Security Update 2006-003 Special Report: Startup stalls/freezes after updating -- fixes
Security Update 2006-003 Special Report: Startup stalls/freezes after updating -- fixes
We've received a significant number of reports indicating that Security Update 2006-003 causes stalls in startup on some Macs.
For most users, the Security Update 2006-003 process works normally, but at the subsequent restart (a restart is required by the updater), the Mac OS X startup process stalls.
MacFixIt reader Kev writes:
"I just got my MacBook Pro 17" yesterday. Everything was working fine, but upon applying latest security update (today) my MacBook crashes upon reboot. It makes all the way through the login screen, but it becomes non-responsive on login screen."
Fixes The first step in regaining control of your Mac is to boot safe mode. This is accomplished by restarting your Mac, then holding down the "Shift" key as it boots.
Booting in safe mode eliminates the startup problem because Startup Items are not loaded when safe mode is active. It appears that this issue -- in most cases -- is caused by one or more problematic Startup Items.
Your next step is to navigate to the /Library/StartupItems directory (this is the Library folder at the root level of your hard drive -- not the Library folder in your home user directory) and check for potentially problematic items. One file that has been implicated by several users is the "Version Cue" component installed by various Adobe applications, though others may be at play.
If you have Version Cue installed, remove it from this folder (move it to a location outside the Library folder, like the Desktop), then restart normally (not in safe mode) and check for persistence of the stall. If you do not have Version Cue installed, or removing Version Cue did not solve the issue, try removing all items in the "Startup Items" folder and checking for persistence of the issue.
One MacFixIt reader, John Hollinger, fingers Apple's Remote Desktop as the problem-causing startup item.
John writes:
"I am running an Intel iMac 1.8 GHz, and after running the update on this machine it would freeze at the login panel. Had to force shut off the iMac and reboot doing a 'Safe Boot' that let me back into my system. Hoping that it finished what it need to do I tried a normal reboot. It let me login this time but would freeze again when trying to load the small icons on the right side of the menu bar. Just as a guess I rebooted in safe mode and turned off all the icons that load at login on the menu bar, this included turning off Apple Remote Desktop. Reboot, all is good! Turned on each icon again just to see what was breaking the login. All was fine until till I restated apple remote desktop, reboot, freeze. Safe Boot again, shut off Apple Remote Desktop, reboot, all is good. I have not tried reinstalling the updates to see it that fixes anything yet but if it does I will let you know. I have also tried the updates on PPC macs (iBook Powerbook, Xserve) with no trouble at all."
Some readers have now found the Virex startup item (also located in /Library/StartupItems) to be the culprit.
You should also check the /System/Library/StartupItems directory for potential problem-causing files (this is a different StartupItems folder, located in the /System directory at the root level of your startup drive).
In particular, some users report that removing the "RemoteDesktopAgent" folder from System/Library/StartupItems resolves some issues.
MacFixIt reader Mark Dixon writes:
"Another fix that worked for me. Removed all startup items under safe mode as discussed. Logged in only to find that keyboard and mouse click ability disabled. After about an hour of trouble shooting found removing the 'RemoteDesktopAgent' folder from the System/Library/StartupItems location fixed the problem."
MacFixIt reader Jan adds:
"Indeed, I had to reinstall Mac OS X on my MacBook Pro 2GHz, because I was not aware of these solutions (posted to MacFixIt). Then I told my colleague to update, while I was around, and she also had this issue. Now I safe booted, went to /Library/StartupItems, removed the Adobe Version Cue folder, restarted, and all was well."
We noted above that the Virex StartupItem was causing the startup stalls on some systems. MacFixIt reader Steve reports that another anti-virus StartupItem -- this time a component of Intego's VirusBarrier -- was causing the problem.
Steve writes:
"I have just suffered the same thing on a non-Intel (G4 dual) PowerPC. Removing the two components of Intego VirusBarrierX v 10.4.3 from ~/Library/StartupItems (IntegoCommon and VirusBarrier) allowed startup to proceed normally."
MacFixIt reader Andrew writes:
"For those that have installed the Apple Developer Tools and WebKit, the startup device OpenBase will cause freezing just like Vesion Cue."
Other users are still experiencing stalled startup routines -- even after the removal of all potentially offensive StartupItems.
MacFixIt reader Jim writes:
"I have experienced a variation on the previously reported problems. On Friday I installed Security Update 2006-003 on a MacBook Pro and experienced a delayed freeze. Roughly 15-20 seconds after booting, the screen would freeze. I initially got around this by moving VersionCue out of my StartupItems.
"Everything worked fine until this morning, when I attempted to print from the Quark 7 beta to the Adobe PDF virtual printer. This led to another freeze, which I do not seem to be able to fix. I have deleted each of the items mentioned in previous posts, even those that don't seem to be implicated, and I even deleted the entire contents of my two Cache folders. I can boot into safe mode but in normal mode the machine again freezes after about 20 seconds.
"It looks like a full reinstall is unavoidable unless someone else has figured out a more elegant solution."
In some cases, it appears that removal of certain .plist files from the /Library/Preferences directory can prove successful in eliminating this problem where StartupItems are not to blame.
Though it's a tedious process, the best way to check for problematic .plist files is to simply remove the entire /Preferences directory from /Library (the Library folder at the root level of your startup volume -- not the one inside your home user directory) then place the files back one by one until you see the problem return.
MacFixIt reader Clint Courson writes:
"I too had a start up problem once I updated to Security Update 2006-003, however, I just ended up removing my complete preferences file from the root library and it started up fine.
"On another note, I have been experiencing a lot of fan noise since installing the update. Where the Mac-Min Intel was really quite, now it sounds like a first rev G5 PowerMac or a G4 Mirrored Door PowerMac, lots of noise."
Index:
- Active Directory issues
- FireWire problems -- Devices won't mount, etc.
- LiveUpdate (Symantec) not working -- fix on the way
- Overall System slow-down
- PDF files: Problems printing
- Release notes/update recommendations
- Removing the update
- SCSI drives not recognized
- Startup stalls/freezes after updating -- fixes
- Unintended attempted network boots (flashing globe at startup)
- UnRarX causing freezes
- Various third party application freezes
Resources