Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

RTProtectionDaemon

What is it and what does it do? it came up as chowing 95% of the computer time after running Etrecheck

iMac (21.5-inch Mid 2011), macOS Sierra (10.12.5)

Posted on Aug 4, 2017 5:12 AM

Reply
Question marked as Best reply

Posted on Aug 15, 2017 7:43 PM

Or.... rather than uninstalling or scripting... you *could* just turn off the active monitoring!


Like others 'here', I was noticing slowness and went to EtreCheck, only to see that 91% of CPU use was going to RTProtection Daemon. I too have the latest (paid) version and just went with the flow as the latest updates had the active monitoring option.


Super easy solution - worked quickly and effectively for me at least - is.... turn off the active monitoring option! It's still installed for periodic full scans, but is not any longer hogging resources. The library and launch daemons listings still show Malwarebytes, but RTProtectionDaemon is gone, and Malwarebytes doesn't show up at all among the top processor users of cpu, memory, or energy.


On the browser top bar (using Chrome at least), there is a malwarebytes icon. Click on it and you'll see an option to Stop Real-Time Protection among the drop-down choices. Click to stop, and problem solved. Malwarebytes continues to be on-call for scans, uses no resources (except maybe periodic update daemon launches) and the option to "Start Real-Time Protection" is right there should I want it. Meanwhile, my Mac has not worked so well or had so much headroom in RAM and CPU as now, having begun with trimming storage down and then ID'ing this daemon as the memory hog. Turn it off, problem solved. No uninstall, scripts, or losing the program altogether.

20 replies
Question marked as Best reply

Aug 15, 2017 7:43 PM in response to wbowles

Or.... rather than uninstalling or scripting... you *could* just turn off the active monitoring!


Like others 'here', I was noticing slowness and went to EtreCheck, only to see that 91% of CPU use was going to RTProtection Daemon. I too have the latest (paid) version and just went with the flow as the latest updates had the active monitoring option.


Super easy solution - worked quickly and effectively for me at least - is.... turn off the active monitoring option! It's still installed for periodic full scans, but is not any longer hogging resources. The library and launch daemons listings still show Malwarebytes, but RTProtectionDaemon is gone, and Malwarebytes doesn't show up at all among the top processor users of cpu, memory, or energy.


On the browser top bar (using Chrome at least), there is a malwarebytes icon. Click on it and you'll see an option to Stop Real-Time Protection among the drop-down choices. Click to stop, and problem solved. Malwarebytes continues to be on-call for scans, uses no resources (except maybe periodic update daemon launches) and the option to "Start Real-Time Protection" is right there should I want it. Meanwhile, my Mac has not worked so well or had so much headroom in RAM and CPU as now, having begun with trimming storage down and then ID'ing this daemon as the memory hog. Turn it off, problem solved. No uninstall, scripts, or losing the program altogether.

Aug 4, 2017 8:15 AM in response to wbowles

Hello wbowles,

It is part the new version of MalwareBytes for Mac. They recently switched from a relatively non-intrusive, stand-alone app to more all-encompassing "endpoint security system" with multiple background processes running as root and a kernel extension. It is now a full-fledged modification of the operating system like any other 3rd party security software package.

Aug 16, 2017 7:17 PM in response to wbowles

Well, sorry you see it that way, and hoping others may benefit from this, as I did/do.
You've mis-stated what I've done. First, I continue to have - and USE - the software just as I always have.
It is the addition of the live monitoring - in the newer iteration - which I've chosen not to use, given how it chows processor time, to use your description. I've crippled nothing, merely opted out from using the additional software - akin to an always-active antivirus program for example, which equally uses memory and cpu.


So anyway I'm glad if you solved the problem somehow. I simply noticed that there along with the new cpu-gobbling option of turning on the active filter, there is an option to turn it off. It remains exactly the same as Malwarebytes always has been, otherwise, available for real-time scanning (not "crippled"). Again, sorry you see this as "not a really useful suggestion". Worked for me like a charm, and I hope it might for others as well. Good luck!

Nov 17, 2017 9:58 AM in response to drmikenyc

drmikenyc wrote:


Super easy solution - worked quickly and effectively for me at least - is.... turn off the active monitoring option! It's still installed for periodic full scans, but is not any longer hogging resources. The library and launch daemons listings still show Malwarebytes, but RTProtectionDaemon is gone, and Malwarebytes doesn't show up at all among the top processor users of cpu, memory, or energy.


On the browser top bar (using Chrome at least), there is a malwarebytes icon. Click on it and you'll see an option to Stop Real-Time Protection among the drop-down choices. Click to stop, and problem solved. Malwarebytes continues to be on-call for scans, uses no resources (except maybe periodic update daemon launches) and the option to "Start Real-Time Protection" is right there should I want it. Meanwhile, my Mac has not worked so well or had so much headroom in RAM and CPU as now, having begun with trimming storage down and then ID'ing this daemon as the memory hog. Turn it off, problem solved. No uninstall, scripts, or losing the program altogether.

Wow! After finding and reading through this whole thread, I want to thank you, drmikenyc, for what I agree is a super easy solution! It does seem to have solved the problem for me, too - at least so far - and for me at least I found it far preferable to the alternative provided by MalwareBytes' support team.

{I'm still on the free trial for this "upgrade" and when the trial runs out I'm not sure I will even continue said upgrade by buying their license, since their screen now says that I "am not fully protected" and should turn "Real Time Protection" back on! What a pointless conundrum!}


Anyway, thank you very much, drmikenyc!

Nov 17, 2017 1:24 PM in response to MacsSince1984

You're quite welcome MacsSince1984 - and thanks for the feedback. Glad it helped.
I've felt at times like an alien from Mars, from the responses, and scratch my head when my occasional "KISS" (keep it simple, so...) solution is so quickly deemed irrelevant &/or discounted by "mavens"


Since I posted that, across 3 Macs I've dealt the same way, with 100% success, no surprises...
A few times Malwarebytes has been revised and to update I've had to take the whole package and simply ignored the Live part, or let it expire and return to the old-fashioned, core (and free) app as it has long been. I don't think I've ever seen any messages about, or system drain, due to that daemon since, and Malwarebytes works perfectly, as an on-demand app without any sign or influence of those dastardly "agents & daemons" soaking up RAM.


Works for me, surprisingly simple and very good of them to allow clean opt-out from the live monitoring.
Happy it works for you too.

Aug 4, 2017 9:08 AM in response to etresoft

I was using the old, free version but when I ran it this am, it asked me to upgrade to a new version, NOT that it was a 30 day trial of a commercial product! Anyway, I ran it and Malwarebytes was chowing 98% of the processing time! And it was this piece of code that was doing it. I tried to delete it along with anything Malwarebytes (couldn't get the older version off their site), it took forever, but I did it!

Aug 14, 2017 4:06 PM in response to wbowles

How do I uninstall this new malwarebytes? It's just as bad as every other scam program that doesn't show consumers an easy way to remove their product. I have a new Mac mini 16g memory and an I7 processor and I keep my machine pretty streamlined and this thing is chowing up almost 2 gigs of memory and that's just what I see off the top! I sent them an email because God forbid they post how to uninstall it in an easy to find manner. Searching for it only comes up with the old version way that I could find. I can't stand when companies you learn to trust pull a 180 and do this. So shady. Someone got bit by a dollar sign when they realized they had decent product. I would have rather paid money for the other.

Aug 15, 2017 1:31 AM in response to Shortonnyc

Hi,

Yes, I too discovered that it was chowing almost 100% of processing time (98.5%). Firstly, how to remove:


Download Malwarebytes, unzip and you'll see an uninstall package, which you should run. It's a bit confusing because it talks about installing, Duh? It means installing the uninstaller.


That should take care of removing it for you. If you're not sure, run Activity Monitor to see if that rp protect thingy has been removed. If it hasn't you see it chowing all the processor time.


Now for the complex part. If you want to continue using Malware then you are going to have to do some work on behalf of the software company. They sent me a script that I had to dump onto the Terminal window which generates a mass of logs that you send to them. I'm still waiting for a response, which they said would come this week.


BTW, after going through this process, I uninstalled it again and won't be reinstalling until I get a fix from Malware, which they sent me yesterday, well a beta which I've yet to install and try out. So perhaps hang off doing anything just yet (except the uninstall)?


Why don't you just get in touch with them, it sounds like our problems are identical.

Aug 15, 2017 8:35 AM in response to wbowles

Awesome! Thank you so much. Why don't they keep the old version and if not for free sell it? I'll pay for that. I don't mind paying for something I'll use. At least at a fair price. It's such a complete departure from the original they won't compete. I'm glad you answered this because I haven't heard back yet from them. Thank you again!!

Aug 15, 2017 9:11 AM in response to Shortonnyc

Okay, I installed the new version and at first, I thought it had solved the problem but I spake too soon! So I'm running the script they sent me once more. These are the instructions for it:


Okay, if you can reinstall Malwarebytes 3.0, our developers gave me the attached script. Here's what to do with it.


First, expand the mmac-log-level.sh.zip file. That should create a file named mmac-log-level.sh.


Next, open the Terminal and enter:


sudo


Make sure there's a space after "sudo", but don't press return yet, then drag the mmac-log-level.sh file onto the Terminal window. That will insert its path into the command. Again, don't press return yet. Now, enter the following:


Trace


The end result should look like this:


sudo /Users/thomas/Downloads/mmac-log-level.sh Trace


The exact path to the mmac-log-level.sh file will be different on your system, but everything else should look the same. Now, if that's the case, press return.


When you do, you'll be asked for a password. Be sure to enter your account password, and when you do, note that nothing will be displayed in the Terminal as a security precaution.


After you've done that, assuming the command was executed properly, you should see a line like this output in the Terminal:


'Trace' logging level.


Next, restart your computer. Once it's back up, run until you notice that RTProtectionDaemon is at 95% again. Once that has happened, it's time to turn the logging level back to normal, so the logs don't go out of control. Issue exactly the same command in the Terminal, but without the "Trace" at the end. So, something like this:


sudo /Users/thomas/Downloads/mmac-log-level.sh


This time, it should output the following:


Default logging level.


Then restart again.


Finally, once you're back up and running, choose Go to Folder from the Go menu in the Finder and paste in the following path:


/Library/Application Support/Malwarebytes/MBAM/


Compress the entire Logs folder there, by control-clicking it and choosing Compress "Logs". Then send me the Logs.zip file that gets created.


Sorry for the length of these directions. The developers are still working on a more user-friendly way to do this, but they don't have it ready yet.


Please let me know if you run into any difficulties anywhere with these instructions.


Thanks for your help!


Thomas


Attachment(s)
mmac-log-level.sh.zip

Aug 15, 2017 12:16 PM in response to Shortonnyc

Okay, are you by any chance, running the ElectricSheep screen saver, cos if you are, it's its location that is causing RPProtect to chow everything as it checks every download and ElectricSheep is constantly downloading stuff so RPProtect is constantly checking. If you are, I have the solution apparently (I haven't tried it yet, so don't know if it actually works).

Aug 16, 2017 1:35 AM in response to drmikenyc

Not a really useful suggestion. Okay, don't use the software, that solves the problem too but it doesn't solve the problem of why it's chowing processor time or why I should use a partially crippled programme.


But given as how I've solved the problem (when I last checked with Activity Monitor), your 'solution' is kinda redundant.

Aug 24, 2017 5:52 AM in response to drmikenyc

Well without removing the cause of the chowing, turning it off didn't solve the problem, it still chowed processor time. Only by completely removing the app could I solve the problem.


Additionally, why should the application be crippled simply because there was problem with it that got solved? If I decide at some point that I'd like to use the active monitoring, I want to know that it's going to work correctly.

Sep 14, 2017 6:24 AM in response to wbowles

I too used the old version of Malwarebytes which worked well and was easy to remove when done.

Today I tried the new version which was fine .

Then I tried to uninstall it myself (I didn't use their uninstaller!).

When I restarted my MacBook I found RTProtectionDaemon was using all the cpu and running very hot.

Removed this and lots of associated files with the help of the fantastic Etrecheck.

RTProtectionDaemon

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple ID.