Karabiner-Elements: Karabiner Elements causes Apple silicon MacBook Air to crash during system shutdown

In my opinion, if the Apple API that Karabiner is using is bugged and is causing M1 Macs to kernel panic on shut down/restart, then they should not be using that API. It is the responsibility of the developers to report the bugged API to Apple.

It is ludicrous for the devs to just shrug and say “We know that our app is bugged but it’s Apple’s fault because their API is broken”.

Why on earth would you use an API that you know for a fact is broken? The app used to work fine, and now you want to use the new API but it’s bugged and causes kernel panics. The solution is to lobby Apple to fix the API and in the meantime make sure your app works - even if this means not using the new API.

You’re talking about awesome Open Source Software as if you paid big $$$ to use it - tekezo is already working on this Issue and you are free not to use Karabiner Elements if you don’t want this kind of problem to occur on your Mac. Sorry, but I think that this is highly unfair towards the dev. Sorry for posting something that has nothing to do with the Issue (FWIW my MBP M1 didn’t need a restart in the last 40 days so I’m fine and glad to use Karabiner Elements).

In my opinion, if the Apple API that Karabiner is using is bugged and is causing M1 Macs to kernel panic on shut down/restart, then they should not be using that API. It is the responsibility of the developers to report the bugged API to Apple.

It is ludicrous for the devs to just shrug and say “We know that our app is bugged but it’s Apple’s fault because their API is broken”.

Why on earth would you use an API that you know for a fact is broken? The app used to work fine, and now you want to use the new API but it’s bugged and causes kernel panics. The solution is to lobby Apple to fix the API and in the meantime make sure your app works - even if this means not using the new API.

I am glad someone else also hit this issue. I reported it here: https://github.com/pqrs-org/Karabiner-Elements/issues/2513 I hope it can be fixed.

Karabiner-Elements is no longer related to the kernel, so the kernel panic is caused by either macOS or some other third vendor application issue.

Please file an issue to Apple BTS about kernel panic.

I get the same problem on my M1 Mac Mini. I reported it in #2513, but it’s closed over there, so I’ll report it here as well.

My report is at the following link. https://github.com/pqrs-org/Karabiner-Elements/issues/2513#issuecomment-731616784

Yup MBP M1 8/256GB Big Sur 11.0.1. Same deal. Was about to RMA the MacBook before I realised this could be the cause, uninstalled it and boom no more errors.

#2672

In my opinion, if the Apple API that Karabiner is using is bugged and is causing M1 Macs to kernel panic on shut down/restart, then they should not be using that API. It is the responsibility of the developers to report the bugged API to Apple.

It is ludicrous for the devs to just shrug and say “We know that our app is bugged but it’s Apple’s fault because their API is broken”.

Why on earth would you use an API that you know for a fact is broken? The app used to work fine, and now you want to use the new API but it’s bugged and causes kernel panics. The solution is to lobby Apple to fix the API and in the meantime make sure your app works - even if this means not using the new API.

I fully agree with you.

+1. The same issue on my M1 MacBook Pro with 16GB RAM / 2TB SSD. Big Sur 11.0.1

+1. The computer I got my wife (M1 MBP) is having the same issue. 16GB RAM with 2TB SSD is the configuration.

In my opinion, the power (and responsiveness and reliability) of Karabiner Elements is the fact that it is a low-level HID driver implementation. As agentk suggested here, I’m just ignoring the panic until 1) it gets fixed, or 2) we’re told it can’t be fixed and there’s a need to find alternatives. I reboot infrequently enough that I barely notice.

i’m not even on big sur, but kernel panics and sleep-wake failure came back after a recent security update to Catalina.

It’ll happen once the machine goes into deep sleep (i.e., keep the lid closed for like an hour).

macOS is just awful to use now. I don’t care if the M1 outperforms this or that chip if the operating system is less reliable than Windows 95 with a corrupt ram stick

Same issue for me

I can confirm I am also experiencing this, the system restarts itself after shutdown with an error.

MBP M1 16GB/512GB SSD. Big Sur 11.0.1

i’d recommend reporting the kernel panic at https://feedbackassistant.apple.com

My M1MBP(16G, 2T, BigSur11.0.1) has same issue. After installing Karabiner, everytime shutting down, I see pink screen.

I get the same issue on my M1 MacBookPro （8GB 512GB）

macOS Big Sur 11.0.1 (20B29) Karabiner-Elements 13.1.0 / 13.1.1 beta

l installed is Karabiner-Elements, only. After stopping the Karabiner-Elements, restarting macOS also crashes.

Uninstalling Karabiner-Elements will not cause this issue.

And, When updating Karabiner-Elements from 13.0.0 to 13.1.0, the reboot after disabling the drivers did not cause any problems. Therefore, l think that the issue is due to the drivers.

I hope this issue will be solved.

Just reporting that I have the exact same issue as schram has described above.

I’m also on Big Sur 11.1, using an M1 MacBook Pro 16GB/1TB. System hangs for a second on shut down and restart, screen flashes pink, then restarts (even if Shut Down was chosen). On logging back in I get a similar kernel panic report as posted by @xiao-zang.

I did a full wipe of my laptop (not a big deal because I only got it a few days ago), and checked that shut down and restart work with no kernel panics. Then installed Karabiner, allowed the driver in System Prefs but didn’t do anything else with the app (Karabiner was the only programme installed other than the default apps) and the kernel panics came back on every shut down and restart. I uninstall the app (using the button in the Misc Tab) and the kernel panics go away, my machine shuts down properly again.

I also did some testing on the install process - it seems to be that allowing the driver in System Prefs causes the panics to start happening (unsurprisingly). When I install Karabiner, open the app, and get the pop-up to allow the driver in System Prefs (“.Karabiner-VirtualHIDDevice-Manager”) if I ignore this and shut down, the system doesn’t kernel panic. If I then allow this driver in System Prefs, the kernel panics come back.

Hope this info can help with fixing the issue.

For joix97: “The problem persists on Mac Mini M1 16GB RAM” is true? 8GB RAM is OK?

I have only 16 GB RAM Mac Mini M1 and it still has this problem on Big Sur 11.2 with Karabiner Elements 13.3.0. I don’t know anything about 8GB Mac Mini M1 version

I have the 8GB M1 Mac mini. Problem persists (Big Sur 11.2, Karabiner 13.3.0)

I believe this should be a solution for this issue, which I also encountered on my M1 Mac Mini with Karabiner 13.1.0.

In brief, use HammerSpoon instead.

First, download and install HammerSpoon: http://www.hammerspoon.org/

Then, edit the configuration file ‘init.lua’ following this thread to meet your need: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/43383348/remap-apostrophe-to-other-keys-using-hammerspoon/

This works for me perfectly 😃

BTW, below is my configuration:

local function keyCode(key, modifiers)
   modifiers = modifiers or {}
   return function()
      hs.eventtap.keyStroke(modifiers, key)
   end
end

local function remapKey(modifiers, key, keyCode)
   hs.hotkey.bind(modifiers, key, keyCode, nil, keyCode)
end

remapKey({"cmd"}, "escape", keyCode("`", {"cmd"}))
remapKey({"option"}, "escape", keyCode("`", {"fn"}))

I have this issue with my M1 MBP too, running 11.1 Beta 2. Have uninstalled and periodically checking in here to see if it has been fixed yet.

You can also click “Subscribe” on the right side of github issues to get updates for particular issues.

I also get this issue on M1 Macs. Please fix.

Just confirming the same results on an M1 MacBook Air, fresh install and the only other software yet installed is vlc, Lastpass, MS Edge Canary, and vscode. Uninstalling allows my MBA to reboot without a panic and gives me back my startup chime. Really don’t want to uninstall, though.

Just had an update today for my macOS to 11.2.3 and updated Karabiner to 13.3.8 (beta), and I can confirm that if I quit Karabiner first, I can shutdown my Mac now, but if I shut down without quitting Karabiner I still see the pink screen and it restarts instead of shutdown. It’s some progress, but it would be nice if you didn’t have to quit Karabiner and shutdown would take care of that.

I’m keeping trying to find a way to avoid trigging the problem (probably, a macOS HID driver issue or a macOS DriverKit issue), but there is no guarantee that there is such a way, so it is better that Apple to fix the kernel panic issue.

what @tekezo is saying is now this is using an official apple API rather than being a kernel extension it cannot directly cause kernel panics. The kernel panic is caused by something in apple code which karabiner is triggering. It is up to apple to ensure their official apis don’t cause kernel panics.

I posted this problem as following page; https://github.com/pqrs-org/Karabiner-Elements/issues/2607

I experienced this problem just after installing Big Sur without any other application or drivers. “Karabiner-Elements is no longer related to the kernel, so the kernel panic is caused by either macOS or some other third vendor application issue.” is not true!

Karabiner-Elements is no longer related to the kernel, so the kernel panic is caused by either macOS or some other third vendor application issue.

Please file an issue to Apple BTS about kernel panic.

@tekezo At this point several people have detailed how installing Karabiner causes a kernel panic on shut down/restart on M1 Macs, with some even including the kernel panic crash reports. And yet you still say it’s not Karabiner causing the issue? Get yourself an M1 Mac and see if it works out the box, then install Karabiner and try to shut down your computer, then when it kernel panics and restarts maybe come back to this thread to edit your comment so you’re no longer spreading misinformation. It has nothing to do with third party apps - I have experienced kernel panics when the only thing installed on my M1 MacBook Pro other than the stock apps is Karabiner.

We understand that Karabiner is no longer related to the kernel, that doesn’t mean it’s incapable of causing kernel panics - as evidence by the fact that it is causing kernel panics.

As I detailed in my earlier post, it is something to do with the keyboard and mouse driver one has to load when setting up Karabiner (“.Karabiner-VirtualHIDDevice-Manager”). Enabling this is when kernel panics begin to occur.

Any update/workaround on this issue? Is it the same on the newest Big Sur beta?

it’s fixed for me on M1 Mac mini with macOS 11.2 RC

also having the same issue with M1 MBA 16GB/512GB

Having same issue here, M1 MBP (16GB, 2TB), Big Sur 11.0.1

Also experiencing this issue. Issue persists in Safe Mode, and in a test user account with no other 3rd party apps installed. Uninstalled Karabiner Elements to resolve. Logs basically identical to original poster.

MBA M1 16GB | 512GB | macOS 11.0.1 (20B29)

It seems there is improvement on the latest Big Sur beta, 11.3 Beta (20E5186d). I uninstalled Karabiner, switch to beta channel and install Karabiner 13.3.0 again. There is no more crash during shutdown and reboot, but it is hard to say if the issue is resolved for good and in all circumstances. Some things like sleep via Alfred still don’t work (#2519) for example.

This problem fixed for me after updating to macOS Big Sur 11.2.2 & Karabiner-Elements 13.3.1. M1 MacBook Pro with 16GB RAM & 2TB SSD. Hope this useful.

How did you update to Karabiner-Elements 13.3.1? Is that beta? I just updated now to Big Sur 11.2.2 and my Karabiner-Elements was 13.3.0 latest version, but I updated to the beta which is now 13.3.2, but the problem still persists. When I try to shut down, I see the pink screen and the system restarts instead of shutting down. My system is MacBook Pro M1 chip with 8 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD

For me, quitting Karabiner does not work as I still get the Kernel panic.

Could somebody from the “quitting-works” group confirm, if launchctl bootout gui/<id>/ /Library/LaunchAgents/org.pqrs.karabiner.karabiner_console_user_server.plist is working for them where <id> is your user id? In addition, could somebody execute osascript -e 'tell application "System Events"' -e 'shut down' -e 'end tell' from the command line as well after quitting Karabiner and report the result?

I also found that hard-shutting down the system with sudo shutdown -h now will not cause this issue, so I suspect there is some launchctl order issue going on.

@fes3507 Where are you getting 13.3.1 from?

macOS Big Sur 11.2 Update is available. Maybe that will help. Downloading it now.

From the problem posts and reports, this problem is easily found just after installing! I can not understand that 13.3.0 is released! For developers, do you confirm the quality of this release and review the same problem already occured in 13.1.0.

Hey @tekezo i know this thread has a lot of frustration in it, but regardless of whether the issue is MacOS fault or caused by Karabiner I just wanted to thank you for all the effort and time you have put into making this product. Being able to customise my Mac has made it so much for fun to use. 😊

Same here(Mac mini M1 base model), it appeared after updating to 11.1. It was fine on 11.0.1 for me.

I’m using M1 Mac in the following combination, removing either i1Profiler or Karabiner solved the problem. Thanks a lot @g8rh8r ! (i1Profiler isn’t working anyway so removing that is OK in my case)

• Mac OS 11.1 (released today)
• Karabiner-Elements 13.1.0
• i1Profiler 3.3.0

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UPDATE: kernel crashes came back now 🤢