# WTF, YouTube is now repeatedly crashing my Mac **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 26, 2014, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-youtube-is-now-repeatedly-crashing-my-mac/684645 "2014-03-26T23:29:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-youtube-is-now-repeatedly-crashing-my-mac/684645/1 "2014-03-26T23:29:01Z")
I have been a Mac Owner since 2004, and I could count on one hand the times the whole computer has crashed, requiring a restart. Could until I installed Mavericks. Now, in the course of a couple weeks, YouTube has crashed the entire machine about three times. WTF?!?! It has only happened when I have clicked on a YouTube video. It doesn’t load, I get the spinning beach ball, and then the whole thing freezes up. Very un-Mac-like. Totally fucking unacceptable. Has anyone else encountered this problem? Any fixes? Thanks for your advice! ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-youtube-is-now-repeatedly-crashing-my-mac/684645/2 "2014-03-26T23:36:17Z")
This is a potential symptom of a failing hard drive. Look in the Console, and see if you can pinpoint any obvious error messages. Also, it might be worth running Disk Utility and verifying the drive. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-youtube-is-now-repeatedly-crashing-my-mac/684645/3 "2014-03-26T23:48:22Z")
Maybe Dropbox is to blame? What do you think of the following: 3/26/14 7:26:22.970 PM NortonAutoProtect[82]: dynamic\_cast error 2: One or more of the following type\_info’s has hidden visibility. They should all have public visibility. 10IDecObject, 7CDecObj, 19IDecContainerObject. 3/26/14 7:26:58.000 PM kernel[0]: process Dropbox[286] thread 3069 caught burning CPU! It used more than 50% CPU (Actual recent usage: 73%) over 180 seconds. thread lifetime cpu usage 90.470844 seconds, (82.315002 user, 8.155842 system) ledger info: balance: 90006284702 credit: 90006284702 debit: 0 limit: 90000000000 (50%) period: 180000000000 time since last refill (ns): 123099410315 3/26/14 7:26:58.468 PM ReportCrash[312]: Invoking spindump for pid=286 thread=3069 percent\_cpu=73 duration=124 because of excessive cpu utilization 3/26/14 7:27:11.833 PM spindump[313]: Saved cpu\_resource.spin report for Dropbox version Dropbox 2.6.20 (2.6.20) to /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Dropbox\_2014-03-26-192711\_Macintosh.cpu\_resource.spin 3/26/14 7:27:52.333 PM mds[54]: (Normal) Volume: volume:0x7f81ec08b000 \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* Bootstrapped Creating a default store:0 SpotLoc:(null) SpotVerLoc:(null) occlude:0 /Volumes/firmwaresyncd.0DSZf5 ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-youtube-is-now-repeatedly-crashing-my-mac/684645/4 "2014-03-26T23:50:07Z")
I repaired permissions as well. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-youtube-is-now-repeatedly-crashing-my-mac/684645/5 "2014-03-26T23:52:38Z")
And is this something bad? 3/26/14 7:43:48.652 PM mdworker32[462]: (Warning) Import: import uti:com.microsoft.word.doc plugin:/Library/Spotlight/Microsoft Office.mdimporter uuid:BFA4E323-1889-11D9-82C8-000A959816BE 12.3.0 exceeded cpu use limits (12) after 12353 milliseconds sizing:0 - find suspect file using: sudo mdutil -t 382200 ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-youtube-is-now-repeatedly-crashing-my-mac/684645/6 "2014-03-27T00:06:44Z")
I would look at Norton and dropbox. Also, launch Activity monitor, and see if any process goes to 100% CPU when you play a Youtube video. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-youtube-is-now-repeatedly-crashing-my-mac/684645/7 "2014-03-27T02:01:08Z")
What browser are you using for YouTube? if not Chrome, try that. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-youtube-is-now-repeatedly-crashing-my-mac/684645/8 "2014-03-27T04:06:21Z")
But why would Firefox suddenly be a problem? ---
**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-youtube-is-now-repeatedly-crashing-my-mac/684645/9 "2014-03-27T04:41:24Z")
1. Disable Norton. 2. Make sure you have at least 4 gig or so of free space on your startup disk. 3. Try a different browser. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-youtube-is-now-repeatedly-crashing-my-mac/684645/10 "2014-03-27T04:43:03Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > But why would Firefox suddenly be a problem? By using a different browser we are attempting to diagnose whether FF is indeed the problem. Only once that’s established can we look at why that might be. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-youtube-is-now-repeatedly-crashing-my-mac/684645/11 "2014-03-27T05:12:20Z")
> [@tellyworth](#): > > 1. Make sure you have at least 4 gig or so of free space on your startup disk. How do I confirm this? Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-youtube-is-now-repeatedly-crashing-my-mac/684645/12 "2014-03-27T05:16:55Z")
Open a Finder window. Click on your Documents folder. It should show free space at the bottom of the window. Or, Apple Menu -\> About This Mac -\> More Info -\> Storage. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-youtube-is-now-repeatedly-crashing-my-mac/684645/13 "2014-03-27T05:22:42Z")
I have about 150 gigs free out of 250. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-youtube-is-now-repeatedly-crashing-my-mac/684645/14 "2014-03-27T07:00:28Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > I have been a Mac Owner since 2004 It’s not the same Mac, is it? Did you install Mavericks on a 10 year old Mac? ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-youtube-is-now-repeatedly-crashing-my-mac/684645/15 "2014-03-27T07:12:46Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > It’s not the same Mac, is it? Did you install Mavericks on a 10 year old Mac? Nooo, I have a MacBook Pro from 2012. Nice machine, never had any issues until now. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-youtube-is-now-repeatedly-crashing-my-mac/684645/16 "2014-03-27T09:23:19Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > Nooo, I have a MacBook Pro from 2012. Nice machine, never had any issues until now. Interesting. I have the same machine, and I’m having similar problems with YouTube. Not all the time, but enough to be a nuisance. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-youtube-is-now-repeatedly-crashing-my-mac/684645/17 "2014-03-27T10:20:50Z")
If disabling Dropbox doesn’t solve the problem try setting Youtube to use HTML5 instead of Flash [at this link](http://www.youtube.com/html5). ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-youtube-is-now-repeatedly-crashing-my-mac/684645/18 "2014-03-27T11:44:12Z")
Spinning beachball and then freeze can be symptomatic of a virtual memory issue. Hence the advice above to ensure there is enough free space on the boot disk. It could also be symptomatic of a device wait (possibly killing the VM system) , and thus the advice to check the disk is OK. But it can be symptomatic of the application going nuts and taking all the available memory. Mavericks has some aggressive new memory management techniques that may have some issues when confronted with a brain dead application. However there are a host of other possible issues. There were a bad batch of GPUs in some Macs a few years ago - they cause crashes and Apple replaced them. There can be interactions with other third party software you might have installed. The exact model of Mac, and configuration may matter, as well as any other software you have installed. Running the activity monitor where you can see it when you try to watch a video may help isolate what is going on. Not just CPU use, but memory can be important. The fact that you have a number of CPU burning programs detected does suggest there may be a more deep problem with your machine. I tend to have the activity monitor running constantly. The Dock icon turns into a CPU use graph, which makes for very easy detection of high CPU use. Flash is a constant problem. So the suggestion to swap to HTML5 is good. You may want to try using Safari as well to view a bad video, to isolate Firefox as potential problem. ---
**Author:** ![Cayuga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Cayuga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cayuga)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-youtube-is-now-repeatedly-crashing-my-mac/684645/19 "2014-03-27T15:15:35Z")
I dunno if this is related or not. About three days ago, while using my new(er) laptop, I found that the YouTube site looked completely different. Then, no matter which video I clicked on, I was told it couldn’t be played on a mobile device. I was presented two choices to click on, one of which was was something like “Save to replay later on a computer.” I can still play videos on my older laptop — both Macs, both using Safari. Go figure. ETA: I just remembered that I did some kind of a system update the other day — possibly (probably?) just before the problem arose. Hmmmm. ---
**Author:** ![Blakeyrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blakeyrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blakeyrat)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-youtube-is-now-repeatedly-crashing-my-mac/684645/20 "2014-03-27T19:36:38Z")
Just as a data point, a log stating that DropBox has high CPU usage doesn’t necessarily mean the problem is in DropBox’s code. All programs call-out to shared libraries of code, most of which are managed by the OS itself, and the problem could be located there. The fact that the same problem is showing up in other applications backs this up. It seems to me that the problem is certainly either hardware or driver related, in which case it’s time for a trip to the Apple Store to have them take a look at it. Even if you don’t have warranty coverage, they can usually give you good advice about how to move forward. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-youtube-is-now-repeatedly-crashing-my-mac/684645.md?page=2)