Runaway Process When Chrome is Open – What is Going On?!

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Level 1

25 points

Runaway Process When Chrome is Open – What is Going On?!

I noticed my mac was having some issues at infrequent moments when audio would very briefly stutter. At its most extreme, everything freezes for a few seconds, then stars back like nothing happened. It was most likely to happen late at night, when the computer made its scheduled shift from light theme to dark, but I've noticed it happen more rarely at some other times too. It was also least likely to happen shortly after I'd restarted the computer.

I ran EtreCheck a number of times and was startled that it reported a runaway process was using a large percentage of my CPU.

Most recent EtreCheck report

The Processes Snapshot didn't detail what the culprit process was. The highest running category was the "Other processes" line. In previous reports, the "Other processes" line was up to 148%.

Top Processes Snapshot by CPU:

Process (count) CPU (Source - Location)

Other processes 113.14 % (?)

EtreCheck 27.59 % (App Store)

Safari 8.48 % (Apple)

AppleSpell 4.08 % (Apple)

Google Chrome 3.17 % (Google LLC)

I haven't been able to determine what it is, but I have noticed that when I run EtreCheck with Chrome closed, it doesn't say there's a runaway process. However, it's also worth noting that I ran an EtreCheck report on August 20 and this issue was nowhere on it, and I was definitely using Chrome at that time.

I don't know what is going on. For a number of reasons, I'd like to keep using Chrome if I can, but is there anything I can do to make sure everything's alright?

Posted on Oct 6, 2022 4:12 PM

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Answer 1

dggxam1 Author

Level 1

25 points

Oct 6, 2022 5:32 PM in response to dggxam1

Okay, there's been an update.

I tried browsing on Safari for a while, and on a whim, I tried using EtreCheck again. To my surprise, the same issue came up.

Top Processes Snapshot by CPU:

Process (count) CPU (Source - Location)

Other processes 85.02 % (?)

EtreCheck 29.31 % (App Store)

Safari 1.37 % (Apple)

Spotify 0.87 % (Spotify)

Activity Monitor 0.77 % (Apple)

I've attached the new report.

New EtreCheck Report – 18:31

Chrome was closed during this. So does this mean something other than Chrome is at fault?

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Answer 2

dggxam1 Author

Level 1

25 points

Oct 6, 2022 7:18 PM in response to dggxam1

Another update

I checked Activity Monitor and saw that one of the processes that was running high was WindowServer. I don't have a frame of reference for how high it should be at, but I found out that a way to get it running lower is to clear up your desktop. And well… let's just say a desktop declutter was long overdue.

So I got my desktop cleared up and then ran EtreCheck (Report X) and the alert about runaway processes was no longer there! However, when I unchecked "reduce transparency" and "reduce motion" from an earlier attempt, the alert returned (Report XI). I checked them again and the alert was gone (Report XII).

EtreCheck Report X

EtreCheck Report XI

EtreCheck Report XII

Is WindowServer the culprit here, or is this a false lead? What is going on?!

And yes, I had Chrome running through this.

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