Mail gobbles all RAM and infinite page outs after Upgrade to 12F45

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Mail gobbles all RAM and infinite page outs after Upgrade to 12F45

I just upgraded to the latest 10.8.5 build (12F45), and now when I open mail it eats up all my RAM and then goes on a binge of page outs until I get an error message requiring me to force quit. I can watch It all happens over about a 10 minute period after opening up apple Mail. I can watch the Activity Monitor track the memory usage as it grows and also dominate the CPU, but have no way to stop it other than force-quitting.

There seem to be other discussions on similar topics, but I don't think they apply to this problem, exactly. I tried to look for a bunch of the typical bad actor files, but they are not to be found. I don't have any anti-virus programs, etc.

Any suggestions would be great.

Thanks

iMac, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5), Late 2012 2.7GHz i5 16GB RAM

Posted on Oct 7, 2013 11:51 AM

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Answer 1

Eric Root

Level 10

684,039 points

Oct 7, 2013 12:51 PM in response to dr-md

Some suggestions in this discussion.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4831035?answerId=21324992022#21324992022

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Answer 2

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Oct 7, 2013 1:23 PM in response to dr-md

Please read this whole message before doing anything.

This procedure is a diagnostic test. It’s unlikely to solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.

The purpose of the test is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party software that loads automatically at startup or login, by a peripheral device, or by corruption of certain system caches.

Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards. Boot in safe mode and log in to the account with the problem. Note: If FileVault is enabled on some models, or if a firmware password is set, or if the boot volume is a software RAID, you can’t do this. Ask for further instructions.

Safe mode is much slower to boot and run than normal, and some things won’t work at all, including sound output and Wi-Fi on certain models. The next normal boot may also be somewhat slow.

The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.

Test while in safe mode. Same problem?

After testing, reboot as usual (i.e., not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of the test.

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Answer 3

dr-md Author

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Oct 7, 2013 2:10 PM in response to Linc Davis

@Eric Root I read the discussion you highlighted. It was not encouraging. This only started happening when I installed build (12F45), so I am hopeful that someone else out there has experienced the same issue more recently and possibly has a solution.

@ Linc Davis I did your test. Same result. This is what things looked like in safe mode with out mail open:

This is what happened soon after opening mail:

This is what it looked like after force-quiting mail:

Other than the wired memory, its the same as when I am booted in regular mode. The Page-outs stopped growing, and some of the RAM freed up again (weirdly, now that I look at it, more than before I opened mail).

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Answer 4

dr-md Author

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Oct 7, 2013 2:26 PM in response to dr-md

I think I fixed it. Seems drastic, but left with no other workable option, I went into mail and deleted my iCloud email account in preferences. I quit mail and re-opened. Same RAM explosion. I then deleted my corporate go-daddy acount, quit mail and tried to re-open.

At that point, there were no more email accounts, so it wanted me to set up again. I went thru and re-setup my iCloud and Go Daddy and now all is fine. Its taking awhile to re-sync, but that should not be a big deal.

I know lots of other folks have had similar issues, so maybe this can apply to them.

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Answer 5

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Oct 7, 2013 5:17 PM in response to dr-md

I think I fixed it.

Not even close, if you still have 14 GB of wired memory.

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Answer 6

dr-md Author

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Oct 8, 2013 12:48 PM in response to Linc Davis

The 14GB of wired memory was only when I rebooted in safe-mode the way you told me to. That wired memory was not showing up under normal operations.

That said, when I got back to my office, I had the same problem I had before I deleted my email accounts.

I finally broke down and called Apple. They had me do a reboot where you shut down your mac, hold down option-cmd-p-r keys, and then turn it back on. After it gongs twice, you let go.

Seems to have worked for me. Hope this is more helpful than my last overly optimistic post.

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