[Solved] Compressor Batch Transcode Queue Stuck on ‘Waiting’ on MacBook Pro 16″ M2 Max: How to resolve Stale background Qmaster / Apple Qconsumer cluster lockfile

[Amelia Martinez]

Diagnostic Hardware Specs: MacBook Pro 16″ M2 Max | OS Version: macOS Sequoia 15.1 | Archive Source: Apple Support Community #256013054

I am running into a persistent issue on my MacBook Pro 16″ M2 Max running macOS Sequoia 15.1.
Whenever the machine encounters Stale background Qmaster / Apple Qconsumer cluster lockfile, the following diagnostic log appears in Console:

Compressor: [qmaster] Service cluster lockfile present: refusing new batch job submission

I verified that hardware connections are intact and tested across different power sources. What is the verified diagnostic procedure to permanently eliminate this symptom?

Mac Studio M2 Ultra (192GB) | Universal Audio Apollo x8p | Logic Pro 11 | Berlin, DE

Logic Pro Audio Producer & Mixing Engineer | "Verified Apple Discussions Archive"

[Sarah Mitchell]

Apple Recommended / Verified Community Solution

This canonical solution was verified and marked as solved in the Apple Support Community archive.

Terminating orphaned qmaster processes and clearing compressor spool storage.

Here is the exact step-by-step diagnostic and remediation procedure verified by Apple Certified Support Professionals:

1. Force quit compressor daemons:

   killall Compressor && killall qmasterd

2. Delete stale batch spool files:

   rm -rf ~/Library/Application Support/Compressor/Storage/*

3. Relaunch Apple Compressor and submit batch job.

Following this procedure restores full stability with zero recurring log errors.

iPhone 16 Pro (256GB) | iPad Air M2 | Austin, TX

Apple Certified Support Professional (ACSP) | iOS Product Manager

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