iOS 14 simulators crashing & rebooting

Question

Created Jun ’20

Replies 26

Boosts 0

Views 8.7k

Participants 12

My iOS 14 simulators are constantly crashing/rebooting. Console shows a crash inside "NRPairedDeviceRegistry waitForPairingStorePathPairingID" whereas Xcode logs "XPC connection interrupted
Message from debugger: Terminated due to signal 9"

I have tried different simulators, deleted and reset existing one, re-installed the Xcode 12 beta 1 but it's still happening.

Any suggestions how to use the simulators?

Code Block Crashed Thread:				0	Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread
Exception Type:				EXC_CRASH (SIGKILL)
Exception Codes:			 0x0000000000000000, 0x0000000000000000
Exception Note:				EXC_CORPSE_NOTIFY
Termination Reason:		Namespace LIBXPC, Code 0x4
Application Specific Information:
CoreSimulator 725.10 - Device: iPhone SE (2nd generation) (CAA00201-7B3F-4663-A855-F927586BDDD2) - Runtime: iOS 14.0 (18A5301v) - DeviceType: iPhone SE (2nd generation)
Thread 0 Crashed:: Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread
0	 libsystem_kernel.dylib					0x00007fff5bb62e36 semaphore_wait_trap + 10
1	 libdispatch.dylib						 	0x00007fff20104244 _dispatch_sema4_wait + 16
2	 libdispatch.dylib						 	0x00007fff20104743 _dispatch_semaphore_wait_slow + 98
3	 com.apple.private.NanoRegistry	0x00007fff52e2ff74 -[NRPairedDeviceRegistry waitForPairingStorePathPairingID:] + 175
4	 com.apple.BulletinDistributorCompanion	0x00007fff47ede0b5 -[BLTSettingSyncServer init] + 260
5	 com.apple.BulletinDistributorCompanion	0x00007fff47eb41f8 -[BLTSettingSyncInternal connect] + 29
6	 com.apple.BulletinDistributorCompanion	0x00007fff47ecf1f4 -[BLTSettingSync initWithSectionConfiguration:queue:watchKitAppList:] + 134
7	 com.apple.BulletinDistributorCompanion	0x00007fff47ec4e34 -[BLTBulletinDistributor init] + 660
8	 com.apple.BulletinDistributorCompanion	0x00007fff47ec4b8b __43+[BLTBulletinDistributor sharedDistributor]_block_invoke + 16
9	 libdispatch.dylib						 	0x00007fff20103dac _dispatch_client_callout + 8
10	libdispatch.dylib						 	0x00007fff20105001 _dispatch_once_callout + 20
11	com.apple.BulletinDistributorCompanion	0x00007fff47ec4b79 +[BLTBulletinDistributor sharedDistributor] + 46
12	bulletindistributord						0x000000010eb16388 0x10eb15000 + 5000
13	libdyld.dylib								 	0x00007fff20253941 start + 1

Answered by mbuchetics in 614707022

It looks like something is odd with device_set.plist. After I deleted the simulators, they are still in that plist as "Default Devices". After I removed them from the plist manually, the Xcode 12 simulator seems to be running fine again.

Boost

Answer 1

Developer Tools Engineer OP

Apple

Jun ’20

If you haven't already, please file a new issue via Feedback Assistant (and post the FB number here for reference).

0

Answer 2

Developer Tools Engineer OP

Apple

Jun ’20

Yes, please file a new issue with Feedback Assistant. When you do, please be sure to attach the output of xcrun simctl diagnose to the issue so we can see what's going on. Thanks!!

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Answer 3

mbuchetics OP

Jun ’20

Thank you for looking into this. The issue is FB7756203 and I just attached the output of the diagnose tool.

0

Answer 4

Developer Tools Engineer OP

Apple

Jun ’20

mbuchetics: can you clarify if this is the entire simulator or just some processes crashing in a loop?

0

Answer 5

mbuchetics OP

Jun ’20

Simulator.app itself did not crash, but rather iOS 14 inside. Even with no iOS app running (only starting Simulator.app with any iOS 14 device) it would end up in a crash & reboot loop. Looking at the diagnose file myself I noticed that there were a bunch of missing simulators. So I uninstalled all Xcode versions (10.3, 11.4, 11.5 and 12.0-beta1), deleted ~/Library/Developer and re-installed Xcode 11.5 and 12.0-beta1. Everything seems to be working fine now!

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Answer 6

mbuchetics OP

Jun ’20

After I deleted all installed Xcode versions and re-installed only Xcode 12-beta1 and Xcode 11.5, everything was working again. But after deleting some simulators from Xcode 11.5, the problem reappeared. I attached another diagnose to the FB issue.

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Answer 7

mbuchetics OP

Jun ’20

Accepted Answer

It looks like something is odd with device_set.plist. After I deleted the simulators, they are still in that plist as "Default Devices". After I removed them from the plist manually, the Xcode 12 simulator seems to be running fine again.

0

Answer 8

mbuchetics OP

Jun ’20

Ok, didn't want to mark that as a solution ... somehow Xcode 11.5 messes up the device_set.plist and Xcode 12 is not happy with that.

0

Answer 9

Developer Tools Engineer OP

Apple

Jun ’20

Thanks for following up on this!! It sounds like you're able to reproduce this still. Would you be able to add some detailed reproduction steps here and/or in feedback assistant for exactly what steps you're taking, so we can try the same steps? Clarifying how you're deleting and reinstalling the Xcode versions, how you're launching Xcode and Simulator after that, how you're deleting Simulators would be really helpful in trying to nail down what's going wrong here. Thank you!!

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Answer 10

mbuchetics OP

Jun ’20

Ok, trying to remember all the steps:

Deleted all existing Xcode versions from the Applications (Xcode 10.3, 11.4, 11.5, 12-beta1)
sudo killall -9 com.apple.CoreSimulator.CoreSimulatorService
Deleted the entire ~/Library/Developer folder
Rebooted macOS
Installed Xcode 12-beta1 and started the Fruta Sample to verify that iOS 14 simulators were working (mainly using iPhone 11 Pro simulator) -> success!
Installed Xcode 11.5 and started one of my apps to verify iOS 13.5 simulators were working -> success
Went to Xcode 11.5 -> Devices and Simulators and deleted a lot of simulators that I don't use, only keeping a few
Used Xcode 12-beta1 again, started the Fruta sample with an iOS 14 simulator (iPhone 11 Pro) and it crashed again (+ reboot loop)
Ran xcrun simctl diagnose, noticed that it was again complaining about a missing default simulator
Looked at device_set.plist (inside ~/Library/Developer/CoreSimulator/Devices) and noticed a lot of simulators that I don't have any more (when running xcrun simctl list they don't show up, everything looks ok there)
Edited device_set.plist to only include simulators that xcrun simctl list shows -> success, Xcode 12 simulators seem to be working again!
After using Xcode 11.5 again, somehow device_set.plist gets modified again (without me adding & deleting any simulators) and again includes a lot of iOS 12.4 and older iOS 13 simulators. xcrun simctl list does not show those. However, so far, the iOS 14 simulators appear to be working fine.

1

Answer 11

Developer Tools Engineer OP

Apple

Jun ’20

Awesome, thank you so much for the detail!!! I'll see if we can reproduce this internally.

0

Answer 12

Developer Tools Engineer OP

Apple

Jun ’20

Sorry, just had one more thought, if you could attach the device_set.plist, maybe named device_set-xc115.plist that you have after running Xcode-11.5 and the one you see from running Xcode-12-beta1, maybe named device_set-xc12b1.plist, in Feedback Assistant, that would be a huge help. Thanks again @mbuchetics!!

0

Answer 13

mbuchetics OP

Jun ’20

I renamed the existing device_set.plist and started Xcode 11.5, later Xcode 12. This did not create any new file. However, after I rebooted macOS, I ended up with a new device_set.plist which looks like it only contains the simulators that I have in Xcode 11.5 and 12-beta1. The file is attached in the Feedback Assistant.

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Answer 14

mbuchetics OP

Jun ’20

Nevermind, renaming/deleting device_set.plist caused Xcode to recreate the simulators and I ended up with a lot of duplicated devices. Also, iOS 14 is again crashing and rebooting within the simulator :( Going to re-install everything again and not touch anything ...

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Answer 15

LoneRanger OP

Jul ’20

Any chance you have Sherlock installed? I was running into a similar issue of the iOS 14 simulators crashing and restarting every few seconds. I quit the Sherlock app and the crashes stopped. I restarted Sherlock to verify and the crashes started happening again.

4

Answer 16

DrMickeyLauer OP

Jul ’20

Please make sure to report this to the Sherlock team.

1

Answer 17

Markith OP

Aug ’20

Anyone still experiencing this? I'm having similar issues with all beta versions. Tried everything suggested here and although I can get to a point where springboard isn't crashing repeatedly, I cannot get the app to fully launch. The closest I've gotten is it getting stuck at the loading screen forever.

0

Answer 18

Markith OP

Aug ’20

Followed all the steps listed by mbuchetics and couldn't fully solve my issues. Springboard finally stopped crashing repeatedly, but I still couldn't fully load my app, it would hang on the loading screen. Followed all steps by mbuchetics again and also reset SMC. Finally everything is working again!

1

Answer 19

PatD OP

Sep ’20

I've been experiencing a similar crash ever with Xcode 12 (and only 12) for months now. I included the output of the command and confirmed it includes numerous crash reports with various iOS 14 widgets. FB8737982 for reference.

1

Answer 20

rshuston OP

Sep ’20

I'm having the same problem, and it's driving me insane! The iOS 14 simulator is the worst offender, where multiple daemon processes seem to crash when the simulator finishes launch, and then again when the simulator is closed. I reverted to using an iOS 13.5 simulator and, although I do indeed experience less crashes, they are still occur and are similar (they're all SimulatorTrampoline related). It's almost as if there's some common code in the daemons that is not properly checking the existence of source/destination objects before trying to interact and so you get a crash. I've submitted my sysdiagnose and simdiagnose reports, as well as examples in FB8702058, so hopefully Apple is able to figure things out.

I can get the following sequence to reliably happen:

With no simulator running, start Xcode 12 and load project.
Use the iPhone SE 2nd Gen iOS 14 simulator and run the app.
Once the simulator starts and completes its startup operations, you’ll get the following crashes: CalendarWidgetExtension, NewsTag, NewsToday2.
The app will run. Depending on your app composition, you will probably get more simulator daemon crashes.
Terminate the app.
Terminate Xcode.
Terminate the simulator. After a time (15 seconds?) you’ll get another crash: bulletindistributord. You may get other crashes when the simulator closes, but bulletindistributord is always the last.

The simulator instability began for me in the Xcode 11 line, where you'd routinely get maild crashes in the simulators. And this happened across multiple machines, each with different dev environments, so it's not just an isolate case for me. But Xcode 12 is now completely infected by the crashes.

2

Answer 21

mcebrian OP

Sep ’20

Having the exact same problem in both of my machines. iMac 5k and MBP @ 2018:

I can get the following sequence to reliably happen:

Start Xcode 12 and create a new project (or load project)

Use any iOS 14 simulator and run the app.
Once the simulator starts and completes its startup operations, you’ll get the following crashes: CalendarWidgetExtension, NewsTag, NewsToday2.
The app will run. Depending on your app composition, you will probably get more simulator daemon crashes.
Terminate the simulator. After a time (15 seconds?) you’ll get another crash: bulletindistributord. You may get other crashes when the simulator closes, but bulletindistributord is always the last.

I removed Xcode and /Developer and preferences.
Tried with both versions (App Store) and from Dev. downloads. Same behavior.

Please, this is driving me crazy...

2

Answer 22

TomE OP

Sep ’20

I have also some simulator processes constantly crashing - Xcode 12 with CalendarWidget et al, Xcode 11 some internal daemons - but I guess this is another issue than for the OP.

Wiping with xcrun simctl delete all and re-instantiating runtimes doesn't help.

1

Answer 23

rshuston OP

Sep ’20

@mcebrian: I'm so glad you confirmed the same behavior I'm experiencing. I've been searching across the internet ever since Xcode 11.5 started these crashes and couldn't find anything. I'm glad it's not just me.

1

Answer 24

mcebrian OP

Oct ’20

@rshuston The only workaround I could find:

1) Create a new user in your mac.
2) The problem will be solved as the user library will be different. Which plist is causing the simulator to do this? Unknown for the moment.

0

Answer 25

HugoSay OP

Oct ’20

Tanks to the people who mentioned Sherlock.
After quitting the Sherlock app it started working properly again!

I think the issue comes from the fact I was using a deprecated version.

1