285% CPU usage from kernel_task

Question

Level 1

9 points

285% CPU usage from kernel_task

I am currently using the new 2016 MacBook Pro 13 inch with touch bar, and I've had nothing but problems so far. The one problem that is effecting me the most is when the CPU usage sky rockets to 100%, fans going wild, and the computer because equivalent to a brick. No matter what I do the problem keeps occurring, happens quite often at about twice a day if I'm always using it, and not during any kind of intensive work. Watching activity monitor while this is happening shows kernel_task using over 200% CPU usage. I have done a full system restore and re-installed MacOS, and reset the SMC controllers twice. Does anyone have any advice on this problem? Thanks in advance.

MacBook Pro with Retina display, macOS Sierra (10.12.2), BootCamp Windows 10, P.O.S

Posted on Mar 6, 2017 2:13 PM

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Answer 1

aussiebail1 Author

Level 1

9 points

Mar 7, 2017 10:13 AM in response to etresoft

Hey etresoft,

I attached a picture below of the last time I had a CPU spike and to me it doesn't seem like anything else out of the ordinary thats take a large amount of CPU usage. Let me know what you think, thanks!

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Answer 2

aussiebail1 Author

Level 1

9 points

Mar 6, 2017 6:44 PM in response to dominic23

EtreCheck version: 3.1.5 (343)

Report generated 2017-03-06 21:39:48

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime 1:34

Performance: Excellent

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

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

Problem: Beachballing

Description:

cpu usage spikes

Hardware Information: ⓘ

MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports)

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

MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro13,2

1 2.9 GHz Intel Core i5 (i5-6267U) CPU: 2-core

8 GB RAM Not upgradeable

BANK 0/DIMM0

4 GB LPDDR3 2133 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

4 GB LPDDR3 2133 MHz ok

Bluetooth: Good - Handoff/Airdrop2 supported

Wireless: en0: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac

Battery: Health = Normal - Cycle count = 39

Video Information: ⓘ

Intel Iris Graphics 550

Color LCD 2880 x 1800

System Software: ⓘ

macOS Sierra 10.12.3 (16D32) - Time since boot: about one day

Disk Information: ⓘ

APPLE SSD AP0512J disk0 : (500.28 GB) (Solid State - TRIM: Yes)

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 315 MB

Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / [Startup]: 428.36 GB (304.29 GB free)

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

BOOTCAMP (disk0s4) /Volumes/BOOTCAMP : 70.95 GB (35.49 GB free)

USB Information: ⓘ

Apple Inc. iBridge

Thunderbolt Information: ⓘ

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus_1

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus_0

Gatekeeper: ⓘ

Mac App Store and identified developers

Kernel Extensions: ⓘ

/Library/Application Support/VirtualBox

[loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxDrv (5.1.12 - 2017-01-09) [Support]

[loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetAdp (5.1.12 - 2017-01-09) [Support]

[loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetFlt (5.1.12 - 2017-01-09) [Support]

[loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxUSB (5.1.12 - 2017-01-09) [Support]

System Launch Agents: ⓘ

[not loaded] 7 Apple tasks

[loaded] 165 Apple tasks

[running] 108 Apple tasks

System Launch Daemons: ⓘ

[not loaded] 40 Apple tasks

[loaded] 159 Apple tasks

[running] 111 Apple tasks

Launch Agents: ⓘ

[failed] com.adobe.ARMDCHelper.cc24aef4a1b90ed56a725c38014c95072f92651fb65e1bf9c8e43c37a2 3d420d.plist (2017-01-12) [Support]

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist (2016-11-29) [Support]

Launch Daemons: ⓘ

[loaded] com.adobe.ARMDC.Communicator.plist (2017-01-12) [Support]

[loaded] com.adobe.ARMDC.SMJobBlessHelper.plist (2017-01-12) [Support]

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (2017-01-30) [Support]

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist (2016-11-29) [Support]

[not loaded] org.virtualbox.startup.plist (2017-01-09) [Support]

User Launch Agents: ⓘ

[loaded] com.macpaw.CleanMyMac3.Scheduler.plist (2017-01-11)

[not loaded] org.virtualbox.vboxwebsrv.plist (2017-01-09) [Support]

User Login Items: ⓘ

iTunesHelper Application (2017-01-24)

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

Internet Plug-ins: ⓘ

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: 15.023.20056 - SDK 10.11 (2017-01-20) [Support]

FlashPlayer-10.6: 24.0.0.221 - SDK 10.9 (2017-02-15) [Support]

QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (2017-01-11)

AdobePDFViewer: 15.023.20056 - SDK 10.11 (2017-01-20) [Support]

Flash Player: 24.0.0.221 - SDK 10.9 (2017-02-15) [Support]

JavaAppletPlugin: Java 8 Update 112 build 16 (2016-11-29) Check version

Safari Extensions: ⓘ

Adblock Plus - Eyeo GmbH - https://adblockplus.org/ (2017-01-08)

AdBlock - BetaFish, Inc. - https://getadblock.com (2016-05-23)

3rd Party Preference Panes: ⓘ

Flash Player (2017-01-30) [Support]

Java (2016-11-29) [Support]

Time Machine: ⓘ

Mobile backups: OFF

Auto backup: NO - Auto backup turned off

Volumes being backed up:

Destinations:

AB's Drive [Local]

Total size: 999.83 GB

Total number of backups: 6

Oldest backup: 2016-05-25, 9:41 PM

Last backup: 2016-11-19, 10:58 PM

Size of backup disk: Excellent

Backup size 999.83 GB > (Disk size 0 B X 3)

Top Processes by CPU: ⓘ

5% WindowServer

2% kernel_task

2% fontd

1% com.apple.AmbientDisplayAgent

0% logd

Top Processes by Memory: ⓘ

877 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent

724 MB kernel_task

631 MB Safari

139 MB TextEdit

82 MB WindowServer

Virtual Memory Information: ⓘ

2.43 GB Available RAM

436 MB Free RAM

5.57 GB Used RAM

2.00 GB Cached files

80 MB Swap Used

Diagnostics Information: ⓘ

Mar 6, 2017, 03:54:58 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/TextEdit_2017-03-06-155458_[redacted].cpu_resou rce.diag [Details]

/Applications/TextEdit.app/Contents/MacOS/TextEdit

Mar 6, 2017, 07:04:29 AM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/fud_2017-03-06-070429_[redacted].crash

/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/MobileAccessoryUpdater.framework/Support/fud

Mar 6, 2017, 03:21:10 AM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/fud_2017-03-06-032110_[redacted].crash

Mar 5, 2017, 08:28:01 PM Self test - passed

Mar 5, 2017, 09:35:36 AM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/fud_2017-03-05-093536_[redacted].crash

Mar 5, 2017, 06:52:10 AM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/fud_2017-03-05-065210_[redacted].crash

Mar 5, 2017, 05:03:13 AM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/fud_2017-03-05-050313_[redacted].crash

Mar 5, 2017, 03:14:15 AM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/fud_2017-03-05-031415_[redacted].crash

Mar 4, 2017, 03:54:55 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/com.apple.AmbientDisplayAgent_2017-03-04-155455 _[redacted].crash

/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/AmbientDisplay.framework/Versions/A/XPCServic es/com.apple.AmbientDisplayAgent.xpc/Contents/MacOS/com.apple.AmbientDisplayAgen t

Reply

Answer 3

etresoft

Level 8

46,384 points

Mar 6, 2017 9:16 PM in response to aussiebail1

Hello aussiebail1,

Keep Activity Monitor open. The next time you get a kernel_task spike in CPU usage, try to look to see which task is using the next highest amount of CPU. I've been studying these kernel_task CPU usage jumps. They may not be a real problem. They may be an attempt by the operating system to prevent some other task from running wild. Identifying that other task is the more difficult question. See If kernel_task is using a large percentage of your Mac CPU - Apple Support

Reply

Answer 4

dominic23

Level 10

83,910 points

Mar 6, 2017 3:59 PM in response to aussiebail1

Please run EtreCheck and post the report here.

http://etresoft.com/etrecheck

Download it, open Downloads folder, click on it to open, and then select ”Open”.

Click on the bouncing EtreCheck icon in the Dock.

“Choose a problem” from the popup menu box, and then “Start EtreCheck” in the dialog.

Click “Share Report” button in the toolbar, select “Copy to Clipboard” .

Paste it into the reply.

Reply

Answer 5

puget

Level 1

4 points

Jun 21, 2017 1:49 PM in response to aussiebail1

This suddenly occurred with my older MacBook Air this week, and after trying everything else and much hunting, I found a solution elsewhere online that worked for me. This is definitely a hack that overrides several safety features, so use at your own risk. . .

Short version: remove IOPlatformPluginFamily.kext from your extensions library.

Long version:

My eventual conclusion after trying every possible trouble shooting step to no avail was that the apparent high kernel_task CPU usage was actually due to a feature called kernel throttling, which, so far as I can understand, is intended to limit CPU use by other processes when the computer thinks it is overheating. That is, the kernel_task is not actually using all that CPU, it just appears to be to limit other CPU use. This was confirmed by the fact that EntreCheck showed only a low CPU usage for kernel_task. Since my computer was not actually over heating, I concluded that a temp sensor had probably gone bad or some such.

Several others online reported good results from disabling kernel throttling in similar circumstances. Here's how in Sierra:

1. Restart your computer while pressing Command + R

2. Open terminal in the utilities menu and do: csrutil disable

This overrides the protection that would otherwise keep you from messing with certain areas of your file system, so you may want to enable again after you finish the steps here.

3. Restart in normal mode

4. Go to /System/library/extensions/ and locate the file called IOPlatformPluginFamily.kext

5. Move this file to a backup location somewhere outside the extension folder (in case you decide to replace it later)

6. Restart one more time

I've been using my computer all day with no further problems, system CPU usage back down to normal and no over heating. However, as I said this is definitely a hack, and I probably wouldn't have tried it with a newer computer. Mine is 4 years old and just needs to hang on a few more months until my work replaces it, so I'll happily take the slight risk of actual overheating to achieve that (and of course I have it fully backed up in case).

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Answer 6

etresoft

Level 8

46,384 points

Mar 7, 2017 11:12 AM in response to aussiebail1

Hello again aussiebail1,

Try getting rid of that "clean up" software.

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Answer 7

aussiebail1 Author

Level 1

9 points

Mar 7, 2017 1:30 PM in response to etresoft

I only installed that clean up software to help with the problem, so I'm saying the problem was around before I installed it. But I will remove it anyways.

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Answer 8

aussiebail1 Author

Level 1

9 points

Mar 7, 2017 2:41 PM in response to aussiebail1

UPDATE: Just had another incident, saw CPU usage spike to 500%, restarted it 3 times and the problem came right back once it booted up. After the third time I just let it sit until it calmed down.

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