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dspdoc

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Mar 7, 2017
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Every time I shutdown my new Mac mini I get a "shutdown stall" log file in my DiagnosticsReports folder. Anyone else experiencing this with their new Mac mini?
 

DeltaMac

macrumors G5
Jul 30, 2003
13,460
4,407
Delaware
Do you actually have a shutdown delay, or just a log file entry?
Does Activity Monitor show any issues with any processes that stop responding?

If you bring up a Force Quit window when you try a shutdown, are there any apps in THAT window that shows a Stopped Responding --- and can you force quit all your apps from that window (which then should allow your mini to continue to a full shutdown.)

Finally - Is shutting down your mini particularly important to you? (My mini is probably shut down once or twice a month, if that often)
 

dspdoc

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Mar 7, 2017
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Do you actually have a shutdown delay, or just a log file entry?
Does Activity Monitor show any issues with any processes that stop responding?

If you bring up a Force Quit window when you try a shutdown, are there any apps in THAT window that shows a Stopped Responding --- and can you force quit all your apps from that window (which then should allow your mini to continue to a full shutdown.)

Finally - Is shutting down your mini particularly important to you? (My mini is probably shut down once or twice a month, if that often)
I love it how you didn't answer my question at all and instead went into immediate defensive posturing. Do you work for Apple? LOL! Why should it matter to you that I want to shut my computer down? Good for you that you don't shut yours down...?

Could someone please take one minute to look at their Mac HD-Library-Logs-DiagnosticReports on their 2018 Mac mini and tell me if you have "shutdown_stall" logs? I would greatly appreciate knowing if this is considered "normal" or not. It might also help put my OCD to rest a little. Sorry for wanting a "perfect" Mac. I have owned literally dozens upon dozens of them over the past 25 years and this is the first time seeing this.

And to answer one of your questions, yes I do from time to time notice a little longer than normal lag at shutdown/restart.

Thanks!
 
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Jorbanead

macrumors 65816
Aug 31, 2018
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I love it how you didn't answer my question at all and instead went into immediate defensive posturing. Do you work for Apple? LOL! Why should it matter to you that I want to shut my computer down? Good for you that you don't shut yours down...?

Could someone please take one minute to look at their Mac HD-Library-Logs-DiagnosticReports on their 2018 Mac mini and tell me if you have "shutdown_stall" logs? I would greatly appreciate knowing if this is considered "normal" or not. It might also help put my OCD to rest a little. Sorry for wanting a "perfect" Mac. I have owned literally dozens upon dozens of them over the past 25 years and this is the first time seeing this.

And to answer one of your questions, yes I do from time to time notice a little longer than normal lag at shutdown/restart.

Thanks!

Their comment didn’t come across as defensive at all. I think they genuinely are asking to try and troubleshoot the issue and see where the problems are.

To answer your question - I’ve never had this issue on any Mac I’ve owned including the new 2018 mini. Hope you can figure it out!
 

dspdoc

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Mar 7, 2017
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Their comment didn’t come across as defensive at all. I think they genuinely are asking to try and troubleshoot the issue and see where the problems are.

To answer your question - I’ve never had this issue on any Mac I’ve owned including the new 2018 mini. Hope you can figure it out!
Sorry, I felt it was defensive. Ending with basically why do you shut your Mac down, and never did tell me if they have the file in their logs. So you checked your logs and no file? Thanks!
 
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dspdoc

macrumors 68000
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Mar 7, 2017
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Their comment didn’t come across as defensive at all. I think they genuinely are asking to try and troubleshoot the issue and see where the problems are.

To answer your question - I’ve never had this issue on any Mac I’ve owned including the new 2018 mini. Hope you can figure it out!
Are you absolutely positive you are not having this issue? You may want to actually look in your logs...

BA0B97C7-2BB3-45CC-B0E6-C29C7260FE58.jpeg
 

Fishrrman

macrumors Penryn
Feb 20, 2009
28,343
12,460
I'm using a 2012 Mini, not a 2018 Mini. I shut down every night, and during long "day breaks" as well.
I checked Mac HD-Library-Logs-DiagnosticReports and saw nothing there (running Low Sierra).
I'll have to try it running from my Mojave "test drive".

Just wondering...
- Are the shutdowns actually "stalling"?
- That is, taking longer than usual? (I've noticed this myself in some situations)
- Or... will you end up with a log even after a "normal" shutdown (that doesn't stall)?
- I'm wondering if this could in any way be related to the slow BOOTUP times that some folks are experiencing.

Might be "in the OS", rather than "in the hardware".
But of course, Mojave is the only OS that runs on the new Mini ...
 
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dspdoc

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Mar 7, 2017
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I'm using a 2012 Mini, not a 2018 Mini. I shut down every night, and during long "day breaks" as well.
I checked Mac HD-Library-Logs-DiagnosticReports and saw nothing there (running Low Sierra).
I'll have to try it running from my Mojave "test drive".

Just wondering...
- Are the shutdowns actually "stalling"?
- That is, taking longer than usual? (I've noticed this myself in some situations)
- Or... will you end up with a log even after a "normal" shutdown (that doesn't stall)?
- I'm wondering if this could in any way be related to the slow BOOTUP times that some folks are experiencing.

Might be "in the OS", rather than "in the hardware".
But of course, Mojave is the only OS that runs on the new Mini ...
I’d be very curious to see what you find out from your Mojave drive. And yes, I do feel like shutdowns are a bit laggy on Mojave. I have my fingers crossed this is only a temporary Mojave hiccup. I have discovered online that a few people are saying this also happens to them on every shutdown of Mojave no matter what they do. Clean install or not. I have a feeling this might just be a “thing” right now. But how many people look in their diagnostic logs on their HD? I’d venture to say little to none. I’ve just been a tech with OCD for so long that I always look and appreciate a clean log. ;)

If I were a betting person I would even venture to say that the commenter above you never even looked. Or looked and didn’t want to admit they have the issue too. LOL ;-)~
 

treekram

macrumors 68000
Nov 9, 2015
1,849
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Honolulu HI
I have this on my 2014 Mini with Mojave. So as the OP has also realized, this is not an issue specific to the 2018 Mini. There's a post in the Apple discussions group where somebody called Apple and they said it's nothing to worry about. One can also do the same to confirm that. I don't notice a problem with this but I typically shut down the computer remotely every night and then some time later, I'll go and turn off the power strip it's connected to (this computer records off-the-air broadcasts). It's always off by the time I go to turn off the power strip.
 
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dspdoc

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Mar 7, 2017
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I have this on my 2014 Mini with Mojave. So as the OP has also realized, this is not an issue specific to the 2018 Mini. There's a post in the Apple discussions group where somebody called Apple and they said it's nothing to worry about. One can also do the same to confirm that. I don't notice a problem with this but I typically shut down the computer remotely every night and then some time later, I'll go and turn off the power strip it's connected to (this computer records off-the-air broadcasts). It's always off by the time I go to turn off the power strip.
Thank you for confirming this! It seems to be 10.14.2 specific. Hopefully 10.14.3 will fix it.
 

treekram

macrumors 68000
Nov 9, 2015
1,849
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Honolulu HI
Thank you for confirming this! It seems to be 10.14.2 specific. Hopefully 10.14.3 will fix it.

The shutdown stall logs on my computer pre-date when I did the 10.14.2 update. It appears that the logs get cleared out every so often so I don't know when this would have started - it might be on my Time Machine backup but that would be a pain to check at the moment.
 

DeltaMac

macrumors G5
Jul 30, 2003
13,460
4,407
Delaware
The "shutdown stall" is not a new issue with Mojave. I found reports about that from at least 4 years ago, reported from OS X 10.9.5 Mavericks. https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6503618
Somewhat different issues, for sure, but the same kind of log file is generated

I accumulate "shutdown stall" logs on my main system (2012 Mac mini), each and every time I restart or shutdown. But, usually I do not notice any kind of actual delay in the shutdown. The log file is challenging to decode, but it appears to be generated any time that a process is running, and the shutdown/restart process encounters anything a little unusual. The result may be some delay, but counted in seconds, which might simply be within normal software variances on any Mac.
I also don't think there is something that you can deduce, simply because a shutdown stall log is generated.

This Apple support article gets mentioned occasionally - the bottom few steps may be relevant for you - and can be worth trying in any case.
As I try out a variety of different apps, and install a range of utility software, then remove it when I am done, I tend to reinstall the system quite easily, often as a final cleanup step - I can recommend that you try that, particularly if you experience actual shutdown delays, or even shutdown freezeup, when it just sits on a grey screen, maybe with a cursor as the only visible object. In my experience, I call a delay of more than 5 minutes on shutdown, a true stall. Others may have a different opinion on that, but it's where I am. More than 5 minutes, and I usually hold the power button, or pull the power cord, for a complete power off, restart in safe mode, so the system runs the full boot checks, then restart normally. That usually takes care of boot or sleep/shutdown lags.
 

dspdoc

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Mar 7, 2017
1,955
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The "shutdown stall" is not a new issue with Mojave. I found reports about that from at least 4 years ago, reported from OS X 10.9.5 Mavericks. https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6503618
Somewhat different issues, for sure, but the same kind of log file is generated

I accumulate "shutdown stall" logs on my main system (2012 Mac mini), each and every time I restart or shutdown. But, usually I do not notice any kind of actual delay in the shutdown. The log file is challenging to decode, but it appears to be generated any time that a process is running, and the shutdown/restart process encounters anything a little unusual. The result may be some delay, but counted in seconds, which might simply be within normal software variances on any Mac.
I also don't think there is something that you can deduce, simply because a shutdown stall log is generated.

This Apple support article gets mentioned occasionally - the bottom few steps may be relevant for you - and can be worth trying in any case.
As I try out a variety of different apps, and install a range of utility software, then remove it when I am done, I tend to reinstall the system quite easily, often as a final cleanup step - I can recommend that you try that, particularly if you experience actual shutdown delays, or even shutdown freezeup, when it just sits on a grey screen, maybe with a cursor as the only visible object. In my experience, I call a delay of more than 5 minutes on shutdown, a true stall. Others may have a different opinion on that, but it's where I am. More than 5 minutes, and I usually hold the power button, or pull the power cord, for a complete power off, restart in safe mode, so the system runs the full boot checks, then restart normally. That usually takes care of boot or sleep/shutdown lags.
Thanks, I truly appreciate you looking into it. I have contacted Apple and it is being sent over to their engineers. I will report back what they say. Thanks again!
[doublepost=1545502704][/doublepost]
The shutdown stall logs on my computer pre-date when I did the 10.14.2 update. It appears that the logs get cleared out every so often so I don't know when this would have started - it might be on my Time Machine backup but that would be a pain to check at the moment.
I really appreciate you taking the time to look.
 

dspdoc

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Mar 7, 2017
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I am waiting to hear back from engineering on this. It has become apparent though that this is "common" for some reason though. Must be a Mojave thing...?
 

Fishrrman

macrumors Penryn
Feb 20, 2009
28,343
12,460
My "regular" OS is "Low Sierra" (10.12).
No incidences of the "shutdown stall" log.

But I also keep a "test drive" with Mojave on it.
So... I booted from that, then shut down.

The shut down took a few seconds longer than does my Low Sierra install, but it wasn't "overly long".
After doing so, I discovered a "shutdown stall" log in "Library-Logs-DiagnosticReports".

My guess:
The shutdown stall log has nothing to do with "the hardware".
Rather, it has much to do with something going on in software.

Nothing to tear at your hair about regarding the new Mini.
It ain't "the Mini's fault" -- it's Mojave's.
 

dspdoc

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Mar 7, 2017
1,955
2,360
My "regular" OS is "Low Sierra" (10.12).
No incidences of the "shutdown stall" log.

But I also keep a "test drive" with Mojave on it.
So... I booted from that, then shut down.

The shut down took a few seconds longer than does my Low Sierra install, but it wasn't "overly long".
After doing so, I discovered a "shutdown stall" log in "Library-Logs-DiagnosticReports".

My guess:
The shutdown stall log has nothing to do with "the hardware".
Rather, it has much to do with something going on in software.

Nothing to tear at your hair about regarding the new Mini.
It ain't "the Mini's fault" -- it's Mojave's.
Thank you for checking this out!
 

StellarVixen

macrumors 68040
Mar 1, 2018
3,177
5,637
Somewhere between 0 and 1
This is probably due to Mojave, not MM specific. Do you hear brief error sound, just before shutdown? I do. And my Mac is from 2012.


Most likely software bug. Craig has lost it recently, he and his team can’t seem to do anything right.
 

dspdoc

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Mar 7, 2017
1,955
2,360
This is probably due to Mojave, not MM specific. Do you hear brief error sound, just before shutdown? I do. And my Mac is from 2012.


Most likely software bug. Craig has lost it recently, he and his team can’t seem to do anything right.
Well it certainly seems as though their engineers are getting very sloppy. Sad. I miss the 10.6.8 days. That OS was a beast!
 

dspdoc

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Mar 7, 2017
1,955
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So after much research I have concluded this is indeed a Mojave specific issue. Don't know that the engineers even care.
 

dspdoc

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Mar 7, 2017
1,955
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Same thing happening to me on my mac mini 2018. Running Mojave 10.14.2.
Have you reported this to Apple? Call support and ask for a senior adviser. I have reported it to engineering and they seemingly could care less.
 

WilliamG

macrumors G3
Mar 29, 2008
9,924
3,800
Seattle
At least your computer shuts down! I couldn't even shut down my 2018 mini, with many hard drives attached. The system takes too long to shut down the hard drives sequentially, and auto reboots when it does shut off to let me know it thought it froze on shut down. Ugh. Only way to shut the mini down is to physically disconnect the hard drives first.

No, Mac mini 2018. You didn’t hang/freeze. You just needed to be more patient to wait for my hard drives to shut down.

This issue is not present on the 2014 minis or earlier models.
 

head honcho 123

macrumors 6502
Dec 18, 2008
457
15
I haven't reported it to Apple yet. Perhaps I will when I get a moment.

I do think it's a problem with drives as well. I have a WD My Book Duo connected via USB C. I turned sleep off for the drive, but I do feel like the drive goes to sleep when it is not use still. When I shutdown, and the WD is sleep, I think Mac OS is trying to wake up the drive so it can properly unmount so that it can shutdown. The WD takes too long to wake up and it just stalls. I've been ejecting the drive (on the OS), before doing shutdowns and that seems to speed things a bit.

Looking into getting rid of the drive and moving to a NAS instead (for another issue separate from this, I want Plex server without having the computer on). If I get a NAS drive, I feel like I'll have less trouble with this.
[doublepost=1548609547][/doublepost]I'll just add, the updated Mojave 10.14.3 did not solve the issue still.
 

WilliamG

macrumors G3
Mar 29, 2008
9,924
3,800
Seattle
I haven't reported it to Apple yet. Perhaps I will when I get a moment.

I do think it's a problem with drives as well. I have a WD My Book Duo connected via USB C. I turned sleep off for the drive, but I do feel like the drive goes to sleep when it is not use still. When I shutdown, and the WD is sleep, I think Mac OS is trying to wake up the drive so it can properly unmount so that it can shutdown. The WD takes too long to wake up and it just stalls. I've been ejecting the drive (on the OS), before doing shutdowns and that seems to speed things a bit.

Looking into getting rid of the drive and moving to a NAS instead (for another issue separate from this, I want Plex server without having the computer on). If I get a NAS drive, I feel like I'll have less trouble with this.
[doublepost=1548609547][/doublepost]I'll just add, the updated Mojave 10.14.3 did not solve the issue still.

Should have updated... I’ve been working with the SoftRAID development team, and they were able to recreate the issue easily. This should get fixed in 10.14.4 if we’re lucky. It’s nothing to do with SoftRAID etc, but just - as you said, a product of drives taking too long to shut down - causing issues.

Interestingly, I’ve been able to recreate the issue on a 2014 Mac mini and a 2012 Mac mini, but those minis don’t actually generate a crash report, despite shutting off HARD during the system-shut-down procedure. The 2018 model is the first model of mini that actually complains about the problem.
 
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