Mouzy
Level 1 (1 points)

Q: High kernel_task Memory Usage on MBP mid 2012 after 10.8.3 upgrade

Hi! i have a MBP Mid 2012 (4gb ram/500gb HD) and till yesterday everything was smooth. After i upgraded from ML 10.8.2 to ML 10.8.3 i saw a huge difference in kernel_task RAM Usage... before the upgrade it was around 400-500mb but now it went up to 750(at startup) and it can go up to 900mb... when i launch the MBP on Safe Mode the kernel_task is using 280-300mb... anyone having the same problem? or having a solution about that? ty

MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.3)

Posted on Mar 15, 2013 9:30 AM

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Mouzy

Q: High kernel_task Memory Usage on MBP mid 2012 after 10.8.3 upgrade

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  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Mar 15, 2013 10:02 AM in response to Mouzy
    Level 9 (73,411 points)
    iTunes
    Mar 15, 2013 10:02 AM in response to Mouzy

    Try going to Applications/Activity Monitor and see if you can identify the process and then select the process and quit it using the command under the View menu.

  • by Mouzy,

    Mouzy Mouzy Mar 15, 2013 10:07 AM in response to Eric Root
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Mar 15, 2013 10:07 AM in response to Eric Root

    as i mentioned on the post i know it is the kernel_task that has that high memory usage... so i know what is the problem , but don't know how to solve it unfortunatelly :/

  • by William Lloyd,

    William Lloyd William Lloyd Mar 15, 2013 10:46 AM in response to Mouzy
    Level 7 (21,183 points)
    Mar 15, 2013 10:46 AM in response to Mouzy

    What sorts of extensions do you have?  Most typically this is from applications that are running in kernel space.  I saw this from iStat Menus once; kernel_task was in the 3 GB range because of a leak and once removed, kernel_task use went way down.

     

    What do you have set to run at startup?  That safe mode is OK really points to some 3rd party extension causing a problem.

  • by Mouzy,

    Mouzy Mouzy Mar 15, 2013 10:49 AM in response to William Lloyd
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Mar 15, 2013 10:49 AM in response to William Lloyd

    i use live wallpaper , battery health , and drop box running at startup... i tried turning them off but nothing changed..

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Mar 15, 2013 2:27 PM in response to Mouzy
    Level 9 (73,411 points)
    iTunes
    Mar 15, 2013 2:27 PM in response to Mouzy

    I understood what you typed; what I was wondering is can you figure out what is using all mb. As William pointed out, since it is better in the Safe Mode, it is likely a 3rd party problem. If you can identify which specific item is causing the problem, then you can troubleshoot from there.

  • by William Lloyd,

    William Lloyd William Lloyd Mar 15, 2013 2:33 PM in response to Mouzy
    Level 7 (21,183 points)
    Mar 15, 2013 2:33 PM in response to Mouzy

    Live wallpaper would sound like a prime suspect to me.

  • by Mouzy,

    Mouzy Mouzy Mar 16, 2013 3:11 AM in response to Eric Root
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Mar 16, 2013 3:11 AM in response to Eric Root

    Yeah i tried finding out what caused the problem but can't figure out. I even deleted live wallpaper and the rest , so to see if it goes better , but no result. I was told that this may be normal but i find it way to high . I mean +400-500mb difference from Safe Mode and +250 from 10.8.2 ?

  • by Lexiepex,

    Lexiepex Lexiepex Mar 16, 2013 5:29 AM in response to Mouzy
    Level 6 (10,536 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 16, 2013 5:29 AM in response to Mouzy

    after you stop and delete the live wallpaper, you have to restart the mac.

  • by Mouzy,

    Mouzy Mouzy Mar 16, 2013 6:22 AM in response to Lexiepex
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Mar 16, 2013 6:22 AM in response to Lexiepex

    did so 3 times. Any chance this memory consumption is normal ?

  • by Lexiepex,

    Lexiepex Lexiepex Mar 16, 2013 9:02 AM in response to Mouzy
    Level 6 (10,536 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 16, 2013 9:02 AM in response to Mouzy

    I have a 8GB mid 2012 MBP 15" with a 256GB SSD, that behaves very well (10.8.3):

    doing this and several not very heavy apps Activity Monitor gives

    Untitled.jpg

  • by emkang,

    emkang emkang Mar 16, 2013 2:33 PM in response to Mouzy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 16, 2013 2:33 PM in response to Mouzy

    I too am having this issue. kernel_task prior to the 10.8.3 update was in the 400-600 MB range tops. Now it will not go below 950 MB and jumps past 1.0 GB easily.

     

    This is on a 2012 11" MBA with 8 GB RAM. The only extensions I use are Xmarks and Alfred.

     

    I'm really disappointed that system resrouces are hogging so much memory. I'm not in any danger of running out, but this cannot be normal.

  • by mantheybln,

    mantheybln mantheybln Mar 17, 2013 2:39 AM in response to Mouzy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 17, 2013 2:39 AM in response to Mouzy

    I'm having this problem as well on my MBPr 15,4 , 256 GB SSD and 8GB of RAM.

    kernel_task shows 1.11 to 1.2 GB of memory consumption.

     

    On my macbook unibody late 2008 (256GB SSD / 8GB RAM) with 10.8.2 the kernel_task shows only around 400MB.

     

    Both macbooks have the similar configuration and installed tools.

  • by blerim1,

    blerim1 blerim1 Mar 17, 2013 4:27 AM in response to Mouzy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 17, 2013 4:27 AM in response to Mouzy

    I have this problem, I try to update to 10.8.3 and update completed , i have open activity monitor kernel_task 900 mb , 1 gb , it's so much for kernel , <?

  • by jguther,

    jguther jguther Mar 17, 2013 5:08 AM in response to Mouzy
    Level 1 (145 points)
    Mar 17, 2013 5:08 AM in response to Mouzy

    Devinitely not the kernel itself. Still at 400-500MB in 10.8.3. Keep searching for the offending 3rd party extension!

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