kernel_task using too much RAM

Question

Level 1

16 points

kernel_task using too much RAM

I am moving my problem to a new thread as the old thread is long and has been marked as solved.

Basically, my mid 2010 iMac with 16GB of RAM is running out of RAM if Firefox is left open. While I have been able to reduce the tabs and extensions in Firefox (ver 37.0.1), the problem persists (but not as severe). So, it was recommended that I use EtreCheck to create a report on what might be happening and how my system is performing. This problem started about a month ago. The only thing that has really changed in my set up is that I added a 4TB external HD. I already had a 3TB external HD and I daisy-chained the 3TB to the new 4TB, which is connected directly to the Firewire 800 plug in the iMac. However, this kernel_task issue did not show up right away. It started happening about a week or so afterward.

Here is the report that EtreCheck produced. Problems it identified are in red.

Problem description:

kernal_task taking too much RAM

EtreCheck version: 2.1.8 (121)

Report generated April 9, 2015 at 7:22:34 AM EDT

Download EtreCheck from http://etresoft.com/etrecheck

Click the [Click for support] links for help with non-Apple products.

Click the [Click for details] links for more information about that line.

Hardware Information: ℹ️

iMac (27-inch, Mid 2010) (Technical Specifications)

iMac - model: iMac11,3

1 3.2 GHz Intel Core i3 CPU: 2-core

16 GB RAM Upgradeable

BANK 0/DIMM0

4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

BANK 0/DIMM1

4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM1

4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported

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

Video Information: ℹ️

ATI Radeon HD 5670 - VRAM: 512 MB

iMac 2560 x 1440

System Software: ℹ️

OS X 10.9.5 (13F34) - Time since boot: 12:9:20

Disk Information: ℹ️

ST31000528AS disk0 : (1 TB)

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Jeff's HD (disk0s2) / : 999.35 GB (200.79 GB free)

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

HL-DT-STDVDRW GA32N

USB Information: ℹ️

Apple, Inc. Keyboard Hub

Mitsumi Electric Apple Optical USB Mouse

SMI USB2.0 Card Reader

Apple, Inc Apple Keyboard

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Apple Inc. Built-in iSight

American Power Conversion Back-UPS BR 800 FW:9.o4 .D USB FW:o4

Apple Internal Memory Card Reader

Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Firewire Information: ℹ️

Seagate FA GoFlex Desk 800mbit - 800mbit max

disk1s1 (disk1s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Time Machine (disk1s2) /Volumes/Time Machine : 1.00 TB (79.37 GB free)

Jeff's External 1 (disk1s3) /Volumes/Jeff's External 1 : 1.00 TB (78.54 GB free)

Jeff's External 2 (disk1s4) /Volumes/Jeff's External 2 : 999.39 GB (195.41 GB free)

OWC Elite Pro U3FW 800mbit - 800mbit max

EFI (disk2s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

External 3 (disk2s2) /Volumes/External 3 : 1.00 TB (922.72 GB free)

External 4 (disk2s3) /Volumes/External 4 : 1.00 TB (999.40 GB free)

External 5 (disk2s4) /Volumes/External 5 : 1.00 TB (999.40 GB free)

External 6 (disk2s5) /Volumes/External 6 : 999.85 GB (999.19 GB free)

Gatekeeper: ℹ️

Anywhere

Kernel Extensions: ℹ️

/Applications/Utilities/DiskWarrior.app

[not loaded] com.alsoft.Preview (4.4) [Click for support]

/Users/[redacted]/Library/Application Support/Sparkle/Transmit/Transmit 4.1.7 Update 1/Transmit.app

[not loaded] com.panic.TransmitDisk.transmitdiskfs (3.0.0 - SDK 10.5) [Click for support]

/Users/[redacted]/Library/Services/ToastIt.service/Contents/MacOS

[not loaded] com.roxio.TDIXController (2.0) [Click for support]

/Volumes/External 3/Applications not using/Toast 10 Titanium/Toast Titanium.app

[not loaded] com.roxio.BluRaySupport (1.1.6) [Click for support]

Startup Items: ℹ️

CiscoVPN: Path: /System/Library/StartupItems/CiscoVPN

ProTec6: Path: /Library/StartupItems/ProTec6

ProTec6b: Path: /Library/StartupItems/ProTec6b

Startup items are obsolete in OS X Yosemite <--- My note: but I'm not using Yosemite. I'm using 10.9.5

Problem System Launch Daemons: ℹ️

[failed] com.apple.installd.plist

[failed] com.apple.wdhelper.plist

Launch Agents: ℹ️

[not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist [Click for support]

[running] com.adobe.AdobeCreativeCloud.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.adobe.CS4ServiceManager.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.adobe.CS5ServiceManager.plist [Click for support]

[not loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist [Click for support]

[running] net.culater.SIMBL.Agent.plist [Click for support]

Launch Daemons: ℹ️

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist [Click for support]

[not loaded] com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.adobe.versioncueCS3.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.adobe.versioncueCS4.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.barebones.bbedit.plist [Click for support]

[running] com.crashplan.engine.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2.Agent.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.oracle.java.JavaUpdateHelper.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.rogueamoeba.instanton-agent.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.timesoftware.timemachineeditor.backupd-auto.plist [Click for support]

User Launch Agents: ℹ️

[loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist [Click for support]

[running] com.amazon.music.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2Helper.diskSpaceWatcher.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2Helper.scheduledScan.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2Helper.trashWatcher.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.pia.pia_manager.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.shirtpocket.backupbytime.plist [Click for support]

User Login Items: ℹ️

Default Folder X Helper Application (/Library/PreferencePanes/Default Folder X.prefPane/Contents/Resources/Default Folder X Helper.app)

FontExplorerXAutoload Application Hidden (/Users/[redacted]/Library/Application Support/Linotype/FontExplorer X/FontExplorerXAutoload.app)

Shoo Apps Application (/Applications/Utilities/Shoo Apps.app)

SIMBL Agent Application (/Library/ScriptingAdditions/SIMBL.osax/Contents/Resources/SIMBL Agent.app)

CleanAgent Application (/Applications/Clean.app/Contents/Resources/CleanAgent.app)

TransmitMenu Application (/Applications/Transmit.app/Contents/MacOS/TransmitMenu.app)

Spotdox Application (/Applications/Spotdox.app)

Dropbox Application (/Applications/Dropbox.app)

Rogue Amoeba Schedule Helper Application Hidden (/Library/Application Support/Audio Hijack Pro/Rogue Amoeba Schedule Helper.app)

CrashPlan menu bar Application (/Applications/CrashPlan.app/Contents/Helpers/CrashPlan menu bar.app)

TotalFinder Application (/Applications/TotalFinder.app)

Wondershare Helper Compact Application (/Users/[redacted]/Library/Application Support/Helper/Wondershare Helper Compact.app)

Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️

Google Earth Web Plug-in: Version: 6.1 [Click for support]

Default Browser: Version: 537 - SDK 10.9

Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: Version: 2.4.4.2 [Click for support]

OfficeLiveBrowserPlugin: Version: 12.2.6 [Click for support]

AdobeAAMDetect: Version: AdobeAAMDetect 2.0.0.0 - SDK 10.7 [Click for support]

FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 17.0.0.134 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

Silverlight: Version: 5.1.30514.0 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

Flash Player: Version: 17.0.0.134 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0 - SDK 10.8

SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.4.8 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

AdobePDFViewer: Version: 9.5.5 [Click for support]

JavaAppletPlugin: Version: Java 8 Update 40 Check version

Safari Extensions: ℹ️

1Password

Video Converter

Web Snapper

Aimersoft Video Converter

Audio Plug-ins: ℹ️

DVCPROHDAudio: Version: 1.3.2

3rd Party Preference Panes: ℹ️

Adobe Version Cue CS4 [Click for support]

AppTrap [Click for support]

Cameras [Click for support]

Default Folder X [Click for support]

Flash Player [Click for support]

Flip4Mac WMV [Click for support]

Java [Click for support]

MacFUSE [Click for support]

Perian [Click for support]

Time Machine: ℹ️

Skip System Files: NO

Mobile backups: OFF

Auto backup: YES

Volumes being backed up:

Jeff's HD: Disk size: 999.35 GB Disk used: 798.56 GB

Destinations:

Time Machince [Local]

Total size: 1.00 TB

Total number of backups: 61

Oldest backup: 2014-12-14 05:57:19 +0000

Last backup: 2015-04-09 10:48:30 +0000

Size of backup disk: Too small

Backup size 1.00 TB < (Disk used 798.56 GB X 3)

Top Processes by CPU: ℹ️

21% firefox

5% 2BUA8C4S2C.com.agilebits.onepassword4-helper

5% WindowServer

2% Shoo Apps

1% AppleSpell

Top Processes by Memory: ℹ️

1.03 GB CrashPlanService

412 MB firefox

172 MB Finder

120 MB mds_stores

120 MB WindowServer

Virtual Memory Information: ℹ️

11.24 GB Free RAM

1.80 GB Active RAM

2.16 GB Inactive RAM

1.67 GB Wired RAM

12.22 GB Page-ins

385 MB Page-outs

Diagnostics Information: ℹ️

Apr 9, 2015, 05:45:57 AM /Users/[redacted]/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/plugin-container_2015-04-09-05 4557_[redacted].crash

Apr 8, 2015, 07:18:16 PM /Users/[redacted]/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/plugin-container_2015-04-08-19 1816_[redacted].crash

Apr 8, 2015, 07:09:00 PM Self test - passed

Apr 7, 2015, 07:48:59 AM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/firefox_2015-04-07-074859_[redacted].hang

Apr 6, 2015, 07:28:54 AM /Users/[redacted]/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/plugin-container_2015-04-06-07 2854_[redacted].crash

iPhoto '11, OS X Mavericks (10.9.5)

Posted on Apr 9, 2015 9:04 AM

Reply

Answer 1

etresoft

Level 9

51,022 points

Apr 9, 2015 9:22 AM in response to outtacontext

So how much memory is kernel_task using? The current version of EtreCheck doesn't print that, the next version will.

Firefox is still using a lot of CPU, even while EtreCheck is running. Why? CrashPlan is using a whole lot of RAM.

Standard advice is always to remove any "clean up" programs before attempting to debug anything.

Finally, that note about startup items is just there to warn you if you do decide to upgrade to Yosemite. All of that software listed in that section will not work properly in Yosemite. This was a change that Apple made in 2006 by the way.

Reply

Answer 2

outtacontext Author

Level 1

16 points

Apr 9, 2015 9:26 AM in response to etresoft

Well, when I start Firefox, all is well. And the kernel_task is only using about 1GB of RAM, which is fine. But if I leave Firefox open like overnight, the next morning, there is no more RAM for applications to use and many of them have been paused. At that point the kernel_task is up to a bit over 9GB. Force quitting FF fixes everything. But I'm tired of this happening. And wish I could find the culprit. As I said, up until about a month ago, I had lots of tabs open, yadda and there was no problem.

Reply

Answer 3

BobHarris

Level 9

55,109 points

Apr 9, 2015 10:20 AM in response to outtacontext

Kernel Extensions: ℹ️

/Applications/Utilities/DiskWarrior.app

[not loaded] com.alsoft.Preview (4.4) [Click for support]

/Users/[redacted]/Library/Application Support/Sparkle/Transmit/Transmit 4.1.7 Update 1/Transmit.app

[not loaded] com.panic.TransmitDisk.transmitdiskfs (3.0.0 - SDK 10.5) [Click for support]

/Users/[redacted]/Library/Services/ToastIt.service/Contents/MacOS

[not loaded] com.roxio.TDIXController (2.0) [Click for support]

/Volumes/External 3/Applications not using/Toast 10 Titanium/Toast Titanium.app

[not loaded] com.roxio.BluRaySupport (1.1.6) [Click for support]

Copied from the other thread:

One of these drivers is most likely responsible for the 9GB kernel_task memory usage you reported in the previous thread. kernel extensions can be dynamically loaded, so you should really look when kernel_task is using excessive memory.

Startup Items: ℹ️

CiscoVPN: Path: /System/Library/StartupItems/CiscoVPN

ProTec6: Path: /Library/StartupItems/ProTec6

ProTec6b: Path: /Library/StartupItems/ProTec6b

Startup items are obsolete in OS X Yosemite <--- My note: but I'm not using Yosemite. I'm using 10.9.5

Apple depreciated Startup Items many versions ago. If you are still using these products, you should see if the vendor has newer versions that use Launch daemons or agents to start the service.

[loaded] com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2.Agent.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2Helper.diskSpaceWatcher.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2Helper.scheduledScan.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2Helper.trashWatcher.plist [Click for support]

You do not need a Mac cleaner. They tend to consume system resources and often fight the operating system.

The fact that you have 16GB and 12.22 GB Page-ins in ONLY half a day, means something is throwing away process memory, forcing Mac OS X to page process code back into memory over and over. Does CleanMyMac claim it will give you more free memory? If so it is wearing out your disk and defeating Mac OS X file system caching.

The long term forum contributes have seen Mac cleaners, memory cleaners, anti-malware products cause performance problems, and kernel panics. We do not like them.

Well, when I start Firefox, all is well. And the kernel_task is only using about 1GB of RAM, which is fine.

1GB kernel_task is in the range for a 16GB Mac.

But if I leave Firefox open like overnight, the next morning, there is no more RAM for applications to use and many of them have been paused. At that point the kernel_task is up to a bit over 9GB. Force quitting FF fixes everything. But I'm tired of this happening.

It is unusual for a user space app to cause kernel_task memory usage increase, unless something Firefox (or more likely some JavaScript from a web page, or one of your Firefox extensions) to actually cause the kernel_task to consume memory.

And wish I could find the culprit. As I said, up until about a month ago, I had lots of tabs open, yadda and there was no problem.

ASSUMING (which is a bad assumption) no software on your end has changed (no new versions of software, etc...), this could still be triggered by visiting a different web page with different JavaScript, or a web page you normally visit has changed their JavaScript and it is now causing problems. The JavaScript comes as part of the web page to be displayed, and is executed by your web browser.

While I use Firefox as my primary browser, it it the largest memory user on my systems (I have 16GB in my 2 primary systems), but nothing causes my kernel_task to use that much memory. My typical kernel_task memory usage is between 1GB and 1.25GB.

So the next time you have a kernel_task that is huge, grab an EtreCheck and maybe we will find a dynamically loaded kernel extension which we can point the finger of guilt at.

If you want to dig deeper, when you have a huge kernel_task, you could try the following command from an Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal session

ps -o rss,ucomm -ax | sort -n

This will list the processes using the most memory last. If kernel_task is 9GB, it is likely to be last. But it will show all the other processes using lots of memory. Sometime a process has lots of little sub-processes that as a group use lots of memory (the Chrome browser does this, with a process per tab, so just looking at Chrome you do not see much memory being used, but as a whole Chrome is using lots of memory; Chrome does this so tab A does not affect Tab B, C, D, ... and any JavaScript run in one Tab cannot not see anything in another Tab; but it has the side effect of obscuring how much system resources Chrome is using in total).

Reply

Answer 4

outtacontext Author

Level 1

16 points

Apr 9, 2015 10:34 AM in response to BobHarris

I'm even getting this with four tabs open.

As for the kernel extensions, I'm not using any of these except maybe Transmit but even that is rare. I haven't noticed any of these showing up when I look at my Activity monitor. Can I just toss them (if needed will the app create a new one)?

So you don't think daisy-chaining my drives to the my computer could be the culprit? I fear this only because I had an external drive that kept wrecking my computer. I think it was a faulty cable. But this is bringing out the PTSD from that prior experience. LOL

Reply

Answer 5

Eric Root

Level 10

684,603 points

Apr 9, 2015 11:42 AM in response to outtacontext

As Bob posted, you do not need to use cleaning programs. They can destroy your computer operation as they may already have done.

CleanMyMac - Uninstall

CleanMyMac2 Un-install

After un-installing, use this program to make sure you got all the pieces.

EasyFind – Spotlight Replacement

SIMBL is a sytem hack. Try removing it.

SIMBL Uninstall (2) See solution posted by Linc Davis .

Reply

Answer 6

outtacontext Author

Level 1

16 points

Apr 9, 2015 12:23 PM in response to Eric Root

I will do those thing, Eric. Thx. I also use an app that finds all the pieces of apps I want to trash, so that should be easy.

Reply

Answer 7

etresoft

Level 9

51,022 points

Apr 9, 2015 3:18 PM in response to outtacontext

Kernel extensions aren't like regular software. Whether you are running the associated software or not, the kernel extensions might always be loaded and running. In your case, they appear to be unloaded. But in this context of remote-support-via-internet-forum, we generally ask people to remove software that could possibly be related, just because so much of everything is guesswork. That is usually the logic behind people asking to uninstall various "clean up" and antivirus software. The people who generally answer questions don't have problems like this and also don't have "clean up" or antivirus software. Our goal is to get your machine into a configuration closer to our own, which we know runs well. If there are 6 different unknown factors, some of which literally make your machine run a different operating system, you are unlikely to have good results. At that point, people are just guessing. Therefore, we just ask you to remove the software we know you don't need, then we can focus on what is left.

Reply

Answer 8

outtacontext Author

Level 1

16 points

Apr 9, 2015 4:43 PM in response to Eric Root

Okay, I've thrown away everything I was told to do and did a new EtreCheck report. Here it is. Problem areas are in red and questions or comments are in green. I'm showing two files from CleanMyMac2 but I got rid of all the files and when I did a search on these files listed here I got no results.

EtreCheck version: 2.1.8 (121)

Report generated April 9, 2015 at 7:26:24 PM EDT

Download EtreCheck from http://etresoft.com/etrecheck

Click the [Click for support] links for help with non-Apple products.

Click the [Click for details] links for more information about that line.

Hardware Information: ℹ️

iMac (27-inch, Mid 2010) (Technical Specifications)

iMac - model: iMac11,3

1 3.2 GHz Intel Core i3 CPU: 2-core

16 GB RAM Upgradeable

BANK 0/DIMM0

4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

BANK 0/DIMM1

4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM1

4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported

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

Video Information: ℹ️

ATI Radeon HD 5670 - VRAM: 512 MB

iMac 2560 x 1440

System Software: ℹ️

OS X 10.9.5 (13F34) - Time since boot: 0:4:56

Disk Information: ℹ️

ST31000528AS disk0 : (1 TB)

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Jeff's HD (disk0s2) / : 999.35 GB (200.12 GB free)

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

HL-DT-STDVDRW GA32N

USB Information: ℹ️

American Power Conversion Back-UPS BR 800 FW:9.o4 .D USB FW:o4

Apple Internal Memory Card Reader

Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Apple, Inc. Keyboard Hub

Mitsumi Electric Apple Optical USB Mouse

SMI USB2.0 Card Reader

Apple, Inc Apple Keyboard

Apple Inc. Built-in iSight

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Firewire Information: ℹ️

Seagate FA GoFlex Desk 800mbit - 800mbit max

disk1s1 (disk1s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Time Machine (disk1s2) /Volumes/Time Machine : 1.00 TB (76.99 GB free)

Jeff's External 1 (disk1s3) /Volumes/Jeff's External 1 : 1.00 TB (78.55 GB free)

Jeff's External 2 (disk1s4) /Volumes/Jeff's External 2 : 999.39 GB (195.75 GB free)

OWC Elite Pro U3FW 800mbit - 800mbit max

EFI (disk2s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

External 3 (disk2s2) /Volumes/External 3 : 1.00 TB (922.72 GB free)

External 4 (disk2s3) /Volumes/External 4 : 1.00 TB (999.40 GB free)

External 5 (disk2s4) /Volumes/External 5 : 1.00 TB (999.40 GB free)

External 6 (disk2s5) /Volumes/External 6 : 999.85 GB (999.19 GB free)

Gatekeeper: ℹ️

Anywhere

Kernel Extensions: ℹ️

/Library/Application Support/Roxio

[not loaded] com.roxio.TDIXController (2.0) [Click for support]

Launch Agents: ℹ️

[not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist [Click for support]

[running] com.adobe.AdobeCreativeCloud.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.adobe.CS4ServiceManager.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.adobe.CS5ServiceManager.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist [Click for support]

Launch Daemons: ℹ️

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist [Click for support]

[not loaded] com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.adobe.versioncueCS3.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.adobe.versioncueCS4.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.barebones.bbedit.plist [Click for support]

[running] com.crashplan.engine.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2.Agent.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.oracle.java.JavaUpdateHelper.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.rogueamoeba.instanton-agent.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.timesoftware.timemachineeditor.backupd-auto.plist [Click for support]

User Launch Agents: ℹ️

[loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist [Click for support]

[running] com.amazon.music.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2Helper.diskSpaceWatcher.plist [Click for support] <---WOULD SOMEONE TELL ME WHY THESE ARE STILL HERE? (AND THE ONE BELOW)? I DELETED THE APP AND ALL FILES. I ALSO DID A SEARCH OF THESE AND GOT NO RESULTS.

[failed] com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2Helper.scheduledScan.plist [Click for support] [Click for details]

[loaded] com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2Helper.trashWatcher.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.pia.pia_manager.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.shirtpocket.backupbytime.plist [Click for support]

User Login Items: ℹ️

Default Folder X Helper Application (/Library/PreferencePanes/Default Folder X.prefPane/Contents/Resources/Default Folder X Helper.app)

FontExplorerXAutoload Application Hidden (/Users/[redacted]/Library/Application Support/Linotype/FontExplorer X/FontExplorerXAutoload.app)

Shoo Apps Application (/Applications/Utilities/Shoo Apps.app)

SIMBL Agent UNKNOWN (missing value) <---THIS HAS BEEN DELETED IN THE LOGIN ITEMS AND IT WASN'T FOUND ANYWAY

CleanAgent Application (/Applications/Clean.app/Contents/Resources/CleanAgent.app)

TransmitMenu Application (/Applications/Transmit.app/Contents/MacOS/TransmitMenu.app)

Spotdox Application (/Applications/Spotdox.app)

Dropbox Application (/Applications/Dropbox.app)

Rogue Amoeba Schedule Helper Application Hidden (/Library/Application Support/Audio Hijack Pro/Rogue Amoeba Schedule Helper.app)

TotalFinder Application (/Applications/TotalFinder.app)

Wondershare Helper Compact Application (/Users/[redacted]/Library/Application Support/Helper/Wondershare Helper Compact.app)

CrashPlan menu bar Application (/Applications/CrashPlan.app/Contents/Helpers/CrashPlan menu bar.app)

Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️

Google Earth Web Plug-in: Version: 6.1 [Click for support]

Default Browser: Version: 537 - SDK 10.9

Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: Version: 2.4.4.2 [Click for support]

OfficeLiveBrowserPlugin: Version: 12.2.6 [Click for support]

AdobeAAMDetect: Version: AdobeAAMDetect 2.0.0.0 - SDK 10.7 [Click for support]

FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 17.0.0.134 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

Silverlight: Version: 5.1.30514.0 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

Flash Player: Version: 17.0.0.134 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0 - SDK 10.8

SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.4.8 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

AdobePDFViewer: Version: 9.5.5 [Click for support]

JavaAppletPlugin: Version: Java 8 Update 40 Check version

Safari Extensions: ℹ️

1Password

Video Converter

Web Snapper

Aimersoft Video Converter

Audio Plug-ins: ℹ️

DVCPROHDAudio: Version: 1.3.2

3rd Party Preference Panes: ℹ️

Adobe Version Cue CS4 [Click for support]

AppTrap [Click for support]

Cameras [Click for support]

Default Folder X [Click for support]

Flash Player [Click for support]

Flip4Mac WMV [Click for support]

Java [Click for support]

MacFUSE [Click for support]

Perian [Click for support]

Time Machine: ℹ️

Skip System Files: NO

Mobile backups: OFF

Auto backup: YES

Volumes being backed up:

Jeff's HD: Disk size: 999.35 GB Disk used: 799.22 GB

Destinations:

Time Machince [Local]

Total size: 1.00 TB

Total number of backups: 59

Oldest backup: 2014-12-14 05:57:19 +0000

Last backup: 2015-04-09 23:03:13 +0000

Size of backup disk: Too small

Backup size 1.00 TB < (Disk used 799.22 GB X 3) <--- WOULD SOMEONE TELL ME WHY THIS IS TOO SMALL? MY TIME MACHINE IS THE SAME SIZE AS MY INTERNAL HD

Top Processes by CPU: ℹ️

153% firefox

36% CrashPlanService

32% mdworker32

20% Microsoft Outlook

19% Microsoft Database Daemon

Top Processes by Memory: ℹ️

766 MB firefox

344 MB mds_stores

326 MB CrashPlanService

326 MB com.apple.IconServicesAgent

103 MB Finder

Virtual Memory Information: ℹ️

12.06 GB Free RAM

2.87 GB Active RAM

1.16 GB Inactive RAM

1.08 GB Wired RAM

773 MB Page-ins

0 B Page-outs

Diagnostics Information: ℹ️

Apr 9, 2015, 07:15:00 PM Self test - passed

Apr 9, 2015, 05:57:00 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/BBEdit_2015-04-09-175700_[redacted].hang

Apr 9, 2015, 05:57:00 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/firefox_2015-04-09-175700_[redacted].hang

Apr 9, 2015, 05:54:17 PM /Users/[redacted]/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/plugin-container_2015-04-09-17 5417_[redacted].crash

Apr 9, 2015, 05:45:57 AM /Users/[redacted]/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/plugin-container_2015-04-09-05 4557_[redacted].crash

Apr 8, 2015, 07:18:16 PM /Users/[redacted]/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/plugin-container_2015-04-08-19 1816_[redacted].crash

Apr 7, 2015, 07:48:59 AM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/firefox_2015-04-07-074859_[redacted].hang

Reply

Answer 9

etresoft

Level 9

51,022 points

Apr 9, 2015 6:16 PM in response to outtacontext

Unfortunately, you can't just throw away file. You must use a vendor-provided uninstaller or uninstallation instructions. Never try to manually delete files. Never use an "app zapper". In some cases, software is low-quality and does not even have an uninstaller or instructions. In those cases, you will have to scour the internet for instructions. Chances are, software like that is likely related to your problems.

Your Time Machine disk should ideally be three times as large as all of the data you are backing up. Sometimes you can get away with less, like twice the size. The smaller you go, the more work Time Machine has to do, and the worse it performs.

As for Firefox, I just don't know what to tell you. You have memory usage of kernel_task that is ten times too high. You have a web browser that should be doing virtually nothing but it taking virtually all of your CPU. At this point, I'm ready to say you would wipe the drive and reinstall the operating system. Maybe there is one specific thing that is causing the problem. But you have about 9 different things that could potentially be that one thing.

Reply

Answer 10

BobHarris

Level 9

55,109 points

Apr 9, 2015 7:00 PM in response to outtacontext

Size of backup disk: Too small

Backup size 1.00 TB < (Disk used 799.22 GB X 3) <--- WOULD SOMEONE TELL ME WHY THIS IS TOO SMALL? MY TIME MACHINE IS THE SAME SIZE AS MY INTERNAL HD

Time Machine creates an incremental backup ever hour with the files that have been modified since the last backup. After it has 'n' hourly incrementals it consolidates into a day and collects 'm' days, and then consolidates into weeklys, then monthly's etc... So you can go back in time to get a file that was modified or deleted months in time. Each incremental only uses as much storage as a duplicate of the file modified.

If you JUST have a backup drive the same size as the boot drive, then Time Machine will be constantly throwing away the oldest backup to make room for the new stuff, and the distance you will be able to go back in time to look for a previous version or deleted file becomes very limited.

EtreCheck's 3-times the boot disk size can give you a year or more of backup history before Time Machine is forced to delete the oldest incremental versions.

Reply

Answer 11

Eric Root

Level 10

684,603 points

Apr 10, 2015 11:53 AM in response to outtacontext

Did you try using EasyFind?

Time Machine FAQ

Reply

Answer 12

outtacontext Author

Level 1

16 points

Apr 11, 2015 8:56 AM in response to Eric Root

Thanks. EasyFind helped a lot.

Okay, I got rid of all the CleanMyMac files. And I decided to purge my computer of just about every Firefox and Mozilla file (not all as they seemed to be linked to other apps) –and that included the Firefox app. Did that last night. No problems this morning with memory leaks at all (of course, just quitting Firefox prevents the memory leaks). But I wanted to start out fresh. I've installed the latest FF version. The only extension I've added is for 1Password. I left all the plugins that come with the initial install.

I ran another report from EtreCheck. Everything checks out except for the size of my Time Machine and the fact that I've set the computer to be able to download any app I want (I'm careful). A note about the size of my Time Machine. As it stands now, my TM goes back to mid December. That's four months worth. And that's fine for me. I've got off site backups as well. But, generally, if I need to restore something it's something I *just* accidentally threw away or say, a Photoshop file that I resized for online use but forgot to undo it before saving. I think, for the moment that works for me.

Here's the EtreCheck report. Is there anything else I need to be concerned about? I will slowly add any Add-Ons to FF, one at a time. But first, I will see if this initial reinstall holds. Thank you all for your help. Hopefully, this will work.

Problem description:

EtreCheck version: 2.1.8 (121)

Report generated April 11, 2015 at 8:25:38 AM EDT

Download EtreCheck from http://etresoft.com/etrecheck

Click the [Click for support] links for help with non-Apple products.

Click the [Click for details] links for more information about that line.

Hardware Information: ℹ️

iMac (27-inch, Mid 2010) (Technical Specifications)

iMac - model: iMac11,3

1 3.2 GHz Intel Core i3 CPU: 2-core

16 GB RAM Upgradeable

BANK 0/DIMM0

4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

BANK 0/DIMM1

4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM1

4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported

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

Video Information: ℹ️

ATI Radeon HD 5670 - VRAM: 512 MB

iMac 2560 x 1440

System Software: ℹ️

OS X 10.9.5 (13F1077) - Time since boot: 13:27:3

Disk Information: ℹ️

ST31000528AS disk0 : (1 TB)

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Jeff's HD (disk0s2) / : 999.35 GB (200.03 GB free)

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

HL-DT-STDVDRW GA32N

USB Information: ℹ️

American Power Conversion Back-UPS BR 800 FW:9.o4 .D USB FW:o4

Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Apple Internal Memory Card Reader

Apple, Inc. Keyboard Hub

Mitsumi Electric Apple Optical USB Mouse

SMI USB2.0 Card Reader

Apple, Inc Apple Keyboard

Apple Inc. Built-in iSight

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Firewire Information: ℹ️

Seagate FA GoFlex Desk 800mbit - 800mbit max

disk1s1 (disk1s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Time Machine (disk1s2) /Volumes/Time Machine : 1.00 TB (74.04 GB free)

Jeff's External 1 (disk1s3) /Volumes/Jeff's External 1 : 1.00 TB (77.97 GB free)

Jeff's External 2 (disk1s4) /Volumes/Jeff's External 2 : 999.39 GB (196.52 GB free)

OWC Elite Pro U3FW 800mbit - 800mbit max

EFI (disk2s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

External 3 (disk2s2) /Volumes/External 3 : 1.00 TB (922.72 GB free)

External 4 (disk2s3) /Volumes/External 4 : 1.00 TB (999.40 GB free)

External 5 (disk2s4) /Volumes/External 5 : 1.00 TB (999.40 GB free)

External 6 (disk2s5) /Volumes/External 6 : 999.85 GB (999.19 GB free)

Gatekeeper: ℹ️

Anywhere

Kernel Extensions: ℹ️

/Volumes/External 3/Applications not using/Toast 10 Titanium/Toast Titanium.app

[not loaded] com.roxio.BluRaySupport (1.1.6) [Click for support]

[not loaded] com.roxio.TDIXController (2.0) [Click for support]

/Volumes/Jeff's External 2/Applications/Transmit.app

[not loaded] com.panic.TransmitDisk.transmitdiskfs (4.0.0 - SDK 10.6) [Click for support]

/Volumes/Jeff's External 2/Applications/Utilities/DiskWarrior.app

[not loaded] com.alsoft.Preview (4.4) [Click for support]

Launch Agents: ℹ️

[not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist [Click for support]

[running] com.adobe.AdobeCreativeCloud.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.adobe.CS4ServiceManager.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.adobe.CS5ServiceManager.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist [Click for support]

Launch Daemons: ℹ️

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist [Click for support]

[not loaded] com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.adobe.versioncueCS3.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.adobe.versioncueCS4.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.barebones.bbedit.plist [Click for support]

[running] com.crashplan.engine.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.oracle.java.JavaUpdateHelper.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.rogueamoeba.instanton-agent.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.timesoftware.timemachineeditor.backupd-auto.plist [Click for support]

User Launch Agents: ℹ️

[loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist [Click for support]

[running] com.amazon.music.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.pia.pia_manager.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.shirtpocket.backupbytime.plist [Click for support]

User Login Items: ℹ️

Default Folder X Helper Application (/Library/PreferencePanes/Default Folder X.prefPane/Contents/Resources/Default Folder X Helper.app)

FontExplorerXAutoload Application Hidden (/Users/[redacted]/Library/Application Support/Linotype/FontExplorer X/FontExplorerXAutoload.app)

Shoo Apps Application (/Applications/Utilities/Shoo Apps.app)

CleanAgent Application (/Applications/Clean.app/Contents/Resources/CleanAgent.app)

TransmitMenu Application (/Applications/Transmit.app/Contents/MacOS/TransmitMenu.app)

Spotdox Application (/Applications/Spotdox.app)

Dropbox Application (/Applications/Dropbox.app)

Rogue Amoeba Schedule Helper Application Hidden (/Library/Application Support/Audio Hijack Pro/Rogue Amoeba Schedule Helper.app)

TotalFinder Application (/Applications/TotalFinder.app)

Wondershare Helper Compact Application (/Users/[redacted]/Library/Application Support/Helper/Wondershare Helper Compact.app)

CrashPlan menu bar Application (/Applications/CrashPlan.app/Contents/Helpers/CrashPlan menu bar.app)

Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️

Google Earth Web Plug-in: Version: 6.1 [Click for support]

Default Browser: Version: 537 - SDK 10.9

Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: Version: 2.4.4.2 [Click for support]

OfficeLiveBrowserPlugin: Version: 12.2.6 [Click for support]

AdobeAAMDetect: Version: AdobeAAMDetect 2.0.0.0 - SDK 10.7 [Click for support]

FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 17.0.0.134 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

Silverlight: Version: 5.1.30514.0 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

Flash Player: Version: 17.0.0.134 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0 - SDK 10.8

SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.4.8 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

AdobePDFViewer: Version: 9.5.5 [Click for support]

JavaAppletPlugin: Version: Java 8 Update 40 Check version

Safari Extensions: ℹ️

1Password

Video Converter

Web Snapper

Aimersoft Video Converter

Audio Plug-ins: ℹ️

DVCPROHDAudio: Version: 1.3.2

3rd Party Preference Panes: ℹ️

Adobe Version Cue CS4 [Click for support]

AppTrap [Click for support]

Cameras [Click for support]

Default Folder X [Click for support]

Flash Player [Click for support]

Flip4Mac WMV [Click for support]

Java [Click for support]

MacFUSE [Click for support]

Perian [Click for support]

Time Machine: ℹ️

Skip System Files: NO

Mobile backups: OFF

Auto backup: YES

Volumes being backed up:

Jeff's HD: Disk size: 999.35 GB Disk used: 799.31 GB

Destinations:

Time Machince [Local]

Total size: 1.00 TB

Total number of backups: 62

Oldest backup: 2014-12-14 05:57:19 +0000

Last backup: 2015-04-11 11:40:46 +0000

Size of backup disk: Too small

Backup size 1.00 TB < (Disk used 799.31 GB X 3)

Top Processes by CPU: ℹ️

24% mds

5% CrashPlanService

5% WindowServer

2% Shoo Apps

1% AppleSpell

Top Processes by Memory: ℹ️

1.19 GB CrashPlanService

515 MB mds_stores

464 MB Finder

378 MB com.apple.IconServicesAgent

137 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent

Virtual Memory Information: ℹ️

8.89 GB Free RAM

4.67 GB Active RAM

2.28 GB Inactive RAM

1.34 GB Wired RAM

1.74 GB Page-ins

0 B Page-outs

Diagnostics Information: ℹ️

Apr 10, 2015, 06:55:01 PM Self test - passed

Apr 10, 2015, 05:55:56 PM /Users/[redacted]/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/plugin-container_2015-04-10-17 5556_[redacted].crash

Apr 9, 2015, 11:55:53 PM /Users/[redacted]/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/plugin-container_2015-04-09-23 5553_[redacted].crash

Apr 9, 2015, 05:57:00 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/BBEdit_2015-04-09-175700_[redacted].hang

Apr 9, 2015, 05:54:17 PM /Users/[redacted]/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/plugin-container_2015-04-09-17 5417_[redacted].crash

Apr 9, 2015, 05:45:57 AM /Users/[redacted]/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/plugin-container_2015-04-09-05 4557_[redacted].crash

Apr 8, 2015, 07:18:16 PM /Users/[redacted]/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/plugin-container_2015-04-08-19 1816_[redacted].crash

Reply

Answer 13

Eric Root

Level 10

684,603 points

Apr 11, 2015 9:21 AM in response to outtacontext

Looks clean to me. If everything is operating normally, then enjoy your computer.

Reply

Answer 14

outtacontext Author

Level 1

16 points

Apr 11, 2015 9:52 AM in response to Eric Root

Thanks Eric. And thanks again for everyone's help. So far, the kernel_task is at about 1GB. I will keep Firefox open for the rest of the day and see what happens.

Reply

Answer 15

etresoft

Level 9

51,022 points

Apr 11, 2015 12:22 PM in response to outtacontext

outtacontext wrote:

I've set the computer to be able to download any app I want (I'm careful).

You can always download anything you want. Gatekeeper prevents unsigned software from running. You can try to be careful when downloading, but there is no way to be careful enough to stop an app from launching a malicious helper. I strongly suggest turning GateKeeper back to its default setting. Then, instead of a false confidence in your ability to be careful, the operating system will handle that for you. If you do need to bypass GateKeeper for unsigned software that you know to be safe, just right click on the app and choose "Open".

A note about the size of my Time Machine. As it stands now, my TM goes back to mid December. That's four months worth. And that's fine for me.

It is not really a matter of the backup history, but working space and reliability. Sometimes, things happen and Time Machine may decide it needs to back up 400 GB worth. If you are lucky, it will just fail. If you aren't lucky, it will delete all of your backups and then fail. It will still work, but it isn't going to be as fast or reliable as it would be if you had more space.

Also, you still have some suspicious software. You should investigate those plugin-container crashes. I'm not sure about TotalFinder and Default Folder. I know I don't like any app with the name "clean" in it.

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