How can I stop Safari from rampant memory use?

Question

Level 5

7,019 points

How can I stop Safari from rampant memory use?

This is the standard error I get whevener I open up a web page with Safari. The address of the object differs however.

6/19/13 WebProcess[304]: objc[304]: Object 0x7fe04a41c7d0 of class NSUserDefaults autoreleased with no pool in place - just leaking - break on objc_autoreleaseNoPool() to debug

And indeed, I have left Safari open for about 2.5 hours with 6 tabs open and it has just been leaking. I have 8 gm RAM installed. I currently have 2.1 GB free.

I have the a few apps open in the background, but none of these are running tasks that are leaking.

I know many people had complained of this same leak in Lion, but Apple supposedly addressed it. I have had this problem with every version of ML up to the current (I am running 10.8.4). I installed the latest version of Java. I have gone through all the standard troubleshooting and even did a clean wipe and reinstallation a few weeks ago. I ran an extended apple hardware test (memory + gfx cards, logic board=fine), as well as a full block scan of my HDD (clean)-clearly this is a software and not a hardware problem.

Though Java/flash are eating up memory, they are not leaking. It is specifically Safari Web Content which is leaking. I think this may have to do with OSX endlessly sandboxing web content/ some sort of garbage collection issue.

One last interesting thing. Looking at the activity monitor, I have seen a couple times Web content's VM jump for a split second to 16 EB (yes exabytes)...the max amount of memory that a 64b processor could hypothetically address...not sure what that's all about...

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated. See below Screenshot + etrecheck info + Safari Web Content open file list : Thanks.

Hardware Information:

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2011)

MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro8,2

1 2.2 GHz Intel Core i7 CPU: 4 cores

8 GB RAM

Video Information:

Intel HD Graphics 3000 - VRAM: 512 MB

AMD Radeon HD 6750M - VRAM: 512 MB

System Software:

OS X 10.8.4 (12E55) - Uptime: 0 days 3:32

Disk Information:

APPLE HDD HTS547550A9E384 disk0 : (500.11 GB)

disk0s1 (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB

HD (disk0s2) /: 499.11 GB (313.46 GB free)

Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted>: 650 MB

HL-DT-ST DVDRW GS31N

USB Information:

Logitech USB Receiver

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

Apple Inc. BRCM2070 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

FireWire Information:

Thunderbolt Information:

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

Kernel Extensions:

Problem System Launch Daemons:

Problem System Launch Agents:

Launch Daemons:

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist

[loaded] com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist

[loaded] com.micromat.TechToolProDaemon.plist

[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist

[loaded] com.prosofteng.DriveGenius.locum.plist

Launch Agents:

[not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist

[loaded] com.adobe.CS5ServiceManager.plist

[loaded] com.micromat.TechToolProAgent.plist

User Launch Agents:

[loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist

[loaded] com.google.GoogleContactSyncAgent.plist

[loaded] ws.agile.1PasswordAgent.plist

User Login Items:

gfxCardStatus

Dropbox

3rd Party Preference Panes:

Flash Player

Growl

TechTool Protection

Internet Plug-ins:

Flash Player.plugin

FlashPlayer-10.6.plugin

JavaAppletPlugin.plugin

QuickTime Plugin.plugin

SharePointBrowserPlugin.plugin

Silverlight.plugin

User Internet Plug-ins:

Bad Fonts:

None

Top Processes by CPU:

11% WebProcess

5% activitymonitord

4% PluginProcess

4% WindowServer

4% Activity

2% EtreCheck

1% fontd

0% lsof

0% Finder

0% opendirectoryd

Top Processes by Memory:

654 MB WebProcess

180 MB PluginProcess

172 MB Safari

147 MB mds

139 MB Finder

123 MB Preview

123 MB WindowServer

98 MB Dropbox

66 MB Activity

41 MB Dock

Virtual Memory Statistics

2.59 GB Free RAM

2.56 GB Active RAM

1.61 GB Inactive RAM

1.23 GB Wired RAM

399 MB Page-ins

0 B Page-outs

/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/WebKit2.framework/WebProcess.app

/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/WebKit2.framework/WebProcess.app/Contents/MacO S/WebProcess

/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/WebKit2.framework/WebProcess.app/Contents/MacO S/WebProcessShim.dylib

/Users/NJBoot/Library/Caches/com.apple.Safari/Cache.db-shm

/private/var/db/mds/messages/se_SecurityMessages

/usr/share/icu/icudt49l.dat

/System/Library/Keyboard Layouts/AppleKeyboardLayouts.bundle/Contents/Resources/AppleKeyboardLayouts-L.d at

/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/WebInspector.framework/Versions/A/WebInspector

/System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/A TS.framework/Versions/A/Resources/ATSHI.dylib

/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/CoreUI.framework/Versions/A/Resources/SArtFile .bin

/System/Library/Fonts/LucidaGrande.ttc

/System/Library/Fonts/Symbol.ttf

/System/Library/Frameworks/OpenGL.framework/Versions/A/Resources/GLEngine.bundle /GLEngine

/System/Library/Frameworks/OpenGL.framework/Versions/A/Libraries/libGLProgrammab ility.dylib

/System/Library/Extensions/AMDRadeonX3000GLDriver.bundle/Contents/MacOS/AMDRadeo nX3000GLDriver

/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/IOAccelerator.framework/Versions/A/IOAccelerat or

/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/GPUSupport.framework/Versions/A/Libraries/libG PUSupportMercury.dylib

/System/Library/Extensions/AppleIntelHD3000GraphicsGLDriver.bundle/Contents/MacO S/AppleIntelHD3000GraphicsGLDriver

/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/GPUSupport.framework/Versions/A/Libraries/libG PUSupport.dylib

/System/Library/Frameworks/OpenGL.framework/Versions/A/Resources/GLRendererFloat .bundle/GLRendererFloat

/System/Library/Frameworks/OpenCL.framework/Versions/A/Libraries/libcldcpuengine .dylib

/Library/Fonts/Georgia.ttf

/private/var/folders/12/4y1wl01n0hz99j__5c6yv44m0000gn/C/com.apple.WebProcess+co m.apple.Safari/mds/mdsDirectory.db

/Library/Keychains/System.keychain

/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/WebContentAnalysis.framework/Versions/A/WebCon tentAnalysis

/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/CoreUI.framework/Versions/A/Resources/ArtFile. bin

/System/Library/CoreServices/Encodings/libJapaneseConverter.dylib

/Library/Fonts/Microsoft/Arial.ttf

/Library/Fonts/Microsoft/Arial Bold.ttf

/Library/Fonts/MyriadPro-Regular.otf

/System/Library/Fonts/Times.dfont

/System/Library/Keychains/SystemRootCertificates.keychain

/Library/Fonts/MyriadPro-Bold.otf

/Library/Fonts/Microsoft/Verdana Bold.ttf

/Library/Fonts/Georgia Bold.ttf

/Library/Fonts/Microsoft/Consolas.ttf

/Library/Fonts/Microsoft/Verdana.ttf

/System/Library/Fonts/Helvetica.dfont

/System/Library/Fonts/HelveticaNeue.dfont

/Library/Fonts/Microsoft/Verdana Italic.ttf

/Library/Fonts/Microsoft/Gill Sans MT Bold.ttf

/Library/Fonts/Microsoft/Gill Sans MT.ttf

/Library/Fonts/Trebuchet MS Bold.ttf

/Library/Fonts/Trebuchet MS.ttf

/Library/Fonts/Microsoft/Arial Italic.ttf

/Users/NJBoot/Library/Keychains/login.keychain

/Library/Fonts/Trebuchet MS Italic.ttf

/Library/Fonts/Trebuchet MS Bold Italic.ttf

/System/Library/Frameworks/Carbon.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/HIToolbox.fram ework/Versions/A/Resources/Extras2.rsrc

/Library/Fonts/Tahoma.ttf

/System/Library/Fonts/\xe3\x83\x92\xe3\x83\xa9\xe3\x82\xad\xe3\x82\x99\xe3\x83\x 8e\xe8\xa7\x92\xe3\x82\xb3\xe3\x82\x99 ProN W3.otf

/Library/Fonts/Devanagari Sangam MN.ttc

/System/Library/Fonts/LastResort.ttf

/Library/Fonts/Microsoft/Arial Bold Italic.ttf

/Library/Fonts/Tahoma Bold.ttf

/Library/Fonts/Microsoft/Verdana Bold Italic.ttf

/Library/Fonts/Microsoft/Consolas Bold.ttf

/private/var/folders/12/4y1wl01n0hz99j__5c6yv44m0000gn/C/com.apple.LaunchService s-037501.csstore

/System/Library/Fonts/STHeiti Light.ttc

/Library/Fonts/Courier New.ttf

/Library/Fonts/Microsoft/Times New Roman.ttf

/System/Library/Fonts/Monaco.dfont

/Library/Fonts/Courier New Italic.ttf

/Library/Fonts/Courier New Bold.ttf

/System/Library/Fonts/\xe3\x83\x92\xe3\x83\xa9\xe3\x82\xad\xe3\x82\x99\xe3\x83\x 8e\xe8\xa7\x92\xe3\x82\xb3\xe3\x82\x99 ProN W6.otf

/System/Library/Fonts/Courier.dfont

/Library/Fonts/Palatino.ttc

/usr/lib/dyld

/private/var/db/dyld/dyld_shared_cache_x86_64

/dev/null

count=1, state=0x2

/Users/NJBoot/Library/Caches/com.apple.Safari/Cache.db

/Users/NJBoot/Library/Caches/com.apple.Safari/Cache.db-wal

/Users/NJBoot/Library/Caches/com.apple.Safari/Cache.db

/Users/NJBoot/Library/Safari/Databases/Databases.db

/Users/NJBoot/Library/Caches/com.apple.Safari/Cache.db-shm

/Users/NJBoot/Library/Caches/com.apple.Safari/Cache.db-wal

FNetwork.defaultStorageSession

/Users/NJBoot/Library/Safari/LocalStorage/StorageTracker.db

/System/Library/Frameworks/Carbon.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/HIToolbox.fram ework/Versions/A/Resources/Extras2.rsrc

->0x7efef500190c9443

->0x7efef500190c950b

/dev/random

/Users/NJBoot/Library/Safari/LocalStorage/http_www.apple.com_0.localstorage

->0x7efef500190c8ecb

/Users/NJBoot/Library/Caches/com.apple.Safari/Cache.db

/Users/NJBoot/Library/Safari/LocalStorage/https_github.com_0.localstorage

/Users/NJBoot/Library/Safari/LocalStorage/https_plus.google.com_0.localstorage

/Users/NJBoot/Library/Safari/LocalStorage/https_extensions.apple.com_0.localstor age

/Users/NJBoot/Library/Safari/LocalStorage/https_www.facebook.com_0.localstorage

/private/var/folders/12/4y1wl01n0hz99j__5c6yv44m0000gn/T/WebProcess1371629307

(MY I.P. ADDRESS)::51780->a23-13-209-54.deploy.akamaitechnologies.com:https

/Users/NJBoot/Library/Safari/LocalStorage/https_developer.apple.com_0.localstora ge

(MY I.P. ADDRESS):51817->*.112.2o7.net:http

/Users/NJBoot/Library/Safari/LocalStorage/http_superuser.com_0.localstorage

/dev/random

/Users/NJBoot/Library/Safari/LocalStorage/http_c.betrad.com_0.localstorage

/Users/NJBoot/Library/Safari/LocalStorage/http_download.cnet.com_0.localstorage

/Users/NJBoot/Library/Safari/LocalStorage/http_apple.stackexchange.com_0.localst orage

/Users/NJBoot/Library/Safari/LocalStorage/http_stackoverflow.com_0.localstorage

/Users/NJBoot/Library/Safari/LocalStorage/http_lifehacker.com_0.localstorage

MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.4), 15'' 8,2 (Late 2011) model

Posted on Jun 19, 2013 2:01 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Best reply

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Jun 19, 2013 9:16 AM in response to nbar

I can't see your screenshot, but some Safari extensions are known to cause WebProcess to leak memory. Also, you have two useless third-party system modifications, "Drive Genius" and "Tech Tool," that might cause almost any kind of problem. I suggest you back up all data and then remove them according to the developers' instructions. You'll be better off, whether they're causing the leak or not.

Reply

Answer 2

nbar Author

Level 5

7,019 points

Jun 24, 2013 7:40 PM in response to Linc Davis

I use Drive genuis from an external HD to defragment my HDD every now and then. I disabled the launchdaemon and this is the only trace of it on my native HDD. Upon you advice, I did uninstall Techtool Pro. I fire up Safari and still receive the same error, however:

objc[232]: Object 0x7fd20342bc10 of class NSUserDefaults autoreleased with no pool in place - just leaking - break on objc_autoreleaseNoPool() to debug

I have confirmed this leak is unrelated to third party software after clean wiping my hard drive and doing a Fresh Install of ML via Apple's netboot. This problem is only related to Safari's webprocess. Running other web related services (Apple mail) creates no such warning

Any other suggestions?

Reply

Answer 3

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Jun 24, 2013 7:50 PM in response to nbar

I have confirmed this leak is unrelated to third party software after clean wiping my hard drive and doing a Fresh Install of ML via Apple's netboot.

Does that mean you tested a pristine installation, with none of your data or software present?

Reply

Answer 4

nbar Author

Level 5

7,019 points

Jun 24, 2013 8:00 PM in response to Linc Davis

Correct.

I tested this when after doing a clean wipe of my whole disk (recovery partition included) and running Apple's internet recovery. Once completed I was running 10.7.5. I then reinstalled ML from the apple store. I opened Safari, opened my console, and saw the same warning.

Reply

Answer 5

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Jun 24, 2013 8:12 PM in response to nbar

What is the warning? Your screenshot never showed up. The data you posted in your first message showed normal memory consumption by WebProcess.

Reply

Answer 6

nbar Author

Level 5

7,019 points

Jun 24, 2013 8:39 PM in response to Linc Davis

The screenshot was just from my activity monitor, not sure why it stopped showing up.

objc[334]: Object 0x7ff35342bef0 of class NSUserDefaults autoreleased with no pool in place - just leaking - break on objc_autoreleaseNoPool() to debug

This is the warning, which appears everytime I start up Safari. The PID and HEX address vary everytime, but always relate to Webprocess.

Running the cmd: "leaks PID -nostacks -nocontext" yields the following output (seebelow). I guess I should run the dylib update. I can try and see if still occurs...?

Process: WebProcess [334]

Path: /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/WebKit2.framework/WebProcess.app/Contents/Mac OS/WebProcess

Load Address: 0x10eea1000

Identifier: com.apple.WebProcess

Version: 8536 (8536.30.1)

Build Info: WebKit2-7536030001000000~9

Code Type: X86-64 (Native)

Parent Process: Safari [333]

Date/Time: 2013-06-24 23:36:31.350 -0400

OS Version: Mac OS X 10.8.4 (12E55)

Report Version: 7

leaks Report Version: 2.0

2013-06-24 23:36:31.563 leaks[367:707] *** Symbolication: libsystem_c.dylib is the same in the target process as in the analysis process, but it was loaded at a different address. That means the dyld shared cache is not up to date, which could affect system performance. To update the dyld shared cache, run 'sudo update_dyld_shared_cache' and reboot.

2013-06-24 23:36:31.638 leaks[367:707] *** Symbolication: ImageIO is the same in the target process as in the analysis process, but it was loaded at a different address. That means the dyld shared cache is not up to date, which could affect system performance. To update the dyld shared cache, run 'sudo update_dyld_shared_cache' and reboot.

Process 334: 247312 nodes malloced for 130241 KB

Process 334: 20 leaks for 480 total leaked bytes.

Leak: 0x123d4e000 size=24 zone: JavaScriptCore FastMalloc_0x110986138 WebKit::WebString C++ WebKit2

Leak: 0x123d4e018 size=24 zone: JavaScriptCore FastMalloc_0x110986138 WebKit::WebString C++ WebKit2

Leak: 0x123d4e030 size=24 zone: JavaScriptCore FastMalloc_0x110986138 WebKit::WebString C++ WebKit2

Leak: 0x123d4e048 size=24 zone: JavaScriptCore FastMalloc_0x110986138 WebKit::WebString C++ WebKit2

Leak: 0x123d4e060 size=24 zone: JavaScriptCore FastMalloc_0x110986138 WebKit::WebString C++ WebKit2

Leak: 0x123d4e078 size=24 zone: JavaScriptCore FastMalloc_0x110986138 WebKit::WebString C++ WebKit2

Leak: 0x12445c600 size=24 zone: JavaScriptCore FastMalloc_0x110986138 WebKit::WebString C++ WebKit2

Leak: 0x12445c618 size=24 zone: JavaScriptCore FastMalloc_0x110986138 WebKit::WebString C++ WebKit2

Leak: 0x12445c630 size=24 zone: JavaScriptCore FastMalloc_0x110986138 WebKit::WebString C++ WebKit2

Leak: 0x12445c648 size=24 zone: JavaScriptCore FastMalloc_0x110986138 WebKit::WebString C++ WebKit2

Leak: 0x12445c660 size=24 zone: JavaScriptCore FastMalloc_0x110986138 WebKit::WebString C++ WebKit2

Leak: 0x12445c690 size=24 zone: JavaScriptCore FastMalloc_0x110986138 WebKit::WebString C++ WebKit2

Leak: 0x124ac2900 size=24 zone: JavaScriptCore FastMalloc_0x110986138 WebKit::WebString C++ WebKit2

Leak: 0x124ac2918 size=24 zone: JavaScriptCore FastMalloc_0x110986138 WebKit::WebString C++ WebKit2

Leak: 0x124ac2930 size=24 zone: JavaScriptCore FastMalloc_0x110986138 WebKit::WebString C++ WebKit2

Leak: 0x124ac2948 size=24 zone: JavaScriptCore FastMalloc_0x110986138 WebKit::WebString C++ WebKit2

Leak: 0x124ac2990 size=24 zone: JavaScriptCore FastMalloc_0x110986138 WebKit::WebString C++ WebKit2

Leak: 0x124ac29a8 size=24 zone: JavaScriptCore FastMalloc_0x110986138 WebKit::WebString C++ WebKit2

Leak: 0x124ac2ed0 size=24 zone: JavaScriptCore FastMalloc_0x110986138 WebKit::WebString C++ WebKit2

Leak: 0x124ac2ee8 size=24 zone: JavaScriptCore FastMalloc_0x110986138 WebKit::WebString C++ WebKit2

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Answer 7

nbar Author

Level 5

7,019 points

Jun 24, 2013 8:41 PM in response to nbar

Here is the original screenshot. If you click on it, it should zoom.

Reply

Answer 8

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Jun 24, 2013 8:48 PM in response to nbar

I see no indication of a memory leak. The log messages are routine.

Reply

Answer 9

nbar Author

Level 5

7,019 points

Jun 24, 2013 8:53 PM in response to Linc Davis

The warning message indicates memory leak. I run same cmd 3 minutes later and leak increases...:

$ leaks 334 -nostacks -nocontext

Process: WebProcess [334]

Path: /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/WebKit2.framework/WebProcess.app/Contents/Mac OS/WebProcess

Load Address: 0x10eea1000

Identifier: com.apple.WebProcess

Version: 8536 (8536.30.1)

Build Info: WebKit2-7536030001000000~9

Code Type: X86-64 (Native)

Parent Process: Safari [333]

Date/Time: 2013-06-24 23:49:59.848 -0400

OS Version: Mac OS X 10.8.4 (12E55)

Report Version: 7

leaks Report Version: 2.0

2013-06-24 23:50:00.084 leaks[416:707] *** Symbolication: libsystem_c.dylib is the same in the target process as in the analysis process, but it was loaded at a different address. That means the dyld shared cache is not up to date, which could affect system performance. To update the dyld shared cache, run 'sudo update_dyld_shared_cache' and reboot.

2013-06-24 23:50:00.173 leaks[416:707] *** Symbolication: ImageIO is the same in the target process as in the analysis process, but it was loaded at a different address. That means the dyld shared cache is not up to date, which could affect system performance. To update the dyld shared cache, run 'sudo update_dyld_shared_cache' and reboot.

Process 334: 236836 nodes malloced for 137658 KB

Process 334: 56 leaks for 1344 total leaked bytes.

Reply

Answer 10

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Jun 24, 2013 8:59 PM in response to nbar

There is no significant memory leak. You can suppress the warning about the dyld cache by booting in safe mode, then rebooting as usual.

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