Anki Interfering with Mac HID. Restart & Crashing

Anki Help
1

I’ve been experiencing repeated macOS restarts and kernel panics with the following error in the panic log. I’ve gone to 3 difference places, including Apple, trying to figure out what’s wrong with my computer (even got my whole computer wiped in the process), only for the issue to persist.

IOUserServer(com.apple.driverkit.AppleUserHIDDrivers) has crashed too many times

After some research, I found multiple Apple forum posts from other users with the same panic message, and oddly enough, they all had Anki, and in some cases, use an 8BitDo controller (as I do).This suggests there may be an interaction between Anki (possibly via an add-on or input polling feature) and macOS’s HID driver, especially when a game controller is connected.Could you please investigate whether Anki or any of its add-ons:

  • Polls HID devices (keyboards, mice, game controllers) at a low level

  • Uses any third-party HID or input libraries that could trigger this crash

  • Has known compatibility issues with macOS 15 and Bluetooth/USB controllers

I can provide full panic logs, if helpful.

Other ppl w same issue:

2

Do the crashes stop if you disconnect the controller? Do you have any add-ons installed inside Anki, or external programs running that are monitoring the controller?

3

No, I started having this issue before I got the controller, so I’m pretty sure it’s just Anki. The issue persists even when the controller isn’t connected.

5

Would appreciate any help with looking into this as my MCAT is in a month and it’s getting to the point where I can’t even have Anki open without my Mac crashing

6

Could you please provide more information about the issue?

  • What is the specific behavior you are seeing? When does the crash/restart occur?
  • What are the details of your computer (model, processor, etc.)?
  • What operating system are you using?
  • What Anki version are you using?
  • What Anki addons do you have installed?
  • Does the problem occur when Anki is run in safe mode?
  • Have you ever been able to run Anki on this computer without seeing this issue?

For more general troubleshooting, you might want to try:

  • Unplug all USB devices and hubs from your computer (except for absolutely necessary devices, like mouse and keyboard), then see if the problem still occurs.
  • Disable Bluetooth, and see if the problem still occurs.
7

  1. Specific behavior: Mac restarts unexpectedly (will turn off then restart and say “Your mac restarted because of a problem”), usually while Anki is open. Sometimes it happens mid-review, sometimes while the app is idle in the background. Crashreport is here: https://pastes.io/mac-kernel-crash-report

  2. When it occurs: Earliest occurence I remember is July 7th. Got the controller the first week of June. Honestly on second thought I think it happens more often when my 8BitDo controller is connected via USBC + Contanki add on, though not exclusively. Usually when Anki has been open for more than an hour. And the frequency of crashes increases the longer I’m using it

  3. Computer details: MacBook Air M1 2020 5.6 (24G84)

  4. Operating system: macOS 15 Sonoma (latest update installed).

  5. Anki version: Version ⁨25.07.5 (7172b2d2)⁩

  6. Add-ons installed: Contanki, Review Heatmap, Bold Color Shortcut, BetterSearch, Edit Field during cloze review, Deck performance

  7. Safe mode: I opened anki in safe mode but don’t think I had it open long enough to reproduce the error. I can try this again, but using the program without addons is pretty inconvenient

  8. Previous stability: I don’t recall this happening before this summer.

  9. Additional tests : (Currently have Anki open without my controller plugged in for the past 2 hours and no crash yet)

  • Reproduce with all USB/Bluetooth devices disconnected: Yes I tried that last week and even restarted bluetooth via Terminal on my Mac

  • Reproduce with Bluetooth disabled entirely: Have not tried this, but will do so tonight. The controller doesn’t work via bluetooth for some reason so I always use it with USBC so not sure if this will work

  • I will try running Anki in safe mode for a full day’s use.

8

Also after I went to Apple about this on Friday, they wiped my computer so the controller isn’t in my bluetooth at all. I’ve been using it exclusively through USBC for the past 2 days and the error still occurred last night

9

Thank you for the information. If I understand things correctly, you are using an 8BitDo controller physically plugged into the Macbook Air via a USB-C port directly (no external hub).

Which model of 8BitDo controller do you have?

Some thoughts I had:

Is the controller’s Bluetooth problem that you are able to pair the controller to your computer just fine but are unable to configure it to work with Anki via Contanki? Or, is the controller experiencing an unexplained, general Bluetooth problem that makes it unable to pair with your computer? (Hypothesis: the controller is somehow broken/buggy, making it crash the USB driver.)

You might want to try using a different USB cable to connect the controller to the computer, and see if the problem still occurs. (Hypothesis: the cable is intermittently faulty, somehow making it crash the USB driver.)

You might want to try plugging the controller into your computer, leaving it plugged in and using your computer for non-Anki activities, and see if the problem still occurs outside of Anki. (Hypothesis: it’s the controller that is causing the crashes, not Anki or any of its add-ons.)

You might want to try using Anki as you have it currently configured (with Contanki enabled), but without the controller plugged into your laptop, and see if the problem still occurs. (Hypothesis: it’s using the controller that is causing the crashes, not Anki or Contanki. Or, it’s either Anki or Contanki causing the crashes, not the controller.)

You might want to try disabling/uninstalling the Contanki add-on, not plugging in the controller, and see if the problem still occurs. (Hypothesis: it’s either Contanki or Contanki along with the controller that is causing the crashes. And, doing this would allow you to continue to use Anki with the rest of your add-ons while trying to debug/avoid the crashes.)

If there are alternate ways to use your controller with Anki, other than Contanki, you might want to try uninstalling Contanki and using Anki with your controller with the alternate methods, to see if the problem still occurs. (Hypothesis: it is Contanki that is causing the crashes.)

1 Like
10

Thank you for the thought you’ve put into this!

  • I’m using an 8BitDo MICRO controller, connected directly to my MacBook Air’s USB-C port with an Apple original charging cable.

  • Yes, I’m able to pair the controller to my computers bluetooth just fine but are unable to configure it to work with Anki via Contanki

Additional Tests:

  1. I have not yet tried a different USB cable, but I can test that tonight, although it is an Apple original.
  2. Will try now
  3. Tested. I’ve been running Anki without the controller plugged in for the past 4 hours, with Contanki enabled, so far it does not trigger the crashes. (Altho idk if contanki will actually be “on” and interact with the HID driver until anki gives the message that “8bitdo Micro is connected”)
  4. I will try disabling/uninstalling Contanki and using Anki normally without the controller to see if the crashes persist altho not using the controller slows down the pace at which I’m able to complete my reviews (I currently have over 500)
    I knew of 1 alternative way to integrate the controller with Anki using a remapper and karabiner-elements. I’ve heard some people saying they had trouble removing it from their device…Looking into alternatives now!
1 Like
11

Ok results:

  • Controller plugged in, no Anki running → No crash (even for hours).

  • Controller plugged in + Anki (even Safe Mode, which disables add-ons) → Crash.

  • Different cable makes no difference.

12

Hi! I wanted to provide an update: When I connect the controller via Bluetooth (seems to work fine now) and not the USBC, running Anki with Contanki enabled does not cause any crashes! So I guess the crash is due to an interaction between the USB HID driver and either the controller’s USB communication or the way Contanki/Anki accesses the controller over USB.