SystemUIServer Lockups
Posted November 20th, 2004 @ 12:42am by Erik J. Barzeski
SystemUIServer - which controls the top-right menu items (fast user switching, date and time, etc.) keeps locking up on me. I can't even kill -9 the PID. I looked around and some things pointed towards AirPort, but removing that menu item has not resolved the issue. I don't even care that it doesn't work very well, except that 1) I like to take screenshots, and 2) I like to know the correct time. Grrrr…
Running 10.3.6. Will hunt for a solution tomorrow or something…
Donate Life
Posted 20 Nov 2004 at 2:20am #
Do you use an iPod? I've seen this when I've had my iPod hooked in over firewire and it is fully charged. Once I remove the iPod everything goes back to normal.
Posted 16 Nov 2009 at 8:19pm #
😯 Jason, this bug is still around in 10.5.8. Fully charged iPod (3G in my case) attached via FireWire makes SystemUIServer hang. Disconnect the iPod and all returns to normal.
Posted 20 Nov 2004 at 2:45am #
Yep, I can vouch for the iPod hypothesis. I've heard rumblings that it's the Sync Server having some sort of trouble recognizing the iPod for immediate use with the iSync menu. Sure seems right to me. Unplug that iPod and all should be hunky dory.
Posted 20 Nov 2004 at 4:05am #
I've had the same problem.
Posted 20 Nov 2004 at 6:32am #
I'm getting some odd lockups, but in my case I think the hard drive is about to die. It's whirring something not good.
Posted 20 Nov 2004 at 9:11am #
What menu extras do you have?
Posted 20 Nov 2004 at 10:22am #
Bluetooth, AirPort, Volume, iSync, Date & Time, Input (Keyboard), FUS.
I just put volume there this morning - normally it's not there. I turned off the Adium duck yesterday but still had a freeze after that.
I'll leave the iPod unplugged from the computer. I've had it plugged in a few times. I don't leave it in the car anymore because it's chillier here in PA than in FL. 🙂
Posted 20 Nov 2004 at 10:47am #
Erik: have you checked if there is an additional menu extra that doesn't start any more (happens on my machine with every system update and Firewalk)? Have you already tried trashing com.apple.systemuiserver.plist and logout / login afterwards? Watched the System logs and crash logs? I would probably try to:
remove all menu extrastrash those prefsreboot
If that doesn't help, I would clean the caches, repair permissions and at last apply the 10.3.6 combo updater.
Posted 20 Nov 2004 at 10:54am #
Yes Ralph, of course I've done those. Basic troubleshooting.
Posted 20 Nov 2004 at 2:07pm #
I think it's probably the bluetooth daemon (blued) hanging. I had the same thing happen, and it went away as soon as I stopped leaving bluetooth on all the time. Take a look here and search for SystemUIServer.
Posted 20 Nov 2004 at 2:25pm #
It's not Bluetooth. Scott, you told me this the other day - had it been that, I wouldn't have posted a day or two later saying I still had the problem.
Removing the iPod from sitting on its dock has worked so far for me. For about six hours today. Previously it'd die within an hour of login.
Posted 21 Nov 2004 at 10:31pm #
I've had the same problem a few times. I'm runnign 10.3.6, and have the following in my tray:
* Quicksilver
* Scripts
* Volume
* iSync
* UPS
* Adium
* Keyboard
* Date & Time
* Salling Clicker
I do have bluetooth installed, but don't ahve the icon in the tray.
--Eric
Posted 24 Nov 2004 at 2:32am #
Have you sampled SystemUIServer? Grabbed a Shark profile? What does it look like?
Posted 24 Nov 2004 at 9:56am #
Removing the iPod from the dock has, thus far, fixed the problem. No SystemUIFreezes since then, when before I'd get two or so per day (right around sync time I imagine).
Posted 04 Dec 2004 at 10:22pm #
It's definately the Ipod. I just pulled mine off the dock and within 10 seconds SystemUI was unhung. No need to even logout/in...
Really wierd
Posted 15 Dec 2004 at 5:51pm #
systemuiserver hangs each time I import photos into my mac
Posted 09 Aug 2005 at 3:00pm #
I'm having the same problem but I think in my case, it's the bluetooth that's acting up. Is there a way for me to disable it manually? When I go to Sys Pref to configure it, or shut it down, it hangs and stops responding.
Posted 24 Aug 2005 at 6:36am #
Hi there, my colleague and myself run brand new G5 1.8gHz macs and we both have this problem that predominantly affects the use of the optical drive. The door refuses to open and I get the beach ball if try to use the top right hand menu. The solution I discovered (by trial and error) is to quit systemUIserver in activity monitor - this unfreezes the top right menu and we can open our optical drive door. I don't have an iPod, or anything , connected to me G5 so what's causing my freeze?
Posted 30 Nov 2005 at 3:23pm #
Mine is hung, too and it's due to an error in my iPod, which doesn't want to keep on importing songs (it gets stuck).
Posted 28 Mar 2006 at 4:40pm #
I know this is an old thread but I'll add my two cents in case anyone else finds it as I did (google).
I 'lost' everything at the top right corner of the screen, except Search and Norton (which I don't even remember enabling). Shutdown was hanging (power off option invoked) and restarts were slow. Checked Activity Monitor and saw SystemUIServer was hanging.
I looked down and unplugged the USB bluetooth on my keyboard. Boom--hang ended, Activity Monitor happy, and all the stuff at the top right reappeared.
Your mileage may vary.
Posted 18 May 2006 at 10:18am #
It's not the iPod. I have the same problem and it just started a few days ago right after installing Adium. I have the Adium menu item visible in the menu bar (I replaced the duck with an iChat-style icon available through Adium Xtras). The SystemUI hangs several times a day. I can force quit it in Activity Monitor, but it will hang again with an hour or so.
Posted 18 May 2006 at 10:29am #
I don't think it's Adium, but it could be. Also, William, bear in mind that this post was made in 2004, so I'm quite sure things have changed since then…
Posted 25 Aug 2006 at 11:39am #
my systemuiserver locks up all the time. i dont have blue tooth or an i pod. and when it locks up i cant kill it. in fact the comp just crashes i cant even restart i think it is related to my opticle drive as it only occurs when i insert a cd/dvd or try to eject cd/dvd or try to access cd from itunes. any comments would be helpfull...
Posted 27 Nov 2006 at 3:50pm #
Just happened to me when in iChat (think so). The clock was working, but both mouse AND keyboard went dead. The only think I could do was switch off the Mac.
Posted 27 Aug 2008 at 2:24pm #
Found this via Google while looking for a solution to my SystemUIServer (not responding) condition and thought I'd add my $0.02 to show that it's still relevant for 10.5.x systems.
After unplugging my [charged] iPod, the SystemUIServer process immediately started working again.
My menu items (in order from left to right):
PathFinder
DefaultFolder
Snard
MarcoPolo
SlimBatteryMonitor
Quicksilver
Bluetooth
SoundSource
ScriptMenu
Airport
iStatMenus (net, mem, cpu, time)
Spotlight
All items from Bluetooth to Spotlight showed the beachball when the cursor was over them. The ones to the left did not show the beachball. I did not try accessing any of the menus.
This hadn't happened before this morning with a charged iPod but I did have a problem syncing my iPod yesterday where the sync hung and I wasn't able to stop the sync, eject the iPod or quit (even force quit) iTunes. A system restart gave me problems with my home folder which is on another partition (false partition name folder in /Volumes) and after getting all things back in order, was able to sync the iPod -- but then I got this SystemUIServer problem. I think I'll try restoring the iPod to see if that doesn't cure the whole mess.
Hope this helps others.
Posted 08 Aug 2009 at 11:47am #
Thank Jim, that just helped me. I was noticing the clock frozen in the middle of the night in my menu bar each day and the systemuiserver process not responding. I had recently plugged a couple ipods into my imac in addition to my regular iphone. One is an old firewire and the other a touch. As soon as I pulled the ipods off the clock updated and the menu unfroze. BTW, I just updated this imac to 10.5.8 so if this is a software bug it hasn't been addressed by Apple.
Posted 05 Aug 2010 at 10:02pm #
What an old thread. SystemUIServer just hung on me a little while ago and I dont have a iPod/Pad/Phone attached.
I'm running 10.6.4 and I was able to kill the process, but spotlight and a few other MenuExtras have disappeared.
Posted 23 Mar 2011 at 2:59am #
Running 10.6.7.
SystemUIServer crashed as a sync with a very old firewire iPod came to a finish, once killed it did not re-start correctly. Any program attempting to communicate with the iPod also froze. When I yanked the firewire cable, everything came back correctly.
What the hell, how is this still a bug?