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Q: mDNSResponder in El Capitan?

Should mDNSResponder still be in OS El Capitan?

 

This task/process takes over my system (latest) whenever I log on to my iMac, slowing down everything and interfering with my internet connection.

 

When I google it, all results are from 2011-12, and Mountain Lion.

 

How do I get rid of it?

 

Thanks!

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11), 4 GB RAM

Posted on Jun 15, 2016 12:53 PM

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Q: mDNSResponder in El Capitan?

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Jun 15, 2016 1:09 PM in response to Impish
    Level 10 (207,990 points)
    Applications
    Jun 15, 2016 1:09 PM in response to Impish

    How do you know it's slowing everything down?

  • by K Shaffer,Helpful

    K Shaffer K Shaffer Jun 15, 2016 2:26 PM in response to Impish
    Level 6 (14,367 points)
    Desktops
    Jun 15, 2016 2:26 PM in response to Impish

    Reset the DNS cache in OS X - Apple Support

    support.apple.com/en-us/HT202516

     

    The mDNSResponder would show up in Activity Monitor; where it may also

    be forced to quit from there. The cache may be cleared to some effect.

     

    This property had been removed or renamed for Yosemite 10.10.x and the

    item has returned to earlier name; so it wasn't known as mDNSResponder

    for a time, but now the name is back. Thus perhaps some confusion.

     

    The cure involves a command-line; also indicated by this other article:

     

    • How to Flush DNS Cache in OS X El Capitan...

    http://osxdaily.com/2015/11/16/howto-flush-dns-cache-os-x-elcap/

     

    {The cache reset Support instructions should include El Capitan}

     

    Good luck!

  • by Impish,

    Impish Impish Jun 15, 2016 2:39 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 2 (289 points)
    Apple TV
    Jun 15, 2016 2:39 PM in response to Linc Davis

    Why do you ask?

     

    From looking at the Activity Monitor (AM).  The system  becomes slow to respond, and the activity lights on my DSL modem are flashing like crazy, and mDNSResponder is listed at the top of all running processes in most panes of the AM.

     

    After logging in, it takes 10 to 15 minutes for it to stop whatever it is doing and return my Mac to its normal speed.  Btw, what IS it doing?

  • by Impish,

    Impish Impish Jun 15, 2016 2:42 PM in response to K Shaffer
    Level 2 (289 points)
    Apple TV
    Jun 15, 2016 2:42 PM in response to K Shaffer

    I'll let you know if flushing the cache prevents the next slow down.  When I quit the process in the AM, it simply reloads and starts working its way up the processes list.

     

    And THANK YOU for your help!

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Jun 15, 2016 3:08 PM in response to Impish
    Level 10 (207,990 points)
    Applications
    Jun 15, 2016 3:08 PM in response to Impish

    When you see the activity, note the exact time: hour, minute, second.  

    These instructions must be carried out as an administrator. If you have only one user account, you are the administrator.

    Launch the Console application in any one of the following ways:

    ☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)

    ☞ In the Finder, select Go Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

    ☞ Open LaunchPad and start typing the name.

    The title of the Console window should be All Messages. If it isn't, select

              SYSTEM LOG QUERIES All Messages

    from the log list on the left. If you don't see that list, select

              View Show Log List

    from the menu bar at the top of the screen.

    Each message in the log begins with the date and time when it was entered. Scroll back to the time you noted above.

    Select the messages entered from then until the end of the episode, or until they start to repeat, whichever comes first.

    Copy the messages to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. Paste into a reply to this message by pressing command-V.

    The log contains a vast amount of information, almost all of it useless for solving any particular problem. When posting a log extract, be selective. A few dozen lines are almost always more than enough.

    Please don't indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.

    Please don't post screenshots of log messages—post the text.

    Some private information, such as your name, may appear in the log. Anonymize before posting.

    When you post the log extract, you might see an error message on the web page: "You have included content in your post that is not permitted," or "The message contains invalid characters." That's a bug in the forum software. Please post the text on Pastebin, then post a link here to the page you created.

    If you have an account on Pastebin, please don't select Private from the Paste Exposure menu on the page, because then no one but you will be able to see it.

  • by K Shaffer,

    K Shaffer K Shaffer Jun 15, 2016 3:33 PM in response to Impish
    Level 6 (14,367 points)
    Desktops
    Jun 15, 2016 3:33 PM in response to Impish

    To access and view the Log files for the system reports, as suggested by Linc Davis

    is recommended, since that can tell or show other items that may cause this issue.

     

    Good luck in this matter!

  • by Impish,

    Impish Impish Jun 17, 2016 11:36 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 2 (289 points)
    Apple TV
    Jun 17, 2016 11:36 AM in response to Linc Davis

    My world just got extremely busy and I won't be able to get to this for a few more days.  Thanks for your patience!

  • by Impish,

    Impish Impish Jul 4, 2016 12:29 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 2 (289 points)
    Apple TV
    Jul 4, 2016 12:29 PM in response to Linc Davis

    I came here to say that all is well, but at that moment, my problem started again.

     

    I was able to copy these lines from the Console, but I don't think it represents everything that's going on.  My system was so slow that I finally had to unplug my modem  to restart it.  That gave me my system back to some degree.

     

    7/4/16 1:09:23.754 PM AirPlayXPCHelper[100]: 2016-07-04 01:09:23.753965 PM [APBonjourBrowser] Restarted AirPlay USB event is NOT handled - file a radar

    7/4/16 1:09:23.759 PM com.hp.devicemonitor[10055]: dnssd_clientstub read_all(136) failed 0/28 0

    7/4/16 1:09:23.760 PM com.hp.devicemonitor[10055]: dnssd_clientstub read_all(146) failed 0/28 0

     

    There are also LOTS of this:

     

    7/4/16 1:23:56.433 PM GoogleSoftwareUpdateAgent[33656]: 2016-07-04 13:23:56.433 GoogleSoftwareUpdateAgent[33656/0xb0219000] [lvl=2] -[KSUpdateEngine updateAllExceptProduct:] KSUpdateEngine updating all installed products, except:'com.google.Keystone'.

    7/4/16 1:23:56.435 PM GoogleSoftwareUpdateAgent[33656]: 2016-07-04 13:23:56.435 GoogleSoftwareUpdateAgent[33656/0xb0219000] [lvl=2] -[KSCheckAction performAction] KSCheckAction checking 1 ticket(s).

     

    And scrolling back, the word "Warning" caught my eye:

     

    7/3/16 7:57:58.871 PM CalendarAgent[9994]: [com.apple.calendar.store.log.subscription] [Failed to refresh <CalManagedSubscriptionInfo: 0x7ff18346c7f0> (entity: SubscriptionInfo; id: 0x4002cb <x-coredata://A3C00B4C-64F2-49BB-9D7D-EF6DD19B7776/SubscriptionInfo/p1> ; data: {

        calendar = "0x80024b <x-coredata://A3C00B4C-64F2-49BB-9D7D-EF6DD19B7776/CalDAVSubscribedCalendar/p2> ";

        hasAlarmFilter = 1;

        hasAttachmentFilter = 1;

        hasTaskFilter = 1;

        isAutoProvisioned = 0;

        isAutoRefreshed = 0;

        languageCode = nil;

        lastError = "0x41b00036b <x-coredata://A3C00B4C-64F2-49BB-9D7D-EF6DD19B7776/SubscriptionError/p4204>";

        locationCode = nil;

        needsRefresh = 0;

        refreshDate = nil;

        refreshInterval = 0;

        subscriptionID = nil;

        subscriptionNotes = nil;

        subscriptionTitle = nil;

        subscriptionURL = "(...not nil..)";

        subscriptionURLString = "http://ical.mac.com/ical/Movies.ics";

    }) with error Error Domain=CalSubscriptionErrorDomain Code=-1 "(null)"]

    7/3/16 7:58:27.328 PM CalendarAgent[9994]: [com.apple.calendar.store.log.caldav.queue] [WARNING: CalDAVAccountRefreshQueueableOperation :: after refresh failed]

     

    Does any of this help?

     

    Thanks!