kernel_task running wild!
Hi All,
I am currently running Lion on the new MacBook Air 2011 refresh (11", i7, 256 GB SD).
A problem started when I would plug my external hard disk into my Air to do a Time Machine backup. The kernel_task process shoots up to 100% cpu usage, and as far as I can tell, the external drive is never properly mounted by Lion and the Time Machine backup never begins. Even after unplugging the external drive, the kernel_task process still sits at over 100% cpu usage. Only a hard reboot (holding down the power button) allows me to reboot, and upon reboot the kernel_task process is no longer misbehaving (I'm only left with mds and other similar processes trying to fix my spotlight index for many hours). I had successfully backed up onto this external drive using Time Machine quite a few times already, and the problem doesn't always happen when I plug my external drive in. But when the problem happens, it's immediately right after I plug my external drive in. Nothing else is really happening on the laptop. All I have to do is plug my external drive in. Any ideas on what's causing this? Is this a Lion issue? Is this an Air issue? Is this simply my external hard disk?
Thanks to the community for any help. I've googled and read so many things regarding kernel_task cpu usage and none of them seem to apply to me. I don't seem to have the temperature issue everyone talks about.
MacBook Air, Mac OS X (10.7)