Q: Running hot and battery drain after install of macOS Sierra
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Oct 12, 2016 6:28 AMby irina_w,Greetings TonyT1,
Thank you for using Apple Support Communities. It seems like after you installed macOS Sierra the battery has been consumed quicker than normal. It looks like you have already done some troubleshooting. I would recommend you read this article, it has a few ideas you can check to see if it helps.
Batteries - Maximizing Performance
Take care. -
Oct 13, 2016 5:39 AMby BobHarris,Tony T1 wrote:
Thanks, but It seems that item #1 is the cause of the battery drain
would that be the
I've unloaded all Safari extensions and unchecked allow plugins.
???
Have you isolated the root cause, or are you still searching?
I'm sure you got the EtreCheck or Linc Davis output and went through it by now. But if you want to share it, maybe another set of eyes will have something to suggest (or just re-suggest things you already tried).
When you say you tried running in Safe mode, I'm assuming this did not change anything.
If the kernel_task is the one running up the CPU load, something is asking it to do work. Any 3rd party kernel extensions? Apps can make requests that can keep the kernel busy.
Are you by any chance in the middle of encrypting your storage via FileVault (or decided to stop using FileVault and are in the middle of decrypting)? This could include external disks, or your Time Machine backup, not just your boot disk.
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Oct 13, 2016 6:10 AMby Tony T1,BobHarris wrote:
Tony T1 wrote:
Thanks, but It seems that item #1 is the cause of the battery drain
would that be the
I've unloaded all Safari extensions and unchecked allow plugins.
???
I was referring to Apple's General Performance Tip to Update to the latest software.
BobHarris wrote:
Have you isolated the root cause, or are you still searching?
Still searching….
BobHarris wrote:
When you say you tried running in Safe mode, I'm assuming this did not change anything.
If the kernel_task is the one running up the CPU load, something is asking it to do work. Any 3rd party kernel extensions? Apps can make requests that can keep the kernel busy.
Are you by any chance in the middle of encrypting your storage via FileVault (or decided to stop using FileVault and are in the middle of decrypting)? This could include external disks, or your Time Machine backup, not just your boot disk.
Yes, no change in Safe Mode.
In Safari, I unloaded all extensions, and unchecked "allow plugins", no change
I'm not using Filevault
In Activity Monitor, View->All Processes Hierarchically, I get:
I ran EtreCheck, didn't see anything, here's the output:
EtreCheck version: 3.0.6 (315)
Report generated 2016-10-13 09:05:11
Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com
Runtime 5:12
Performance: Below Average
Click the [Support] links for help with non-Apple products.
Click the [Details] links for more information about that line.
Problem: Other problem
Description:
High CPU%, Battery Drain, Running Hot
MacBook Air (11-inch, Late 2010)
[Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty & Service]
MacBook Air - model: MacBookAir3,1
1 1.6 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU: 2-core
4 GB RAM Not upgradeable
BANK 0/DIMM0
2 GB DDR3 1067 MHz ok
BANK 1/DIMM0
2 GB DDR3 1067 MHz ok
Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported
Wireless: en0: 802.11 a/b/g/n
Battery: Health = Normal - Cycle count = 179
NVIDIA GeForce 320M - VRAM: 256 MB
Color LCD 1366 x 768
macOS Sierra 10.12 (16A323) - Time since boot: about one day
OWC Aura Pro 6G SSD disk0 : (240.06 GB) (Solid State - TRIM: Yes)
EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB
Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / [Startup]: 239.20 GB (66.48 GB free)
Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB
Apple Inc. BRCM2070 Hub
Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller
Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad
Apple Inc. Built-in iSight
/etc/sudoers, File size 1488 but expected 1563
Mac App Store and identified developers
~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.tonyt.DeleteTrash7DaysOld.plist
~/Library/Scripts/DeleteTrash7DaysOld.sh
/Applications/Utilities/DiskWarrior.app
[not loaded] com.alsoft.Preview (5.0 - SDK 10.5 - 2014-12-02) [Support]
/Library/Extensions
[loaded] at.obdev.nke.LittleSnitch (3.7 - SDK 10.11 - 2016-10-10) [Support]
/System/Library/Extensions
[not loaded] com.tomtom.driver.UsbEthernetGadget (1.0.0d1 - 2016-10-10) [Support]
[not loaded] 8 Apple tasks
[loaded] 161 Apple tasks
[running] 61 Apple tasks
[killed] 41 Apple tasks
41 processes killed due to insufficient RAM
[failed] com.apple.csrutil.report.plist (2016-07-30)
[not loaded] 37 Apple tasks
[loaded] 166 Apple tasks
[running] 72 Apple tasks
[killed] 27 Apple tasks
27 processes killed due to insufficient RAM
[running] at.obdev.LittleSnitchUIAgent.plist (2016-09-14) [Support]
[loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist (2015-02-17) [Support]
[running] at.obdev.littlesnitchd.plist (2016-09-14) [Support]
[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (2016-09-23) [Support]
[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist (2010-08-25) [Support]
[loaded] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist (2015-02-17) [Support]
[loaded] com.tonyt.DeleteTrash7DaysOld.plist (2009-12-13) [Support]
Calendar Application Hidden (/Applications/Calendar.app)
Mail Application (/Applications/Mail.app)
SpeechSynthesisServer Application (/System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks /SpeechSynthesis.framework/Versions/A/SpeechSynthesisServer.app)
FlashPlayer-10.6: 23.0.0.185 - SDK 10.9 (2016-10-11) [Support]
QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (2016-09-13)
Flash Player: 23.0.0.185 - SDK 10.9 (2016-10-11) [Support]
o1dbrowserplugin: 5.41.3.0 - SDK 10.8 (2016-06-17) [Support]
npgtpo3dautoplugin: 0.1.44.29 - SDK 10.5 (2013-11-21) [Support]
GarminGpsControl: 4.1.0.0 Release - SDK 10.7 (2013-10-09) [Support]
googletalkbrowserplugin: 5.41.3.0 - SDK 10.8 (2015-12-11) [Support]
JavaAppletPlugin: Java 8 Update 101 build 13 (2016-07-30) Check version
Google Earth Web Plug-in: 6.1 (2011-10-17) [Support]
"Duplicate Tab" Button - Thiemo Gamma - http://thiemo.ch/safari/ (2010-08-02)
CustomReader - Canisbos Computing - http://canisbos.com/customreader (2016-09-22)
InstapaperIt - ElasticThreads - http://elasticthreads.tumblr.com (2012-03-07)
InstapaperIt - ElasticThreads - http://elasticthreads.tumblr.com (2012-01-11)
PopSearch - Canisbos Computing - http://canisbos.com/ (2016-10-09)
AdBlock - BetaFish, Inc. - https://getadblock.com (2016-05-22)
QuickNuke - Canisbos Computing - http://canisbos.com/ (2012-06-15)
FastestTube - Kwizzu - http://fastesttube.kwizzu.com/ (2016-10-03)
DirectLinks - Canisbos Computing - http://canisbos.com/ (2016-09-21)
SnapBack - Philippe Martin - http://flip.macrobyte.net/software/snapback (2010-12-18)
Awesome Screenshot - Diigo - http://www.diigo.com/ (2011-11-23)
Quickstyle - Canisbos Computing - http://canisbos.com/ (2016-09-21)
Flash Player (2016-09-23) [Support]
Java (2016-07-30) [Support]
Skip System Files: NO
Mobile backups: OFF
Auto backup: NO - Auto backup turned off
Volumes being backed up:
Macintosh HD: Disk size: 239.20 GB Disk used: 172.72 GB
Destinations:
Time Machine - MacBook Air [Network]
Total size: 249.66 GB
Total number of backups: 191
Oldest backup: 03/08/16, 1:52 AM
Last backup: 10/04/16, 5:52 PM
Size of backup disk: Too small
Backup size 249.66 GB < (Disk used 172.72 GB X 3)
20% WindowServer
10% nehelper
10% kernel_task
6% Safari
6% com.apple.WebKit.WebContent(11)
848 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent(11)
582 MB kernel_task
274 MB mdworker(13)
176 MB Safari
164 MB Mail
183 MB Free RAM
4.07 GB Used RAM (464 MB Cached)
736 MB Swap Used
Oct 12, 2016, 10:17:11 PM ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/GoogleSoftwareUpdateAgent_2016-10-12-221711_[r edacted].crash
com.google.Keystone.Agent - /Library/Google/*/GoogleSoftwareUpdate.bundle/Contents/Resources/GoogleSoftware UpdateAgent.app/Contents/MacOS/GoogleSoftwareUpdateAgent
Oct 12, 2016, 11:33:22 AM ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/GoogleSoftwareUpdateAgent_2016-10-12-113322_[r edacted].crash
Oct 11, 2016, 07:16:54 PM Self test - passed
Oct 11, 2016, 12:09:18 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Reolink Client_2016-10-11-120918_[redacted].cpu_resource.diag [Details]
/Applications/Reolink Client.app/Contents/MacOS/Reolink Client
Oct 11, 2016, 09:14:10 AM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/com.apple.WebKit.WebContent_2016-10-11-091410_[ redacted].cpu_resource.diag [Details]
/System/Library/Frameworks/WebKit.framework/Versions/A/XPCServices/com.apple.We bKit.WebContent.xpc/Contents/MacOS/com.apple.WebKit.WebContent
Oct 10, 2016, 09:40:23 PM ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Activity Monitor_2016-10-10-214023_[redacted].crash
com.apple.ActivityMonitor - /Applications/Utilities/Activity Monitor.app/Contents/MacOS/Activity Monitor
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Oct 13, 2016 11:25 AMby BobHarris,Yea, I do not see anything that raises a red flag to me. But EtreCheck does think performance is low.
nehelper (most likely /usr/libexec/nehelper) is something I do not remember seeing in the past, but it is consuming a lot of CPU. There is no man page on it. I did a 'strings /usr/libexec/nehelper' and I'm seeing comments related to networking.
Are you actively doing anything special with respect to networking? Back-to-my-Mac, VPN, etc... I did not spend much time with Google, but nothing jumped out at me that did not require digging and I just finished a big lunch and want to take a nap, not dig
Your kernel_task memory usage is a little high for a 4GB system. Maybe the LittleSnitch kernel extension is accounting for this. NOTE: I'm not picking on LittleSnitch, as you tested in Safe mode which should not have started LittleSnitch.
You appear to have lots of Safari tabs open, and Safari is the largest memory consumer. Since you mentioned Safari in your original post, I'm assuming you tried this without Safari, and/or with closing various tabs to see if any specific web page's JavaScript was responsible for your issues.
[loaded] com.tonyt.DeleteTrash7DaysOld.plist (2009-12-13) [Support]
But the real question is, "Do You Trust" this software developer
But in all seriousness. Do you have your own log for when this script runs, so that you can verify that it runs at the frequency you want, and in the Sierra upgrade didn't go a little bonkers and run too frequently.
And on that note, you might also want to look at the various log files via Applications -> Utilities -> Console to see if any of them are generating a lot of entries, indicating either they are running too frequently, or something else is not working correctly.
And I'm sure you know that 4GB is rather low for the more recent OS X/macOS releases, HOWEVER, I also know your Macbook Air cannot upgrade its RAM. My Wife has the 13" model from that year, but she is on El Capitan at the moment.
OWC Aura Pro 6G SSD disk0 : (240.06 GB) (Solid State - TRIM: Yes)
I can see you upgraded your storage. This is strictly in the "Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt" category, but any chance the storage is misbehaving? Any chance of swapping it out with the original for a test (I know a pain in the ....). I'm just asking.
I have and OWC SSD in my iMac and I'm very happy with the 2nd unit (first unit died after 5 months, but was immediately replaced, with 0 hassle). But when mine died, it went totally, so I do not think my experience is the same. Like I said this is "FUD", so feel free to ignore it unless you have some other reason to suspect something is related to storage.
I'm not sure I've been helpful, but I didn't feel you should be left hanging, considering the help you have given to others.
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Oct 13, 2016 12:14 PMby Tony T1,BobHarris wrote:
Yea, I do not see anything that raises a red flag to me. But EtreCheck does think performance is low.
nehelper (most likely /usr/libexec/nehelper) is something I do not remember seeing in the past, but it is consuming a lot of CPU. There is no man page on it. I did a 'strings /usr/libexec/nehelper' and I'm seeing comments related to networking.
Are you actively doing anything special with respect to networking? Back-to-my-Mac, VPN, etc...
I'm not doing anything special, and nothing new since installing Sierra.
Your kernel_task memory usage is a little high for a 4GB system. Maybe the LittleSnitch kernel extension is accounting for this. NOTE: I'm not picking on LittleSnitch, as you tested in Safe mode which should not have started LittleSnitch.
You appear to have lots of Safari tabs open, and Safari is the largest memory consumer. Since you mentioned Safari in your original post, I'm assuming you tried this without Safari, and/or with closing various tabs to see if any specific web page's JavaScript was responsible for your issues.
Shouldn't be a Little Snitch problem. As you said, it wasn't loaded in Safe Mode.
Good point regarding the Safari Tabs. I'm going to try running Safari without tabs and see if that helps.
[loaded] com.tonyt.DeleteTrash7DaysOld.plist (2009-12-13) [Support]
But the real question is, "Do You Trust" this software developer
But in all seriousness. Do you have your own log for when this script runs, so that you can verify that it runs at the frequency you want, and in the Sierra upgrade didn't go a little bonkers and run too frequently.
And on that note, you might also want to look at the various log files via Applications -> Utilities -> Console to see if any of them are generating a lot of entries, indicating either they are running too frequently, or something else is not working correctly
I did check the logs for anything unusual and also for my own launchd items, but it's worth giving it a second look.
And I'm sure you know that 4GB is rather low for the more recent OS X/macOS releases, HOWEVER, I also know your Macbook Air cannot upgrade its RAM. My Wife has the 13" model from that year, but she is on El Capitan at the moment.
OWC Aura Pro 6G SSD disk0 : (240.06 GB) (Solid State - TRIM: Yes)
I can see you upgraded your storage. This is strictly in the "Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt" category, but any chance the storage is misbehaving? Any chance of swapping it out with the original for a test (I know a pain in the ....). I'm just asking.
Not really worth going back to my old SSD, I'll revert to El Capitan if I can't sort this out.
I'm not sure I've been helpful, but I didn't feel you should be left hanging, considering the help you have given to others.
Yes, as always you've been very helpful and I appreciate your comments/ideas.
I'm going to do a bit more digging, and if I can't solve this, I'll revert to El Capitan.
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Oct 13, 2016 1:46 PMby Tony T1,BobHarris wrote:
10.12.1 should be out soon. Maybe it will address this, even if they don't mention it. I guess it depends on when you really need to get this resolved vs when 10.12.1 is released. Unless of course you want to join the public Beta.
Good point.
Might be worth waiting for 10.12.1, and if problem persists, then I'll revert to El Cap
