Mavericks running out of "Application Memory" with 32 GB of RAM

Can we take a peek into your system via an EtreCheck report?

http://www.etresoft.com/etrecheck

Otherwise does safe boot have any effect (hold shift after chime & release after spinning cog appears)…

https://support.apple.com/kb/HT1455

It will disable all third party extensions & startup items. Some features are disabled (like wifi on certain models) so you may not be able to run Mail. If the Mac is better performing or more stable it indicates 3rd party software etc.

Apologies if the Apple support went through any of this.

I was finally able to capture this screen shot of Activity monitor just prior to another crash. Included is my EtreCheck report after restart..

Hardware Information:

iMac (27-inch, Late 2012)

iMac - model: iMac13,2

1 3.4 GHz Intel Core i7 CPU: 4 cores

32 GB RAM

Video Information:

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX - VRAM: 2048 MB

Audio Plug-ins:

BluetoothAudioPlugIn: Version: 1.0

AirPlay: Version: 1.9

AppleAVBAudio: Version: 2.0.0

iSightAudio: Version: 7.7.3

Startup Items:

Cocktail - Path: /Library/StartupItems/Cocktail

HP IO - Path: /Library/StartupItems/HP IO

HP Trap Monitor - Path: /Library/StartupItems/HP Trap Monitor

MissingSyncMounting - Path: /Library/StartupItems/MissingSyncMounting

RetroRun - Path: /Library/StartupItems/RetroRun

System Software:

OS X 10.9 (13A603) - Uptime: 0 days 0:4:33

Disk Information:

APPLE HDD WDC WD10EALX-408EA0 disk1 : (1 TB)

EFI (disk1s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB

disk1s2 (disk1s2) <not mounted>: 999.35 GB

Recovery HD (disk1s3) <not mounted>: 650 MB

APPLE SSD SM128E disk0 : (121.33 GB)

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB

disk0s2 (disk0s2) <not mounted>: 120.99 GB

Boot OS X (disk0s3) <not mounted>: 134.2 MB

ST1000LM024 HN-M101MBB disk2 : (1 TB)

EFI (disk2s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB

LaCie (disk2s2) /Volumes/LaCie: 999.86 GB (770.07 GB free)

USB Information:

Apple Inc. MacBook Air SuperDrive

Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

DYMO DYMO LabelWriter 450

Canon CanoScan

harman/kardon SoundSticks

Apple, Inc. Keyboard Hub

Apple Inc. Apple Keyboard

Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

FireWire Information:

Thunderbolt Information:

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

LaCie Rugged mini

Kernel Extensions:

com.globaldelight.driver.BoomDevice (1.1)

com.Cycling74.driver.Soundflower (1.5.3)

Problem System Launch Daemons:

Problem System Launch Agents:

Launch Daemons:

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist

[not loaded] com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist

[loaded] com.cocoatech.pathfinder.SMFHelper.plist

[loaded] com.google.keystone.daemon.plist

[not loaded] com.maintain.AutoLoginUserScreenLocked.plist

[not loaded] com.maintain.CocktailScheduler.plist

[not loaded] com.maintain.HideSpotlightMenuBarIcon.plist

[loaded] com.micromat.CheckmateIdleDaemon.plist

[loaded] com.micromat.CheckmateWorkerDaemon.plist

[loaded] com.micromat.TechToolProDaemon.plist

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

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

[loaded] com.stclairsoft.DefaultFolderXAgent.plist

Launch Agents:

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

[loaded] com.adobe.CS5ServiceManager.plist

[loaded] com.canon.MFManager.plist

[not loaded] com.cooliris.SetLaunchArch.plist

[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist

[not loaded] com.maintain.LogOut.plist

[not loaded] com.maintain.PurgeInactiveMemory.plist

[not loaded] com.maintain.Restart.plist

[not loaded] com.maintain.ShutDown.plist

[not loaded] com.maintain.Sleep.plist

[loaded] com.maintain.SystemEvents.plist

[loaded] com.micromat.CheckmateAgent.plist

[loaded] com.micromat.TechToolProAgent.plist

User Launch Agents:

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

[loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist

[loaded] com.akamai.single-user-client.plist

[loaded] com.c-command.SpamSieve.LaunchAgent.plist

[loaded] com.koingosw.MacCleanse4Helper.Reminder.plist

[loaded] com.koingosw.MacCleanse4Helper.TrashWatcher.plist

User Login Items:

Boom

Default Folder X Helper

Jettison

AdobeResourceSynchronizer

acphelper

EvernoteHelper

Dropbox

Fantastical

LaunchMagic

3rd Party Preference Panes:

Akamai NetSession Preferences

Default Folder X

Flash Player

Flip4Mac WMV

Printopia

TechTool Protection

Internet Plug-ins:

AdobePDFViewer.plugin

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI.plugin

CoolirisWebKitPlugin.plugin

CouponPrinter.plugin

Default Browser.plugin

DirectorShockwave.plugin

DYMO NPAPI Addin.plugin

DYMO Safari Addin.plugin

Flash Player.plugin

FlashPlayer-10.6.plugin

Flip4Mac WMV Plugin.plugin

Google Earth Web Plug-in.plugin

iPhotoPhotocast.plugin

JavaAppletPlugin.plugin

OfficeLiveBrowserPlugin.plugin

PDF Browser Plugin.plugin

PDEPrint.plugin

QuickTime Plugin.plugin

RealPlayer Plugin.plugin

SharePointBrowserPlugin.plugin

Silverlight.plugin

User Internet Plug-ins:

Google Earth Web Plug-in.plugin

WebEx.plugin

Bad Fonts:

None

Time Machine:

Skip System Files: NO

Mobile backups: OFF

Auto backup: YES

Volumes being backed up:

Destinations:

Data [Network] (Last used)

Total size: 2 TB

Total number of backups: 38

Oldest backup: 2013-09-21 08:58:18 +0000

Last backup: 2013-11-11 14:25:49 +0000

Size of backup disk: Excellent

Backup size 2 TB > (Disk size Zero KB X 3)

Top Processes by CPU:

1% acphelper

1% WindowServer

1% coreaudiod

1% fontd

1% EtreCheck

1% identityservicesd

0% Boom

0% hidd

0% coreservicesd

0% ps

Top Processes by Memory:

360 MB com.apple.IconServicesAgent

164 MB LaunchMagic

164 MB mds_stores

164 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent

164 MB Safari

66 MB Dropbox

66 MB WindowServer

66 MB Fantastical

33 MB Finder

33 MB PluginProcess

Virtual Memory Statistics:

27.76 GB Free RAM

2.24 GB Active RAM

499 MB Inactive RAM

1.50 GB Wired RAM

403 MB Page-ins

0 B Page-outs

Hi Steve Mattson

For a Mac with 32 GB memory to be forced into using the swapfile at all is an astonishing feat that apparently required a similarly astonishing number of "cleanup" utilities and similarly ill-conceived junk as in yours.

TechTool, Cocktail, Drive Genius, and MacCleanse are but a few. RetroRun hasn't been supported since about Leopard. Soundflower hasn't been updated in years. Other potential causes exist that are too numerous to mention.

If you require more assistance, you shouldstart a new Discussion because David Preston1 solved his problem, apparently without Craig's help.

Thanks for your imput... I'll start working on weeding out all of the ill-concieved junk.

Finally a picture of a machine that actually has maxed the RAM.

Note how it is using almost 68GB of virtual memory. Once the compressed level maxes out it has to swap to disk.

Heres my notes that may help cleanup…

Startup Items:

Inside /Library/StartupItems/

These have been discontinued by Apple since Mac OS 10.4. They are responsible for making changes at a system level. Remove them all or spend time ensuring ALL related software is up to date. You need a very good reason to have anything installed in here.

Kernel Extensions:

Inside /Library/Extensions/

These also load third party code, but they insert it into the 'core' of the OS. These can be safe, however you must ensure the related tools or apps are up to date, otherwise the system is basically built upon quicksand. Remove them all & see if the OS works better.

Launchd jobs: several types

LaunchAgents - Stored in /Library/LaunchAgents

LaunchDaemons - Stored in /Library/LaunchDaemons

User LaunchAgents - Stored in ~/Library/LaunchAgents

These are all background jobs, they are not necessarily bad, but if they are loading old code it could be doing untold damage to the performance & stability of the entire OS. Focus on the System level jobs (the ones inside /Library - the system level) also look at 'failed' jobs.

EtreCheck gives a status on launchd jobs…

[loaded] - a running job

[not loaded] - jobs that are set not to run, basically harmless, remove them unless you plan to use the associated software (if it is up to date)

[failed] - jobs in a crashed or unknown state, it could be forking processes or using all the system resources, remove these.

User login items:

Applications and helpers that are managed inside 'Systems Preferences > Users and groups > Login Items tab'.

These are loaded at the 'User level', consider removing all of them whilst you troubleshoot. When you decide to re-add them ensure the software is up to date.

3rd Party Preference Panes: & Internet Plug-ins:

/Library/PreferencePanes/ and ~/Library/PreferencePanes/

/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/ and ~/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/

Once again these items all must be up to date, or remove them from your system. If the prefpanes manage additional software use the uninstaller or see the developers site for uninstall instructions.

Read the list of Internet plug-ins carefully, there are often duplicate Flash player versions that won't help stability, it's just wasted space too.

Don't forget to also update Safari's extensions in it's preferences (if you have any).

Re-run EtreCheck after cleaning up to see if items have returned (some apps will reload the background jobs when re-opened, so either update or remove the software).

Drew,

Thanks for your constructive suggestions. I have cleared out all of items mentioned and will re-post with results. This iMac was purchased this spring and I used migration assistant. I did not realize that it brought over so much refuse from prior years.

Notice in the Activity Window that Safari is using GBs of memory for various functions.

Steve Mattson wrote:

Notice in the Activity Window that Safari is using GBs of memory for various functions.

Flash can often cause that. The ads on most pages are driven by Flash and can just chew up memory.

You can turn off JavaScript and see if that helps. JavaScript isn't the problem, but it is often used to load the Flash content.

If it turns out to be Flash, you can get the Click-To-Flash or Click-To-Plugin Safari Extension to block the Flash content.

Thats right, however you appear to have every internet plugin known to man installed 🙂

If one of them is leaking memory you are in a bad situation.

Update or remove them all.

I'd also guess that you have Safari extensions installed too? Rinse & repeat the update or remove process on them too. That task is the easiest one - 'Safari Prefs > Extensions > update all'.

Steve Mattson wrote:

This iMac was purchased this spring and I used migration assistant. I did not realize that it brought over so much refuse from prior years.

Migration Assistant tries to keep everything the 'same as it was'.

It's good from a user perspective, since it all looks the same, the prefs should be updated, same apps exist… The trouble is that people try 'defaults write' hacks to tweak the system or add software that adds background jobs & system level modifications etc.

These become out of date or unsupported and it's way too easy to forget about these items, trouble only appears when the OS is changed in major ways. MA pulls all this stuff over 😟

It's a difficult task for Apple to solve, telling users to clear the crap makes them sound like Microsoft 🙂.

The list of important user files are scattered across the ~/Library & the users home folder. It's tough to say 'copy X,Y and Z but avoid A, B & C to be happy'. Some files are invisible too!

Sadly this is why tools like CleanMyMac appear, but they also contribute to the problem in other ways.

For those who don't want to delete all their mail accounts, checkout the Accounts.plist file for duplicate entries...

1> Make the user Library folder visible - in Mavericks this is a lot easier than Lion/Mountain Lion. Simply open up your user directory in Finder, select menu View>Show View Options, and select “Show Library Folder”

2> Navigate through username>Library>Mail>V2>MailData and select the Accounts.plist file. If this file is multiple megabytes (mine was 40+mb) then this is likely the cause of your problem (once sorted mine ended up at 19k in size!)

3> To be safe, make a copy of this file (I placed the copy on my desktop).

4> Using your chosen text editor (I used Text Wrangler but I’m sure TextEdit would work just fine) open the Accounts.plist in the MailData folder (not your backup copy) and take a look. If it’s the same as me you will find hundreds and hundreds of entries for the same mailbox repeated in there. Mine was an old MSN mailbox that I never use any more (I’ve seen in other forums that other Hotmail type accounts also seem to be the culprits in this context). There will likely be two lots of repeated data, one in the XML “DeliveryAccounts” <array> section, and one lot in the “MailAccounts” <array> section.

5> Delete (keeping in mind the need to select the XML sections correctly from <dict> to </dict> completely) all those extra entries that you found, keeping the mail accounts you do need, in the XML and save the file.

6> Mail should open up nice and fast again and not eat your system

7> If this did not work, and causes problems because of over eager deleting in <5> you can replace your broken Accounts.plist file with your backup and try again.

That tells us very little Klaasje1972

There is a simple test to see if old software from 3rd parties might be the issue. Boot into 'Safe mode' (hold shift after the chime until the spinning 'cog' appears). Ensure the login window says 'safe mode'.

https://support.apple.com/kb/HT1455

It will disable all third party extensions & startup items.

Be aware that some features will be disabled like wifi on some models - this is normal in safe mode.

Test as much as possible to see if the Mac behaves the same way. Reboot to go back to normal.

If the Mac is better in 'safe mode' it is time to get a system report.

Use EtreCheck to see what is running & post it here

http://www.etresoft.com/etrecheck

I had deleted the boot loader and was unable to utilize my keyboard (Bluetooth) or mouse. I took it into a local MAC support company and they reloaded the OS. I got it back, and had a clean HD, reinstalled iMovie 10, updated the library, and tried to export the video, and the exact same memory issue occurred "app memory" has run out.

I redid the whole video in iMovie 9.09 and then exported it, and no kidding, 'iMovie Unexpectadly quit'. No movie still... This is seriously mind blowing.... I give up. I'm not buying Apple products any longer.

That's not at all good.

Submit the bug reports & hopefully Apple will address it.