Guide: How to solve Yosemite memory leaks and CPU usage

Mine here actually :

Kernel_task : 1,18Go

Mail : 128,1Mo

😟

tonsim wrote:

I did not do step one because I am unfamiliar with safe mode and I didnt want to take a risk.

There is no risk associated with Safe Mode. See OS X: What is Safe Boot, Safe Mode?.

Luis_Mercado, thank you for posting your suggested step by step sequence of trying to repair a Mac after installing OS X 10.10. I tried a multitude of fixes of which nothing seemed to be working. The one step that I finally noticed a performance change was putting the Mac into Safe Mode then repairing disk permissions, after which, I rebooted and cleared the PRAM. Seemed to help, so thank you.

Luis_Mercado

Oct 25, 2014 10:39 AM

Glad it helped and thanks for the words.

And, about your question, to my very limited knowledge windowserver is acting up thanks to incompatibilities with the settings files found in PRAM's cache. PRAM gets populated with small files that tell your computer how to manage certain devices, including video card. With every OS X upgrade these settings could differ between versions, but sometimes, at installation, these are not flushed correctly, leading the new OS X to be forced to use the old settings.

As OS X GUI is handled in hardware level these problems trigger an excessive amount of memory and CPU in order to render the GUI. Thats why I propose this exact order, so when you reset your PRAM it will get populated again from an almost clean state because you already fixed your files and reset your SMC.

My mid 2009 MacBook Pro 17 was a bit tired after upgrading through OS X’s to Yosemite. I carefully followed your guide.

My machine is refreshed and running much better.

Thank you Luis_Mercado.

Hi. I have an early 2009 white macbook. I recently upgraded to Yosemite. I was wondering if anybody could help tell me what is slowing down my computer.

EtreCheck version: 2.0.11 (98)

Report generated November 13, 2014 at 2:46:01 AM EST

Hardware Information: ℹ️

MacBook (13-inch, Early 2009) (Verified)

MacBook - model: MacBook5,2

1 2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU: 2-core

2 GB RAM Upgradeable

BANK 0/DIMM0

1 GB DDR2 SDRAM 667 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

1 GB DDR2 SDRAM 667 MHz ok

Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported

Wireless: en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n

Video Information: ℹ️

NVIDIA GeForce 9400M - VRAM: 256 MB

Color LCD 1280 x 800

System Software: ℹ️

OS X 10.10 (14A389) - Uptime: 1:41:3

Disk Information: ℹ️

Hitachi HTS543212L9SA02 disk0 : (120.03 GB)

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

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / [Startup]: 119.17 GB (34.56 GB free)

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

MATSHITADVD-R UJ867A

USB Information: ℹ️

Micron Built-in iSight

Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Configuration files: ℹ️

/etc/hosts - Count: 42

Gatekeeper: ℹ️

Mac App Store and identified developers

Kernel Extensions: ℹ️

/Library/Application Support/VMware Fusion/kexts

[not loaded] com.vmware.kext.vmci (3.0.0) Support

[not loaded] com.vmware.kext.vmioplug (3.0.0) Support

[not loaded] com.vmware.kext.vmnet (3.0.0) Support

[not loaded] com.vmware.kext.vmx86 (3.0.0) Support

/System/Library/Extensions

[not loaded] com.devguru.driver.SamsungComposite (1.4.20 - SDK 10.6) Support

[not loaded] com.paceap.kext.PACESupport (5.4.1) Support

[not loaded] com.paceap.kext.PACESupport2 (5.4.1) Support

[not loaded] com.paceap.kext.pacesupport.master (5.7.1) Support

[not loaded] com.wdc.driver.1394HP (1.0.9) Support

[not loaded] com.wdc.driver.USBHP (1.0.11) Support

[not loaded] nl.bjaelectronics.driver.PL2303 (1.0.0d1) Support

/System/Library/Extensions/PACESupportFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns

[not loaded] com.paceap.kext.pacesupport.leopard (5.7.1) Support

[not loaded] com.paceap.kext.pacesupport.panther (5.7.1) Support

[not loaded] com.paceap.kext.pacesupport.snowleopard (5.7.1) Support

[not loaded] com.paceap.kext.pacesupport.tiger (5.7.1) Support

/System/Library/Extensions/ssuddrv.kext/Contents/PlugIns

[not loaded] com.devguru.driver.SamsungACMControl (1.4.20 - SDK 10.6) Support

[not loaded] com.devguru.driver.SamsungACMData (1.4.20 - SDK 10.6) Support

[not loaded] com.devguru.driver.SamsungMTP (1.4.20 - SDK 10.5) Support

[not loaded] com.devguru.driver.SamsungSerial (1.4.20 - SDK 10.6) Support

Startup Items: ℹ️

Jaksta: Path: /Library/StartupItems/Jaksta

PACESupport: Path: /Library/StartupItems/PACESupport

Startup items are obsolete and will not work in future versions of OS X

Problem System Launch Agents: ℹ️

[failed] com.apple.AirPlayUIAgent.plist

[failed] com.apple.CallHistoryPluginHelper.plist

[failed] com.apple.CallHistorySyncHelper.plist

[failed] com.apple.cloudd.plist

[failed] com.apple.cmfsyncagent.plist

[failed] com.apple.coreservices.appleid.authentication.plist

[failed] com.apple.gamed.plist

[failed] com.apple.printtool.agent.plist

[failed] com.apple.recentsd.plist

[failed] com.apple.scopedbookmarkagent.xpc.plist

[failed] com.apple.spindump_agent.plist

[failed] com.apple.telephonyutilities.callservicesd.plist

Problem System Launch Daemons: ℹ️

[failed] com.apple.AssetCacheLocatorService.plist

[failed] com.apple.awdd.plist

[failed] com.apple.coreservices.appleid.passwordcheck.plist

[failed] com.apple.ctkd.plist

[failed] com.apple.findmymac.plist

[failed] com.apple.icloud.findmydeviced.plist

[failed] com.apple.ifdreader.plist

[failed] com.apple.nehelper.plist

[failed] com.apple.nsurlsessiond.plist

[failed] com.apple.softwareupdate_download_service.plist

[failed] com.apple.systemstats.analysis.plist

[failed] com.apple.tccd.system.plist

[failed] com.apple.wdhelper.plist

Launch Agents: ℹ️

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

[failed] com.adobe.CS5ServiceManager.plist Support

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

Launch Daemons: ℹ️

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist Support

[invalid?] com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist Support

[loaded] com.cloudpath.maccmd.plist Support

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

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

[failed] com.vmware.launchd.vmware.plist Support

[failed] PACESupport.plist Support

User Launch Agents: ℹ️

[loaded] com.divx.agent.postinstall.plist Support

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

[invalid?] com.Livestation.plist Support

[loaded] com.spotify.webhelper.plist Support

User Login Items: ℹ️

MainMenu UNKNOWN (missing value)

Dropbox UNKNOWN (missing value)

Dropbox Application (/Applications/Dropbox.app)

KiesAgent ApplicationHidden (/Applications/Kies.app/Contents/MacOS/KiesAgent.app)

fuspredownloader ApplicationHidden (/Users/[redacted]/Library/Application Support/.FUS/fuspredownloader.app)

CCAAgent Application (/Applications/CCAAgent.app)

SPanel Application (/Library/Printers/SPanel/Samsung/SPanel.app)

HP Scheduler Application (/Library/Application Support/Hewlett-Packard/Software Update/HP Scheduler.app)

Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️

o1dbrowserplugin: Version: 5.38.6.0 - SDK 10.8 Support

OVSHelper: Version: 1.1 Support

Default Browser: Version: 600 - SDK 10.10

Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: Version: 2.3.1.2 Support

OfficeLiveBrowserPlugin: Version: 12.2.0 Support

Google Earth Web Plug-in: Version: 7.1 Support

Silverlight: Version: 5.1.20913.0 - SDK 10.6 Support

FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 15.0.0.223 - SDK 10.6 Support

DivXBrowserPlugin: Version: 2.2 Support

Flash Player: Version: 15.0.0.223 - SDK 10.6 Support

iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0

googletalkbrowserplugin: Version: 5.38.6.0 - SDK 10.8 Support

QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.0.0 Support

DirectorShockwave: Version: 11.0.3r472 Support

User Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️

CitrixOnlineWebDeploymentPlugin: Version: 1.0.105 Support

fbplugin_1_0_3: Version: (null) Support

RealPlayer Plugin: Version: Unknown

Safari Extensions: ℹ️

AdBlock

OpenIE

DivX Plus Web Player HTML5 <video>

3rd Party Preference Panes: ℹ️

DivX Support

Flash Player Support

Flip4Mac WMV Support

Growl Support

MacFUSE Support

Perian Support

Time Machine: ℹ️

Time Machine not configured!

Top Processes by CPU: ℹ️

6% Safari

5% WindowServer

0% com.apple.WebKit.Networking

0% CCAAgent

0% Memory Clean

Top Processes by Memory: ℹ️

204 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent

47 MB Safari

32 MB com.apple.WebKit.Networking

30 MB WindowServer

24 MB com.apple.internetaccounts

Virtual Memory Information: ℹ️

47 MB Free RAM

479 MB Active RAM

442 MB Inactive RAM

460 MB Wired RAM

11.04 GB Page-ins

662 MB Page-outs

Your drive is very small and could be quite full. Don't use more than max 70% of a system drive to store data.

If I read correctly - you have 2GB RAM. That is not a lot ;--)

I was having problems with EyeTV3. Resetting the SMC, fixing file permissions, and resetting the PRAM, fixed it nicely.

Thanks!

i have been having the leak issue since installing yosemite a couple of weeks after it's release. i have tried everything including including luis' instructions. disabling transparency provided the most improvement and i worked happily for almost a week before my last freeze while i was watching a video in safari. since that freeze, i have only been able to start up in safe mode.

when i go to fix permissions, i keep having the same permissions to fix "private/var/db/displaypolicyd"; should be 0, group is 244.

i have a call scheduled with apple this morning and hopefully will be able to get this resolved.

Hi all, I'm not completely sure if I'm suffering from the memory leak and CPU load issue that this post fixes. Could you tell me what symptoms I should be looking for? My WindowServer process is using the most CPU% at the moment hovering at around 22-30%. System - 3.74%, User 7.11%, Idle 89%.

I'm not experiencing a lot of sluggishness, but I am having problems with recognizing external displays, and bluetooth connection dropping. I'm wondering if this solution is something I should just do to be safe.

Thanks!

larisa pedroncell wrote:

when i go to fix permissions, i keep having the same permissions to fix "private/var/db/displaypolicyd"; should be 0, group is 244.

I believe everybody is getting that at this time. Some process is changing both the User UID and Group GID to 244 (_displaypolicyd) sometime after DU fixes it. I suspect that is what it should be and DU should not be changing it.

just got off the phone with the apple care tech. everything has been tried and he recommended a clean install. i am backed up so this isn't an issue, but i am wondering if i should roll back to mavericks instead of doing a clean install of yosemite.

one thing i have noticed is that many people posting with this issue have machines from 2012 or older. my machine is 27" imac quad core i7 with 16GB RAM/1TB hard drive made in october 2009.

does anyone think it has anything to do with older machines? should i roll back to mavericks?

I guess a rollback to Mavericks would be the safest for the moment. There's really nothing with Yosemite that would force you to update now. Just a couple of nice-to-have.

You could watch this thread and see if one of the following releases will bring relief.

an idea how to go about rolling back to mavericks?

http://www.imore.com/how-downgrade-yosemite-mavericks

and other Google wisdom...

thanks. i have been dealing with this for a day and a half without a machine and loosing work, so i just needed a reliable source. 🙂