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Mavericks update has slowed my mac - practically unusable. Looks like problem is 9GB memory cache?

The machine: 27" iMac (mid-2010) with a 3.2 GHz Intel Core i3 and 12GB memory. 1GB hard drive, only ~350GB used (~650GB free)


The problem: too slow to use - memory file cache problem?


The scenario: I updgraded to Mavericks and the machine completely slowed down.

I left it overnight to index (spotlight) and it still hadn't finished after 18 hours. I turned off spotlight indexing.


Still incredibly sluggish (6 minutes to open mail, 30-60 seconds to switch between programs).


Checked permissions - took hours and I eventually tired of it.


Verified disk - there was an error, and it told me command-R at relaunch and go through disk utility.


It corrected the error. I also repaired permissions there (went quick - two minutes), then I restarted.


Same problem. I then went back to command-R after a restart and reinstalled Mavericks. Same problem.


I opened Activity Monitor. No CPU issues (hardly running). Found something fishy in the Memory tab:

Physical Memory: 12.00 GB

Memory Used: 11.55 GB

Virtual Memory: 12.00GB

Memory pressure is a flat green line.

App memory: 2.13GB (mostly kernal task and com.apple.iconservicesagent and Mail

File Cache 8.47GB

Wired Memory: 986.3


Could this File Cache be the problem? Why is it hogging so much memory and what is it?


This is the only one of my three machines to have this problem, btw.


Would appreciate any feedback!

Josh

iMac, OS X Mavericks (10.9), mid-2010 with a 3.2 GHz Intel Core

Posted on Oct 24, 2013 6:31 PM

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12 replies
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Oct 30, 2013 7:02 AM in response to joshwilt

I'm suspecting all those Mavericks slowdowns and lag have something related to disk controller drivers. Why? Pretty much all the complaints around seem to have something related to spotlight or use of file-heavy applications like iPhoto, iTunes or Apperture.


And as I've stated in my thread https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5501247?answerId=23594082022#23594082022 the response time of the sync command is far from desirable on an i5 late 2011 mbp. The system slows to a crawl if I create a file with dd with sync flags.

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Oct 30, 2013 7:09 AM in response to joshwilt

Replace the hdd with an SSD. An i3 is very low end (think suitable and aimed at notebooks, no desktops).


4-5 yrs old models. Today's are shipping with PCIe SSD storage interface and SATA3. Even the difference in the new 4th generation Intel i3 or i5 or i7 are also making a difference.


The ideal is SSD for the system, 1-2TB hdd for data and storage, and scratch on non system drive (plugins still use the system, but don't use the system drive, overloaded I/O and a bottleneck, and you have an older ? hard drive from 2009. A new hdd would help but an SSD would make all those I/O issues a think of the past.


Sometimes upgrading to a new OS should not be attempted and 10.7 should do fine (10.8 was also using memory poorly I read on another forum of Mac Pro owners - this forum is Mac Pro and not iMac oriented).

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Dec 4, 2013 9:02 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Are you sure file cache matters - it is purged when it is required by another process!


He has 0 bytes of swap & the lowest memory pressure I have seen here. FranzPoland system is not having problems with RAM.


Please describe what issues you have seen, I have viewed both of your posts Franz & cannot see any issue with your memory.


You will need to look at CPU, Disk IO and the logs if you have any actual slowness.


10.9 will use ALL available memory to cache in the fastest part of the disk, otherwise what point would there be in installing all that memory?

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Mar 24, 2014 7:55 AM in response to Drew Reece

This is my system config. File cache is eating up 10.6 gb of 16gb. Please advise. This just started today. Clean my mac was removed weeks ago, thank god. (never used)


Hardware Information:

MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2011)

MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro8,3

1 2.2 GHz Intel Core i7 CPU: 4 cores

16 GB RAM


Video Information:

Intel HD Graphics 3000 - VRAM: 512 MB

AMD Radeon HD 6750M - VRAM: 1024 MB


System Software:

OS X 10.9.2 (13C64) - Uptime: 0 days 0:26:38


Disk Information:

Hitachi HTS725050A9A362 disk0 : (500.11 GB)

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB

Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / [Startup]: 298.48 GB (20.51 GB free)

Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted>: 650 MB

BOOTCAMP (disk0s4) /Volumes/BOOTCAMP: 200.76 GB (130.15 GB free)


MATSHITADVD-R UJ-898


USB Information:

Western Digital My Book 111A 1 TB

disk2s1 (disk2s1) <not mounted>: 32 KB

My Book (disk2s3) /Volumes/My Book: 1 TB (40.52 GB free)


HitachiGST G-DRIVE slim 500.11 GB

disk1s1 (disk1s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB

G-DRIVE slim (disk1s2) /Volumes/G-DRIVE slim: 499.76 GB (102.69 GB free)


Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver


Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad


Apple Inc. BRCM2070 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller


Generic USB Storage


Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)


FireWire Information:

WD My Passport 071D 800mbit - 800mbit max

disk3s1 (disk3s1) <not mounted>: 32 KB

My Passport Studio (disk3s3) /Volumes/My Passport Studio: 2 TB (1.14 TB free)


Thunderbolt Information:

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus


Configuration files:

/etc/sysctl.conf - Exists


Kernel Extensions:

com.matrox.vpg.EggWhiteDriverHelpers (1.0.0d1 - SDK 10.7)

com.matrox.vpg.ChartreuseGreenDriver (1 - SDK 10.7)

com.AmbrosiaSW.AudioSupport (4.1.2 - SDK 10.6)

com.Cycling74.driver.Soundflower (1.6.6 - SDK 10.6)

com.matrox.vpg.CoreMediaInputDriver (1 - SDK 10.7)

com.matrox.vpg.CoreMediaOutputDriver (1 - SDK 10.7)

com.matrox.vpg.CoreAudioDriver (1 - SDK 10.8)

com.matrox.vpg.RS422VirtualDriver (1 - SDK 10.8)

com.matrox.vpg.AvcCodecDriver (1.0.0d1 - SDK 10.7)

com.nvidia.CUDA (1.1.0)


Startup Items:

CUDA: Path: /System/Library/StartupItems/CUDA

AdobeVersionCueCS2: Path: /Library/StartupItems/AdobeVersionCueCS2


Launch Daemons:

[System] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] com.ambrosiasw.ambrosiaaudiosupporthelper.daemon.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] com.daz3d.content_management_service.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] com.edb.launchd.postgresql-8.4.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] com.fxfactory.FxFactory.helper.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] com.google.keystone.daemon.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2.Agent.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] com.motorola-mobility.mmcfgd.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] com.noiseindustries.FxFactory.AE.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] com.noiseindustries.FxFactory.FxPlug.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] com.noiseindustries.FxFactory.helper.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] com.noiseindustries.FxFactory.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] com.splashtop.streamer-daemon.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] com.splashtop.streamer-srioframebuffer.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] com.teamviewer.teamviewer_service.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] org.macosforge.xquartz.privileged_startx.plist 3rd-Party support link


Launch Agents:

[System] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] com.google.keystone.agent.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] com.matrox.vpg.Agent.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] com.matrox.vpg.MaxAgent.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] com.motorola.MDMUpdater.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] com.motorola.motohelper.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] com.motorola.motohelperUpdater.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] com.nvidia.CUDASoftwareUpdate.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] com.splashtop.streamer-for-root.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] com.splashtop.streamer-for-user.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] com.teamviewer.teamviewer.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] com.teamviewer.teamviewer_desktop.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] org.macosforge.xquartz.startx.plist 3rd-Party support link


User Launch Agents:

[not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist 3rd-Party support link

[not loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist 3rd-Party support link

[not loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist 3rd-Party support link

[not loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist 3rd-Party support link

[not loaded] com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2Helper.diskSpaceWatcher.plist 3rd-Party support link

[not loaded] com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2Helper.scheduledScan.plist 3rd-Party support link

[not loaded] com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2Helper.trashWatcher.plist 3rd-Party support link


User Login Items:

iTunesHelper

Google Drive

MotoCastUpdater

Dropbox

TuneupMyMac

Google+ Auto Backup

MotoCast


Internet Plug-ins:

o1dbrowserplugin: Version: 5.2.4.18058 3rd-Party support link

Google Earth Web Plug-in: Version: 6.0 3rd-Party support link

Default Browser: Version: 537 - SDK 10.9

AdobeExManDetect: Version: AdobeExManDetect 1.1.0.0 - SDK 10.7 3rd-Party support link

Unity Web Player: Version: UnityPlayer version 3.5.0b6 - SDK 10.6 3rd-Party support link

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: Version: 11.0.06 - SDK 10.6 3rd-Party support link

FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 12.0.0.77 - SDK 10.6 3rd-Party support link

Flash Player: Version: 12.0.0.77 - SDK 10.6 3rd-Party support link

iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0 - SDK 10.8

googletalkbrowserplugin: Version: 5.2.4.18058 3rd-Party support link

AdobeExManCCDetect_x86_64: Version: AdobeExManCCDetect_x86_64 1.0.0.0 - SDK 10.7 3rd-Party support link

AdobePDFViewer: Version: 11.0.06 - SDK 10.6 3rd-Party support link

Mathematica: Version: 8.0.3.2432095 3rd-Party support link

QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

JavaAppletPlugin: Version: 14.9.0 - SDK 10.7 Outdated! Update


Safari Extensions:

Google Toolbar: Version: 5.1.1

The New York Times: Version: 0.1

Font Finder: Version: 1.0

Dashlane: Version: 2.1.4.42954

Cryptocat: Version: 2.1.21

Cloudy: Version: 1.4

Google Reader Tools: Version: 1.0.1

Firebug Lite for Safari: Version: 1.2.0.16797

Live CSS Editor: Version: 1.7.1

GoogleToolBar: Version: 1.9

zoomintosafari: Version: 1.7

Awesome Screenshot: Version: 1.3.4

InvisibleHand: Version: 3.9.42


Audio Plug-ins:

BluetoothAudioPlugIn: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.9

AirPlay: Version: 2.0 - SDK 10.9

AppleAVBAudio: Version: 203.2 - SDK 10.9

com.matrox.vpg.CoreAudioPlugIn: Version: 4.0.0.0042 - SDK 10.8 3rd-Party support link

iSightAudio: Version: 7.7.3 - SDK 10.9


iTunes Plug-ins:

Quartz Composer Visualizer: Version: 1.4 - SDK 10.9


User Internet Plug-ins:

Picasa: Version: 1.0 3rd-Party support link

Dashlane: Version: Dashlane 1.0.0 - SDK 10.7 3rd-Party support link


3rd Party Preference Panes:

Adobe Version Cue CS2 3rd-Party support link

CUDA Preferences 3rd-Party support link

Flash Player 3rd-Party support link

Matrox CompressHD 3rd-Party support link

Matrox Utilities 3rd-Party support link

ProCutX Server 3rd-Party support link

REDcode 3rd-Party support link


Old Applications:

InterLok Helper: Version: 5.8b7 - SDK 10.4 3rd-Party support link

/Library/Application Support/PACE Anti-Piracy/InterLok Helper.app

SA Color Finesse 3 UI: Version: 3.0.10(292) - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

/Applications/Adobe After Effects CC/Plug-ins/Effects/Synthetic Aperture/(CF3 Support)/SA Color Finesse 3 UI.app

dynamiclinkmediaserver: Version: 6.0.1 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Common/dynamiclinkmediaserver/1.0/dynamiclinkmediaserver.app

Unity Bug Reporter: Version: 3.5.0b6 - SDK 10.4 3rd-Party support link

/Applications/Unity/Unity Bug Reporter.app

SA Color Finesse 3 UI: Version: 3.0.6(275) - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

/Applications/Adobe After Effects CS6/Plug-ins/Effects/Synthetic Aperture/(CF3 Support)/SA Color Finesse 3 UI.app

dynamiclinkmanager: Version: 6.0.0 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Common/dynamiclink/CS6/dynamiclinkmanager.app

/Applications/iWork '09

5DtoRGB: Version: 1.5.3b - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

Celestia: Version: 1.6.1 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

Graphviz: Version: 2.28 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link


Time Machine:

Skip System Files: NO

Mobile backups: OFF

Auto backup: NO - Auto backup turned off

Volumes being backed up:

Macintosh HD: Disk size: 277.99 GB Disk used: 258.88 GB

Destinations:

My Book [Local] (Last used)

Total size: 931.36 GB

Total number of backups: 2

Oldest backup: 2012-11-07 19:08:08 +0000

Last backup: 2013-11-23 12:06:02 +0000

Size of backup disk: Excellent

Backup size 931.36 GB > (Disk size 277.99 GB X 3)

Time Machine details may not be accurate.

All volumes being backed up may not be listed.


Top Processes by CPU:

4% Safari

3% com.apple.WebKit.WebContent

1% EtreCheck

1% syncdefaultsd

1% WindowServer


Top Processes by Memory:

393 MB mds_stores

262 MB com.apple.IconServicesAgent

180 MB Safari

164 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent

131 MB Finder


Virtual Memory Information:

3.38 GB Free RAM

2.55 GB Active RAM

8.25 GB Inactive RAM

1.82 GB Wired RAM

547 MB Page-ins

0 B Page-outs

Reply

Mar 24, 2014 10:21 AM in response to remoran

remoran wrote:


File cache is eating up 10.6 gb of 16gb. Please advise. This just started today.


Why is this a problem?

Do you know what the file cache is & why it is faster to store the most accessed data in RAM than on disk?

Using ALL your RAM is a good thing - free RAM is like building a hotel & not filling all the rooms - inefficient & costly. Turn the Mac off to have 100% unused RAM!


Do you have any actual issues or are you just finding numbers that look bad & making some assumptions?

It might help if you gave some examples of the problems you see. The memory in that report looks fine (but it's only been running for 26 minutes).


How did you remove CleanMyMac? It didn't do a good job - you left the launch agents behind. They may still launch any other pieces you failed to remove…


You have a ton of items installed, many I haven't heard of, it looks like a video production machine? I'd seriously suggest reinstalling after erasing the OS disk if you don't use most of it. Otherwise you will need to work out what every app listed is, find the developers info on 10.9 compatibility & install any updates. Any that are not specifically 10.9 supported, remove them.


I'm not going into the specifics because I'm not convinced you have issues - yet.

How many OS versions have you migrated on this Mac?



P.S.

It would help if you had some more space on your Boot HD!

Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / [Startup]: 298.48 GB (20.51 GB free)

Spinning disks perform worse the more data you put on them… you barely have enough free for the OS to use as swap/ caches etc.


Reply

Mar 24, 2014 10:26 AM in response to remoran

Wow, your system is so heavily modified, my recommendation would be to reinstall a fresh system with no mods and go from there. As you can see in the output of your check, CleanMyMac has not been removed,and there are a lots of other mods there, including GoogleDrive that can cause problems. You appear have way too many, and possibly conflicting, system add-ons. If you reinstall, make sure any items added to a clean system are necessary and up-to-date. You likely now have system additions that are incompatible with Mavericks. Also, your HD is getting a bit crowded - only 20GB free is pushing it. Good luck.


Frank


Message was edited by: Frank Miller2

Reply

Jul 6, 2014 3:51 PM in response to joshwilt

it is not that complicated,

1. this bloody maverick is not designed for older machines with less memory

2. purge by this simple steps. go to terminal, type sudo purge then press enter, then put your password in and press enter (check in activity monitoy how this has worked removing caches)

3. go to Finder, Go, Go to folder, type ~/Library/Caches press enter this would remove some of the caches

4. go to activity monitor, memory, and check to see is any program is stuck or using too much memory, quit it or force quit it, (I had a pdftopdf that was giving me issues, it was a HP printer problem) so make sure devices that are plugged in are woking properly, including your external hard drive time machine is not full!

5. your computer should be faster 🙂

Reply

Mavericks update has slowed my mac - practically unusable. Looks like problem is 9GB memory cache?

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