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Help with Activity Monitor and excessive data usage

Hello,

I have recently noticed my MacBook pro (with macOS Mojave), is using huge amounts of data, without me actively downloading anything. I use my computer for emails, and safari browsing... and Ive just being on these for half an hour is showing over 1.3GB of data. I have no idea what could be using so much data.


I have opened my activity monitor, and I have downloaded Bandwidth+ to see the data usage. I can't make head nor tail of the Activity Monitor... and nothing seems to be using an excessive amount of data.... is anyone able to decipher this for me? I don't know what mDNSResponder is.. or Spotlight Networking?


My Safari Networking seems to be the highest, but this appears to grow even without Safari being open.


Could it be a virus or something? Should I uninstall something which is working in the background?

Would LOVE some help from someone who can advise. I have a screenshot here of my Activity Monitor.


Thank you in advance.


MacBook Pro 13", macOS 10.14

Posted on Feb 24, 2019 6:28 AM

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16 replies

Feb 24, 2019 8:35 AM in response to LornaRob

Welcome!


Like my esteemed colleague MacJack, I do not see anything approaching the Big Red Flag. However, working on some little things might help


  • Do you still have and use a Huawei phone? The report show you have a iPhone attached but there is a fair bit of Huawei software installed. If you no longer use that brand phone, it's a good idea to get rid of those---they are running in the background.
  • Same with all the Seagate Software. I don't see an external drive in the report but, even with one connected, the questionable software that drive makers bundle with their stuff is not needed for Time Machine backups unless you have a wireless network backup drive, which I don't see. Otherwise they interfere with normal operations.


This is a lot of swaps:

Virtual Memory Information:
    Available RAM 1.33 GB
    Free RAM 16 MB
    Used RAM 6.67 GB
    Cached files 1.32 GB
    Swap Used 1.70 GB


I was surprised to see swaps equal to ~25 percent of your total physical RAM on a computer that has only run four days since a reboot. It may sounds trite but I'll ask anyway: have you tried a restart? That will clear RAM and clean up temp files. If there is a runaway process afoot, that may stop it from running away.


Off to think on this some more.





Feb 24, 2019 8:51 AM in response to LornaRob

Oooh. Spotted something else--maybe--in your menubar:


I believe the stylized "A" icon is Adobe Update--it phones home and looks like it's telling you it has one "something" happening. Open an Adobe app and use "check for updates" to see if one is stuck or wanting attention.


What app/utility is creating the "1.32GB" with up/down arrows? Is it BandWidth+? If so, try disabling it and see if anything improves.

Feb 24, 2019 10:13 AM in response to LornaRob

I have recently noticed my MacBook pro (with macOS Mojave), is using huge amounts of data, without me actively downloading anything.



What is huge amounts of data?


Have you selected automatic updates from Apple? This will happen in the background.


>System Preferences>Software Update




You can also check your System Information>Software>Installations> sort by date


for recent updates / it will not however show size.

Feb 24, 2019 7:15 AM in response to macjack

Thank you - please see report below and in the next message:


EtreCheck version: 5.1 (5020)

Report generated: 2019-02-24 15:02:53

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime: 2:47

Performance: Excellent

Sandbox: Enabled

Full drive access: Disabled

 

Problem: Computer is too slow

Description:                                                          

        Computer using excessive data

 

Major Issues: None

 

Minor Issues:

    These issues do not need immediate attention but they may indicate future problems. 

 

    High battery cycle count- Your battery may be losing capacity.

    Clean up- There are orphan files that could be removed.

    Unsigned files- There are unsigned software files installed. They appear to be legitimate but should be reviewed.

    32-bit Apps- This machine has 32-bits apps that may have problems in the future.

    Limited drive access- More information may be available with Full Drive Access.

 

Hardware Information:

    MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2012)

    MacBook Pro Model: MacBookPro10,2

    1 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 (i5-3210M) CPU: 2-core

    8 GB RAM - Not upgradeable

    BANK 0/DIMM0 - 4 GB DDR3 1600 ok

    BANK 1/DIMM0 - 4 GB DDR3 1600 ok

    Battery: Health = Normal - Cycle count = 794

 

Video Information:

    Intel HD Graphics 4000 - VRAM: 1536 MB

    Color LCD 2560 x 1600

 

Drives:

    disk0 - APPLE SSD SM512E 500.28 GB (Solid State - TRIM: Yes)

    Internal SATA 6 Gigabit Serial ATA

        disk0s1 - EFI (MS-DOS FAT32) [EFI] 210 MB

        disk0s2 [APFS Container] 500.07 GB

            disk1 [APFS Virtual drive] 500.07 GB (Shared by 4 volumes)

                disk1s1 - Macintosh HD (APFS) (Shared - 438.23 GB used)

                disk1s2 - Preboot (APFS) [APFS Preboot] (Shared)

                disk1s3 - Recovery (APFS) [Recovery] (Shared)

                disk1s4 - VM (APFS) [APFS VM] (Shared - 4.30 GB used)

 

Mounted Volumes:

    disk1s1 - Macintosh HD 500.07 GB (56.82 GB free)

        APFS

        Mount point: /

 

    disk1s4 - VM [APFS VM] (Shared - 4.30 GB used)

        APFS

        Mount point: /private/var/vm

 

Network:

    Interface Bluetooth-Modem: Bluetooth DUN

    Interface en0: AirPort

        802.11 a/b/g/n

    Interface en4: iPhone

    Interface bridge0: Thunderbolt Bridge

    Interface en3: Bluetooth PAN

 

System Software:

    macOS Mojave 10.14.3 (18D109) 

    Time since boot: About 4 days

 

Security:

    GatekeeperEnabled

    System Integrity ProtectionEnabled

 

Unsigned Files:

    Launchd: /Library/LaunchAgents/com.coupons.coupond.plist

        Executable: /Library/Application Support/Coupons/coupond launchd

        Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

 

    Launchd: /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist

        Executable: /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper

        Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

 

32-bit Applications:

    23 32-bit apps

 

Kernel Extensions:

    /System/Library/Extensions

        HuaweiDataCardDriver.kext (4.0.6)

        LfEtherConfig.kext (2.0)

        LfConnectDriver.kext (1.9.8 - SDK 10.7)

        Seagate Storage Driver.kext (Seagate Technologies LLC, 5.2.6 (26925) - SDK 10.4)

 

    /System/Library/Extensions/Seagate Storage Driver.kext/Contents/PlugIns

        SeagateLeafPowSecDriver_10_4.kext (Seagate Technologies LLC, 5.2.6 (26925) - SDK 10.4)

        SeagateLeafPowSecDriver_10_5.kext (Seagate Technologies LLC, 5.2.6 (26925) - SDK 10.5)

        SeagateDriveIcons.kext (Seagate Technologies LLC, 5.2.6 (26925) - SDK 10.4)

 

Feb 24, 2019 7:16 AM in response to LornaRob

Startup Items:

    HWNetMgr Path: /Library/StartupItems/HWNetMgr 

    HWPortDetect Path: /Library/StartupItems/HWPortDetect 

 

System Launch Agents:

    [Not Loaded] 16 Apple tasks

    [Loaded] 152 Apple tasks

    [Running] 128 Apple tasks

    [Other] 3 Apple tasks

 

System Launch Daemons:

    [Not Loaded] 39 Apple tasks

    [Loaded] 184 Apple tasks

    [Running] 113 Apple tasks

    [Other] One Apple task

 

Launch Agents:

    [Loaded] com.adobe.AdobeCreativeCloud.plist (? faec172d - installed 2015-08-03)

    [Loaded] com.microsoft.update.agent.plist (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2019-01-29)

    [Not Loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist (? ffb65062 - installed 2015-08-03)

    [Loaded] com.coupons.coupond.plist (? f6a15e5e - installed 2014-03-20)

 

Launch Daemons:

    [Loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2019-01-28)

    [Loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist (? 6d8cb30e - installed 2010-10-12)

    [Loaded] com.leapfrog.connect.authdaemon.plist (? 115eb318 - installed 2013-10-29)

    [Loaded] com.microsoft.OneDriveUpdaterDaemon.plist (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2018-08-17)

    [Loaded] com.microsoft.autoupdate.helper.plist (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2019-01-29)

    [Loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensingV2.helper.plist (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2018-08-13)

 

User Launch Agents:

    [Loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist (? 0 - installed 2015-05-20)

    [Loaded] com.dropbox.DropboxMacUpdate.agent.plist (Dropbox, Inc. - installed 2019-02-15)

    [Loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2018-07-18)

    [Other] com.leapfrog.connect.monitor.plist (? 0 - installed 2013-10-29)

 

Internet Plug-ins:

    AdobeAAMDetect: 3.0.0.0 (installed 2015-08-03)

    FlashPlayer-10.6: 32.0.0.142 (installed 2019-02-12)

    QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (installed 2019-02-05)

    Flash Player: 32.0.0.142 (installed 2019-02-12)

    CouponPrinter-FireFox_v2: 5.0.4 (installed 2014-03-20)

    SharePointBrowserPlugin: 14.7.7 (installed 2018-08-17)

    OfficeLiveBrowserPlugin: 12.3.6 (installed 2013-12-04)

    Silverlight: 5.1.40728.0 (installed 2015-11-15)

    iPhotoPhotocast: 7.0 (installed 2009-03-11)

 

3rd Party Preference Panes:

    Flash Player (installed 2019-01-28)

    Paragon NTFS for Mac OS X (installed 2015-04-03)

    Seagate Dashboard for Mac OSX (installed 2014-09-12)

 

Time Machine:

    Time Machine information not available without Full Drive Access.

 

Performance:

    System Load: 2.22 (1 min ago) 1.58 (5 min ago) 1.39 (15 min ago)

    Nominal I/O speed: 0.43 MB/s

    File system: 33.07 seconds

    Write speed: 211 MB/s

    Read speed: 393 MB/s

 

CPU Usage:

    TypeOverall

    System 2 %

    User 3 %

    Idle 96 %

 

Top Processes by CPU:

    Process (count)CPU(SourceLocation)

    Microsoft Outlook 6.43 % (Microsoft Corporation)

    EtreCheck 5.81 % (App Store)

    Other processes 4.11 % (?)

    Bandwidth+ 0.11 % (App Store)

    Dock 0.08 % (Apple)

 

Top Processes by Memory:

    Process (count)RAM usage(SourceLocation)

    EtreCheck 583 MB (App Store)

    Microsoft Outlook 330 MB (Microsoft Corporation)

    Safari 115 MB (Apple)

    com.apple.WebKit.WebContent (7) 103 MB (Apple)

    AppleSpell 54 MB (Apple)

 

Top Processes by Network Use:

    ProcessInputOutput(SourceLocation)

    mDNSResponder 7 MB / 2 MB (Apple)

    netbiosd 152 KB / 65 KB (Apple)

    com.apple.WebKit.Networking 20 KB / 10 KB (Apple)

    SocialPushAgent 12 KB / 13 KB (Apple)

    apsd 5 KB / 6 KB (Apple)


Feb 24, 2019 7:26 AM in response to LornaRob

Virtual Memory Information:

    Available RAM 1.33 GB

    Free RAM 16 MB

    Used RAM 6.67 GB

    Cached files 1.32 GB

    Swap Used 1.70 GB

 

Software Installs (past 30 days):

    Install DateName(Version)

    2019-01-29 DaisyDisk (4.6.5)

    2019-01-29 Microsoft AutoUpdate

    2019-01-29 iTunes (12.8.2)

    2019-02-12 Adobe Flash Player

    2019-02-15 Bandwidth+ (1.11)

    2019-02-18 Microsoft Outlook for Mac

    2019-02-18 Microsoft PowerPoint for Mac

    2019-02-18 Microsoft Excel for Mac

    2019-02-18 Microsoft OneNote for Mac

    2019-02-18 Microsoft Word for Mac

    2019-02-21 Gatekeeper Configuration Data (163)

    2019-02-22 MRTConfigData (1.40)

    2019-02-24 EtreCheck (5.1)

 

Clean up:

    ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.leapfrog.connect.monitor.plist

        ~/Library/Application Support/LeapFrogConnect/LeapFrogMonitor.app/Contents/MacOS/LeapFrogMonitor

        Executable not found

 

Diagnostics Information (past 7 days):

    Directory /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports is not accessible without Full Drive Access.

 

End of report


Feb 24, 2019 9:27 AM in response to LornaRob


Bandwith+ is a very solid tiny little app, it is passive— monitoring up and down but is not app specific. I highly doubt it is an issue however


Adobe is a better speculation.


If you do not use Leapfrog—uninstall it or look for an update.


Your Activity Monitor you can start poking around, From A.M>View> for ex show "windowed process"


the mDNSResponder, is a core part of the Bonjour protocol— Apple’s zero-configuration networking service, which basically means it’s how Apple devices find each other on a network; mDNSResponder, regularly scans your local network looking for other devices

Feb 24, 2019 10:41 AM in response to LornaRob

Don't forget that any service that is sync-ing to files on a the web, e.g., dropbox, may be taking a tremendous amount of system resources and Network traffic to assure that the files on the web and the corresponding files on your computer were last-updated at the same time.


Apple services including Time machine take advantage of a finite list of recently changed folders maintained by the File System (the File System Event Store) to reduce that sync-time to near zero.


Third party services, especially those that are not Mac-centric, may not be consulting The File System Event Store, so they can punish both performance and network use by checking all dates on all synced files continuously.


• If you don't need it to be on the web, don't store it on the web.

• If you are willing to synchronize manually, turn OFF automatic synchronization.

• Don't use the web for Backup, it is completely impractical for that.



Feb 24, 2019 11:22 AM in response to Allan Jones

Thanks again - Allan Jones for your comments. I'm a little confused by the Huawei phone comment as Ive never had a Huawei phone....? Can I delete this software somehow?

Also regarding the external drive, I use a TimeMachine backup to external hard drive, so I guess that means I can get rid of the Seagate Software?

My photo stream from my iPhone does upload automatically to my iPhotos... but I would be surprised if that's using all the GB (some days the computer runs up over 10GB of usage when Im just emails and browsing!)

Thank you again - so helpful and kind of you to give your time and advise me.


Feb 24, 2019 11:39 AM in response to LornaRob

It is possible the app has been deleted.


Typically you would look for an uninstaller before simply deleting — are you end up leaving parts and pieces behind.

https://support.leapmotion.com/hc/en-us/articles/223783988-Uninstalling-the-Leap-Motion-software-on-Mac-OSX


After the fact, (beside reinstalling the app, thus using the official uninstaller) you can manually track down and delete:



From Finder>Go>Go To Folder> copy and paste:


  ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.leapfrog.connect.monitor.plist


delete the plist.


Same for


~/Library/Application Support/LeapFrogConnect/LeapFrogMonitor.app/Contents/MacOS/LeapFrogMonitor





I suspect however this is not your data issue in retrospect

Help with Activity Monitor and excessive data usage

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