03-02-2023, 12:23 AM
You're looking for a file with a name that ends in ".panic" to indicate that it's a special sort of log generated after a kernel panic. Panic logs (when they exist) are found in the /Library/Logs folder hierarchy. Sometimes they may be found within a sub-folder such as the /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports folder.
When you double-click a panic log file, you should see the Console.app open to display that log.
You may, instead, be prompted to select an application to open the file. That prompt/window will allow you to select from the applications in your Applications folder. Select TextEdit from the list. (You may have to tick a box or select from a menu to allow you to select other than "recommended" applications in the selection window in order to select TextEdit.)
Once you have the file open, you'll see information automatically gathered from the crash. Sometimes (not always) there will be entries noting the last loaded "kext" (kernel extension) and the active BSD process (program) at the time of the crash. These provide good clues as to the cause of the crash.
For example, if you see "iousb" in the name of the last loaded kext then it usually indicates that a driver for a USB device caused the crash.
Or you might see that the active BSD process was Norton LiveUpdate, which would point to crummy antivirus software causing your problems.
A single panic log may not provide enough info to know to a reasonable certainty what caused the crash. If you have multiple panic logs and you can discern a common pattern to them -- the same last-loaded kexts or the same BSD process identified each time -- then you can be reasonably certain that you have identified the cause of your crashes.
There's often a lot of other info in a panic log, but breaking down the other stuff is getting into an area of arcana that's probably not necessary to deal with in this case.
When you double-click a panic log file, you should see the Console.app open to display that log.
You may, instead, be prompted to select an application to open the file. That prompt/window will allow you to select from the applications in your Applications folder. Select TextEdit from the list. (You may have to tick a box or select from a menu to allow you to select other than "recommended" applications in the selection window in order to select TextEdit.)
Once you have the file open, you'll see information automatically gathered from the crash. Sometimes (not always) there will be entries noting the last loaded "kext" (kernel extension) and the active BSD process (program) at the time of the crash. These provide good clues as to the cause of the crash.
For example, if you see "iousb" in the name of the last loaded kext then it usually indicates that a driver for a USB device caused the crash.
Or you might see that the active BSD process was Norton LiveUpdate, which would point to crummy antivirus software causing your problems.
A single panic log may not provide enough info to know to a reasonable certainty what caused the crash. If you have multiple panic logs and you can discern a common pattern to them -- the same last-loaded kexts or the same BSD process identified each time -- then you can be reasonably certain that you have identified the cause of your crashes.
There's often a lot of other info in a panic log, but breaking down the other stuff is getting into an area of arcana that's probably not necessary to deal with in this case.