System Freezes - 2015 MacBook Pro

[MalagLagoon]

It seems like that's some evidence that it's a software problem (unless both MBPs happened to have similar hardware problems).

Have you tried using a different Mac account (create a new one if you need to) to see if the freezes happen there also?


I wonder if your freezes happen only when using the discrete GPU, also. Hmmm. There's probably some software the allows you to prevent the use of the DGPU.


Yes, Migration Assistant certainly can make the process easier -- but it could also "copy over" the problem! MA does allow you some selection of what is copied over. You might want to NOT copy over the "system settings" and "other" (if I remember correctly) categories.

Wouldn't it make some sense to do a fresh install and NOT use MA at first? Then use the MBP for awhile and see if the freezes have stopped. If so, use MA to copy over some of your old settings, one category at a time, and see if one type caues the freezes to re-occur.

It sure must be frustrating!

This is probably a bit hit-and-miss, but how would I (or could I) first reinstall a fresh copy of macOS and then use Migration Assistant carefully so as to prevent copying over something (software) that causes these random cursor/system freezes? My gut feeling would be to only copy Apple software first and then slowly add other stuff until I notice system freezing.

 

[pshufd]

This is probably a bit hit-and-miss, but how would I (or could I) first reinstall a fresh copy of macOS and then use Migration Assistant carefully so as to prevent copying over something (software) that causes these random cursor/system freezes? My gut feeling would be to only copy Apple software first and then slowly add other stuff until I notice system freezing.

I've done this twice in the past couple of years to get rid of employer-software that couldn't be removed other than reformatting and reinstalling. On the first system, I just copied the files and applications to an external drive, reformatted, reinstalled and then copied them back over. On the other system, I did a number of Time Machine backups and also copied to an additional external ssd. I haven't moved all of the programs back over yet.

The 2014 had a lot of problems because the employer software was out-of-date and didn't work well with Big Sur. Ideally, you'd have a spare system where you could move the programs so you could run them while fixing your main laptop and you'd have multiple backups.

 

[MalagLagoon]

Fudge!!@!!*! After reinstalling a clean version of macOS (Mojave) - which creates a brand new user profile, and after adding minimal software - MY SYSTEM STILL FREEZES! This is NEVER going to go away! I'm cursing loudly right now. I can't believe this. What now?

EDIT: incredibly - I've only installed three non-Apple software programs - Parallels Desktop 16 (VM to run Windows and Linux), a VPN, and software from Steinberg (audio interface stuff). I've added three Apple programs, Logic Pro X, Final Cut Pro X, and Pages. That's it!!! I'm just flippin' pulling my hair out and feeling highly disappointed. My system/cursor just froze as I typed this message! I hate this! I might as well go back to a crapola Microsoft Windows system.

EDIT 2: I did sign into my Google account for my calendar and email. Would that jackup macOS?

 

[Brian33]

EDIT: incredibly - I've only installed three non-Apple software programs - Parallels Desktop 16 (VM to run Windows and Linux), a VPN, and software from Steinberg (audio interface stuff).

I wonder whether any or all of those three non-Apple programs install a kernel extension (kext). Kexts are not bad in themselves, but since they run as part of the kernel any bug in their code can cause system problems. You can find out if you have any non-apple kexts installed with this command in Terminal:

kextstat | grep -v apple

If I saw any output related to any of the three non-apple progs you installed, I'd uninstall that program and check for system freezes again.

Otherwise, out of what you've listed, I'd wonder about the audio interface software. Is it very old and possibly not tested on Mojave? Does it interface directly with hardware devices? Maybe that could have something to do with it? (I'm mostly guessing, though.) Not sure what else to suggest!

EDIT 2: I did sign into my Google account for my calendar and email. Would that jackup macOS?

No, I really doubt that would have any relation to your system freezes.

 

[MalagLagoon]

I wonder whether any or all of those three non-Apple programs install a kernel extension (kext). Kexts are not bad in themselves, but since they run as part of the kernel any bug in their code can cause system problems. You can find out if you have any non-apple kexts installed with this command in Terminal:

kextstat | grep -v apple

If I saw any output related to any of the three non-apple progs you installed, I'd uninstall that program and check for system freezes again.

Otherwise, out of what you've listed, I'd wonder about the audio interface software. Is it very old and possibly not tested on Mojave? Does it interface directly with hardware devices? Maybe that could have something to do with it? (I'm mostly guessing, though.) Not sure what else to suggest!


No, I really doubt that would have any relation to your system freezes.

Parallels Desktop when running produced this:
174 1 0xffffff7f84b36000 0x30000 0x30000 com.parallels.kext.hypervisor (16.5.0 49183) 48004ADB-B3FF-30FF-9EF4-462AF5C1AF07 <8 6 5 3 1> 175 1 0xffffff7f84b66000 0x8000 0x8000 com.parallels.kext.vnic (16.5.0 49183) 0E0700DB-AB14-3B9D-A0A0-0C9A5980FB75 <6 5 3 1> 176 0 0xffffff7f84b6e000 0xe000 0xe000 com.parallels.kext.netbridge (16.5.0 49183) 352AF9F8-FEA8-3B64-8E9A-476B25BE066B <175 174 6 5 3 1>

When I plug my audio interface into the USB port I get this (Yamaha is the USB driver):
181 0 0xffffff7f81081000 0x35000 0x35000 jp.co.yamaha.driver.YamahaSteinbergUSBAudio (2.0.5) 09452868-02BD-3A62-A67E-D7BBAFB207F1 <89 23 6 5 3>


It doesn't seem to matter if I run my VPN.

I've definitely had the freezing issue without the audio interface plugged in. I usually have Parallels Desktop running all the time - so that may be the issue. I bought my audio interface brand new in 2015 - not sure if that's considered old. The drivers are updated for Mojave - I believe anyway.

 

[pshufd]

Symptoms​

I experience various Mac freezes when I run my virtual machine in Parallels Desktop for Mac. What can be done to fix this?

Cause​

The list of possible causes may include a lot of various reasons that might lead to such an issue. Below the most common ones are shown:


1. Incorrect work of backup applications running on your Mac/virtual machine, such as Carbonite, Google Backup and Sync, and others.


2. Mac misbehaviour.

KB Parallels: Mac is freezing when I run my virtual machine

I experience various Mac freezes when I run my virtual machine in Parallels Desktop for Mac. What can be done to fix this?

kb.parallels.com

 

[MalagLagoon]

Symptoms​

I experience various Mac freezes when I run my virtual machine in Parallels Desktop for Mac. What can be done to fix this?

Cause​

The list of possible causes may include a lot of various reasons that might lead to such an issue. Below the most common ones are shown:


1. Incorrect work of backup applications running on your Mac/virtual machine, such as Carbonite, Google Backup and Sync, and others.


2. Mac misbehaviour.

KB Parallels: Mac is freezing when I run my virtual machine

I experience various Mac freezes when I run my virtual machine in Parallels Desktop for Mac. What can be done to fix this?

kb.parallels.com

I'm not using a 3rd party backup or any backup. There is no OneDrive or anything that requires synchronization. This is a 100% fresh install of Mojave (no profiles imported) - I've hardly added anything to the macOS (programs or configurations) - I've added the following programs: Parallels Desktop, VPN (PIA), Yamaha USB audio driver (Steinberg), dspFxMx (Steinberg mixer for audio interface), Logic Pro X (Apple), Final Cut Pro X (Apple), Pages (Apple). To summarize, I've added 3 non-Apple programs and 3 Apple programs. Other than that this system is barebones.

As for the Parallels Knowledge Base - the article is talking about when a virtual machine is running. I am not running the virtual machine - I just happen to have Parallels Control Center running sometimes - but not actual virtual machine itself running. In fact I hardly use my virtual machines at all - if I do it's for, like, 5 or 10 minutes and I'm out. But, I often have had Parallels Control Center running.

At the moment I'm trying to see if the freezing stops when Parallels Control Center is closed. The freezing is VERY intermittent though - sometimes I get a few freezes every day - other times it's much longer before I notice a freeze. If I'm recording audio or video when a freeze occurs then a glitch will show up in the recording. Typically, though, for me to catch a system freeze I have be typing on the keyboard or actively engaged in some way with the computer. For example, if music is playing usually the freeze does not interrupt music (it might be the same for video). In general, I tend to only notice freezing while typing or when actively using the cursor.