Burnin' Coal

Q: Constant "Your system has run out of application memory"

At wits end....2011 iMac with 4GB RAM and 750GB free on HD....computer is almost unusable with semi permanent spinning ball and constant Force Quit boxes with warning "Your system has run out of application memory"

 

From reading and rereading similar posts on a myriad of forums I ask for help...I understand how to open Activity Monitor....from the extremely long list of Process Names I am guessing there are several that are either adware or some form of unwanted memory hog....one in particular is USERNOTED but I dare say there are several others

 

When trying to use Photoshop earlier the machine ground to a halt...Activity Monitor showed 1GB for Photoshop and almost all the rest of the CPU was being taken up by USERNOTED....but looking at the box with memory pressure there were huge red peaks then it would drop to almost nothing and then another spike...like watching a heart beat...and that was without me touching any controls - it was just pulsing on its own

 

I have run an /sbin/fsck check and it tells me the system is all good so am guessing I have a gremlin in the RAM

 

So...million dollar question....in terms that a completely untech savvy person can understand...what do I look for ? and how do I fix it ?

 

Thank you for all and any help however any suggestions to install MacCleaner will be ignored

MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion

Posted on Mar 31, 2016 10:04 AM

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Q: Constant "Your system has run out of application memory"

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  • by JimmyCMPIT,

    JimmyCMPIT JimmyCMPIT Mar 31, 2016 11:35 AM in response to Burnin' Coal
    Level 6 (8,328 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 31, 2016 11:35 AM in response to Burnin' Coal

    I wrote get two chips for RAM, and that system has 4 banks: incorrect on my part.

    so you could get FOUR chips or two

    you could also get two (2) more 2GB DDR3 1333 MHz chips for about $11 and just give it a whirl to see if that doesn't solve the lack of RAM love and keep the existing RAM in there now and just add two more chips.

    I drink $11 worth of coffee before I get into work (and that's why I'm sweating at my desk like I just ran a marathon - and making the wrong statements about RAM in your computer)

     

    Also +1 on Old Toads suggestion to safe boot

    https://support.apple.com/kb/PH18760?locale=en_US

    this is bypass extensions and check the drive so it will take longer to boot but it can be very helpful.

    Screen Shot 2016-03-31 at 2.28.02 PM.png

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Mar 31, 2016 12:07 PM in response to Burnin' Coal
    Level 10 (208,037 points)
    Applications
    Mar 31, 2016 12:07 PM in response to Burnin' Coal

    There is excessive swapping of data between physical memory (that is, the memory chips on the logic board) and virtual memory (one or more files on the startup volume.) That activity is relatively slow and causes the whole system to be less responsive. It can happen for two reasons:

              A long-running process with a memory leak (a kind of bug)

              Not enough memory for your usage pattern

    Please note that if the cause is a memory leak, installing more memory will not help. That's likely if you already have more than 4 GB of memory. Tracking down a memory leak can be difficult, and it may come down to a process of elimination.

    These instructions are for OS X 10.9 and later. Some details may be slightly different for earlier versions of OS X.

    When you notice the slowdown, open the Activity Monitor application and select All Processes from the View menu, if it's not already selected. Select the Memory tab. Click the heading of the Real Mem column in the process table twice to sort the table with the highest value at the top. If you don't see that column, select

              View ▹ Columns ▹ Real Memory

    from the menu bar.

    If one process (excluding "kernel_task") is using much more memory than all the others, that could be an indication of a leak. A better indication would be a process that continually grabs more and more real memory over time without ever releasing it. Here is an example of how it's done.

    "Wired" memory should be less than half of the total. That memory is not swapped, but it makes less physical memory available which may then result in swapping. If most of the memory is wired, that may be an indication of a memory leak in a third-party program that modifies the operating system at a low level. Ask for guidance in that case.

    If you don't have an obvious memory leak, the options are to install more memory (if possible) or to run fewer programs simultaneously.

    The next suggestion is only for users familiar with the shell. For a more precise, but potentially misleading, test, run the following command:

    sudo leaks -nocontext -nostacks process | grep total

    where process is the name of a process you suspect of leaking memory. Almost every process will leak some memory; the question is how much, and especially how much the leak increases with time. I can’t be more specific. See the leaks(1) man page and the Apple developer documentation for details.

  • by Burnin' Coal,

    Burnin' Coal Burnin' Coal Mar 31, 2016 1:11 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 31, 2016 1:11 PM in response to Linc Davis

    Thankyou...as per my original post I have checked Activity Monitor and one frequent troublemaker is USERNOTED which at times is using up to 80% of the CPU....but how do I deal with it and how do I spot other problems in the Process Name list (which is VERY long) ?

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Mar 31, 2016 1:27 PM in response to Burnin' Coal
    Level 10 (208,037 points)
    Applications
    Mar 31, 2016 1:27 PM in response to Burnin' Coal

    The issue is not CPU usage but memory usage. Is Photoshop consistently at the top of that list? Does its memory usage increase with time?

  • by Burnin' Coal,

    Burnin' Coal Burnin' Coal Mar 31, 2016 1:41 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 31, 2016 1:41 PM in response to Linc Davis

    Ah !.....ok....so have been keeping an eye on it these last minutes....Photoshop is in the top five but appears stable at present at around 450.2MB....kernel task is showing at 461.7MB....However Outlook live is on the top spot with soagent and usernoted filling out the top five on the Process Name list

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Mar 31, 2016 1:53 PM in response to Burnin' Coal
    Level 10 (208,037 points)
    Applications
    Mar 31, 2016 1:53 PM in response to Burnin' Coal

    And is the machine beachballing now? If not, keep watching the process table until it does.

  • by Burnin' Coal,

    Burnin' Coal Burnin' Coal Mar 31, 2016 2:13 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 31, 2016 2:13 PM in response to Linc Davis

    Ok....there was a moment of beachball accompanied by two red flashing Safari lines in Process Names...for now seems stable but Photoshop has moved to the top of the Process Names list and is showing at 586.8MB.....I will now leave Activity Monitor open and keep an eye on it as I'm working and will attempt to see what is happening during the next beachball episode

    Thanks for your help

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Mar 31, 2016 2:21 PM in response to Burnin' Coal
    Level 10 (208,037 points)
    Applications
    Mar 31, 2016 2:21 PM in response to Burnin' Coal

    You should also be watching for the Memory Pressure indicator at the bottom of the window to go into the red zone.

  • by Burnin' Coal,

    Burnin' Coal Burnin' Coal Mar 31, 2016 2:51 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 31, 2016 2:51 PM in response to Linc Davis

    Ok...this is something I will keep an eye on in the coming days and will make notes of when and where if possible...Photoshop has increased to 710MB but no spinning ball and.for now the memory pressure is stable as opposed to the red spike "heartbeat" I was experiencing earlier....I have also counted 167 different Process Names all using up memory

  • by Burnin' Coal,

    Burnin' Coal Burnin' Coal Apr 3, 2016 10:53 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 3, 2016 10:53 AM in response to Linc Davis

    Hallo...after a couple of days when it seemed that the problem had been resolved (removing a Tom Tom app spotted by JimmyCMPIT appeared to have stabilised everything) I am back to square one.

    I followed your instructions and have kept an eye on the Activity Monitor for two days...Photoshop did indeed remain at the top of the list of Process Names but remained at a steady 710MB.

    Memory Pressure was a constant smooth line.Even with an Epson Scanner program and Photoshop running concurrently Memory usage varied between 1.85GB to 2.25GB at most....until one hour ago

    For no apparent reason I got the first beachball and hang that I have seen in two days...this was then accompanied by a huge red spike in Memory Pressure and Memory usage went from 2.25GB to 3.85GB.In the same moment in the Process Names list SOAGENT appeared from nowhere at 785MB then disappeared...thirty seconds later same again until within minutes I had what looked like a heartbeat in Memory Pressure

    I decided to restart the machine....beachballs for every process....eventually shutdown but on restart for the first time ever a WHITE SCREEN

     

    I read how to reboot in safe Mode...Memory usage was back to 1.25GB...within minutes it was 1.75GB with no Apps open...Etrecheck took it up to 1.95GB

     

    I am in no way qualified to say if it is the change of OS,a memory leak or what...but I clearly have a mid 2011 iMac that is not working properly

     

    All and any assistance will be gratefully received

     

    EtreCheck version: 2.9.10 (261)

    Report generated 2016-04-03 18:37:35

    Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

    Runtime 2:30

    Performance: Excellent

     

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

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

     

    Problem: Beachballing

    Description:

    memory pressure red

     

    Hardware Information:

        iMac (27-inch, Mid 2011)

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

        iMac - model: iMac12,2

        1 3.1 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 4-core

        4 GB RAM Upgradeable - [Instructions]

            BANK 0/DIMM0

                2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

            BANK 1/DIMM0

                2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

            BANK 0/DIMM1

                Empty  

            BANK 1/DIMM1

                Empty  

        Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported

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

     

    Video Information:

        AMD Radeon HD 6970M - VRAM: 1024 MB

            iMac 2560 x 1440

     

    System Software:

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

     

    Disk Information:

        WDC WD1001FALS-403AA0 disk0 : (1 TB) (Rotational)

            EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

            Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / : 999.35 GB (735.58 GB free)

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

     

        OPTIARC DVD RW AD-5690H   ()

     

    USB Information:

        Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

        Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

            Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

        Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

        Apple Card Reader

     

    Thunderbolt Information:

        Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

     

    Gatekeeper:

        Mac App Store and identified developers

     

    Kernel Extensions:

            /Library/Application Support/HASP/kexts

        [not loaded]    com.aladdin.kext.aksfridge (1.0.2 - 2016-04-03) [Support]

     

            /System/Library/Extensions

        [not loaded]    com.tomtom.driver.UsbEthernetGadget (1.0.0d1 - 2016-03-22) [Support]

     

    System Launch Agents:

        [not loaded]    9 Apple tasks

        [loaded]    166 Apple tasks

        [running]    42 Apple tasks

        [killed]    21 Apple tasks

        21 processes killed due to insufficient RAM

     

    System Launch Daemons:

        [failed]    com.apple.ucupdate.plist

        [failed]    com.apple.watchdogd.plist

        [not loaded]    40 Apple tasks

        [loaded]    164 Apple tasks

        [running]    70 Apple tasks

        [killed]    13 Apple tasks

        13 processes killed due to insufficient RAM

     

    Launch Agents:

        [not loaded]    com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist (2015-09-25) [Support]

        [not loaded]    com.epson.esua.launcher.plist (2015-06-29) [Support]

        [not loaded]    com.xrite.device.softwareupdate.plist (2015-08-19) [Support]

     

    Launch Daemons:

        [not loaded]    com.adobe.agsservice.plist (2015-09-25) [Support]

        [not loaded]    com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (2016-03-19) [Support]

        [not loaded]    com.aladdin.aksusbd.plist (2015-12-07) [Support]

        [not loaded]    com.aladdin.hasplmd.plist (2015-12-07) [Support]

        [not loaded]    com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist (2012-04-02) [Support]

        [not loaded]    com.xrite.device.xrdd.plist (2015-08-19) [Support]

     

    User Launch Agents:

        [not loaded]    com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist (2013-07-28) [Support]

        [not loaded]    com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist (2013-07-31) [Support]

     

    User Login Items:

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

        AdobeResourceSynchronizer    Application Hidden (/Applications/Adobe Reader.app/Contents/Support/AdobeResourceSynchronizer.app)

     

    Other Apps:

        [running]    com.etresoft.EtreCheck.96992

        [loaded]    413 Apple tasks

        [running]    118 Apple tasks

        [killed]    35 Apple tasks

     

    Internet Plug-ins:

        AdobeAAMDetect: AdobeAAMDetect 1.0.0.0 - SDK 10.6 (2015-09-25) [Support]

        FlashPlayer-10.6: 21.0.0.197 - SDK 10.6 (2016-03-31) [Support]

        EPPEX Plugin: 4.1.0.0 (2011-07-27) [Support]

        AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: 11.0.15 - SDK 10.6 (2016-03-09) [Support]

        AdobePDFViewer: 11.0.15 - SDK 10.6 (2016-03-09) [Support]

        QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (2016-03-22)

        Flash Player: 21.0.0.197 - SDK 10.6 (2016-03-31) [Support]

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

        SharePointBrowserPlugin: 14.6.2 - SDK 10.6 (2016-03-21) [Support]

     

    3rd Party Preference Panes:

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

     

    Time Machine:

        Skip System Files: NO

        Auto backup: YES

        Volumes being backed up:

            Macintosh HD: Disk size: 999.35 GB Disk used: 263.76 GB

        Destinations:

            Data [Network]

            Total size: 3.00 TB

            Total number of backups: 101

            Oldest backup: 01/02/2014, 22:18

            Last backup: 03/04/2016, 16:54

            Size of backup disk: Excellent

                Backup size 3.00 TB > (Disk size 999.35 GB X 3)

     

    Top Processes by CPU:

             1%    fontd

             1%    launchd

             1%    WindowServer

             0%    kernel_task

             0%    dpd

     

    Top Processes by Memory:

        394 MB    kernel_task

        188 MB    usernoted

        111 MB    Finder

        74 MB    Activity Monitor

        70 MB    WindowServer

     

    Virtual Memory Information:

        1.70 GB    Free RAM

        2.30 GB    Used RAM (641 MB Cached)

        696 MB    Swap Used

     

    Diagnostics Information:

        Apr 3, 2016, 06:21:25 PM    Self test - passed

        Apr 3, 2016, 06:07:10 PM    ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Adobe Photoshop Elements Editor_2016-04-03-180710_[redacted].crash

            /Applications/Adobe Photoshop Elements 10/*/Adobe Photoshop Elements Editor.app/Contents/MacOS/Adobe Photoshop Elements Editor

        Mar 31, 2016, 07:55:34 PM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Adobe Photoshop Elements Editor_2016-03-31-195534_[redacted].cpu_resource.diag [Details]

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Apr 3, 2016 12:05 PM in response to Burnin' Coal
    Level 10 (208,037 points)
    Applications
    Apr 3, 2016 12:05 PM in response to Burnin' Coal

    First, please don't post "etrecheck" stuff in a reply to me. I didn't ask for it and I have no use for it.

    Please open the Internet Accounts pane in System Preferences and disable any Google accounts. The data will remain on Google's servers. See whether there's an improvement. If there is, see below.

    Delete the Google contact account. Again, you won't be deleting anything from Google.

    Scroll to the bottom of the list of account types (facebook, Linkedin, etc.) and click Add Other Account...

    Click CalDAV account.

    Select Manual from the Account Type menu.

    Enter your Gmail address as the User Name.

    If you've activated 2-step verification, generate an application-specific password in your Google account and enter it instead of the login password you use on the website.

    Enter "google.com" (without the quotes) as the Server Address.

    Click Sign In.

    Credit for this solution to BrianBaughn on macrumors.com.

  • by Burnin' Coal,

    Burnin' Coal Burnin' Coal Apr 3, 2016 12:41 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 3, 2016 12:41 PM in response to Linc Davis

    Thank you...and apologies for the dump of etrecheck - put it down to a total novice not understanding the etiquette here...I will carry out your instructions and observe the results over the coming day

  • by Burnin' Coal,

    Burnin' Coal Burnin' Coal Apr 3, 2016 1:03 PM in response to Burnin' Coal
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 3, 2016 1:03 PM in response to Burnin' Coal

    I have opened the Internet Accounts pane but the only internet accounts are Hotmail and then iCloud which is linked to Photos,Contacts,Calendars,Reminders,Safari and Find My Mac

     

    When I restarted the computer two hours ago Memory usage was showing at 1.75GB...it has sat idling and there are no Apps open but it has now risen to 2.93GB...opening a page on Safari takes it to 3.12GB

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Apr 3, 2016 1:50 PM in response to Burnin' Coal
    Level 10 (208,037 points)
    Applications
    Apr 3, 2016 1:50 PM in response to Burnin' Coal

    1. Please export your contacts directly from icloud.com to a file for safekeeping.

    2. Back up all data.

    3. Open the iCloud pane in System Preferences. Verify that you're signed in with your usual Apple ID. Uncheck the box marked Contacts. When prompted to confirm, select

              Delete From Mac

    The contacts will still be on iCloud and on any other devices that sync with the same account. Leave the preference pane open.

    4. Launch the Contacts application and verify that your iCloud contacts have been removed. If you keep all your contacts on iCloud, the database should now be empty.

    5. In the iCloud preference pane, re-check the Contacts box and close the window. The contacts should reappear within a few seconds, if you're connected to the Internet. Otherwise, stop here and post your results.

  • by Burnin' Coal,

    Burnin' Coal Burnin' Coal Apr 3, 2016 2:08 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 3, 2016 2:08 PM in response to Linc Davis

    I will do as you suggest but tomorrow with a fresh mind....please understand that for a total novice this is slightly daunting although I must qualify that by saying that I find your instruction easy to follow so thank you...I will post results once I have them

     

    I am not sure if it is related but (having never done it before) when I first opened the Internet Accounts pane I clicked on the Google logo to see if that is where the accounts would be....it flickers constantly...all of the other icons there are stable in that the dropdown boxes offer me the chance to either fill in my user name or cancel....Google however I could not sign in even if I wanted to as the dropdown pane flickers on and off

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