Q: RAM leak on MacBook Pro
Using Memory Clean, I watch my RAM go from about 13 GB to 13 MB. I have 150 GB of disk space and am running a MacBook Pro that is about two years old. Processor speed is 2.3 GHz Intel Core i7. I am using the current version of Mavericks.
Sometimes, I can go hours or even a full day without this happening. The RAM fluctuates according to the applications I'm using like normal.
But sometimes the RAM will just drop at a rate of about 0.20 GB every two seconds or so until it reaches just about zero. At that point, my computer performance drops and everything is slow. I have had this right after a boot even. It can take a minute or two to read an e-mail.
I have tried replacing the 16GB with the original Apple memory, but that did not help (so I am back on my 16GB of RAM). I have also used Onyx and ClamXav to try to find problems. I have reinstalled Mavericks twice.
I have also reset the PRAM and SMC (which I have to do every couple of months because of other problems). I also have the issue that the login screen _sometimes_ doesn't like to come up, particularly with the external monitor attached, but like everything else, it seems to be random.
I have been working with Apple support for about three weeks, but the person I'm working with seems to be as frustrated with my issue as I am. I have repaired the disk and sent all kinds of logs to Apple. Hours and hours and hours of time sent doing this and all kinds of tests.
Now, I have created a new partition, with the idea being that I will add software programs one at a time until the problem occurs. What frustrates me is that I never know when the problem will occur, so there is no guarantee that it will happen. And the Apple support person seems to think I can stop working and dedicate myself to this other partition. Instead, I have to try running software when I go to bed and hope to see the problem in the morning.
The problem definitely seems to happen more frequently with Parallels running, but that alone does not determine whether the problem occurs. One day, it occurred with just iPhoto running and one day with nothing. In my login, there are one or two programs, but as I said, turning those on/off does not trigger the problem.
Can anyone suggest anything else and save me and my support person?
MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9.4)
Posted on Sep 15, 2014 11:53 PM