven't had a kernel panic since. But that can't be a permanent solution of course and I've also already gotten these crashes when actively working with the machine; once when playing a Video fullscreen with the Steam-Client, with no external monitors attached, another time when using VMware Fusion with external Displays hooked up to a TB3-Dock.
Generally, CPU-load of process WindowServer is rather high.
I do not understand why Apple does not fix this, as allegedly it gets the crash reports sent; I'm commenting mine and am really getting more and more unpatient.
MBP 15" Early 2019, i9, Vega 20, 32GB, 2TB. That was NOT a cheap machine.
With 10.15.5 I get these crashes as often as hourly or even more frequent; in the last days it was shut down every single time that I returned to my machine, even when only leaving it for half an hour.
Yesterday, I've not only disabled sleep but also display sleep as well and so far I haven't had a kernel panic since. But that can't be a permanent solution of course and I've also already gotten these crashes when actively working with the machine; once when playing a Video fullscreen with the Steam-Client, with no external monitors attached, another time when using VMware Fusion with external Displays hooked up to a TB3-Dock.
Generally, CPU-load of process WindowServer is rather high.
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Thanks for this much appreciated as 10.14.5 was the last verson that i had that did not have issues with external displays. I've downloaded that. I note that according to the apple communities that even reverting back out of catalina is no fix because of the firmware updates done but I'm going to try installing on an external SSD and then migrating my user account across.....I've got fingers crossed this may restore me to a 10.14.5 version that runs flawlessly....from there disable all apple updates for the future life of my Mac.
Same issue on 2013 12 core Mac Pro. CONSTANTLY LOCKING UP & RESTARTING. Terrible performance for $11,000 computer. I want a new MACBook PRO but not if this issue is still unresolved.
userspace watchdog timeout: no successful checkins from com.apple.WindowServer in 120 seconds
service: com.apple.logd, total successful checkins since load (3080 seconds ago): 309, last successful checkin: 0 seconds ago
service: com.apple.WindowServer, total successful checkins since load (3050 seconds ago): 293, last successful checkin: 120 seconds ago
userspace watchdog timeout: no successful checkins from com.apple.WindowServer in 120 seconds
service: com.apple.logd, total successful checkins since load (3080 seconds ago): 309, last successful checkin: 0 seconds ago
service: com.apple.WindowServer, total successful checkins since load (3050 seconds ago): 293, last successful checkin: 120 seconds ago
Ever since I disabled display sleep I haven't had a single kernel panic (6 days). With display sleep on I got 2 KPs in 5 days.
Can confirm the same on my 2013 MBP (15" retina) with 10.15.5 - Kernel panics and restarts every few minutes.
I don't have an external monitor or a dock plugged in, and I tried disabling nap, sleep and all of the above suggestions - none of them really helped.
Sometimes it could go half an hour or so without a restart, or it could restart every 5 minutes - there didn't seem to be much logic to it other than high load on the WindowServer process just before restart.
In the end downgrading to 10.15.4, using the gibMacOS tool, solved it. Building a full installer and running it downgraded with no issues, and retained all apps, settings and data.
I don't have an external monitor or a dock plugged in, and I tried disabling nap, sleep and all of the above suggestions - none of them really helped.
Sometimes it could go half an hour or so without a restart, or it could restart every 5 minutes - there didn't seem to be much logic to it other than high load on the WindowServer process just before restart.
In the end downgrading to 10.15.4, using the gibMacOS tool, solved it. Building a full installer and running it downgraded with no issues, and retained all apps, settings and data.
Bought the 16" MBP 2 weeks ago and got it returned for a new one because of these problems without doing some extensive search online. Same problem fresh out of the box (MBP connected to external monitor in clamshell mode --> almost every sleep is kernel panic).
Now I read this thread and honestly I can NOT believe what I am reading... Why are none of these so called 'tech' reviewers on youtube talking about this. What a joke.
Now I read this thread and honestly I can NOT believe what I am reading... Why are none of these so called 'tech' reviewers on youtube talking about this. What a joke.
Solved - for me - so far. At least I found a solution that's ok for me.
Problem: I came to this page when I received several kernel panics with watchdogd not registering any successful checkins from com.apple.WindowServer. The system started freezing, fans spinned up and my 15 inch Macbook Pro 2019, i9, 32 GB, Vega 16 automatically shut down within the next seconds to minutes.
Setup: At one of the two right Thunderbolt 3 ports I had attached a CalDigit USB-C Pro Dock with Thunderbolt 3 and had two Dell P27-8 TS with 2560 x 1440 connected via DisplayPort. To one of the left Thunderbolt 3 ports I had connected a Wimaxit 11.6 inch display (1920 x 1080) via a USB-C to HDMI adapter cable. I was running Catalina 10.15.4 and 10.15.5.
When the problem occured: The problem occured whenever there was a high load on the system, especially graphics performance. I had a Logitech Stream Cam connected via the Thunderbolt 3 dock and/or via the other right Thunderbolt 3 port of my Macbook Pro and used OBS to extract a videostream of myself standing in front of a greenscreen. OBS then merged the videostream of myself with the background. The background was a capture of a window provided by Air server showing the contents of my iPad, that did an Airplay stream over a USB-C cable attached to the other Thunderbolt 3 port on the left side of my Macbook Pro. In this setup, the problem occured within some minutes to about 1/2 hour or hour. Disabling "Automatic graphics switching" in "Energy Saver" Preferences did not solve the problem.
Solution: I thought it might be either a heat problem with the GPU or an issue with the graphics driver. Therefore I bought a Razer Core X Chroma with a Sapphire Radeon RX 5700 XT nitro+ SE in order to 1) get the heat from the internal Intel 630 graphics card and the internal vega16 out of the Macbook Pro and 2) have a GPU that uses a different architecture and therefore driver (navi instead of vega). I connected the Core X Chroma to one of the right thunderbolt 3 ports and connected all external monitors to the external RX 5700 graphics card. On the second right Thunderbolt 3 port I connected a USB/ethernet adapter. I connected the Stream Cam (running 1920 x 1080) and iPad (airplay streaming) to the two thunderbolt 3 ports on the left side of my Macbook pro.
I have been running this setup for about 10 days now, > 7 hours a day (online lecture in block course applying OBS and Zoom as described) and did not have a single freeze/shutdown so far. The system is much cooler now and the Macbook Pro's internal fans are not roaring up anymore, which also makes it much more comfortable to record or stream a live video. I can live with that solution for the moment. However, it should definitely not be necessary to do it this way. Maybe someone else had a similiar experience?
Problem: I came to this page when I received several kernel panics with watchdogd not registering any successful checkins from com.apple.WindowServer. The system started freezing, fans spinned up and my 15 inch Macbook Pro 2019, i9, 32 GB, Vega 16 automatically shut down within the next seconds to minutes.
Setup: At one of the two right Thunderbolt 3 ports I had attached a CalDigit USB-C Pro Dock with Thunderbolt 3 and had two Dell P27-8 TS with 2560 x 1440 connected via DisplayPort. To one of the left Thunderbolt 3 ports I had connected a Wimaxit 11.6 inch display (1920 x 1080) via a USB-C to HDMI adapter cable. I was running Catalina 10.15.4 and 10.15.5.
When the problem occured: The problem occured whenever there was a high load on the system, especially graphics performance. I had a Logitech Stream Cam connected via the Thunderbolt 3 dock and/or via the other right Thunderbolt 3 port of my Macbook Pro and used OBS to extract a videostream of myself standing in front of a greenscreen. OBS then merged the videostream of myself with the background. The background was a capture of a window provided by Air server showing the contents of my iPad, that did an Airplay stream over a USB-C cable attached to the other Thunderbolt 3 port on the left side of my Macbook Pro. In this setup, the problem occured within some minutes to about 1/2 hour or hour. Disabling "Automatic graphics switching" in "Energy Saver" Preferences did not solve the problem.
Solution: I thought it might be either a heat problem with the GPU or an issue with the graphics driver. Therefore I bought a Razer Core X Chroma with a Sapphire Radeon RX 5700 XT nitro+ SE in order to 1) get the heat from the internal Intel 630 graphics card and the internal vega16 out of the Macbook Pro and 2) have a GPU that uses a different architecture and therefore driver (navi instead of vega). I connected the Core X Chroma to one of the right thunderbolt 3 ports and connected all external monitors to the external RX 5700 graphics card. On the second right Thunderbolt 3 port I connected a USB/ethernet adapter. I connected the Stream Cam (running 1920 x 1080) and iPad (airplay streaming) to the two thunderbolt 3 ports on the left side of my Macbook pro.
I have been running this setup for about 10 days now, > 7 hours a day (online lecture in block course applying OBS and Zoom as described) and did not have a single freeze/shutdown so far. The system is much cooler now and the Macbook Pro's internal fans are not roaring up anymore, which also makes it much more comfortable to record or stream a live video. I can live with that solution for the moment. However, it should definitely not be necessary to do it this way. Maybe someone else had a similiar experience?
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you will never see a "tech" youtuber talking bad about apple or any other large tech company since they are totally and completely biased towards it. They dont want the downvotes and also to lose their prized ability to review products way early with their embargo contracts.
Not true.
I've just sent an E-Mail describing the issue and pointing to this thread to Daniel from ZoneOfTech; he even had to go public with an issue he had with Apple regarding the stability of the T2-chip, as he himself got caught in unbelievable hassles regarding the support process.
I can only advise each and every one of you: open a support case with Apple, make yourself heard. Write to you favourite Tech Youtuber and make this issue public.
I still can't believe the ignorance of Apple that this hasn't been addressed, yet. First the iOS13 disaster, then Catalina and seemingly their software quality is not going to improve.
That shines not a light but a big shadow on the forthcoming migration to ARM - just imagine the possible issues that are lying in this transition...
So we have to FORCE Apple to address a) our issue and b) their general software quality! We HAVE to do that, if we still want to be proud owners of their devices and users of their services in the future.
Same case here, I have a same specs macbook pro with 1TB storage instead, and a Belkin Thunderbolt 3 Express dock with two P2415q 4k dell Monitors.
Under load, i noticed that errors ocorrs less often, at night i usually leave an VM running some tasks in VMWare fusion, and this decrease the errors.
When i leave all vm's off (and no load condition) the errors ocorrs more often. But as you sayed, this error ocorrs when i working too, yesterday at night for instance.
BTW, i'm using 10.15.6 Beta (19G46c)
Ok, I tried a reinstall and just 2 hours into the manual setup of the machine from a fresh 10.15.5 install, the same crash. I have a 2019 15" i9 8 core 2.4 wot 32GB RAM and Vega 20 4GB mem running into a OWC TB3 Dock with two 4k LK monitors. I just moved one monitor of the monitors from the back of the TB3 dock, and into the left side of the monitor. My WindowServer process went down to less than 3% for a while. Playing the 4K video in a loop does not crash it (I did not test that before I reformatted), but while it is playing, the WindowServer does not pass 20-25 when it was over 40-50 connected into the Dock. I will test the next few days after this modification and advise.
UPDATE 06/25 I didn't have to wait a few days. Still crashes, I am looking at two 4k monitors off, and just working off the MBP 15" screen. :-(
UPDATE 06/25 I didn't have to wait a few days. Still crashes, I am looking at two 4k monitors off, and just working off the MBP 15" screen. :-(
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Fyi This has not been addressed in the Big Sur beta build 20A4299v :-(
Running into the same problem here. Already downloaded Catalina 10.15.4 from gibMacOS. However, I'm not sure how to create the bootable stick. The video posted somewhere in this thread said to use the Catalina Patcher. However, since this is a Mac and I don't need any post-install fixes, couldn't I just create the bootable drive with the normal 'createinstallmedia' script? How did you do it? Thanks!
It happened again. Even with DisplaySleep disabled!
When I got home yesterday evening, the MacBook was shut down - I didn't bother with it and started it today in the morning, getting the ususal "WindowServer Process Watchdog"-report, so no suprises here.
But shortly after it happened a second time! Although Sleep and DisplaySleep are disabled, I was absent just for a few minutes and when I returned, the MBP presented me with the "You have to enter your password after your Mac restarts"-Screen. Great. Just great.
So sometimes it just shuts itself down, waiting for the user to boot it up again and sometimes it restarts itself, sitting at the login screen. Hmm.
Not to mention Windows 10 has its own share of bugs and issues. Its quite common for updates to break some stuff.
So I just successfully downgraded to 10.15.4 with all my data intact. Just followed the steps to download 10.15.4 with gibMacOS and created a 'normal' MacOS usb thumbdrive (any tutorial that uses createinstallmedia should be fine). Booted from the stick, went to 'Install MacOS', and selected my hard drive with 10.15.5. Install took about half an hour. Backup recommended.
True.
Can say that I got a crash again in Windows while gaming the other day despite thinking it was fixed. The crash logs point to the AMD driver and some Microsoft DirectX libraries.
I can report a successful downgrade to 10.15.4 on my 2019 16" MacBook Pro, it took around 30 minutes, all apps and settings were intact. No more "hangover" after sleep
I can't recommend without a Time Machine backup though.
View attachment 924767
I downgraded my Macbook Pro 16" to 10.15.4 and I can not reproduce this issue anymore.
My steps to reproduce was:
1. Connect MPB to external monitor (via USB or HDMI)
2. Lock screen
3. Close LID
4. Open LID
5. MBP screen stays black — only force restart helps
On 10.15.5 and 10.15.6 Beta 2 these steps ALWAYS freeze a mac.
I have my system (2019 mbp 16 core i7 32gb ram) stable on 10.15.5 by leaving auto graphics switching on, turn display off after- never, prevent computer from sleeping automatically when the display is off (Checked), and uncheck- put hard disks to sleep when possible. I am using the apple official usbc to hdmi/usbA/USBC adapter, and plugging in usbc power with the port next to it and not through the dongle. When Im done for the day I just turn off my screen. When im ready for it again i turn back the screen on and login. nothing crashes anymore.
Well according to this apple community thread there is no relief in Big Sur Developer Beta 1 either. The lengths people are going to try and get a function laptop are astound. Its even more astounding that this has been running for so long. I guess all of Apple is to tied up with ARM to worry about their existing customers and products not working. Seems a valid potential reason.
2013 (14,3) iMac here. On 10.15.5. Since 10.15.0, I get one of two things occasionally:
- Full system freeze with no error/crash report. Machine doesn't even restart itself, I have to manually do so with power button.
- Kernel Panic, followed by inconsistent ability to restart (sometimes get folder with question mark), then once I do get in, the crash report is the typical "watchdog timeout" crash
I have tried all sorts of stuff in terms of OS reinstall, disabling sleep/display sleep, disabling hard disk sleep. I keep my Mac completely awake 24/7. Crashes and panics still happen at random with no discernable reason or pattern.
It's gotten bad enough I'm considering either going back to Mojave, or, making a decision I do not take lightly- which is potentially changing to another OS.
- Full system freeze with no error/crash report. Machine doesn't even restart itself, I have to manually do so with power button.
- Kernel Panic, followed by inconsistent ability to restart (sometimes get folder with question mark), then once I do get in, the crash report is the typical "watchdog timeout" crash
I have tried all sorts of stuff in terms of OS reinstall, disabling sleep/display sleep, disabling hard disk sleep. I keep my Mac completely awake 24/7. Crashes and panics still happen at random with no discernable reason or pattern.
It's gotten bad enough I'm considering either going back to Mojave, or, making a decision I do not take lightly- which is potentially changing to another OS.
Well over on the Apple Community thread, people are still searching for solutions even with Big Sur. However, seems that if you now mention Big Sur in the thread Apple is removing the message stating that it is a beta. Obviously, if Apple had fixed the issue prior to now then people would not be so desperate to be trying developer beta's. However, it seems that rather than fix the issue you address it by removing those posts commenting on the issue remaining.