mountainhome

Q: kernal task absorbing too much RAM

The kernal task is taking up too much ram on my iMac is there a clear solution to resolving the issue or do i need to do a clean install?

Bootup is slow, applications open slowly and sometime hang.

Screen Shot 2014-09-10 at 11.15.03 AM.png

Screen Shot 2014-09-10 at 11.13.49 AM.png

Screen Shot 2014-09-10 at 11.14.23 AM.png

iMac (27-inch Mid 2011), Mac OS X (10.7.5)

Posted on Sep 10, 2014 1:25 PM

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Q: kernal task absorbing too much RAM

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  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Sep 10, 2014 1:34 PM in response to mountainhome
    Level 10 (271,760 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 10, 2014 1:34 PM in response to mountainhome

    Just restart the computer. Consider upgrading to Mavericks.

     

    Upgrading to Mavericks

     

    You can upgrade to Mavericks from Lion or directly from Snow Leopard. Mavericks can be downloaded from the Mac App Store for FREE.

     

    Upgrading to Mavericks

     

    To upgrade to Mavericks you must have Snow Leopard 10.6.8 or Lion installed. Download Mavericks from the App Store. Sign in using your Apple ID. Mavericks is free. The file is quite large, over 5 GBs, so allow some time to download. It would be preferable to use Ethernet because it is nearly four times faster than wireless.

     

        OS X Mavericks- System Requirements

     

          Macs that can be upgraded to OS X Mavericks

     

             1. iMac (Mid 2007 or newer) - Model Identifier 7,1 or later

             2. MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum, or Early 2009 or newer) - Model Identifier 5,1 or later

             3. MacBook Pro (Mid/Late 2007 or newer) - Model Identifier 3,1 or later

             4. MacBook Air (Late 2008 or newer) - Model Identifier 2,1 or later

             5. Mac mini (Early 2009 or newer) - Model Identifier 3,1 or later

             6. Mac Pro (Early 2008 or newer) - Model Identifier 3,1 or later

             7. Xserve (Early 2009) - Model Identifier 3,1 or later

     

    To find the model identifier open System Profiler in the Utilities folder. It's displayed in the panel on the right.

     

         Are my applications compatible?

     

             See App Compatibility Table - RoaringApps.

  • by mountainhome,

    mountainhome mountainhome Sep 10, 2014 1:44 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 10, 2014 1:44 PM in response to Kappy

    Already upgraded to MAVS 10.9.4 - Model ID iMac12,2

     

    Screen Shot 2014-09-10 at 1.40.46 PM.png

  • by mountainhome,

    mountainhome mountainhome Sep 10, 2014 3:41 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 10, 2014 3:41 PM in response to Kappy

    Also, restarting doesn't make a difference

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Sep 10, 2014 4:05 PM in response to mountainhome
    Level 10 (271,760 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 10, 2014 4:05 PM in response to mountainhome

    .

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Sep 10, 2014 4:04 PM in response to mountainhome
    Level 10 (271,760 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 10, 2014 4:04 PM in response to mountainhome

    Oops. I didn't notice something in your images. I realize now that there is nothing wrong other than you have a task showing in red that you should force quit. Your kernel_task is not using too much memory at all.

  • by mountainhome,

    mountainhome mountainhome Sep 10, 2014 4:57 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 10, 2014 4:57 PM in response to Kappy

    ok, i thought it was only supposed to use under 500mb and my computer is running slow in terms of booting up and software opening up.

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Sep 10, 2014 5:15 PM in response to mountainhome
    Level 10 (271,760 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 10, 2014 5:15 PM in response to mountainhome

    Not that odd for the kernel_task to run over 1 GB. Depends on what you are running and what demands it makes on kernel routines. Mine runs 930 MBs.

  • by mountainhome,

    mountainhome mountainhome Sep 10, 2014 5:35 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 10, 2014 5:35 PM in response to Kappy

    Ok thanks Kap, much obliged for your timely response.