User profile for user: redtomato
redtomato Author
User level: Level 1
42 points

mDNSResponder keeps taking a lot of memory

Hello,

I don't know if this is common on Macs with Silicon processors. I noticed that the process "mDNSResponder" is using a lot of memory: about 400-500 MB! That's a lot for a DNS Responder !

On my machine, it is the process that uses the most memory. Even WindowServer or Safari aren't using that much.

The machine was restarted not too long ago...

CPU time is not high. Only memory usage is suspicious.


Here are the details:


Open files and ports


/
/usr/sbin/mDNSResponder
/Library/Preferences/Logging/.plist-cache.7FGSzzCs
/System/Library/CoreServices/SystemVersion.bundle/en_GB.lproj/SystemVersion.strings
/private/var/db/mds/messages/se_SecurityMessages
/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/DeviceToDeviceManager.framework/PlugIns/awdl_d2d.bundle/Contents/MacOS/awdl_d2d
/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/DeviceToDeviceManager.framework/PlugIns/WiFi.bundle/Contents/MacOS/WiFi
/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/DeviceToDeviceManager.framework/PlugIns/WiFiAwareD2DPlugin.bundle/Contents/MacOS/WiFiAwareD2DPlugin
/private/var/db/analyticsd/events.allowlist
/private/var/db/com.apple.networkextension.tracker-info
/usr/lib/dyld
/System/Library/Frameworks/CFNetwork.framework/Versions/A/Resources/DafsaData.bin
/usr/share/icu/icudt74l.dat
/private/var/folders/zz/zyxvpxvq6csfxvn_n0000000000000/0/com.apple.LaunchServices.dv/com.apple.LaunchServices-6024-v2.csstore
/dev/null
/dev/null
/dev/null
count=0, state=0xa
->0x132ff4c3bbbdffe0
->0xaffba8bfc9e79732
*:mdns
*:mdns
[event 1:1:2]
/var/run/mDNSResponder
/private/etc/hosts
/var/run/mDNSResponder
[ctl com.apple.netsrc id 7 unit 3]
/var/run/mDNSResponder
/var/run/mDNSResponder
/var/run/mDNSResponder
/var/run/mDNSResponder
/var/run/mDNSResponder
/var/run/mDNSResponder
/var/run/mDNSResponder
/var/run/mDNSResponder
/var/run/mDNSResponder
/var/run/mDNSResponder
/var/run/mDNSResponder
/var/run/mDNSResponder
/var/run/mDNSResponder
/var/run/mDNSResponder
[event 1:1:9]
[event 1:1:9]
[ctl com.apple.netsrc id 7 unit 34]
/var/run/mDNSResponder
/var/run/mDNSResponder
/var/run/mDNSResponder
/var/run/mDNSResponder
/var/run/mDNSResponder
/var/run/mDNSResponder
/var/run/mDNSResponder
/var/run/mDNSResponder
/var/run/mDNSResponder
/var/run/mDNSResponder
/var/run/mDNSResponder
/var/run/mDNSResponder
/var/run/mDNSResponder
/var/run/mDNSResponder
/var/run/mDNSResponder
/var/run/mDNSResponder
/var/run/mDNSResponder
/var/run/mDNSResponder
/var/run/mDNSResponder
/var/run/mDNSResponder
/var/run/mDNSResponder
/var/run/mDNSResponder
/var/run/mDNSResponder
/var/run/mDNSResponder
/var/run/mDNSResponder
/var/run/mDNSResponder
/var/run/mDNSResponder
/var/run/mDNSResponder
[event 1:1:9]
/var/run/mDNSResponder
/var/run/mDNSResponder
/var/run/mDNSResponder
/var/run/mDNSResponder
/var/run/mDNSResponder
/var/run/mDNSResponder
/var/run/mDNSResponder
/var/run/mDNSResponder


Any clue how to fix this ?

Anyone experiences the same issue ?

Mac mini, macOS 15.2

Posted on Dec 20, 2024 12:54 AM

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11 replies
User profile for user: Owl-53
Owl-53
User level: Level 10
105,409 points

Dec 20, 2024 4:43 AM in response to redtomato

Similar question from Earlier Version of macOS


You may what to refer to responses from Luis Sequeira1 and John Galt


What is mDNSResponder - and why is it run… - Apple Community



In response to " Anyone experiences the same issue ? "


Not here, using 1 M2 machine, 1 M3 machine and 1 M4 machine


Each Tested using Sequoia 15.2


Connection via Wifi 6E to Fibre Optic wired Router with 1 GB Up / Down load speeds


No Commercial VPNs, No Third Party Security Software, No Third Party Two Way Firewall and No Third Party Disk Cleaners / Optimizes






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User profile for user: redtomato
redtomato Author
User level: Level 1
42 points

Dec 21, 2024 1:29 AM in response to Owl-53

Please do suggest !

Anything's worth trying, with mDNSResponder using half a GB of memory !


On my side, I've tried different things such as sending the right kill signal to reset the cache.

killall -HUP mDNSResponder


I've also tried and dumped the config/cache but ...


dns-sd -O
XPC service returns error, description: State dump is only enabled in internal builds


Next, I'll check the other Mac's on my Lan and see if they show the same symptoms (maybe it's something on my network somehow "filling" mDNSResponder's cache)

Maybe it is not a cache issue. As I can't dump the cache, impossible to know what's using the memory in mDNSResponder.




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User profile for user: Owl-53
Owl-53
User level: Level 10
105,409 points

Dec 21, 2024 2:02 AM in response to redtomato

To skip the Q&A session, just download the Application Etrecheck directly from the Developer. 


It’s a diagnostic tool that doesn’t change your computer at all. It gives you a clear and easy-to-read list of both your hardware and software. 


You can get it for free or pay for extra features. And don’t worry, the report won’t reveal any personal information. 


Once you’re done, just copy and paste the full report using the Additional Text Icon.



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User profile for user: Owl-53
Owl-53
User level: Level 10
105,409 points

Dec 22, 2024 1:07 AM in response to redtomato

This is one very heavily configured computer.


Added are some software that has be Migrated from a semi very old Time Machine backup


Add in WireShark to the mix



  Skyline TerraExplorer: 1.0.28.0 (? - installed 2022-03-26)


  AdobePDFViewer: 11.0.23 (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2022-03-26)


  DivXBrowserPlugin: 1.4 (? - installed 2022-03-26)


  AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: 11.0.23 (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2022-03-26)


  SharePointBrowserPlugin: 14.7.7 (? - installed 2022-03-26)


  JoostPlugin: 0.14.4 (? - installed 2022-03-26)


  GarminGpsControl: 4.2.0.0 (? - installed 2022-03-26)


  Silverlight: 4.0.51204.0 (? - installed 2022-03-26)


  RealPlayer Plugin:  (?Not found!)


  iPhotoPhotocast: 7.0 (Apple - installed 2022-03-26)




User Internet Plug-ins:


  OctoshapeWeb: 1.0 (? - installed 2009-05-14)


  iGetterBundle: 2.8 (? - installed 2010-02-22)


  Picasa: 1.0 (? - installed 2009-04-30)




Audio Plug-ins:


  A52Codec: 1.8.0 (? - installed 2022-03-26)


  MSTeamsAudioDevice: 2024.28.00.50 (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2024-07-03)


  AppleAES3Audio: 3.0 (? - installed 2024-11-15)




CoreMediaIO Plug-ins:


  GoProWebCam: 1.0 (GoPro, Inc. - installed 2023-01-08)


  obs-mac-virtualcam: 27.0.1-m91-2.22 (CoSMo Software Consulting pte ltd - installed 2022-03-26)




3rd Party Preference panels:


  GPGPreferences (? - installed 2013-05-16)


  macFUSE (Benjamin Fleischer - installed 2023-04-17)





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User profile for user: redtomato
redtomato Author
User level: Level 1
42 points

Dec 20, 2024 7:05 AM in response to Owl-53

Thanks. I'm a big fan of Bonjour and I know what is mDNSResponder and why it is used for.


Not such a fan of responses found in What is mDNSResponder - and why is it run… - Apple Community though. In particular not "...If you start looking for things you are going to find a lot that you don’t know, and don’t need to know. Just enjoy your mac."


Not helping much.


If I may. As you seem to run so many Silicon Macs on your side: how much memory is your mDNSResponder using for you ?


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User profile for user: redtomato
redtomato Author
User level: Level 1
42 points

Dec 22, 2024 1:25 AM in response to Owl-53

Hi,


I can proudly claim that I never reinstalled the computer since my first G4 Mac Mini. I always used time Machine to switch to a new machine until migration assistant was made mandatory in the most recents versions of MacOs.

I am in the process of cleaning things up lately. I even found executables installed by brew at the time that are Mach-O PPC :-)


The tool EtreCheckPro is interesting, I didn't know about it. I was more focusing on cleaning up old application data that takes a lot of space (that's the priority for me because the new Mac Mini only has 256GB SSD compared to the previous iMac that had 4GB internal fusion drive)


The report came as no surprise: I know there is a lot of garbage to clean (I like doing this no worries) -- I know that it would have taken less time starting from a fresh install and restoring personal data instead.

Most of the old stuff (system extensions etc...) are anyway not loaded.

And for now I have not installed Rosetta, which helps with avoiding the load of bad/old/useless stuff.


I will use the report in order to clean things up.

However, for now, I can't see anything in the report that could be what's causing the "issue" with mDNSResponder.

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mDNSResponder keeps taking a lot of memory

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