Windowserver_last.log = 20.6GB!

Looking at "Whatsize" I find this and it doesn't allow me to delete it.
I can't find it in the Finder or in Spotlight either; it's "/private/var/log/windowserver_last.log"
It's in my daughters MacBook, and taking a lot of space.
Any help in how to find it and get rid of it will be of much help

Well that's the next obvious question to ask . Why did this file balloon in such a way?Did you not look inside to find out? Sorry, that's the obvious answer!
Some further info on this: The "windowserver.log" and "windowserver_last.log" appear to be rotated on either a restart, or wake from sleep, but only when the primary log has reached of the order of 54 to 56 KB. This would explain why most of your "last.log"s are of that order.
If you use Command-Tab to switch applications, 3 lines are written to the log about "hot keys". Likewise if the machine goes to sleep 2 lines are written, and a further 2 lines on wake from sleep, all again relating to "hot keys". This was reported as "unnecessary logging" about a year ago.
In addition there may be messages about illegal arguments to "CGXOrderWindowList" and such like. For it to reach 20 GB, it must not have been restarted in quite a while, OR something is wrong and is writing a lot of error messages.
I would keep an eye on that particular machine just in case, and next time read the log before deleting it
Edit: it is very easy to look at these files using the Console which you can find in /Applications/Utilities.

Similar Messages

What is windowserver_last.log and why does it hate me?

My MacBook hard drive is making some click/clunk noises every half minute or so. Sounds like something indexing or writing to the hard drive in the background. Keeps doing it across restarts. Nothing super scary but enough to make me do a quick back up of the important files. I check my available disk space after backing up and discovered it was only 7GB when it should be 20GB! With a tool called WhatSize I discovered that the private directory is at 12.7 GB, most of that being a file called windowserver_last.log at 12.2 GB, with the rest being virtual memory swap stuff at an apparently reasonable .5 GB.
I assume it's safe to delete the log in console. What could be causing this? I think the little click/clunk hard drive noise I'm hearing right now is actually the MacBook writing to that log file a couple times a minute. Will deleting that file stop the constant logging?

HI, Sanford.
Yes, it is safe to delete windowserver_last.log.
There are some bugs related to these logs.
The current windowserver.log is supposed to be rotated whenever you restart (or shutdown and restart). The old windowserver_last.log replaced by the existing windowserver.log and a new, blank windowserver.log created. It appears that in some cases this isn't happening.
It's also been found that every time one uses Command-Tab to switch between applications, the following three entries are written to windowserver.log:
Jun 10 19:55:56 [58] Hot key operating mode is now all but UA disabled
Jun 10 19:55:56 [58] "Dock" (0x5b0f) set hot key operating mode to normal
Jun 10 19:55:56 [58] Hot key operating mode is now normal
If you're a heavy user of Command-Tab and don't restart often, the windowserver.log will grow quite large. Likewise, after a restart and the rotation of the log, the windowserver_last.log will still be consuming a good bit of space as, if everything works, it is simply the previous windowserver.log.
IMO, writing this message to the log is unnecessary logging.
None of the normal Mac OS X Mac OS X Maintenance Scripts rotate or prune these logs: it seems it is only done via a restart or shutdown/restart.
The bug has been reported, so hopefully it will be fixed in some future Mac OS X Update.
Good luck!
Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X
Note: The information provided in the link(s) above is freely available. However, because I own The X Lab™, a commercial Web site to which some of these links point, the Apple Discussions Terms of Use require I include the following disclosure statement with this post:
I may receive some form of compensation, financial or otherwise, from my recommendation or link.

Help fixing a huge windowserver_last.log file

While using Omni Disk Sweeper, I discovered that my windowserver_last.log file is in excess of 8GB in size. I'm not very unix command savvy, but I am trying to reclaim the space without wiping something important. I'm unable to open the file using console because it crashes every time it opens that log. I have looked at the console and it has an error code that posted 25 times in less than a second. I've copied the error code below.
2006-08-27 17:20:46.890 SyndicationAgent[1821] WARNING: BestCalendarDateFromString - can't interpret: 'Sun 27 Aug 2006 12:26:55 -800'
From this, I have posted the last 8 lines of code from the console as well. I have seen that thisw problem was encountered by someone before, but I don't know how to fix it without probably breaking my PB. If anyone can give me some guidance on how to fix it, or let me know if this is normal, thanks.
Jules
2006-08-28 12:04:09.309 SyncServer[2314] A Sync Server is already running on this computer, exiting process.
2006-08-28 13:10:22.293 SyncServer[2333] A Sync Server is already running on this computer, exiting process.
Aug 28 14:02:00 Rene-Juliens-PowerBook-G4 dashboardadivsoryd[2341]: fetch: unable to fetch data from read stream while fetch advisory list
Aug 28 14:02:00 Rene-Juliens-PowerBook-G4 dashboardadivsoryd[2341]: fetch-parsers: unable to fetch data from read stream
Aug 28 18:04:10 Rene-Juliens-PowerBook-G4 configd[37]: SecKeychainFindGenericPassword err= -25308 ( =0xffff9d24, secErrStr=User interaction is not allowed. ) (current= Apple Network ec729f)
2006-08-28 18:07:05.051 Translator[2460] Invoked to sync conduit com.apple.Safari for entityNames: com.apple.bookmarks.Folder,com.apple.bookmarks.Bookmark
Aug 28 18:17:54 Rene-Juliens-PowerBook-G4 configd[37]: SecKeychainFindGenericPassword err= -25308 ( =0xffff9d24, secErrStr=User interaction is not allowed. ) (current= Apple Network ec729f)
Aug 28 18:48:00 Rene-Juliens-PowerBook-G4 configd[37]: SecKeychainFindGenericPassword err= -25308 ( =0xffff9d24, secErrStr=User interaction is not allowed. ) (current= Apple Network ec729f)
1.25 G4 Mirrored Drive Doors Mac OS X (10.4.5) 1.67 PowerBook G4
1.25 G4 Mirrored Drive Doors Mac OS X (10.4.5) 1.67 PowerBook G4

Michael,
This is what I got out of Terminal:
<pre>
Rene-Juliens-PowerBook-G4:~ renejulien$ cd /private/var/log
Rene-Juliens-PowerBook-G4:/private/var/log renejulien$ wc -l windowserver.log
274 windowserver.log
Rene-Juliens-PowerBook-G4:/private/var/log renejulien$ grep 0x4623 windowserver.log | wc -l
112
Rene-Juliens-PowerBook-G4:/private/var/log renejulien$ cut -c 18- windowserver.log |sort | uniq -c|sort -n|tail -20
1 [56] kCGErrorIllegalArgument: CGXOrderWindow: Operation on a window 0x1 not owned by caller SecurityAgent
1 [56] kCGErrorIllegalArgument: CGXOrderWindow: Operation on a window 0x5 not owned by caller Mail
1 [56] kCGErrorIllegalArgument: CGXSetWindowListTags: Operation on a window 0x1 not owned by caller SecurityAgent
1 [56] kCGErrorIllegalArgument: CGXSetWindowListTags: Operation on a window 0x5 not owned by caller Mail
1 [56] kCGErrorIllegalArgument: _CGXAddWindowToWindowMovementGroup: Operation on a window 0x5cc not owned by caller QuickEntry DashboardClient
1 [56] kCGErrorIllegalArgument: _CGXAddWindowToWindowOrderingGroup: Operation on a window 0x5cc not owned by caller QuickEntry DashboardClient
1 [56] kCGErrorIllegalArgument: _CGXRemoveWindowFromWindowMovementGroup: Operation on a window 0x5cc not owned by caller QuickEntry DashboardClient
2 [56] Accel caps: 00000003
2 [56] kCGErrorIllegalArgument: CGXOrderWindowList: Empty window list
3 [56] kCGErrorIllegalArgument: CGXGetWindowOwner: Invalid window 0
4 [56] kCGErrorFailure: CGXDisableUpdate: UI updates were forcibly disabled by application "Safari" for over 1 second. Server has re-enabled them.
4 [56] kCGErrorIllegalArgument: CGXRemoveTrackingArea: Operation on a window 0x5ca not owned by caller Translation DashboardClient
6 [56] kCGErrorFailure: CGXDisableUpdate: UI updates were forcibly disabled by application "Dock" for over 1 second. Server has re-enabled them.
6 [56] kCGErrorFailure: CGXDisableUpdate: UI updates were forcibly disabled by application "Finder" for over 1 second. Server has re-enabled them.
8 [56] kCGErrorIllegalArgument: CGXRemoveTrackingArea: Operation on a window 0x5cc not owned by caller QuickEntry DashboardClient
9 [56] kCGErrorIllegalArgument: CGXGetWindowShape: Invalid window -1
50 [56] Hot key operating mode is now all disabled
50 [56] Hot key operating mode is now normal
51 [56] "loginwindow" (0x4623) set hot key operating mode to normal
61 [56] "loginwindow" (0x4623) set hot key operating mode to all disabled
Rene-Juliens-PowerBook-G4:/private/var/log renejulien$
</pre>
For some reason I'm getting the hot keys enabled and disabled, but I don't know what hot key for which program. Any clues or just give up and delete the _last.log file once a month?
Jules

Windowserver_last.log is too large

Hi,
My MacBook was suddenly left with Zero KB free on its drive, so I started some research and found this post (http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=5021191&#5021191) that helped me find that my windowserver_last log file is 16GB (!!!).
I've already removed the widget that (I think) caused the flood in the log. Since after I freed some space on my drive, the log isn't cumulating anymore.
To make a long story short, I just want to know what the repeating msg in the log means, so I know that the problem is really solved:
(ipc/rcv) invalid name: CGXRunOneServerPass: mach_msg (gServiceSet) failed (last RPC: LaunchAppRequestWithAuditInfo)
Thanks for the help!!
PiTZiK.

Hello Matt, and a warm welcome to the forums!
Open Console in Applications>Utilities, select that Log and choose delete it.
Also, Safe Boot , (holding Shift key down at bootup), it will try to repair your Disk Directory while the spinning radian is happening, so let it go., then use Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities to Repair Permissions, reboot when it finishe.
Report outcome please.

Huge windowserver_last.log !

Hello everybody,
I'm quite new to MacOS X, even though I've been using Unix-like systems for years. Recently, I discovered there was "Zero Ko" left on the hard drive of my iBook, which was surprinsing since I always keep about 4.0G of free space on it.
So I parsed my F.S. and discovered that te file /private/var/log/windowserver_last.log was 4.6G, and fullfiled with the same message from the beginning to the end :
Aug 01 00:57:46 [14120] (ipc/rcv) invalid name: CGXRunOneServerPass: mach_msg (gServiceSet) failed (last RPC: LaunchAppRequestWithAuditInfo)
With about 700 lines per second.
But then, I don't know where the problem is, so I can't correct it. I just know it started about esterday evening, but I was just using Firefox and Dashboard, nothing very terrific.
Can anybody advise me about how to solve that windowserver's super-logging attitude ?
Naopic Tastalian
iBook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.7)

I'm responding because I am in the process of cleaning out hard drive space with Omni's Disk Sweeper and discovered my windowserver_last.log file is over 8GB in size on my 15" PB G4. I've tried to open it so I could post what it is aying, but it crashes console out. I can open my console and the last entry there is:
2006-08-27 17:20:47.816 SyndicationAgent[1821] WARNING: BestCalendarDateFromString - can't interpret: 'Sun 27 Aug 2006 12:26:55 -800'
this has been repeated twenty five times beginning with this below and ending with the one above:
2006-08-27 17:20:46.890 SyndicationAgent[1821] WARNING: BestCalendarDateFromString - can't interpret: 'Sun 27 Aug 2006 12:26:55 -800'
I am not very UNIX savvy and I am leery to use the console commands to delete it. I want to fix the problem, but I don't know how. I'm going to check my G4 tower soon to see if it has the same problem.
The previous 10 or so lines of code from console are included in case they may help determine what is causing this on my PB
2006-08-27 10:11:43.065 SyncServer[1434] A Sync Server is already running on this computer, exiting process.
2006-08-27 10:13:06.736 Translator[1450] Invoked to sync conduit com.apple.Safari for entityNames: com.apple.bookmarks.Folder,com.apple.bookmarks.Bookmark
Aug 27 10:59:17 Rene-Juliens-PowerBook-G4 configd[37]: SecKeychainFindGenericPassword err= -25308 ( =0xffff9d24, secErrStr=User interaction is not allowed. ) (current= Apple Network ec729f)
Aug 27 11:02:24 Rene-Juliens-PowerBook-G4 configd[37]: SecKeychainFindGenericPassword err= -25308 ( =0xffff9d24, secErrStr=User interaction is not allowed. ) (current= Apple Network ec729f)
2006-08-27 11:11:41.530 SyncServer[1519] A Sync Server is already running on this computer, exiting process.
2006-08-27 11:15:56.215 Translator[1537] Invoked to sync conduit com.apple.Safari for entityNames: com.apple.bookmarks.Folder,com.apple.bookmarks.Bookmark
2006-08-27 12:11:41.866 SyncServer[1582] A Sync Server is already running on this computer, exiting process.
Aug 27 16:44:21 Rene-Juliens-PowerBook-G4 configd[37]: SecKeychainFindGenericPassword err= -25308 ( =0xffff9d24, secErrStr=User interaction is not allowed. ) (current= Apple Network ec729f)
2006-08-27 16:45:25.243 Translator[1647] Invoked to sync conduit com.apple.Safari for entityNames: com.apple.bookmarks.Folder,com.apple.bookmarks.Bookmark
2006-08-27 16:48:50.652 Translator[1793] Invoked to sync conduit com.apple.Safari for entityNames: com.apple.bookmarks.Folder,com.apple.bookmarks.Bookmark
OmniDiskSweeper Help
1.25GHz G4 Mirrored Drive Doors Mac OS X (10.4.7) 1.67GHz PowerBook G4
1.25GHz G4 Mirrored Drive Doors Mac OS X (10.4.7) 1.67GHz PowerBook G4
1.25GHz G4 Mirrored Drive Doors Mac OS X (10.4.7) 1.67GHz PowerBook G4
1.25 G4 Mirrored Drive Doors Mac OS X (10.4.5) 1.67 PowerBook G4
1.25 G4 Mirrored Drive Doors Mac OS X (10.4.5) 1.67 PowerBook G4

Windowserver_last.log...Why Ballooning to 30gig and Ruining Me and My Life?

What is this file and why is it suddenly draining all my hard drive space? I have read on other threads that is happens from "Command-Tab." Perhaps from Command-Tab to open a new window in Firefox?
I should be able to use this. Is there a reason for the draining? How do I stop it in the future.
Thanks
Matt

Hello Matt, and a warm welcome to the forums!
Open Console in Applications>Utilities, select that Log and choose delete it.
Also, Safe Boot , (holding Shift key down at bootup), it will try to repair your Disk Directory while the spinning radian is happening, so let it go., then use Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities to Repair Permissions, reboot when it finishe.
Report outcome please.

Tons of repeated windowserver log errors?

Hi Everyone,
I've noticed that my windowserver.log and windowserver_last.log are filled with these errors. Any idea what's going on?
GErrorIllegalArgument: CGXSetTrackingAreaOption : Invalid tracking area
kCGErrorIllegalArgument: CGXSetTrackingAreaEnabled : Invalid tracking area
I seem to see them pop up in the Console when I was running Chrome Beta or Dev build or Firefox 4.
Thanks,
William

Hi,
Thanks for your sharing and have a good day.
Jason
Jason Guo
TechNet Community Support

Does the windowserver log files get rotated?

Hi,
I have been looking at my /var/log directory and found the two windowserver related log files: windowserver.log and windowserver_last.log
I am wondering if these get rotated on a regular basis. If so, how often? (seeing that there is a windowserver_last.log gives me the impression that these files are rotated.
Does anyone know?
Thanks,
Steve
Power Mac G5/2Ghz Dual Mac OS X (10.4.2)

Hi Stephen,
   I agree with Michael. I could find no reference to "windowserver" in /etc or in the StartupItems directory that would explain its rotation. I have a few machines at work that I can check and it's my guess that the WindowServer simply creates a new one when it starts.
   Thus, if you shutdown regularly, the log file shouldn't get very big. I don't shutdown unless I have to so I added the windowserver.log to my own log rotation script. All you really have to do is to duplicate Apple's /etc/periodic/weekly/500.weekly file. Rename it with a new name and number and cut out everything but the log rotation code and the initial stuff that sets up the environment. Then simply put your own filenames into the rotation code. You can also move it to a different directory if you don't want it to run weekly.
   I went ahead and altered their code so that it uses a loop instead of seven lines that differ only by a number. However, I did that mostly because I enjoy scripting. Apple's code is simpler and a little faster.
Gary
~~~~
   The alarm clock that is louder than God's own belongs to
   the roommate with the earliest class.

Files in /var/log

I was looking through my /var/log directory on my PB G4 running OS X 10.4.4 recently and noticed several compressed files. I have a few questions:
1. How come there are so many compressed files?
2. Is it safe to delete them, and how can I delete them?
3. Is there a way to prevent so many from building up in this directory?
daily.out lpr.log.0.gz secure.log.0.gz
fax lpr.log.1.gz secure.log.1.gz
ftp.log lpr.log.2.gz secure.log.2.gz
ftp.log.0.gz lpr.log.3.gz secure.log.3.gz
ftp.log.1.gz lpr.log.4.gz secure.log.4.gz
ftp.log.2.gz mail.log system.log
ftp.log.3.gz mail.log.0.gz system.log.0.gz
ftp.log.4.gz mail.log.1.gz system.log.1.gz
httpd mail.log.2.gz system.log.2.gz
install.log mail.log.3.gz system.log.3.gz
install.log.0.gz mail.log.4.gz system.log.4.gz
install.log.1.gz monthly.out system.log.5.gz
install.log.2.gz netinfo.log system.log.6.gz
install.log.3.gz netinfo.log.0.gz system.log.7.gz
install.log.4.gz netinfo.log.1.gz weekly.out
ipfw.log netinfo.log.2.gz windowserver.log
ipfw.log.0.gz netinfo.log.3.gz windowserver_last.log
ipfw.log.1.gz netinfo.log.4.gz wtmp
ipfw.log.2.gz ppp wtmp.0.gz
ipfw.log.3.gz ppp.log wtmp.1.gz
ipfw.log.4.gz ppp.log.0.gz wtmp.2.gz
lastlog ppp.log.1.gz wtmp.3.gz
lookupd.log.0.gz ppp.log.2.gz wtmp.4.gz
Thanks,
Mike

Hi Mike,
   There is no need to worry about their growing. In fact, that's why they are there. They are the results of log rotation by the periodic scripts. Notice that many logs start with the same name, such as ftp.log, ftp.log.1.gz, ftp.log.2.gz, ftp.log3.gz, and ftp.log.4.gz. When you first installed the OS, there was only one, ftp.log. The next time the 500.weekly script runs, it appends a one, '1', to the filename, gzips the file and creates a new ftp.log. A week later, the next time the 500.weekly script runs, it moves ftp.log.1.gz to ftp.log.2.gz, appends a 1 to the new ftp.log, gzips the file and creates a new ftp.log. This process repeats until the ftp.log.4.gz file is created. A week after that, the ftp.log.4.gz is deleted and the former ftp.log.3.gz takes it place.
   Thus, every week each file's number increases until it's 4 weeks old and then it's deleted. The total number of files doesn't increase and, modulo variations in activity, the total size of the collection remains roughly constant. Older records are kept in as compact a form as possible and really old records are removed to make way for new ones.
   Therefore, your goal of limiting the size of the log files is implemented for you in a more efficient manner than you might have imagined. However, since you don't use the old ones, you could delete them if you're really hard up for space. Oh, one more thing -- more active log files, like system.log, are rotated daily and a week's worth of them are maintained.
Gary
~~~~
   A successful [software] tool is one that was used to
   do something undreamed of by its author.
         -- S. C. Johnson

Disappearing GB from HDD - Please Help

Hi everyone. Just a few days ago I had 6GB of free space on my HDD and just today it dropped dramatically to 1GB. I used WhatSize to take a look at my HDD. There are many files that seem pretty large except I don't know what their function is. For example, is OK if I delete the "windowserver_last.log" or anything in the "private", "var", or "usr" folders? Thank you.

The windowserver_last log is safe to delete; generally, you shouldn't delete any item outside of your home folder if you don't know what it's purpose is and what the results of deleting it will be.
(18339)

What is WRONG with my MAC G5?

Hi all,
I've posted several times in various forums about a number of problems I've been having that remain unresolved, and would like to appeal once more for help. I have a 6 year old 2GHz PowerPC G5 (2004) with 4GB of RAM, running FCS 6.0.6 and OS 10.5.8. I must reiterate that, despite the computer's age, it was working just fine until a kernel panic in December that has since left the computer feeling sluggish. I've performed a clean install (twice) of both the OS and FCS. I've bought new RAM and reseated in every possible way. I bought a new external harddrive (used to store my media) in case that was the culprit. I even took the computer and display into an Apple Store where they tested it for 2 days finding "nothing wrong with it". Yet even they couldn't get the "High" quality setting back in FCP. It defaults to medium now (unlike before) - which is my biggest concern. The computer's internal drive has 30% free space. The external more than 15%. And naturally, I've repaired permissions and trashed pref files, etc., with no results. Oh! And I've run the Hardware Diagnostics disk, three times, and everything keeps passing. I also just cloned the internal Maxtor drive onto an external Lacie drive and booted up from that - with no obvious improvement. Trying to eliminate the hard drive as a factor.
One more symptom -- perhaps related, perhaps not -- is that I can no longer put the computer to sleep without it crashing, followed by jet engine fans coming on. This happens every single time. Unfortunately it wasn't happening (as frequently) when I took the computer to the Apple geniuses.
And last week, when I turned the computer on, the screen remained black. The LED flashed in what I think was a series of three fast flashes. I rebooted and everything has been fine since (with the display).
I think I've found some suspicious items in the console logs. But I don't have a clue how to accurately read them or fix the problem. Can someone please help me?
The windowserver_last.log is full of the following:
May 21 10:57:47 52 kCGErrorIllegalArgument: CGXGetWindowWorkspace: invalid window id: a2
May 21 10:58:33 52 kCGErrorFailure: CGXDisableUpdate: UI updates were forcibly disabled by application "Final Cut Pro" for over 1 second. Server has re-enabled them.
May 21 10:59:42 52 kCGErrorFailure: CGXDisableUpdate: UI updates were forcibly disabled by application "Final Cut Pro" for over 1 second. Server has re-enabled them.
May 21 11:03:52 52 kCGErrorFailure: CGXDisableUpdate: UI updates were forcibly disabled by application "Final Cut Pro" for over 1 second. Server has re-enabled them.
Then there's these ones that keep popping up in the console or system logs:
24/05/10 1:47:43 PM /Applications/Final Cut Pro.app/Contents/MacOS/Final Cut Pro115 _RemoveTimeTask(), the current time manager task 0x416c943c being removed is also currently executing its tmAddr routine, so unexpected things may result ( Radar #4555679 ).
24/05/10 1:48:39 PM Final Cut Pro115 startDelayedNoDataDetection
(the startdelayed... is probably due to dropped frames during capture with stop/start detection on)
These ones are less frequent, but still showing up:
22/05/10 6:30:17 PM Dock104 QL ERROR Generator database update takes too long... we will use what we currently have
May 17 16:22:07 macdaddys-power-mac-g5 Finder100: QL ERROR Generator database update takes too long... we will use what we currently have
May 18 08:56:18 macdaddys-power-mac-g5 Finder96: QL ERROR Generator database update takes too long... we will use what we currently have
May 18 13:03:07 macdaddys-power-mac-g5 Finder101: QL ERROR Generator database update takes too long... we will use what we currently have
May 19 11:47:56 macdaddys-power-mac-g5 Finder112: QL ERROR Generator database update takes too long... we will use what we currently have
May 19 14:31:15 macdaddys-power-mac-g5 /System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/MacOS/Finder118: StatusMonitor::volumesChangedCallBack returned -47
May 19 15:23:14 macdaddys-power-mac-g5 Finder102: QL ERROR Generator database update takes too long... we will use what we currently have
May 21 09:54:32 macdaddys-power-mac-g5 Finder102: QL ERROR Generator database update takes too long... we will use what we currently have
May 21 14:28:45 macdaddys-power-mac-g5 Finder111: QL ERROR Generator database update takes too long... we will use what we currently have
22/05/10 6:30:31 PM quicklookd123 QL ERROR 'Creating thumbnail' timed out for ''
23/05/10 2:27:25 PM com.apple.launchd[1] (com.apple.aslmanager) Throttling respawn: Will start in 3 seconds
23/05/10 2:27:28 PM com.apple.quicklook109 invalid #-escape sequence.
23/05/10 2:27:28 PM com.apple.quicklook109 encountered unexpected object type: 7.
23/05/10 2:27:29 PM com.apple.launchd78 (0x0-0xd00d.com.apple.AddressBook.abd112) Check-in of Mach service failed. PID 112 is not privileged: com.apple.AddressBook.abd
23/05/10 2:27:29 PM com.apple.quicklook109 xref table size mismatch: calculated 462; /Size = 463.
===============
If I had the money, of course I'd buy another computer. But I don't. And deep inside, I still believe there's a fix. Am I right or wrong???
Chris
P.S.
I don't have a clue how to read Power Fractal (suggested to someone else in another post), but here's my score:
Elapsed time: 1.6 seconds
Achieving 6261.1 Megaflops
Color Speed: 10
Maximum Count: 4096
One more thing I gleaned from another post are similar istat readings that seemed unusual to that person. Backside fans: 51rpm. ???

First thing I would do is make your post clear(-er) (I find it easier to break things down into one item per paragraph or into lists); and what HARDWARE tests and steps you have tried - that we tend to repeat over and over with system failures.
I've posted several times in various forums about a number of problems I've been having that remain unresolved,
*I have a 6 year old 2GHz PowerPC G5 (2004) with 4GB of RAM, running FCS 6.0.6 and OS 10.5.8.*
I must reiterate that, despite the computer's age...
+*it was working just fine until a kernel panic in December that has since left the computer feeling sluggish.*+
+I've performed a clean install (twice) of both the OS and FCS.+
+I've bought new RAM and reseated in every possible way.+
+I bought a new external hard drive (used to store my media) in case that was the culprit.+
+I even took the computer and display into an Apple Store where they tested it for 2 days finding "nothing wrong with it". Yet even they couldn't get the "High" quality setting back in FCP. It defaults to medium now (unlike before) - which is my biggest concern.+
+The computer's internal drive has 30% free space.+
+The external more than 15%.+ 15% is still low and can be highly fragmented, but not germaine to hardware problems.
+I've run the Hardware Diagnostics disk, three times, and everything keeps passing.+
+I also just cloned the internal Maxtor drive onto an external Lacie drive and booted up from that - with no obvious improvement.+
+Trying to eliminate the hard drive as a factor.+
I'd even say LaCie might just be one more layer of possible problems.
There are FAQs on kernel panics which:
A/ Been there, done that?
B/ Do they need to be listed (again)? revisited?
C/ panics are hardware almost always, RAM, controllers, sometimes drivers, even corrupt NVRAM
Does it boot into Open Firmware?
If yes, redo reset-nvram
If no, DOA
G5 Logicboards:
http://www.dvwarehouse.com/Power-Mac-G5-Logic-Boards-c-24553701074.html
Power Mac G5 PowerMac G5 Dual 2.0Ghz M9032LL/A, A1047 1969C
NOTE: Power Mac G5 Thermal Calibration Service It is vital for all Power Mac G5 to run thermal calibration after fitting a new logic board or processors, without it, Temperature Control will not be able to detect the system temperture correctly. As a result, it could cause the cooling fans to run at high speed, eventually damgaging the logic board or processors.
Lastly, I would never run a Mac w/o UPS, which can lengthen life and protect equipment and even the PSU.
And for $1500 the iMac Apple Store Specials can be a good fast alternative to G5.
http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/imac

Need help Installing Reader 10.1.2 on new MacBook Pro w/Lion

Hi,
I have a new 13" MacBook Pro with Lion. I'm trying to install Reader 10.1.2 and it stalls while "Running Package Scripts". Any thoughts?
FYI - I don't know if this is relevant. I had a PowerPC and Apple moved my data from my old computer. I just realized that they moved my very old CS2 which I know won't work on my new Mac. I don't know if that might be causing a conflict. However, I don't know how to uninstall it.
Thanks so much for any help!!!
Best,
Kim

Hi Sabian,
So I followed your instructions. Below is the log. As you can see, when I typed the last command, I had permission denied.
I think it says it's a powerbook g4 because that was my old computer and the Apple store transferred my files. I have a new MacBook Pro...
Kim
Last login: Thu Mar 15 16:15:18 on console
kims-powerbook-g4-17:~ Kim $ cd /var/log/
kims-powerbook-g4-17:log Kim $ ls
CDIS.custom                    launchd-shutdown.log          performance
DiagnosticMessages          launchd-shutdown.log.1          ppp
apache2                              monthly.out                    sa
asl                              notifyd.log                    secure.log
cups                              opendirectoryd.log          secure.log.0.bz2
daily.out                    opendirectoryd.log.0          secure.log.1.bz2
devicemgr                    opendirectoryd.log.1          secure.log.2.bz2
emond                              opendirectoryd.log.2          secure.log.3.bz2
fax                              opendirectoryd.log.3          secure.log.4.bz2
fsck_hfs.log                    opendirectoryd.log.4          system.log
install.log                    opendirectoryd.log.5          system.log.0.bz2
ipfw.log                    opendirectoryd.log.6          uucp
kernel.log                    opendirectoryd.log.7          windowserver.log
kernel.log.0.bz2          opendirectoryd.log.8          windowserver_last.log
krb5kdc                              opendirectoryd.log.9
kims-powerbook-g4-17:log Kim $ cp /var/log/install.log /install.log
cp: /install.log: Permission denied

Two Big Files on my HD

I was cleaning up my Mac when I found two very large files:
- Windowserver_Last.log
- Sleepimage
Can I just delete them by dragging them to the trash?

Shozen
There are no dumb questions, only dumb answers!
how to I get to look at it using the Console application?
You'll find the Console Application in /Applications/Utilities. Double click on it, and you'll get one or two windows, showing the console.log and (probably) the system.log. At the top of the window, in the toolbar, there is a "Logs" icon. Click on this to reveal a sidebar with all available logs. Click on the disclosure triangle alongside /var/log and scroll down to the appropriate log.
Due to a bug, you'll probably see lots of these messages repeating:
<pre>Jul 23 00:53:50 [267] "loginwindow" (0x3703) set hot key operating mode to all disabled
Jul 23 00:53:50 [267] Hot key operating mode is now all disabled
Jul 23 12:18:42 [267] "loginwindow" (0x3703) set hot key operating mode to normal
Jul 23 12:18:42 [267] Hot key operating mode is now normal</pre>You can disregard these: although they are tedious, they don't occur often enough to make those files that big. Look for other repeating messages. You may see a few kCGErrorIllegalArgument : … messages, but unless they are repeating quickly they are also harmless.

A newbie asks - where the heck is my 80 gigs of memory?

i finally took the plunge yesterday and gave up my pc for a macbook. upon turning it on, i was told i needed to download 12 software updates...several attempts and a couple hours later, that's done. i downloaded istat, which is a dashboard widget to monitor cpu, battery, all that stuff, and i notice that it says i'm using 55 gig of memory. i figure that i'm just not understanding what it's telling me...
now, i just got a dialog telling me that my "startup disk is almost full." how can this be? where's all my memory?
help!

hmmm...okay, i did that, and i found a file called
'windowserver_last.log' that is taking up almost 36
gigs. what is that?
appreciating your help, by they way...
Your windowserver_last.log is ballooning for some reason. Go trash the file and read more about it here:
http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=windowserver_last.log&ie=UTF -8&oe=UTF-8
-Bmer
Mac Owners Support Group
Join Us @ MacOSG.com
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POP3Service.log file is 1.6gb

Hi
I read on the forums that the POP3Service log should automatically trim at 450MB to 400MB
I have just checked my log and clearly this isn't happening. It is 1.6GB in size.... (95% of the size of the Logs folder)
How do I fix this?
Obviously I need to trim it myself, I have read about people saying to open and remove entries on a date basis. - Fine but how do I open a 1.6GB text file lol - I'm gathering I can't just delete the log?
Also how do I find out why the Trim at 450MB isn't working? or can I initiate that to trim the log?
Thanks
Tris

Hi,
Please try the following steps:
1. Open Event Viewer.
2. In the console tree, click the log you want to change.
3. On the Action menu, click Properties.
4. On the General tab, in Maximum log size, specify the new log size in kilobytes.
5. To put the new setting in effect, click Clear Log.
If you want to retain the information currently in the log, click Yes when a message appears asking if you want to save the original log before clearing it, and then click OK.
Hope this helps.
Jeremy Wu
TechNet Community Support

Windowserver_last.log = 20.6GB!

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