Help - Mac keeps crashing, requires hard reboot each time PLEASE HELP!

Gilesy

Gilesy

Inspired
Merry Christmas to all - hope you are having a happy festive break.

I was hoping to get some expert and friendly guidance from forum members who have experienced or have some suggestions for fixing the following issue.

About every 3 or 4 days, the ability to connect to the internet on my iMac is lost completely (page hangs on searching), and once I've tried to access web page (in either Safari or Chrome) the machine locks...I can't force quit the web browser, and because it is not responding I can't restart via the Apple menu either. The only way to revive the machine is to hold the power switch down. The same lock-up behaviour occurs when trying to use Music.

To reconnect to the internet I need to do a Safe Boot at which point we are all good for another few days.

I believe this issue has developed since one of two things has changed on my machine: upgrade to Catalina OR installation of Avast Security OR some interaction between the two.

Other points to note:
Wireless is working throughout - I've done all the standard checks and fixes (e.g. new network location, try different network, clear cache) but I'm 99% certain this is not wi-fi related (others are using same networks in house without issue)
The performance of the machine is terribly slow once the issue has occurred, and goes back up to normal speed post reboot
The lock-up and performance issues I describe do appear similar to other Avast users on their forum...but no-one has suggested a workable fix other than "upgrade to latest version" which I already have
Strangely my wife's iMac has same software fitted but not experiencing these issues

this is really spoiling my enjoyment of Fractal as I play all through my Mac.

So, I would REALLY appreciate all ideas...willing to try whatever is needed to fix.

My machine is a 2017 iMac, Catalina 10.15.2
Avast 14.3

Thank you, Gilesy
 
I would try and install a complete fresh install of macOS mojave, backup you iMac to external drive and then wipe the internal drive before installing the OS.

Sometimes it's easier to just start from scratch, either that or just uninstall avast, see if that makes a change?
 
Actually sounds more like a power supply problem. No issues here with Catalina on my 2016 MacBook Pro 15”
 
Otherwise I’d blame Avast. I recall using it and hating it (don’t remember why but it wasn’t what you’re going through) last year and switching to Nord.
 
Thanks for the suggestions. I would prefer to avoid the ‘disk wipe and start again‘ if I can given the scale of the task (although accept it may be a solution I may need to try eventually). Reinstalling Avast is a good shout which I will try.

Anyone experiencing any similar issues? - I would really value insights on how to fix this v annoying problem!

cheers Gilesy
 
Create a new partition, install a fresh copy of Mac OS. See if it crashes in a similar way. If not, it’s the other install. If so, it’s hardware.
 
Cheers Chris - I’m not sure how to do this but I am sure I can find guidance ont’ net.

couple of questions:
1) If the new partition does not crash can I remove the old one easily and have the whole disk dedicated to the new, working partition?
2) will I need to reinstall every piece of software on the new partition?
 
I think partitions are linear, so you you can’t delete the first one and then give that space to the 2nd. I could be wrong.

Yes a new partition is a full install from scratch. I’m just suggesting this to troubleshoot to determine if it’s a hardware issue.

Do a backup if you can using Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper. Well worth the price. Use an external drive if possible. You can create bootable backups which is great to try your full computer setup on another Mac hardware/machine. I have my entire computer backed up often and if my hardware fails, I can copy it to another machine quickly and be up and running. This includes all software installs.
 
Is there a way to force reboot without hard powering down, if the system has got stuck when an application is not responding? (eg is there a process I can kill in Activity Monitor?)
 
Gilesy said:
Is there a way to force reboot without hard powering down, if the system has got stuck when an application is not responding? (eg is there a process I can kill in Activity Monitor?)
Click to expand...
You can’t kill a process to make a reboot happen. That would just stop a process. You’d have to access the Reboot from Apple menu or hard restart.
 
From what you were saying:

Most of your lockups have been happening as soon as you browse or the machine calls for network access.

  • Open activity monitor.
  • Select the "Network Tab"
  • Force quit any apps or activities that "aren't responding"
Try running your musical applications, with these apps "off"
If that works, research your findings to look for fixes.

Im personally staying clear of Catalina for a few months.
There's Major changes in the way everything communicates, and its driving developers crazy.
It might work fine on one machine, but then not, on the next....... different hardware etc.

Apple warned the developers that Catalina was not going to work with a ton of software, and its taking them months to catch up.
Having said that, No issue with Fractal.
You may have many non-compliant apps (software still installed, that works with Mohave, but not Catalina also)
 
Last edited:
chris said:
You can’t kill a process to make a reboot happen. That would just stop a process. You’d have to access the Reboot from Apple menu or hard restart.
Click to expand...

Chris

Understood.

In Windows when you go into Task Manager it is very rare (or even unheard of these days) that you cannot instantly and successfully kill a misbehaving process and then simply restart that app. What is odd in this situation is that the browsers app (in my case Chrome) either does not want to be manually killed and hence stays open, or on the few occasions I have been able to kill it, the machine then seems to get all screwed up and I have to reboot anyway.

cheers for your input. Gilesy
 
PincoTech said:
From what you were saying:

Most of your lockups have been happening as soon as you browse or the machine calls for network access.

  • Open activity monitor.
  • Select the "Network Tab"
  • Force quit any apps or activities that "aren't responding"
Try running your musical applications, with these apps "off"
If that works, research your findings to look for fixes.

Im personally staying clear of Catalina for a few months.
There's Major changes in the way everything communicates, and its driving developers crazy.
It might work fine on one machine, but then not, on the next....... different hardware etc.

Apple warned the developers that Catalina was not going to work with a ton of software, and its taking them months to catch up.
Having said that, No issue with Fractal.
You may have many non-compliant apps (software still installed, that works with Mohave, but not Catalina also)
Click to expand...

Hi PincoTech

Avast has multiple processes running so it is not quite as simple as killing one app and being confident you have done it. I’ll have a look to see if I can tell all of the ones which are Avast related and give what you suggested a go. I suspect that unsintalling Avast altogether first step may help me diagnose confidently whether this is the cause. I can then experment either with a clean install, or if that continues to cause problems an alternative anti-virus.

i also would not be surprised this is Catalina related but I just want to avoid reinstalling the OS - it seems quite a heavy handed solution but I guess may ultimately be the answer.
 
Gilesy said:
Hi PincoTech

Avast has multiple processes running so it is not quite as simple as killing one app and being confident you have done it. I’ll have a look to see if I can tell all of the ones which are Avast related and give what you suggested a go. I suspect that unsintalling Avast altogether first step may help me diagnose confidently whether this is the cause. I can then experment either with a clean install, or if that continues to cause problems an alternative anti-virus.

i also would not be surprised this is Catalina related but I just want to avoid reinstalling the OS - it seems quite a heavy handed solution but I guess may ultimately be the answer.
Click to expand...
I guess try deleting Avast first.
I’ve never had the need to install anti-virus software, since switching to Mac.
I’ve been running for 6 years successfully, using nothing but the built in firewall. I also use Safari exclusively.
 
PincoTech said:
I guess try deleting Avast first.
I’ve never had the need to install anti-virus software, since switching to Mac.
I’ve been running for 6 years successfully, using nothing but the built in firewall. I also use Safari exclusively.
Click to expand...

Hi PincoTech

I experienced some password hacking / attempted extortion emails and hence we have upped our security game. Avast plus a password manager provides an additional layer of comfort.

However let‘s not let those lowlifes spoil this time of year. Merry Christmas to all on the forum - hope you and your families have a wonderful festive time

All the best, Gilesy.
 
I had an interesting thing happen after the Mojave upgrade. If I opened the Terminal, it would periodically display a malloc error, without any input.

The problem turned out to be a kernel extension. I believe it was the one installed by the antivirus program run by our IT vendor, which hadn't yet been upgraded for Mojave. Doing a complete uninstall fixed it.
 
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