Max 8 & 9 hang on macOS 15.6.1 (Sequoia, M4 Max) — full diagnostics done
System:
MacBook Pro (M4 Max chip, 128 GB RAM)
macOS 15.6.1 (Sequoia)
Both Max 9.0.9 and Max 8 tested
Summary
Max 9 (and later when I downgraded and tested Max 8) now hang immediately on launch on macOS 15.6.1.
No Max window ever appears.
The system logs show the main thread blocked in:
__recvfrom → soreceive → msleep
indicating a stalled IPC or network socket during startup.
This began around Oct 6–7 2025; both versions had previously launched normally under the same OS since August. However, the authorization window had hung on trying to open it since sometime in September but not an actual issue for me until I actually had to reauthorize last week again because of a subscription/authorization change (I'm thinking -- that was the thing that shifted before the hang ). My macbook says I installed OS 15.6.1 on Aug 30, 2025, so the actual issue may have begun then, not clear.
Symptoms are:
++Application icon bounces once, then “Application Not Responding.”
++No crash report unless force-quit; when sampled, main thread stuck in recvfrom().
++When I ran Max 8 from the console in safe mode, a CEF warning appeared (Max 9 hangs silently):
[chrome_browser_cloud_management_controller.cc(87)]
Could not create policy manager as CBCM is not enabled.Hangs in a similar place in Max 8.
++Same hang under a brand-new macOS user account using clean install of Max 9, Safe Mode, and Rosetta.
I have:
++Removed all non-apple / audio/HAL drivers (incl. blackhole, zoom), tested after reboot
++Deleted all license & cycling '74 preferences (ie, deleted plist & the /Library/Application Support/Cycling '74 for clean installs before restart, reininstall & testing)
++Removed all 32-bit plug-ins as directed
++Tried to sandbox the CEF framework via renaming (after seeing error messaging) -- & after that test didn't work, I immediately reverted so that wouldn't affect further testing & functionality, etc.
++Cleared apple quarantine flags multiple times
++Tested with Wifi enabled, disabled, tried using different default browsers and different wifi networks.
++Examined and test my hosts file -- it was unmodified since 2024 (Max working before & after that modification, no new firewalls, etc.)
If anyone has any ideas or workarounds, I would be deeply grateful.
This issue has forced me to delay rehearsals and it's been affecting classes; I’ve been teaching Max from an older backup machine, which has directly affected my performance and my students’ experience. My students also the past year and a half have had consistent issues with the reliability of this platform.
If you haven't already, I would contact support with all these information: support@cycling74.com
Did you try uninstalling Max using Pearcleaner? It's an OSS alternative to the well known AppCleaner, and is very good at finding files related to an app when you trash it. Just did a try with Max, I can see a bunch of folders stored in /var/folder/74/[...]/.com.cycling74.Max.[gibberish], some of them having two files in them, SingletonCookie and SingletonSocket, which might be related to your issue.
There is also /Users/[username]/Library/HTTPStorage/com.cycling74.Max which stores a sqlite database.
And there are a few other locations you haven't mentioned.
If it still doesn't work, at this point, and with all the effort you have done so far, I would suggest to make a backup of your data and do a clean reset of the entire computer, i.e. format the disk, reinstall macOS from the recovery partition and every app and put your data back. Sad to come to that point but very few chances that this wouldn't work.