iMovie '08 (7.0.x) [#5]: Kernel panics continue, more fixes

We continue to report on an issue where iMovie '08 causes a kernel panic shortly after launching or crashes outright (unexpectedly quitting) . Dozens of readers have corroborated this issue in the past few days, warranting follow-up.

A few typical reader reports:

• "I am experiencing a kernel panic every time I launch iMove '08. I have removed all plugins."
• "Just Installed iLife 08, all apps run fine except imovie which crashes my mac with a kernel panic every time, this is frustrating, Apple needs to sort it out." -- Steven Thompson, iMac G5 iSight 2.1 GHz

The most commonly successful fix for this issue, as previously reported, is as follows:

Delete the following files from the ~/Library/Preferences directory.

However, this fix does not work for everyone, and in some cases, the issue is solved for one launch only then returns after iMovie is quit and re-launched.

Some users have apparently been able to solve the issue more permanently by deleting all QuickTime-related components, then re-installing QuickTime 7.2 via the package available from Apple's download page. Delete the following files/directories (note that you will lose any added third-party components):

• Library/QuickTime
• ~/Library/QuickTime
• ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.quicktimeplayer.plist
• ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.quicktime.plugin.preferences.plist
• /Library/Caches/com.apple.QuickTime.StreamingBandwidth
• /System/Library/com.apple.Components2.SystemCache.QuickTimeComponents

then re-install QuickTime 7.2 using this 51.4 MB package.

Feedback? Late-breakers@macfixit.com.

Previous coverage:

• iMovie 7.0.1 ('08) released: Address .Mac Web gallery, other issues
• iMovie '08 (#3): A simple fix for some crashes
• iMovie '08 (#2): More on kernel panics/crashes at launch
• iMovie '08: Third-party plug-ins not compatible; Kernel panics at launch

Resources