Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

black screen of death on mac pro

K

kudukudu

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 24, 2007
198
4
About once a month I sit down at my computer and I am presented with a black screen on my early 2008 mac pro with an nvidia 8800gt. I can see my mouse cursor and move it around the screen and here all of my fans running, but the keyboard is unresponsive and I cannot bring up the unlock prompt. Putting the machine to sleep and waking it does not change this behavior and requires a reboot. The keyboard is USB and the mouse is bluetooth. Both the 30" ACD and the keyboard are connected to my box with this KVM switch:

http://www.belkin.com/flip/

I have opened up my case when this problem happens and could not see any status lights or anything like that blinking.

I have examined the system logs on the console and could not see anything obvious. I do have a lot of the "am I here?" messages (I am not in front of my mac pro so I may be getting the message slightly wrong). One post I found suggested these messages could be the result of using a KVM switch, but I don't know. I have jiggled my monitor cables and they both seem secure.

**Edit ** the "am i here" messages are definitely related to my KVM stich software. I stopped the service and I no longer get these messages cluttering up my logs.
 
It happened to me again. I could not even ping my mac pro from another machine on my network. Here is an excerpt from my logs until the point I did a hard reset at 12/21/11:14 am.

I Googled the "ALF ALERT" and it seems some other folks have had some problems with Transmission causing problems which I was running at the time of my crash: http://forum.transmissionbt.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4564&start=300

Anyone have any ideas what the problem might be?

system.log
Dec 20 19:24:15 Mac-Pro /usr/sbin/ocspd[37521]: starting
Dec 20 19:39:20 Mac-Pro /usr/sbin/ocspd[37579]: starting
Dec 20 19:54:23 Mac-Pro /usr/sbin/ocspd[37652]: starting
Dec 20 20:09:26 Mac-Pro /usr/sbin/ocspd[37694]: starting
Dec 20 20:14:56 Mac-Pro mDNSResponder[29]: KQ SSLHandshake failed: -9838
Dec 20 20:24:30 Mac-Pro /usr/sbin/ocspd[37755]: starting
Dec 20 20:39:33 Mac-Pro /usr/sbin/ocspd[37820]: starting
Dec 20 20:54:38 Mac-Pro /usr/sbin/ocspd[37874]: starting
Dec 20 21:09:41 Mac-Pro /usr/sbin/ocspd[37941]: starting
Dec 20 21:24:47 Mac-Pro /usr/sbin/ocspd[37990]: starting
Dec 20 21:39:51 Mac-Pro /usr/sbin/ocspd[38055]: starting
Dec 20 21:54:54 Mac-Pro /usr/sbin/ocspd[38103]: starting
Dec 20 22:09:58 Mac-Pro /usr/sbin/ocspd[38166]: starting
Dec 20 22:25:02 Mac-Pro /usr/sbin/ocspd[38214]: starting
Dec 20 22:40:06 Mac-Pro /usr/sbin/ocspd[38269]: starting
Dec 20 22:50:19 Mac-Pro mDNSResponder[29]: KQ SSLHandshake failed: -9838
Dec 20 22:55:10 Mac-Pro /usr/sbin/ocspd[38296]: starting
Dec 20 23:02:29 Mac-Pro kernel[0]: ctl_enqueuedata: m_allocpacket_internal(48) failed
Dec 20 23:02:29 Mac-Pro kernel[0]: ALF ALERT: sockwall_cntl_updaterules ctl_enqueuedata rts err 55
Dec 20 23:03:26 Mac-Pro kernel[0]: ctl_enqueuedata: m_allocpacket_internal(48) failed
Dec 20 23:03:26 Mac-Pro kernel[0]: ALF ALERT: sockwall_cntl_updaterules ctl_enqueuedata rts err 55
Dec 20 23:03:26 Mac-Pro kernel[0]: ctl_enqueuedata: m_allocpacket_internal(48) failed
Dec 20 23:03:26 Mac-Pro kernel[0]: ALF ALERT: sockwall_cntl_updaterules ctl_enqueuedata rts err 55

Crash reports
Process: Dock [1524]
Path: /System/Library/CoreServices/Dock.app/Contents/MacOS/Dock
Identifier: com.apple.dock
Version: 1.6.10 (614.11)
Build Info: Dock-6141100~3
Code Type: X86 (Native)
Parent Process: launchd [1504]

Date/Time: 2009-12-21 11:14:46.185 -0500
OS Version: Mac OS X 10.5.8 (9L31a)
Report Version: 6
Anonymous UUID: E46BDC31-2769-4C16-8D5F-96D65CFF47E6

Exception Type: EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGBUS)
Exception Codes: KERN_PROTECTION_FAILURE at 0x0000000000000005
Crashed Thread: 5


Process: SMARTReporter [1553]
Path: /Applications/SMARTReporter.app/Contents/MacOS/SMARTReporter
Identifier: org.corecode.SMARTReporter
Version: ??? (???)
Code Type: X86 (Native)
Parent Process: launchd [1504]

Date/Time: 2009-12-21 11:15:05.975 -0500
OS Version: Mac OS X 10.5.8 (9L31a)
Report Version: 6
Anonymous UUID: E46BDC31-2769-4C16-8D5F-96D65CFF47E6

Exception Type: EXC_BREAKPOINT (SIGTRAP)
Exception Codes: 0x0000000000000002, 0x0000000000000000
Crashed Thread: 0

Dyld Error Message:
Library not loaded: @executable_path/../Frameworks/Pantomime.framework/Versions/A/Pantomime
Referenced from: /Applications/SMARTReporter.app/Contents/MacOS/SMARTReporter
Reason: image not found



All Messages
20/12/09 8:27:30 AM mDNSResponder[29] KQ SSLHandshake failed: -9806
20/12/09 8:27:37 AM mDNSResponder[29] KQ SSLHandshake failed: -9806
20/12/09 8:27:37 AM mDNSResponder[29] KQ SSLHandshake failed: -9806
20/12/09 8:27:37 AM mDNSResponder[29] KQ SSLHandshake failed: -9806
20/12/09 8:29:38 AM aosnotifyd[1728] Stream:streamCallback - an error occurred on CFReadStream: Operation could not be completed. (kCFErrorDomainCFNetwork error 2.)
20/12/09 8:30:17 AM aosnotifyd[1728] Stream:streamCallback - an error occurred on CFReadStream: Operation could not be completed. (kCFErrorDomainCFNetwork error 2.)
20/12/09 8:30:41 AM aosnotifyd[1728] Stream:streamCallback - an error occurred on CFReadStream: Operation could not be completed. (kCFErrorDomainCFNetwork error 2.)
20/12/09 8:31:15 AM aosnotifyd[1728] Stream:streamCallback - an error occurred on CFReadStream: Operation could not be completed. (kCFErrorDomainCFNetwork error 2.)
20/12/09 8:33:26 AM aosnotifyd[1728] Stream:streamCallback - an error occurred on CFReadStream: Operation could not be completed. (kCFErrorDomainCFNetwork error 2.)
20/12/09 8:36:05 AM aosnotifyd[1728] Stream:streamCallback - an error occurred on CFReadStream: Operation could not be completed. (kCFErrorDomainCFNetwork error 2.)
20/12/09 8:37:16 AM aosnotifyd[1728] Stream:streamCallback - an error occurred on CFReadStream: Operation could not be completed. (kCFErrorDomainCFNetwork error 2.)
20/12/09 8:37:20 AM com.apple.launchd[1655] ([0x0-0xb5fb5f].dotmacsyncclient[35497]) Exited with exit code: 100
20/12/09 8:39:20 AM mDNSResponder[29] Failed to obtain NAT port mapping 00048CF8 from router 192.168.2.1 external address 64.231.153.190 internal port 5353 error 0
20/12/09 8:39:32 AM mDNSResponder[29] ERROR: mDNSPlatformWriteTCP - send Broken pipe
20/12/09 8:39:32 AM mDNSResponder[29] tcpConnectionCallback: error writing
20/12/09 8:39:48 AM mDNSResponder[29] ERROR: mDNSPlatformWriteTCP - send Broken pipe
20/12/09 8:39:48 AM mDNSResponder[29] tcpConnectionCallback: error writing
20/12/09 8:52:20 AM /usr/sbin/ocspd[35537] starting
20/12/09 9:07:24 AM /usr/sbin/ocspd[35568] starting
20/12/09 9:22:27 AM /usr/sbin/ocspd[35609] starting
20/12/09 9:37:30 AM /usr/sbin/ocspd[35647] starting
20/12/09 9:52:34 AM /usr/sbin/ocspd[35693] starting
20/12/09 10:00:19 AM mDNSResponder[29] KQ SSLHandshake failed: -9838
20/12/09 10:07:37 AM /usr/sbin/ocspd[35731] starting
20/12/09 10:22:40 AM /usr/sbin/ocspd[35777] starting
20/12/09 10:31:37 AM SystemUIServer[1673] found device
20/12/09 10:31:37 AM [0x0-0x10010].com.apple.systemuiserver[1673] DigiHub:sendChargingCommandToDevice RequestExtraPower(kUSBPowerDuringWake) returned 500
20/12/09 10:31:37 AM [0x0-0x10010].com.apple.systemuiserver[1673] DigiHub:sendChargingCommandToDevice sending command with sleep: 0, wake 500
20/12/09 10:31:39 AM kernel jnl: disk4s3: journal start/end pointers reset! (jnl 0xd2b0b20; s 0x4a3000 e 0x4a3000)
20/12/09 10:31:39 AM fseventsd[51] bumping event counter to: 0x63657330889d570a (current 0x1dc0e90) from log file '63657330889d3d04'
20/12/09 10:33:58 AM KernelEventAgent[47] tid 00000000 received VQ_LOWDISK event (4)
20/12/09 10:37:07 AM /usr/sbin/ocspd[35829] starting
20/12/09 10:40:23 AM mDNSResponder[29] KQ SSLHandshake failed: -9838
20/12/09 10:52:20 AM /usr/sbin/ocspd[35872] starting
20/12/09 10:56:37 AM mDNSResponder[29] KQ SSLHandshake failed: -9838
20/12/09 10:56:38 AM mDNSResponder[29] KQ SSLHandshake failed: -9838
20/12/09 11:07:23 AM /usr/sbin/ocspd[35907] starting
20/12/09 11:22:27 AM /usr/sbin/ocspd[35952] starting
20/12/09 11:37:31 AM /usr/sbin/ocspd[35988] starting
20/12/09 11:52:34 AM /usr/sbin/ocspd[36031] starting
20/12/09 12:07:37 PM /usr/sbin/ocspd[36066] starting
20/12/09 12:22:41 PM /usr/sbin/ocspd[36112] starting
20/12/09 12:37:44 PM /usr/sbin/ocspd[36147] starting
20/12/09 12:42:40 PM mDNSResponder[29] KQ SSLHandshake failed: -9838
20/12/09 12:52:47 PM /usr/sbin/ocspd[36221] starting
20/12/09 1:07:50 PM /usr/sbin/ocspd[36268] starting
20/12/09 1:22:54 PM /usr/sbin/ocspd[36332] starting
20/12/09 1:28:29 PM mDNSResponder[29] KQ SSLHandshake failed: -9838
20/12/09 1:37:57 PM /usr/sbin/ocspd[36388] starting
20/12/09 1:44:47 PM mDNSResponder[29] KQ SSLHandshake failed: -9838
20/12/09 1:44:47 PM mDNSResponder[29] KQ SSLHandshake failed: -9838
20/12/09 1:44:51 PM 1Password[5349] Database is locked, cannot sync
20/12/09 1:53:00 PM /usr/sbin/ocspd[36456] starting
20/12/09 2:08:04 PM /usr/sbin/ocspd[36508] starting
20/12/09 2:15:29 PM mDNSResponder[29] KQ SSLHandshake failed: -9838
20/12/09 2:23:07 PM /usr/sbin/ocspd[36578] starting
20/12/09 2:29:41 PM mDNSResponder[29] KQ SSLHandshake failed: -9838
20/12/09 2:38:11 PM /usr/sbin/ocspd[36630] starting
20/12/09 2:40:25 PM mDNSResponder[29] KQ SSLHandshake failed: -9838
20/12/09 2:40:25 PM mDNSResponder[29] KQ SSLHandshake failed: -9838
20/12/09 2:40:25 PM mDNSResponder[29] KQ SSLHandshake failed: -9838
20/12/09 2:40:26 PM mDNSResponder[29] KQ SSLHandshake failed: -9838
20/12/09 2:53:14 PM /usr/sbin/ocspd[36702] starting
20/12/09 3:03:38 PM mDNSResponder[29] KQ SSLHandshake failed: -9838
20/12/09 3:08:17 PM /usr/sbin/ocspd[36756] starting
20/12/09 3:16:28 PM mDNSResponder[29] KQ SSLHandshake failed: -9838
20/12/09 3:23:21 PM /usr/sbin/ocspd[36828] starting
20/12/09 3:38:23 PM /usr/sbin/ocspd[36874] starting
20/12/09 3:53:27 PM /usr/sbin/ocspd[36918] starting
20/12/09 3:57:26 PM mDNSResponder[29] KQ SSLHandshake failed: -9838
20/12/09 4:08:30 PM /usr/sbin/ocspd[36957] starting
20/12/09 4:22:48 PM mDNSResponder[29] KQ SSLHandshake failed: -9838
20/12/09 4:23:33 PM /usr/sbin/ocspd[37013] starting
20/12/09 4:38:37 PM /usr/sbin/ocspd[37067] starting
20/12/09 4:53:40 PM /usr/sbin/ocspd[37128] starting
20/12/09 5:08:44 PM /usr/sbin/ocspd[37174] starting
20/12/09 5:23:47 PM /usr/sbin/ocspd[37213] starting
20/12/09 5:38:09 PM mDNSResponder[29] KQ SSLHandshake failed: -9838
20/12/09 5:38:51 PM /usr/sbin/ocspd[37252] starting
20/12/09 5:53:54 PM /usr/sbin/ocspd[37290] starting
20/12/09 5:55:57 PM mDNSResponder[29] KQ SSLHandshake failed: -9838
20/12/09 5:56:04 PM mDNSResponder[29] KQ SSLHandshake failed: -9838
20/12/09 6:08:58 PM /usr/sbin/ocspd[37327] starting
20/12/09 6:10:20 PM mDNSResponder[29] KQ SSLHandshake failed: -9838
20/12/09 6:11:22 PM mDNSResponder[29] KQ SSLHandshake failed: -9838
20/12/09 6:11:22 PM mDNSResponder[29] KQ SSLHandshake failed: -9838
20/12/09 6:24:02 PM /usr/sbin/ocspd[37368] starting
20/12/09 6:39:05 PM /usr/sbin/ocspd[37403] starting
20/12/09 6:54:08 PM /usr/sbin/ocspd[37443] starting
20/12/09 7:09:12 PM /usr/sbin/ocspd[37479] starting
20/12/09 7:11:51 PM mDNSResponder[29] KQ SSLHandshake failed: -9838
20/12/09 7:11:52 PM mDNSResponder[29] KQ SSLHandshake failed: -9838
20/12/09 7:24:15 PM /usr/sbin/ocspd[37521] starting
20/12/09 7:39:20 PM /usr/sbin/ocspd[37579] starting
20/12/09 7:54:23 PM /usr/sbin/ocspd[37652] starting
20/12/09 8:09:26 PM /usr/sbin/ocspd[37694] starting
20/12/09 8:14:56 PM mDNSResponder[29] KQ SSLHandshake failed: -9838
20/12/09 8:24:30 PM /usr/sbin/ocspd[37755] starting
20/12/09 8:39:33 PM /usr/sbin/ocspd[37820] starting
20/12/09 8:54:38 PM /usr/sbin/ocspd[37874] starting
20/12/09 9:09:41 PM /usr/sbin/ocspd[37941] starting
20/12/09 9:24:47 PM /usr/sbin/ocspd[37990] starting
20/12/09 9:39:51 PM /usr/sbin/ocspd[38055] starting
20/12/09 9:54:54 PM /usr/sbin/ocspd[38103] starting
20/12/09 10:09:58 PM /usr/sbin/ocspd[38166] starting
20/12/09 10:25:02 PM /usr/sbin/ocspd[38214] starting
20/12/09 10:40:06 PM /usr/sbin/ocspd[38269] starting
20/12/09 10:50:19 PM mDNSResponder[29] KQ SSLHandshake failed: -9838
20/12/09 10:55:10 PM /usr/sbin/ocspd[38296] starting
20/12/09 11:02:29 PM kernel ctl_enqueuedata: m_allocpacket_internal(48) failed
20/12/09 11:02:29 PM kernel ALF ALERT: sockwall_cntl_updaterules ctl_enqueuedata rts err 55
20/12/09 11:03:26 PM kernel ctl_enqueuedata: m_allocpacket_internal(48) failed
20/12/09 11:03:26 PM kernel ALF ALERT: sockwall_cntl_updaterules ctl_enqueuedata rts err 55
20/12/09 11:03:26 PM kernel ctl_enqueuedata: m_allocpacket_internal(48) failed
21/12/09 11:14:00 AM com.apple.launchctl.System[2] fsck_hfs: Volume is journaled. No checking performed.
20/12/09 11:03:26 PM kernel ALF ALERT: sockwall_cntl_updaterules ctl_enqueuedata rts err 55
21/12/09 11:14:00 AM com.apple.launchctl.System[2] fsck_hfs: Use the -f option to force checking.
21/12/09 11:14:03 AM com.apple.launchctl.System[2] launchctl: Please convert the following to launchd: /etc/mach_init.d/dashboardadvisoryd.plist
21/12/09 11:14:03 AM com.apple.launchd[1] (com.apple.RemoteDesktop.PrivilegeProxy) Unknown key for boolean: EnableTransactions
21/12/09 11:14:03 AM com.apple.launchd[1] (com.apple.usbmuxd) Unknown key for boolean: EnableTransactions
21/12/09 11:14:03 AM com.apple.launchd[1] (org.cups.cupsd) Unknown key: SHAuthorizationRight
21/12/09 11:14:03 AM com.apple.launchd[1] (org.ntp.ntpd) Unknown key: SHAuthorizationRight
21/12/09 11:14:03 AM com.apple.launchd[1] (org.x.privileged_startx) Unknown key for boolean: EnableTransactions
21/12/09 11:14:03 AM kernel npvhash=4095
21/12/09 11:14:03 AM DirectoryService[11] Launched version 5.7 (v514.25)
21/12/09 11:14:03 AM kernel hi mem tramps at 0xffe00000
21/12/09 11:14:03 AM DirectoryService[11] Improper shutdown detected
21/12/09 11:14:03 AM kernel PAE enabled
 
have you tried speaking to Apple tech support about this? Sorry can't help much but I think they would be a good first step to explore.
 
Thanks for the suggestion. I did open a case with apple on this, but they were not too much help. The first line person I talked to couldn't make heads or tails of the logs and transferred me to a guy in second line support.

He said that there was nothing definitive in the logs to explain the behavior and that as a first step in troubleshooting this I should leave my machine running without any third party software running to help isolate whether this was a problem with the Apple OS or a someone else's software behaving badly.

The problem with this is that it may be weeks between crashes and it is a pain to close/open all of my applications every time I use my machine.

I guess I will just need to monitor the behavior and try this if my black screen of death continues to plague me.
 
If you are covered by Applecare you should demand they get at the root of the problem. It is their obligation to solve your problem. After paying so much on a high end workstation one must be met with solutions to problems when there is a problem. In my opinion you may be looking at a dying 8800GT. They have a very high failure rate, sadly.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back