Snow Leopard: For no apparent reason I am logged out and everything quits!

[In Reflection 7]

This issue has been continuing for a few weeks now.

Here are my computer's specs:

Snow Lepoard 10.6.1

Model Name: Mac Pro
Model Identifier: MacPro4,1
Processor Name: Quad-Core Intel Xeon
Processor Speed: 2.26 GHz
Number Of Processors: 2
Total Number Of Cores: 8
L2 Cache (per core): 256 KB
L3 Cache (per processor): 8 MB
Memory: 8 GB
Chipset Model: ATI Radeon HD 4870
Type: GPU
Bus: PCIe
Slot: Slot-1
PCIe Lane Width: x16
VRAM (Total): 512 MB
Vendor: ATI (0x1002)

A co-worker of mine has the same setup and has the same issue. The open programs at the time of the issue are similar as well.

While working I have had open at one time Firefox, a few finder windows, Adobe Lightroom and a calender/client management program that is 4D based. Or something similar, nothing too taxing on a system.

The issue is while I am working out of nowhere and without warning the screen turns blue and I am logged out. I have to type in my password and log back in to find all my programs have quit and my finder windows closed and any transfers being done canceled.

I heard it could be a Rosetta issue but none of my programs are running in Rosetta.

My computer doesn't crash in a critical way, no manual powering off required, just logs me out for some reason.

Does anyone have any idea why this would be happening and how to fix it? It is very annoying and is beginning to happen more and more frequently.

 

[darkpaw]

Run Console.app in /Applications/Utilities/ and see if there's anything that might give it away. If you can't see anything obvious, post the logs here from the time of the logout and maybe one of us can help?

 

[In Reflection 7]

Console Messages

Run Console.app in /Applications/Utilities/ and see if there's anything that might give it away. If you can't see anything obvious, post the logs here from the time of the logout and maybe one of us can help?

OK I took a look and I am personally not too familiar with crash logs so hopefully someone can help me decode this. I attached a portion of my Console Log as a txt file since it would take up too much room as a reply.

But I can say that the error at 5:46:56 PM, the one referring to the DashboardClient[7939], repeats like that for what looks like 100+ lines. It is ridiculously long. I just selected more towards the end and went up to the most recent time.

Please let me know if that helps. It just booted me out again today and I'm quite confused.

 

[darkpaw]

Are you using any Microsoft products? (I know how that sounds...)

There are reports of this exact crash when people are using Excel & Word v.X, which uses Rosetta. The last response on this thread was:
"After further investigation it has been determined that this is a known issue, which is currently being investigated by engineering. This issue has been filed in our bug database under the original Bug ID# 6465069."

If you are using these apps, can you upgrade to Excel 2008? That might fix it...

 

[calderone]

First, does the log snippet you posted include a random log off? If not (and it doesn't seem that it does), it won't help us in solving your problem. Also be sure you click the "Show Log List" and select "All Messages."

it is crucial that you post a log that has the crash in it. You will have to note the time when it does happen.

Second, while I doubt this, it is worth a look. Open System Preferences, select Security and look at the General tab. Is:

Log out after xx minutes of activity

on? If not, don't worry about it. If it is enabled, what time does it show? Is it a minute? More? Would you be inactive enough while working for this to occur? If not, it won't hurt to turn it off and see if the behavior goes away.

I don't expect this to be the problem, but I figured it would be worth a look as it is a simple solution.

 

[Neo-Tech]

This literally just happened to me half an hour ago for the first time. I was just browsing through my iTunes library with a few other open apps and everything just slowed down, then I got a blue screen and got logged out. I had Firefox (5-6 tabs), Mail, iTunes, uTorrent, Things, Tweetie and Adium open at time.

I'm worried this might happen again. Which logs am I supposed to be looking at and the ones to post?

Thanks
Neo-Tech

 

[darkpaw]

Load up Console.app from /Applications/Utilities/ and select "All Messages" from under "DATABASE SEARCHES". Find anything from around the time of the logout. If it's obvious to you, you might be able to fix your issue without our help. If not, go ahead and post the messages here. Try to get messages from a minute or so before the logout so we can see what might have caused it.

 

[Neo-Tech]

I guess it's a bit late now

If it happens again, I'll post the log straight away.

 

[kate-willbury]

lol @ snow leopard!

 

[In Reflection 7]

Gah!

It just happened again but I don't see a logout in Console. I will just merrily (ha!) wait for it to happen again and try Console again immediately.

 

[In Reflection 7]

Are you using any Microsoft products? (I know how that sounds...)

There are reports of this exact crash when people are using Excel & Word v.X, which uses Rosetta. The last response on this thread was:
"After further investigation it has been determined that this is a known issue, which is currently being investigated by engineering. This issue has been filed in our bug database under the original Bug ID# 6465069."

If you are using these apps, can you upgrade to Excel 2008? That might fix it...

That's a good thought but no I'm not. I'm using Open Office right now. We have licenses for Office but I just do basic record keeping in OOo's Calc. I don't even have a MS Office trial installed or anything. I also looked for any programs running in Rosetta and could not find any.

 

[darkpaw]

It just happened again but I don't see a logout in Console. I will just merrily (ha!) wait for it to happen again and try Console again immediately.

In my experience if something like the windowserver task quits unexpectedly, I won't see anything to do with a 'logout' in the Console. If you know when you got logged out, just look at the Console entries from that point and a minute or so back. Something is causing the problem, and the Console will record it before the effect occurs.