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macOS Big Sur Window Server utilizes 100% CPU whenever USB mouse is moved

I just installed macOS Big Sur, and I am experiencing lag from the Window System whenever I move my external USB mouse (not an Apple mouse; a gaming mouse). For example, when I move the mouse when watching YouTube, the video freezes at least 2 seconds, or when I hover items in the Dock, the captions do not display immediately -- again with 1-2 seconds delay. I checked `top` and I see "Window Server" go up to 100% CPU whenever I move the mouse.


Note that this does _not_ happen when I use the built-in trackpad.

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 11.0

Posted on Nov 13, 2020 9:35 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Nov 16, 2020 11:10 AM

Log into another vanilla admin user account, Set up users, guests, and groups on Mac and see if the problem persists. (This tells us if the problem is limited to your user account or is system wide).


If it does then boot into Safe Mode (How to use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support) by booting with the Shift key held down and check there to see if the problem persists.  Reboot normally and test again.


NOTE: Safe Mode boot can take up to 10 minutes as it's doing the following; 

• Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed

• Loads only required kernel extensions (prevents 3rd party kernel/extensions from loading)

• Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically

• Disables user-installed fonts 

• Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files


Have you run any "cleaning", "optimizing", "speed-up" or anti-virus apps on your Mac? If you have then download and run Etrecheck. Etrecheck is a diagnostic tool that was developed by one of the most respected users here in the ASC and recommended by Apple Support  to provide a snapshot of the system and help identify the more obvious culprits that can adversely affect a Mac's performance.


Copy the report



and use the Additional Text button to include the report in your reply.



IMPORTANT:

Before running Etrecheck assign Full Disk Access to Etrecheck in the Etrecheck's Privacy preference pane so that it can get additional information from the Console and log files for the report:


Also click and read the About info to further permit full disk access.



Then we can examine the report and see if we can determine what might be causing the problem.



13 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Nov 16, 2020 11:10 AM in response to tobiasfromsweden11

Log into another vanilla admin user account, Set up users, guests, and groups on Mac and see if the problem persists. (This tells us if the problem is limited to your user account or is system wide).


If it does then boot into Safe Mode (How to use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support) by booting with the Shift key held down and check there to see if the problem persists.  Reboot normally and test again.


NOTE: Safe Mode boot can take up to 10 minutes as it's doing the following; 

• Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed

• Loads only required kernel extensions (prevents 3rd party kernel/extensions from loading)

• Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically

• Disables user-installed fonts 

• Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files


Have you run any "cleaning", "optimizing", "speed-up" or anti-virus apps on your Mac? If you have then download and run Etrecheck. Etrecheck is a diagnostic tool that was developed by one of the most respected users here in the ASC and recommended by Apple Support  to provide a snapshot of the system and help identify the more obvious culprits that can adversely affect a Mac's performance.


Copy the report



and use the Additional Text button to include the report in your reply.



IMPORTANT:

Before running Etrecheck assign Full Disk Access to Etrecheck in the Etrecheck's Privacy preference pane so that it can get additional information from the Console and log files for the report:


Also click and read the About info to further permit full disk access.



Then we can examine the report and see if we can determine what might be causing the problem.



Nov 19, 2020 1:36 PM in response to tobiasfromsweden11

If you have a gaming mouse with a software utility, lower your polling rate to 125Hz. Since Big Sur, moving my 1000Hz mouse around increases WindowServer usage by 100%. Due to Big Sur's new security measures, i can't even install the software to decrease it's polling rate, so i'm stuck using an old mouse, which is 125Hz, and WindowServer is now using 30%, making the computer at least usable (fan spinning due to usage, battery life is out the window now). macOS 11.1 Beta has shown an improvement, but the usage is still high. I'm thinking of rolling back to Catalina.


Oh, and it's system-wide problem, booting into Recovery, and running "ps aux" on Terminal while moving the mouse around, WindowServer is there, hitting the CPU.

Dec 16, 2020 4:57 AM in response to tobiasfromsweden11

I just removed the Logitech LCC driver, which is a macOS Kernel extensions. Just go to Applications > Utilites and look for Logitech LCC Uninstaller and remove the kernel extension. I also remove the other Logitech Utilities (Unifiying... and the other was something about Logi G Options). After that you have to reboot your machine and wait a little bit until the removing during the startup is finished. It took some time on my side. Look how the system is now behaving.


Check also what kernel extensions you have installed. Type in a terminal "kextstat" and look for non "com.apple..." extensions. Maybe this is causing some issues. I think, if you are only using Apple kernel extensions you are good to go.

macOS Big Sur Window Server utilizes 100% CPU whenever USB mouse is moved

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