kernel using too much cpu and making fan spin very loud

Question

Level 1

12 points

kernel using too much cpu and making fan spin very loud

Hi people,

I recently inherited this Macbook Air from a lover and wanted to get it working. First thing we changed was the thermal paste which had dried up. It now works relatively normally albeit a bit slow and the fan continues to hum at a very high speed.

Having looked at system diagnostics it reveals that the kernel is using from 200 to 350% of the CPU which cannot be right and must be the reason for which the CPU is getting all hot and bothered. Finding a solution to why the kernel is playing up in this way seems to be connected to individual user dynamics, which is why I have posted this EtreCheck report below:

EtreCheck version: 3.4.2 (436)

Report generated 2017-08-20 20:44:45

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime: 7:17

Performance: Below Average

Click the [Lookup] links for more information from Apple Support Communities.

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

Problem: Computer is too slow

Description:

kernel_task taking too much CPU

Hardware Information:ⓘ

MacBook Air (11-inch, Mid 2013)

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

MacBook Air - model: MacBookAir6,1

1 1.3 GHz Intel Core i5 (i5-4250U) CPU: 2-core

4 GB RAM Not upgradeable

BANK 0/DIMM0

2 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

2 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

Bluetooth: Good - Handoff/Airdrop2 supported

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

Battery: Health = Normal - Cycle count = 255

Video Information:ⓘ

Intel HD Graphics 5000 - VRAM: 1536 MB

Color LCD 1366 x 768

Disk Information:ⓘ

APPLE SSD SD0128F disk0: (121.33 GB) (Solid State - TRIM: Yes)

[Show SMART report]

(disk0s1) <not mounted> [EFI]: 210 MB

Untitled (disk0s2 - Journaled HFS+) / [Startup]: 120.47 GB (109.26 GB free)

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

USB Information:ⓘ

XHCI Root Hub SS Simulation

XHCI Root Hub USB 2.0 Simulation

Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Thunderbolt Information:ⓘ

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

System Software:ⓘ

OS X Mavericks 10.9.5 (13F1911) - Time since boot: less than an hour

Gatekeeper:ⓘ

Mac App Store and identified developers

System Launch Agents:ⓘ

[not loaded] 4 Apple tasks

[loaded] 152 Apple tasks

[running] 28 Apple tasks

System Launch Daemons:ⓘ

[not loaded] 50 Apple tasks

[loaded] 143 Apple tasks

[running] 55 Apple tasks

Internet Plug-ins:ⓘ

Default Browser: 537 (installed 2017-07-06)

QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (installed 2017-07-10)

3rd Party Preference Panes:ⓘ

None

Time Machine:ⓘ

Time Machine not configured!

Top Processes by CPU:ⓘ

259% kernel_task

11% sysmond

4% ps

3% WindowServer

1% Activity Monitor

Top Processes by Memory:ⓘ

349 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent

292 MB kernel_task

173 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent

146 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent

135 MB com.apple.IconServicesAgent

Top Processes by Energy Use:ⓘ

18.08 sysmond

3.54 WindowServer

1.52 Activity Monitor

0.14 launchd

Virtual Memory Information:ⓘ

1.80 GB Available RAM

93 MB Free RAM

2.20 GB Used RAM

1.71 GB Cached files

0 B Swap Used

Diagnostics Information:ⓘ

2017-08-20 19:35:15 Kernel Panic [Open] [Details]

3rd Party Kernel Extensions: None

MacBook Air, OS X Mavericks (10.9.5)

Posted on Aug 20, 2017 12:13 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

John Galt

Level 10

156,704 points

Sep 12, 2017 3:58 AM in response to journobuff

journobuff wrote:

Having looked at system diagnostics it reveals that the kernel is using from 200 to 350% of the CPU which cannot be right and must be the reason for which the CPU is getting all hot and bothered.

It's the other way round. kernel_task reduces a CPU's activity in response to conditions that would otherwise cause it to overheat. Or, it is responding to an erroneously reported overheat condition. In other words a runaway kernel_task is a symptom, not a cause. Fixing it requires that you identify and correct the cause and not the symptom.

Please readIf kernel_task is using a large percentage of your Mac CPU - Apple Support as well as the links within it.

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, including the heat sink)
a worn out, missing, or non-Apple (user-installed) battery on portable Macs
similar hardware-specific causes including internal hardware additions or modifications, external USB and other connected devices, or the driver software required to use them.

journobuff wrote:

That's a fair point but I believe my computer technician has already made the situation better so I can't complain.

I disagree. Unless your computer technician is employed by an Apple Authorized repair facility, he made the situation worse by invalidating the option to have Apple fix your Mac. Too bad, because a 2013 MBA remains fully supported.

Apple might be able to fix it, or at least provide alternatives for you to consider. Having unauthorized service performed on that Mac means that Apple is very unlikely to even look at it though.

Contact Support

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Answer 2

Tesserax

Level 10

158,646 points

Aug 20, 2017 1:42 PM in response to journobuff

Yes, this will be helpful.

Kernel version:

Darwin Kernel Version 13.4.0: Mon Jan 11 18:17:34 PST 2016; root:xnu-2422.115.15~1/RELEASE_X86_64

Kernel UUID: 8926E512-6714-34FC-B27C-6AE90EB51D5E

Kernel slide: 0x000000001d400000

Kernel text base: 0xffffff801d600000

System model name: MacBookAir6,1 (Mac-35C1E88140C3E6CF)

System uptime in nanoseconds: 448809083606

last loaded kext at 247732185395: com.apple.filesystems.msdosfs 1.9 (addr 0xffffff7f9df5a000, size 65536)

One of the things we look for in these reports it the last loaded kext. kext = Kernel Extension. These are used to supplement or augment the macOS system Kernel to add some additional functionality. They are loaded during the boot up phase after you first apply power to your Mac.

As you can see the last one loaded was: com.apple.filesystems.msdosfs. This doesn't necessarily mean that it is the reason for the panic, just that it was the last one loaded BEFORE the panic occurred. Your Mac was running for a little over 7 mins before it experienced this crash.

Ok, a couple of things for you to try:

Reset your Mac's System Management Controller (SMC).
Reset the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac - Apple Support
Run the Apple Diagnostics to see if it uncovers any hardware issues.
Use Apple Diagnostics or Apple Hardware Test - Apple Support

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Answer 3

Tesserax

Level 10

158,646 points

Aug 20, 2017 1:10 PM in response to journobuff

Other than your MacBook Air (MBA) is starved for RAM at 4 GBs, there was a Kernel Panic noted in the report. We would need to see, at least, the first half of this report to get an idea on what may be the cause.

When your computer spontaneously restarts or displays "Your computer restarted because of a problem." - Apple Support

Reply

Answer 4

Van-D

Level 1

28 points

Aug 21, 2017 12:30 PM in response to journobuff

A couple of your symptoms gave rise to a suggestion by Support to run a SMC reset.

Before you reset the SMC

Try each of these steps in this order before you reset the SMC. Test the issue after each troubleshooting step to see if the issue still occurs.

IfyourMacisn'tresponding,forcetheMactoshutdownby pressing and holding the power button for 10 seconds. You'll lose any unsaved work in any open applications.
PressCommand-Option-Escapetoforcequitanyapplication that's not responding.
PutyourMactosleepbychoosingSleepfromtheApplemenu. Wake the computer after it's gone to sleep.
RestartyourMacbychoosingRestartfromtheApplemenu.

How to reset the SMC on Mac notebook computers

First, determine whether the battery is removable. Mac notebook computers that have a nonremovable battery include MacBook Pro (Early 2009 and later), all models of MacBook Air, MacBook (Late 2009), and MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, Early 2015 and later). Learn more about Mac notebook batteries.

If the battery is nonremovable:

ShutdownyourMac.
Usingthebuilt-inkeyboard,pressShift-Control-Optionontheleft
side of the keyboard, then press the power button at the same time. Hold these keys and the power button for 10 seconds.
If you have a MacBook Pro with Touch ID, the Touch ID button is also the power button.

Releaseallkeys.
PressthepowerbuttonagaintoturnonyourMac.

ShutdownyourMacbychoosingShutDownfromtheApple

menu, then turn it back on.

It worked for me. Best of luck!

Reply

Answer 5

journobuff Author

Level 1

12 points

Aug 20, 2017 1:04 PM in response to Tesserax

Hi Tesserax,

Thanks for the quick response. I think this is what you mean, right?

Anonymous UUID: 3E3B166A-8D0C-E74D-8C0F-DEAD64D9842F

Sun Aug 20 19:35:14 2017

panic(cpu 0 caller 0xffffff801d6cbd0d): "cpu_exit_wait(2) timeout"@/SourceCache/xnu/xnu-2422.115.15/osfmk/i386/cpu.c:168

Backtrace (CPU 0), Frame : Return Address

0xffffff80b708bc30 : 0xffffff801d623139

0xffffff80b708bcb0 : 0xffffff801d6cbd0d

0xffffff80b708bcf0 : 0xffffff801d62e33b

0xffffff80b708bd20 : 0xffffff801dac559e

0xffffff80b708bd80 : 0xffffff801dae1673

0xffffff80b708bdd0 : 0xffffff801daa5145

0xffffff80b708be40 : 0xffffff801da9c60d

0xffffff80b708beb0 : 0xffffff801daaacf4

0xffffff80b708bef0 : 0xffffff801daaadff

0xffffff80b708bf30 : 0xffffff801dab0672

0xffffff80b708bf80 : 0xffffff801dab07f3

0xffffff80b708bfb0 : 0xffffff801d6d7c67

BSD process name corresponding to current thread: kernel_task

Mac OS version:

13F1911

Kernel version:

Darwin Kernel Version 13.4.0: Mon Jan 11 18:17:34 PST 2016; root:xnu-2422.115.15~1/RELEASE_X86_64

Kernel UUID: 8926E512-6714-34FC-B27C-6AE90EB51D5E

Kernel slide: 0x000000001d400000

Kernel text base: 0xffffff801d600000

System model name: MacBookAir6,1 (Mac-35C1E88140C3E6CF)

System uptime in nanoseconds: 448809083606

last loaded kext at 247732185395: com.apple.filesystems.msdosfs 1.9 (addr 0xffffff7f9df5a000, size 65536)

last unloaded kext at 311907222631: com.apple.driver.AppleFileSystemDriver 3.0.1 (addr 0xffffff7f9f54d000, size 8192)

loaded kexts:

com.apple.filesystems.autofs 3.0

com.apple.driver.AppleUpstreamUserClient 3.5.13

com.apple.iokit.IOBluetoothSerialManager 4.2.7f5

com.apple.driver.AudioAUUC 1.60

com.apple.driver.X86PlatformShim 1.0.0

com.apple.driver.AGPM 100.14.34

com.apple.driver.ApplePlatformEnabler 2.0.9d7

com.apple.driver.AppleHDA 2.6.3f7

com.apple.iokit.IOUserEthernet 1.0.0d1

com.apple.driver.AppleIntelHD5000Graphics 8.2.8

com.apple.Dont_Steal_Mac_OS_X 7.0.0

com.apple.driver.AppleBacklight 170.4.11

com.apple.driver.AppleSMCLMU 2.0.4d1

com.apple.driver.AppleHWAccess 1

com.apple.driver.AppleLPC 1.7.0

com.apple.driver.AppleCameraInterface 4.26.0

com.apple.driver.AppleMCCSControl 1.2.5

com.apple.iokit.BroadcomBluetoothHostControllerUSBTransport 4.2.7f5

com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltIP 1.1.2

com.apple.driver.AppleIntelFramebufferAzul 8.2.8

com.apple.AppleFSCompression.AppleFSCompressionTypeDataless 1.0.0d1

com.apple.AppleFSCompression.AppleFSCompressionTypeLZVN 1.0.0d1

com.apple.AppleFSCompression.AppleFSCompressionTypeZlib 1.0.0d1

com.apple.BootCache 35

com.apple.driver.AppleUSBHub 683.4.0

com.apple.driver.AppleTopCaseHIDEventDriver 10.21

com.apple.driver.XsanFilter 404

com.apple.iokit.IOAHCIBlockStorage 2.6.0

com.apple.driver.AppleAHCIPort 3.0.5

com.apple.driver.AirPort.Brcm4360 842.21.65

com.apple.driver.AppleUSBXHCI 683.4.0

com.apple.driver.AppleSmartBatteryManager 161.0.0

com.apple.driver.AppleRTC 2.0

com.apple.driver.AppleACPIButtons 2.0

com.apple.driver.AppleHPET 1.8

com.apple.driver.AppleSMBIOS 2.1

com.apple.driver.AppleACPIEC 2.0

com.apple.driver.AppleAPIC 1.7

com.apple.nke.applicationfirewall 153

com.apple.security.quarantine 3

com.apple.kext.triggers 1.0

com.apple.iokit.IOSCSIArchitectureModelFamily 3.6.7

com.apple.iokit.IOSerialFamily 10.0.7

com.apple.driver.DspFuncLib 2.6.3f7

com.apple.vecLib.kext 1.0.0

com.apple.iokit.IOAudioFamily 1.9.7fc2

com.apple.kext.OSvKernDSPLib 1.14

com.apple.iokit.IOBluetoothFamily 4.2.7f5

com.apple.iokit.IOSurface 91.3

com.apple.driver.AppleBacklightExpert 1.0.4

com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport 2.4.1

com.apple.driver.AppleHDAController 2.6.3f7

com.apple.iokit.IOHDAFamily 2.6.3f7

com.apple.driver.X86PlatformPlugin 1.0.0

com.apple.driver.AppleSMC 3.1.8

com.apple.driver.IOPlatformPluginFamily 5.7.1d6

com.apple.driver.AppleSMBusController 1.0.12d1

com.apple.iokit.IOBluetoothHostControllerUSBTransport 4.2.7f5

com.apple.AppleGraphicsDeviceControl 3.6.22

com.apple.iokit.IOAcceleratorFamily2 98.26

com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily 2.4.1

com.apple.driver.AppleUSBMergeNub 650.4.0

com.apple.driver.AppleUSBComposite 656.4.1

com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltDPInAdapter 3.1.7

com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltDPAdapterFamily 3.1.7

com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltPCIDownAdapter 1.4.5

com.apple.iokit.IOUSBUserClient 660.4.2

com.apple.driver.AppleHIDKeyboard 170.15

com.apple.driver.AppleHSSPIHIDDriver 24.1

com.apple.driver.AppleMultitouchDriver 245.13.1

com.apple.iokit.IOAHCIFamily 2.6.5

com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltNHI 2.0.1

com.apple.iokit.IOThunderboltFamily 3.3.1

com.apple.iokit.IO80211Family 640.36

com.apple.driver.mDNSOffloadUserClient 1.0.1b5

com.apple.iokit.IONetworkingFamily 3.2

com.apple.driver.AppleHSSPISupport 24.1

com.apple.driver.AppleIntelLpssSpiController 2.0.34

com.apple.iokit.IOUSBFamily 686.4.1

com.apple.driver.AppleIntelLpssGspi 2.0.34

com.apple.driver.AppleIntelLpssDmac 2.0.34

com.apple.driver.AppleEFINVRAM 2.0

com.apple.driver.AppleEFIRuntime 2.0

com.apple.iokit.IOHIDFamily 2.0.0

com.apple.iokit.IOSMBusFamily 1.1

com.apple.security.sandbox 278.11.2

com.apple.kext.AppleMatch 1.0.0d1

com.apple.security.TMSafetyNet 7

com.apple.driver.AppleKeyStore 2

com.apple.driver.DiskImages 373

com.apple.iokit.IOStorageFamily 1.9

com.apple.iokit.IOReportFamily 23

com.apple.driver.AppleFDEKeyStore 28.30

com.apple.driver.AppleACPIPlatform 2.0

com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily 2.9

com.apple.iokit.IOACPIFamily 1.4

com.apple.kec.corecrypto 1.0

com.apple.kec.pthread 1

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Answer 6

etresoft

Level 9

57,218 points

Aug 20, 2017 1:24 PM in response to journobuff

journobuff wrote:

First thing we changed was the thermal paste which had dried up.

Hello journobuff,

I don't know the history of this machine and I suspect you don't either. I can, however, tell you about its future - the trash can. Your machine is irreparably damaged and your warranty is void. I doubt Apple would service it even if you paid them. You will need to get yourself a new machine.

Reply

Answer 7

journobuff Author

Level 1

12 points

Aug 20, 2017 1:37 PM in response to etresoft

That's a fair point but I believe my computer technician has already made the situation better so I can't complain. What we're addressing in this post is the kernel panic which Tesserax so kindly pointed out in the previous post. If you feel led to help out with the matter at hand I would be very grateful because there's no point crying over spilt milk.

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Answer 8

etresoft

Level 9

57,218 points

Aug 20, 2017 5:18 PM in response to journobuff

There is nothing more to say really. You have no kernel extensions installed. You have no 3rd party system modifications of any kind installed.

I am not suggesting crying over spilled milk. If you spill milk, you get a towel, clean it up, and throw away the towel. You don't wring the milk from the towel out into a fresh cup of coffee.

I am saying that you are out of milk. Go to the store and buy milk. Maybe some bread too.

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Answer 9

journobuff Author

Level 1

12 points

Aug 21, 2017 9:37 AM in response to Tesserax

Hi Tesserax,

I did an SMC reset but it didn't change anything. Which part of the diagnosis should I post? Btw I attached a crash report from when I was upgrading the OS:

Anonymous UUID: 3E3B166A-8D0C-E74D-8C0F-DEAD64D9842F

Mon Aug 21 00:12:08 2017

panic(cpu 3 caller 0xffffff80002dcc1d): Kernel trap at 0xffffff80002f8c59, type 14=page fault, registers:

CR0: 0x000000008001003b, CR2: 0x00000110008d8848, CR3: 0x0000000002e54000, CR4: 0x00000000001606e0

RAX: 0x0000018ffffffe70, RBX: 0x0000000000001859, RCX: 0xffffff80008d89d0, RDX: 0x00000ccd7df8b820

RSP: 0xffffff8008153d70, RBP: 0xffffff8008153e50, RSI: 0x0000000000000001, RDI: 0xffffff80008dcf80

R8: 0x0000000000000000, R9: 0x00000ccd8b990f6c, R10: 0xffffff8008150000, R11: 0x0000000000000200

R12: 0x0000000000001859, R13: 0x0000000000000190, R14: 0xffffff8000718307, R15: 0xffffff8000718e10

RFL: 0x0000000000010002, RIP: 0xffffff80002f8c59, CS: 0x0000000000000008, SS: 0x0000000000000010

Fault CR2: 0x00000110008d8848, Error code: 0x0000000000000000, Fault CPU: 0x1

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