My mac uses a lot of memory allthough all the apps are closed. How can i resolve this issue?

Question

Level 1

8 points

My mac uses a lot of memory allthough all the apps are closed. How can i resolve this issue?

Okay, so i have a macbook pro mid 2013. 500GB HDD and 10GB of memory that I have purchased and had installed by an approved reseller. Because I do a lot of audio and video processing I needed this, but recently I started realising that my mac has become very laggy, and does not respond the way it should. I started doing research and using the activity monitor and my mac with no apps open currently uses 6GB OF THE 10GB memory. The CPU is running fine and not spikking. Recently ive been having some issues when doing doing paralel processing in audio, and when loading processing tools that use quite a bit of recourses the app crashes and I physically have to go and delete the app log file for the app to reopen, otherwise it would constantly just tell me that the application quit unexpectedl. Is there any way for me to clean up my memory usage so that when its just idling its not using so much. This mac came with only 4GB, surely there is a way to reduce the memory usage?

MacBook Pro, OS X Yosemite (10.10)

Posted on Oct 27, 2016 7:28 AM

Reply

Answer 1

JimmyCMPIT

Level 7

29,306 points

Oct 27, 2016 7:32 AM in response to Schoey S

you may post an etrecheck report for further analyiss

www.etrecheck.com

Reply

Answer 2

Eric Root

Level 10

685,341 points

Oct 27, 2016 8:45 AM in response to Schoey S

Link for above request.

Etrecheck – System Information

Reply

Answer 3

MichelPM

Level 10

81,559 points

Oct 27, 2016 1:43 PM in response to Schoey S

Newer versions of the Mac OS ( OS X Yosemite and later) wiil and CAN use up to 8 GBs of RAM for just the running OS, alone!

These OS versions use more system, software and hardware resources, now, than previous OS X versions.

This is why many new Mac models ship with 8 GBs of RAM, now, as a baseline amount of RAM.

Reply

Answer 4

Schoey S Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 31, 2016 11:44 PM in response to JimmyCMPIT

I hope that this helps...

EtreCheck version: 3.0.6 (315)

Report generated 2016-10-27 20:10:34

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime 5:18

Performance: Below Average

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

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

Problem: Computer is too slow

Hardware Information: ⓘ

MacBook Pro Intel Core i7, 15" (Mid 2012)

[Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty & Service]

MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro9,2

1 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 2-core

10 GB RAM Upgradeable - [Instructions]

BANK 0/DIMM0

8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

2 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

Bluetooth: Good - Handoff/Airdrop2 supported

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

Battery: Health = Normal - Cycle count = 387

Video Information: ⓘ

Intel HD Graphics 4000

Color LCD 1280 x 800

System Software: ⓘ

OS X Yosemite 10.10 (14A389) - Time since boot: about 3 hours

Disk Information: ⓘ

APPLE HDD HTS545050A7E362 disk0 : (500,11 GB) (Rotational)

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

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

Macintosh (disk1) / [Startup]: 498.88 GB (338.62 GB free)

Encrypted AES-XTS Unlocked

Core Storage: disk0s2 499.25 GB Online

MATSHITADVD-R UJ-8A8 ()

USB Information: ⓘ

Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Thunderbolt Information: ⓘ

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

Gatekeeper: ⓘ

Anywhere

Kernel Extensions: ⓘ

/Library/Application Support/VirtualBox

[loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxDrv (5.0.16 - 2016-04-06) [Support]

[loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetAdp (5.0.16 - 2016-04-06) [Support]

[loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetFlt (5.0.16 - 2016-04-06) [Support]

[loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxUSB (5.0.16 - 2016-04-06) [Support]

/System/Library/Extensions

[loaded] com.avira.kext.FileAccessControl (1.1.1 - SDK 10.9 - 2016-10-11) [Support]

[not loaded] com.digidesign.mbox2.boot.driver (9.0 - 2016-10-11) [Support]

[not loaded] com.digidesign.mbox2.driver (9.0 - 2016-10-11) [Support]

[not loaded] com.paceap.kext.pacesupport.master (5.9.1 - SDK 10.6 - 2016-10-11) [Support]

[not loaded] com.waves.driver.soundgrid (9.7.30 - 2016-10-11) [Support]

/System/Library/Extensions/PACESupportFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns

[not loaded] com.paceap.kext.pacesupport.leopard (5.9.1 - SDK 10.4 - 2013-02-01) [Support]

[not loaded] com.paceap.kext.pacesupport.panther (5.9.1 - SDK 10.-1 - 2013-02-01) [Support]

[loaded] com.paceap.kext.pacesupport.snowleopard (5.9.1 - SDK 10.6 - 2013-02-01) [Support]

[not loaded] com.paceap.kext.pacesupport.tiger (5.9.1 - SDK 10.4 - 2013-02-01) [Support]

Startup Items: ⓘ

Digidesign Mbox 2: Path: /Library/StartupItems/Digidesign Mbox 2

DigidesignLoader: Path: /Library/StartupItems/DigidesignLoader

Startup items no longer function in OS X Yosemite or later

System Launch Agents: ⓘ

[not loaded] 4 Apple tasks

[loaded] 145 Apple tasks

[running] 55 Apple tasks

System Launch Daemons: ⓘ

[not loaded] 43 Apple tasks

[loaded] 143 Apple tasks

[running] 75 Apple tasks

Launch Agents: ⓘ

[failed] com.adobe.ARMDCHelper.cc24aef4a1b90ed56a725c38014c95072f92651fb65e1bf9c8e43c37a2 3d420d.plist (2016-10-13) [Support]

[loaded] com.avira.antivirus.general.agent.plist (2015-10-15) [Support]

[loaded] com.avira.antivirus.gjallarhorn.plist (2016-10-04) [Support]

[failed] com.avira.antivirus.notifications.agent.plist (2015-10-15) [Support]

[loaded] com.avira.antivirus.odscan.default.plist (2016-10-24) [Support]

[loaded] com.avira.antivirus.scheduler.agent.plist (2015-10-15) [Support]

[running] com.avira.antivirus.systray.plist (2015-10-15) [Support]

[loaded] com.avira.antivirus.telemetry.agent.plist (2015-10-15) [Support]

[loaded] com.avira.antivirus.update.default.plist (2015-10-15) [Support]

[running] com.avira.helper.avstats.plist (2015-10-15) [Support]

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist (2016-08-06) [Support]

[running] com.realvnc.vncserver.peruser.plist (2016-06-06) [Support]

[not loaded] com.realvnc.vncserver.prelogin.plist (2016-06-06) [Support]

[not loaded] com.teamviewer.teamviewer.plist (2016-10-27) [Support]

[not loaded] com.teamviewer.teamviewer_desktop.plist (2016-10-27) [Support]

Launch Daemons: ⓘ

[loaded] PACESupport.plist (2013-02-01) [Support]

[loaded] com.BlueStacks.AppPlayer.bstservice_helper.plist (2016-08-05) [Support]

[loaded] com.adobe.ARMDC.Communicator.plist (2016-10-13) [Support]

[loaded] com.adobe.ARMDC.SMJobBlessHelper.plist (2016-10-13) [Support]

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (2016-10-23) [Support]

[loaded] com.avid.bsd.shoetoolv120.plist (2015-10-26) [Support]

[failed] com.avira.antivirus.dbcleaner.plist (2015-10-15) [Support]

[running] com.avira.helper.watchdox.plist (2015-10-15) [Support]

[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist (2010-08-25) [Support]

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist (2016-08-06) [Support]

[running] com.paceap.eden.licensed.plist (2015-08-10) [Support]

[running] com.realvnc.vncserver.plist (2016-06-06) [Support]

[running] com.sec.faxdb.plist (2015-08-13) [Support]

[loaded] com.teamviewer.Helper.plist (2015-03-02) [Support]

[not loaded] com.teamviewer.teamviewer_service.plist (2016-10-27) [Support]

[not loaded] com.waves.daemon.SoundGrid.NetworkSetup.plist (2014-08-04) [Support]

[not loaded] org.virtualbox.startup.plist (2016-04-06) [Support]

User Launch Agents: ⓘ

[loaded] com.bittorrent.BitTorrent.plist (2015-08-13)

[loaded] com.bittorrent.uTorrent.plist (2016-02-24)

[running] com.google.keystone.agent.plist (2016-07-11) [Support]

[failed] com.wondershare.AnjoyTunesHelper.plist (2015-08-31) [Support]

[not loaded] org.virtualbox.vboxwebsrv.plist (2016-04-06) [Support]

User Login Items: ⓘ

iTunesHelper Application (/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)

Wondershare TunesGo Helper Application (~/Library/Application Support/wondershare_TunesGo/Wondershare TunesGo Helper.app)

Dropbox Application (/Applications/Dropbox.app)

Android File Transfer Agent Application (~/Library/Application Support/Google/Android File Transfer/Android File Transfer Agent.app)

Google Drive Application (/Applications/Google Drive.app)

A360 Desktop Application (/Applications/Autodesk/A360 Desktop.app)

Internet Plug-ins: ⓘ

FlashPlayer-10.6: 23.0.0.205 - SDK 10.9 (2016-10-27) [Support]

QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (2015-08-13)

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: 15.020.20039 - SDK 10.11 (2016-10-17) [Support]

AdobePDFViewer: 15.020.20039 - SDK 10.11 (2016-10-17) [Support]

Flash Player: 23.0.0.205 - SDK 10.9 (2016-10-27) Cannot contact Adobe

Default Browser: 600 - SDK 10.10 (2015-08-13)

SharePointBrowserPlugin: 14.0.0 (2010-08-25) [Support]

JavaAppletPlugin: Java 8 Update 102 build 14 (2016-09-22) Check version

Safari Extensions: ⓘ

Grammarly for Safari - Grammarly - https://www.grammarly.com (2016-06-16)

3rd Party Preference Panes: ⓘ

DigidesignMbox2 (2010-10-25) [Support]

Flash Player (2016-10-23) [Support]

Java (2016-09-22) [Support]

Time Machine: ⓘ

Time Machine not configured!

Top Processes by CPU: ⓘ

6% WindowServer

3% fontd

2% kernel_task

1% avguard-ondemand-mgmt

0% Google Drive

Top Processes by Memory: ⓘ

820 MB kernel_task

481 MB savapi

276 MB avguard.bin

174 MB Dropbox

174 MB Google Drive

Virtual Memory Information: ⓘ

5.03 GB Free RAM

4.97 GB Used RAM (1.63 GB Cached)

0 B Swap Used

Diagnostics Information: ⓘ

Oct 27, 2016, 04:11:21 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/avlogwriter_2016-10-27-161121_[redacted].crash

/Applications/Avira.app/Contents/MacOS/avlogwriter

Oct 27, 2016, 04:11:21 PM ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/FinderSyncAPIExtension_2016-10-27-161121_[reda cted].crash

com.google.GoogleDrive.FinderSyncAPIExtension - /Applications/Google Drive.app/Contents/PlugIns/FinderSyncAPIExtension.appex/Contents/MacOS/FinderSy ncAPIExtension

Oct 27, 2016, 04:11:16 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/avlogwriter_2016-10-27-161116_[redacted].crash

Oct 27, 2016, 04:11:04 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/avlogwriter_2016-10-27-161104_[redacted].crash

Oct 27, 2016, 04:09:16 PM Self test - passed

Oct 27, 2016, 04:02:20 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/avlogwriter_2016-10-27-160220_[redacted].crash

Oct 27, 2016, 04:02:18 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/avlogwriter_2016-10-27-160218_[redacted].crash

Oct 27, 2016, 04:02:06 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/avlogwriter_2016-10-27-160206_[redacted].crash

Oct 27, 2016, 04:01:45 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/avlogwriter_2016-10-27-160145_[redacted].crash

Oct 27, 2016, 04:01:37 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/avlogwriter_2016-10-27-160137_[redacted].crash

Oct 27, 2016, 04:01:33 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/avlogwriter_2016-10-27-160133_[redacted].crash

Oct 27, 2016, 04:01:24 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/avlogwriter_2016-10-27-160124_[redacted].crash

Oct 27, 2016, 04:01:07 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/avlogwriter_2016-10-27-160107_[redacted].crash

Oct 27, 2016, 03:55:44 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Activity Monitor_2016-10-27-155544_[redacted].crash

/Applications/Utilities/Activity Monitor.app/Contents/MacOS/Activity Monitor

Oct 27, 2016, 03:32:11 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/avlogwriter_2016-10-27-153211_[redacted].crash

Oct 27, 2016, 03:32:08 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/avlogwriter_2016-10-27-153208_[redacted].crash

Oct 27, 2016, 03:31:58 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/avlogwriter_2016-10-27-153158_[redacted].crash

Oct 27, 2016, 03:31:37 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/avlogwriter_2016-10-27-153137_[redacted].crash

Oct 27, 2016, 03:31:26 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/avlogwriter_2016-10-27-153126_[redacted].crash

Oct 27, 2016, 03:31:15 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/avlogwriter_2016-10-27-153115_[redacted].crash

Oct 27, 2016, 03:31:14 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/avlogwriter_2016-10-27-153114_[redacted].crash

Oct 27, 2016, 03:31:03 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/avlogwriter_2016-10-27-153103_[redacted].crash

Reply

Answer 5

BobHarris

Level 9

57,185 points

Nov 1, 2016 5:54 AM in response to Schoey S

My mac uses a lot of memory allthough all the apps are closed...

You are running a "Ton" of background apps.

/Library/Application Support/VirtualBox

[loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxDrv (5.0.16 - 2016-04-06) [Support]

[loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetAdp (5.0.16 - 2016-04-06) [Support]

[loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetFlt (5.0.16 - 2016-04-06) [Support]

[loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxUSB (5.0.16 - 2016-04-06) [Support]

[not loaded] org.virtualbox.vboxwebsrv.plist (2016-04-06) [Support]

Nothing wrong with this, but is uses memory for the virtual machine(s) you are running.

[loaded] com.avira.kext.FileAccessControl (1.1.1 - SDK 10.9 - 2016-10-11) [Support]

[loaded] com.avira.antivirus.general.agent.plist (2015-10-15) [Support]

[loaded] com.avira.antivirus.gjallarhorn.plist (2016-10-04) [Support]

[failed] com.avira.antivirus.notifications.agent.plist (2015-10-15) [Support]

[loaded] com.avira.antivirus.odscan.default.plist (2016-10-24) [Support]

[loaded] com.avira.antivirus.scheduler.agent.plist (2015-10-15) [Support]

[running] com.avira.antivirus.systray.plist (2015-10-15) [Support]

[loaded] com.avira.antivirus.telemetry.agent.plist (2015-10-15) [Support]

[loaded] com.avira.antivirus.update.default.plist (2015-10-15) [Support]

[running] com.avira.helper.avstats.plist (2015-10-15) [Support]

[failed] com.avira.antivirus.dbcleaner.plist (2015-10-15) [Support]

1% avguard-ondemand-mgmt

276 MB avguard.bin

Anti-Virus software looking something that does not currently exist. Strongly suggest you remove this. It is also most likely responsible for your slow performance.

...

Oct 27, 2016, 04:11:21 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/avlogwriter_2016-10-27-161121_[redacted].crash

Oct 27, 2016, 04:11:16 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/avlogwriter_2016-10-27-161116_[redacted].crash

Oct 27, 2016, 04:11:04 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/avlogwriter_2016-10-27-161104_[redacted].crash

...

You will notice this avlogwriter (most likely stands for anti-virus log writer) is crashing every few seconds. This starting, crashing, write a crash report, starting, crashing, writing a crash report, wash, rinse, repeat... is a drain on your systems resources.

[not loaded] com.paceap.kext.pacesupport.master (5.9.1 - SDK 10.6 - 2016-10-11) [Support]

[not loaded] com.paceap.kext.pacesupport.leopard (5.9.1 - SDK 10.4 - 2013-02-01) [Support]

[not loaded] com.paceap.kext.pacesupport.panther (5.9.1 - SDK 10.-1 - 2013-02-01) [Support]

[loaded] com.paceap.kext.pacesupport.snowleopard (5.9.1 - SDK 10.6 - 2013-02-01) [Support]

[not loaded] com.paceap.kext.pacesupport.tiger (5.9.1 - SDK 10.4 - 2013-02-01) [Support]

[running] com.paceap.eden.licensed.plist (2015-08-10) [Support]

Is this yet another anti-virus package?

[loaded] com.bittorrent.BitTorrent.plist (2015-08-13)

[loaded] com.bittorrent.uTorrent.plist (2016-02-24)

BitTorrent is going to consume memory, CPU, and network bandwidth.

Google Drive Application (/Applications/Google Drive.app)

Google Drive can be a resource hog. And if you were really running Mavericks, as this is the Mavericks forum, instead of Yosemite, then I would also be telling you that Google Drive messes up the Mavericks Finder.

You should go through the EtreCheck output and look at every one of those 3rd party additions which are sucking up your CPU and Memory and uninstall using the vendors uninstall instructions every one that you absolutely do not need (starting with the anti-virus packages which most of us consider useless as they are mostly trying to protect you from a Windows virus that cannot infect the Mac; but if you run Windows in your VirtualBox then feel free to run Windows A/V inside VirtualBox, just keep it out of the Mac side of the house).

BANK 0/DIMM0

8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

2 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

While not technically a problem, your Mac would perform "Slightly" better in memory intense applications if you had matching sized DIMMs in both Bank 0 and 1. Matching sized DIMMs allows the Mac to interleave access to memory, A read operation has to drain the electrical charge from the memory location, so after a read, the DIMM is unavailable as it re-writes the original value back into the memory location. Which matching sized DIMMs, while one DIMM is doing its re-write, the Mac can access the next sequential memory location, and then toggle back and forth getting faster memory access, than if the DIMMs are mismatched in size, where each access needs to wait for the previous access to finish the re-write phase.

Reply

Answer 6

John Galt

Level 10

157,022 points

Nov 1, 2016 6:33 AM in response to Schoey S

Back up your Mac prior to making any changes to its file system. To learn how to use Time Machine please read Use Time Machine to back up or restore your Mac.
Non-Apple "anti-virus" products serve no beneficial purpose on a Mac, and the product you installed is doing little more than crashing.
- To uninstall "Avira" you must use its downloaded installer, which will be found in your Mac's Utilities folder unless you moved or deleted it.
- After using it, the following files and folders will remain and will require manual removal:

~/Library/Application Support/Avira

/Library/Application Support/Avira

~/Library/Saved Application State/com.avira.uninstall.savedState

~/Library/Saved Application State/com.avira.controlcenter.savedState

/var/log/com.avira.helper.watchdox.log

Review your Gatekeeper settings: OS X : About Gatekeeper - Apple Support. Gatekeeper is designed to help prevent you from inadvertently installing garbage software, and it has been disabled on that Mac.

Reply

Answer 7

Schoey S Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 1, 2016 7:20 AM in response to BobHarris

Hi Bob.

Thanks for the response, ** just deleting the anti-virus it reduced MEMORY usage to 3GB. Any suggestions of how I could get rid of the VM stuff?

The PACE is my Audio Software license app, Standard little iLod USB device with all my registered licenses stored on it.

Any other stuff you would recommend removing? Half of the stuff I read on the etre report I don't understand lol, so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

This machine shipped with 4GB, so 3GB still sounds a bit too much, I understand that software upgrades need to be done but surely the machine should still be able to use it as they are still selling it online? I'm not sure after the release of the new MBP but a few weeks ago at least they were still selling these MBP's.

Reply

Answer 8

BobHarris

Level 9

57,185 points

Nov 1, 2016 8:42 AM in response to Schoey S

Do not sweat the amount of memory used, unless Applications -> Utilities -> Activity Monitor -> Memory starts to go Yellow or Red (if it is still green), then the Mac is just using the memory you paid for so it does not go to waste.

If you want to worry about memory, then using Activity Monitor, look for apps that are consuming memory. But this is non-trivial, as many web browsers start a sub-process per web page you have open, so the web browser may look like it is only using a little bit, until you find all the individual sub-processes and add them up, then you find that 3 or 4GBs is tied up in Chrome or Safari or Firefox, etc...

It is actually better to worry about the performance of your system. If the Mac is using your memory for cached files to avoid slow disk I/O that is to your benefit, and it reduces heat because the disk is doing less work, and it gives you longer battery life because the disk is using less power. Avoiding memory use is not to your benefit.

Now when Activity Monitor -> Memory goes yellow, then the CPU is doing memory compression, which is a little more CPU work, which is a little more power, but not nearly as much as spinning that disk. But when the Activity Monitor -> Memory goes Red, then the Mac is paging and swapping to your disk, and your power consumption is going to go up, so that is when you want to see about either adding more RAM because you really do need it for the work you are doing, or finding things that are wasting your memory.

As for the of 3rd party software listed by EtreCheck, you installed it. You can go through the list and remove things you do not remember what they are, and if something you need stops working you will now know what it was, and you can re-install it. You could also take the names listed by EtreCheck and do Google searches, which is fairly good at coming up with correct product names.

Reply