imac unstable after installation of Monterey

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18 points

imac unstable after installation of Monterey

I installed OS X Monterey on my iMac this morning, and it has been totally unstable since. The installation showed no errors, but after it was finished, there has been a continual string of the computer locking up, and restarting with the "Your computer restarted because of a problem". This happened a half dozen times in pretty quick succession after the installation, then it seemed to stabilize for an hour... then the Music player would stop playing, then the computer would reboot. Still happening.

This is an iMac Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017, 4.2 GHz i7, 64GB memory. My computer is pretty much unusable right now, so any suggestions gratefully accepted.

andy

iMac Line (2012 and Later)

Posted on Aug 15, 2022 1:06 PM

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Answer 1

acmwallace Author

Level 1

18 points

Aug 15, 2022 4:37 PM in response to Old Toad

Thanks. While EtreCheck is running its checks: I have unplugged everything, so this is an iMac running with just a bluetooth mouse and keyboard. Per EtreCheck, I have been getting kernel panics (joy). But here is the report:

EtreCheck report

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Answer 2

Old Toad

Level 10

214,518 points

Aug 15, 2022 3:48 PM in response to acmwallace

Download and run Etrecheck. Copy and paste the results into your reply. Etrecheck is a diagnostic tool that was developed by one of the most respected users here in the ASC and recommended by Apple Support to provide a snapshot of the system and help identify the more obvious culprits that can adversely affect a Mac's performance.

Copy the report

and use the Additional Text button to paste the report in your reply.

Then we can examine the report to see if we can determine the cause of your reboots.

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Answer 3

acmwallace Author

Level 1

18 points

Aug 15, 2022 3:29 PM in response to den.thed

Well, I had high hopes... I went to Safe Mode, things seemed ok, I let it sit for a while, no recurrance, so I rebooted into "normal" mode. Everything came up, looked good... my happiness lasted about 3 songs, then it rebooted again. After work, I'll have to start pushing my startup items around. 8-(

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Answer 4

acmwallace Author

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18 points

Aug 15, 2022 4:39 PM in response to acmwallace

And all that said, having nothing plugged in, the computer was stable enough long enough to run the EtreCheck report without crashing. We'll see how that goes. I'm gonna want to plug my TimeMachine and other disks back in at some point in time.

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Answer 5

rkaufmann87

Level 10

148,170 points

Aug 15, 2022 4:45 PM in response to acmwallace

First thing I noticed is you have Clean My Mac installed, I think most experienced users here will advise to uninstall it ASAP. At best it is 100% worthless and at worst it can damage Mac OS. Please locate the developers instructions to uninstall it and please follow them to the letter. Next the hard disk in your Fusion Drive may be failing. Please download the free evaluation copy of DriveDX and run it on your drive. If ANY errors appear the drive needs to be replaced.

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Answer 6

acmwallace Author

Level 1

18 points

Aug 15, 2022 5:16 PM in response to rkaufmann87

Hmm.. first I've heard bad about Clean My Mac.. reviews seem overall positive. But ok, I can fly with that. DriveDX - another third party app. I'll check that out. DiskUtility seems to think all is copacetic with the fusion drive. And it's been running fine for the last 45 minutes. I'll keep it one while I investigate DriveDX, etc. Thanks

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Answer 7

rkaufmann87

Level 10

148,170 points

Aug 15, 2022 5:48 PM in response to acmwallace

Disk Utility is not a thorough diagnostic tool and frequently misses problems whereas DriveDX is a professional grade tool. The evalualtion of DriveDX is free so there is no risk to you.

As for CMM, you can look on these forums and find hundreds of users that have downloaded it and then had unstable systems, then when CMM is uninstalled their stability returns.

One final thing to consider is your RAM, are the DIMM chips installed original RAM or did you purchase third party RAM? The reason I ask is RAM is a frequent cause of KPs particularly third party RAM. As iMacs are very sensitive to using quality RAM it is critical to install high quality third party RAM. What I (and most experienced users) recommend is either OWC (www.macsales.com) or Crucial.com RAM for third party RAM. If you have any other brand other than the OEM or OWC or Crucial, please remove the upgraded RAM and then test with the original RAM the machine shipped with for a couple of days to see if the KP's go away. If they do then you know the KPs were caused by either: Failed RAM or Incorrect RAM or unseated RAM.

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Answer 8

acmwallace Author

Level 1

18 points

Aug 15, 2022 10:27 PM in response to rkaufmann87

Thanks, looking into multiple issues right now. I have actually been using CMM on four different computers for a few years, and everything was hunky dory, until now. My primary machine, my laptop, my work machine and my girfriend's laptop. But I'm willing to try pretty much anything at this point.

My iMac is straight from the factory - I bought it with the 3TB Fusion drive and the 64GB of memory, haven't done any upgrades at all. I have used OWC many times over the years - got over 10 years out of my old laptop by swapping out drives, it's currently in the corner, because it's old and can't install even Big Sur at this point. But it's got 4 TB of OWC SSD drives in it.

I think I have isolated one problem - my image backup drive, a big G-Tech RAID drive, is not working onany of my computers. Things are more stable without it plugged in. My laptop is currently chugging away at recovering my Lightroom catalog. While that is working, I'm going to download DriveDX and give it a try.

Thanks,

Andy

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Answer 9

acmwallace Author

Level 1

18 points

Aug 15, 2022 10:37 PM in response to rkaufmann87

Well, that's disconcerting. The DriveDX report shows two "Macintosh HD" - oh, now I see. One is the SSD, and it looks good. The other is the spinning disk, and it doesn't look good. Guess I'm ordering a replacement kit from OWC. All SSD this time.

Thanks.

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Answer 10

rkaufmann87

Level 10

148,170 points

Aug 15, 2022 10:47 PM in response to acmwallace

A failing HD can certainly cause KPs. If you are comfortable doing the SSD surgery go for it, however if you are not I'd take it to your local Apple Authorized Service Provider and ask them to do it. As you may know an Apple Store will not do the work but an independent Apple Authorized Service Provider likely will and it's less risky than doing it yourself.

Also, good work troubleshooting your RAID drive. That could be a cause too.

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Answer 11

den.thed

Level 10

89,158 points

Aug 15, 2022 1:15 PM in response to acmwallace

Startup in Safe Mode login and test, then restart normally and test.

see > How to use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support

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Answer 12

rkaufmann87

Level 10

148,170 points

Aug 15, 2022 4:01 PM in response to acmwallace

+1 on EtreCheck. Without knowing anything about your device and what has been installed on it we are grasping at straws. Please post your EtreCheck report and we can then look for obvious issues.

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Answer 13

den.thed

Level 10

89,158 points

Aug 15, 2022 4:19 PM in response to acmwallace

+ 2 on EtreCheck.

Sorry for not responding sooner, I was driving picking up my grandkids from school.

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imac unstable after installation of Monterey

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