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

Solution That Worked for Me -- Found a solution that has worked for 2 weeks without a single recurrence of an "application memory full" force quit since. Go to the discussion at http://discussions.apple.com/thread/5471817?start=90&tstart=0 .

Look for the Oct. 19th, 2011 discussion by ISDAY at 9:47 am about AddressBookSourceSync eating up all the CPU -- which was what was happening on my IMAC after the Mavericks update every time, just before I got the "application memory full" force quits. Which is why I was looking up threads related to AddressBookSourceSync hogging the CPU and found the thread.

Isday had the same problem when he upgraded to 10.7.2 in late 2011 and this is what he did to fix it, and, again, it also worked to fix my IMAC after upgrading to Mavericks. Isday said:

"1. Made sure that MobileMe [now iCloud] was not syncing anymore (system preferences) by logging out of MobileMe (now iCloud.)

2. As a precaution, backed up my address book (1700 contacts) locally, and quit address book.

3. Checked to see if ICloud had all of my contacts. www.icloud.com.

4. Made sure that AddressBookSourceSync was not running in Activity Monitor.

5. Went into my users library [in Finder click on GO and then hold down the alt/option key to see the library] (~/Library/Application/Support/Address Book/) trashed everthing EXCEPT Configuration.plist.

6. Went back into System Preferences/iCloud and made sure that Contacts was checked off [i.e. made sure it had a check in the box]. Once checked the sync started.

Since I did this, I have not had a single "application memory full" force quit pop up. My system is back to where it was before upgrading to Mavericks.

I should also point out that I use Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac, and had to sign up for an ICloud account, even though I didn't need or want it, in order to get everything to work together seamlessly again.

Ever since updating Mavericks, the computer is running out of "Application Memory" with 8GB of RAM on my iMac (late 2012). I've tried refreshing the OS and the solution that monstamash explained on Dec 17th. I don't know if this will solve the issue, but hope that Apple addresses this issue quickly.

I called Apple for help with the OS "Running out of Application Memory" issue since the suggestion from monstamash did not solve the problem.

Kim from Apple Care recommended that I delete all of the Startup items (there was item in there that I did not recognize). I'll know if this is a fix in a few hours--since the message about the OS running out of application memory appears every three hours or so. I already notice the computer is processing more smoothly.

In my case, Apple Mail was causing the problem. After three days I found a way.

1.- In finder window click on ¨Go¨

2.- Hold ¨option¨ key and click on ¨Library¨

3.- Go to Mail/V2/MailData and erase this file ¨Accounts.plist¨

4.- Start Apple Mail and reconfigure your email accounts.

That´s it.

Resetting Accounts.plist did not work in my case. Not surprising, since I encountered the issue while configuring mail accounts on an out-of-the-box machine.

After some time on the phone with Apple Care, I was told that the memory of my new machine may be bad. A replacement machine is on its way. When it arrives, I'll be able to test again.

I am not real computer-savvy. Therefore, I would love whatever help I can get. I ran an EtreCheck and here are my results. I feel like my "Application Memory" issue is getting worked up by iMovie.

Hardware Information:

MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2011)

MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro8,1

1 2.4 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 2 cores

8 GB RAM

Video Information:

Intel HD Graphics 3000 - VRAM: 512 MB

Audio Plug-ins:

BluetoothAudioPlugIn: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.9

AirPlay: Version: 1.9 - SDK 10.9

AppleAVBAudio: Version: 2.0.0 - SDK 10.9

iSightAudio: Version: 7.7.3 - SDK 10.9

System Software:

OS X 10.9.1 (13B42) - Uptime: 0 days 0:4:39

Disk Information:

TOSHIBA MK5065GSXF disk0 : (500,11 GB)

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 209,7 MB

Macintosh HD (disk0s2) /: 499,25 GB (138,43 GB free)

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

OPTIARC DVD RW AD-5970H

USB Information:

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

Apple Inc. BRCM2070 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

FireWire Information:

Thunderbolt Information:

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

Kernel Extensions:

com.xxxchurch.x3nke (1.0.2 - SDK 10.7)

Problem System Launch Daemons:

Problem System Launch Agents:

Launch Daemons:

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist

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

[loaded] com.leapfrog.connect.shell.plist

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist

[loaded] com.x3.x3daemon.plist

Launch Agents:

[loaded] com.Affinegy.InstaLANa.plist

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

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist

User Launch Agents:

[loaded] com.logos.LogosIndexer.plist

User Login Items:

Monitor

iTunesHelper

Spotify

Google Drive

GrowlHelperApp

Belkin Router Monitor

Dropbox

3rd Party Preference Panes:

Flash Player

Growl

Java

x3macpane

Internet Plug-ins::

o1dbrowserplugin: Version: 4.9.1.16010

Google Earth Web Plug-in: Version: 6.0

Default Browser: Version: 537 - SDK 10.9

AmazonMP3DownloaderPlugin101750: Version: AmazonMP3DownloaderPlugin 1.0.17 - SDK 10.4

OfficeLiveBrowserPlugin: Version: 12.3.6

2XClient: Version: 9.0.1056

Silverlight: Version: 5.1.20913.0 - SDK 10.6

FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 11.9.900.170 - SDK 10.6

Flash Player: Version: 11.9.900.170 - SDK 10.6

iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0

googletalkbrowserplugin: Version: 4.9.1.16010

npgtpo3dautoplugin: Version: 0.1.44.29 - SDK 10.5

QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

CANONiMAGEGATEWAYDL: Version: 2.1.0.1

CANONiMAGEGATEWAYLI: Version: 2.1.0.1

JavaAppletPlugin: Version: Java 7 Update 45

Bad Fonts:

None

Old applications:

Amazon MP3 Downloader: Version: INFO_PLIST_VERSION - SDK 10.4

/Applications/Amazon MP3 Downloader.app

Authorization Manager: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.4

/Applications/Authorization Manager.app

Keynote: Version: 5.3 - SDK 10.5

/Applications/iWork '09/Keynote.app

LIMBO: Version: 1.1.0 - SDK 10.0

/Applications/LIMBO.app

MemServerUI: Version: 1.1 - SDK 10.5

/Library/Application Support/Native Instruments/Kontakt 5/kxm/MemServerUI.app

Microsoft AutoUpdate: Version: 2.3.6 - SDK 10.4

/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/MAU2.0/Microsoft AutoUpdate.app

Microsoft Error Reporting: Version: 2.2.9 - SDK 10.4

/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/MERP2.0/Microsoft Error Reporting.app

Microsoft Ship Asserts: Version: 1.1.4 - SDK 10.4

/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/MERP2.0/Microsoft Ship Asserts.app

Numbers: Version: 2.3 - SDK 10.5

/Applications/iWork '09/Numbers.app

Pages: Version: 4.3 - SDK 10.5

/Applications/iWork '09/Pages.app

SLLauncher: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.5

/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Silverlight/OutOfBrowser/SLLauncher.app

WiTopia: Version: 2.1.3 - SDK 10.5

/Applications/WiTopia.app

Time Machine:

Auto backup: NO

Volumes being backed up:

Macintosh HD: Disk size: 464.96 GB Disk used: 336.03 GB

Destinations:

Time Machine Backups [Local] (Last used)

Total size: 0 B

Total number of backups: (null)

Size of backup disk: Too small

Backup size 0 B < (Disk used 336.03 GB X 3)

Time Machine details may not be accurate.

All volumes being backed up may not be listed.

Top Processes by CPU:

6% Dropbox

5% WindowServer

3% Google Drive

2% mds

2% EtreCheck

Top Processes by Memory:

238 MB firefox

90 MB Google Drive

74 MB Dropbox

74 MB mds_stores

57 MB com.apple.IconServicesAgent

Virtual Memory Statistics:

5.02 GB Free RAM

1.24 GB Active RAM

504 MB Inactive RAM

1.24 GB Wired RAM

307 MB Page-ins

0 B Page-outs

I finally solved this, but it took awhile. For me, the issue was with the Calendar program expanding RAM use, which I could see in the Activity Monitor. Had to go into the user library and delete all of the associated files to the Calendar program. I had to resynch to my google account. I suggest you call Apple tech support because they can walk you through the library folders and help you understand the Activity Monitor readings.

With more than a dozen-or-so Internet accounts configured for Mail, I get an "out of application memory" error when opening Mail. After another support call with Apple, I was told the following:

• This is a known, reproducable issue specific to Mavericks, including the 10.9.1 update.
• There are other issues with similar symptoms (such as an out-of-control Accounts.plist). Some of these issues are not specific to Mavericks.
• They will not tell me if other users have called about this issue (though I assume so).
• They will not tell me the timeline to fix this issue, or even whether an attempt will be made to fix it.
• They will not notify me when (if) this issue has been fixed.
• They will not provide me a reference for this issue, so that I can check whether it has been fixed.

So, there is a Mavericks bug related to the number of configured Internet accounts. Apple acknowledges it, they may or may not try to fix it, and they won't provide a means (other than trial-and-error) for users to know whether it's been fixed. Cheery.

I strongly suspect there's something horribly wrong with memory management in OS X Mavericks.

It's not clever or sophisticated. It's broken.

Jon

I believe you are correct Jon. With some effort and talking with Apple, I believe I have my computer singing again. After narrowing down issues related to the memory problem, found my calendar app was corrupted. Stabliized the memory usage by dumping all the data files related to the calendar and reinstalling the app fro the iTunes store. Also changed a couple of sharing and permissions issues. But then I discovered the sharing tool was no longer working in iphotos, preview, and Safari. When I created a test user account, the sharing tool worked in these apps. So something was corrupted in my existing user account. The final solution was to create a new user account and transfer all of my folders/files to the new account. I'm not sure why any of these problems occurred on my iMac (late 2012) as there have been no similar issues on my Macbook (2009) also running Mavericks 9.1. Who knows . . . it was a very irritating experience but now all is stable (knock on wood). And the Apple tech (who by the way has been very accessible and supportive) said I stumped Apple with these issues and why they occured. He requested I send to the Apple engineers a system analysis report so they can study the problem. Maybe my experience will help repair the issue for the next update.

gp

.

Glad to see that this thread was solved for the OP. Well done.

Happy Computing

Pete

I have a similar problem as Gert and here is my EtreCheck report. Can anyone help me too, please?

Im quite desperate.

Hardware Information:

iMac (27-inch, Late 2012)

iMac - model: iMac13,2

1 2.9 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 4 cores

8 GB RAM

Video Information:

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M - VRAM: 512 MB

System Software:

OS X 10.9.1 (13B42) - Uptime: 0 days 0:27:25

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

USB Information:

WACOM ET-0405-UV1.1-1

Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Apple, Inc. Keyboard Hub

Apple Inc. Apple Keyboard

Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

FireWire Information:

LaCie 4big Quadra 800mbit - 800mbit max

EFI (disk3s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB

CLIENTS•ARTISTS (disk3s2) /Volumes/CLIENTS•ARTISTS: 1.49 TB (1.01 TB free)

PROJECTS (disk3s3) /Volumes/PROJECTS: 508.99 GB (119.79 GB free)

ML•LEARNING (disk3s4) /Volumes/ML•LEARNING: 2 TB (1.3 TB free)

Thunderbolt Information:

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

Apple Inc. Thunderbolt to FireWire Adapter

Kernel Extensions:

Startup Items:

PACESupport: Path: /Library/StartupItems/PACESupport

Problem System Launch Daemons:

[failed] com.apple.softwareupdated.plist 3rd-Party support link

[failed] com.apple.wdhelper.plist 3rd-Party support link

Problem System Launch Agents:

Launch Daemons:

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist 3rd-Party support link

[loaded] com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist 3rd-Party support link

[loaded] com.adobe.versioncueCS3.plist 3rd-Party support link

[loaded] com.google.keystone.daemon.plist 3rd-Party support link

[loaded] com.micromat.CheckmateIdleDaemon.plist 3rd-Party support link

[loaded] com.micromat.CheckmateWorkerDaemon.plist 3rd-Party support link

[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist 3rd-Party support link

[loaded] com.quark.quarkupdate.plist 3rd-Party support link

[loaded] com.trusteer.rooks.rooksd.plist 3rd-Party support link

[loaded] com.xrite.device.colormunki.plist 3rd-Party support link

Launch Agents:

[not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist 3rd-Party support link

[loaded] com.adobe.CS5ServiceManager.plist 3rd-Party support link

[loaded] com.extensis.FMCore.plist 3rd-Party support link

[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist 3rd-Party support link

[loaded] com.micromat.CheckmateAgent.plist 3rd-Party support link

[loaded] com.quark.quarkupdate.agent.plist 3rd-Party support link

[loaded] com.trusteer.rapport.rapportd.plist 3rd-Party support link

[loaded] com.wacom.wacomtablet.plist 3rd-Party support link

[loaded] com.xrite.colormunkid.plist 3rd-Party support link

[loaded] com.xrite.device.message.plist 3rd-Party support link

User Launch Agents:

[loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist 3rd-Party support link

[loaded] com.akamai.client.plist 3rd-Party support link

[loaded] com.akamai.single-user-client.plist 3rd-Party support link

[failed] com.apple.MobileMeSyncClientAgent.plist 3rd-Party support link

[loaded] com.victorpimentel.TVShowsHelper.plist 3rd-Party support link

User Login Items:

GrowlMenu

PopChar

Safari

ColorMunki Photo Tray

TransmitMenu

Font Book

Brightness menu bar

Dropbox

Mail

Suitcase Fusion 5

SpeechSynthesisServer

Internet Plug-ins:

WacomNetscape: Version: 1.1.1-1 3rd-Party support link

Default Browser: Version: 537 - SDK 10.9

Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: Version: 3.0.0.126 - SDK 10.8 3rd-Party support link

WacomSafari: Version: Unknown

RealPlayer Plugin: Version: (null) 3rd-Party support link

Silverlight: Version: 4.0.60531.0 3rd-Party support link

FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 11.9.900.170 - SDK 10.6 3rd-Party support link

DivXBrowserPlugin: Version: 2.0 3rd-Party support link

Flash Player: Version: 11.9.900.170 - SDK 10.6 3rd-Party support link

QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0

SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.2.3 - SDK 10.6 3rd-Party support link

JavaAppletPlugin: Version: 14.9.0 - SDK 10.7 Outdated! Update

Audio Plug-ins:

BluetoothAudioPlugIn: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.9

AirPlay: Version: 1.9 - SDK 10.9

AppleAVBAudio: Version: 2.0.0 - SDK 10.9

iSightAudio: Version: 7.7.3 - SDK 10.9

User Internet Plug-ins:

CitrixOnlineWebDeploymentPlugin: Version: 1.0.105 3rd-Party support link

WebEx64: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

WebEx: Version: 1.0 3rd-Party support link

3rd Party Preference Panes:

Adobe Version Cue CS3 3rd-Party support link

Akamai NetSession Preferences 3rd-Party support link

DivX 3rd-Party support link

Flash Player 3rd-Party support link

Flip4Mac WMV 3rd-Party support link

Growl 3rd-Party support link

Perian 3rd-Party support link

Quark Update Preferences 3rd-Party support link

Trusteer Endpoint Protection 3rd-Party support link

TVShows 3rd-Party support link

WacomTablet 3rd-Party support link

X-Rite Device Services 3rd-Party support link

Bad Fonts:

None

Old Applications:

Microsoft Language Register: Version: 14.2.3 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

/Applications/Microsoft Office 2011/Additional Tools/Microsoft Language Register/Microsoft Language Register.app

Freeway 5.5 Pro: Version: 5.6.5 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

/Applications/Microsoft Office 2011

Microsoft PowerPoint: Version: 14.2.3 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

Microsoft Excel: Version: 14.2.3 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

Microsoft Word: Version: 14.2.3 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

Microsoft Outlook: Version: 14.2.3 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

Microsoft Document Connection: Version: 14.2.3 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

/Applications/Microsoft Office 2011/Office

Microsoft Graph: Version: 14.2.3 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

Microsoft Database Utility: Version: 14.2.3 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

Microsoft Office Reminders: Version: 14.2.3 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

Microsoft Upload Center: Version: 14.2.3 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

My Day: Version: 14.2.3 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

SyncServicesAgent: Version: 14.2.3 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

Open XML for Excel: Version: 14.2.3 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

Microsoft Alerts Daemon: Version: 14.2.3 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

Microsoft Database Daemon: Version: 14.2.3 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

Microsoft Chart Converter: Version: 14.2.3 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

Microsoft Clip Gallery: Version: 14.2.3 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

Float3: Version: 2.0 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

/Library/Application Support/Unified Color/Float3.app

/Users/meilim/Library/Application Support/WebEx Folder/1224

convertpdf: Version: 1.2 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

asannotation2: Version: 4.14.29.0 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

atmsupload: Version: 4.14.29.0 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

Meeting Center: Version: 8.29.29.0 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

Microsoft AutoUpdate: Version: 2.3.6 - SDK 10.4 3rd-Party support link

/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/MAU2.0/Microsoft AutoUpdate.app

RWmultitool: Version: 2.1.1 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

/Applications/RapidWeaver/RWmultitool.app

QuarkUpdate: Version: 1.1.0.1 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

/Library/Application Support/Quark/AutoUpdate/QuarkUpdate.app

QuarkXPress: Version: 9.5.4.0 - SDK 10.4 3rd-Party support link

/Applications/QuarkXPress 9/QuarkXPress.app

QXP Help: Version: 9.3 - SDK 10.4 3rd-Party support link

/Applications/QuarkXPress 9/Help/QXP Help.app

CrashReporter: Version: 1.2.4a1 - SDK 10.4 3rd-Party support link

/Applications/QuarkXPress 9/XTensions/ErrorReportingUI.xnt/Contents/Frameworks/ILCrashReporter.framework/ Versions/A/Resources/CrashReporter.app

Time Machine:

Skip System Files: NO

Auto backup: YES

Volumes being backed up:

Destinations:

LaCie [Local] (Last used)

Total size: 2

Total number of backups: 71

Oldest backup: 2013-02-04 14:34:10 +0000

Last backup: 2014-01-01 22:52:58 +0000

Size of backup disk: Excellent

Backup size 2 > (Disk size 0 B X 3)

Time Machine details may not be accurate.

All volumes being backed up may not be listed.

/sbin excluded from backup!

/usr excluded from backup!

/System excluded from backup!

/bin excluded from backup!

/private excluded from backup!

/Library excluded from backup!

/Applications excluded from backup!

Top Processes by CPU:

107% Mail

4% PhotoStreamAgent

3% WindowServer

1% WacomTabletDriver

1% PopChar

Top Processes by Memory:

691 MB Mail

139 MB com.apple.internetaccounts

106 MB Safari

98 MB WindowServer

57 MB Finder

Virtual Memory Information:

4.55 GB Free RAM

1.04 GB Active RAM

1.24 GB Inactive RAM

971 MB Wired RAM

555 MB Page-ins

41 MB Page-outs

ArtBarn there are several problems with that Mac including Trusteer Rapport, PACE, and and Micromat junk. For assistance in removing them you need to start a new Discussion.

I finally figured out what was causing my issue, after several more support calls with Apple and a lot of additional experimentation: smart mailboxes.

I have (had) lots of smart mailboxes, more than 200. As these are nothing more than saved searches, I didn't really think much of them, though I have had minor problems with them in the past. Despite numerous Apple technicians insisting that smart mailboxes absolutely cannot be the problem, as a test I deleted them from my old machine and tried to configure my new machine again. Now everything is peachy, no slowness opening Mail and no more "out of application memory" errors.

I have no idea why smart mailboxes were the problem, other than some vague suspicions about synching shenanigans. (Smart mailboxes are synched across machines using an Apple ID, assuming both Mail and Documents & Data are configured for the ID on each machine. The relevant plists are ~/Library/Mail/V2/MailData/SyncedFilesInfo.plist and ~/Library/Mail/V2/MailData/SyncedSmartMailboxes.plist.)

During my last follow-up call, Apple support continued to insist that smart mailboxes cannot be the problem, though they couldn't say why or what else could have been the problem, other than perhaps I was giving my new machine the stink eye or just imagining the whole thing.

I have not yet tried to reconfigure any of my old searches, though I may do that as an additional test.