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After Apple Released the 2020-002 Security Updates, some users started to report that their Mac would would freeze up when using GPU Hardware Accelerated apps or video.

UPDATE 05/26/20 – Apple has just released the 2020-003 Security Update for macOS Mojave 10.14 and High Sierra 10.13. Please let me know if the new update fixes the issue for you!!!

UPDATE 05/18/20 – On Friday I tested Zoom client v4.6.8 on a 2017 MacBook Air with 10.13.6. I experienced a freeze & 5 different app crashes on a multi user meeting. Today I installed 2020-003 Beta and did not see a single crash for over 6 hours on the same meeting. The 2020-003 Security Update is looking really good, but I still would like to see more confirmations. If you installed 2020-003 Beta and it fixed the issue for you , please let me know. I am hoping the update is released tomorrow or sometime this week!

UPDATE 4/29/20 – Today Apple released the Developer Beta version of 2020-003 Security Update for Mojave and High Sierra. I am trying to find out if it includes a fix for this issue. I will update you as soon as I have more information.

UPDATE 4/28/20: The consensus amongst users is upgrading to Catalina fixes the issue. The only problem with this is, some users have reported other GPU related weird issues in 10.15.4. Sometimes the system will freeze for a few seconds in Finder, Safari or performing other tasks. The good news is, even if the Mac does freeze (only for a few seconds) it will not require a hard power down. With that said, you could upgrade to Catalina and not have any of the above issues! If you are cautious, it might be better to wait for an update from Apple.

UPDATE 4/08/20: As the update is installed on more Macs, reports continue to come in. Apps like Illustrator and Animate from the Adobe Creative Cloud Suite are now causing freezing A MacAdmins User who has a ticket in, says Apple is aware of the issue and is actively working on a fix.

UPDATE 4/03/20: MacAdmins User Bollman decided to test the latest Zoom installer (4.6.9) and has not had any crashes for 6 hours. I loaded up (4.6.8) 3 times to confirm the crashes and gather additional logs. Then I updated to Zoom 4.6.9 and have not had any crashes for over an hour. I added this new information to the work around section below. I can’t explain this as the Zoom update patch notes only mention updates to fix the installer issues brought up by Security Researchers.

UPDATE 4/02/20: New reports are still rolling in. As each new report rolls in with a confirmed .gpuRestart log I will add that application to affected list below. The issue might not be only related to Video Conference Apps. Some users are seeing the issue with anything that is related to Hardware Accelerated Video. Full screen video, video in Safari, or YouTube.

I reported on a similar issue in August of 2019 when the macOS Mojave 10.14.6 Update started to cause Kernel Panics if you used the Built In FaceTime Camera.

https://mrmacintosh.com/10-14-6-update-causes-kernel-panic-when-using-facetime-camera/

This article has seen a big uptick in traffic as of a few days ago. Then I started to receive emails from users who were having their Mac freeze up after installing the Security Updates. After that the reports started to come in on MacAdmins Chat.

In this article, I will give you you an overview of the issue. In the end, I will show you a few workarounds that might work until Apple releases a fix.

Let’s dive right in and see what’s going on here.

Table of Contents

• 1. Affected macOS Build Versions
• 2. Affected Mac Hardware & Intel GPU Versions
• 3. User Reports
• 4. What is the Issue? Mac will Freeze up requiring a hard shutdown
• 5. .gpuRestart Freeze Log Report
• 6. Software that can cause the Freezing Issue
• 7. This time around the issue CAN be reproduced
• 8. Why rolling back with Automatic Update Snapshots will NOT work.
• 9. Workarounds
• 10. If you are seeing this issue, please let Apple know.
• 11. Conference Software Freezing Issue Links
• 12. Hat Tip/Credits

1. Affected macOS Build Versions

This issue affects the following macOS Build Versions.

• Catalina 10.15.4 Update (19E266) March 24th, 2020
• Mojave 10.14.6 Security Update 2020-002 (18G4032) March 24th, 2020
• High Sierra 10.13.6 Security Update 2020-002 (17G12034) March 24th, 2020

2. Affected Mac Hardware & Intel GPU Versions

I have looked over a bunch of MacAdmin and User reports reports. It looks like the affected machines are 5th Generation Intel HD Graphics GPU only based Macs.

This is the Hardware that we think is affected so far.

• 1. 2015 MacBook Air
• 2. 2017 MacBook Air
• 3. 2015 12″ MacBook
• 4. 2015 13″ MacBook Pro
• 5. 2015 21.5″ iMac

Intel only GPU Versions

• 1. Intel HD Graphics 6000
• 2. Intel HD Graphics HD 5300
• 3. Intel Iris 6100
• 4. Intel Iris Pro 6200

If you have the issue on other Macs like the Mac Mini or older Macs, please do not hesitate to Contact Me.

3. User Reports.

The first report came in just two days after Apple released the Security Updates.

Anyone have issue with Zoom 4.6.7 for the Mac running on 10.14.6 where the use of the internal camera causes it to crash.

MacAdmins Slack User diefledermaus

The next day more detailed reports started to roll in.

We’ve seen hard crashes on macs running 10.13.6 with latest security update (17G12034) and latest zoom version 4.6.8 (19178.0323). So far, 4 out of 80 machines with this combination of OS and zoom. What’s more in common with these machines is that they are MBA 2015 (non-retina). Anyone else seeing problems with latest security update on 10.13.6?

MacAdmins Slack User bollman

After doing this job for many years, I get an sense when things are starting to become an issue. It was not until this post came in on the following Monday.

For those running 10.15.4 (or latest 10.14/10.13 Security Update 2020-002 update) on the following hardware, can you try starting a zoom video conference (possibly may happen with other video conference software)? do you experience a hard crash?

MacAdmins Slack User bp

After Balmes posted this, it was enough for me to take a closer look. Sure enough, users have started to report the same issues.

4. What is the Issue? The Mac will Freeze up requiring a hard shutdown.

UPDATE 04/01/20: After posting the article, I am getting a ton of reports that this issue is not just Video Conference Apps. Users are saying the Freeze / Lockup issue happens when using GPU Hardware Accelerated Video. This could be full screen video based activity.

How does the issue start? All you need to do is use some type of Video Conference Software that has multiple users with video enabled.

Once in the meeting the affected Mac can freeze up within one minute!

After the Mac Freezes, it will become 100% non responsive. The screen will freeze up and you will not be able to force quit. The only thing you can do is force power down the Mac.

5. .gpuRestart Freeze / Crashing Log Report

After you power up the Mac again, macOS will say that it was shut down due to a problem. At this point you need to look at the log to find the .gpuRestart log file.

UPDATE 04/02/20: To get the .gpuRestart log to show up, you have to let the Mac say on the frozen screen for at least a few minutes.

/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports

You can also do a quick search by running this command

sudo ls -lah /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports | grep .gpuRestart

Or use the Console.app, select “System Reports”.

The log file will read like this.

Tue Mar 31 14:54:03 2020

Event:               GPU Reset

Date/Time:           Tue Mar 31 14:54:03 2020

Application:         zoom.us

Path:  

Tailspin: /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/gpuRestart2020-03-31-145403.tailspin

GPUSubmission Trace ID: 0

OS Version:          Mac OS X

Graphics Hardware:   Intel HD Graphics 6000

Signature:           802

Report Data:

=========================================================

                         Intel GPU Hang Summary

 

 

Differences in the logs that you might see.

• Application  example Google Chrome He - Slack Helper (GP - zoom.us 
• Graphics Hardware  example Intel HD Graphics 6000 - Iris Pro 6100
• Signature example 803 - 802 - 806

 

6. Software that can cause the Freezing Issue

The following software can cause your affected Mac to freeze up. Below is a list of confirmed applications with a confirmed .gpuRestart freeze.

• Zoom.us
• Slack
• Webex
• Teams
• Skype
• BlueJeans
• FaceTime
• Sublime Text
• Google Meet
• Google Hangouts
• Adobe Creative Cloud apps
• Illustrator & Animate
• VMWare Fusion
• Spotify Helper
• AnyDesk
• ScreenConnect
• Visual Studio Code

NOTE: Some of the new reports say that this happens when running the Video Conference Software from a Chrome Browser.

7. This time around the issue CAN be reproduced

I am able to reproduce this issue. If you would like to see what happens all you need to do is setup your Mac with the following.

• 2015-2017 MacBook Air
• 10.13.6 High Sierra with the 2020-002 Update installed.
• Install zoom.us
• Join any zoom meeting with multiple active users with their camera activated.
• Join with Computer Audio. You can activate your own video or not does not matter.

Wait

Within about 1-5 min the MacBook Air screen will completely freeze and become unresponsive. You will need to hard power it off.

UPDATE 04/01/20: I was able to ssh into one of the MacBook Airs that was frozen. You can run commands like top and others. I attempted to force quit zoom.app and that did not change anything. I also tried to kill the loginwindow no go. Finally I attempted to restart the device with sudo reboot , I got the message that the ssh connection was closed like it was going to reboot but it didn’t.

8. Why rolling back with Automatic Update Snapshots will NOT work.

You might think, what if I roll back to a previous version of Mojave before the Security Update? In the past, this might have worked as the Update or security update is supposed to take an automatic tmutil localsnapshot before installing the update. If something went wrong you could boot to recovery and restore from that snapshot taken just before the update.

In this case that will not work because Update Snapshots are no longer working since 10.15.3!

https://mrmacintosh.com/10-15-3-combo-security-updates-are-not-creating-backup-snapshots/

9. Workarounds

Most issues like this have some type of workaround. Sometimes a workaround is found by accident or after hours of testing. This time around a few users on MacAdmins Slack have reported the following workarounds.

• UPDATE 4/02/20: We are now hearing that Apple Support is recommending that users upgrade to macOS Catalina 10.15.4 to fix the issue. I can’t confirm if this fixes the issue but after looking at a large amount of .gpuRestart logs, I have not seen one from 10.15.4 yet. Many users are writing to me that after updating to 10.15.4, they are not having the freezing issue anymore.
• UPDATE 4/03/20: For users who are having the freezing issue when using the Zoom.app, update to the latest version (4.6.9) and you should not see any more crashes.
• Disable Zoom’s “Enable hardware acceleration for receiving video” option in the application video preferences. Scroll down and then hit the advanced button.
• If the issue is happening in Chrome, some users found success with turning off Use hardware acceleration when available in Preferences > Advanced> System .
• Use Firefox instead of Chrome when joining a browser based conference meeting.
• Use conferencing in a browser instead of the application. An example of this is zoom. If you cancel out of the constant prompts to download the zoom.app, you will finally get an option to “Join Meeting with your Browser”

If you find any other workarounds please Contact Me

10. If you are seeing this issue, please let Apple know.

The only way to let Apple know that this is a big issue is to file a FeedBack Report. AppleCare Call or an Apple Enterprise Support Ticket.

This will help Apple Prioritize the issue.

11. Conference Software Freezing Issue Links

I created a MacAdmins Chat Channel to disccus the issue.

• https://www.macadmins.org/ – #conf-freezing-issue
• https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/psa-security-update-2020-002-causing-problems.2229150/
• https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/10-14-6-random-freezes-and-ui-glitches.2228865/
• https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251217818
• https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251237843
• https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251237581

12. Hat Tip / Credits

A big thanks goes out to the following people.

• Bollman – MacAdmins Slack User who did a ton of testing. He also spun up a zoom meeting room where we could all test.
• bp – MacAdmins Slack User who’s post get me to take a closer look.
• vplc – MacAdmins Slack User who was able to get me info and logs
• Georgia – MrMacintosh Reader who was able to quicly answer a bunch of questions along with logs and a sysdiagnose.
• Apple Engineer – Who jumped on the issue almost immediately after being invited to the #conf-freezing-issue chat. Gathered logs and FB and Enterprise Support Tickets to help get attention on the issue.
• Everyone who emailed me, shared information in Slack, DM’d me or shared my article. Without your help I wouldn’t have been able to put all this information together.

10.15.4 2020-002 Freezing Crashing