[ursus]

This morning when I woke my 12" PB from sleep, I found something seriously wrong: The Finder kept restarting, crashing, restarting and so on.

Console says:
Jan 5 15:56:06 Fafnersbane crashdump[1509]: Finder crashed
Jan 5 15:56:07 Fafnersbane crashdump[1509]: crash report written to: /Users/marcus/Library/Logs/CrashReporter/Finder.crash.log
Jan 5 15:56:13 Fafnersbane crashdump[1512]: Finder crashed
Jan 5 15:56:13 Fafnersbane crashdump[1512]: crash report written to: /Users/marcus/Library/Logs/CrashReporter/Finder.crash.log

...and so on.

The problem is user-specific, so I can use the computer with other accounts, but I'm at a loss to what could have caused this and how to correct it. Here's an excerpt of Finder.crash.log (the (...cut...) are mine to shorten the log):

Host Name: Fafnersbane
Date/Time: 2006-01-05 15:46:42.198 +0100
OS Version: 10.4.3 (Build 8F46)
Report Version: 3

Command: Finder
Path: /System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/MacOS/Finder
Parent: WindowServer [69]

Version: 10.4.2 (10.4.2)

PID: 1228
Thread: 0

Exception: EXC_BAD_ACCESS (0x0001)
Codes: KERN_INVALID_ADDRESS (0x0001) at 0xbf7fffd0

Thread 0 Crashed:
0 ...ple.CoreServices.CarbonCore 0x90b3e564 CheckFromUnicodeParams + 16
1 ...ple.CoreServices.CarbonCore 0x90b3df0c ConvertFromUnicodeToTextImplementation + 180
2 ATS 0x902aec90 GetEncodingComponentsAndString(__CFString const*, unsigned long*, unsigned long, unsigned char*, unsigned long*, unsigned long*, unsigned long*, unsigned long*) + 404

(...cut...)

Thread 1:
0 libSystem.B.dylib 0x9002e44c kevent + 12
1 com.apple.DesktopServices 0x927ee5d4 TFSNotificationTask::FSNotificationTaskProc(void*) + 56
2 ...ple.CoreServices.CarbonCore 0x90b41a44 PrivateMPEntryPoint + 76
3 libSystem.B.dylib 0x9002b200 _pthread_body + 96

Thread 2:
0 libSystem.B.dylib 0x9002b8a8 semaphore_wait_signal_trap + 8
1 libSystem.B.dylib 0x9003001c pthread_cond_wait + 488
2 ...ple.CoreServices.CarbonCore 0x90b41c34 MPWaitOnQueue + 224
3 com.apple.DesktopServices 0x927eee20 TNodeSyncTask::SyncTaskProc(void*) + 112
4 ...ple.CoreServices.CarbonCore 0x90b41a44 PrivateMPEntryPoint + 76
5 libSystem.B.dylib 0x9002b200 _pthread_body + 96

Thread 3:
0 libSystem.B.dylib 0x90053f68 semaphore_timedwait_signal_trap + 8
1 libSystem.B.dylib 0x90053dc8 pthread_cond_timedwait + 672
2 com.apple.finder 0x0008a7a8 0x1000 + 563112
3 com.apple.finder 0x002544cc dyld_stub_OpenADefaultComponent + 362460
4 com.apple.finder 0x0009b16c 0x1000 + 631148
5 com.apple.finder 0x00089e00 0x1000 + 560640
6 libSystem.B.dylib 0x9002b200 _pthread_body + 96

(...cut...)

Binary Images Description:
0x1000 - 0x322fff com.apple.finder 10.4.2 /System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/MacOS/Finder
0x724000 - 0x726fff com.apple.textencoding.unicode 2.0 /System/Library/TextEncodings/Unicode Encodings.bundle/Contents/MacOS/Unicode Encodings
0x8fe00000 - 0x8fe54fff dyld 44.2 /usr/lib/dyld
0x90000000 - 0x901b3fff libSystem.B.dylib /usr/lib/libSystem.B.dylib
0x9020b000 - 0x9020ffff libmathCommon.A.dylib /usr/lib/system/libmathCommon.A.dylib
0x90211000 - 0x90264fff com.apple.CoreText 1.0.1 (???) /System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/CoreText.framework/Versions/A/CoreText
0x90291000 - 0x90342fff ATS /System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/ATS.framework/Versions/A/ATS
0x90371000 - 0x906aefff com.apple.CoreGraphics 1.256.27 (???) /System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/CoreGraphics.framework/Versions/A/CoreGraphics
0x9073a000 - 0x90813fff com.apple.CoreFoundation 6.4.4 (368.25) /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreFoundation.framework/Versions/A/CoreFoundation
0x9085c000 - 0x9085cfff com.apple.CoreServices 10.4 (???) /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/CoreServices

Any help would be very appreciated.
Best regards,
/marcus

[JKT]

Er, you have apparently cut out one of the most important parts of the log - the details from thread 0 which is the one that crashed!

From the little bit of info available, it seems that it may be a font problem. (ATS = Apple Type Server). Installed any new fonts or apps recently? As you are using 10.4.x, try logging into the account while holding down the shift key - this will disable any third party, non-system fonts and clear font caches etc. If that works, you'll need to hunt down the problem font(s) and remove them. As it only occurs in this account, that means the font must be in the ~/Library/Fonts folder.

[ursus]

Oops, shows how much I understand from log files. Thanks for your reply, I will try the shift-login. Here's the details from Thread 0:

Thread 0 Crashed:
0 ...ple.CoreServices.CarbonCore 0x90b3e564 CheckFromUnicodeParams + 16
1 ...ple.CoreServices.CarbonCore 0x90b3df0c ConvertFromUnicodeToTextImplementation + 180
2 ATS 0x902aec90 GetEncodingComponentsAndString(__CFString const*, unsigned long*, unsigned long, unsigned char*, unsigned long*, unsigned long*, unsigned long*, unsigned long*) + 404
3 ATS 0x902aea40 FindFontNameWithCFEncoding(__CFString const*, unsigned long*, unsigned long, unsigned long const*, unsigned long*, unsigned char) + 128
4 ATS 0x902ae798 FindFontFromName(__CFString const*, unsigned long, unsigned long const*, unsigned long*, unsigned char) + 116
5 ATS 0x902ae6c8 _eATSFontFindVariationFromPostScriptName + 396
6 ATS 0x902ae4a8 _eATSFontFindFromPostScriptName + 32
7 ATS 0x902ae464 ATSFontFindFromPostScriptName + 80
8 com.apple.CoreText 0x90243450 TSplicedFontDescriptor::CopyCascadeList() const + 432
9 com.apple.CoreText 0x90226f10 TPhysicalDescriptor::GetDefaultFallbacks() const + 948
10 com.apple.CoreText 0x902398d4 TPhysicalDescriptor::CreateDefaultDescriptorForStr ing(__CFString const*, CFRange) const + 56
11 com.apple.CoreText 0x90243488 TSplicedFontDescriptor::CopyCascadeList() const + 488
12 com.apple.CoreText 0x90226f10 TPhysicalDescriptor::GetDefaultFallbacks() const + 948
13 com.apple.CoreText 0x902398d4 TPhysicalDescriptor::CreateDefaultDescriptorForStr ing(__CFString const*, CFRange) const + 56

(...cut...)

503 com.apple.CoreText 0x90243488 TSplicedFontDescriptor::CopyCascadeList() const + 488
504 com.apple.CoreText 0x90226f10 TPhysicalDescriptor::GetDefaultFallbacks() const + 948
505 com.apple.CoreText 0x902398d4 TPhysicalDescriptor::CreateDefaultDescriptorForStr ing(__CFString const*, CFRange) const + 56
506 com.apple.CoreText 0x90243488 TSplicedFontDescriptor::CopyCascadeList() const + 488
507 com.apple.CoreText 0x90226f10 TPhysicalDescriptor::GetDefaultFallbacks() const + 948
508 com.apple.CoreText 0x902398d4 TPhysicalDescriptor::CreateDefaultDescriptorForStr ing(__CFString const*, CFRange) const + 56

[ursus]

Shift-login makes no difference, neither does removing the only program (a Dashboard widget) I've installed recently.

Is there anything I can do regarding fonts? Shall I replace the ~Library/Fonts with the same folder from a functioning account?

[JKT]

How long did you hold down shift as you logged in? Personally, I would keep it held down from the point you click the login button to the Finder finishes loading. If shift login doesn't/didn't work, then it is unlikely to be a third party font problem. The only other thing I can think of is a third party contextual menu item or system hack. I would suggest temporarily moving anything in the ~/Library/Contextual Menu Items and ~/Library/InputManagers folders to e.g. the Desktop, but if you can't do anything in the Finder, the only UI way to do this would be Target Disk mode using another computer.

Maybe someone else can see something from the crash log...