Mine continues to crash, just saw the suggestion about the do not disturb setting, I'll try that. Apple is telling me they think the problem is that I'm using 3rd party RAM (Kingston), which I find unlikely, since it worked fine until 10.15.5, and it only happens when it's idle.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
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Constant Kernel Panics – userspace watchdog timeout: no successful checkins from com.apple.WindowServer
- Thread starter monstermac77
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I wasn't having these panics. Catalina 10.15.5 on MBP 16", iiyama external monitor via DP, and MBP is closed.
I was having the problem where the MBP wouldn't wake up the external monitor. I'd have to plug/unplug it to get it to wake up, and then it would work. No regular crashes.
Yesterday I realised that SystemPreferences->EnergySaver->Turn Display off after setting was at 'Never'. I adjusted it to 30 minutes. Viola, I thought, the screen will wake up from a keyboard tap again.
After than it crashed every time it would sleep.
So, today I've tried the Do Not Disturb when screen locked setting above, as well as moving the 'Turn Display off after' setting back to 'Never'.
We'll see.
I don't know if a combination of those settings will help other people, but thought it worth mentioning.
I was having the problem where the MBP wouldn't wake up the external monitor. I'd have to plug/unplug it to get it to wake up, and then it would work. No regular crashes.
Yesterday I realised that SystemPreferences->EnergySaver->Turn Display off after setting was at 'Never'. I adjusted it to 30 minutes. Viola, I thought, the screen will wake up from a keyboard tap again.
After than it crashed every time it would sleep.
So, today I've tried the Do Not Disturb when screen locked setting above, as well as moving the 'Turn Display off after' setting back to 'Never'.
We'll see.
I don't know if a combination of those settings will help other people, but thought it worth mentioning.
Thanks for the tip.
Unfortunately in my case, I just tried setting display sleep to never (on both battery and power) and my MBP 16" still panics with Powerplay failed resume on wake from sleep. Note that mine does this regardless of whether an external monitor is connected or not.
Well, almost half a year since this thread started and no real sign of relief from Apple. Guess that the OS will just continue in this manner for the foreseeable future. I was thinking of getting a new Mac but now looking at alternatives. Simple having a Mac that will not sleep and restart is not useful for work conditions. And given the duration, it doesn't appear that this will be fixed anytime soon, unfortunately.
After safe booting and doing the 10.15.5 combo update my 16MBP has not experienced a kernel panic (watchdog timeout) or other crashes in 5 days. Far less fan noise, even when throwing 3d tasks at it. Behaving like a Mac should 
Can you explain what you did exactly? How is this different than just updating to 10.15.5 like most users in this thread have done?After safe booting and doing the 10.15.5 combo update my 16MBP has not experienced a kernel panic (watchdog timeout) or other crashes in 5 days. Far less fan noise, even when throwing 3d tasks at it. Behaving like a Mac should
I safe booted (holding shift key at startup) and removed non-apple startup items. Only applications I use frequently were there so not sure whether it had any purpose to do so. I had panics every hour or so, but had none while in safe mode. Downloaded and performed the combo update.
I think the difference between a combo update and a regular version update is that the combo update reinstalls all system changes since major version update (.0) while an update merely affects changes since last minor update (.4 to .5.), and therefore can leave issues caused by any previous minor update.
Installing Big Sur should do the same, but evidently people who is running it also experience the issue, so it' probably not the fix. But give the combo a go, so far I'm experiencing a stable computer.
Thanks for the tip. Unfortunately it’s made no positive difference to me. In fact, I now get a panic during the shut down process every time I shut down or restart. Have also tried 10.15.6 Beta 3, also no improvement.
I've been also suffering from constant shut downs on my MBP 16". Since I've downgraded to 10.15.4 it is far better. I've also submitted an issue through Feedback Assistant and currently the resolution states: "Potential fix identified - For a future OS update".
So maybe in some further version they resolve the issue finally...
So maybe in some further version they resolve the issue finally...
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That sounds great! It’s been very long in the tooth – guess it was difficult to track down. But better late than never. I've even emailed Craig about it.
Let's keep our fingers crossed for the next beta releases for Catalina 10.15.6 and Big Sur 11.0 then.🤞
Public beta 4 of Catalina 10.5.6 is out. Anyone could give it a try and see if the problem is gone? Can't try myself where I'm at currently.
tried it and no difference unfortunately. 😕
Might try the Big Sur beta 2 next but Big Sur beta 1 didn’t work and it seems like a fix for this isn’t in the beta pipeline at all yet.
no worries at all - thanks for the prompt that b4 was out.
I’ve just tried beta 2 of Big Sur and it powerplay panicked while doing the install, thankfully then did subsequently complete the install, but now in -use watchdog panics seem significantly worse
I guess I’m just positing to try and save others effort of trying the Betas in the hope it might fix the issues.
That's a shame ;(. Yet in Feedback Assistans I can see:
Recent Similar Reports: Less than 10
So maybe we should spam Apple there, so they acknowledge this bug. Yet I still hope it will get resolved in next beta.
Weird. My feedback assistant still says “None” for “Recent Similar Reports”. I posted them while on Big Sur beta 2 though so perhaps it’s OS specific.
Just wanted to share how I (hopefully) solved it. All results seem good for now.
I run an iMac Pro with 2 Dell 4k 27" screens connected via startech displayport to USB-c wires. I had crashes every time my computer "rested". I say rested since all sleep options etc were turned off like this thread described. So much that I hate the startup chime now...
I tried clean installs and upgrades from everything over Catalina, Catalina beta, and Big Sur betas. No joy.
After a clean Big Sur install, and all energy settings set to prevent sleeping -> constant crashes (even in a 5min toilet trip...)
- So in the end, running that same beta 2 of Bug Sur install, I decoupled both screens -> rock solid, all energy settings to default
- I added one screen -> rock solid
So I bought https://www.coolblue.be/nl/product/...rbolt-3-naar-displayport-docking-station.html and connected it to both screens with the original mini displayport to displayport wires. And all appears solid for a few hours now.
My guess, (one of) the wires was/were bad, or using 2 usbc ports is an issue, don't know, but no software fix solved anything for me, but this hardware change seems to hit the spot.
Hope it helps someone!
I run an iMac Pro with 2 Dell 4k 27" screens connected via startech displayport to USB-c wires. I had crashes every time my computer "rested". I say rested since all sleep options etc were turned off like this thread described. So much that I hate the startup chime now...
I tried clean installs and upgrades from everything over Catalina, Catalina beta, and Big Sur betas. No joy.
After a clean Big Sur install, and all energy settings set to prevent sleeping -> constant crashes (even in a 5min toilet trip...)
- So in the end, running that same beta 2 of Bug Sur install, I decoupled both screens -> rock solid, all energy settings to default
- I added one screen -> rock solid
So I bought https://www.coolblue.be/nl/product/...rbolt-3-naar-displayport-docking-station.html and connected it to both screens with the original mini displayport to displayport wires. And all appears solid for a few hours now.
My guess, (one of) the wires was/were bad, or using 2 usbc ports is an issue, don't know, but no software fix solved anything for me, but this hardware change seems to hit the spot.
Hope it helps someone!
I had the same issues.
Not even the newest beta of Catalina solved the problem.
After upgrading to Big Sur the issues where gone.
At least something
Not even the newest beta of Catalina solved the problem.
After upgrading to Big Sur the issues where gone.
At least something
I think I found a solution/workaround for me:
In network settings I disabled the 3 thunderbolt devices (thunderbolt ethernet bridge etc.).
Since then my Mac is running flawlessly. (click on the wheel and then "make service inactive"
So even with my Mac running a 144hz display via DP (TB2) I have no crashes.
In network settings I disabled the 3 thunderbolt devices (thunderbolt ethernet bridge etc.).
Since then my Mac is running flawlessly. (click on the wheel and then "make service inactive"
So even with my Mac running a 144hz display via DP (TB2) I have no crashes.
I manage to fix this on a 2018 generation mini by doing both a PRAM and SMC reset. Was having it several times a day before then.
What's your configuration? What kind of Mac and external monitor are you using? Thanks!I had the same issues.
Not even the newest beta of Catalina solved the problem.
After upgrading to Big Sur the issues where gone.
At least something
Really interesting suggestion. I tried it and unfortunately it isn't a fix for me. However, I did notice something new / different...
When I restart it always panics at exactly the same point in the progress bar, every single time (apart from the one time in 10 it manages to start up). I can tell exactly where it is by it's position on the Catalina mountain background. However the first time I restarted after making this setting change, instead of panicking it just hung. I had to hold the power button to restart. Since then, it has panicked every time, but I never saw that "hang" issue until immediately after disabling the thunderbolt bridge so I can't believe it's a coincidence.
I found stability from the 10.15.6 beta (19G71a) up to a point.
I've got a late-2018 MBP 16", fully loaded.
But if I add a second monitor, it goes back frequent crashes of the kind common in this forum.
Hopefully useful for others.
I've got a late-2018 MBP 16", fully loaded.
- I can run ONLY ONE external monitor (USB-C Philips 4k)
- I can close the laptop and use an external keyboard and trackpad
But if I add a second monitor, it goes back frequent crashes of the kind common in this forum.
Hopefully useful for others.