PI 1.8.8-9 MacOS - Crash after closing PI

Paulsson

Member
Hi all, it appears that my first post in this forum is about a bug, not the so far great working software ;)

I started with 1.8.8-8 on MacOS 11.5, on a Macbook Pro 2017, and everything worked as expected. Having updated to 1.8.8-9, I keep getting this error every time some seconds after closing PixInsight. Besides that, everything is working fine. Update has been done as described, with deleting the old version, installing the new one.
The error is reproducible for me, I have switched back to the previous version (1.8.8-8) three times. Since no one else has reported this error so far, my system may be the cause. It doesn't seem to be really tragic, rather a bit annoying. In the meantime, MacOS 11.6 has installed itself, with no effect.

Many thanks,
Peter

The maybe relevant part of the error log created (full log file attached):
Crashed Thread: 0 CrBrowserMain Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread

Exception Type: EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGABRT)
Exception Codes: KERN_INVALID_ADDRESS at 0x00003e1bfd334580
Exception Note: EXC_CORPSE_NOTIFY

VM Regions Near 0x3e1bfd334580:
__LINKEDIT 17c8a7000-185e1b000 [149.5M] r--/rwx SM=COW /Applications/PixInsight/*/*.dylib
-->
MALLOC_NANO 600000000000-600008000000 [128.0M] rw-/rwx SM=PRV

Application Specific Information:
abort() called
terminating with uncaught exception of type pcl::EUnixSegmentationViolation

Thread 0 Crashed:: CrBrowserMain Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread
0 libsystem_kernel.dylib 0x00007fff203ae92e __pthread_kill + 10
1 libsystem_pthread.dylib 0x00007fff203dd5bd pthread_kill + 263
2 libsystem_c.dylib 0x00007fff203324a0 __abort + 139
3 libsystem_c.dylib 0x00007fff20332415 abort + 140
4 libc++abi.dylib 0x00007fff203a0ef2 abort_message + 241
5 libc++abi.dylib 0x00007fff203925fd demangling_terminate_handler() + 266
6 libobjc.A.dylib 0x00007fff2028b595 _objc_terminate() + 104
7 libc++abi.dylib 0x00007fff203a0307 std::__terminate(void (*)()) + 8
8 libc++abi.dylib 0x00007fff203a2beb __cxxabiv1::failed_throw(__cxxabiv1::__cxa_exception*) + 27
9 libc++abi.dylib 0x00007fff203a2bb2 __cxa_throw + 116
10 software.pleiades.PixInsight 0x000000010e7da1e8 0x10d7c3000 + 16871912
11 libsystem_platform.dylib 0x00007fff20422d7d _sigtramp + 29
12 org.qt-project.Qt.QtWebEngineCore 0x0000000112757977 0x10fa48000 + 47249783
13 org.qt-project.Qt.QtWebEngineCore 0x0000000112d58242 0x10fa48000 + 53543490
14 org.qt-project.Qt.QtWebEngineCore 0x0000000112d57b63 0x10fa48000 + 53541731
15 org.qt-project.Qt.QtWebEngineCore 0x00000001168b70ae 0x10fa48000 + 115798190
16 org.qt-project.Qt.QtWebEngineCore 0x000000010fa5f065 0x10fa48000 + 94309
17 org.qt-project.Qt.QtWebEngineCore 0x0000000116cf2566 0x10fa48000 + 120235366
18 org.qt-project.Qt.QtWebEngineCore 0x0000000116cf3b2e 0x10fa48000 + 120240942
19 org.qt-project.Qt.QtWebEngineCore 0x0000000116d1fdeb 0x10fa48000 + 120421867
20 org.qt-project.Qt.QtWebEngineCore 0x0000000116c632b9 0x10fa48000 + 119648953
21 org.qt-project.Qt.QtWebEngineCore 0x0000000116c5fdae 0x10fa48000 + 119635374
22 org.qt-project.Qt.QtWebEngineCore 0x0000000116ea5722 0x10fa48000 + 122017570
23 org.qt-project.Qt.QtWebEngineCore 0x0000000116ea5f1e 0x10fa48000 + 122019614
24 org.qt-project.Qt.QtWebEngineCore 0x000000010fad1c60 QtWebEngineCore::WebContentsAdapter::~WebContentsAdapter() + 320
25 org.qt-project.QtWebEngineWidgets 0x00000001188e206b 0x1188d8000 + 41067
26 org.qt-project.QtWebEngineWidgets 0x00000001188e216e 0x1188d8000 + 41326
27 org.qt-project.QtWebEngineWidgets 0x00000001188f7408 0x1188d8000 + 128008
28 org.qt-project.Qt.QtWebEngineCore 0x000000010faa7bae QtWebEngineCore::profileAdapter::~ProfileAdapter() + 94
29 org.qt-project.Qt.QtWebEngineCore 0x000000010faa7ebe QtWebEngineCore::profileAdapter::~ProfileAdapter() + 14
30 org.qt-project.Qt.QtWebEngineCore 0x000000010fae1487 0x10fa48000 + 627847
31 org.qt-project.Qt.QtWebEngineCore 0x000000010fae1852 0x10fa48000 + 628818
32 org.qt-project.QtCore 0x000000011998a8e5 qt_call_post_routines() + 165
33 org.qt-project.QtWidgets 0x0000000118992fd5 QApplication::~QApplication() + 37
34 software.pleiades.PixInsight 0x000000010d8e94a3 0x10d7c3000 + 1205411
35 software.pleiades.PixInsight 0x000000010d90b199 0x10d7c3000 + 1343897
36 libdyld.dylib 0x00007fff203f8f3d start + 1
 

Attachments

  • PixInsight_Error_Report_20210916.txt
    128.8 KB · Views: 49
I am also on a Macbook Pro and can reliably reproduce this crash on exit. This happens even if I launch PI and immediately quit.

Code:
Process:               PixInsight [7853]
Path:                  /Applications/PixInsight/PixInsight.app/Contents/MacOS/PixInsight
Identifier:            software.pleiades.PixInsight
Version:               1.8.8-9 (1.8.8-9)
Code Type:             X86-64 (Native)
Parent Process:        ??? [1]
Responsible:           PixInsight [7853]
User ID:               502

Date/Time:             2021-09-16 06:44:25.016 -0400
OS Version:            macOS 11.6 (20G165)
Report Version:        12
Bridge OS Version:     5.5 (18P4759a)
Anonymous UUID:        25CD5339-DD65-AE76-4CFE-E4523542801F


Time Awake Since Boot: 160000 seconds

System Integrity Protection: enabled

Crashed Thread:        0  CrBrowserMain  Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread

Exception Type:        EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGABRT)
Exception Codes:       EXC_I386_GPFLT
Exception Note:        EXC_CORPSE_NOTIFY

Application Specific Information:
abort() called
terminating with uncaught exception of type pcl::EUnixSegmentationViolation

Thread 0 Crashed:: CrBrowserMain  Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread
 
We are aware of this problem on recent versions of macOS 11.5 and 11.6. So far we have only received three reports of it (two of them are in this thread). We are unable to reproduce this crash on our Mac machines (including MacBook Pro laptops), but it is obviously a real problem.

The crash happens in the Qt library (QtWebEngine, which is the Chromium-based web browser library on which PixInsight's web browser component is based). I am contacting Qt's development support team to find a solution. Sorry for the inconvenience.
 
@Paulsson: I also observed this and got a reply from Juan on another thread. But I want to add here for you that it is not a pattern at all! I use PixInsight since more than a year as my only processing tool on Windows 10 and MacOS and never had a single crash. It must be something exceptional and weird!
 
@Juan Conejero , @Vladimir : Thank you very much for the quick reply. Except for the pop-up at the end, everything seems to be working fine. Maybe the Qt team will find a solution. I haven't had as good results with my astrophotos as with PixInsight, it's really fun to reprocess old photos from a few years ago. (y)
 
Having updated to 1.8.8-9, I keep getting this error every time some seconds after closing PixInsight. Besides that, everything is working fine. Update has been done as described, with deleting the old version, installing the new one.
The error is reproducible for me, I have switched back to the previous version (1.8.8-8) three times. Since no one else has reported this error so far, my system may be the cause. I

I am also on a Macbook Pro and can reliably reproduce this crash on exit. This happens even if I launch PI and immediately quit.

We are aware of this problem on recent versions of macOS 11.5 and 11.6. So far we have only received three reports of it (two of them are in this thread). We are unable to reproduce this crash on our Mac machines (including MacBook Pro laptops), but it is obviously a real problem.

The crash happens in the Qt library (QtWebEngine, which is the Chromium-based web browser library on which PixInsight's web browser component is based). I am contacting Qt's development support team to find a solution. Sorry for the inconvenience.

@Juan Conejero ,@Paulsson ,@johnpane

FWIW, we currently have four Apple systems running PixInsight 1.8.8-9 with OS BigSur 11,6 and have not experienced this issue at shut down although we did have one that consistently crashed at launch.

Our OK models are:
MacPro 6,1
iMacPro 1,1
MacBook Pro 11,3
MacBook Pro 14,3

The model that crashed at launch was the older MacBook 11,3 and this was fixed by following the steps detailed below.

We have however seen many examples of different applications that create crash reports on OS BigSur on exit after the application itself was updated to a newer version and in all but one case these were either due to the pre-existing application support folder becoming read-only after the application was updated or the application support folder contained an old setting that was no longer compatible with the new application build.

The one remaining issue we saw with BigSur was caused by an Intego Virus Barrier incompatibility issue that was never successfully resolved and we removed Intego from that machine.

@Paulsson ,@johnpane
These are the steps we took to fix the problem MacBook Pro that crashed at launch, and similar steps to fix other applications that were crashing on exit with BigSur 11,5 -11,6.

Note that if you try this you will lose your personal PixInsight settings and all PixInsight settings will be reset back to factory default:

With PixInsight closed drag the PixInsight folder from the applications folder to the Bin.

Hold down and keep depressed the keyboard Option key (on most Macs that is the middle key to the left of the spacebar, between the Control and Command keys), while the Option key is pressed mouse click on the desktop menu item GO and scroll down and click on the Library shortcut, the Library shortcut is only visible while the Option key is pressed.

Once in the Library release the Option key and then scroll down the folder list to the first PixInsight folder, open that folder to find two files, PixInsight.plist and PixInsightLicense, drag the PixInsightLicense file from that folder to your desktop then delete the entire PixInsight folder (mouse-right-click and select Move to Bin).

Scroll back up the Library folder and look for the Application Support folder, enter that folder and scroll down to find another PixInsight folder.
That folder contains two sub-folders, QTWebEngine and Default (the Default folder contain another four sub-folders and a few individual files), again, delete the entire PixInsight Folder.

Exit the Library folder and run the PixInsight Installer for version 1.8.8-9.

Launch PixInsight 1.8.8-9, depending on your hardware nothing much will happen for anything up to half a minute while PixInsight initialises and builds new folders in the Library, after that completes the first-launch registration entry page will appear, do not enter anything on this page, instead skip/cancel and exit.

Go back to the Library, (hold down the Option key while clicking on the GO desktop menu shortcut), scroll down the folder list to the PixInsight folder and open it, you will be in the correct folder if it contains just the file PixInsight.plist, drag the PixinsightLicense file that you placed on the desktop back into that folder.

Exit the Library folder and launch PixInsight, this should now launch with your old license file and not ask you again for your details, now test PixInsight to see if it still crashes on exit.

Even if the above is not a solution it might help Juan with the problem to know that it still occurs with a clean install and all PixInsight settings at application default.

One last thing to try if the above is unsuccessful is to run the First Aid test and repair function on your Mac HD partitions from the Mac Disk Utility App, (usually located in the application folder named Other), just in case there is a folder structure, file permissions or folder indexing issue, in which case First Aid might find that and apply a fix.

HTH

William.
 
Last edited:
Hi @WillB ,
Thank you very much for the help and the detailed explanations.
I have carried out the steps as described and deleted the corresponding directories from the library. However, after reinstalling 1.8.8-9, the error still occurs on exit (MacBook Pro 14,2).
First Aid (Disk Utility) did run, at least it told me that it was successful, but also without fixing the error.
After that, I completely reinstalled PI again following the steps mentioned above. Still no change, same Qt error (SIGABRT, thread CrBrowserMain) according to the log.
Which directories specifically could have been changed to read-only? Then I could check the permissions in detail in case there are issues there.
I hope, as you say, that it still helps Juan isolate the issue. It does seem to be a very specific bug. Intego VirusBarrier (or any other anti virus software) is not / has not been installed on my system.

Many thanks,
Peter.
 
Which directories specifically could have been changed to read-only? Then I could check the permissions in detail in case there are issues there.

@Paulsson

Hi Peter.

There is no need to check further, the issues we saw on macOS BigSur were with the Application Support folders becoming read only after the respective applications were upgraded to a newer build, we saw this across several different Apps from different software providers and the crashes were occurring when the App tried to store the current session user settings as the App was being closed.

Because you manually deleted those old folders and carried out a clean install the read-write settings for those App support folders will have been set correctly.

Most likely this particular problem is a race/edge condition where a particular combination of Mac hardware and software environment results in the QTWebEngine crashing as it attempts to access a memory location that has already been closed as PixInsight exits.

Our faculty Macs are all fairly slow as we have so many background processes running at the same time as we use PI whereas private users machines are most likely quite fast in comparison, so the fact that we don't see this error on any of our office machines does not really prove very much.

A quick search on Google over the weekend threw up a handful of very similar reports across a variety of Apps using the QTWebEngine on Mac hardware and so Juan and the authors of the QTWebEngine will need to resolve this problem together, there not much more we users can do.

The fact that you can still produce the error with a clean install of PI may be of help to Juan, at least I'm sure your time will not have been wasted..

William.
 
Thanks William for your investigations. I've got good news. I (alone) have found, understood and fixed this problem. It is a combination of undocumented peculiar behaviors that for some weird reason is only leading to crash on some macOS machines. It should crash consistently on all platforms, on all machines, every time the application is terminated, but it doesn't (fortunately for me! :)).

I am going to build new macOS installation packages that should fix this problem once and for all, and will let you know when they are ready for download. Thank you for your patience.
 
The new installation packages for macOS are now on the software distribution server. The file names have the '20210920' date suffix. Please let me know if the problem is now solved. Thank you!
 
Hi @Juan Conejero ,
now that was a really quick fix! I just did a clean install, with also deleting the library folders, and re-installed the updated package.
Everything seems to work fine, no crash after exit anymore.
From my point of view, bug fixed, can be moved to done. ;)
Many thanks,
Peter
 
Confirming this also fixed the crash for me. Sorry, it took me a while to notice the new release because I forgot to set "watch" on this thred.
 
With latest version the crash when exiting has been fixed but now it's crashing while doing Drizzle Integration.

This cannot be reproduced. The DrizzleIntegration tool runs without any problems in all of our tests, on all supported platforms. Can you be more specific describing the problem, maybe showing some crash reports, or providing some information about conditions to reproduce it?
 
This cannot be reproduced. The DrizzleIntegration tool runs without any problems in all of our tests, on all supported platforms. Can you be more specific describing the problem, maybe showing some crash reports, or providing some information about conditions to reproduce it?
Hi, Yes it was a one off crash and apologies for not replying sooner. I was not able to reproduce it again.
 
This cannot be reproduced. Looks like a sporadic issue, probably caused by severe lack of resources, or a system memory allocation bug. Thanks for reporting anyway.
 
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