Google admits Chrome update is responsible for shutting down computers across Hollywood and halting production of Modern Family and other TV series and films
- A rash of spontaneous shutdowns affecting Mac was caused by a Google bug
- The company says an update to its Google Chrome browser was to blame
- The shutdowns were initially linked to movie-editing software, Avid
- Dozens of computers at multiple studios were reportedly affected by the bug
- Google issued a fix for the problem in a blog post on Wednesday
The software company, Avid, is off the hook after Google admits that a software update inadvertently shut down computers across Hollywood studios this week.
In a statement on Wednesday, Google said that an update to its widely used Google Chrome web browser was sent out with a bug that conflicted with movie-editing software made by Avid.
‘We recently discovered that a Chrome update may have shipped with a bug that damages the file system on macOS machines with System Integrity Protection (SIP) disabled, including machines that do not support SIP,’ the company said in a statement.
‘We’ve paused the release while we finalize a new update that addresses the problem.’
A rash of spontaneous shutdowns affecting Mac computers was caused by an update bug inside Google Chrome and not movie-editing software, Avid (File photo)
As noted by Engadget, Avid’s software requires the SIP to be turned off in order to access the graphic’s card which caused the update to conflict with critical file systems.
Google said that it has stopped the roll out of its Chrome update and is working on a fix for the bug before it’s re-released.
Mass shut downs of Mac computers were first reported by Variety and were initially thought to be caused by a computer virus or an issue with Avid’s movie-editing software – an industry standard among post-production companies.
Once the computers spontaneously shut down, users were reportedly not able to reboot the machines, meaning affected studios saw post-production efforts come to a grinding halt.
The problem centered on 2013 models of a Mac desktop affectionately referred to as ‘the trashcan,’ due to its cylindrical appearance, that were running editing software from the company Avid and older versions of Mac OS.
Variety reports that in all, the snafu affected ‘dozens of machines across multiple studios.’
The bug hit high-profile TV shows like ABC’s ‘Modern Family’ which saw their entire editing team affected by the problem, reports Variety.
