EvilRaat

Q: kernel_task high memory usage

Hi, since I upgraded from Lion to Mavericks yesterday, the kernel_task process has been running consistently with 4.7GB of RAM.  The OS is now constantly running at full usage of physical RAM and swapping more than 10GB to disc.

 

I have a MBP Early 2011 with 8GB RAM.

 

What is the kernel_task process and is there anyway of limiting its drain on my system.  As it is, my MBP is pretty much useless as it takes forever to even load a webpage, let alone run servers and IDE's which I need to do.

 

Hopefully I don't have to revert to my Lion backup, but without a solution to this I'm going to have to.

 

Hope someone has a pointer for me.

 

Thanks,

Paul

 

Screen Shot 2013-10-27 at 12.36.42.png

Screen Shot 2013-10-27 at 12.37.00.png

MacBook Pro (17-inch Early 2011), OS X Mavericks (10.9)

Posted on Oct 26, 2013 4:40 PM

Close

Q: kernel_task high memory usage

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

first Previous Page 7 of 8 last Next
  • by BobHarris,

    BobHarris BobHarris Apr 8, 2015 4:48 PM in response to outtacontext
    Level 6 (19,479 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 8, 2015 4:48 PM in response to outtacontext

    My kernal_task is up to 9GB (I have 16GB total).

    If your kernel_task is using 9GB, then you have a 3rd party kernel extension that is consuming RAM.

     

    For a 16GB Mac, the kernel_task should use on the order of 800MB to 1GB more or less.  9GB indicates you have 3rd party kernel extensions.

     

    You can use EtreCheck to see what 3rd party additions you have installed.  Look closely at the kernel extensions.

    <https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-6174>

  • by Alessio Ferrara,

    Alessio Ferrara Alessio Ferrara Apr 9, 2015 12:09 AM in response to BobHarris
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 9, 2015 12:09 AM in response to BobHarris

    Bobharris is right! EtreCheck and some unusefull app/plugin uninstall help me to solve... hope you too!

  • by outtacontext,

    outtacontext outtacontext Apr 9, 2015 4:34 AM in response to BobHarris
    Level 1 (14 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 9, 2015 4:34 AM in response to BobHarris

    Okay, I ran EtraCheck and here is the report. The problems are in red. And, I'd like to know what these mean. For example, why is my TimeMachine in red? My internal HD is 1TB and my TimeMachine is 1TB. But, I'd like to know what the others mean as well and what to do next. Thx.

     

    Problem description:

    kernal_task taking too much RAM

     

    EtreCheck version: 2.1.8 (121)

    Report generated April 9, 2015 at 7:22:34 AM EDT

    Download EtreCheck from http://etresoft.com/etrecheck

     

    Click the [Click for support] links for help with non-Apple products.

    Click the [Click for details] links for more information about that line.

     

    Hardware Information: ℹ️

        iMac (27-inch, Mid 2010) (Technical Specifications)

        iMac - model: iMac11,3

        1 3.2 GHz Intel Core i3 CPU: 2-core

        16 GB RAM Upgradeable

            BANK 0/DIMM0

                4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

            BANK 1/DIMM0

                4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

            BANK 0/DIMM1

                4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

            BANK 1/DIMM1

                4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

        Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported

        Wireless:  en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n

     

    Video Information: ℹ️

        ATI Radeon HD 5670 - VRAM: 512 MB

            iMac 2560 x 1440

     

    System Software: ℹ️

        OS X 10.9.5 (13F34) - Time since boot: 12:9:20

     

    Disk Information: ℹ️

        ST31000528AS disk0 : (1 TB)

            EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

            Jeff's HD (disk0s2) / : 999.35 GB (200.79 GB free)

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

     

        HL-DT-STDVDRW  GA32N

     

    USB Information: ℹ️

        Apple, Inc. Keyboard Hub

            Mitsumi Electric Apple Optical USB Mouse

            SMI                  USB2.0 Card Reader

            Apple, Inc Apple Keyboard

        Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

        Apple Inc. Built-in iSight

        American Power Conversion Back-UPS BR  800 FW:9.o4 .D USB FW:o4

        Apple Internal Memory Card Reader

        Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

            Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

     

    Firewire Information: ℹ️

        Seagate FA GoFlex Desk 800mbit - 800mbit max

            disk1s1 (disk1s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

            Time Machine (disk1s2) /Volumes/Time Machine : 1.00 TB (79.37 GB free)

            Jeff's External 1 (disk1s3) /Volumes/Jeff's External 1 : 1.00 TB (78.54 GB free)

            Jeff's External 2 (disk1s4) /Volumes/Jeff's External 2 : 999.39 GB (195.41 GB free)

        OWC Elite Pro U3FW 800mbit - 800mbit max

            EFI (disk2s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

            External 3 (disk2s2) /Volumes/External 3 : 1.00 TB (922.72 GB free)

            External 4 (disk2s3) /Volumes/External 4 : 1.00 TB (999.40 GB free)

            External 5 (disk2s4) /Volumes/External 5 : 1.00 TB (999.40 GB free)

            External 6 (disk2s5) /Volumes/External 6 : 999.85 GB (999.19 GB free)

     

    Gatekeeper: ℹ️

       Anywhere

     

    Kernel Extensions: ℹ️

            /Applications/Utilities/DiskWarrior.app

        [not loaded]    com.alsoft.Preview (4.4) [Click for support]

     

            /Users/[redacted]/Library/Application Support/Sparkle/Transmit/Transmit 4.1.7 Update 1/Transmit.app

        [not loaded]    com.panic.TransmitDisk.transmitdiskfs (3.0.0 - SDK 10.5) [Click for support]

     

            /Users/[redacted]/Library/Services/ToastIt.service/Contents/MacOS

        [not loaded]    com.roxio.TDIXController (2.0) [Click for support]

     

            /Volumes/External 3/Applications not using/Toast 10 Titanium/Toast Titanium.app

        [not loaded]    com.roxio.BluRaySupport (1.1.6) [Click for support]

     

    Startup Items: ℹ️

        CiscoVPN: Path: /System/Library/StartupItems/CiscoVPN

        ProTec6: Path: /Library/StartupItems/ProTec6

        ProTec6b: Path: /Library/StartupItems/ProTec6b

        Startup items are obsolete in OS X Yosemite   <--- My note: but I'm not using Yosemite. I'm using 10.9.5

     

    Problem System Launch Daemons: ℹ️

        [failed]    com.apple.installd.plist

        [failed]    com.apple.wdhelper.plist

     

    Launch Agents: ℹ️

        [not loaded]    com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist [Click for support]

        [running]    com.adobe.AdobeCreativeCloud.plist [Click for support]

        [loaded]    com.adobe.CS4ServiceManager.plist [Click for support]

        [loaded]    com.adobe.CS5ServiceManager.plist [Click for support]

        [not loaded]    com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist [Click for support]

        [running]    net.culater.SIMBL.Agent.plist [Click for support]

     

    Launch Daemons: ℹ️

        [loaded]    com.adobe.fpsaud.plist [Click for support]

        [not loaded]    com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist [Click for support]

        [loaded]    com.adobe.versioncueCS3.plist [Click for support]

        [loaded]    com.adobe.versioncueCS4.plist [Click for support]

        [loaded]    com.barebones.bbedit.plist [Click for support]

        [running]    com.crashplan.engine.plist [Click for support]

        [loaded]    com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2.Agent.plist [Click for support]

        [loaded]    com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist [Click for support]

        [loaded]    com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist [Click for support]

        [loaded]    com.oracle.java.JavaUpdateHelper.plist [Click for support]

        [loaded]    com.rogueamoeba.instanton-agent.plist [Click for support]

        [loaded]    com.timesoftware.timemachineeditor.backupd-auto.plist [Click for support]

     

    User Launch Agents: ℹ️

        [loaded]    com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist [Click for support]

        [loaded]    com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist [Click for support]

        [running]    com.amazon.music.plist [Click for support]

        [loaded]    com.google.keystone.agent.plist [Click for support]

        [loaded]    com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2Helper.diskSpaceWatcher.plist [Click for support]

        [loaded]    com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2Helper.scheduledScan.plist [Click for support]

        [loaded]    com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2Helper.trashWatcher.plist [Click for support]

        [loaded]    com.pia.pia_manager.plist [Click for support]

        [loaded]    com.shirtpocket.backupbytime.plist [Click for support]

     

    User Login Items: ℹ️

        Default Folder X Helper    Application  (/Library/PreferencePanes/Default Folder X.prefPane/Contents/Resources/Default Folder X Helper.app)

        FontExplorerXAutoload    Application Hidden (/Users/[redacted]/Library/Application Support/Linotype/FontExplorer X/FontExplorerXAutoload.app)

        Shoo Apps    Application  (/Applications/Utilities/Shoo Apps.app)

        SIMBL Agent    Application  (/Library/ScriptingAdditions/SIMBL.osax/Contents/Resources/SIMBL Agent.app)

        CleanAgent    Application  (/Applications/Clean.app/Contents/Resources/CleanAgent.app)

        TransmitMenu    Application  (/Applications/Transmit.app/Contents/MacOS/TransmitMenu.app)

        Spotdox    Application  (/Applications/Spotdox.app)

        Dropbox    Application  (/Applications/Dropbox.app)

        Rogue Amoeba Schedule Helper    Application Hidden (/Library/Application Support/Audio Hijack Pro/Rogue Amoeba Schedule Helper.app)

        CrashPlan menu bar    Application  (/Applications/CrashPlan.app/Contents/Helpers/CrashPlan menu bar.app)

        TotalFinder    Application  (/Applications/TotalFinder.app)

        Wondershare Helper Compact    Application  (/Users/[redacted]/Library/Application Support/Helper/Wondershare Helper Compact.app)

     

    Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️

        Google Earth Web Plug-in: Version: 6.1 [Click for support]

        Default Browser: Version: 537 - SDK 10.9

        Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: Version: 2.4.4.2 [Click for support]

        OfficeLiveBrowserPlugin: Version: 12.2.6 [Click for support]

        AdobeAAMDetect: Version: AdobeAAMDetect 2.0.0.0 - SDK 10.7 [Click for support]

        FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 17.0.0.134 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

        Silverlight: Version: 5.1.30514.0 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

        Flash Player: Version: 17.0.0.134 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

        QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

        iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0 - SDK 10.8

        SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.4.8 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

        AdobePDFViewer: Version: 9.5.5 [Click for support]

        JavaAppletPlugin: Version: Java 8 Update 40 Check version

     

    Safari Extensions: ℹ️

        1Password

        Video Converter

        Web Snapper

        Aimersoft Video Converter

     

    Audio Plug-ins: ℹ️

        DVCPROHDAudio: Version: 1.3.2

     

    3rd Party Preference Panes: ℹ️

        Adobe Version Cue CS4  [Click for support]

        AppTrap  [Click for support]

        Cameras  [Click for support]

        Default Folder X  [Click for support]

        Flash Player  [Click for support]

        Flip4Mac WMV  [Click for support]

        Java  [Click for support]

        MacFUSE  [Click for support]

        Perian  [Click for support]

     

    Time Machine: ℹ️

        Skip System Files: NO

        Mobile backups: OFF

        Auto backup: YES

        Volumes being backed up:

            Jeff's HD: Disk size: 999.35 GB Disk used: 798.56 GB

        Destinations:

            Time Machince [Local]

            Total size: 1.00 TB

            Total number of backups: 61

            Oldest backup: 2014-12-14 05:57:19 +0000

            Last backup: 2015-04-09 10:48:30 +0000

            Size of backup disk: Too small

                Backup size 1.00 TB < (Disk used 798.56 GB X 3)

     

    Top Processes by CPU: ℹ️

            21%    firefox

            5%    2BUA8C4S2C.com.agilebits.onepassword4-helper

            5%    WindowServer

            2%    Shoo Apps

            1%    AppleSpell

     

    Top Processes by Memory: ℹ️

        1.03 GB    CrashPlanService

        412 MB    firefox

        172 MB    Finder

        120 MB    mds_stores

        120 MB    WindowServer

     

    Virtual Memory Information: ℹ️

        11.24 GB    Free RAM

        1.80 GB    Active RAM

        2.16 GB    Inactive RAM

        1.67 GB    Wired RAM

        12.22 GB    Page-ins

        385 MB    Page-outs

     

    Diagnostics Information: ℹ️

        Apr 9, 2015, 05:45:57 AM    /Users/[redacted]/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/plugin-container_2015-04-09-05 4557_[redacted].crash

        Apr 8, 2015, 07:18:16 PM    /Users/[redacted]/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/plugin-container_2015-04-08-19 1816_[redacted].crash

        Apr 8, 2015, 07:09:00 PM    Self test - passed

        Apr 7, 2015, 07:48:59 AM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/firefox_2015-04-07-074859_[redacted].hang

        Apr 6, 2015, 07:28:54 AM    /Users/[redacted]/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/plugin-container_2015-04-06-07 2854_[redacted].crash

  • by BobHarris,

    BobHarris BobHarris Apr 9, 2015 8:10 AM in response to outtacontext
    Level 6 (19,479 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 9, 2015 8:10 AM in response to outtacontext

    I'm going to suggest you actually start a "New" Post, as this post is rather long, and already marked answered.  That will reduce the number of people looking at your issues.

    Kernel Extensions: ℹ️

            /Applications/Utilities/DiskWarrior.app

        [not loaded]    com.alsoft.Preview (4.4) [Click for support]

     

            /Users/[redacted]/Library/Application Support/Sparkle/Transmit/Transmit 4.1.7 Update 1/Transmit.app

        [not loaded]    com.panic.TransmitDisk.transmitdiskfs (3.0.0 - SDK 10.5) [Click for support]

     

            /Users/[redacted]/Library/Services/ToastIt.service/Contents/MacOS

        [not loaded]    com.roxio.TDIXController (2.0) [Click for support]

     

            /Volumes/External 3/Applications not using/Toast 10 Titanium/Toast Titanium.app

        [not loaded]    com.roxio.BluRaySupport (1.1.6) [Click for support]

    One of these drivers is most likely responsible.  kernel extensions can be dynamically loaded, so you should really look when kernel_task is using excessive memory.

     

    Startup Items: ℹ️

        CiscoVPN: Path: /System/Library/StartupItems/CiscoVPN

        ProTec6: Path: /Library/StartupItems/ProTec6

        ProTec6b: Path: /Library/StartupItems/ProTec6b

        Startup items are obsolete in OS X Yosemite   <--- My note: but I'm not using Yosemite. I'm using 10.9.5

    Apple depreciated Startup Items many versions ago.  If you are still using these products, you should see if the vendor has newer versions that use Launch daemons or agents to start the service.

     

        [loaded]    com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2.Agent.plist [Click for support]

        [loaded]    com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2Helper.diskSpaceWatcher.plist [Click for support]

        [loaded]    com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2Helper.scheduledScan.plist [Click for support]

        [loaded]    com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2Helper.trashWatcher.plist [Click for support]

    You do not need a Mac cleaner.  They tend to consume system resources and often fight the operating system.

     

    The fact that you have 16GB and  12.22 GB  Page-ins in ONLY half a day, means something is throwing away process memory, forcing Mac OS X to page process code back into memory over and over.  Does CleanMyMac claim it will give you more free memory?  If so it is wearing out your disk and defeating Mac OS X file system caching.

     

    The long term forum contributes have seen Mac cleaners, memory cleaners, anti-malware products cause performance problems, and kernel panics.  We do not like them.

  • by outtacontext,

    outtacontext outtacontext Apr 9, 2015 9:06 AM in response to BobHarris
    Level 1 (14 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 9, 2015 9:06 AM in response to BobHarris

    Bob, I have moved my discussion to a new thread located here: kernel_task using too much RAM

     

    Could you move your answer to that thread as well and then I have a few questions. Thanks very much.

  • by Ouzone,

    Ouzone Ouzone Apr 20, 2015 1:47 AM in response to Alessio Ferrara
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 20, 2015 1:47 AM in response to Alessio Ferrara

    I disabled the screensaver (System Preferences -> Desktop & Screen saver -> "Start After" menu -> Select "Never") and had no kernel_task high memory or high CPU usage ever since.

     

    Might not work for everyone but it appears to work for me with my MacBook Pro (15-inch, Early 2011 / Yosemite 10.10.3).

  • by ThiagoFeitosa,

    ThiagoFeitosa ThiagoFeitosa May 14, 2015 10:05 AM in response to EvilRaat
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 14, 2015 10:05 AM in response to EvilRaat

    My solution:

     

    open terminal.

     

    type:

    sudo su

     

    put the password

     

    and then, type:

    crontab -e

     

    press "i" to insert and type at bottom of file:

     

    * 3 * * * purge

     

    press "esc" and  "wq"

     

    restart our mac.

     

    What it  does?  After 3 hours, the purge command is executed to clean memory used by system.  my kernel_task reduced from 4.75GB to 800MB

  • by PhilipBZ,

    PhilipBZ PhilipBZ Nov 16, 2015 1:13 PM in response to ThiagoFeitosa
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Nov 16, 2015 1:13 PM in response to ThiagoFeitosa

    ThiagoFeitosa wrote:

     

    ...

    press "i" to insert and type at bottom of file:

     

    * 3 * * * purge

     

    press "esc" and  "wq"

     

    restart our mac.

     

    What it  does?  After 3 hours, the purge command is executed to clean memory used by system.  my kernel_task reduced from 4.75GB to 800MB

    Actually, you're running it once every minute, from 3:00 to 3:59...  Pretty sure you want a value in the first column.

     

    Quoting crontab(5):

     

    The time and date fields are:

     

               field         allowed values

               -----         --------------

               minute        0-59

               hour          0-23

               day of month  1-31

               month         1-12 (or names, see below)

               day of week   0-7 (0 or 7 is Sun, or use names)

     

         A field may be an asterisk (*), which always stands for ``first-last''.

  • by Chumpie,

    Chumpie Chumpie Jan 29, 2016 11:44 AM in response to DrDominodog51
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 29, 2016 11:44 AM in response to DrDominodog51

    Thank you!  

     

    After many months of struggling with the kernel_task growing in memory, leading to severe swapping and slowdowns, it seems like this finally did the trick! 

     

    I unchecked some of my log file heavy directories from Spotlight indexing, and suddenly it's holding stable.  Very excited - I feel like I got my computer back!

  • by senhalil,

    senhalil senhalil Feb 29, 2016 12:34 AM in response to Chumpie
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 29, 2016 12:34 AM in response to Chumpie

    By "this" you mean what? The discussion is too long to find the working solution.

  • by Jack Zahran1,

    Jack Zahran1 Jack Zahran1 Mar 7, 2016 10:27 AM in response to senhalil
    Level 1 (50 points)
    Mar 7, 2016 10:27 AM in response to senhalil

    I'm on OS X 10.11.4 beta   I removed all .kext from 2012 and older (Mostly HP printer stuff and an old Audio HiJack)  Now Kernal_task is running around 500MB from close to 2GB!  Thank you HP

  • by xxtmxx,

    xxtmxx xxtmxx Mar 25, 2016 7:58 AM in response to vol7ron
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mar 25, 2016 7:58 AM in response to vol7ron

    Hey,

     

    I also have issues with the kernel_task. Its using something between 200 and 800% of my cpu and my trackpad doesnt work ( I didnt spill water or anything over my MBP, at first the trackpad did work and only the kernel task used all my cpu performance, then a few days later the trackpad didnt work too.)

    So, the problem appeared a few months ago and i could "solve" it by deleting all files in the Resources folder (System -Library – Extensions – IOPlatformPluginFamily.kext -Contents – Plugins – ACPI_SMC_PlatformPlugin.kext – Contents – Resources). Then i just had to use fancontrol to lower the rpm of my cpu fan (they spun like crazy and my macbook didnt even get hot or anything) and I could somehow use my macbook again.

     

    A few days ago I updated my device to the latest version of el capitan and the nonsense began again. I tried to solve the problem as last time, doesnt work. I dont know what causes the issue, but a lot of people have problems with HDD or printer or something. I dont find files like that in my kext files.

     

    I also checked my mbp using "etrecheck":

    EtreCheck version: 2.9.10 (261)

    Report generated 2016-03-25 14:40:13

    Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

    Runtime 6:48

    Performance: Below Average

     

     

    Click the [Support] links for help with non-Apple products.

    Click the [Details] links for more information about that line.

     

     

    Problem: Computer is too slow

    Description:

    kernel task high cpu usage

     

     

    Hardware Information: ⓘ

        MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Mid 2014)

        [Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty & Service]

        MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro11,1

        1 2,6 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 2-core

        8 GB RAM Not upgradeable

            BANK 0/DIMM0

                4 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

            BANK 1/DIMM0

                4 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

        Bluetooth: Good - Handoff/Airdrop2 supported

        Wireless:  en0: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac

        Battery: Health = Normal - Cycle count = 460

     

     

    Video Information: ⓘ

        Intel Iris

            Color LCD 2560 x 1600

     

     

    System Software: ⓘ

        OS X El Capitan 10.11.4 (15E65) - Time since boot: less than an hour

     

     

    Disk Information: ⓘ

        APPLE SSD SM0256F disk0 : (251 GB) (Solid State - TRIM: Yes)

            EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

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

            BOOTCAMP (disk0s4) /Volumes/BOOTCAMP : 70.00 GB (12.14 GB free)

            Macintosh HD (disk1) / : 179.78 GB (82.46 GB free)

                Encrypted AES-XTS Unlocked

                Core Storage: disk0s2 180.14 GB Online

     

     

    USB Information: ⓘ

        Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

        Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub

            Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

        Microsoft Basic Optical Mouse

     

     

    Thunderbolt Information: ⓘ

        Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

     

     

    Configuration files: ⓘ

        System Integrity Protection status: disabled

     

     

    Gatekeeper: ⓘ

        Mac App Store and identified developers

     

     

    Startup Items: ⓘ

        FanControlDaemon: Path: /Library/StartupItems/FanControlDaemon

        Startup items are obsolete in OS X Yosemite

     

     

    System Launch Agents: ⓘ

        [not loaded]    7 Apple tasks

        [loaded]    161 Apple tasks

        [running]    70 Apple tasks

     

     

    System Launch Daemons: ⓘ

        [not loaded]    44 Apple tasks

        [loaded]    157 Apple tasks

        [running]    88 Apple tasks

     

     

    Launch Agents: ⓘ

        [loaded]    com.google.keystone.agent.plist (2016-03-03) [Support]

     

     

    Launch Daemons: ⓘ

        [loaded]    com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (2016-03-19) [Support]

        [loaded]    com.apple.installer.osmessagetracing.plist

        [loaded]    com.ea.origi

    n.ESHelper.plist (2014-12-12) [Support]

        [loaded]    com.google.keystone.daemon.plist (2016-03-03) [Support]

        [loaded]    com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist (2014-02-26) [Support]

     

     

    User Launch Agents: ⓘ

        [loaded]    com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist (2015-06-18) [Support]

        [running]    com.spotify.webhelper.plist (2016-03-11) [Support]

     

     

    User Login Items: ⓘ

        smcFanControl    Programm  (/Applications/smcFanControl.app)

        iTunesHelper    Programm  (/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)

        Dropbox    Programm  (/Applications/Dropbox.app)

        Google Chrome    Programm Hidden (/Applications/Google Chrome.app)

        Macs Fan Control    Programm  (/Applications/Macs Fan Control.app)

     

     

    Other Apps: ⓘ

        [running]    com.crystalidea.MacsFanControl.4512            (Note: I use those to lower RPM, otherwise it would spin at max rpm)

        [running]    com.eidac.smcFanControl2.82592

        [running]    com.getdropbox.dropbox.5792

        [running]    com.google.Chrome.43552

        [running]    com.microsoft.Word.46752

        [running]    com.microsoft.autoupdate.fba.77472

        [running]    ru.keepcoder.Telegram.55392

        [loaded]    401 Apple tasks

        [running]    183 Apple tasks

     

     

    Internet Plug-ins: ⓘ

        FlashPlayer-10.6: 21.0.0.197 - SDK 10.6 (2016-03-25) [Support]

        QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (2016-03-22)

        AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: 11.0.11 - SDK 10.6 (2015-06-18) [Support]

        AdobePDFViewer: 11.0.11 - SDK 10.6 (2015-06-18) [Support]

        Flash Player: 21.0.0.197 - SDK 10.6 (2016-03-25) [Support]

        Default Browser: 601 - SDK 10.11 (2016-03-22)

        SharePointBrowserPlugin: 14.5.9 - SDK 10.6 (2015-12-15) [Support]

        Silverlight: 5.1.30514.0 - SDK 10.6 (2015-01-28) [Support]

     

     

    Safari Extensions: ⓘ

     

      AdBlock (2015-09-05)

     

     

    3rd Party Preference Panes: ⓘ

        Fan Control (2007-10-27) [Support]

        Flash Player (2016-03-19) [Support]

     

     

    Time Machine: ⓘ

        Mobile backups: ON

        Auto backup: YES

        Volumes being backed up:

            Macintosh HD: Disk size: 179.78 GB Disk used: 97.32 GB

        Destinations:

            Backup Mac Theresa [Local]

            Total size: 999.86 GB

            Total number of backups: 3

            Oldest backup: 22.05.15, 15:26

            Last backup: 14.08.15, 11:13

            Size of backup disk: Excellent

                Backup size 999.86 GB > (Disk size 179.78 GB X 3)

     

     

    Top Processes by CPU: ⓘ

             9%    WindowServer

             2%    kernel_task               (Note: here it says only 2%, in activity monitor something around 500%)

             1%    smcFanControl

             1%    Google Chrome Helper(7)

             0%    Google Chrome

     

     

    Top Processes by Memory: ⓘ

        909 MB    Google Chrome Helper(7)

        715 MB    kernel_task

        467 MB    softwareupdated

        229 MB    Google Chrome

        197 MB    Dropbox

     

     

    Virtual Memory Information: ⓘ

        1.93 GB    Free RAM

        6.07 GB    Used RAM (2.19 GB Cached)

        0 B    Swap Used

     

     

    Diagnostics Information: ⓘ

        Mar 25, 2016, 02:01:47 PM    Self test - passed

        Mar 25, 2016, 01:19:25 PM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Finder_2016-03-25-131925_[redacted].hang

            /System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/MacOS/Finder

        Mar 13, 2016, 07:14:00 AM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Kernel_2016-03-13-071400_[redacted].panic [Details]

        Mar 6, 2016, 11:44:48 AM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Kernel_2016-03-06-114448_[redacted].panic [Details]

        Mar 1, 2016, 07:16:09 AM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Kernel_2016-03-01-071609_[redacted].panic [Details]

    The interesing thing is, that the test says, cpu usage is no problem at all, but the activity monitor says it is 800%. And as I said before, my mbp never gets hot.

     

    Anyone any ideas what else I could try?

     

    Thank you very much,

     

    Theresa

  • by suoakes,

    suoakes suoakes Mar 30, 2016 8:16 PM in response to Jcraw100
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Mar 30, 2016 8:16 PM in response to Jcraw100

    My kernel_task was up to 4.7 GB! I uninstalled LogMeIn, and everything resolved. I cannot believe what havoc this created, freezing up all my CC apps and browswers. I had forgotten I even had it, really never used it. So grateful I found this!

  • by antdude,

    antdude antdude May 10, 2016 2:30 PM in response to EvilRaat
    Level 1 (34 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 10, 2016 2:30 PM in response to EvilRaat

    Hello.

     

    After I (re)boot, updated Mac OS X v10.10.5 (Yosemite) top showed my kernel_task process using almost 800 MB of RAM. After using about 5.5 hours, it went up to about 1.2 GB of RAM. I was using VMware Fusion v8.1.1's 64-bit W7 EE SP1 (was updating it) guest, Mac Outlook 2016 (got its updates today too), Terminal, Jabber, Spark, Preview, 3 web browsers (Chrome v50, Safari v9.1, and Firefox v46), Cisco AnyConnect, McAfee AV, CrashPlan, etc. This was on my work's 15" MacBook Pro (Retina; early 2013) has 16 GB of RAM. Is kernel_task process' memory usage a little high?

     

    Thank you in advance.

  • by BobHarris,

    BobHarris BobHarris May 10, 2016 7:57 PM in response to antdude
    Level 6 (19,479 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 10, 2016 7:57 PM in response to antdude

    800MB is within bounds for a 16GB system.  Since you have kernel extensions installed (McAfee, and maybe others), going o 1.2GB can be a very normal situation.

     

    Since this thread is already 7 pages long _AND_ marked "Answered", you might consider starting a new thread to discuss your issues.

     

    In your new thread, if you wish to point to anything you think is relevant in this thread just provide a link, but since many kernel_task too large all have different situations, it is unlikely.

     

    In your new thread, please post the output from EtreCheck

    <https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-6174>

    <http://etrecheck.com>

    Perform the EtreCheck "When" you have a large kernel_task memory usage, otherwise, there is no point to it if large kernel_task memory using is the problem.

     

    And I can tell you, you will be told to remove McAfee, and any Mac clearners, or memory cleaners.

    <http://www.thesafemac.com/mmg-builtin/>

     

    Finally since you are running Yosemite, post your new thread in the Yosemite forum, not the Mavericks forum.

first Previous Page 7 of 8 last Next