We, and several others, are seeing major performance issues on El Capitan 10.11.6 after installing Security Update 2016-003 (OS build 15G1212). The issue is with WindowServer going "out to lunch" after some period of uptime. The issue causes GUI freezes and system lags until the Mac is restarted.
Specifically:
a) the user will be using the system, and the GUI will appear to "freeze" for some period of time (mouse will still move, but nothing appears to respond to mouse or keyboard input)
b) eventually, the system will "catch up" and all queued UI actions (window drag/close, etc.) will happen at once
c) system will still appear to lag intermittently until it's restarted - only fix I've found so far (uninstalled AV/all third-party kexts/LaunchAgents/LaunchDaemons, cleared caches, etc, no change in behavior)
d) you'll find WindowServer userspace_watchdog_timeout.spin logs in /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports. The logs don't really say much.
watchdogd[569]: [watchdog_daemon] @(_wd_daemon_service_thread) - service (com.apple.WindowServer) reported as unresponsive
spindump[2113]: Saved userspace_watchdog_timeout.spin report for WindowServer version ??? (???) to /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/WindowServer_2017-01-03-152435_computername.userspace_watchdog_timeout.spin
[2113]: Removing excessive log: file:///Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/WindowServer_2016-12-20-112659_computername.userspace_watchdog_timeout.spin
watchdogd[569]: [watchdog_daemon] @(__wd_service_report_unresponsive_block_invoke) - spindump gathered for (com.apple.WindowServer) at (/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/WindowServer_2017-01-03-152435_computername.userspace_watchdog_timeout.spin)
watchdogd[569]: [watchdog_daemon] @(_wd_daemon_service_thread) - service (com.apple.WindowServer) reported as unresponsive
WindowServer[331]: send_datagram_available_ping: pid 2024 failed to act on a ping it dequeued before timing out.
WindowServer[331]: disable_update_timeout: UI updates were forcibly disabled by application "SystemUIServer" for over 1.00 seconds. Server has re-enabled them.
WindowServer[331]: common_reenable_update: UI updates were finally reenabled by application "SystemUIServer" after 4.22 seconds [0.24fps] (server forcibly re-enabled them after 3.88 seconds
Per: Apple Discussions I do see
kernel[0]: stalling for detach from IntelAccelerator
kernel[0]: stalling for detach from IntelAccelerator
on my rMBP at the relevant times.
Also see discussion of it here (since many other people are reporting/experiencing this, I do not believe it to be anything specific to our environment):
More Apple Discussions
Macintouch
Suspect there are bugs in the updated graphics drivers in SecUpd2016-003. I've examined the pkg and there most definitely are updated graphics drivers in the update.
We have opened a case with AppleCare Enterprise on this issue (100105893834). If anyone is seeing this in their environment, and has AppleCare, please open a case and reference the one above.
We have scientists and developers working with large data sets and having to reboot in the middle of work is problematic. We also have a number of users that access their work systems remotely, and we require smart card login. If the user must reboot they need assistance from IT in order to get logged back in, and sometimes they need to reboot outside of official support hours.
So this issue, which we did not discover in testing since it takes a few days to happen, is becoming very problematic for us, and many others. Strongly recommend that if you have not applied the security update, that you do not install it until this situation is resolved or addressed in a further update.
--Robert Hammen
Sr Mac Admin, NIH
