Strange problem with Menu Bar after Kernel Panic - MacOS 12.7.3

Question

Strange problem with Menu Bar after Kernel Panic - MacOS 12.7.3

Hi,

I've got an issue on my Late 2013 MacPro (Monterey 12.7.3) with the Menu bar.

My machine randomly crashed with a kernel panic. The machine rebooted but i have no icons in the top right of the menu bar anymore - the clock, my wifi status, audio settings etc. I have made sure they are set to appear in system preferences, which they are. Only the spotlight icon is showing. Some apps will show their icon when opened, like VLC for example.

After the initial Kernel panic and reboot happened, I couldn't open the Chrome browser at all. It would just open a blank screen and hang. This was the only app open at time of panic. (I have manually uninstalled and reinstalled chrome, which now works)

I have tried a power cycle, i have killed the UI system service in terminal, i have reset NVram. Creating a new user makes no difference.

I have even reinstalled the OS through OS Recovery, still no Menu icons.

However, If i boot into safe mode - Everything is there! The menu is populated, but only in safe mode.

Does anyone have any ideas or tricks i can try? If it comes to it, i'll wipe the local drive and start fresh but, if everything is fine in safe mode, i'd rather try exhausting all options first.

Here is a section of the panic report - I can provide all of it if it's useful?

panic(cpu 8 caller 0xffffff801797d99f): userspace watchdog timeout: no successful checkins from WindowServer in 120 seconds

service: logd, total successful checkins since load (5000 seconds ago): 501, last successful checkin: 0 seconds ago

service: WindowServer, total successful checkins since load (4940 seconds ago): 482, last successful checkin: 120 seconds ago

service: opendirectoryd, total successful checkins since load (5000 seconds ago): 500, last successful checkin: 0 seconds ago

Panicked task 0xffffff9a84a82ce0: 3 threads: pid 120: watchdogd

Backtrace (CPU 8), panicked thread: 0xffffff90ed69eaa0, Frame : Return Address

0xfffffff589adb690 : 0xffffff801447bebd

0xfffffff589adb6e0 : 0xffffff80145de5e6

0xfffffff589adb720 : 0xffffff80145cd953

0xfffffff589adb770 : 0xffffff801441ba70

0xfffffff589adb790 : 0xffffff801447c28d

0xfffffff589adb8b0 : 0xffffff801447ba46

0xfffffff589adb910 : 0xffffff8014d14973

0xfffffff589adba00 : 0xffffff801797d99f

0xfffffff589adba10 : 0xffffff801797d5f2

0xfffffff589adba30 : 0xffffff801797c971

0xfffffff589adbb60 : 0xffffff8014c830ec

0xfffffff589adbcc0 : 0xffffff80145842a6

0xfffffff589adbdd0 : 0xffffff80144569eb

0xfffffff589adbe60 : 0xffffff801446d2f9

0xfffffff589adbef0 : 0xffffff80145b05ba

0xfffffff589adbfa0 : 0xffffff801441c256

Kernel Extensions in backtrace:

com.apple.driver.watchdog(1.0)[3A312DE4-8A31-329D-8601-031C943798D4]@0xffffff801797b000->0xffffff801797dfff

Process name corresponding to current thread (0xffffff90ed69eaa0): watchdogd

Many thanks for any suggestions or comments.

Cheers!

Posted on Mar 2, 2024 1:06 PM

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Answer 1

Mac Jim ID

Level 7

32,129 points

Mar 2, 2024 1:17 PM in response to Identity_Proven_Matrix

Since it works fine when booted in Safe Mode, it would point to a LaunchAgent or Extensions on startup. There are 2 LaunchAgent folders, one in the system folder and one in the user folder. If creating a new user did not solve the problem, that just leaves the one in the System Folder or an Extension that does not load on startup in Safe Mode. I would recommend posting the free EtreCheck report using the Additional Text option when posting.

https://www.etrecheck.com/en/index.html

EtreCheck was developed by a fellow user here on these forums and provides a snapshot of your system without any personal information. More information about the program can be found here:

Using EtreCheck - Apple Community

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Answer 2

Mac Jim ID

Level 7

32,129 points

Mar 2, 2024 6:14 PM in response to Identity_Proven_Matrix

I agree that attempting to resolve without doing a clean install would be the first option. I do notice a couple of things that I would try before you do that:

HD appears to be getting close to running out of space. I would try to free up some more storage if you can.
The other more likely solution would be to remove all of the Blackmagic files. If you have the uninstaller(s), then try that first. After that use Find Any File to make sure all have been removed. I don't know of any specific problems by using the software and it is just a guess. I base it on the kernel panic that shows the Watchdog timeout for the Window Server and the fact that several of the files are in the System/Library folder that would not load when starting up in Safe Mode. The specific kernel panic that you have has been caused by GPU faults and you are experiencing graphics drawing problems and the BlackMagic files have titles like VideoDriverExtension that could be related. If there is a program causing the problem, my best guess would be it was that one.

Although the AppCleaner program was just recently installed and you probably had the problem before, I would still recommend removing it. Cleaners/Optimizers are never recommended in these forums, as some have removed necessary files that did end up causing problems.

A lot of the times kernel panics are related to hardware issues or problems with connected devices. If you have connected device, you should test with those disconnected. Here is a link to run Apple Diagnostics to check for hardware failures.

Use Apple Diagnostics to test your Mac - Apple Support

And finally, I'm not sure if BlackMagic is part of your regular workflow and it most likely worked without a problem in the past, but it is just a step I would take before having to do the Clean Install.

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Answer 3

Strange problem with Menu Bar after Kernel Panic - MacOS 12.7.3

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