Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

You are here: MacNN Forums > Software - Troubleshooting and Discussion > macOS > launchd causing apps to crash

launchd causing apps to crash
Thread Tools
pastusza
Mac Enthusiast
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: Bensalem, PA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 3, 2010, 11:03 PM
 
I am having a problem on Mac Mini running Snow Leopard. A while back I had an issue where I couldn't get any apps to launch. If I launched anything at all, it would crash, and the offending process was always launchd.

I ended up fixing the problem by running Cocktail and purging all the caches on the workstation. The machine became usable again, but every once in a while I have a launchd crash again and first all my Cocoa apps start crashing on launch, the my carbon apps, and then I'm done until I reboot. Then everything seems to run fine again for anywhere from a week to a month or so.

Has anyone seen this behaviour and know of a way to correct it? Currently running apps seem to be fine. It's launching apps that causes the launchd crash.
Andy Pastuszak
amp68(spammenot)-at-verizon.net
     
Big Mac
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Los Angeles
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 4, 2010, 01:08 AM
 
That's not normal behavior, and it shouldn't be happening. If I were trying to fix your computer I'd start by doing a reinstall of the OS. However, with symptoms like that something tells me it could be some kind of hard drive problem. Have you run Disk Utility? Have you used a SMART utility to verify the drive's status?

"The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground." TJ
     
pastusza  (op)
Mac Enthusiast
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: Bensalem, PA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 6, 2010, 12:56 PM
 
I have run Disk Utility, Disk Warrior, Tech Tool Pro, Drive Genius They all say the drive is pretty much clean. Once in a while Disk Warrior finds info with the Volume Bitmap and fixes it.

I have debated just killing and relaunching launchd when this happens to see if it clears up the problem, but since launchd is the first thing that loads, I don't know what else is going to crash if I do that.
Andy Pastuszak
amp68(spammenot)-at-verizon.net
     
Hal Itosis
Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Mar 2004
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 6, 2010, 06:52 PM
 
Subject says: launchd causing apps to crash
Post #1 says: It's launching apps that causes the launchd crash.
Those two seem different somehow.

Originally Posted by pastusza View Post
I have debated just killing and relaunching launchd when this happens to see if it clears up the problem, but since launchd is the first thing that loads, I don't know what else is going to crash if I do that.
As of Leopard (10.5), there are actually multiple launchd processes running: one for the OS and one for each console user. You could maybe show us yours with this command:

ps axcu |sed '1p;/ launch/!d'


Somehow, i don't think launchd is "causing" the problem (more likely would be a bad font or some 3rd-party extension/enhancement). But perhaps we could look at its listing to see if that much appears correct:

ls -l `whereis launchd`

Have you done the infamous DURP yet? (Disk Utility Repair Permissions)
-HI-
     
   
Thread Tools
 
Forum Links
Forum Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Top
Privacy Policy
All times are GMT -4. The time now is 03:16 PM.
All contents of these forums © 1995-2017 MacNN. All rights reserved.
Branding + Design: www.gesamtbild.com
vBulletin v.3.8.8 © 2000-2017, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.,