HiTee
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: Mac running hot. All 8 Gb ram used often

Seems like often when I have a few windows open in Safari or Chrome all of my ram is being taken up and a lot of it by the kernel_task.

Here is a picture of what is going on during a quieter time. Please help if you see anything odd. I can also produce the heating problem and do another EtreCheck if that would help.

EtreCheck version: 1.9.15 (52)

Report generated September 23, 2014 at 9:58:34 PM PDT

 

Hardware Information: ?

  MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2009) (Verified)

  MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro5,5

  1 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU: 2 cores

  8 GB RAM

 

Video Information: ?

  NVIDIA GeForce 9400M - VRAM: 256 MB

  Color LCD 1280 x 800

 

System Software: ?

  OS X 10.9.4 (13E28) - Uptime: 0 days 2:18:28

 

Disk Information: ?

  TOSHIBA MK5065GSXF disk0 : (500.11 GB)

  S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified

  EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB

  Nature Box (disk0s2) / [Startup]: 499.25 GB (299.02 GB free)

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

 

  HL-DT-ST DVDRW  GS23N 

 

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.livescribe.kext.LivescribeSmartpen (1) Support

  [not loaded] com.ni.Fantom.nxtfwdl (1.1.1) Support

 

Startup Items: ?

  Fantom: Path: /Library/StartupItems/Fantom

 

Launch Daemons: ?

  [loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist Support

  [running] com.livescribe.PenCommService.plist Support

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

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

 

Launch Agents: ?

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

 

User Launch Agents: ?

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

  [failed] com.apple.SafariBookmarksSyncer.plist

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

  [running] com.spotify.webhelper.plist Support

 

User Login Items: ?

  MacOS

  iTunesHelper

  gfxCardStatus

  GrowlMenu

  GrowlMenu

  GrowlHelperApp

  SpeechSynthesisServer

  EvernoteHelper

  Dropbox

  CrossOver CD Helper

  Google Drive

  Livescribe AutoLaunch

  Livescribe Connect AutoLaunch

 

Internet Plug-ins: ?

  Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: Version: 3.2.0.16   - SDK 10.8 Support

  FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 15.0.0.152 - SDK 10.6 Support

  Default Browser: Version: 537 - SDK 10.9

  AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: Version: 11.0.09 - SDK 10.6 Support

  AdobePDFViewer: Version: 11.0.09 - SDK 10.6 Support

  Flash Player: Version: 15.0.0.152 - SDK 10.6 Support

  JavaAppletPlugin: Version: Java 7 Update 67 Check version

  QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

  Silverlight: Version: 5.1.30514.0 - SDK 10.6 Support

  iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0 - SDK 10.8

 

Safari Extensions: ?

  Omnibar (Disabled)

  Add To Amazon Wish List-2

  Evernote Web Clipper-2

 

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 ?

  Google Earth Web Plug-in: Version: 7.1 Support

 

3rd Party Preference Panes: ?

  Flash Player  Support

  Flip4Mac WMV  Support

  Java  Support

  Perian  Support

 

Time Machine: ?

  Skip System Files: NO

  Mobile backups: ON

  Auto backup: YES

  Volumes being backed up:

  Nature Box: Disk size: 464.96 GB Disk used: 186.47 GB

  Destinations:

  Data [Network] (Last used)

  Total size: 2 TB

  Total number of backups: 47

  Oldest backup: 2013-12-08 07:42:54 +0000

  Last backup: 2014-09-24 04:53:51 +0000

  Size of backup disk: Excellent

  Backup size 2 TB > (Disk size 464.96 GB X 3)

  Time Machine details may not be accurate.

  All volumes being backed up may not be listed.

 

Top Processes by CPU: ?

      18% mds

      3% WindowServer

      0% fontd

      0% DashboardClient

      0% ocspd

 

Top Processes by Memory: ?

  156 MB com.apple.IconServicesAgent

  98 MB mds_stores

  90 MB Google Chrome

  74 MB CrossOver CD Helper

  66 MB WindowServer

 

Virtual Memory Information: ?

  3.64 GB Free RAM

  1.55 GB Active RAM

  1.85 GB Inactive RAM

  718 MB Wired RAM

  943 MB Page-ins

  0 B Page-outs

MacBook Pro

Posted on Sep 24, 2014 9:11 AM

Close
HiTee

Q: Mac running hot. All 8 Gb ram used often

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by Linc Davis,Helpful

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Sep 24, 2014 3:57 PM in response to HiTee
    Level 10 (208,037 points)
    Applications
    Sep 24, 2014 3:57 PM in response to HiTee

    It's normal in Mavericks for almost all memory to be in use, either by applications or by the file cache. That's what you should want, since unused memory is going to waste. The relevant measure of whether memory is in short supply is what Apple calls "memory pressure."

    Apple's explanation of memory pressure is here. If you want a more detailed, technical description, see here.

  • by HiTee,

    HiTee HiTee Sep 24, 2014 5:56 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 24, 2014 5:56 PM in response to Linc Davis

    Thanks, that is good to know and I remember seeing that there is a memory pressure dynamic graph in the Activity Monitor, so I will watch that. Still, the computer get's real warm and the fan is going full tilt. Things will sometimes slow down to a crawl. A typical scenario is that I have four or more windows open on the browser and maybe I am watching a youtube on one of them. This seems new in the last couple of months. I really thought that 8G RAM would be enough to handle a load like that.

  • by Linc Davis,Helpful

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Sep 24, 2014 6:00 PM in response to HiTee
    Level 10 (208,037 points)
    Applications
    Sep 24, 2014 6:00 PM in response to HiTee

    Runaway applications can shorten battery runtime, affect performance, and increase heat and fan activity

  • by HiTee,

    HiTee HiTee Sep 24, 2014 6:17 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 24, 2014 6:17 PM in response to Linc Davis

    Thanks, I will check the activity monitor the next time it happens. I do remember the kernel_task being the most greedy last time but I don't remember the % used. Thanks for your help. I appreciate it!

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Sep 24, 2014 6:27 PM in response to HiTee
    Level 10 (208,037 points)
    Applications
    Sep 24, 2014 6:27 PM in response to HiTee

    You can't quit the kernel task. If it's hogging the CPU, your problem is more complicated.

  • by hexdiy,

    hexdiy hexdiy Dec 13, 2014 8:46 AM in response to HiTee
    Level 1 (60 points)
    Dec 13, 2014 8:46 AM in response to HiTee

    A bit late in the game HiTee, but I stumbled upon this thread while researching a similar issue. I may have found something in your Etrecheck:

    the "Fantom" startup item. It is probably part of Lego Mindstorms NXT 2.0, which does not seem Mavericks compatible if you do not have the latest drivers:

    Lego NXT Software not running on Mavericks

    Something else: this here old MacBook I am typing this on, was having its poor system resources completely hogged causing constant beachballs when too many Safari windows were open. I suspected the cause of this to be Safari Web Content being filled with animated advertisements running in the background. So I've installed Ghostery https://www.ghostery.com/en/download

    Since then, practically no more beachballs.

    Probably nothing to do with your issue, but hey, just my 2 cents...