Kernel Task using over 21GB

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Level 1

30 points

Kernel Task using over 21GB

So since I installed Mavericks on my i7 27' 2011 32gb iMac FCPX has been unusable. Every small edit is followed by a spining beachball.

The acitivity monitor shows over 21gb being used by Kernel Task.

I spoke to Pro Apps support and together we re-installed FCPX then we re-installed Mavericks, then we wiped the HDD and did a clean install then we sent my machine to get a new graphics card under the graphic card replacement program.

Still I have the same issue. Basically the machine has a new install of Mavericks, FCPX 10.1 Motion 5.1 and Compressor 4.1 installed, nothing else. (now it has little snitch and dropbox but it was doing this before they were installed)

In the activity monitor, I watch the FCPX application memory rise and rise until it uses up ALL the available memory (during this time the Kernel Task is around 1.2gb) and then as soon as all the available memory is used up by FCPX, Kernel Task rises to 17gb or more and FCPX drops to around 5gb.

It continues until I get "out of application memory"

The footage i'm editing is from a canon dslr with basic effects, transitions and colour.

The HDD is empty (I've tried editing from the HDD and my G-raid firewire 800 and it's the same)

Any thoughts?

Posted on Jan 7, 2014 4:44 PM

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Answer 1

bill33

Level 1

48 points

Feb 26, 2014 10:31 PM in response to DAJJM

@DAJJM,

I've got the same problem. Exactly. I cant pinpoint what I've changed since yesterday in trying to identify the culprit.

Have you founf any solutions?

Please help...

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Answer 2

Nov 10, 2014 5:27 PM in response to bill33

Wondering if you/anyone made any headway on this question. Kernel task is currently using 1.26GB of real memory, nearly 14GB of virtual memory. Trying to playback a clip with a heavy filter is torture -- maybe .5 FPS or some such. If, however, I logout of my usual account & log into a secondary, stripped down account, kernel task is not evident, and the same clip plays back at normal FPS. Have yet to be able to determine what triggers the 'kernel_task' -- have you had any luck?

mid 2010 MacPro, 2 x 2.4 GHz Quad-Core, 24GB memory, ATI Radeon HD 5870 1024 MB, OSX 10.10

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Answer 3

DAJJM Author

Level 1

30 points

Nov 10, 2014 5:55 PM in response to longstrider

Hey longstrider, yes it was fixed in the latest version of FCPX. Have you done s software update recently?

Apple were were very helpful and worked with me until they fixed the issue.

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Answer 4

Nov 11, 2014 1:06 PM in response to DAJJM

Hey hi -- yep I am current with both Yosemite and FCP-X (10.1.3), so I am good there. It would appear that the kernel_task is set off by something loading under my usual account. As I noted, when I log in to the computer via another account, the kernel_task is not running. The memory it usually devours is free. So, I'm jst casting about for any suspects. If memory serves, way back in the pre-X days, there was an extensions folder that loaded when you booted. If the system started acting wacky, you could remove half the extensions to a temp folder, boot, repeat, boot, repeat etc until you narrowed things down to the one extension that was mucking things up. I'm not aware of any similar protocol in OSX. I may pose the qeustion over in another forum.

Anyway, thanks for the tip.

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