RAM leak on MacBook Pro

Question

Level 1

0 points

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

Reply

Answer 1

PavaT Author

Level 1

0 points

Sep 15, 2014 11:58 PM in response to PavaT

I forgot to mention: the support person and I have looked at the activity monitor many times. Even when the memory is falling, there is nothing that is unusually large or hoggish.

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Answer 2

Esquared

Level 6

12,415 points

Sep 16, 2014 12:52 AM in response to PavaT

Under Mavericks it is quite normal for the system to put as much RAM into use as possible: my rMBP now uses 7.98 out of 8 GB. However: this shouldn't have any impact on performance (on the contrary).

So, in your case there must be something else going on. To give us an idea of what is running on your MBP, post an EtreCheck report: http://www.etresoft.com/etrecheck

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Answer 3

MadMacs0

Level 5

5,233 points

Sep 16, 2014 12:55 AM in response to PavaT

PavaT wrote:

Using Memory Clean, I watch my RAM go from about 13 GB to 13 MB.

I certainly see that you do have some sort of problem here, but Memory Clean was never designed to work with Mavericks new Memory Management system which strives to keep RAM as full a possible to avoid having to constantly access the hard drive. I know they say they have made it Mavericks compatible, but it still shouldn't be used except perhaps if you find it necessary to disable compression.

I'm sure if you have been talking to AppleCare they have told you to keep your eye on the graph at the bottom labeled MEMORY PRESSURE. If it is red most of the time, then compression can't keep up. OS X Mavericks: About Activity Monitor.

Sorry, I don't have any further ideas here. Just don't want Memory Clean to mask the situation.

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Answer 4

PavaT Author

Level 1

0 points

Sep 16, 2014 1:03 AM in response to Esquared

Here it is 🙂

EtreCheck version: 1.9.15 (52)

Report generated September 16, 2014 at 12:56:55 AM PDT

Hardware Information: ?

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2012) (Verified)

MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro9,1

1 2.3 GHz Intel Core i7 CPU: 4 cores

16 GB RAM

Video Information: ?

Intel HD Graphics 4000 - VRAM: (null)

NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M - VRAM: 512 MB

Color LCD 1280 x 800

S271HL spdisplays_1080p

System Software: ?

OS X 10.9.4 (13E28) - Uptime: 0 days 15:29:43

Disk Information: ?

APPLE HDD HTS547550A9E384 disk0 : (500.11 GB)

S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB

Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / [Startup]: 466.39 GB (156.83 GB free)

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

Macintosh HD 2 (disk0s4) /Volumes/Macintosh HD 2: 32.21 GB (13.47 GB free)

Recovery HD (disk0s5) <not mounted>: 650 MB

OPTIARC DVD RW AD-5970H

USB Information: ?

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

Western Digital My Book 111A 2 TB

S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified

disk1s1 (disk1s1) <not mounted>: 32 KB

My Book (disk1s3) /Volumes/My Book: 2 TB (65.05 GB free)

Apple, Inc. Keyboard Hub

Apple, Inc Apple Keyboard

Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

Logitech USB Receiver

Thunderbolt Information: ?

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

Gatekeeper: ?

Mac App Store and identified developers

Kernel Extensions: ?

[loaded] com.globaldelight.driver.BoomDevice (1.1 - SDK 10.9) Support

Launch Daemons: ?

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist Support

[running] com.anonymizer.deltavpn.DeltaVPNInstaller.plist Support

[running] com.anonymizer.deltavpn.DeltaVPNOpenVPNHelper.plist Support

[running] com.anonymizer.deltavpn.GreenlightInterrogator.plist Support

[running] com.anonymizer.deltavpn.L2TPConfigurator.plist Support

[failed] com.anonymizer.deltavpn.OpenVPN.plist Support

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

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

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

[loaded] org.macosforge.xquartz.privileged_startx.plist Support

Launch Agents: ?

[running] com.brother.LOGINserver.plist Support

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

[loaded] org.macosforge.xquartz.startx.plist Support

User Launch Agents: ?

[not loaded] com.macpaw.CleanMyMac.helperTool.plist Support

[not loaded] com.macpaw.CleanMyMac.trashSizeWatcher.plist Support

[not loaded] com.macpaw.CleanMyMac.volumeWatcher.plist Support

User Login Items: ?

Anonymizer Universal

Internet Plug-ins: ?

o1dbrowserplugin: Version: 5.4.2.18903 Support

Default Browser: Version: 537 - SDK 10.9

Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: Version: 3.2.0.16 - SDK 10.8 Support

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: Version: 11.0.03 - SDK 10.6 Support

FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 15.0.0.152 - SDK 10.6 Support

Silverlight: Version: 5.1.20913.0 - SDK 10.6 Support

Flash Player: Version: 15.0.0.152 - SDK 10.6 Support

QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

googletalkbrowserplugin: Version: 5.4.2.18903 Support

SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.4.4 - SDK 10.6 Support

AdobePDFViewer: Version: 11.0.03 - SDK 10.6 Support

iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0 - SDK 10.8

JavaAppletPlugin: Version: Java 7 Update 60 Check version

Safari Extensions: ?

DoNotTrackMe- Online Privacy Protection

OpenIE

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_3: Version: (null) Support

Move-Media-Player: Version: npmnqmp 071303000006 Support

CitrixOnlineWebDeploymentPlugin: Version: 1.0.105 Support

Unity Player: Version: UnityPlayer version 1.6.2 Support

Google Earth Web Plug-in: Version: 7.1 Support

WebEx: Version: 1.0 Support

3rd Party Preference Panes: ?

Flash Player Support

Flip4Mac WMV Support

Perian Support

Time Machine: ?

Skip System Files: NO

Mobile backups: OFF

Auto backup: YES

Volumes being backed up:

Macintosh HD: Disk size: 434.36 GB Disk used: 288.30 GB

Destinations:

My Book [Local] (Last used)

Total size: 2 TB

Total number of backups: 54

Oldest backup: 2014-06-06 07:20:41 +0000

Last backup: 2014-09-16 07:22:52 +0000

Size of backup disk: Excellent

Backup size 2 TB > (Disk size 434.36 GB X 3)

Time Machine details may not be accurate.

All volumes being backed up may not be listed.

Top Processes by CPU: ?

4% Pandora

4% firefox

4% WindowServer

3% fontd

2% coreaudiod

Top Processes by Memory: ?

246 MB firefox

229 MB Mail

213 MB com.apple.IconServicesAgent

164 MB mds_stores

164 MB WindowServer

Virtual Memory Information: ?

10.75 GB Free RAM

2.99 GB Active RAM

1001 MB Inactive RAM

1.28 GB Wired RAM

1.21 GB Page-ins

0 B Page-outs

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Answer 5

PavaT Author

Level 1

0 points

Sep 16, 2014 1:04 AM in response to MadMacs0

I don't know about compatibility, but when my system is working normally, Memory Clean shows around 6 to 9 GB. During those periods, my computer performance is good.

Today, my memory went down to about 20 MB, then after I closed something, it went up to 750 MB and has stayed there. So something is sucking away RAM for periods of time.

Reply

Answer 6

Esquared

Level 6

12,415 points

Sep 16, 2014 1:10 AM in response to PavaT

Start by uninstalling some of the apps you're using: CleanMyMac, Boom, Anonymizer. Use the uninstaller the maker of each app provides.

Reply

Answer 7

MadMacs0

Level 5

5,233 points

Sep 16, 2014 1:36 AM in response to PavaT

Looks like you tried to delete CleanMyMac2 (great idea) but still have some remaining files. Since they didn't load, they shouldn't be slowing your Mac or taking up RAM, but it would still be best to delete the three /Library/LaunchAgents/ that remain.

Make sure you still need things like Citrix and WebEx.

Silverlight is out-of-date and no longer needed for Netflix, if that's why it's there.

Perian hasn't been supported since Snow Leopard and reportedly causes issue with Mavericks, though I have not seen them.

Make sure you have the latest versions of anything you need.

0 B Page-outs would indicate you don't have a RAM problem.

Reply

Answer 8

MadMacs0

Level 5

5,233 points

Sep 16, 2014 1:39 AM in response to PavaT

PavaT wrote:

I don't know about compatibility, but when my system is working normally, Memory Clean shows around 6 to 9 GB.

Just make sure you don't use "Auto Clean" in the advanced settings and don't click Clean.

Reply

Answer 9

PavaT Author

Level 1

0 points

Sep 16, 2014 2:01 AM in response to MadMacs0

It looks like your suggestion or Esquared's suggestion may have done it. While uninstalling things, I wasn't paying attention to Memory Clean (which I don't use for cleaning just for monitoring, but thank you, MadMacsO for that, too!) but all of a sudden I looked up after deleting Perian, and my memory had been restored.

While doing this, I opened CleanMyMac (required to uninstall it) which pointed to some old applications that I also deleted.

I'll give my rejuvenated system a new whirl and come back to report. Thank you both so much!

Reply

Answer 10

PavaT Author

Level 1

0 points

Sep 17, 2014 10:53 PM in response to PavaT

Unfortunately, shortly after that message, my memory started disappearing again. I've trashed a bunch of stuff, and here is my new Etre Check result:

EtreCheck version: 1.9.15 (52)

Report generated September 17, 2014 at 9:52:45 PM PDT

Hardware Information: ?

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2012) (Verified)

MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro9,1

1 2.3 GHz Intel Core i7 CPU: 4 cores

16 GB RAM

Video Information: ?

Intel HD Graphics 4000 - VRAM: (null)

NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M - VRAM: 512 MB

Color LCD 1280 x 800

S271HL spdisplays_1080p

System Software: ?

OS X 10.9.4 (13E28) - Uptime: 0 days 1:6:26

Disk Information: ?

APPLE HDD HTS547550A9E384 disk0 : (500.11 GB)

S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB

Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / [Startup]: 466.39 GB (156.43 GB free)

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

Macintosh HD 2 (disk0s4) /Volumes/Macintosh HD 2: 32.21 GB (13.18 GB free)

Recovery HD (disk0s5) <not mounted>: 650 MB

OPTIARC DVD RW AD-5970H

USB Information: ?

Apple Inc. iPhone

Western Digital My Book 111A 2 TB

S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified

disk1s1 (disk1s1) <not mounted>: 32 KB

My Book (disk1s3) /Volumes/My Book: 2 TB (115.02 GB free)

Apple, Inc. Keyboard Hub

Apple, Inc Apple Keyboard

Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Logitech USB Receiver

Thunderbolt Information: ?

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

Gatekeeper: ?

Mac App Store and identified developers

Launch Daemons: ?

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist Support

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

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

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

Launch Agents: ?

[running] com.brother.LOGINserver.plist Support

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

User Login Items: ?

None

Internet Plug-ins: ?

o1dbrowserplugin: Version: 5.4.2.18903 Support

Default Browser: Version: 537 - SDK 10.9

Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: Version: 3.2.0.16 - SDK 10.8 Support

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: Version: 11.0.03 - SDK 10.6 Support

FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 15.0.0.152 - SDK 10.6 Support

Silverlight: Version: 5.1.20913.0 - SDK 10.6 Support

Flash Player: Version: 15.0.0.152 - SDK 10.6 Support

QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

googletalkbrowserplugin: Version: 5.4.2.18903 Support

SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.4.4 - SDK 10.6 Support

AdobePDFViewer: Version: 11.0.03 - SDK 10.6 Support

iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0 - SDK 10.8

JavaAppletPlugin: Version: Java 7 Update 60 Check version

Safari Extensions: ?

DoNotTrackMe- Online Privacy Protection

OpenIE

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_3: Version: (null) Support

Move-Media-Player: Version: npmnqmp 071303000006 Support

CitrixOnlineWebDeploymentPlugin: Version: 1.0.105 Support

Unity Player: Version: UnityPlayer version 1.6.2 Support

Google Earth Web Plug-in: Version: 7.1 Support

WebEx: Version: 1.0 Support

3rd Party Preference Panes: ?

Flash Player Support

Flip4Mac WMV Support

Time Machine: ?

Skip System Files: NO

Mobile backups: OFF

Auto backup: YES

Volumes being backed up:

Macintosh HD: Disk size: 434.36 GB Disk used: 288.67 GB

Destinations:

My Book [Local] (Last used)

Total size: 2 TB

Total number of backups: 40

Oldest backup: 2014-06-17 07:53:06 +0000

Last backup: 2014-09-18 03:11:11 +0000

Size of backup disk: Excellent

Backup size 2 TB > (Disk size 434.36 GB X 3)

Time Machine details may not be accurate.

All volumes being backed up may not be listed.

Top Processes by CPU: ?

7% Pandora

5% WindowServer

2% coreaudiod

1% Finder

1% backupd

Top Processes by Memory: ?

328 MB firefox

262 MB mds_stores

229 MB com.apple.IconServicesAgent

180 MB Mail

164 MB Microsoft Excel

Virtual Memory Information: ?

11.80 GB Free RAM

2.49 GB Active RAM

620 MB Inactive RAM

1.10 GB Wired RAM

495 MB Page-ins

0 B Page-outs

Reply

Answer 11

Esquared

Level 6

12,415 points

Sep 17, 2014 11:53 PM in response to PavaT

Two more things you can try:

1. Uninstall that Brother software (temporarily).

2. Upgrade to 10.9.5 (just released) with the COMBO updater: OS X Mavericks 10.9.5 Update (Combo)

Reply

Answer 12

PavaT Author

Level 1

0 points

Sep 18, 2014 2:30 AM in response to Esquared

Facepalm on the Brother software, thank you.

It took a long time to get rid of all the Brother files, but they are gone. I also found I had only done the first of the two-part uninstall of Perian. And I spent 40 minutes with Parallels support today, and they insisted there was nothing wrong since after deleting Parallels, the problem still remains.

I also updated to 10.9.5, but I still have the problem. Here is my new EtreCheck report. Any other ideas?

EtreCheck version: 1.9.15 (52)

Report generated September 18, 2014 at 2:27:45 AM PDT

Hardware Information: ?

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2012) (Verified)

MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro9,1

1 2.3 GHz Intel Core i7 CPU: 4 cores

16 GB RAM

Video Information: ?

Intel HD Graphics 4000 - VRAM: (null)

NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M - VRAM: 512 MB

Color LCD 1280 x 800

S271HL spdisplays_1080p

System Software: ?

OS X 10.9.5 (13F34) - Uptime: 0 days 0:26:6

Disk Information: ?

APPLE HDD HTS547550A9E384 disk0 : (500.11 GB)

S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB

Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / [Startup]: 466.39 GB (156.3 GB free)

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

Macintosh HD 2 (disk0s4) /Volumes/Macintosh HD 2: 32.21 GB (13.18 GB free)

Recovery HD (disk0s5) <not mounted>: 650 MB

OPTIARC DVD RW AD-5970H

USB Information: ?

Apple, Inc. Keyboard Hub

Apple, Inc Apple Keyboard

Western Digital My Book 111A 2 TB

S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified

disk1s1 (disk1s1) <not mounted>: 32 KB

My Book (disk1s3) /Volumes/My Book: 2 TB (90.5 GB free)

Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

Logitech USB Receiver

Thunderbolt Information: ?

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

Gatekeeper: ?

Mac App Store and identified developers

Launch Daemons: ?

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist Support

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

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

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

Launch Agents: ?

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

User Login Items: ?

None

Internet Plug-ins: ?

o1dbrowserplugin: Version: 5.4.2.18903 Support

Default Browser: Version: 537 - SDK 10.9

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: Version: 11.0.03 - SDK 10.6 Support

FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 15.0.0.152 - SDK 10.6 Support

Silverlight: Version: 5.1.20913.0 - SDK 10.6 Support

Flash Player: Version: 15.0.0.152 - SDK 10.6 Support

QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

googletalkbrowserplugin: Version: 5.4.2.18903 Support

SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.4.4 - SDK 10.6 Support

AdobePDFViewer: Version: 11.0.03 - SDK 10.6 Support

iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0 - SDK 10.8

JavaAppletPlugin: Version: Java 7 Update 60 Check version

Safari Extensions: ?

DoNotTrackMe- Online Privacy Protection

OpenIE

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_3: Version: (null) Support

Move-Media-Player: Version: npmnqmp 071303000006 Support

CitrixOnlineWebDeploymentPlugin: Version: 1.0.105 Support

Unity Player: Version: UnityPlayer version 1.6.2 Support

Google Earth Web Plug-in: Version: 7.1 Support

WebEx: Version: 1.0 Support

3rd Party Preference Panes: ?

Flash Player Support

Time Machine: ?

Skip System Files: NO

Mobile backups: OFF

Auto backup: YES

Volumes being backed up:

Macintosh HD: Disk size: 434.36 GB Disk used: 288.80 GB

Destinations:

My Book [Local] (Last used)

Total size: 2 TB

Total number of backups: 42

Oldest backup: 2014-06-17 07:53:06 +0000

Last backup: 2014-09-18 06:16:46 +0000

Size of backup disk: Excellent

Backup size 2 TB > (Disk size 434.36 GB X 3)

Time Machine details may not be accurate.

All volumes being backed up may not be listed.

Top Processes by CPU: ?

8% WindowServer

5% Safari

3% com.apple.WebKit.Networking

1% Finder

0% fontd

Top Processes by Memory: ?

328 MB mds_stores

213 MB com.apple.IconServicesAgent

147 MB Mail

115 MB WindowServer

98 MB Safari

Virtual Memory Information: ?

12.03 GB Free RAM

2.00 GB Active RAM

746 MB Inactive RAM

1.23 GB Wired RAM

459 MB Page-ins

0 B Page-outs

Reply

Answer 13

PavaT Author

Level 1

0 points

Sep 19, 2014 10:40 AM in response to PavaT

I found the runaway software today. It's Time Machine.

With that knowledge, I found one other case online but it wasn't resolved in that thread.

I'm waiting to hear back from Apple Care. The support person wants to discuss it further.

Reply

Answer 14

PavaT Author

Level 1

0 points

Sep 21, 2014 2:06 PM in response to PavaT

New twist. Because I have three USB devices, I use a USB hub.

So on a whim, I tried running Time Machine with the external disk plugged in directly to my laptop, and the problem seems to disappear (I still have to do more tests because the behavior is always a little random, but it looks like this is the core problem).

I have a Belkin USB hub.

Any advice for this?

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