Bite the apple?
- Thread starter J-see
- Start date
I assume the hardware is fine but the "black screen of WTF" seems to be one of those problems Macbooks suffer but for which no cause has been identified. It's like the Bermuda Triangle.
The first time it happens you have no idea what goes wrong. You can't even power it down and it was only because I have a second monitor attached, I knew the system was still active, well at least somewhat.
Then you got to call someone to be able to push that very easy combination of Cmd/Alt P + R and the power button to be able to shut the thing down. After you restart it's as if nothing happened.
Until the next time.
But the black screen isn't as bad as my full memory being drained while it was just sitting there. 16Gb in maybe five or ten minutes doing nothing.
And I have nothing on auto-update or connected to anything remotely social. Everything that I didn't need has been removed. Except those apps my OS can't do without in order to function, like chess or games. What's with that btw? It can't operate without chess?
Last edited:
Yeah I have several Macs, and all have less memory and I run a bunch of apps at the same time. I can run safari, mail, iTunes, Photoshop and Lightroom with no issues.
I would remove that software package and reinstall it, something is not right and causing a memory leak.
After you reinstall, then I would repair permissions, then run the checks on the hard drive to make all is well.
Mac Pro laptop is a 2009 model running 6g memory and it does run slower due to that, but Mac Pro desktop is a 2010 model with 12g and runs all of the above. I can still run safari, mail, iTunes with no issues but if I start Lightroom on the laptop it slows down a bit.
I have a Mac Pro laptop, Mac Pro desktop, iMac, Mac book and several other apple products and have no issues like you mentioned. I even read a bunch of apple websites and forums and haven't seen anyone complaint of these issues.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
I would remove that software package and reinstall it, something is not right and causing a memory leak.
After you reinstall, then I would repair permissions, then run the checks on the hard drive to make all is well.
Mac Pro laptop is a 2009 model running 6g memory and it does run slower due to that, but Mac Pro desktop is a 2010 model with 12g and runs all of the above. I can still run safari, mail, iTunes with no issues but if I start Lightroom on the laptop it slows down a bit.
I have a Mac Pro laptop, Mac Pro desktop, iMac, Mac book and several other apple products and have no issues like you mentioned. I even read a bunch of apple websites and forums and haven't seen anyone complaint of these issues.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
The black screen is a well-known problem. Once you google Macbook Pro and black screen, there's plenty of links but none with a definite "fix". All you can do is restart and wait until next time.
The memory leak I have to find out. The OS has a problem with memory dump. That much I have third-party soft running to free up memory after use. But there is at least one app that runs wild and devours all. All I can do is try the new Capture NX-D since about all other apps I had running are OS apps that I cannot remove.
The memory leak I have to find out. The OS has a problem with memory dump. That much I have third-party soft running to free up memory after use. But there is at least one app that runs wild and devours all. All I can do is try the new Capture NX-D since about all other apps I had running are OS apps that I cannot remove.
Ok, I did find something that I briefly read a while back and didnt log into memory because I didnt have this particular model. To me it sounds like its an issue when going into and out of power saving mode. Could be wrong, but you might read over this thread as there are several that indicate various fixes have resolved the black screen.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5118135?start=855&tstart=90
I assume this is a recent device with the most recent version of software for the OS is installed. Thats a lengthy thread so I went to the end and worked backwards for a few pages.
Good luck, hate to hear about the issues.
I read about the power saving mode but on mine it takes an hour before they are activated when connected. Here I black-screened after 10 minutes of non-use. It might be related for some but it doesn't apply in my case. After my first black screen I changed power saving options to avoid it happening again. Alas.
It's a late 2014 device with the last OS and every update required.
The app leak could be Capture NX-D. I know on the PC I stopped using View NX-2 because it had cache issues and because of that became too unreliable to work with. At some point I was deleting the wrong shots because it displayed others instead of the correct ones. It's possible NX-D has some bad coding which triggers a massive leak on the Mac but I've been using it plenty and although it can be a hog, it never drained the life out of it. This same leak is probably the reason why I have very frequent software crashes. What I use is mostly memory intense and add a leak to that and something got to give.
But I'm going to keep an eye on it and if needed install the new version. I guess I'll be living with the activity monitor for a while until I discovered the culprit.
Last edited:
Once all is devoured it is close to impossible to get any response whatever you do. You can press a button and then go have dinner, a shower and a shave and when you get back, if lucky something happened.
I need to run it before and have it open if I want to find out what it is. The last thing it'll display will be the app causing it.
WhiteLight
Senior Member
That's quite unfortunate.
However 'great' Macs are, there are some long term issues that Apple have not (or not bothered) to fix.
I have an late 2012 27" iMac with 24gigs RAM & i5 3.5ghz..
I dual boot OpenSuse for Android Development on this machine.
I have not had a single freeze, hang of that sort ev3en once.
in fact, i think i had the machine on for well over 4 months & it was still purring nicely.
but i do have a widely known problem for imacs, which is a slight dark color on a couple of smudges, near the edges of the display.
The only solution is to get it replaced. ANd Apple wont do it easy, though they know it is a QC issue.
They just say you are not working in a clean environment & sh*t like that.
but if you bully them back, they will replace it.. even under apple care (which i did not renew after the first year)
I also have 3 Win machines at home, wife uses one for work & mum has a Vaio too (i just recently converted her to a Linux Mint user )
But i can tell you from the bottom of my heart, i will never venture to Windows again.
i absolutely detest the OS... the number of reboots, hangups etc etc is just unbearable.
I can't believe before getting the mac 3 years back, i lived only on Windows.
I seriously hope your issue gets sorted (i know there are a few DIY solutions that work, if you want to get adventurous) cos the macs are beauties.
iPhones, Ipads and all other nonsense? nevermind
However 'great' Macs are, there are some long term issues that Apple have not (or not bothered) to fix.
I have an late 2012 27" iMac with 24gigs RAM & i5 3.5ghz..
I dual boot OpenSuse for Android Development on this machine.
I have not had a single freeze, hang of that sort ev3en once.
in fact, i think i had the machine on for well over 4 months & it was still purring nicely.
but i do have a widely known problem for imacs, which is a slight dark color on a couple of smudges, near the edges of the display.
The only solution is to get it replaced. ANd Apple wont do it easy, though they know it is a QC issue.
They just say you are not working in a clean environment & sh*t like that.
but if you bully them back, they will replace it.. even under apple care (which i did not renew after the first year)
I also have 3 Win machines at home, wife uses one for work & mum has a Vaio too (i just recently converted her to a Linux Mint user
) But i can tell you from the bottom of my heart, i will never venture to Windows again.
i absolutely detest the OS... the number of reboots, hangups etc etc is just unbearable.
I can't believe before getting the mac 3 years back, i lived only on Windows.
I seriously hope your issue gets sorted (i know there are a few DIY solutions that work, if you want to get adventurous) cos the macs are beauties.
iPhones, Ipads and all other nonsense? nevermind
Last edited:
I bought a Mac because I wanted something reliable that would last me a while. If you read about Mac, computer reviews and all included, it's like being in paradise after you crawl out of that hellhole called PC experience.
You can imagine how moody I get when the reality is that my almost outdated PC which has worse specs at every level still delivers a better experience than my Mac and didn't crash as much in all its years than the new one in months.
I'm able to live with Mac-logic when it comes to their OS and I can even tolerate their nanny approach. It's not that I like it; I'm simply desensitized by now and accept it as is. Maybe in some years I'll suffer Stockholm syndrome and will end up loving it.
But when I pay almost 3k for some technology, it should not behave like 250$.
You can imagine how moody I get when the reality is that my almost outdated PC which has worse specs at every level still delivers a better experience than my Mac and didn't crash as much in all its years than the new one in months.
I'm able to live with Mac-logic when it comes to their OS and I can even tolerate their nanny approach. It's not that I like it; I'm simply desensitized by now and accept it as is. Maybe in some years I'll suffer Stockholm syndrome and will end up loving it.
But when I pay almost 3k for some technology, it should not behave like 250$.
Just came across this thread coming back to life.
A few thoughts in no particular order :-
Nikon software on MAC is not that stable I only run Nikon Transfer and avoid everything else. I tried their latest View-NXi this week and it just fills up the memory and hangs the MAC with a spinning umbrella. So I deleted it.
Lots of other MAC users have the same issue.
Did you only start having these issues this recently - if so , what have you changed on your MAC?
Did it start after the recent software security update that came out on 10th March ? Apple have issued a new patch today with another security update - which is very unusual they may have found a problem with the earlier one. They don't tell you when something like that happens.
I know you have been trying quite few "Free" image processing apps over the recent weeks, these can mess with your operating system and cause problems as they are not "approved" by Apple but thats a long shot.
I seem to remember you saying you have a lots of free disk space, OSX likes to have at least 5 - 10GB of disk space free so probably not an issue for you.
If you can't track down the culprit then I strongly recommend backing up your pics and then do a fresh install. I know its a pain but it is worth it as a last resort.
A few thoughts in no particular order :-
Nikon software on MAC is not that stable I only run Nikon Transfer and avoid everything else. I tried their latest View-NXi this week and it just fills up the memory and hangs the MAC with a spinning umbrella. So I deleted it.
Lots of other MAC users have the same issue.
Did you only start having these issues this recently - if so , what have you changed on your MAC?
Did it start after the recent software security update that came out on 10th March ? Apple have issued a new patch today with another security update - which is very unusual they may have found a problem with the earlier one. They don't tell you when something like that happens.
I know you have been trying quite few "Free" image processing apps over the recent weeks, these can mess with your operating system and cause problems as they are not "approved" by Apple but thats a long shot.
I seem to remember you saying you have a lots of free disk space, OSX likes to have at least 5 - 10GB of disk space free so probably not an issue for you.
If you can't track down the culprit then I strongly recommend backing up your pics and then do a fresh install. I know its a pain but it is worth it as a last resort.
I quit using NX-2 on the Mac but Capture NX-D did do rather well although there are some funky things going on from time to time. Like the one time you can arrow left and right through your shots while the other it doesn't work. Or you can select multiple shots and another load you suddenly can't select more than one. But besides it using a good deal of memory, it never killed it. I also can't say if the funky behavior is the Mac or Nikon.
It likely is Nikon coding since they manage to make their stuff work badly on my PC too.
Thanks for mentioning they continue the tradition with the newest version. It saves me the effort of downloading it to only delete it again.
The program crashing I've always had but they're all memory hogs so I accepted that could have something to do with it. RT isn't really sanctioned software so I didn't bother about those crashes as much. But now I am wondering if there wasn't a different reason for it and some app has been leaking since the beginning causing this instability.
I have disk-space enough. I keep everything not required for the system on an external drive. That way I keep the Mac drive rather clean.
A format and fresh install will be the last option but I delay it as long as possible. It's not as much the soft I need to re-install that worries me but deleting everything out of the OS I don't need and configuring it all over again isn't a pleasant idea.
I have NX-D running for some 30 min now and it remains at 1Gb use. The rest remains also stable in memory use so it's either a combination of certain things or a specific task at work.
Edit: I think I'm on to something.
I disabled my maintenance tools and used NX-D for a while just going through folders and loading shots.
What happens is that each folder I open, all the shots get loaded into my file cache. NX-D remains about identical in use in activity monitor but my file cache starts increasing. The problem is that it keeps adding and adding and adding. After five minutes of looking at shots, I have a cache of almost 7Gb.
I have closed down NX-D some ten minutes ago and that 7Gb cache is still in my memory.
Since I'm always using RAW files or TiFF, this lack of dumping doesn't need many files to bring the system to its knees. If my cache is too large and I open a folder that has too many shots, it adds those until all memory is gone. I've been walking the dogs, and when I got back, that cache was still in my memory. I can better get rid of my drive if my memory just stores everything.
That's one problem identified. I guess I'll have to manually dump the cache each time I open a new folder or when using a new program. It's a ridiculous problem if you ask me.
Edit: I think I'm on to something.
I disabled my maintenance tools and used NX-D for a while just going through folders and loading shots.
What happens is that each folder I open, all the shots get loaded into my file cache. NX-D remains about identical in use in activity monitor but my file cache starts increasing. The problem is that it keeps adding and adding and adding. After five minutes of looking at shots, I have a cache of almost 7Gb.
I have closed down NX-D some ten minutes ago and that 7Gb cache is still in my memory.
Since I'm always using RAW files or TiFF, this lack of dumping doesn't need many files to bring the system to its knees. If my cache is too large and I open a folder that has too many shots, it adds those until all memory is gone. I've been walking the dogs, and when I got back, that cache was still in my memory. I can better get rid of my drive if my memory just stores everything.
That's one problem identified. I guess I'll have to manually dump the cache each time I open a new folder or when using a new program. It's a ridiculous problem if you ask me.
Last edited:
Now when I insert my SD photos pops up and instead of simply allowing me to import my RAWs to the folders I have, there's all this album crap and such. The app can't be deleted either; the system needs it to function (read = we don't want you to change the system to your liking.)
I'll have to start searching another importer. It's really not hard to satisfy me: insert card ---> select folder ---> import.
RocketCowboy
Senior Member
Launch the utility "Image Capture". From there, you can change the default OS X behavior for what happens when a phone/tablet/camera/SD card is inserted, and whether it launches Photos/Aperture/Lightroom or does nothing. No need to uninstall software or find different software, just need to configure the behavior you want.
Thanks, I'll try that.
It's annoying that each time something updates, behaviour changes and I have to adjust it again. The same with uploading. In the beginning I could only upload one picture at a time, then suddenly I could select as many as I wanted and now after some update, I'm to one again. There's probably also some setting to change that but let them be serious for a second and stay the f*k out of my settings.
I just checked image capture. I was using it before this update but now photos pops up when I insert a card. When opening image capture, there's nothing I can change in regards to behavior. I wouldn't know where I can define that photos should not activate and image capture should.
Last edited:
RocketCowboy
Senior Member
Image Capture is the one that keeps getting me, because while a lot of my settings sync (via iCloud) across my multiple Macs, these settings aren't included. So once I get my home Mac desktop working the way I want, I'll be on the road and plug in my iPhone to charge and suddenly iPhotos opens to sync the phone ... and then starts syncing photo stream and everything else that I didn't want it to do. But once I get things set everywhere, I've not had problems with minor upgrades like 10.10.2 to 10.10.3 changing those settings.