kernel_task blow CPU outs

Question

Level 1

14 points

kernel_task blow CPU outs

This is yet another plea for help with problems with my Kernel_task blowing out my CPU. (I tried earlier but it was never resolved).

Kernel_task regularly spins out to up to 1200% of CPU, with 300-500% being common. I've tried everything - resetting just about everything, turning off start up programs, safe restart and so on, but nothing seems to work. I have a fairly specced up machine and everything is up to date. At least 20% of my day is spent trying to nurse the computer slowly back into work mode.

It's triggered by Skype, time machine, my other backups, dropbox and outlook - but not always. Much of the time it's triggered by nothing I can see.

A trip to the Apple store in HK was not a help - the guy said it's something that they deal with over and over & it's ongoing, and the forums here are a pointer to that, with no solutions that I can see.

Any advice much appreciated. I'm at my wit's end.

EtreCheck here:

http://pastebin.com/FNyXHPt4

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015), macOS Sierra (10.12.3)

Posted on Mar 7, 2017 9:31 PM

Reply

Answer 1

John Galt

Level 10

156,794 points

Mar 8, 2017 7:17 PM in response to snig27

Please read If kernel_task is using a large percentage of your Mac CPU - Apple Support.

A runaway kernel_task can be due to a number of factors, such as:

a failed or disconnected temperature sensor
cooling system inefficiency (an inoperative exhaust fan on Macs so equipped, possibly clogged with dust)
a worn out, missing, or non-Apple (user-installed) battery on portable Macs
similar hardware-specific causes including internal hardware additions, external USB or other connected devices

Additional suggestions that may help, in no particular order:

SMC Reset: Reset the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac - Apple Support
Reindex Spotlight: How to rebuild the Spotlight index on your Mac - Apple Support
Safe Mode: Use safe mode to isolate issues with your Mac - Apple Support
Temporary User Account: How to test an issue in another user account on your Mac

Determine if any one of the above resolves the runaway kernel_task. If all attempts fail have Apple evaluate your Mac: Contact Support

Back up your Mac if you have not done so already. To learn how to do that read https://www.apple.com/support/backup/. To learn how to use Time Machine read Use Time Machine to back up or restore your Mac.

Regarding Activity Monitor showing occasionally excessive numbers for %CPU I have seen brief excursions to obviously absurd values such as a million and a half percent. They never persist for more than a single refresh of the Activity Monitor window. It's an obvious AM bug that I do not consider significant.

As shown in your recent screenshot %CPU values in the hundreds or thousands for more than that short period of time is significant, and needs to be addressed. Follow the above suggestions, particularly Safe Mode. That Mac is being affected by quite a few modifications, any one of which might be responsible.

Reply

Answer 2

snig27 Author

Level 1

14 points

Mar 8, 2017 2:52 AM in response to Lexiepex

Thank you Lex.

I assume you mean the entries for com.seagate.driver.PowSecDriverCore and the Seagate Storage driver. It seems to say they are in /System/Library/Extensions but I can't see them. Nor can I see any Samsung entries. Any idea where to look? cheers

Reply

Answer 3

snig27 Author

Level 1

14 points

Mar 8, 2017 7:52 AM in response to Lexiepex

Thanks Lex.

Yes some of those I do need, and use all the time, in particular, typeit4me which is vital for work. Hyperdock is also important and I've been using it for years. I've removed it to try and solve this and it made no difference.

Sadly, with all those gone, I'm still getting the cpu issues. I've added and removed pretty much all the utilities trying to fix this in recent months and concluded that there is something rogue in the library somewhere left over from an ancient piece of software. But, what?

And check this, just now:

Reply

Answer 4

John Galt

Level 10

156,794 points

Mar 8, 2017 7:41 PM in response to snig27

snig27 wrote:

That Mac is busy. Adobe and Google products are both notoriously inefficient on Macs, but I doubt they are the root cause of either poor performance or the runaway kernel_task.

Next time you see something like that look toward the bottom of the AM window and examine the CPU idle time:

That's about where a Mac spends most of its life: waiting for you to do something. Performance becomes objectionable when it approaches (very approximately) 50%. When that happens, examine the process or processes burdening the CPU. If you cannot identify any obvious culprits a hardware fault is almost certain to be the cause — and even when there are obvious culprits, a hardware fault can still be the cause.

When the "idle" percentage reaches single digits a Mac becomes essentially unresponsive.

Reply

Answer 5

snig27 Author

Level 1

14 points

Mar 8, 2017 3:32 AM in response to snig27

Hi Lex,

They are gone:

EtreCheck version: 3.1.5 (343)

Report generated 2017-03-08 18:30:39

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime 1:46

Performance: Excellent

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

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

Problem: Beachballing

Hardware Information: ⓘ

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015)

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

MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro11,5

1 2.8 GHz Intel Core i7 (i7-4980HQ) CPU: 4-core

16 GB RAM Not upgradeable

BANK 0/DIMM0

8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

Bluetooth: Good - Handoff/Airdrop2 supported

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

Battery: Health = Normal - Cycle count = 276

Video Information: ⓘ

AMD Radeon R9 M370X - VRAM: 2048 MB

Color LCD 2880 x 1800

S23C200 1920 x 1080 @ 60 Hz

G206HQL 1600 x 900 @ 60 Hz

Intel Iris Pro

System Software: ⓘ

macOS Sierra 10.12.3 (16D32) - Time since boot: about 3 hours

Disk Information: ⓘ

APPLE SSD SM1024G disk0 : (1 TB) (Solid State - TRIM: Yes)

[Show SMART report]

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

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

Macintosh HD (disk1) / [Startup]: 999.33 GB (268.88 GB free)

Core Storage: disk0s2 999.70 GB Online

USB Information: ⓘ

Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

Broadcom Corp. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Logitech USB Receiver

Thunderbolt Information: ⓘ

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

Gatekeeper: ⓘ

Mac App Store and identified developers

Kernel Extensions: ⓘ

/Library/Extensions

[loaded] com.logitech.manager.kernel.driver (6.40.1 - SDK 10.11 - 2017-03-08) [Support]

/System/Library/Extensions

[not loaded] jp.co.buffalo.driver.turbousbhdd (1.0.0 - 2017-03-08) [Support]

Startup Items: ⓘ

WiFiUtilityStartUp: Path: /System/Library/StartupItems/WiFiUtilityStartUp

Startup items no longer function in OS X Yosemite or later

System Launch Agents: ⓘ

[not loaded] 7 Apple tasks

[loaded] 178 Apple tasks

[running] 95 Apple tasks

System Launch Daemons: ⓘ

[not loaded] 39 Apple tasks

[loaded] 164 Apple tasks

[running] 108 Apple tasks

Launch Agents: ⓘ

[not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist (2017-01-26) [Support]

[failed] com.adobe.ARMDCHelper.cc24aef4a1b90ed56a725c38014c95072f92651fb65e1bf9c8e43c37a2 3d420d.plist (2017-01-13) [Support]

[running] com.adobe.AdobeCreativeCloud.plist (2016-11-03) [Support]

[running] com.bjango.istatmenusagent.plist (2016-12-14) [Support]

[running] com.bjango.istatmenusnotifications.plist (2016-12-14) [Support]

[running] com.bjango.istatmenusstatus.plist (2016-12-14) [Support]

[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist (2017-01-14) [Support]

[running] com.logitech.manager.daemon.plist (2017-03-05) [Support]

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist (2017-01-21) [Support]

Launch Daemons: ⓘ

[loaded] com.adobe.ARMDC.Communicator.plist (2017-01-13) [Support]

[loaded] com.adobe.ARMDC.SMJobBlessHelper.plist (2017-01-13) [Support]

[running] com.adobe.adobeupdatedaemon.plist (2016-11-03) [Support]

[running] com.adobe.agsservice.plist (2017-01-28) [Support]

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (2017-01-31) [Support]

[running] com.backblaze.bzserv.plist (2017-03-08) [Support]

[running] com.bjango.istatmenusdaemon.plist (2016-12-14) [Support]

[loaded] com.bombich.ccc.plist (2014-07-10) [Support]

[running] com.bombich.ccchelper.plist (2017-02-23) [Support]

[loaded] com.google.keystone.daemon.plist (2017-01-24) [Support]

[loaded] com.microsoft.autoupdate.helper.plist (2016-12-31) [Support]

[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensingV2.helper.plist (2015-07-01) [Support]

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist (2016-12-13) [Support]

[loaded] com.surteesstudios.Bartender.BartenderInstallHelper.plist (2016-12-06) [Support]

[loaded] com.wdc.WDPrivilegedHelper.plist (2015-10-22) [Support] - /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.wdc.WDPrivilegedHelper: Executable not found!

[running] gramblr.plist (2017-03-01) [Support]

[loaded] uk.co.canimaansoftware.ClamXavHelper.plist (2016-09-29) [Support]

[loaded] uk.co.canimaansoftware.ClamXavHelperUpdater.plist (2016-07-19) [Support]

User Launch Agents: ⓘ

[not loaded] .dat41aa.000 (hidden) (2010-04-24)

/System/Library/CoreServices/Folder Actions Dispatcher.app/Contents/MacOS/Folder Actions Dispatcher - /System/Library/CoreServices/Folder Actions Dispatcher.app/Contents/MacOS/Folder Actions Dispatcher: Executable not found!

[failed] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist (2012-11-12) [Support] - /Applications/Adobe Acrobat XI Pro/Adobe Acrobat Pro.app/Contents/MacOS/Updater/Adobe Acrobat Updater Helper.app/Contents/MacOS/Adobe Acrobat Updater Helper: Executable not found!

[running] com.backblaze.bzbmenu.plist (2017-03-08) [Support]

[running] com.google.Chrome.framework.plist (2017-03-08) [Support]

[not loaded] com.lastpass.LastPassHelper.plist (2016-09-21) [Support] - REPLACE_HOME/Library/Application Support/LastPass/LastPassHelper.app/Contents/MacOS/LastPassHelper: Executable not found!

[failed] com.microsoft.LaunchAgent.SyncServicesAgent.plist (2015-05-28) [Support] - /Applications/Microsoft Office 2011/Office/SyncServicesAgent.app/Contents/MacOS/SyncServicesAgent: Executable not found!

[running] com.spotify.webhelper.plist (2017-03-01) [Support]

[loaded] uk.co.canimaansoftware.clamxav.UninstallWatcher.plist (2016-12-10)

User Login Items: ⓘ

Bartender 2 Application

(/Applications/Bartender 2.app)

CopyPaste Pro Application

(/Applications/CopyPaste Pro.app)

HyperDock Helper Application

(~/Library/PreferencePanes/HyperDock.prefpane/Contents/Resources/HyperDock Helper.app)

TypeIt4Me Application Hidden

(/Applications/TypeIt4Me.app)

Dropbox Application

(/Applications/Dropbox.app)

Carbon Copy Cloner Application

(/Applications/Carbon Copy Cloner.app)

Alfred 3 Application

(/Applications/Alfred 3.app)

Flickr Uploadr Application

(/Applications/Flickr Uploadr.app)

WDQuickView Application

(/Library/Application Support/WDSmartware/WDQuickView.app)

Internet Plug-ins: ⓘ

JavaAppletPlugin: Java 8 Update 121 build 13 (2017-01-21) Check version

nplastpass: 4.1.2 - SDK 10.11 (2016-09-21) [Support]

o1dbrowserplugin: 5.41.3.0 - SDK 10.8 (2015-12-16) [Support]

Google Earth Web Plug-in: 7.1 (2016-08-20) [Support]

AdobeExManDetect: AdobeExManDetect 1.1.0.0 - SDK 10.7 (2015-05-28) [Support]

RealPlayer Plugin: Unknown

AdobeAAMDetect: 3.0.0.0 - SDK 10.9 (2016-11-03) [Support]

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: 15.023.20056 - SDK 10.11 (2017-01-29) [Support]

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

Silverlight: 5.1.41212.0 - SDK 10.6 (2016-03-05) [Support]

QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (2016-12-31)

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

iPhotoPhotocast: 7.0 - SDK 10.7 (2012-03-09)

googletalkbrowserplugin: 5.41.3.0 - SDK 10.8 (2015-12-12) [Support]

AdobePDFViewer: 15.023.20056 - SDK 10.11 (2017-01-29) [Support]

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

SharePointBrowserPlugin: 14.5.2 - SDK 10.6 (2015-06-17) [Support]

DirectorShockwave: 12.0.2r122 - SDK 10.6 (2013-04-03) [Support]

Safari Extensions: ⓘ

LastPass - LastPass - https://lastpass.com (2016-08-25)

Audio Plug-ins: ⓘ

BartenderAudioPlugIn: 1.0.0 - SDK 10.10 (2016-09-14) [Support]

3rd Party Preference Panes: ⓘ

Backblaze Backup (2017-03-08) [Support]

Flash Player (2017-01-31) [Support]

HyperDock (2017-03-06) [Support]

Java (2017-01-21) [Support]

Logi Options Launcher (2017-03-05) [Support]

WDQuickView (2015-06-10) [Support]

Time Machine: ⓘ

Auto backup: YES

Volumes being backed up:

Macintosh HD: Disk size: 999.33 GB Disk used: 730.45 GB

Destinations:

Backup 3 [Local]

Total size: 999.83 GB

Total number of backups: 10

Oldest backup: 2/10/16, 9:11 PM

Last backup: 7/03/17, 4:36 AM

Size of backup disk: Too small

Backup size 999.83 GB < (Disk used 730.45 GB X 3)

AK Desk drive [Local]

Total size: 3.00 TB

Total number of backups: 33

Oldest backup: 27/02/16, 12:36 AM

Last backup: 7/03/17, 7:36 PM

Size of backup disk: Excellent

Backup size 3.00 TB > (Disk size 999.33 GB X 3)

Simon G2016** [Local]

Total size: 2.00 TB

Total number of backups: 36

Oldest backup: 5/06/16, 12:28 AM

Last backup: 8/03/17, 9:08 AM

Size of backup disk: Too small

Backup size 2.00 TB < (Disk used 730.45 GB X 3)

Top Processes by CPU: ⓘ

7% WindowServer

4% Google Chrome Helper(31)

4% coreaudiod

3% iStat Menus Status

3% Google Chrome

Top Processes by Memory: ⓘ

5.82 GB Google Chrome Helper(31)

1.48 GB kernel_task

606 MB Finder

557 MB mds_stores

475 MB FlickrDesktop

Virtual Memory Information: ⓘ

3.54 GB Available RAM

56 MB Free RAM

12.46 GB Used RAM

3.48 GB Cached files

57 MB Swap Used

Diagnostics Information: ⓘ

Mar 8, 2017, 05:28:32 PM ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Finder_2017-03-08-172832_[redacted].crash

com.apple.finder - /System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/MacOS/Finder

Mar 8, 2017, 03:02:37 PM Self test - passed

Mar 8, 2017, 12:48:30 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/WindowServer_2017-03-08-124830_[redacted].cpu_r esource.diag [Details]

/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SkyLight.framework/Resources/WindowServer

Mar 8, 2017, 12:36:35 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/com.malwarebytes.HelperTool_2017-03-08-123635_[ redacted].cpu_resource.diag [Details]

/Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.malwarebytes.HelperTool

Mar 8, 2017, 11:41:38 AM ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/mdworker32_2017-03-08-114138_[redacted].crash

/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/Metadat a.framework/Versions/A/Support/mdworker32

Mar 8, 2017, 11:41:28 AM ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/mdworker32_2017-03-08-114128_[redacted].crash

Mar 8, 2017, 11:38:35 AM ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/mdworker32_2017-03-08-113835_[redacted].crash

Mar 8, 2017, 11:38:27 AM ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/mdworker32_2017-03-08-113827_[redacted].crash

Mar 8, 2017, 09:44:21 AM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Adobe Bridge CC 2017_2017-03-08-094421_[redacted].cpu_resource.diag [Details]

/Applications/Adobe Bridge CC 2017/Adobe Bridge CC 2017.app/Contents/MacOS/Adobe Bridge CC 2017

Mar 8, 2017, 08:48:50 AM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/gramblr_2017-03-08-084850_[redacted].crash

/Applications/Gramblr.app/Contents/Resources/gramblr

Mar 7, 2017, 07:38:17 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/gramblr_2017-03-07-193817_[redacted].crash

Mar 7, 2017, 04:05:16 PM ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/CEPHtmlEngine_2017-03-07-160516_[redacted].cra sh

com.adobe.cep.CEPHtmlEngine - /Applications/Adobe Photoshop CC 2017/Adobe Photoshop CC 2017.app/Contents/MacOS/CEPHtmlEngine.app/Contents/MacOS/CEPHtmlEngine

Mar 7, 2017, 01:09:09 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/gramblr_2017-03-07-130909_[redacted].crash

Mar 7, 2017, 11:04:19 AM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/gramblr_2017-03-07-110419_[redacted].crash

Mar 7, 2017, 01:33:57 AM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/gramblr_2017-03-07-013357_[redacted].crash

Mar 6, 2017, 02:48:00 PM ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/com.apple.security.pboxd_2017-03-06-144800_[re dacted].crash

/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/RemoteViewServices.framework/XPCServices/com. apple.security.pboxd.xpc/Contents/MacOS/com.apple.security.pboxd

Mar 6, 2017, 12:25:34 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/VueScan_2017-03-06-122534_[redacted].cpu_resour ce.diag [Details]

/Applications/VueScan.app/Contents/MacOS/VueScan

Reply

Answer 6

snig27 Author

Level 1

14 points

Mar 8, 2017 8:00 AM in response to snig27

I suspect the Chrome issues may be simply that the tabs have been open too long and have gathered resources. I cleared the cache there.

In the interim, another report:

EtreCheck version: 3.1.5 (343)

Report generated 2017-03-08 22:53:52

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime 6:40

Performance: Below Average

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

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

Problem: Beachballing

Hardware Information: ⓘ

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015)

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

MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro11,5

1 2.8 GHz Intel Core i7 (i7-4980HQ) CPU: 4-core

16 GB RAM Not upgradeable

BANK 0/DIMM0

8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

Bluetooth: Good - Handoff/Airdrop2 supported

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

Battery: Health = Normal - Cycle count = 276

Video Information: ⓘ

AMD Radeon R9 M370X - VRAM: 2048 MB

Color LCD 2880 x 1800

S23C200 1920 x 1080 @ 60 Hz

G206HQL 1600 x 900 @ 60 Hz

Intel Iris Pro

System Software: ⓘ

macOS Sierra 10.12.3 (16D32) - Time since boot: about 2 hours

Disk Information: ⓘ

APPLE SSD SM1024G disk0 : (1 TB) (Solid State - TRIM: Yes)

[Show SMART report]

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

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

Macintosh HD (disk1) / [Startup]: 999.33 GB (267.81 GB free)

Core Storage: disk0s2 999.70 GB Online

USB Information: ⓘ

Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

Broadcom Corp. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Logitech USB Receiver

Thunderbolt Information: ⓘ

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

Gatekeeper: ⓘ

Mac App Store and identified developers

Kernel Extensions: ⓘ

/Library/Extensions

[loaded] com.logitech.manager.kernel.driver (6.40.1 - SDK 10.11 - 2017-03-08) [Support]

/System/Library/Extensions

[not loaded] jp.co.buffalo.driver.turbousbhdd (1.0.0 - 2017-03-08) [Support]

System Launch Agents: ⓘ

[not loaded] 7 Apple tasks

[loaded] 179 Apple tasks

[running] 94 Apple tasks