Kudos0

Despite update, antivirus causes Snow Leopard to freeze

Posted: 20-Nov-2009 | 5:26PM · 15 Replies ·

Both prior to the Internet Security 4 Mac update and AFTER, whenever I run the antivirus program (I am running Snow Leopard 10.6.2), my computer freezes.  The last three files it froze on were:  PAL_SECAM.icc, wmploc.DLL and 09d3009b29af99e9ac9a...3bae0e35526b4781.cat (do not know the entire file name as that is showed up in the Norton AV window).

Is anyone else still having issues, and does anyone have any ideas for fixes?

I am pretty frustrated with this whole situation, and am not trusting that the Norton Internet Security 4 Mac is actually functional despite the claimed updates.

Replies

Kudos0

Re: Despite update, antivirus causes Snow Leopard to freeze

Posted: 20-Nov-2009 | 5:26PM · Permalink

Both prior to the Internet Security 4 Mac update and AFTER, whenever I run the antivirus program (I am running Snow Leopard 10.6.2), my computer freezes.  The last three files it froze on were:  PAL_SECAM.icc, wmploc.DLL and 09d3009b29af99e9ac9a...3bae0e35526b4781.cat (do not know the entire file name as that is showed up in the Norton AV window).

Is anyone else still having issues, and does anyone have any ideas for fixes?

I am pretty frustrated with this whole situation, and am not trusting that the Norton Internet Security 4 Mac is actually functional despite the claimed updates.

Kudos0

Re: Despite update, antivirus causes Snow Leopard to freeze

Posted: 23-Nov-2009 | 7:04PM · Permalink

NYCPrynne - I have two sugestions which may pin down the problem that is occurring on your machine.  

1. Try turning off scanning of compressed files.  ( Please report if this fixes the problem )

2. Are you using case sensitive HFS file system?

Those questions for now. 

John HansenSr. Principal Software EngineerMacintosh Group
Kudos0

Re: Despite update, antivirus causes Snow Leopard to freeze

Posted: 24-Nov-2009 | 5:32AM · Permalink

I did initially try to turn off the compressed file scanning, to no avail......turns out the solution was to completely uninstall Internet Security 4 Mac, and to reinstall......at least it has worked for the time being.  Will update thread if this does not seem to be the ultimate solution.

Your reply is much appreciated though.I

Kudos0

Re: Despite update, antivirus causes Snow Leopard to freeze

Posted: 28-Nov-2009 | 3:18PM · Permalink

I actually have the same problem.  I'm running a brand new 17" macbook pro that I got a week ago.  The only thing I've done with this machine is a) attach it to my wireless router for internet access and install Norton AV 11 on it (and run the updates).  Actually, I think that I ran the Apple software updater as well, but beyond those 3 things, it's a fresh out of the box machine.

I did the Norton AV install and did the LiveUpdate as required.  I rebooted and decided to do a full system scan to have a nice, clean baseline with which to start.  However, the baseline scan locked up at 570,000 out of 670,000 files scanned.  I couldn't quit out of the app or anything.  After some clicking around, I got a screen that said that I had to hard power my mac off (hold power button down) and then power it back up.  I did this, and then tried running the full system scan again.  Same problem, but on a different file (still in the 570,000 range, but it was a different file # and a different file name).  Hard power off and power back up, and now I'm on here posting.

This is rather disconcerting as the machine is (as stated previously) brand new and virginal.

Help! :)

Kudos0

Re: Despite update, antivirus causes Snow Leopard to freeze

Posted: 28-Nov-2009 | 9:43PM · Permalink

yeah...i spoke too soo as i have had this problem again....this is pretty aggravating.
Kudos0

Re: Despite update, antivirus causes Snow Leopard to freeze

Posted: 29-Nov-2009 | 8:50PM · Permalink

Do you use Boot Camp, Parallels or VMWare on your Mac? Unfortunately Apple introduced a bug in Mac OS X 10.6 in their NTFS drivers. Any disk drive that is formatted for NTFS can cause a panic, regardless of whether Norton AntiVirus is installed or not. The panic occurs more frequently with Norton AntiVirus installed because Norton AntiVirus will scan files on those volumes.

Apple has been notified of the problem and they are looking into it. It's not specific to our applications, so there's not much we can do to fix this except to advise customers to not use Boot Camp or Parallels or VMWare.

You can look in /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/ and find a file beginning with Kernel. Post that file here and I can make sure it's the same bug that I think it is.

Ryan

Ryan McGann Technical Director Norton Business Unit, Symantec
Kudos0

Re: Despite update, antivirus causes Snow Leopard to freeze

Posted: 30-Nov-2009 | 4:57AM · Permalink

yes, i use parallels and boot camp since various programs i run require windows and will not run on parallels.

it is not obvious to me where i find /library/logs/diagnostic reports.  where would i look?

thanks.

Kudos0

Re: Despite update, antivirus causes Snow Leopard to freeze

Posted: 30-Nov-2009 | 5:12AM · Permalink

just figured out library/logs/diagnostic reports.....don't have a diagnostic reports folder.  could this be because i did another un-install and re-install?
Kudos0

Re: Despite update, antivirus causes Snow Leopard to freeze

Posted: 30-Nov-2009 | 11:41AM · Permalink

Open up the Console application which is in your Applications -> Utilities folder. When the Console application opens, look on the left hand side of the window. Underneath the /Library/Logs triangle you should have a panic.log file, or a folder called DiagnosticReports. If you are using Mac OS X 10.6, it will be called DiagnosticReports.

Ryan

Ryan McGann Technical Director Norton Business Unit, Symantec
Kudos0

Re: Despite update, antivirus causes Snow Leopard to freeze

Posted: 30-Nov-2009 | 5:36PM · Permalink

there is nothing in "diagnostic reports."  i did reinstall Internet 4 Mac again....would this wipe out what you are looking for?
Kudos0

Re: Despite update, antivirus causes Snow Leopard to freeze

Posted: 01-Dec-2009 | 3:14PM · Permalink

I don't think the reports should be affected by reinstall of NIS (they're from the OS). Not sure where else to look for them, offhand.  Did you say if you were running OS X 10.6.x or an earlier version?
Kudos0

Re: Despite update, antivirus causes Snow Leopard to freeze

Posted: 01-Dec-2009 | 3:16PM · Permalink

Oops, ignore my last question (missed the 10.6.2 reference at the top of the thread).
Kudos0

Re: Despite update, antivirus causes Snow Leopard to freeze

Posted: 01-Dec-2009 | 7:08PM · Permalink

Of the two lockups I had, only one of them actually left a diagnostic report.  I don't know if it's related to how the system locks up.  (It was completely unresponsive for me, and even holding the power button didn't have any effect.)

So, it's possible that a diagnostic report didn't get written, based on my experience with the system freezing while performing a system scan.

Kudos0

Re: Despite update, antivirus causes Snow Leopard to freeze

Posted: 03-Dec-2009 | 3:21AM · Permalink

is it is also possible that there is not a report because the crashing/locking-up is not due to interactions with parallels or boot camp?....what if the problem is still with the antivirus software?
Kudos0

Re: Despite update, antivirus causes Snow Leopard to freeze

Posted: 03-Dec-2009 | 1:16PM · Permalink

A crash report should always be written. That is done by the operating system when it detects the computer was improperly restarted. So even if the problem is with Norton AntiVirus, a crash report should be written.

However if the computer is freezing, instead of crashing, it's possible no crash report will be written by the kernel.

Although anything is possible, it's very likely this is still the interaction with Boot Camp/NTFS drivers. Apple is aware of the problem and has acknowledged there is an issue, but they never specify when things like this will be fixed, so unfortunately we can't really say anything further at this point. I'll try to keep people posted here.

In the mean time, turn off Auto Disk Scan in Norton AntiVirus Automatic Protection window. When performing full system scans in the Norton AntiVirus application, don't scan your Boot Camp volume/Parallels/VMWare volumes. When creating a scheduled scan, only select your Mac's boot drive, not the Boot Camp drive, when selecting the drives to scan. If you need more detailed information on this, post here and I'll be glad to help.

Ryan

Message Edited by ryan_mcgann on 12-03-2009 01:17 PM
Ryan McGann Technical Director Norton Business Unit, Symantec

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