Application errors reporting "CGSResolveShmemReference : offset exceeds bounds"?

[tji]

I have a 15" PowerBook, which is about 6 months old and has been completely reliable. But, yesterday I began having some strange behavior across many applications which worries me.

For no apparent reason, reliable applications began crashing yesterday. Apps like Mozilla Firefox and iTerm began crashing, then even Dock, Finder, and System Preferences were failing. The system.log contained a bunch of error messages saying things like: "Aug 5 17:40:19 localhost /System/Library/CoreServices/Dock.app/Contents/MacOS/Dock: CGSResolveShmemReference : offset exceeds bounds". The error message looks like a seg fault type error, but Google searches turned up very little regarding this message.

A reboot seems to have resolved the problem, so I'm hoping it was just a software issue -- like maybe something with OS X's pre-binding. I'm just concerned because of past experience with cheap PC equipment, where similar behavior is generated by bad RAM access or overheating. Anyone have an idea of what was happening?

Oh yeah.. I also have the extended Applecare warranty on this system, so I ran the "TechTool Deluxe" program included in the Applecare package. It passed all tests, so I hope that points away from a hardware issue.

[yellow]

It's doubtfully related to pre-binding.

What do the crashlogs say?

[tji]

The crashlogs mention kernel protection failures and invalid addresses:

Command: Finder
Path: /System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/MacOS/Finder
Version: 10.3.1 (10.3.1)
PID: 1003
Thread: 0

Exception: EXC_BAD_ACCESS (0x0001)
Codes: KERN_PROTECTION_FAILURE (0x0002) at 0x00000000

Thread 0 Crashed:
0 com.apple.QD 0x9158f1ec MovePortTo + 0x30
1 com.apple.HIToolbox 0x928c78ec AttachPlatformWindow + 0xa0
2 com.apple.HIToolbox 0x928c77c8 SyncWindowToCGSWindow + 0x50
...

-------------------

Command: firefox-bin
Path: /Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS/firefox-bin
Version: 0.8 (0.6.1)
PID: 511
Thread: 20

Exception: EXC_BAD_ACCESS (0x0001)
Codes: KERN_INVALID_ADDRESS (0x0001) at 0x01fde57c

[yellow]

The important (and helpful) part of the crashlogs is the contents of the threads. Please post the entire last entry of the Finder crashlog and Dock crashlog.

[tji]

There wasn't a Dock crashlog in the CrashReporter directory.. here are the logs for Finder and System Preferences:


Command: Finder
Path: /System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/MacOS/Finder
Version: 10.3.1 (10.3.1)
PID: 1003
Thread: 0

Exception: EXC_BAD_ACCESS (0x0001)
Codes: KERN_PROTECTION_FAILURE (0x0002) at 0x00000000

Thread 0 Crashed:
0 com.apple.QD 0x9158f1ec MovePortTo + 0x30
1 com.apple.HIToolbox 0x928c78ec AttachPlatformWindow + 0xa0
2 com.apple.HIToolbox 0x928c77c8 SyncWindowToCGSWindow + 0x50
3 com.apple.finder 0x00039b30 0x1000 + 0x38b30
4 com.apple.finder 0x00039938 0x1000 + 0x38938
5 com.apple.finder 0x00039898 0x1000 + 0x38898
6 com.apple.finder 0x00039804 0x1000 + 0x38804
7 com.apple.finder 0x00042588 0x1000 + 0x41588
8 com.apple.finder 0x000425cc 0x1000 + 0x415cc
9 com.apple.finder 0x00035794 0x1000 + 0x34794
10 com.apple.finder 0x00034090 0x1000 + 0x33090
11 com.apple.finder 0x0003313c 0x1000 + 0x3213c
12 com.apple.finder 0x00032fb0 0x1000 + 0x31fb0

PPC Thread State:
srr0: 0x9158f1ec srr1: 0x0000f030 vrsave: 0x00000000
cr: 0x28000244 xer: 0x20000004 lr: 0x9158f1e4 ctr: 0x902812cc
r0: 0x00000000 r1: 0xbffff8f0 r2: 0x00000000 r3: 0x0067ab52
r4: 0x0000002a r5: 0x40800000 r6: 0x42280000 r7: 0x43440000
r8: 0x432d0000 r9: 0x00000002 r10: 0x91562238 r11: 0xa1560ac4
r12: 0x902812cc r13: 0x00000000 r14: 0x00000000 r15: 0x00000000
r16: 0x00000000 r17: 0x00000000 r18: 0x00000000 r19: 0x00000000
r20: 0x00000000 r21: 0x00000000 r22: 0x00000000 r23: 0x00000000
r24: 0x00000000 r25: 0x00000000 r26: 0x0000002a r27: 0x00000004
r28: 0x0067ab50 r29: 0x00000d5c r30: 0x0067ab52 r31: 0x928c7854

Binary Images Description:
0x1000 - 0x2a0fff com.apple.finder 10.3.1 /System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/MacOS/Finder
...
(Snipped to get message under 10K limit)
...
0x96df0000 - 0x96e0bfff libcurl.2.dylib /usr/lib/libcurl.2.dylib
0x97331000 - 0x973a4fff com.apple.DiscRecordingEngine 2.1.8 /System/Library/Frameworks/DiscRecording.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/DiscRecordingEngine.framework/Versions/A/DiscRecordingEngine
0x97510000 - 0x97518fff libbsm.dylib /usr/lib/libbsm.dylib

--------------------------------

Date/Time: 2004-08-05 17:41:12 -0400
OS Version: 10.3.4 (Build 7H63)
Report Version: 2

Command: System Preferences
Path: /Applications/System Preferences.app/Contents/MacOS/System Preferences
Version: 2.2 (2.2)
PID: 1031
Thread: 0

Exception: EXC_BAD_ACCESS (0x0001)
Codes: KERN_INVALID_ADDRESS (0x0001) at 0x76ab0000

Thread 0 Crashed:
0 com.apple.QD 0x91564040 SetOrigin + 0x88
1 com.apple.HIToolbox 0x927e3154 HLTBSetPortOrigin + 0x30
2 com.apple.HIToolbox 0x9282ee9c _Z13GetMenuWindowP13OpaqueMenuReftPK4RectP15OpaqueRgnHandlePh + 0x3a03 com.apple.HIToolbox 0x92856a78 _Z11SaveBitsBarP14StdMBDFGlobals + 0x16c
4 com.apple.HIToolbox 0x927dfff4 _Z12StandardMBDFssll + 0x1d8
5 com.apple.HIToolbox 0x928a9da8 _Z8MBarSaveP8MenuDataP4RectPP13OpaqueGrafPtrPh + 0x44
6 com.apple.HIToolbox 0x9284c084 _Z11DrawTheMenuP14MenuSelectDataPP9__CFArrayPh + 0x1b0
7 com.apple.HIToolbox 0x928a9790 _Z11MenuChangedP14MenuSelectData + 0x10c
8 com.apple.HIToolbox 0x928185a0 _Z15TrackMenuCommonR14MenuSelectDataPh + 0x21c
9 com.apple.HIToolbox 0x9285db48 _Z14MenuSelectCore5PointdmPP13OpaqueMenuRefPt + 0xb0
10 com.apple.HIToolbox 0x92883ffc MenuSelect + 0x60
11 com.apple.AppKit 0x92e2ed3c _NSHandleCarbonMenuEvent + 0xa8
12 com.apple.AppKit 0x92dd2d84 _DPSNextEvent + 0x4d0
13 com.apple.AppKit 0x92de93b0 -[NSApplication nextEventMatchingMask:untilDate:inMode:dequeue:] + 0x74
14 com.apple.AppKit 0x92dfd718 -[NSApplication run] + 0x21c
15 com.apple.AppKit 0x92eb9b80 NSApplicationMain + 0x1d0
16 com.apple.systempreferences 0x0000acf0 0x1000 + 0x9cf0
17 com.apple.systempreferences 0x0000e668 0x1000 + 0xd668

PPC Thread State:
srr0: 0x91564040 srr1: 0x0200f030 vrsave: 0x00000000
cr: 0x24044244 xer: 0x00000004 lr: 0x91563fd4 ctr: 0x902812cc
r0: 0x000000b4 r1: 0xbfffeda0 r2: 0x00000121 r3: 0x00164c90
r4: 0x0000002d r5: 0x00000016 r6: 0x3a20496e r7: 0x76616c69
r8: 0x64207769 r9: 0x76ab0000 r10: 0x91562238 r11: 0xa1560ac4
r12: 0x902812cc r13: 0x00000000 r14: 0x00000000 r15: 0x00000000
r16: 0x00000000 r17: 0xbffff680 r18: 0x00000000 r19: 0x00101950
r20: 0xffffffff r21: 0xbfffefc0 r22: 0x00000000 r23: 0x001448a0
r24: 0xbffff178 r25: 0x0000bf5f r26: 0x0000002d r27: 0x00000016
r28: 0x00000016 r29: 0x0000002d r30: 0x00164c90 r31: 0x9282eb04

Binary Images Description:
0x1000 - 0x17fff com.apple.systempreferences 2.2 /Applications/System Preferences.app/Contents/MacOS/System Preferences
0x89f000 - 0x89ffff com.apple.aoa.halplugin 2.2.4 (2.2.4b1) /System/Library/Extensions/IOAudioFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/AOAHALPlugin.bundle/Contents/MacOS/AOAHALPlugin
... (Snipped) ...
0x96bf0000 - 0x96c7ffff ATS /System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/ATS.framework/Versions/A/ATS
0x96cb0000 - 0x96d9efff libiconv.2.dylib /usr/lib/libiconv.2.dylib
0x97510000 - 0x97518fff libbsm.dylib /usr/lib/libbsm.dylib

EDIT: added code tags to make this post more readable. - yellow

[yellow]

My first suggestion: Update to 10.3.4.

[tji]

My first suggestion: Update to 10.3.4.

I actually am at 10.3.4, that 10.3.1 is the version of Finder..

The "System Preferences" crash dump shows the OS version:

OS Version: 10.3.4 (Build 7H63)

I think I'm up to date on all available updates.

[yellow]

Ooops! My bad. So you are!

Do you have a soundcard installed? Or are you trying to use Speakable Items?

[tji]

Ooops! My bad. So you are!

Do you have a soundcard installed? Or are you trying to use Speakable Items?

It's on a 15" PowerBook, using all stock hardware, and I'm not using speakable items. The only device drivers I can recall adding were uControl and SideTrack. I installed MS Office 2004 not long before the errors happened, but I can't see that effecting the kernel.

I've used it all day today, with no problems.. so maybe it was just a freak occurrence. I will probably open a ticket with AppleCare if it happens again.

Thanks!