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

[ZachApple]

How did you identify those two KEXTs as the possible culprit?

Someone who was working with Apple support said they were told to uninstall some third party KEXTs (can't remember where I saw that). It made sense, because ultimately Watchdog is doing its job but we are somehow reaching a state where the WindowServer is not responding (the panics I saw while using the machine were preceded by it becoming unresponsive until it crashed).

I used HAXM for the Android development tools emulator infrequently and Steam Link was only used once a long time ago, so these KEXTs seemed like a good first round. I was planning to remove others if the crashes continued.

 

[ZachApple]

I've replicated this issue in safe mode on a Mac that had a fresh copy of 10.15.6 installed. It's all smoke and mirrors.

There are issues with macOS on the 16 inch MBP.

Do you have steps that can be followed to cause the crash reliably?

If so, please file a feedback with the steps to reproduce. As a developer, I cannot stress the importance of being able to reproduce an issue while the debugger is running compared to just seeing a crash log remotely.

 

[Kenjutsuz]

Someone who was working with Apple support said they were told to uninstall some third party KEXTs (can't remember where I saw that). It made sense, because ultimately Watchdog is doing its job but we are somehow reaching a state where the WindowServer is not responding (the panics I saw while using the machine were preceded by it becoming unresponsive until it crashed).

I used HAXM for the Android development tools emulator infrequently and Steam Link was only used once a long time ago, so these KEXTs seemed like a good first round. I was planning to remove others if the crashes continued.

Interesting thought

 

[ZachApple]

Interesting thought

I should note though, that by all appearances this is an issue with macOS itself. However, somehow these KEXTs were a contributing factor in creating the conditions needed for that issue to occur.

Without insider knowledge it is impossible to know what is happening, but with so many "fixes" out there (that work for some people and do nothing for others) I believe it is a lower level issue that can be triggered through many avenues.

Unfortunately, unless Apple fixes the root cause there will be no "one size fits all" solution.

 

[jagooch]

Apple replaced my 2019 Macbook Pro "motherboard" and touch strip control card a week ago. I haven't had the reboot issue since. I'm going to do some software development and take a Udemy course this weekend. I think that will be good test to see the reboot issue it's actually fixed.

 

[oneill-sg1]

Supplemental 10.15.6 Update installed to the 2012 Mac Mini.... still crashing.
I need to check to see if there's a VMWare update or if the crash output is the same, but they still appear to be related.

edit: this is actually new and directly related to VMWare finally

panic(cpu 3 caller 0xffffff8024c26acb): "Invalid queue element linkage for 0xffffff803d2cd360: next 0xffffff803d2cd360 next->prev 0xffffff803d2cd260 prev 0xffffff803d2cd260 prev->next 0xffffff803d2cd260"@/AppleInternal/BuildRoot/Library/Caches/com.apple.xbs/Sources/xnu/xnu-6153.141.1/osfmk/kern/queue.h:247
Backtrace (CPU 3), Frame : Return Address
0xffffff82024bb570 : 0xffffff8024b1a65d
0xffffff82024bb5c0 : 0xffffff8024c54a75
0xffffff82024bb600 : 0xffffff8024c465fe
0xffffff82024bb650 : 0xffffff8024ac0a40
0xffffff82024bb670 : 0xffffff8024b19d27
0xffffff82024bb770 : 0xffffff8024b1a117
0xffffff82024bb7c0 : 0xffffff80252c1abc
0xffffff82024bb830 : 0xffffff8024c26acb
0xffffff82024bb970 : 0xffffff8024c24be5
0xffffff82024bb9a0 : 0xffffff7fa8115f2d
0xffffff82024bba00 : 0xffffff7fa8115e32
0xffffff82024bba20 : 0xffffff7fa811828a
0xffffff82024bba40 : 0xffffff7fa811a28e
0xffffff82024bba70 : 0xffffff7fa81177ac
0xffffff82024bbb50 : 0xffffff8024db9152
0xffffff82024bbb80 : 0xffffff8024dad400
0xffffff82024bbc00 : 0xffffff8024d9e75e
0xffffff82024bbe00 : 0xffffff8025049a3b
0xffffff82024bbe30 : 0xffffff80250a21d2
0xffffff82024bbf40 : 0xffffff8025184c37
0xffffff82024bbfa0 : 0xffffff8024ac1206
Kernel Extensions in backtrace:
com.vmware.kext.vmx86(1626.94.56)[7231262F-A10E-3056-9CA1-C9F6712CC1EE]@0xffffff7fa8114000->0xffffff7fa8128fff

BSD process name corresponding to current thread: vmware-vmx

Mac OS version:
19G2021

 

[Fabian90]

I doubt that it's hardware related... I have the same problem on my rMBP Late 2013 which I used for many many years without problems. The problem occurred in the last months and I hope getting fixed with Big Sur.

 

[Kenjutsuz]

I doubt that it's hardware related... I have the same problem on my rMBP Late 2013 which I used for many many years without problems. The problem occurred in the last months and I hope getting fixed with Big Sur.

I agree.

 

[oneill-sg1]

I know that some people have noted that they're experiencing the issue without virtualization tools, but VMWare update + Supplemental 10.15.6 update appear to have finally resolved the problem.

 

[johnalan]

Finally, Apple agreed to replace the logic board. What a struggle.

Will update when I know if it fixed the issues.

 

[DaPhatty]

sorry to hear. Did you do SMC RESET? I had the same issue. In my case I did remove Mcafee enterprise security and went back one version and seems working with caffeine. I have one external monitor connected via DP.

I've searched this thread and it seems only one person has mentioned McAfee as a potential culprit to this problem. Let me add my two cents.

In our organization, we have multiple different reports of this crash problem. While the circumstances leading up to the crash vary, the crash behavior is the same - Pinwheel, Only the Mouse works, Fans Spin Up. We've tried all sorts of potential fixes but in our testing so far, the only thing that seems to have abated the problem in our environment is uninstalling McAfee Enterprise Security.

I did some additional digging and found that our specific version of McAfee uses Kernel Extensions which, if you've been paying attention then you'd know Apple has been removing support for third party Kernel Extensions in MacOS since Mojave. And while it is possible to Whitelist third-party kernel extensions, in our corporate environment, doing so has not positively affected the crashing outcome.

All of that just to say - Research the applications you use most often to see if they leverage third party kernel extensions. (For example, anything made by Wacom). If you find any, uninstall them and see how far you get. You may be able to upgrade those applications to newer, Kext-less versions, but YMMV.

Good luck everyone.

 

[IAmArney]

Someone who was working with Apple support said they were told to uninstall some third party KEXTs (can't remember where I saw that). It made sense, because ultimately Watchdog is doing its job but we are somehow reaching a state where the WindowServer is not responding (the panics I saw while using the machine were preceded by it becoming unresponsive until it crashed).

I used HAXM for the Android development tools emulator infrequently and Steam Link was only used once a long time ago, so these KEXTs seemed like a good first round. I was planning to remove others if the crashes continued.

Apple had asked me to remove:
-Dropbox.kext
-UAD2System.kext
-UAFWAudio.kext

Apple were absolutely confident these specific .kext's were causing the crashes. I did as they asked. Unfortunately the entire reason I bought this machine was for music production, without the UAD software this computer is actually useless to me. Once I removed the .kext's I shutdown, performed an SMC reset and rebooted the machine. Realizing that once I removed those .kext's I could no longer use the software I needed, I reinstalled it. So far, I haven't had any KP's with those .kext's REINSTALLED, but Catalina is still acting up. Anytime I change the configuration (i.e. no external monitor, Audio interface plugged into different Thunderbolt 3, etc... it behaves irrationally. Randomly taking focus from an app i'm using or randomly ejecting my external drives.

It may just be the order in which items are installed, I'm really not sure but every discussion I have with apple, they blame any erratic behavior on those specific .kext's which, if i'm honest, i'm having a hard time believing... especially since the audio interface I currently own only runs on a mac.

All I can do currently, is perform an SMC reset every time I change the configuration of the machine and cross my fingers. I may end up selling this machine.

 

[M-ke]

I've searched this thread and it seems only one person has mentioned McAfee as a potential culprit to this problem. Let me add my two cents.

In our organization, we have multiple different reports of this crash problem. While the circumstances leading up to the crash vary, the crash behavior is the same - Pinwheel, Only the Mouse works, Fans Spin Up. We've tried all sorts of potential fixes but in our testing so far, the only thing that seems to have abated the problem in our environment is uninstalling McAfee Enterprise Security.

I did some additional digging and found that our specific version of McAfee uses Kernel Extensions which, if you've been paying attention then you'd know Apple has been removing support for third party Kernel Extensions in MacOS since Mojave. And while it is possible to Whitelist third-party kernel extensions, in our corporate environment, doing so has not positively affected the crashing outcome.

All of that just to say - Research the applications you use most often to see if they leverage third party kernel extensions. (For example, anything made by Wacom). If you find any, uninstall them and see how far you get. You may be able to upgrade those applications to newer, Kext-less versions, but YMMV.

Good luck everyone.

You're not the first person I've seen mention AV causing the panics though. In my experience, Mcafee would be causing more problems than it resolves regardless.

 

[DaPhatty]

You're not the first person I've seen mention AV causing the panics though. In my experience, Mcafee would be causing more problems than it resolves regardless.

I agree, AV has definitely been a long term culprit of such issues. But in this instance, I think we are all suffering because of Apple's deprecation of third-party kernel extensions. Developers who could adapt in a timely fashion have already done so. Sadly, that means most developers have not.

 

[star-affinity]

Apple had asked me to remove:
-Dropbox.kext
-UAD2System.kext
-UAFWAudio.kext

Where are those kexts stored? /Library/Extensions? I have looked around but despite having
the Dropbox app installed (albeit mostly not running) I can't find that Dropbox kext.

 

[johnalan]

Where are those kexts stored? /Library/Extensions? I have looked around but despite having
the Dropbox app installed (albeit mostly not running) I can't find that Dropbox kext.

Hey friend,

Did you try the Kextfind utility that ships with macOS?

This will show the location of all non-apple kexts:

kextfind -case-insensitive -not -bundle-id -substring 'com.apple.' -print

Note though, this doesn't mean they're loaded and running.



You can use kextstat | grep -v com.apple to see loaded kexts.

 

[IAmArney]

Where are those kexts stored? /Library/Extensions? I have looked around but despite having
the Dropbox app installed (albeit mostly not running) I can't find that Dropbox kext.

In Catalina:
Macintosh HD > Library > Extensions

 

[xyzy]

This is NOT:
- 3rd party kext problem
- hardware problem
- sleep/wake/screensaver problem
- Catalina-only problem (happens on Mojave too)

It was tricky to find a cause:

Some "nonstandard" (or maybe partially corrupted) photo in your "Photos Library" causes Apple's media analysis daemon (/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/VideoProcessing.framework/Versions/A/mediaanalysisd) to lock display driver, which deadlocks user's WindowServer for more than 120 seconds, so com.apple.driver.watchdog reboots entire operating system. Very annoying and hard to reproduce bug.

That's why all is running fine on clean macOS install.

Temporary solution:

- boot to Recovery partition (Cmd+R)
- open Terminal
- cd /Volumes/<YOURSYSTEMDISK>/System/Library/LaunchAgents
- rm -rf com.apple.mediaanalysisd.plist
- reboot

No more crashes/kernel panic when your Mac is idle.
May be necessary to re-apply after macOS update.

 

[star-affinity]

Hey friend,

Did you try the Kextfind utility that ships with macOS?

This will show the location of all non-apple kexts:

kextfind -case-insensitive -not -bundle-id -substring 'com.apple.' -print

Note though, this doesn't mean they're loaded and running.



You can use kextstat | grep -v com.apple to see loaded kexts.

Thanks!
I recognize that tool, but had forgotten about it – cheers for reminding me about it and how to use it!
I do keep my fingers crossed you are spared from the crashes with your new logic board.

In Catalina:
Macintosh HD > Library > Extensions

OK, thanks! I don't have any Dropbox kext there.

This is NOT:
- 3rd party kext problem
- hardware problem
- sleep/wake/screensaver problem
- Catalina-only problem (happens on Mojave too)

It was tricky to find a cause:

Some "nonstandard" (or maybe partially corrupted) photo in your "Photos Library" causes Apple's media analysis daemon (/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/VideoProcessing.framework/Versions/A/mediaanalysisd) to lock display driver, which deadlocks user's WindowServer for more than 120 seconds, so com.apple.driver.watchdog reboots entire operating system. Very annoying and hard to reproduce bug.

That's why all is running fine on clean macOS install.

Temporary solution:

- boot to Recovery partition (Cmd+R)
- open Terminal
- cd /Volumes/<YOURSYSTEMDISK>/System/Library/LaunchAgents
- rm -rf com.apple.mediaanalysisd.plist
- reboot

No more crashes/kernel panic when your Mac is idle.
May be necessary to re-apply after macOS update.

That's a very interesting find!
If that solves the problem it's fantastic. Has it been reported to Apple? Having it narrowed down to what you have explained above should be really helpful for the engineers in getting a fix out.

Edit:
I was thinking – what happens if the LaunchAgent ”mediaanalysisd” is simply unloaded using the Terminal or the handy tool LaunchControl? Wouldn't that achieve the same thing? But I guess it will require SIP to be disabled for it to be allowed. 🤔

Edit 2:
May I quote your findings about the problem being related to ”mediaanalysisd” in other forums, such as the Apple Discussions forum? A lot of people has been waiting for a solution for a long time.

 

[Kenjutsuz]

Thanks!
I recognize that tool, but had forgotten about it – cheers for reminding me about it and how to use it!
I do keep my fingers crossed you are spared from the crashes with your new logic board.



OK, thanks! I don't have any Dropbox kext there.



That's a very interesting find!
If that solves the problem it's fantastic. Has it been reported to Apple? Having it narrowed down to what you have explained above should be really helpful for the engineers in getting a fix out.

Edit:
I was thinking – what happens if the LaunchAgent ”mediaanalysisd” is simply unloaded using the Terminal or the handy tool LaunchControl? Wouldn't that achieve the same thing? But I guess it will require SIP to be disabled for it to be allowed. 🤔

Edit 2:
May I quote your findings about the problem being related to ”mediaanalysisd” in other forums, such as the Apple Discussions forum? A lot of people has been waiting for a solution for a long time.

Third party kexts= problems..IMHO

 

[Amit Kulkarni]

My mac 2015 air having frequent kernel panics recently , tried everything - upgraded to big sur beta , later downgraded to Catalina 10.15.6 with clean install - but issue was there

Prior to this issue - i just dont remember when last time i shutdown or restarted mac in last 5 years.

Here is Fix Worked For me
It seems to be my ssd+cpu was heating up too fast , but fans were not spinning fast to cool down (dont know why)
So i installed "Macs fan Control" free app - and set custom profile for fan (setting fan speed to keep ssd temp in between 35 to 50 degree celcius) and no kernel panics in last 3 days.

Also used Drivedx app to check S.M.A.R.T. parameters of ssd for any issues - it was 100% fine.

i think there may be some dust added up in vents , will gonna clean up vents soon.

 

[johnalan]

Thanks!
I recognize that tool, but had forgotten about it – cheers for reminding me about it and how to use it!
I do keep my fingers crossed you are spared from the crashes with your new logic board.



OK, thanks! I don't have any Dropbox kext there.



That's a very interesting find!
If that solves the problem it's fantastic. Has it been reported to Apple? Having it narrowed down to what you have explained above should be really helpful for the engineers in getting a fix out.

Edit:
I was thinking – what happens if the LaunchAgent ”mediaanalysisd” is simply unloaded using the Terminal or the handy tool LaunchControl? Wouldn't that achieve the same thing? But I guess it will require SIP to be disabled for it to be allowed. 🤔

Edit 2:
May I quote your findings about the problem being related to ”mediaanalysisd” in other forums, such as the Apple Discussions forum? A lot of people has been waiting for a solution for a long time.

Not dismissing your experience here, I think we are all having KPs, but maybe for different reasons.

I can confirm in complete honesty that I have KPs even (on my affected 16MBP) on a totally clean (format and install) Catalina.

 

[star-affinity]

Not dismissing your experience here, I think we are all having KPs, but maybe for different reasons.

I can confirm in complete honesty that I have KPs even (on my affected 16MBP) on a totally clean (format and install) Catalina.

Even with the new motherboard? 😕

This is NOT:
- 3rd party kext problem
- hardware problem
- sleep/wake/screensaver problem
- Catalina-only problem (happens on Mojave too)

I almost always the the problem in conjunction with waking from sleep – screen won't come on and after two minutes the computer restarts itself giving me the Kernel Panic log. It happened just now despite me having unloaded ”com.apple.mediaanalysisd”, so at least that didn't help. I don't know it deleting that file would make any difference. 🤔

 

[IAMDAVE1969]

I have now gone 7-8 weeks without a Kernel Panic issue since Apple replaced my Logic Board. I no longer have to turn off any of the system preferences listed in many of the posts in this thread (ie. Automatic Graphics Switching, Enable Power Nap, Put Hard Drive to Sleep when Possible, Prevent Computer from Sleeping Automatically when the Display is off). Appears to be a Logic Board Issue with the 2019 16" MacBook Pro.

 

[johnalan]

Even with the new motherboard? 😕

No not yet! So far (1 day in) I haven't been able to reproduce the issue.

They had said that the old machine/motherboard was stable in their 24 hr stress test and that it was all software related... but I did an erase and reinstall and still had the problem... with the new one so far so good, I will report back in a few days