Yosemite OS UI animation lag

Hi Kurt,

thanks for your help- I ran ethercheck once after I read your message, with my slow mac, then I restarted and everything was really smooth again. Then I started safari and ran ethercheck again.

Here are the two results:

Fresh Mac:

Virtual Memory Information: ℹ️

5.26 GB Free RAM

1.54 GB Active RAM

662 MB Inactive RAM

1.13 GB Wired RAM

942 MB Page-ins

0 B Page-outs

Mac after 1 day of uptime (with various sleep interruptions):

Virtual Memory Information: ℹ️

57 MB Free RAM

1.33 GB Active RAM

1.28 GB Inactive RAM

4.47 GB Wired RAM

10.53 GB Page-ins

2.07 GB Page-outs

Seems like you're right about the RAM being full;

furthermore, the results from when the mac was slow also showed this:

Problem System Launch Agents: ℹ️

[killed] com.apple.AirPlayUIAgent.plist

[killed] com.apple.CallHistoryPluginHelper.plist

[killed] com.apple.CallHistorySyncHelper.plist

[killed] com.apple.cmfsyncagent.plist

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

[killed] com.apple.EscrowSecurityAlert.plist

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

[killed] com.apple.rcd.plist

[killed] com.apple.SafariNotificationAgent.plist

[killed] com.apple.sbd.plist

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

[killed] com.apple.security.cloudkeychainproxy.plist

[killed] com.apple.spindump_agent.plist

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

14 processes killed due to memory pressure

Problem System Launch Daemons: ℹ️

[killed] com.apple.AssetCacheLocatorService.plist

[killed] com.apple.awdd.plist

[killed] com.apple.coresymbolicationd.plist

[killed] com.apple.ctkd.plist

[killed] com.apple.diagnosticd.plist

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

[killed] com.apple.ifdreader.plist

[killed] com.apple.nehelper.plist

[killed] com.apple.nsurlsessiond.plist

[killed] com.apple.periodic-daily.plist

[killed] com.apple.sandboxd.plist

[killed] com.apple.softwareupdate_download_service.plist

[killed] com.apple.softwareupdated.plist

[killed] com.apple.spindump.plist

[killed] com.apple.sysmond.plist

[killed] com.apple.wdhelper.plist

16 processes killed due to memory pressure

Seems like there are processes being killed due to memory pressure. I have the impression that the mac can't free up once occupied RAM. Even after I quit all apps (I tried that before I restarted to take the second ethercheck snapshot), and then reopened only safari, it was still really slow and the mission control was laggy.

Right now, after the restart, it is a smooth 60fps animation, just like it is supposed to be.

I have the impression that the mac can't free up once occupied RAM.

Yes (at least from our unscientific test), it looks to be exactly what's happening. Yosemite's main change as far as system resources goes was to use RAM as much as possible. RAM sitting empty/idle is wasted RAM. But RAM that isn't being released when it should be is a bug. A rather major one.

Another thing to try that may be the cause of RAM being clogged up with apps that won't release. Turn off App Nap system wide. One way to to do that is with OnyX (download the Yosemite version). The check box to turn it off is under the Parameters heading > General tab.

I don't think this is it. I have the same issue, but I also have tons of free RAM:

Virtual Memory Information: ℹ️

2.52 GB Free RAM

8.54 GB Active RAM

4.07 GB Inactive RAM

2.05 GB Wired RAM

44.31 GB Page-ins

221 KB Page-outs

(after 29h uptime)

Did you see any notices in EtreCheck of processes killed due to memory pressure, or does it just gradually slow down no matter what?

Nope, no processes are marked as killed in EtreCheck.

Well, it was a decent theory while it lasted. 😐

I don't know what else it could be, but considering that turning on high-contrast mode fixes the problem (at least temporarily, I've never tried it for longer, though I will now), I don't think it's a conventional problem like an ordinary memory leak. I mean, if you just reduce transparency, it doesn't get better, but with some extra strong pixels suddenly everything's fine? That's some odd problem.

Yes, it is very odd that such a minor tweak can solve the issue. They're obviously related, but why?

Don't know if anyone has filed a bug report to Apple on this yet.

I'm just using the feedback assistant that comes with OS X (I'm using a 10.10.2 beta that still has the problem). But I'll see if I can report the bug, too.

Now here is another strange thing: After upgrading on 10.10.1 on my old MBP mid 2012 16GB RAM, there was a noticeable lag, but in general things were better than before. Now, I purchased a new MBPr 15 (16GB, Intel Iris Pro) and -guess what- I have the lag!!! (after clean install of Yosemite and update on 10.10.1). I also noticed a slight lag when typing - but not in all programs (Sublime Text 2 has it). It's a shame for a 2k laptop..

It's definitely a software bug, and if Apple doesn't resolve it on 10.10.2 (as b.pwned said) I'll be very disappointed..I filled more than one bug reports and I encourage everyone to do the same.

If anyone else has some other idea on how to efficient report it on Apple, please let us know!

My issue is that after switching from my wifes username to my user name, my scrolling get's extremely laggy. Not so much window animations, but actually scrolling up and down a web page or my email, or any application. Also, swiping between desktops lags. Tried all the contrast tips. Didn't work. Only thing that worked was Force Quitting the Window Server process and logging back in.

Another unrelated issue revolving around Window Server is that sometimes the computer will not reboot when it's told. All applications close and it just gets stuck on the desktop. Have been battling this issue with two of my Macs since Mavericks. I would have to open an application to gain access to the Apple logo and tell it again to reboot. Many times this would work but many other times it would not. I found the force quitting Window Server also allows it to execute the reboot. *** is going on?

Is mac developers known about this problem. It's very annoying you know...

Hi, does anyone know whether 10.10.2 has fixed the bug? Thinking of doing a clean install from 10.10.1.

macbook Air 13' 2013

P.S. is anyones battery life affected by this because I get the feeling mines might be.

thanks

For me, it has not. (MBP8,2)

I don't know about the battery life, my notebook is rarely used off the grid.