[solved] Daily Kernel Panics especially when opening DMG files.

[bennyo]

I've been using OS X Lion on my probook since November and it had been working really well.

However for the past month or two I've been getting regular kernel panics as often one per day. Various things can trigger a kernel panic, opening a dmg file, sometimes flash videos, inserting usb stick. These actions don't always trigger them, they work fine after booting, but if the computer has been on for several hours the chances are of a kernel panic are very high.

I'm using 10.7.5, but I also experienced these issues on 10.7.4. The only change i've made recently was swapping the wifi card for an atheros one which works but I actually have disabled all of the time (as i use ethernet). I made this change at the start of the year, but the kernel panics started later. I have tried removing the card, but OS X freezes at boot time.

I've performed a RAM test and all 12GB are fine according to memtest. I'm using an Intel SSD, have an core I7 2630qm processor. I used the probook installer to install the correct kexts, SSDT etc.

I'm using BIOS F.20 revision and i'm using a custom patched DSDT (KPs also occur under RehabMan's DSDT's).

I've been checking the system.log and kernel.logs after the panics but there is not listed anything particular about the crash. One error I do recall seeing most times was something like this:

kernel[0]: CODE SIGNING: cs_invalid_page(0x1000): p=809[GoogleSoftwareUp] clearing CS_VALID
kernel[0]: CODE SIGNING: cs_invalid_page(0x1000): p=839[ksadmin] clearing CS_VALID

I have now removed all google apps, and the google keystone, but still have had a kernel panic.

I'm running out of ideas now, does anyone have any suggestions on how i can find out what is causing this? Is it likely to be a hardware issue or is it a software issue? Anyone experienced a similar occurance?

 

[bennyo]

Daily Kernel Panics especially when opening DMG files.

I guess this problem is hard for people to help me resolve, is there any other information I can share to assist those possibly able to help?


The system has been very stable recently, with the exception of opening DMG files. I've managed to keep an uptime of 12 days, 15 mins which is the longest i've been able to keep for a while. I do have to install something soon though, so i'm pretty sure that it will crash if i try to mount the DMG.

I really don't understand why mounting DMG files works after a clean boot, but then after a few hours of the system being up it causes a kernel panic.

 

[RehabMan]

Daily Kernel Panics especially when opening DMG files.

I guess this problem is hard for people to help me resolve, is there any other information I can share to assist those possibly able to help?


The system has been very stable recently, with the exception of opening DMG files. I've managed to keep an uptime of 12 days, 15 mins which is the longest i've been able to keep for a while. I do have to install something soon though, so i'm pretty sure that it will crash if i try to mount the DMG.

I really don't understand why mounting DMG files works after a clean boot, but then after a few hours of the system being up it causes a kernel panic.

If you think it could be a software/install issue, you should do a fresh install using the latest tools.

Also, you haven't provided any information about the KP, so it is really hard to respond (that was a problem with your OP too). Saying "I'm getting KP's... what should I do?" is like saying to an auto-mechanic "My car is blue... can you fix it?"

 

[bennyo]

Daily Kernel Panics especially when opening DMG files.

If you think it could be a software/install issue, you should do a fresh install using the latest tools.

Also, you haven't provided any information about the KP, so it is really hard to respond (that was a problem with your OP too). Saying "I'm getting KP's... what should I do?" is like saying to an auto-mechanic "My car is blue... can you fix it?"

Yes, that is true - however I had not been able to find out what was causing the Kernel Panic, and I did ask in my post for advice on how to find out what is causing it. I of course checked the kernel.log but there wasn't any obvious errors in there.

Anyway, I didn't have time to do a full re-install, so i went through things again. One thing i'd missed was that opening dmgs works after a fresh boot, but stops after the machine has been put to sleep and then waked.

So, for me that meant that there must be something that wasn't behaving well after sleep, and i went through the active processes to try to find the cause. I isolated it down to something called Ralink, which was a driver for a usb wifi card that i used before i replaced the internal one. The driver had left a daemon on the system that was causing this problem. As soon as that was removed now the dmgs open perfectly well even after sleep.

 

[RehabMan]

Daily Kernel Panics especially when opening DMG files.

Yes, that is true - however I had not been able to find out what was causing the Kernel Panic, and I did ask in my post for advice on how to find out what is causing it. I of course checked the kernel.log but there wasn't any obvious errors in there.

A KP does not place any KP information in the system.log unless a component happens to log an assert or some other debug output before the crash. Most of the time a KP is because of some condition not expected and therefore no output. The only information for the KP is the information on the screen.