Kernel Panic

Took me a while to figure out what a "batter" icon was. I thought it was cake batter, or pancake batter.

Battery! Yes!

Try this:

1. shut down your Mac
2. reboot in recovery mode: restart and hold down command R until you see the Apple logo.
3. if you can boot up that way, use Disk Utility to repair you hard drive. Repair permissions too while you're there
4. try that much and then report back and we'll keep working on it.

When you say a "weird code" do you mean an icon with a set of numbers with it?

If so, that is a hardware problem.

If it is this: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS4636

Then try booting while holding down the Shift Key.

To reset NVRAM, it is not the control key but the Option (alt) key. Hold down cmd-opt-p-r on restart.

Hey Arthur,

I was wondering if you could help me fix my problem... kernal_task is using a lot of memory and my computer gets very hot within a short time of turning it on. I ran etrecheck and this was the outcome. Please let me know if you see anything I can fix?

EtreCheck version: 1.9.11 (43) - report generated June 4, 2014 at 9:53:54 AM EDT

Hardware Information:

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2009)

MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro5,3

1 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU: 2 cores

4 GB RAM

Video Information:

NVIDIA GeForce 9400M - VRAM: 256 MB

NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT - VRAM: 512 MB

System Software:

OS X 10.9.3 (13D65) - Uptime: 0 days 0:20:50

Disk Information:

TOSHIBA MK5055GSXF disk0 : (500.11 GB)

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB

My Mac (disk0s2) / [Startup]: 499.25 GB (383.39 GB free)

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

MATSHITADVD-R UJ-868

USB Information:

Apple Inc. Built-in iSight

Apple Internal Memory Card Reader

Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Gatekeeper:

Mac App Store and identified developers

Kernel Extensions:

[not loaded] com.novatelwireless.driver.3G (2.1) Support

[not loaded] com.novatelwireless.driver.3GData (2.1) Support

[not loaded] com.novatelwireless.driver.DisableAutoInstall (1.0.1) Support

[not loaded] com.sierrawireless.driver.SierraSupport (1.4.0) Support

[not loaded] com.sierrawireless.driver.SierraSupportKicker (1.4.0) Support

[not loaded] com.smithmicro.driver.SMSIWirelessCDC (3.2.6) Support

[not loaded] com.smithmicro.driver.SMSIWirelessModem (3.2.6) Support

[not loaded] com.smithmicro.driver.SMSIWirelessSerial (3.2.6) Support

[not loaded] net.pocketmac.driver.BlackberryUSB (3.0.12) Support

[not loaded] net.pocketmac.driver.BlackberryUSBDev (3.0.12) Support

Startup Items:

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

Launch Daemons:

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist Support

[loaded] com.adobe.versioncueCS3.plist Support

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

Launch Agents:

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

[running] com.adobe.AdobeCreativeCloud.plist Support

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

User Launch Agents:

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

[failed] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist Support

[loaded] com.facebook.videochat.[redacted].plist Support

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

User Login Items:

Dropbox

AdobeResourceSynchronizer

Internet Plug-ins:

DirectorShockwave: Version: 11.5.6r606 Support

Default Browser: Version: 537 - SDK 10.9

AmazonMP3DownloaderPlugin101750: Version: AmazonMP3DownloaderPlugin 1.0.17 - SDK 10.4 Support

OfficeLiveBrowserPlugin: Version: 12.3.6 Support

CouponPrinter-FireFox: Version: Version 1.1.5

AdobeAAMDetect: Version: AdobeAAMDetect 2.0.0.0 - SDK 10.7 Support

FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 13.0.0.214 - SDK 10.6 Support

Silverlight: Version: 5.1.30317.0 - SDK 10.6 Support

Flash Player: Version: 13.0.0.214 - SDK 10.6 Support

AmazonMP3DownloaderPlugin: Version: AmazonMP3DownloaderPlugin 1.0.17 - SDK 10.4 Support

iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0

QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

AdobePDFViewer: Version: 8.0.0 Support

Scorch: Version: 6.1.0 Support

JavaAppletPlugin: Version: Java 7 Update 51 Check version

Audio Plug-ins:

BluetoothAudioPlugIn: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.9

AirPlay: Version: 2.0 - SDK 10.9

AppleAVBAudio: Version: 203.2 - SDK 10.9

iSightAudio: Version: 7.7.3 - SDK 10.9

iTunes Plug-ins:

Quartz Composer Visualizer: Version: 1.4 - SDK 10.9

User Internet Plug-ins:

fbplugin_1_0_0: Version: (null) Support

fbplugin_1_0_3: Version: (null) Support

BrowserPlus_2.9.8: Version: 2.9.8 Support

fbplugin_1_0_1: Version: (null) Support

Google Earth Web Plug-in: Version: 7.1 Support

3rd Party Preference Panes:

Adobe Version Cue CS3 Support

BrowserPlus Support

Flash Player Support

Java Support

Time Machine:

Skip System Files: NO

Auto backup: YES

Volumes being backed up:

My Mac: Disk size: 464.96 GB Disk used: 107.90 GB

Destinations:

Backup [Local] (Last used)

Total size: 558.92 GB

Total number of backups: 20

Oldest backup: 2013-09-17 03:00:49 +0000

Last backup: 2014-05-12 23:09:00 +0000

Size of backup disk: Adequate

Backup size 558.92 GB > (Disk used 107.90 GB X 3)

Time Machine details may not be accurate.

All volumes being backed up may not be listed.

Top Processes by CPU:

3% WindowServer

0% Creative Cloud

0% sysmond

0% fontd

0% Activity Monitor

Top Processes by Memory:

434 MB firefox

172 MB mds_stores

139 MB com.apple.IconServicesAgent

86 MB Finder

78 MB Dropbox

Virtual Memory Information:

1.17 GB Free RAM

1.58 GB Active RAM

493 MB Inactive RAM

527 MB Wired RAM

584 MB Page-ins

0 B Page-outs

A few suggestions:

1. make a backup first before you try any of this.
2. If you can figure out (with Activity Monitor) what the process is that is running away with memory, if it's from third party software that you can live without, uninstall it.
3. If the process is part of OSX, rather than third-party software, you can try
   1. Booting into your recovery partition (restart, hold down ⌘R until you see the Apple logo), and use Disk Utility to repair your hard drive. Repair permissions too while you're there. OS X: About OS X Recovery

   2. if that doesn't work, reinstall Mavericks over your current installation with the combo updater OS X Mavericks 10.9.3 Update (Combo)

4. I’d get more RAM. I know the specs say 2 GB, but 4 seems to be a minimum amount for Mavericks, and you may need more than the minimum. RAM is pretty cheap and you can never have too much.
5. If you are not using any of the apps that correspond to the kernel extensions I’d get rid of them. They weren't loaded when you ran Etrecheck so they shouldn't have contributed to any symptoms you were experiencing then, but I'd get rid of them if possible. Are you still using your Blackberry?
6. I’d get rid of
   1. the HP IO- Apple deprecated Startup Items back in 10.7. With printers I try to only install the driver and not any apps that come with it.
   2. the Adobe software if you can live without it
   3. the google keystone agent. See HOWTO: Remove Google Software Update on Mac OS X - Raam Dev
   4. You have a lot of internet plugins. I’d try to get rid of as many as you can.
   5. There are three versions of fbplugin, which can’t be good
7. try using Safari instead of Firefox. I try to stick with the apps bundled with OSX if I can, they usually work better.
8. The other option, which may be simpler, and very effective, is to do a clean install:
   1. back up your documents
   2. reformat (erase) your HD
   3. do a clean install of Mavericks (from scratch)
   4. install only the apps you absolutely need, from scratch, not from migration or backups
   5. reinstall your documents.