EvilRaat

Q: kernel_task high memory usage

Hi, since I upgraded from Lion to Mavericks yesterday, the kernel_task process has been running consistently with 4.7GB of RAM.  The OS is now constantly running at full usage of physical RAM and swapping more than 10GB to disc.

 

I have a MBP Early 2011 with 8GB RAM.

 

What is the kernel_task process and is there anyway of limiting its drain on my system.  As it is, my MBP is pretty much useless as it takes forever to even load a webpage, let alone run servers and IDE's which I need to do.

 

Hopefully I don't have to revert to my Lion backup, but without a solution to this I'm going to have to.

 

Hope someone has a pointer for me.

 

Thanks,

Paul

 

Screen Shot 2013-10-27 at 12.36.42.png

Screen Shot 2013-10-27 at 12.37.00.png

MacBook Pro (17-inch Early 2011), OS X Mavericks (10.9)

Posted on Oct 26, 2013 4:40 PM

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Q: kernel_task high memory usage

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  • by reefa_tree,

    reefa_tree reefa_tree Aug 5, 2014 7:21 AM in response to sheclimber
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 5, 2014 7:21 AM in response to sheclimber

    try downloading batchmod and resetting all the permissions for the activity monitor then restart.... this just worked for me

  • by 444zim444,

    444zim444 444zim444 Aug 5, 2014 4:59 PM in response to reefa_tree
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 5, 2014 4:59 PM in response to reefa_tree

    Can you please post the settings you used? Just want to make sure I don't screw something up.

  • by reefa_tree,

    reefa_tree reefa_tree Aug 5, 2014 11:02 PM in response to 444zim444
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 5, 2014 11:02 PM in response to 444zim444

    this is how mine was set Screen Shot 2014-08-06 at 2.01.04 AM.png

  • by dan bihn,

    dan bihn dan bihn Aug 6, 2014 8:05 PM in response to Beatoven
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Aug 6, 2014 8:05 PM in response to Beatoven

    I've been have exactly the same problem with sluggish performance and crazy kernel_task behavior. Taking a clue from Beatoven about the Apogee issue, I removed my Apogee Maestro 2 and rebooted. My MacBook Pro is happy once again. Thanks Beatoven!

  • by bdphifer,

    bdphifer bdphifer Aug 7, 2014 12:15 PM in response to Jim Muirhead
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 7, 2014 12:15 PM in response to Jim Muirhead

    I have an 2011 iMac with 20gb of memory. Over the last several weeks, I was having my memory drop into the low single digits. I was using the FipLab Memory cleaner to keep it above 4 or 5 gb constantly. My kernel was about 1.25g, largest, but not too bad. I performed the PRAM reset and I am sitting at 12g now. We will see how this holds, and I will update.

  • by PJ09,

    PJ09 PJ09 Aug 13, 2014 5:06 PM in response to bdphifer
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 13, 2014 5:06 PM in response to bdphifer

    I was noticing the same problem with my MacBook Pro with Retina display Mid 2012, the kernel_task running at in excess of 600 MB, with over 90 threads.  The Mac was sluggish which should not happen as it has the 512 SSD, 8 Gb and was just sucking ram.

    I had done a software update on my MBR previously and remembering back, it almost seemed like the problem occurred right after the update

    I did the same software update from the App Store today on my 27" iMac late 2013 (Safari v 7.0.6, iTunes v 11.3.1, Epson Printer Software Update v 2.18, Digital Camera RAW compatibility Update v 5.06, Mactracker v 7.3.3, Artboard v 1.9.4, Memory Diag v 1.0.2, Memory Clean V 4.6.  Prior to the update, I had no problems at all with the kernel_task problem on the iMac.  I have been using the iMac to compare and try to find the solution for the MBP.  Guess what started happening after the update, yup kernel_task problem 686 MB of memory, 91 threads, port 0, PID 0, user root.  Memory sucking as well.

    No problem before, it was not even visible. 

    I took a look into System/Library/Extensions/IOPlatformPluginFamily/Contents/PlugIns/ACPI_SMC_Plat formPlugin/Contents as has been mentioned in my search for an answer.  I do not find my MBP listed, nor my iMac in that plugin list.

    I ran the Apple hardware profile.  Initialing I had done it with my MBP unplugged from power and got this error 4SNS/1/40000001:IDOR-0.000, but as others had noted it was because it was only powered with the battery.  When i re-ran it plugged in, no error was detected.  I even tried the bachmod thing to reset Activity Monitor, nothing.

    So is the update responsible for this problem? 

  • by CWSites,

    CWSites CWSites Aug 13, 2014 6:18 PM in response to PJ09
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 13, 2014 6:18 PM in response to PJ09

    Is there a fix yet? This really blows to have a top of the line iMac that's less than 6 months old running this sluggish.

  • by Jim Muirhead,

    Jim Muirhead Jim Muirhead Aug 14, 2014 7:23 AM in response to CWSites
    Level 1 (25 points)
    Aug 14, 2014 7:23 AM in response to CWSites

    I rebuilt the Preferences folder as suggested in a previous post and saw a brief improvement. Then I reset PRAM and also reset the System Management Controller. Now my machine is purring like a kitten. And the infamous "kernel_task" has NEVER reappeared in Activity Monitor.

  • by cac613,

    cac613 cac613 Aug 14, 2014 10:35 AM in response to EvilRaat
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 14, 2014 10:35 AM in response to EvilRaat

    I've been reading every online forum about this for a couple months now, and I think the answer is that Mavericks is just very temperamental and I think that there's no one solution. I've been systematically and carefully clearing out old prefs and ext, and (I'm embarrassed to admit this) I have migrated from mac to mac from a G3 to a G4 to my last iMac to the current iMac that I bought in March. I am also embarrassed to admit this, but I found a SCSI driver in my system folder. Obviously, I removed it. And YES I should have done a clean install. I know. However, I always end up having to buy a new Mac under duress when I'm on a deadline, and I always TELL MYSELF I'll go back and wipe and do a complete clean install LATER and later never comes. That's how I ended up with a SCSI driver causing me kernel panics in 2014.

     

    That said, my last iMac was a complete POS that I bought cheap from a friend when my G4 bit the dust and it was supposed to be a lot more temporary than it became. I made the choice to get a new macbook before a new desktop, and then I was holding out for a Mac Pro, but I couldn't stand it anymore. I was running Snow Leopard and it had no ram and a hard drive the size of a pea, and I was running Creative Suite on it. BUT I wasn't getting kernel panics, even with that same SCSI driving lurking around.

     

    I think Mavericks is just very temperamental, and it needs a clean install of everything at the time of the OS upgrade. Everyone who solves this problem seems to have a solution specific to their own Mac that always seems to  involve outdated prefs, ext, or drivers from outdated peripherals (Palm Pilots and SCSI devices) or software and former OS. I also pulled a bunch of CS3 and CS4 prefs, and I don't know why they were left behind each time I updated my CS package. When I have time after this current deadline, I'm just gonna back up all my files, wipe my hard drive, and do a clean install of everything. And this time, I'm REALLY going to do it.

  • by PJ09,

    PJ09 PJ09 Aug 14, 2014 1:52 PM in response to cac613
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 14, 2014 1:52 PM in response to cac613

    Just to let you know cad613, for reasons of my own, I decided to clean and reinstall on my MBP.  It didn't change anything.  Initially there was no kernel_task, but as I worked with my Mac to download a few apps it popped up. What is interesting is that there appears to be a lag in resetting the memory.  I was doing an online photography course that included using Lightroom 5.  On several occasions the instructor noted that his computer was lagging just like mine started to do as of late.  This was about 2 weeks ago around the time of the upgrade.  I would suspect that we have pinned this as the problem, but it would appear it may not be.  Lightroom can be a very intensive app, but my mac would reset itself as it got low in memory but now it doesn't.  I need to have an app that will manually clear memory.  Do I think that it is Mavericks, yes, but whatever it is seems to be a mystery. 

    I did the clean and reinstall for the same reason that you stated. When I got the MBP I just did a backup transferred from my last MacBook and there were definitely remnants of stuff that were annoying and did not run properly.  Rather then try to find all the crap that comes alone with the apps. which would have consumed copious amounts of time, I just cleaned.  But it comes along with other tasks like reinstalling important software. 

    Sometimes I feel like I am working with the 'other OS'.  Just one good thing is that if there is a problem, I am sure it will be found.   

  • by CWSites,

    CWSites CWSites Aug 14, 2014 3:58 PM in response to PJ09
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 14, 2014 3:58 PM in response to PJ09

    I can pretty much guarantee that it's not due to moving from an old mac to a new one. I bought a brand new iMac in April and didn't bring anything over from an old machine. Right now it's running around 1.15GB after doing a fresh restart. Something isn't right...Apple needs to step in and address this.

  • by CWSites,

    CWSites CWSites Aug 14, 2014 4:11 PM in response to CWSites
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 14, 2014 4:11 PM in response to CWSites

    Article on CNet explaining it a little better... http://www.cnet.com/news/kerneltask-taking-up-ram-in-os-x/

  • by cac613,

    cac613 cac613 Aug 14, 2014 4:18 PM in response to CWSites
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 14, 2014 4:18 PM in response to CWSites

    That actually makes me feel a little better, although I'm sorry the problem isn't solved. I was a little sheepish about admitting that I had carried a SCSI driver across two decades, but I thought for sure that the transfer of old stuff was the problem, but now at least I know I'm still screwed even if I do a complete wipe and reinstall of everything.

     

    Yes, Apple needs to figure this one out, because it is very annoying.

     

    CWSites, thank you for the link.

  • by DrDominodog51,

    DrDominodog51 DrDominodog51 Aug 14, 2014 4:39 PM in response to CWSites
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Aug 14, 2014 4:39 PM in response to CWSites

    Try modifying the spotlight settings: Kernel_Task is taking only 430 MB for me.

    Screen Shot 2014-08-14 at 4.36.36 PM.png

  • by boecko,

    boecko boecko Aug 26, 2014 5:28 AM in response to EvilRaat
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 26, 2014 5:28 AM in response to EvilRaat

    Hi,

     

    my kernel_task on a MBP2010 (8GB) was high, too.  About 3 GB.

    kextstat -kl | awk '{printf "%i %i %s %s\n", $4 / 1024, $5 / 1024, $6, $7}' | sort -n

    showed no weird memory suckups .

     

    So I restarted Finder and kernel_task deflated from 3GB to 1.4GB.

     

    I suspect, that Finder had problems with different network shares.

     

    So, before you're doing a reboot, try restarting "Finder"

     

    cheers

     

    Andy

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