Waldo4667
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: spinning wheel in OSX Yosemite 10.10.3

Every time Photoshop or Thunderbird tries to use Finder to access a file, the spinning wheel kicks in for at least a minute, often longer, and I am preventing from doing ANYTHING until it stops. Then it's business as usual, until the next time either one of them tries to use Finder.

 

I tried deleting the Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist and restarting per someone's fix suggestion. Didn't work. I tried Linc DavisDec 10, 2014 9:25 AM recommendation, but couldn't understand what 'Then take one of the actions that you're having trouble with. Select any messages that appear in the Console window.' actually meant since the All Messages window was then blank from being earlier cleared at his request.

 

One writer suggested reinstalling OS X using CMD R. That made no sense either. Not withstanding, reinstalling OS X seems rather drastic.

 

Please help! Thanks.

MacBook, OS X Yosemite (10.10.3)

Posted on Jun 18, 2015 3:11 PM

by Carolyn Samit,Solvedanswer
Carolyn Samit Carolyn Samit
Level 10 (124,452 points)
Apple Music
A:

"One writer suggested reinstalling OS X using CMD R. That made no sense either. Not withstanding, reinstalling OS X seems rather drastic."

 

Reinstalling won't necessarily fix a Finder issue. Nor does it repair a problem with the disk.


It's possible the disk needs repairing which should repair the Finder.

 

 

Launch Disk Utility located in HD > Applications > Utillities

 

Select the startup disk on the left then select the First Aid tab.

 

Click:  Verify Disk (not Verify Disk Permissions)

 

If Disk Utility reports errors, restart your Mac while holding down the Command + R keys.

 

From there you should be able to access the built in utilities in OS X Recovery to repair the startup disk and restore OS X.

 

Make sure to back up all important files first before using OS X Recovery.

Posted on Jun 18, 2015 3:45 PM

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Waldo4667

Q: spinning wheel in OSX Yosemite 10.10.3

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  • by Carolyn Samit,Solvedanswer

    Carolyn Samit Carolyn Samit Jun 18, 2015 3:45 PM in response to Waldo4667
    Level 10 (124,452 points)
    Apple Music
    Jun 18, 2015 3:45 PM in response to Waldo4667

    "One writer suggested reinstalling OS X using CMD R. That made no sense either. Not withstanding, reinstalling OS X seems rather drastic."

     

    Reinstalling won't necessarily fix a Finder issue. Nor does it repair a problem with the disk.


    It's possible the disk needs repairing which should repair the Finder.

     

     

    Launch Disk Utility located in HD > Applications > Utillities

     

    Select the startup disk on the left then select the First Aid tab.

     

    Click:  Verify Disk (not Verify Disk Permissions)

     

    If Disk Utility reports errors, restart your Mac while holding down the Command + R keys.

     

    From there you should be able to access the built in utilities in OS X Recovery to repair the startup disk and restore OS X.

     

    Make sure to back up all important files first before using OS X Recovery.

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Jun 18, 2015 4:01 PM in response to Waldo4667
    Level 10 (208,037 points)
    Applications
    Jun 18, 2015 4:01 PM in response to Waldo4667

    couldn't understand what 'Then take one of the actions that you're having trouble with. Select any messages that appear in the Console window.' actually meant

    It means, in this case, do something that causes the beachball to appear. New log messages may appear in the Console window. If so, post them.

  • by Waldo4667,

    Waldo4667 Waldo4667 Jun 19, 2015 9:11 AM in response to Carolyn Samit
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 19, 2015 9:11 AM in response to Carolyn Samit

    Carolyn, thanks for your suggestion. I really appreciate the plain English that doesn't imply a familiarity similar to yours.

     

    Disk Verify showed everything was okay, did not show any problems. I decided to reinstall OS X anyway, and it did not help. The situation is still there exactly as it was before.

     

    Hope you have another suggestion.

     

    Thanks for trying to help.

  • by Waldo4667,

    Waldo4667 Waldo4667 Jun 19, 2015 9:14 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 19, 2015 9:14 AM in response to Linc Davis

    Linc, I suspected that was what you meant, and I tried it. The results were that the All Messages window was filled with approximately was there before, and I didn't know which of it applied to my test case. I didn't want to overload the forum with too much.

     

    Thanks for trying to help.

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Jun 19, 2015 9:35 AM in response to Waldo4667
    Level 10 (208,037 points)
    Applications
    Jun 19, 2015 9:35 AM in response to Waldo4667

    Post a sample of about 25 contiguous lines, preferably with repetitions deleted.

  • by Carolyn Samit,

    Carolyn Samit Carolyn Samit Jun 19, 2015 11:50 AM in response to Waldo4667
    Level 10 (124,452 points)
    Apple Music
    Jun 19, 2015 11:50 AM in response to Waldo4667

    A Safe Mode boot deletes some system caches that may help.

     

     

    Top left corner of your screen click the  Apple   > Shut Down.

     

    After your Mac shuts down, wait 10 seconds, then press the power button.

     

    Immediately after you hear the startup tone, hold down the Shift key. You should press the Shift key as soon as possible after you hear the startup tone, but not before.

     

    Release the Shift key when you see the gray Apple logo and progress indicator.

     

    Once you are in Safe Mode, go back to the Apple menu. From the drop down menu click:  Restart



    See if that makes a difference.

     

     

     

     

    About Safe Mode

  • by Waldo4667,

    Waldo4667 Waldo4667 Jun 19, 2015 1:19 PM in response to Carolyn Samit
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 19, 2015 1:19 PM in response to Carolyn Samit

    Carolyn, the situation is still there. It's very frustrating.

     

    Plan C?

  • by Waldo4667,

    Waldo4667 Waldo4667 Jun 19, 2015 1:35 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 19, 2015 1:35 PM in response to Linc Davis

    Linc, somehow your original response is missing. I no longer have your beginning instructions to follow, but would like to give it another shot, please.

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Jun 19, 2015 2:53 PM in response to Waldo4667
    Level 10 (208,037 points)
    Applications
    Jun 19, 2015 2:53 PM in response to Waldo4667

    Launch the Console 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.

    The title of the Console window should be All Messages. If it isn't, select

              SYSTEM LOG QUERIES ▹ All Messages

    from the log list on the left. If you don't see that list, select

              View ▹ Show Log List

    from the menu bar at the top of the screen.

    Click the Clear Display icon in the toolbar. Then take an action that isn't working the way you expect. Select any lines that appear in the Console window. Copy them to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. Paste into a reply to this message by pressing command-V.

    The log contains a vast amount of information, almost all of which is irrelevant to solving any particular problem. When posting a log extract, be selective. A few dozen lines are almost always more than enough.

    Please don't indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.

    Please don't post screenshots of log messages—post the text.

    Some private information, such as your name or email address, may appear in the log. Anonymize before posting.

    When you post the log extract, you might see an error message on the web page: "You have included content in your post that is not permitted," or "The message contains invalid characters." That's a bug in the forum software. Please post the text on Pastebin, then post a link here to the page you created.

  • by Waldo4667,

    Waldo4667 Waldo4667 Jun 19, 2015 5:16 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 19, 2015 5:16 PM in response to Linc Davis

    Linc, I hope this is what you're looking for:

     

    6/19/15 7:05:31.667 PM com.apple.mtmd[45]: open on /.MobileBackups/Computer/2015-06-19-184006/Volume/private/var/db/nsurlsessiond/ Library/com.apple.nsurlsessiond/bundles.plist: Is a directory

    6/19/15 7:05:32.440 PM cloudd[819]: Failed to create dir at /Users/USER/Library/Containers/com.apple.QuickTimePlayerX/*/Assets: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=513 "You don’t have permission to save the file “Assets” in the folder “CloudKit”." UserInfo=0x7fa512f24070 {NSFilePath=/Users/NAME/Library/Containers/com.apple.QuickTimePlayerX/Data/Libr ary/Caches/CloudKit/Assets, NSUnderlyingError=0x7fa512f24a40 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Operation not permitted"}

    6/19/15 7:05:32.883 PM pkd[816]: enabling pid=456 for plug-in com.getdropbox.dropbox.garcon(1.10) 3F0DEDE9-5216-48A4-BABE-7E9993CA64F4 /Applications/Dropbox.app/Contents/PlugIns/garcon.appex

    6/19/15 7:05:32.934 PM taskgated[99]: no application identifier provided, can't use provisioning profiles [pid=827]

    6/19/15 7:05:33.484 PM garcon[827]: Failed to connect (colorGridView) outlet from (NSApplication) to (NSColorPickerGridView): missing setter or instance variable

    6/19/15 7:05:33.485 PM garcon[827]: Failed to connect (view) outlet from (NSApplication) to (NSColorPickerGridView): missing setter or instance variable

    6/19/15 7:05:33.000 PM kernel[0]: Sandbox: appleeventsd(47) deny file-read-metadata /Library

    6/19/15 7:05:33.000 PM kernel[0]: Sandbox: appleeventsd(47) deny file-read-metadata /Library

    6/19/15 7:05:33.000 PM kernel[0]: Sandbox: appleeventsd(47) deny file-read-metadata /Library

    6/19/15 7:05:33.000 PM kernel[0]: Sandbox: appleeventsd(47) deny file-read-metadata /Library

    6/19/15 7:05:33.000 PM kernel[0]: Sandbox: appleeventsd(47) deny file-read-metadata /Library

    6/19/15 7:05:33.000 PM kernel[0]: Sandbox: appleeventsd(47) deny file-read-metadata /Library

    6/19/15 7:05:33.000 PM kernel[0]: Sandbox: appleeventsd(47) deny file-read-metadata /Library

    6/19/15 7:05:33.000 PM kernel[0]: Sandbox: appleeventsd(47) deny file-read-metadata /Library

    6/19/15 7:05:33.000 PM kernel[0]: Sandbox: appleeventsd(47) deny file-read-metadata /Library

    6/19/15 7:05:33.000 PM kernel[0]: Sandbox: appleeventsd(47) deny file-read-metadata /Library

    6/19/15 7:05:33.000 PM kernel[0]: Sandbox: appleeventsd(47) deny file-read-metadata /Library

    6/19/15 7:05:33.000 PM kernel[0]: Sandbox: appleeventsd(47) deny file-read-metadata /Library

    6/19/15 7:05:33.000 PM kernel[0]: Sandbox: appleeventsd(47) deny file-read-metadata /Library

    6/19/15 7:05:33.000 PM kernel[0]: Sandbox: appleeventsd(47) deny file-read-metadata /Library

    6/19/15 7:05:33.000 PM kernel[0]: Sandbox: appleeventsd(47) deny mach-lookup com.apple.ocspd

    6/19/15 7:05:33.000 PM kernel[0]: Sandbox: appleeventsd(47) deny mach-lookup com.apple.ocspd

    6/19/15 7:05:33.000 PM kernel[0]: Sandbox: appleeventsd(47) deny mach-lookup com.apple.ocspd

    6/19/15 7:05:33.000 PM kernel[0]: Sandbox: appleeventsd(47) deny mach-lookup com.apple.ocspd

    6/19/15 7:05:33.000 PM kernel[0]: Sandbox: appleeventsd(47) deny mach-lookup com.apple.ocspd

    6/19/15 7:05:33.000 PM kernel[0]: Sandbox: appleeventsd(47) deny mach-lookup com.apple.ocspd

    6/19/15 7:05:33.000 PM kernel[0]: Sandbox: appleeventsd(47) deny mach-lookup com.apple.ocspd

    6/19/15 7:05:34.128 PM com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.apple.quicklook[830]) Endpoint has been activated through legacy launch(3) APIs. Please switch to XPC or bootstrap_check_in(): com.apple.quicklook

    6/19/15 7:05:34.471 PM sandboxd[824]: ([819]) cloudd(819) deny file-write-create /Users/NAME/Library/Containers/com.apple.QuickTimePlayerX/Data/Library/Caches

    6/19/15 7:05:34.908 PM sandboxd[824]: ([47]) appleeventsd(47) deny file-read-metadata /Library

    6/19/15 7:05:34.916 PM sandboxd[824]: ([47]) appleeventsd(47) deny file-read-metadata /Library

    6/19/15 7:05:34.940 PM sandboxd[824]: ([47]) appleeventsd(47) deny file-read-metadata /Library

    6/19/15 7:05:34.947 PM sandboxd[824]: ([47]) appleeventsd(47) deny file-read-metadata /Library

    6/19/15 7:05:34.960 PM sandboxd[824]: ([47]) appleeventsd(47) deny file-read-metadata /Library

    6/19/15 7:05:34.970 PM sandboxd[824]: ([47]) appleeventsd(47) deny file-read-metadata /Library

    6/19/15 7:05:34.984 PM sandboxd[824]: ([47]) appleeventsd(47) deny file-read-metadata /Library

    6/19/15 7:05:35.500 PM garcon[827]: Initialized badges.

    6/19/15 7:05:35.501 PM garcon[827]: Connecting to Dropbox on 'com.getdropbox.dropbox.garcon.cafe_502'

    6/19/15 7:05:35.519 PM garcon[827]: Connected to Dropbox on 'com.getdropbox.dropbox.garcon.cafe_502'.

    6/19/15 7:05:35.522 PM garcon[827]: Invalidating watch set.

    6/19/15 7:05:35.586 PM garcon[827]: Watch set is now: {(

        file:///Users/NAME/Dropbox/

    )}.

    6/19/15 7:05:40.975 PM iconservicesagent[834]: iconservicesagent launched.

    6/19/15 7:05:42.061 PM iconservicesagent[834]: Starting service with cache path: /var/folders/s4/2w839vp51cgg93g1pr_lmcv80000gp/C/com.apple.iconservices

    6/19/15 7:05:45.658 PM iconservicesd[835]: iconservicesd launched.

    6/19/15 7:05:45.688 PM iconservicesd[835]: Cache path: /Library/Caches/com.apple.iconservices.store

    6/19/15 7:05:47.722 PM nsurlsessiond[820]: Being asked if container with identifier com.apple.clouddocs.com.apple.SharedDocs is foreground before getting callback from BRContainersMonitor!

    6/19/15 7:05:47.723 PM nsurlsessiond[820]: Being asked if container with identifier com.apple.clouddocs.com.apple.SharedDocs is foreground before getting callback from BRContainersMonitor!

    6/19/15 7:05:57.848 PM nsurlsessiond[820]: Being asked if container with identifier com.apple.clouddocs.com.apple.CloudDocs.container-metadata is foreground before getting callback from BRContainersMonitor!

    6/19/15 7:05:57.848 PM nsurlsessiond[820]: Being asked if container with identifier com.apple.clouddocs.com.apple.CloudDocs.container-metadata is foreground before getting callback from BRContainersMonitor!

    6/19/15 7:05:58.389 PM cloudd[819]: Stream 0x7fa5140128f0 is sending an event before being opened

    6/19/15 7:05:58.397 PM cloudd[819]: Stream 0x7fa5140624d0 is sending an event before being opened

    6/19/15 7:05:58.397 PM cloudd[819]: Stream 0x7fa51401c350 is sending an event before being opened

    6/19/15 7:06:23.000 PM kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 804 [backupd-helper]

    6/19/15 7:06:24.000 PM kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 805 [soagent]

    6/19/15 7:06:24.373 PM com.apple.dock.extra[316]: SOHelperCenter main connection interrupted

    6/19/15 7:06:25.000 PM kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 812 [nsurlstoraged]

    6/19/15 7:06:25.626 PM com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.apple.imfoundation.IMRemoteURLConnectionAgent) The _DirtyJetsamMemoryLimit key is not available on this platform.

    6/19/15 7:06:26.000 PM kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 813 [diagnosticd]

    6/19/15 7:06:27.000 PM kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 829 [com.apple.CodeSi]

    6/19/15 7:06:28.000 PM kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 824 [sandboxd]

    6/19/15 7:06:29.000 PM kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 818 [deleted]

    6/19/15 7:06:30.000 PM kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 826 [coresymbolicatio]

    6/19/15 7:06:31.000 PM kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 816 [pkd]

    6/19/15 7:06:31.431 PM thunderbird[456]: Communications error: <OS_xpc_error: <error: 0x10586db60> { count = 1, contents =

      "XPCErrorDescription" => <string: 0x10586dfa8> { length = 22, contents = "Connection interrupted" }

    }>

    6/19/15 7:06:32.000 PM kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 815 [com.apple.Perfor]

    6/19/15 7:06:33.000 PM kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 834 [iconservicesagen]

    6/19/15 7:06:34.000 PM kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 835 [iconservicesd]

    6/19/15 7:06:35.000 PM kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 833 [QuickLookSatelli]

    6/19/15 7:06:36.000 PM kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 831 [secd]

    6/19/15 7:06:37.000 PM kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 810 [nsurlstoraged]

    6/19/15 7:06:38.000 PM kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 823 [accountsd]

    6/19/15 7:06:39.000 PM kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 819 [cloudd]

    6/19/15 7:06:40.000 PM kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 817 [bird]

    6/19/15 7:06:41.000 PM kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 821 [networkd_privile]

    6/19/15 7:06:42.000 PM kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 822 [nsurlsessiond]

    6/19/15 7:06:43.000 PM kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 814 [systemstatsd]

    6/19/15 7:06:44.000 PM kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 806 [secinitd]

    6/19/15 7:06:45.000 PM kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 808 [tccd]

    6/19/15 7:06:46.000 PM kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 807 [cfprefsd]

    6/19/15 7:06:47.000 PM kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 811 [cfprefsd]

    6/19/15 7:06:48.000 PM kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 837 [spindump_agent]

    6/19/15 7:06:49.000 PM kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 838 [backupd-helper]

    6/19/15 7:06:50.000 PM kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 839 [soagent]

    6/19/15 7:06:50.583 PM com.apple.dock.extra[316]: SOHelperCenter main connection interrupted

    6/19/15 7:06:50.585 PM com.apple.dock.extra[316]: SOHelperCenter main connection interrupted

    6/19/15 7:06:51.000 PM kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 820 [nsurlsessiond]

    6/19/15 7:06:51.765 PM com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.apple.imfoundation.IMRemoteURLConnectionAgent) The _DirtyJetsamMemoryLimit key is not available on this platform.

    6/19/15 7:06:51.910 PM secinitd[845]: UID[502]: cache loaded: /System/Library/Caches/com.apple.app-sandbox-cache.plist

    6/19/15 7:06:52.000 PM kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 840 [nsurlstoraged]

    6/19/15 7:06:53.000 PM kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 836 [spindump]

    6/19/15 7:06:54.000 PM kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 809 [coreduetd]

    6/19/15 7:06:55.000 PM kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 841 [nsurlstoraged]

     

    I apologize for being so dense. Thanks for your patience in working with me.

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Jun 19, 2015 6:02 PM in response to Waldo4667
    Level 10 (208,037 points)
    Applications
    Jun 19, 2015 6:02 PM in response to Waldo4667

    There are several issues here, which may or may not be related.

     

    A

    Back up all data before proceeding.

    This procedure will unlock all your user files (not system files) and reset their ownership, permissions, and access controls to the default. If you've intentionally set special values for those attributes on any of your files, they will be reverted. In that case, either stop here, or be prepared to recreate the settings if necessary. Do so only after verifying that those settings didn't cause the problem. If none of this is meaningful to you, you don't need to worry about it, but you do need to follow the instructions below.

    Step 1

    If you have more than one user, and the one in question is not an administrator, then go to Step 2.

    Triple-click anywhere in the following line on this page to select it:

    sudo find ~ $TMPDIR.. -exec chflags -h nouchg,nouappnd,noschg,nosappnd {} + -exec chown -h $UID {} + -exec chmod +rw {} + -exec chmod -h -N {} + -type d -exec chmod -h +x {} + 2>&-

    Copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C.

    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. I've tested these instructions only with the Safari web browser. If you use another browser, you may have to press the return key after pasting.

    You'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. Type carefully and then press return. You may get a one-time warning to be careful. If you don’t have a login password, you’ll need to set one before you can run the command. If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you're not logged in as an administrator.

    The command may take several minutes to run, depending on how many files you have. Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign ($) to appear, then quit Terminal.

    Step 2 (optional)

    Take this step only if you have trouble with Step 1, if you prefer not to take it, or if it doesn't solve the problem.

    Start up in Recovery mode. When the OS X Utilities screen appears, select

              Utilities ▹ Terminal

    from the menu bar. A Terminal window will open. In that window, type this:

    resetp

    Press the tab key. The partial command you typed will automatically be completed to this:

    resetpassword

    Press return. A Reset Password window will open. You’re not going to reset a password.

    Select your startup volume ("Macintosh HD," unless you gave it a different name) if not already selected.

    Select your username from the menu labeled Select the user account if not already selected.

    Under Reset Home Directory Permissions and ACLs, click the Reset button.

    Select

               ▹ Restart

    from the menu bar.

    B

    Please back up all data, then open the iCloud pane in System Preferences. If the box marked iCloud Drive is checked, uncheck it and confirm. Your iCloud documents should be preserved on Apple's servers.

    Test to see whether there's an improvement, then re-check the box and test again. It may take a noticeable amount of time for your iCloud Drive documents to resynchronize.

    C

    A program, or perhaps more than one, is at times using excessive memory, causing the whole system to be temporarily unresponsive. That can happen for two reasons:

              A long-running process with a memory leak (a kind of bug)

              Not enough memory for your usage pattern

    Please note that if the cause is a memory leak, installing more memory will not help. That's likely if you already have more than 4 GB of memory. Tracking down a memory leak can be difficult, and it may come down to a process of elimination.

    When you notice the unresponsiveness, open the Activity Monitor application and select All Processes from the View menu, if it's not already selected. Select the Memory tab.

    If the graph at the bottom of the window is in the yellow or red zone, click the heading of the Real Mem column in the process table twice to sort the table with the highest value at the top. If you don't see that column, select

              View ▹ Columns ▹ Real Memory

    from the menu bar.

    If one process (excluding "kernel_task") is using much more memory than all the others, or if kernel_task is using more than about 1.5 GB, that could be an indication of a leak. A better indication would be a process that continually grabs more and more real memory over time without ever releasing it. Here is an example of how it's done.

    The processes named "Safari Web Content" render web pages for Safari. They use a lot of memory and may leak if certain Safari extensions or third-party web plugins are installed. Consider them prime suspects.

    Another process often implicated in memory leaks is "inkjet4" or "inkjet8," which is a component of the HP printing software. If it's present, force-quit the process in Activity Monitor to solve the problem temporarily. Empty the print queues in the Printers & Scanners preference pane (which has a slightly different name in each recent version of OS X.) If you don't use an HP printer, remove the software. Otherwise, if the problem is recurrent, update the software (which may not help) or contact HP support.

    "Wired" memory should be a small part of the total. That memory is not swapped, but it makes less physical memory available which may then result in swapping. If you have a lot of wired memory, that's usually an indication of a memory leak in a third-party program that modifies the operating system at a low level. Ask for guidance in that case.

    If you don't have an obvious memory leak, your options are to install more memory (if possible) or to run fewer programs simultaneously.

    The next suggestion is only for users familiar with the shell. For a more precise, but potentially misleading, test, run the following command:

    sudo leaks -nocontext -nostacks process | grep total

    where process is the name of a process you suspect of leaking memory. Almost every process will leak some memory; the question is how much, and especially how much the leak increases with time. I can’t be more specific. See the leaks(1) man page and the Apple developer documentation for details.

  • by Waldo4667,

    Waldo4667 Waldo4667 Jun 20, 2015 4:25 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 20, 2015 4:25 AM in response to Linc Davis

    What's most surprising to me is that it's taken me about 3 months to get aggravated enough to do something about it. That's how long it's been going on. I noticed an in-general slowing of response time last year. So, I put in a 512 SSD in December. Phenomenally amazing results! But I don't think that addressed the primary issue.

     

    Section B, there was no improvement after unchecking iCloud. The response was exactly the same.

     

    Section C. I do have 4GB of memory. The Activity Monitor shows kernel_task ranging from 1.58 to 1.89 Real Mem. I notice Google Chrome occupies several of the top spots under that.

     

    I rarely run (that is by my choice) multiple programs, usually just Chrome, Dashlane, Memory Clean, and sometimes Thunderbird, Photoshop, Finder, and Preview. The only reason I use Thunderbird is that's what I started using several years ago and I'm too lazy to learn Mail. I usually close down (command Q) any program I finish using, leaving only Chrome, Dashlane, and Memory Clean open. I really like Memory Clean because it gives me a real-time glance at total memory availability. For instance, it's hovering around 920 GB right now. There are no inkjet entries. I have a Laserjet printer that I cannot get WIFI connected (just changed to Google Fiber from U-verse). That's a different story.

     

    I couldn't find any Safari entries, I suppose since I don't use Safari. According to Memory Clean, I have about 560 MB of Wired Memory. I don't know if that's good or bad.

     

    Not sure where to go from here. Would a screen-shot of the top section of my Activity Monitor help?

  • by Lexiepex,

    Lexiepex Lexiepex Jun 20, 2015 4:50 AM in response to Waldo4667
    Level 6 (10,536 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 20, 2015 4:50 AM in response to Waldo4667

    Uninstall MemoryClean: this is crap.

    Then restart.

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Jun 20, 2015 5:51 AM in response to Waldo4667
    Level 10 (208,037 points)
    Applications
    Jun 20, 2015 5:51 AM in response to Waldo4667

    Did you take Step A?

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