This week I have unfortunately received in the service area a new Macbook Pro 13” model with the Intel HD4000 graphics chip set. The customer had brought the unit into us complaining of frequent kernel panics when online. After receiving the unit and running some preliminary testing, all of which gave the machine a clean bill of health, I started to investigate the Console logs seeking the reason behind the abhorrent behavior.
A clipping of the logs is presented below:
Thu Jun 21 00:08:16 2012
panic(cpu 2 caller 0xffffff80002c4794): Kernel trap at 0xffffff7f816c69b1, type 14=page fault, registers:
CR0: 0×0000000080010033, CR2: 0xffffff8094414e54, CR3: 0×0000000051bc3028, CR4: 0×00000000001606e0
RAX: 0xffffff7f816c6a84, RBX: 0×0000000000000077, RCX: 0xffffff8094414e4c, RDX: 0×0000000000c481ea
RSP: 0xffffff807f2ab9b0, RBP: 0xffffff807f2ab9c0, RSI: 0xffffff8013819800, RDI: 0xffffff800ef51000
R8: 0×0000000000000075, R9: 0xffffff7f81720380, R10: 0xffffff807f2ab92c, R11: 0xffffff807f2ab930
R12: 0xffffff800d1f2288, R13: 0xffffff800ef51000, R14: 0xffffff806a5f0000, R15: 0xffffff800ef51000
RFL: 0×0000000000010282, RIP: 0xffffff7f816c69b1, CS: 0×0000000000000008, SS: 0×0000000000000010
CR2: 0xffffff8094414e54, Error code: 0×0000000000000002, Faulting CPU: 0×2
Backtrace (CPU 2), Frame : Return Address
0xffffff807f2ab660 : 0xffffff8000220792
0xffffff807f2ab6e0 : 0xffffff80002c4794
0xffffff807f2ab890 : 0xffffff80002da55d
0xffffff807f2ab8b0 : 0xffffff7f816c69b1
0xffffff807f2ab9c0 : 0xffffff7f816caf7d
0xffffff807f2abb00 : 0xffffff7f816c7ed4
0xffffff807f2abb60 : 0xffffff800065593e
0xffffff807f2abb80 : 0xffffff800065621a
0xffffff807f2abbe0 : 0xffffff80006569bb
0xffffff807f2abd20 : 0xffffff80002a3f08
0xffffff807f2abe20 : 0xffffff8000223096
0xffffff807f2abe50 : 0xffffff80002148a9
0xffffff807f2abeb0 : 0xffffff800021bbd8
0xffffff807f2abf10 : 0xffffff80002af140
0xffffff807f2abfb0 : 0xffffff80002dab5e
Kernel Extensions in backtrace:
com.apple.driver.AppleIntelHD4000Graphics(7.2.8)[6B02D782-A79F-399C-81FD-353EBFF2AB81]@0xffffff7f816be000->0xffffff7f81724fff
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.7)[C0404427-3360-36B4-B483-3C9F0C54A3CA]@0xffffff7f80847000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport(2.3.4)[474FE7E9-5C79-3AA4-830F-262DF4B6B544]@0xffffff7f80cbd000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(2.3.4)[EF26EBCF-7CF9-3FC7-B9AD-6C0C27B89B2B]@0xffffff7f80c84000
BSD process name corresponding to current thread: Google Chrome He
Mac OS version:
11E2620
Looking through the logs, all four kernel panics had the same basic information. Other than the core that faulted to cause the panic, the process remains the same, Chrome. Looking through the various chat boards, this is an issue that many have voiced concerns about. With the move to sandboxing of applications, why can Chrome kernel panic a system? Secondarily, what are Google and the Chrome developers doing to resolve this issue? Until we know more or until a new version of Chrome is released, I would have to say Chrome is not recommended for use with the HD4000 graphics chipsets.