Guide: How to solve Yosemite memory leaks and CPU usage

This was the solution for me too. Thanks very much.

Luis,

I might add one more step to your process.....

As the PRAM reset clears the current startup disk that was previously remembered, it may be worthwhile to open System Preferences and then check the Startup Disk prefpane to ensure that the disk you wish to start from is actually highlighted. The computer will still start correctly, but may take longer if this last action isn't accomplished.

One more thing I heard of but have not verified: resetting the PRAM seems to affects also trim enabler. You should cross check if it's still turned on (for those which have a non-Apple SSD).

It seems that finally the issue is still latent, just not that obvious as before. After a couple of days my WindowServer is up to permanently 10% keeping the fans busy (which is why I noticed it). So the situation is better as a weekly reboot solves it, but under the hood the oil filter needs to be replaced.

I can at least confirm that closing menu bar icons does immediately have a positive effect. After closing Google Drive, OneDrive, DropBox, Fitbit, Fantastical and so on my MBP (2012, 16GB RAM) is back to normal speed with external monitor connected. Although I cannot seem to determine which one of them causes it. It seems the less there are the better. When switching active screen (laptop display <-> external display) you can obviously see how slowly the menu bar icons are refreshed. So at least this is a good hint.

We still live in the hope that Apple gets that hint and fixes the issue.

Had a very terrible experience with Yosemite and also my Mavericks was running very slow as well. Thanks you so much i followed the directions you provided successfully. I am running both mavericks and Yosemite on a partition both run flawlessly. Not sure if anyone else had this issue before but i use to have a problem where my 2010 macbook pro would lag excessively when connected to a charger,but after following the steps it runs normal now.🙂

update:

after trying a clean install of yosemite i still could not boot up in anything but safe mode. so i tried a clean install of mavericks. still could not boot up in anything but safe mode.

i finally took it to the genius bar and it was a defective ATI radeon HD 4850. cost me $231 total for replacement.

all was fine until i upgraded to yosemite. did yosemite kill my graphics card or was it just a matter of time? i have no idea, but so far yosemite is running smoothly. i do have transparency turned off as well as unchecked 'displays have separate spaces'. since this transpired, dropbox has issued an update and i am staying far away from google chrome. i actually find the new safari much faster anyway.

so to others having issues that are not resolved by the various fixes in the discussions - you may want to head to the genius bar.

Which model do you use? With older MPBs there was an issue with the graphics card where Apple replaced it at no cost if you knew about the issue. Google knows which one.

i have a late 2009 iMac 27" core i7. i saw a link about this in another thread, but it looks like apple is only replacing cards on models that were made in the last 3 years. 😟

my machine was running perfectly until i switched to yosemtie. i use CAD software, photoshop, arch rendering software on a regular basis and had no issues until the switch.

I see. I remembered some MBP issue. I guess there might be a relation with overheating a board which normally would have lasted longer. But you would not be able to prove that Apple is responsible. In the above case it were many boards and the original vendor committed to have had some production issue. So those boards were replaced at no cost. I guess the good side in your case is that the new board is very, very likely not in risk to break soon. Try looking at it from the sunny side.

This certainly made my machine much happier. However, the fans still seem to spin much more than in previous versions. When the system is running at about 25 - 30% they seem to still be spinning and typically in the past the system had to get above 40 or 50% before fans would spin. I would highly recommend this process as it certainly helped. I am still reviewing to see what other processes I may have running that are causing CPU usage at basically system idle.

MacBook Pro 15" Retina (mid-2013) - SSD drive

Thanks

Rob

luckily it wasn't too expensive and i am happy to have my iMac back. for a bit, i was afraid that i would need to replace it.

Hi,

is there a way finding out, which drivers the computer is loading at boot and/or at login?

I have freezing MBP while hibernating, CPU and memory overload due to Mail and Windowserver.

I found the following:

"......You can narrow down the possibilities further by logging out without rebooting, then logging back in with the shift key held down. That is, enter your name and password, then hold the shift key and click the "Log in" button. Keep holding the key until the Desktop appears. This will prevent LaunchAgents and login items from loading. ....."

Having done this since two days, no more crashes or CPU/Memory-fever.

Maybe one of the drivers loaded, is the bad guy, but which one.

Etrecheck did not tell me anything.

I just would like to know, which drivers are loaded at normal boot, which ones at login with shift-pressed.

And then successively look at each one.

Has anyone ideas?

Thanks.

monostone wrote:

Hi,

is there a way finding out, which drivers the computer is loading at boot and/or at login?

Are you sure you are talking about drivers here? Those are normally found in /System/Library/Extensions/ which are mostly or all Apple's and in /Library/Extensions/ for third party software.

Then you cite a quote about LaunchAgents and Login Items and I don't recall ever seeing a driver associated with either of those.

As far a launchd controlled processes they are found in:

• /System/Library/LaunchAgents/
• /Sytem/Library/LaunchDaemons/
• /Library/LaunchAgents/
• /Library/LaunchDaemons/
• ~/Library/LaunchAgents/

The first two are mostly or all Apple's

The second two are for all users from third parties

The last is for your user only.

Daemons start after boot and Agents start at user login

To find out what system level processes are in use open Terminal and enter:

sudo launchctl list

followed by return and enter your Password: after the prompt (you will not see any typing).

To find out what user level process are in use do the same with:

launchctl list

A number in the first column indicates the process is running with that PID.

A zero in the second column indicates a successful exit the last time it was run.

A minus number in the second column usually indicates an error of some sort the last time it ran.

A positive number in the second column may mean it failed to load for a variety of reasons, some valid.

You will get several hundred entries, so good luck in checking them all out. EtreCheck does all this for you and only shows the ones most likely to be user issues.