Sonoma Photos.app 14.0 and 14.1 very slow, photolibraryd using 40 GB of memory

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Sonoma Photos.app 14.0 and 14.1 very slow, photolibraryd using 40 GB of memory

I have quite large Photos library, ca 15k photos and 870 videos, mostly iPhone photos, some RAWs form a DSLR. Whilst everything is in the iCloud, I keep originals on my Mac, and the library is ca 100 GB.

Recently, with the Sonoma installation, Photos started to misbehave. When I delete a photo, or sometimes just zoom onto one, the app hangs for ca 2 to 5 minutes. The app itself isn't using too much memory or CPU, but the problem is with photolibraryd. I saw it using 45 GB, with a 15 GB swap used. It could also use up to 250% CPU. I tried to rebuild with cmd-opt-click of the app, and it seemed to go through. The interface now says "Restoring from iCloud..." in the bottom of the photo list, but the progress bar is full with no indication of progress. I don't really see a high network activity to confirm the photos are getting re-downloaded.

Anyone has a similar experience? Yeah, I was about to clean up my library, but now it needs to wait...

Mac mini

Posted on Oct 26, 2023 8:18 AM

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Answer 1

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zpjet Author

Level 1

16 points

Oct 27, 2023 1:46 AM in response to zpjet

OK too early to jump to a conclusion, but maybe it was ~/Library/Photos/Libraries/Syndication.photoslibrary which was botched.

Earlier, I deleted my main library and created a new one, but it was the same - memory use creeping up to 45 GB.
Then I noticed, when inspecting the photolibraryd process and checking its Open Files and Ports, that there's one more library being worked on - and from a quick web search, I learned there's one maintained by the system for shared photos. So I deleted it as well - I pressed cmd-backspace on it, but then I had to force quit the photolibraryd in Activity Monitor so it would move it to bin.
Then I gave my Mac one more restart, and when I opened Photos, everything stayed calm for the first time.
I then went to Photos > Settings > iCloud to re-enable iCloud Photos, and it calmly synced my almost 15k photos in ca five minutes. I tried to delete a few and it worked well, syncing the changes to my iPhone in about two seconds.
Now I have the last step left - to re-enable Download Originals to this Mac, which I had before, in order to run local Time Machine backup. I'll turn it on Saturday morning as there will be some bandwidth needed to download those 100 GB.

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Answer 2

zpjet Author

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16 points

Oct 27, 2023 6:04 AM in response to Yer_Man

Hi, I appreciate your care, but I think you're confusing it with MacKeeper, which is known for its shady practices. CleanMyMac X is a well-regarded and awarded tool, one may say its design is a bit too much but it's developed by a cool Ukrainian company MacPaw which also brought Setapp store for shareware, Gemini to find duplicates or free The Unarchiver. Look at these two reviews from iMore:

There are also more positive reviews for CMMX - i.e. 4.5 stars from MacWorld, ZDNet and TechRadar. It is even available on Mac App Store, and it has 4.6 stars. Apple even featured it as an Optimize your Mac story. I didn't know - but I found out when I took your advice and searched the Discussions for CleanMyMac.

Also I hope that you agree with me - not everybody (even here on a community site) is suited to dig through command-line stuff in the Terminal, plus, some tools do a great job running in the background like a malware checker. CMMX has a few bonus features which I use regularly such as an app updater and uninstaller - given their work with Setapp, they really know their way around Mac apps.

I've been using Macs since 1992, has worked for Apple Authorised Service Provider, and while it is always fun to impress people with command-line skills, I learned to recommend trusted tools to users who wanted to take care of their Macs. Recently, CMMX was one of them, and I received only good reports. It is also being recommended on a few tech podcasts, such as The Rebound.

Last but not least, parts from CMMX's sales go to help Ukraine against ruZZian agression. Heroyam slava! 🇺🇦

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Answer 3

zpjet Author

Level 1

16 points

Oct 26, 2023 1:10 PM in response to zpjet

This is bad. I tried to start in Safe Boot, run maintenance tasks by CleanMyMacX, turned extra features of Photos off, but after a restart, the CPU and Memory creeped up... Up to 45 GB of memory use again. I didn't even need to start Photos. So ugly.

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Answer 4

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,432 points

Oct 27, 2023 2:05 AM in response to zpjet

I tried to start in Safe Boot, run maintenance tasks by CleanMyMacX...

Don't take my word for it but by all means search the forum for information about CleanMyMac. It is meretricuous junk that is known to cause issues with Mac installations, OS installations and individual applications. Dump it.

Never install any app that claims to "tune up", "speed up" or "clean up" your Mac.

These apps exist for one reason: to separate the unwary and inexperienced user from their hard-earned money.

At best they do very little, at worst, they can damage your OS installation and cause far more problems than they "solve".

If you are fortunate removing it will solve your issues. If you're not you'll find yourself reinstalling the OS.

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Answer 5

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,432 points

Oct 27, 2023 11:02 AM in response to zpjet

No, I'm not confusing it at all. They're both meretricious junk. I would also point out that - shock! horror! imagine! - there can often be a strong correlation between purchasing advertising and positive reviews on Tech websites and other media. The fact that the app is available on the App Store means Apple gets 30% of the sale and no more. It is not a recommendation.

The scepticism about these apps on here is based on the sheer volume of posts detailing issues which are resolved by removing them.

I'm not sure what you do on your Mac that requires you to use command line "stuff", malware checkers frequently conflict with Apple's own security system, and do you really need an "app updater"?

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Answer 6

zpjet Author

Level 1

16 points

Oct 27, 2023 1:57 PM in response to Yer_Man

Whatever, man. One of the first posts about CMMX here insists that it came preinstalled on his Mac. I’ll leave it there. And let everyone be her/his judge. I even didn’t recommend it in my first post, just mentioned I used it to run maintenance tasks. Everyone can find his way how to do it.

And btw you focused on it instead of getting to the point. You advised to get rid of CMMX as being the culprit whilst my issue was somewhere else and I succeeded to get it fixed. Thanks but no thanks.

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Answer 7

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,432 points

Oct 27, 2023 3:33 PM in response to zpjet

Yes your issue was somewhere else but I simply pointed out that the junkyard is a likely cause of that issue. Just trying to save you problems down the road. What maintenance tasks? I've been using Macs as long as you, and I don't have any...

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Answer 8

zpjet Author

Level 1

16 points

Oct 29, 2023 3:18 AM in response to shazzy89

Yeah, glad to hear! I feel like a fool after spending many hours of trying to figure out what was wrong with the library I know of, while a quick trip to the process’ inspector would show there’s another library which might be the problem.

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Answer 9

shazzy89

Level 1

13 points

Oct 27, 2023 5:02 PM in response to zpjet

Thank You! This is the solution. It solved the problem on two machines.

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Answer 10

zpjet Author

Level 1

16 points

Oct 29, 2023 3:52 AM in response to Yer_Man

man periodic

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Answer 11

zpjet Author

Level 1

16 points

Oct 29, 2023 3:53 AM in response to Yer_Man

man periodic

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Answer 12

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,432 points

Oct 29, 2023 4:16 AM in response to zpjet

No, I won't man periodic as it's of zero relevance. The OS has been doing that automatically for years and requires no user action at all. So, the question remains.

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