MBP Freezes Constantly (memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid)

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Level 2

462 points

MBP Freezes Constantly (memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid)

My MBP freezes constantly and I get variations of the console entry shown above. I get dozens per minute. Here is just one minute's log:

12/27/12 1:39:06.161 PM com.apple.launchd.peruser.501[161]: (com.apple.tccd[1121]) Exited: Killed: 9

12/27/12 1:39:06.000 PM kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 1121 [tccd]

12/27/12 1:39:22.000 PM kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 1136 [cfprefsd]

12/27/12 1:39:22.638 PM com.apple.launchd.peruser.501[161]: (com.apple.pbs[1093]) Exited: Killed: 9

12/27/12 1:39:23.111 PM com.apple.launchd[1]: (com.apple.sleepservicesd[1089]) Exited: Killed: 9

12/27/12 1:39:23.000 PM kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 1089 [SleepServicesD]

12/27/12 1:39:30.313 PM com.apple.launchd[1]: (com.apple.xpcd.F5010000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000[1116]) Exited: Killed: 9

12/27/12 1:39:30.000 PM kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 1116 [xpcd]

12/27/12 1:39:30.773 PM com.apple.launchd.peruser.501[161]: (com.apple.accountsd[1138]) Exited: Killed: 9

12/27/12 1:39:30.000 PM kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 1138 [accountsd]

12/27/12 1:39:34.623 PM com.apple.launchd[1]: (com.apple.sleepservicesd[1140]) Exited: Killed: 9

12/27/12 1:39:34.000 PM kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 1140 [SleepServicesD]

12/27/12 1:39:35.308 PM com.apple.launchd.peruser.501[161]: (com.apple.tccd[1139]) Exited: Killed: 9

12/27/12 1:39:35.000 PM kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 1139 [tccd]

12/27/12 1:39:35.775 PM com.apple.launchd[1]: (com.apple.iCloudHelper[1115]) Exited: Killed: 9

12/27/12 1:39:35.000 PM kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 1115 [com.apple.iCloud]

12/27/12 1:39:45.759 PM com.apple.launchd[1]: (com.apple.sleepservicesd[1141]) Exited: Killed: 9

12/27/12 1:39:45.000 PM kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 1141 [SleepServicesD]

This got so bad, that I reformatted my entire drive, reinstalled all of the Apple programs from scratch, and then only select third party ones that I always use (Microsoft Office, OmniFocus, Firefox, Evernote). That's about it. The main program that constantly stalls out, though, is Apple Mail. I have 80% of my hard drive free (240GB out of 300GB). I cannot figure it out, and it's driving me nuts. Any suggestions?

MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2), 2.5 Ghz, 4 GB Memory

Posted on Dec 27, 2012 11:47 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

brian273

Level 1

9 points

Jan 6, 2013 10:28 AM in response to Hampton

Dear Hampton, I have exactly the same problem with my MacBook Pro and it seems to be a RAM problem. I took it to the Genius Bar and sadly the truth, which the Genius bar guys were reluctant to admit, is that there are issues with the way the OS manages RAM, failing to clear Inactive memory and keep Free memory at a healthy level. If you go to the Activity Monitor and check the system memory I bet you will find that whenever you're seeing the "Exited: Killed: 9" lines one after the other as posted, you Free Memory would have been gobbled up by Inactive Memory. Extra memory would seem to be the permanent solution, sadly, and Apple charge an arm and a leg for it. Or you may have to live like I am at the moment, i.e. having the Activity Monitor permanently on the dock to keep an eye on Inactive Memory. When Inactive Memory gets too big I launch Terminal (Utilities) and type "purge." It frees up memory by clearig Inactive memory so that your machine's memory is as fresh as it is soon after you've started it. Good luck

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Answer 2

Hampton Author

Level 2

462 points

Jan 6, 2013 10:47 AM in response to brian273

Thanks, Brian. I suspected it was memory related. I have 8GB, which should be more than enough, though. But, you are correct. The error won't show up upon a reboot. It shows about 1 hour into my work, when memory gets fully allocated, even though a good amount says "inactive."

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Answer 3

brian273

Level 1

9 points

Jan 6, 2013 12:15 PM in response to Hampton

It is outrageous, I think, that 8GB is not enough. Apple really need to sort this out because at the moment Microsoft Windows seems to manage memory resources far better. I was thinking of upgrading to 8GB but wondered if the problem will persist regardless. One shouldn't have to manually "purge" the memory every so often, this should happen automatically.

Best

B

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Answer 4

Feb 18, 2013 7:46 AM in response to brian273

I also have 8 GB, and I was having the same problem. I even reinstalled Mountain Lion, which worked for a while and stopped. 2 days ago I quit Safari and haven't reopened it. My compter has been fine ever since. Safari was using 5 GB of RAM (Real Mem under Activity monitor columns, which I sorted to see what was using the most)

I've been using Chrome, Firefox and Camino and haven't had any problems.

Let me know if this helps at all. If so, the latest update of Safari might have some issues.

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Answer 5

Jun 13, 2013 3:11 PM in response to Hampton

Safari web content always uses several GB of RAM while consuming like 50% CPU even when inactive. Guess that depends on what web pages one uses, but Apple developers does not seem to test their programs more than minimally. Safari clearly works best when you open up a single or two web pages, but after a while having opened more web pages and worked perhaps with maps and things like that, Safari keeps you on the brink of a system crash all the time -- which is not good enough ... . /Jerry

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