Serious Issue: I keep running out of RAM!

Question

Level 1

32 points

Serious Issue: I keep running out of RAM!

Hey guys, it feels like my Mac Mini with 8GB of RAM is constantly running low on RAM.

I've done everything I can: I've closed apps I'm not using and run the 'sudo purge' command in Terminal multiple times.

'Kernel_Task' is currently using 3.26GB of 'Real Mem' in 'Activity Monitor'! How can I make this use less RAM?

I thought about wiping the Mac Mini HDD and installing a clean install of Mavericks, but that'd take too much time to get my Mac to how I like it.

Will the new release of Yosemite help me?

Posted on Jun 11, 2014 10:06 AM

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Answer 1

LD150

Level 10

89,715 points

Jun 11, 2014 10:16 AM in response to NewbMacUser

What makes you thonk that? Mavericks is designed to use all RAM. 8GB used is great. Unless the memory pressure shows amber or red you are fine.

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Answer 2

Drew Reece

Level 6

10,660 points

Jun 11, 2014 11:24 AM in response to NewbMacUser

There has been a lot of changes to how RAM is handled in OS X try reading up on it and see if it fits with your experience

http://www.cnet.com/uk/news/activity-monitor-in-os-x-mavericks-brings-significan t-changes/

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2013/10/os-x-10-9/17/#compressed-memory

If you have no 'Swap Used' you may not have RAM issues at all. You should think about what you are actually experiencing & try describing that, it's too easy to assume the reason is X for any issues you have.

kernel_task is the the process that communicates from the hardware to the upper levels of the OS. It is 'process 0', if it is a problem it can be due to hardware or software, but your description seems normal at the moment.

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Answer 3

NewbMacUser Author

Level 1

32 points

Jun 11, 2014 11:16 PM in response to LD150

Well, that's the problem. My RAM indicator keeps is always red and I'm always low on RAM. I just rebooted and I have some more RAM available now, but I'd like to free up more RAM.

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Answer 4

Drew Reece

Level 6

10,660 points

Jun 12, 2014 12:01 AM in response to NewbMacUser

When you say 'it would take too much time to restore to how you like it' is that because you have a lot of apps or tweaks installed? Is your RAM indicator one of these apps or are you using Activity Monitor to view it?

RAM should not be swapping all the time, either you have some hardware issue or software is leaking RAM at an alarming rate.

It begs the questions what hardware is connected? What software are you running?

http://etrecheck.com/etrecheck will show you a report of the installed software background jobs etc - it will help show what is going on if you post it here.

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Answer 5

tbirdvet

Level 6

13,617 points

Jun 12, 2014 6:53 AM in response to NewbMacUser

Your kernal_task should not be using this much(3.2GB) of Ram. Mine peaks at just over 1GB.

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Answer 6

CT

Level 7

23,987 points

Jun 12, 2014 7:07 AM in response to NewbMacUser

One common cause of this: incompatible third party software. You could give us a profile of your system by running Etresoft: EtreCheck and pasting the output here. Someone might be able spot a culprit.

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Answer 7

LD150

Level 10

89,715 points

Jun 12, 2014 7:43 AM in response to CT

We have been waiting 7 hours for that!

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Answer 8

NewbMacUser Author

Level 1

32 points

Jun 13, 2014 9:25 AM in response to LD150

Here's the report:

Hardware Information:

Mac mini (Mid 2011)

Mac mini - model: Macmini5,1

1 2.3 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 2 cores

8 GB RAM

Video Information:

Intel HD Graphics 3000 - VRAM: 512 MB

System Software:

OS X 10.9.2 (13C1021) - Uptime: 5 days 1:49:12

Disk Information:

Hitachi HTS545050B9A302 disk0 : (500.11 GB)

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB

Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / [Startup]: 499.25 GB (117.71 GB free)

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

USB Information:

Sennheiser Communications Sennheiser USB headset

Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

SIGMACHIP Usb Mouse

Logitech USB Keyboard

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Thunderbolt Information:

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

Gatekeeper:

Mac App Store and identified developers

Kernel Extensions:

[kext loaded] at.obdev.nke.LittleSnitch (4052 - SDK 10.8) Support

[not loaded] com.Logitech.Control Center.HID Driver (3.5.1 - SDK 10.0) Support

[not loaded] com.Logitech.Unifying.HID Driver (1.2.0 - SDK 10.0) Support

[kext loaded] com.anchorfree.tun (1.1.1 - SDK 10.8) Support

[kext loaded] com.logmein.driver.LogMeInSoundDriver (1.0.0) Support

[kext loaded] com.netralia.driver.VBMicDriver (1.0.0 - SDK 10.7) Support

[kext loaded] com.netralia.driver.VBSpeakerDriver (1.0.0 - SDK 10.7) Support

[not loaded] com.sony.driver.prs2 (1.0.3d1) Support

Problem System Launch Daemons:

[failed] com.apple.installd.plist

[failed] com.apple.wdhelper.plist

Problem System Launch Agents:

[failed] com.paragon-software.NTFS.SparkleUpdate.plist Support

[running] com.paragon.NTFS.notify.plist Support

Launch Daemons:

[running] at.obdev.littlesnitchd.plist Support

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist Support

[loaded] com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist Support

[running] com.anchorfree.ajaxserver.plist Support

[not loaded] com.logmein.logmeinserver.plist Support

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

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

[loaded] com.oracle.java.JavaUpdateHelper.plist Support

[not loaded] com.teamviewer.teamviewer_service.plist Support

Launch Agents:

[running] at.obdev.LittleSnitchUIAgent.plist Support

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

[running] com.Logitech.Control Center.Daemon.plist Support

[running] com.logmein.logmeingui.plist Support

[not loaded] com.logmein.logmeinguiagent.plist Support

[not loaded] com.logmein.logmeinguiagentatlogin.plist Support

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

[running] com.rosettastone.rosettastonedaemon.plist Support

[not loaded] com.sony.ReaderDesktop.RunReaderDesktop.plist Support

[not loaded] com.teamviewer.teamviewer.plist Support

[not loaded] com.teamviewer.teamviewer_desktop.plist Support

User Launch Agents:

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

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

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

[loaded] com.valvesoftware.steamclean.plist Support

User Login Items:

iTunesHelper

AdobeResourceSynchronizer

VLCStreamer

Dropbox

Evernote

Little Snitch Configuration

System Preferences

Activity Monitor

Preview

TextEdit

Google Drive

readerAppHelper

AirPlayitServerManager

Internet Plug-ins:

nplastpass: Version: 2.0.25 Support

LogMeInSafari64: Version: 1.0.660 Support

Default Browser: Version: 537 - SDK 10.9

Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: Version: 3.2.0.16 - SDK 10.8 Support

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: Version: 11.0.06 - SDK 10.6 Support

FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 13.0.0.201 - SDK 10.6 Support

LogMeIn: Version: 1.0.660 Support

Silverlight: Version: 4.1.10329.0 Support

Flash Player: Version: 13.0.0.201 - SDK 10.6 Outdated!Update

LogMeInSafari32: Version: 1.0.660 Support

QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.1.0 Support

AdobePDFViewer: Version: 11.0.06 - SDK 10.6 Support

JavaAppletPlugin: Version: Java 7 Update 51 Check version

Safari Extensions:

LastPass: Version: 3.1.17

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:

Picasa: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.4 Support

3rd Party Preference Panes:

Flash Player Support

Flip4Mac WMV Support

Java Support

Logitech Control Center Support

Paragon NTFS for Mac ® OS X Support

Time Machine:

Skip System Files: NO

Mobile backups: OFF

Auto backup: YES

Volumes being backed up:

Macintosh HD: Disk size: 464.96 GB Disk used: 355.34 GB

Destinations:

TM [Local] (Last used)

Total size: 930.90 GB

Total number of backups: 24

Oldest backup: 2013-11-09 09:34:43 +0000

Last backup: 2014-04-27 10:34:53 +0000

Size of backup disk: Too small

Backup size 930.90 GB < (Disk used 355.34 GB X 3)

Time Machine details may not be accurate.

All volumes being backed up may not be listed.

Top Processes by CPU:

56% Evernote

10% WindowServer

7% Finder

4% MPlayerX

3% sysmond

Top Processes by Memory:

262 MB Finder

172 MB soffice

139 MB Evernote

98 MB WindowServer

90 MB mds_stores

Virtual Memory Information:

506 MB Free RAM

1.89 GB Active RAM

1.70 GB Inactive RAM

1.55 GB Wired RAM

11.53 GB Page-ins

1.74 GB Page-outs

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Answer 9

Eric Root

Level 10

684,027 points

Jun 13, 2014 1:20 PM in response to NewbMacUser

Try quitting Evernote and remove it from your log-in items.

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Answer 10

Jun 13, 2014 1:30 PM in response to NewbMacUser

Evernote is running high on CPU as well.

You can keep the Activity Monitor in Applications/Utilities open so you can montior CPU usage. When an app is hogging CPU, quit the app then restart.

Quit your browsers every day.

Restart your computer at least once a week.

This will clear cache files and free up memory.

Don't leave dozens of applications running if you are not actively using them. Look at your Login Items. Are you actively using all the applications you have selected to open at login?

Try disabling Google drive. If you actively use, make sure it's fully updated. There were problems with Google Drive and Mavericks that were supposedly later fixed in an update.

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Answer 11

Drew Reece

Level 6

10,660 points

Jun 13, 2014 2:12 PM in response to NewbMacUser

You are running 10.9.2 - it's time to update to 10.9.3. Install any other updates too.

You seem convinced that kernel_task was an issue. Take a look at all those kernel extensions, are they up to date?

Are they from applications that are supported on 10.9? http://roaringapps.com will show compatibility info for most apps.

kernel_task is where the hardware communicates with the software at the lowest level of the OS (process id 0). It can also show problems caused by external (or internal) hardware, so remove some of the USB devices & see if it gets better. If it does improve look at what software runs with that hardware.

NewbMacUser wrote:

Kernel Extensions:

[kext loaded] at.obdev.nke.LittleSnitch (4052 - SDK 10.8) Support

[not loaded] com.Logitech.Control Center.HID Driver (3.5.1 - SDK 10.0) Support

[not loaded] com.Logitech.Unifying.HID Driver (1.2.0 - SDK 10.0) Support

[kext loaded] com.anchorfree.tun (1.1.1 - SDK 10.8) Support

[kext loaded] com.logmein.driver.LogMeInSoundDriver (1.0.0) Support

[kext loaded] com.netralia.driver.VBMicDriver (1.0.0 - SDK 10.7) Support

[kext loaded] com.netralia.driver.VBSpeakerDriver (1.0.0 - SDK 10.7) Support

[not loaded] com.sony.driver.prs2 (1.0.3d1) Support

Is Logitech Control Center up to date? The kernel extension version seems old to me, assuming this is the correct software…

http://www.logitech.com/en-gb/support/3129?section=downloads&bit=&osid=35

Update or remove logmein if you don't use it, the same with Sony's and Netralia's software. Do you know what com.anchorfree.tun is for ?

NewbMacUser wrote:

Problem System Launch Daemons:

[failed] com.apple.installd.plist

[failed] com.apple.wdhelper.plist

Problem System Launch Agents:

[failed] com.paragon-software.NTFS.SparkleUpdate.plist Support

[running] com.paragon.NTFS.notify.plist Support

Launch Daemons:

[running] at.obdev.littlesnitchd.plist Support

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist Support

[loaded] com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist Support

[running] com.anchorfree.ajaxserver.plist Support

[not loaded] com.logmein.logmeinserver.plist Support

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

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

[loaded] com.oracle.java.JavaUpdateHelper.plist Support

[not loaded] com.teamviewer.teamviewer_service.plist Support

Launch Agents:

[running] at.obdev.LittleSnitchUIAgent.plist Support

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

[running] com.Logitech.Control Center.Daemon.plist Support

[running] com.logmein.logmeingui.plist Support

[not loaded] com.logmein.logmeinguiagent.plist Support

[not loaded] com.logmein.logmeinguiagentatlogin.plist Support

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

[running] com.rosettastone.rosettastonedaemon.plist Support

[not loaded] com.sony.ReaderDesktop.RunReaderDesktop.plist Support

[not loaded] com.teamviewer.teamviewer.plist Support

[not loaded] com.teamviewer.teamviewer_desktop.plist Support

The failed jobs may be able to work if the OS is rebooted & runs without other software interacting.

Leave the Apple jobs alone (com.apple....), just check they don't still fail after you update or remove software.

com.apple.wdhelper is for wireless diagnostics - it could explain some wifi issues?

Java is failing to run it's updater - is Java itself that up to date? Uninstall it if you don't use it.

Paragon have a failed 'system' launch agent and another running one - Paragon should not be installing into the 'system launch agents'! That location is intended to be for OS X only jobs.

Ensure it is up to date or remove it.

Do you need teamviewer & logmein? Again update or remove.

Do you need all those items running on login? Try creating a new user account, reboot & login as that user. If it doesn't show your issues you know all those login items are a problem. Remove what you don't need all the time.

They are managed in System Preferences > Users & groups.

You have quite a few internet plugins - do you need them, is Safari slow? Consider removing some items from… /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/ and ~/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/

Use the Finders Go menu (hold alt) and select 'Library' to view the hidden ~/Library for your user account.

Note:

When I say remove above I mean you should look for an uninstaller for the software in question - sometimes it's with the download, sometimes the developer has instructions, sometimes you just have to search for recent instructions. This site may have instructions too (or ask for help).

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Answer 12

NewbMacUser Author

Level 1

32 points

Jun 13, 2014 10:10 PM in response to Drew Reece

Okay this is a more updated log:

Hardware Information:

Mac mini - model: Macmini5,1

1 2.3 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 2 cores

8 GB RAM

Video Information:

Intel HD Graphics 3000 - VRAM: 512 MB

System Software:

OS X 10.9.3 (13D65) - Uptime: 2 days 0:58:21

Disk Information:

Hitachi HTS545050B9A302 disk0 : (500.11 GB)

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB

Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / [Startup]: 499.25 GB (100.63 GB free)

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

USB Information:

SMI Corporation USB DISK 1 GB

Logitech USB Keyboard

Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Sennheiser Communications Sennheiser USB headset

SIGMACHIP Usb Mouse

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Thunderbolt Information:

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

Gatekeeper:

Mac App Store and identified developers

Kernel Extensions:

[kext loaded] at.obdev.nke.LittleSnitch (4092 - SDK 10.8) Support

[not loaded] com.Logitech.Control Center.HID Driver (3.5.1 - SDK 10.0) Support

[not loaded] com.Logitech.Unifying.HID Driver (1.2.0 - SDK 10.0) Support

[kext loaded] com.anchorfree.tun (1.1.1 - SDK 10.8) Support

[kext loaded] com.netralia.driver.VBMicDriver (1.0.0 - SDK 10.7) Support

[kext loaded] com.netralia.driver.VBSpeakerDriver (1.0.0 - SDK 10.7) Support

[not loaded] com.sony.driver.prs2 (1.0.3d1) Support

Problem System Launch Agents:

[failed] com.paragon-software.NTFS.SparkleUpdate.plist Support

[running] com.paragon.NTFS.notify.plist Support

Launch Daemons:

[running] at.obdev.littlesnitchd.plist Support

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist Support

[loaded] com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist Support

[running] com.anchorfree.ajaxserver.plist Support

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

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

[loaded] com.oracle.java.JavaUpdateHelper.plist Support

[not loaded] com.teamviewer.teamviewer_service.plist Support

Launch Agents:

[running] at.obdev.LittleSnitchUIAgent.plist Support

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

[running] com.Logitech.Control Center.Daemon.plist Support

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

[running] com.rosettastone.rosettastonedaemon.plist Support

[not loaded] com.sony.ReaderDesktop.RunReaderDesktop.plist Support

[not loaded] com.teamviewer.teamviewer.plist Support

[not loaded] com.teamviewer.teamviewer_desktop.plist Support

User Launch Agents:

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

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

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

[loaded] com.valvesoftware.steamclean.plist Support

User Login Items:

iTunesHelper

AdobeResourceSynchronizer

VLCStreamer

Dropbox

Evernote

Little Snitch Configuration

System Preferences

Activity Monitor

Preview

TextEdit

readerAppHelper

AirPlayitServerManager

Internet Plug-ins:

nplastpass: Version: 2.0.25 Support

LogMeInSafari64: Version: 1.0.660 Support

Default Browser: Version: 537 - SDK 10.9

Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: Version: 3.2.0.16 - SDK 10.8 Support

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: Version: 11.0.07 - SDK 10.6 Support

FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 13.0.0.214 - SDK 10.6 Support

LogMeIn: Version: 1.0.660 Support

Silverlight: Version: 4.1.10329.0 Support

Flash Player: Version: 13.0.0.214 - SDK 10.6 Cannot contact Adobe

LogMeInSafari32: Version: 1.0.660 Support

QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.1.0 Support

AdobePDFViewer: Version: 11.0.07 - SDK 10.6 Support

JavaAppletPlugin: Version: Java 7 Update 51 Check version

Safari Extensions:

LastPass: Version: 3.1.31

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:

Picasa: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.4 Support

3rd Party Preference Panes:

Flash Player Support

Flip4Mac WMV Support

Java Support

Logitech Control Center Support

Paragon NTFS for Mac ® OS X Support

Time Machine:

Skip System Files: NO

Mobile backups: OFF

Auto backup: YES

Volumes being backed up:

Macintosh HD: Disk size: 464.96 GB Disk used: 371.24 GB

Destinations:

TM [Local] (Last used)

Total size: 930.90 GB

Total number of backups: 27

Oldest backup: 2013-11-09 09:34:43 +0000

Last backup: 2014-06-09 14:25:41 +0000

Size of backup disk: Too small

Backup size 930.90 GB < (Disk used 371.24 GB X 3)

Time Machine details may not be accurate.

All volumes being backed up may not be listed.

Top Processes by CPU:

41% firefox

30% WindowServer

15% Skype

5% Finder

4% sysmond

Top Processes by Memory:

1.01 GB Finder

945 MB firefox

680 MB WindowServer

369 MB Evernote

270 MB plugin-container

Virtual Memory Information:

311 MB Free RAM

2.98 GB Active RAM

2.60 GB Inactive RAM

1.46 GB Wired RAM

3.65 GB Page-ins

129 MB Page-outs

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Answer 13

tbirdvet

Level 6

13,617 points

Jun 14, 2014 6:08 AM in response to NewbMacUser

Still looks like too many login items. You still have pageouts. What happens if you remove some of those auto login items from your login menu under your account(i.e. littlesnitch, evernote, etc.)? I bet that will speed things up.

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Answer 14

NewbMacUser Author

Level 1

32 points

Jun 14, 2014 7:14 AM in response to tbirdvet

I just want to have access to more of my RAM. I need to have Evernote and Littlesnitch open.

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Answer 15

Drew Reece

Level 6

10,660 points

Jun 14, 2014 9:52 AM in response to NewbMacUser

OK we can see what you haven't removed, do you want to describe what you have done so that we can say if it archived your aim?

It looks like you got rid of LogMeIn, updated Flash, Reader, Lastpast and added 17GB of data to the disk, anything else I missed?

What else did you try to do?

Did you look for updates for any of those items in the kernel extensions?

Did you look at the Logitech installer? Was that correct? Did you install it? Can we assume that is up to date now?

If you only communicate via Etrecheck reports this will be a very slow process. Please give us a clue about what you have done, is the Mac any better without Log me in?

You still have quite a few items that could be causing issues, update or remove them one by one.

Once again if you want to free RAM from the kernel_task start by updating or removing these kernel extensions.

If you are not sure what to do please explain what we can do to help.

P.S.

Have you read the 10.9 RAM usage explanations linked above? It is handled very differently on 10.9 - you will have difficulty making a Mac run with lots of free RAM on 10.9 it uses all RAM to make the machine faster for you.

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