Startup Disk full and Kernel Task using a lot of memory

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Level 1

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Startup Disk full and Kernel Task using a lot of memory

Hello All,

Up front, please forgive my ignorance about computers. I have been finding that just about every task I do on my MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2.53GHz, Mid 2009) I get an error message saying my startup disk is full (any kind of file saving, opening files from zotero an online library, making edits in preview). This is, I assume, why it is also running very very slowly with frequent beach balls. The problem is worsened when I use google chrome. In the short term, I keep it off, but that is not a long-term solution.

I do not have the money at the moment to add more storage, so I was looking in my Activity Monitor to see what was using a lot of memory and Kernel Task and Google Chrome were the biggest offenders (kt uses 600-900MB with chrome off). In googling how to fix this, I came across a number of posts that suggest that 3rd party kernel extensions could up the kernel task usage unnecessarily and that useless apps running in the background might effect memory problems (though I am not sure if this is "startup memory").

Can anyone suggest actions I can take to freeup the startup disk memory? Are there useless things I could delete? How do I get rid of 3rd party kernel extensions? I want to avoid installing any memory "cleaners" which is what many of the startup memory threads suggest.

Problem description:

I receive an error message that startup disk is full. Do I have crapware I need to uninstall?

EtreCheck version: 2.2 (132)

Report generated 5/28/15, 11:33 AM

downloadetrecheckhttp://etresoft.com/etrecheck

hardware info

MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2.53GHz, Mid 2009) (Verified)

MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro5,4

1 2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU: 2-core

8 GB RAM Upgradeable

BANK 0/DIMM0

4 GB DDR3 1067 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

4 GB DDR3 1067 MHz ok

Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported

Wireless: 1 interface (plural rule: one) en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n

Battery: Health = Good - Cycle count = 293 - SN = W0229P9UABWZA

video info

NVIDIA GeForce 9400M - VRAM: 256 MB

Color LCD 1440 x 900

systemsoftware info

OS X 10.10.2 (14C1514) - Uptime: 0 day (plural rule: other)23:20:43

disk info

M4-CT256M4SSD2 disk0 : (256.06 GB)

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

SSD (disk0s2) / [Startup]: 255.20 GB (2.67 GB free) (Low!)

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

usb info

Apple Internal Memory Card Reader

Western Digital Elements 10B8 2 TB

EFI (disk1s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Black Data Backup (disk1s2) /Volumes/Black Data Backup : 2.00 TB (1.70 TB free)

Apple Inc. Built-in iSight

Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

configurationfiles info

/etc/hosts - Count: 1

gatekeeper info

Mac App Store and identified developers

kernelextensions info

/Applications/zoom.us.app

[not loaded] zoom.us.ZoomAudioDevice (1.1 - SDK 10.8) [Click for support]

/Library/Application Support/Symantec/Protector

[not loaded] com.symantec.kext.protector.panther (1.0f5) [Click for support]

[not loaded] com.symantec.kext.protector.tigerplus (1.0f5) [Click for support]

/Library/StartupItems/SymAutoProtect

[not loaded] com.Symantec.kext.SAVAPComm (11.0.6) [Click for support]

/System/Library/Extensions

[not loaded] com.ZTE.driver.ZTEUSBCDCACMData (1.3.35) [Click for support]

[not loaded] com.ZTE.driver.ZTEUSBMassStorageFilter (1.3.35) [Click for support]

[not loaded] com.olympus.DSSBlockCommandsDevice (1.1.0) [Click for support]

[not loaded] com.zte.driver.cdc_ecm_qmi (1.0.26) [Click for support]

[not loaded] com.zte.driver.cdc_usb_bus (1.0.26) [Click for support]

startupitems info

HWNetMgr: Path: /Library/StartupItems/HWNetMgr

HWPortDetect: Path: /Library/StartupItems/HWPortDetect

NortonMissedTasks: Path: /Library/StartupItems/NortonMissedTasks

SMC: Path: /Library/StartupItems/SMC

SymAutoProtect: Path: /Library/StartupItems/SymAutoProtect

SymProtector: Path: /Library/StartupItems/SymProtector

startupitemsdeprecated

systemlaunchagents info

[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.telephonyutilities.callservicesd.plist

5 pressurekilledcount (plural rule: other)

systemlaunchdaemons info

[killed] com.apple.awdd.plist

[killed] com.apple.ctkd.plist

[killed] com.apple.installd.plist

[killed] com.apple.nehelper.plist

[killed] com.apple.softwareupdate_download_service.plist

[killed] com.apple.wdhelper.plist

[running] de.novamedia.VMRServer.plist [Click for support]

6 pressurekilledcount (plural rule: other)

launchagents info

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

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

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

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

[running] com.symantec.quickmenu.application.plist [Click for support]

launchdaemons info

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

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

[loaded] com.bombich.ccc.plist [Click for support]

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

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

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

userlaunchagents info

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

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

[running] com.bitcasa.Bitcasa.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.nchsoftware.scribe.schedule.LikeSurvey.plist [Click for support]

loginitems info

GrowlHelperApp Application (/Library/PreferencePanes/Growl.prefPane/Contents/Resources/GrowlHelperApp.app)

Time Out Free Application (/Applications/Time Out Free.app)

GrowlHelperApp UNKNOWN (missing value)

iTunesHelper UNKNOWN Hidden (missing value)

My Day UNKNOWN (missing value)

Dropbox Application (/Applications/Dropbox.app)

Box Sync Application (/Applications/Box Sync.app)

Google Chrome Application Hidden (/Applications/Google Chrome.app)

EvernoteHelper Application (/Applications/Evernote.app/Contents/Library/LoginItems/EvernoteHelper.app)

SAVDiskMountNotify Application (/Library/Application Support/Symantec/AntiVirus/SAVDiskMountNotify.app)

ScanNotification Application (/Library/Application Support/Symantec/AntiVirus/ScanNotification.app)

SymSecondaryLaunch Application (/Library/Application Support/Norton Solutions Support/Scheduler/SymSecondaryLaunch.app)

internetplugins info

o1dbrowserplugin: Version: 5.41.0.0 - SDK 10.8 [Click for support]

OVSHelper: Version: 1.0 [Click for support]

Default Browser: Version: 600 - SDK 10.10

OfficeLiveBrowserPlugin: Version: 12.3.6 [Click for support]

Silverlight: Version: 5.0.61118.0 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 17.0.0.169 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

DivXBrowserPlugin: Version: 2.1 [Click for support]

Flash Player: Version: 17.0.0.169 - SDK 10.6 Outdated! Update

QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

googletalkbrowserplugin: Version: 5.41.0.0 - SDK 10.8 [Click for support]

iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0

AdobePDFViewer: Version: 9.5.5 [Click for support]

JavaAppletPlugin: Version: Java 8 Update 31 Check version

userinternetplugins info

fbplugin_1_0_3: Version: Unknown [Click for support]

CitrixOnlineWebDeploymentPlugin: Version: 1.0.60 [Click for support]

Picasa: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.4 [Click for support]

ZoomUsPlugIn: Version: 3.5.9172.0212 - SDK 10.10 [Click for support]

safariextensions info

DivX HiQ

DivX Plus Web Player HTML5 <video>

preferencepanes info

DivX [Click for support]

Flash Player [Click for support]

Growl [Click for support]

Java [Click for support]

SymAutoProtect

Symantec\nQuickMenu [Click for support]

timemachine info

Skip System Files: NO

Mobile backups: ON

Auto backup: YES

Volumes being backed up:

SSD: Disk size: 255.20 GB Disk used: 252.53 GB

Destinations:

Mac Backup 700 GB [Local]

Total size: 699.61 GB

Total number of backups: 46

Oldest backup: 2013-02-28 02:22:00 +0000

Last backup: 2015-02-23 14:25:35 +0000

Size of backup disk: Too small

Backup size 699.61 GB < (Disk used 252.53 GB X 3)

cpu info

13% firefox

7% WindowServer

2% sysmond

1% Box Sync Monitor

1% plugin-container(2)

memory info

1.14 GB firefox

890 MB kernel_task

213 MB mds_stores

197 MB mdworker(10)

98 MB Microsoft Word

vm info

2.90 GB Free RAM

5.10 GB Used RAM

799 MB Swap Used

diagnostics info

May 27, 2015, 12:11:57 PM Self test - passed

May 27, 2015, 12:07:22 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Google Chrome Helper_2015-05-27-120722_[redacted].crash

May 27, 2015, 12:07:19 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Google Chrome Helper_2015-05-27-120719_[redacted].crash

May 27, 2015, 12:07:16 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Google Chrome Helper_2015-05-27-120716_[redacted].crash

May 27, 2015, 11:36:05 AM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Google Chrome Helper_2015-05-27-113605_[redacted].crash

May 27, 2015, 11:19:35 AM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Google Chrome Helper_2015-05-27-111935_[redacted].crash

MacBook Pro (15-inch 2.53 GHz), OS X Yosemite (10.10.2)

Posted on May 28, 2015 11:47 AM

Reply

Answer 1

May 28, 2015 12:29 PM in response to btrekker

Empty the trash in the Dock as well as iPhoto’s trash!

Open up your application folder & go through all your apps. Trash all the apps you no longer want and/or use.

An easier way to do this is to open the Application folder in list view & press the Command+j keys.

In the the dialog that appears, click the "This Window Only" button & the "Calculate All Sizes" check box.

Wait a bit until your file & folder sizes have all been calculated, then click the "Size" column to sort your apps from the fattest to the most anorexic.

Get rid of all your photo files you don't want and/or need. Same goes for those pics off the websites you downloaded (gifs, jpegs, etc.). Or transfer/move them all to a photo/movie storage site like ImageShack and Photobucket, 2 of the most popular FREE storage sites.

Get rid of all your video & music files you no longer view and/or listen too. Especially, if you already have the actual CD/DVDs or you can later redownload from a website. Or transfer them all to a FREE video/movies and/or music storage site.

Use Spotlight to make sure you got rid of everything. You can even trash directly from Spotlight! Better yet, download this FREE software called Find File. This app puts Spotlight to shame (works w/Mountain Lion).

Drag what you don't want and/or need to the trash. Better yet, download this neat little shareware app *demo* called AppZapper. It basically does all the work for you by not only trashing the apps but the apps preference files, caches & all its associated files.

Another software that does the above is AppDelete. Best of all this software is free!

Burn what you want and/or need onto CDs or DVDs. Not everyone has the luxury of purchasing an external HD and/or the system requirements for iCloud to store their "stuff.”

Dropbox is a free storage utility to check out.

You can check with your ISP to see if they offer *free* storage space. Most if not all do now-a-days. There are thousands if not millions of *free* storage facilities on the web also. Use your favorite search engine to search them out as they come in different storage sizes to fit your needs & wants.

Check for duplicate fonts.

Applications>Font Book

Select “All Fonts”

If you see any “black dots” next to any fonts this mean you have duplicates and/or multiple versions of these fonts.

To clean this up, select a “black dotted” font or the Apple + *click* to select multiple dotted fonts;

Edit>Resolve>Duplicates.

What the above does is turns off the duplicates & multiple version fonts. Not delete them.

More than likely the “extras” were installed by other programs and/or other users.

Clear out font caches

Use FontNuke. It does all the work for you. And, best of all it’s *FREE*.

Printer Drivers

Get rid of all the printer drivers you don’t need & use except the ones for your *current* printer(s)/scanner(s).

HD>Library>Printers Folder

If you accidentally threw something out that you needed for your printer/scanner it can be easily obtained from the manufacturer’s website and/or from the CD that came w/the printer/scanner.

Garage Band

Has about 1GB of loops stored. Get rid of some some them. You surely don’t use, like and/or need them all.

HD>Library>Audio/Apple Loops>Apple>Apple Loops For GarageBand

Or just get rid of the Garage Band app altogether if you don’t use it.

Get rid of extra languages

Strip your computer down to your “native” tongue.

You can do this with a *FREE* utility called Monolingual. Another app that apparently does all the work for you. I’ve never used it. However, a lot of users here swear by & recommend it highly.

However, there is a warning for *native English speakers*. Make sure you keep BOTH English and English (United States).

Other Resources:

HD Space Checkers:

Disk Inventory X (FREE)

WhatSize (SHAREWARE)

OmniDiskSweeper (FREE)

GrandPerspective (FREE - donation)

==================

Mac Performance Guide

Slimming your hard drive

Rule of thumb: You should never let your hard drive get to where you have only 10-15% of space left.

Reply

Answer 2

dominic23

Level 10

83,904 points

May 28, 2015 12:31 PM in response to btrekker

Remove symantec.

https://support.norton.com/sp/en/us/home/current/solutions/kb20080427024142EN_En dUserProfile_en_us?q=uninstall+symantec+for+mac

Increase disk space.

Go step by step and check.

1. Start up in Safe Mode.

http://support.apple.com/kb/PH11212

2. Backup your computer.

3. Empty Trash.

4. Disk space / Time Machine / Local Snapshots

Local backups

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4878

5. Delete old iOS Devices Backup.

iTunes > Preferences > Devices

Highlight the old Backups , press “Delete Backup” and then “OK”.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4946?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

6. Re-index Macintosh HD.

This will take a while. Wait until it is finished.

System Preferences > Spotlight > Privacy

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2409

7.Try OmniDiskSweeper. This will show the storage size details of the items.

https://www.omnigroup.com/more

Select Macintosh HD and click “Sweep Selected Drive” at the bottom.

Be careful. Delete only the files that can be safely deleted. If you are not sure about any file, don’t touch it.

8. Move iTunes, iPhoto and iMovie media folders to an external drive.

iTunes

http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201562

iPhoto

http://support.apple.com/kb/PH2506

iMovie

http://support.apple.com/kb/ph2289

Reply

Answer 3

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

May 28, 2015 2:04 PM in response to btrekker

For information about the Other category in the Storage display, see this support article. If the display seems to be inaccurate, try rebuilding the Spotlight index.

Empty the Trash if you haven't already done so. If you use iPhoto, empty its internal Trash first:

iPhoto ▹ Empty Trash

In Photos:

File ▹ Show Recently Deleted ▹ Delete All

Do the same in other applications, such as Aperture, that have an internal Trash feature. Then restart the computer. That will temporarily free up some space.

According to Apple documentation, you need at least 9 GB of available space on the startup volume (as shown in the Finder Info window) for normal operation—not the mythical 10%, 15%, or any other percentage. You also need enough space left over to allow for growth of the data. There is little or no performance advantage to having more available space than the minimum Apple recommends. Available storage space that you'll never use is wasted space.

When Time Machine backs up a portable Mac, some of the free space will be used to make local snapshots, which are backup copies of recently deleted files. The space occupied by local snapshots is reported as available by the Finder, and should be considered as such. In the Storage display of System Information, local snapshots are shown as Backups. The snapshots are automatically deleted when they expire or when free space falls below a certain level. You ordinarily don't need to, and should not, delete local snapshots yourself. If you followed bad advice to disable local snapshots by running a shell command, you may have ended up with a lot of data in the Other category. Ask for instructions in that case.

See this support article for some simple ways to free up storage space.

You can more effectively use a tool such as OmniDiskSweeper (ODS) or GrandPerspective (GP) to explore the volume and find out what's taking up the space. You can also delete files with it, but don't do that unless you're sure that you know what you're deleting and that all data is safely backed up. That means you have multiple backups, not just one. Note that ODS only works with OS X 10.8 or later. If you're running an older OS version, use GP.

Deleting files inside a photo or iTunes library will corrupt the library. Changes to such a library must be made from within the application that created it. The same goes for Mail files.

Proceed further only if the problem isn't solved by the above steps.

ODS or GP can't see the whole filesystem when you run it just by double-clicking; it only sees files that you have permission to read. To see everything, you have to run it as root.

Back up all data now.

Install the app in the Applications folder as usual. Quit it if it's running.

Triple-click anywhere in the corresponding line of text below on this page to select it, then copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C.

For ODS:

security execute-with-privileges /A*/OmniDiskSweeper.app/*/M*/* 2>&-

For GP:

security execute-with-privileges /A*/GrandPerspective.app/*/M*/* 2>&-

Launch the built-in Terminal application in any of the following ways:

☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)

☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

☞ Open LaunchPad and start typing the name.

Paste into the Terminal window by pressing command-V. You'll be prompted for your login password.

The application window will open behind other open windows. When you scan a volume, the window will eventually show all files in all folders, sorted by size. It may take a few minutes for the app to finish scanning.

I don't recommend that you make a habit of doing this. Don't delete anything as root. If something needs to be deleted, make sure you know what it is and how it got there, and then delete it by other, safer, means. When in doubt, leave it alone or ask for guidance.

When you're done with the app, quit it and also quit Terminal.

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