About a week or so ago one of my company computers started locking up when opening mail. RAM usage skyrockets and everything locks up. I tried to move the pertinent folders/files and got mail to open from scratch again but upon adding in the account again, same issue.
imac 21" mid 2011
10.12.6
Much thanks for the help.
Dear Rippeddisc,
First I agree with my esteemed colleague rkaufmann that you have way too much third-party stuff. Some of it is badly outdated, too. Some dates are older than the computer suggesting they were migrated from an even older Mac long ago. There is evidence that badly outdated versions of DivX can hurt performance--yours is six years old. If you really need it, update it. Otherwise, show it the door. Flip4 Mac is also ancient in computer years.
Adding RAM is always good but, unlike my colleague, I believe that your "insufficent" RAM warnings are about 90 percent due to all the third-party dreck, old or not. Your Virtual Memory "swaps" are up but IMHO commensurate with the dreckware load and time since restart. My son has a similar yet slightly less-capable Mac than yours that has run every OS from the original 10.8 through 10.12 on only 4GB RAM without issue for five years. The difference is that his computer is not burdened with steaming piles of third-party uselessness.
I feel reasonably sure that adding RAM now without eliminating the software bloat may not gain you much improvement. However, given the usage you describe, 8GB RAM is an affordable and useful investment in prolonging the computer's service life, especially if you must use a browser to check emails 9as opposed to a mail client like Apple mail or Outlook). Browsers are no longer low-impact apps.
In addition to off-loading a lot of old and unneeded software, were this computer mine I would also be looking at these:
1) This is not a normal part of a report:
iCloud Status: 245 pending files
Something is stopping iCloud backups. Could cause an issue.
2) This is a potential problem:
Configuration files: ⓘ
/etc/hosts - Count: 14
Please see this excellent User Tip written by Etrecheck's developer for explanation and help in recovering from this:
Fixing a hacked /etc/hosts file
3) Carbonite is on my suspect list. It has caused slowness issues with Mac OS for quite a while. Please see this discussion topic:
It is my experience that, excepting DropBox and maybe iCloud when it's working properly, third-party online backup schemes can hurt performance. The slower the internet connection the more noticeable the issue. I use DropBox only, saving iCloud for synching contacts, calendar events, etc. between my computers and iPads.
4) Just for the heck of it, eject and disconnect the external drive for testing. Some older enclosures can create stalls. The main reason I switched all our external backup drives to OWC Mercury Elite enclosures is that some of the "name-brand" drives, even those offered as "Mac-friendly," were causing frequent system stalls and overheating of both the computer and the drive itself. If there is no difference with the drive detached, at least you have eliminated one variable
I have to keep Mail closed b/c once open it just ***** RAM. Started about a week ago or so on this machine. No idea why. Here's the report;
EtreCheck version: 3.4.6 (460)
Report generated 2017-11-24 19:57:17
Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com
Runtime: 6:56
Performance: Below Average
Click the [Lookup] links for more information from Apple Support Communities.
Click the [Details] links for more information about that line.
Click the [Clean up] link to delete unused files.
Problem: Computer is too slow
Description:
High RAM usage with mail. Locks up computer.
Hardware Information: ⓘ
iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2011)
[Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty & Service]
iMac - model: iMac12,1
1 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 (i5-2400S) CPU: 4-core
4 GB RAM Upgradeable - [Instructions]
BANK 0/DIMM0
2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok
BANK 1/DIMM0
2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok
BANK 0/DIMM1
Empty
BANK 1/DIMM1
Empty
Handoff/Airdrop2: not supported
Wireless: en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n
iCloud Quota: 1.14 GB available
iCloud Status: 245 pending files
Video Information: ⓘ
AMD Radeon HD 6750M - VRAM: 512 MB
iMac 1920 x 1080
Disk Information: ⓘ
ST3500418AS disk0: (500.11 GB) (Rotational)
[Show SMART report]
EFI (disk0s1 - MS-DOS FAT32) <not mounted> [EFI]: 210 MB
Macintosh HD (disk0s2 - Journaled HFS+) / [Startup]: 499.25 GB (341.09 GB free)
Recovery HD (disk0s3 - Journaled HFS+) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB
HL-DT-STDVDRW GA32N ()
USB Information: ⓘ
USB20Bus
Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)
hub_device
Seagate Ultra Slim MT
Ultra Slim MT disk1: (2 TB)
EFI (disk1s1 - MS-DOS FAT32) <not mounted> [EFI]: 210 MB
Poipu Time Machine (disk1s2 - Journaled HFS+) /Volumes/Poipu Time Machine : 2.00 TB (1.40 TB free)
Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub
Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller
USB20Bus
hub_device
Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver
Apple Card Reader
Thunderbolt Information: ⓘ
Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus
System Software: ⓘ
macOS Sierra 10.12.6 (16G1036) - Time since boot: about 2 days
Configuration files: ⓘ
/etc/hosts - Count: 14
Gatekeeper: ⓘ
Mac App Store and identified developers
Clean up: ⓘ
/Library/LaunchAgents/com.adobe.CS5ServiceManager.plist
/Library/Application Support/Adobe/CS5ServiceManager/CS5ServiceManager.app/Contents/MacOS/CS5Service Manager -launchedbylogin
Executable not found!
/Library/LaunchAgents/com.carbonite.launchd.carbonitealerts.plist
/Library/Application Support/Carbonite/CarboniteAlerts.app/Contents/MacOS/CarboniteAlerts
Executable not found!
/Library/LaunchAgents/com.carbonite.launchd.carbonitestatus.plist
/Library/Application Support/Carbonite/CarboniteStatus.app/Contents/MacOS/CarboniteStatus
Executable not found!
/Library/LaunchAgents/com.logmein.LMILaunchAgentFixer.plist
/Library/Application Support/LogMeIn/bin/LMILaunchAgentFixer.app/Contents/MacOS/LMILaunchAgentFixer fromlaunchagent
Executable not found!
/Library/LaunchAgents/com.micromat.TechToolProAgent.plist
/Library/PreferencePanes/TechTool Protection.prefPane/Contents/PlugIns/TechToolProAgent.app/Contents/MacOS/TechTo olProAgent
Executable not found!
/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.attotech.iscsid.plist
/usr/sbin/xtendsan/iscsid -d -J-Djava.security.policy=/usr/sbin/xtendsan/iscsid.sec -J-Dcom.attotech.iscsid.discovery.verbose=true --J-Dcom.attotech.iscsid.logLevel=VERBOSE --J-Dcom.attotech.iscsid.discovery.MaxRecvDataSegmentLength=512 --J-Dcom.attotech.iscsid.discovery.AllowPaddedDSL=true
Executable not found!
/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.logmein.raupdate.plist
/Library/Application Support/LogMeIn/update/raupdate /s
Executable not found!
/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.micromat.TechToolProDaemon.plist
/Library/PreferencePanes/TechTool Protection.prefPane/Contents/PlugIns/TechToolProDaemon.app/Contents/MacOS/TechT oolProDaemon
Executable not found!
/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.sierrawireless.SWoCTool.plist
/System/Library/Extensions/SierraSwitch.kext/Contents/Resources/SierraSWoCDaemo n
Executable not found!
/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.sierrawireless.SierraReset.plist
/Library/Sierra/SierraReset
Executable not found!
/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.starfield.backupservice.plist
/Applications/Workspace/BackupService/offSyncService
Executable not found!
11 orphan files found. [Clean up]
Kernel Extensions: ⓘ
/Library/Application Support/LogMeIn/drivers
[not loaded] com.logmein.driver.LogMeInSoundDriver (4.1.8517) [Lookup]
/Library/Application Support/VMware Fusion/kexts
[not loaded] com.vmware.kext.vmci (3.0.0) [Lookup]
[not loaded] com.vmware.kext.vmioplug (3.0.0) [Lookup]
[not loaded] com.vmware.kext.vmnet (3.0.0) [Lookup]
[not loaded] com.vmware.kext.vmx86 (3.0.0) [Lookup]
/System/Library/Extensions
[not loaded] com.TrustedData.driver.VendorSpecificType00 (1.4.0) [Lookup]
[not loaded] com.attotech.driver.ATTOiSCSI (3.4.1b1 - SDK 10.6) [Lookup]
[not loaded] com.novatelwireless.driver.3G (v2.2.8 (3)) [Lookup]
[not loaded] com.novatelwireless.driver.DisableAutoInstall (1.2) [Lookup]
[not loaded] com.sierrawireless.driver.SierraDevSupport (2.0.2.0) [Lookup]
[not loaded] com.sierrawireless.driver.SierraFSCSupport (2.0.2.0) [Lookup]
[not loaded] com.sierrawireless.driver.SierraFSRSupport (2.0.2.0) [Lookup]
[not loaded] com.sierrawireless.driver.SierraHSRSupport (2.0.2.0) [Lookup]
/System/Library/Extensions/NovatelWireless3G.kext/Contents/Plugins
[not loaded] com.novatelwireless.driver.3GData (v2.2.8 (3)) [Lookup]
Startup Items: ⓘ
ProTec6: Path: /Library/StartupItems/ProTec6
ProTec6b: Path: /Library/StartupItems/ProTec6b
Qmaster: Path: /Library/StartupItems/Qmaster
Startup items no longer function in OS X Yosemite or later
System Launch Agents: ⓘ
[not loaded] 8 Apple tasks
[loaded] 173 Apple tasks
[running] 72 Apple tasks
[killed] 32 Apple tasks
32 processes killed due to insufficient RAM
System Launch Daemons: ⓘ
[failed] com.apple.smbd.plist (Apple, Inc. - installed 2017-07-14)
[not loaded] 39 Apple tasks
[loaded] 168 Apple tasks
[running] 86 Apple tasks
[killed] 23 Apple tasks
23 processes killed due to insufficient RAM
Launch Agents: ⓘ
[not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist (? ffb65062 17b9373f - installed 2011-12-08) [Lookup]
[failed] com.adobe.CS5ServiceManager.plist (? 40cdc1ff 0 - installed 2011-12-09) [Lookup] - /Library/Application Support/Adobe/CS5ServiceManager/CS5ServiceManager.app/Contents/MacOS/CS5Service Manager: Executable not found!
[loaded] com.carbonite.launchd.carbonitealerts.plist (? 21f61fa7 0 - installed 2010-01-24) [Lookup] - /Library/Application Support/Carbonite/CarboniteAlerts.app/Contents/MacOS/CarboniteAlerts: Executable not found!
[failed] com.carbonite.launchd.carbonitestatus.plist (? bb5f817b 0 - installed 2010-01-24) [Lookup] - /Library/Application Support/Carbonite/CarboniteStatus.app/Contents/MacOS/CarboniteStatus: Executable not found!
[failed] com.google.keystone.agent.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2017-09-27) [Lookup]
[loaded] com.lexmark.lxknetlaunchd.plist (? 8a3157c5 0 - installed 2011-05-09) [Lookup]
[failed] com.logmein.LMILaunchAgentFixer.plist (? 2c91a132 0 - installed 2017-09-29) [Lookup] - /Library/Application Support/LogMeIn/bin/LMILaunchAgentFixer.app/Contents/MacOS/LMILaunchAgentFixer: Executable not found!
[running] com.logmein.logmeingui.plist (LogMeIn, Inc. - installed 2017-09-29) [Lookup]
[running] com.logmein.logmeinguiagent.plist (LogMeIn, Inc. - installed 2017-09-29) [Lookup]
[not loaded] com.logmein.logmeinguiagentatlogin.plist (LogMeIn, Inc. - installed 2017-09-29) [Lookup]
[failed] com.micromat.TechToolProAgent.plist (? d1b210f3 0 - installed 2010-05-20) [Lookup] - /Library/PreferencePanes/TechTool Protection.prefPane/Contents/PlugIns/TechToolProAgent.app/Contents/MacOS/TechTo olProAgent: Executable not found!
Launch Daemons: ⓘ
[loaded] com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist (? 68cad67 0 - installed 2011-12-09) [Lookup]
[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (? 2afb3af7 defea098 - installed 2017-10-25) [Lookup]
[not loaded] com.attotech.iscsid.plist (? ab5afb27 0 - installed 2011-12-17) [Lookup] - /usr/sbin/xtendsan/iscsid: Executable not found!
[running] com.datarobotics.ddservice64d.plist (? 732008ea 383d0cc4 - installed 2011-11-04) [Lookup]
[running] com.datarobotics.ddserviced.plist (? 5ae83f29 474727c5 - installed 2011-11-04) [Lookup]
[loaded] com.google.keystone.daemon.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2017-10-12) [Lookup]
[running] com.logmein.logmeinserver.plist (? f1a7c613 ebb261c4 - installed 2017-09-29) [Lookup]
[loaded] com.logmein.raupdate.plist (? 1264939f 0 - installed 2013-05-31) [Lookup] - /Library/Application Support/LogMeIn/update/raupdate: Executable not found!
[failed] com.micromat.TechToolProDaemon.plist (? fc34c578 0 - installed 2010-05-20) [Lookup] - /Library/PreferencePanes/TechTool Protection.prefPane/Contents/PlugIns/TechToolProDaemon.app/Contents/MacOS/TechT oolProDaemon: Executable not found!
[running] com.sierrawireless.SWoCMon.plist (? e9f627d7 ffad7bd1 - installed 2009-08-21) [Lookup]
[failed] com.sierrawireless.SWoCTool.plist (? 3463e1f7 0 - installed 2008-07-15) [Lookup] - /System/Library/Extensions/SierraSwitch.kext/Contents/Resources/SierraSWoCDaemo n: Executable not found!
[not loaded] com.sierrawireless.SierraReset.plist (? c3d62c61 0 - installed 2009-08-21) [Lookup] - /Library/Sierra/SierraReset: Executable not found!
[loaded] com.sonos.smbbump.plist (? 25deed1f 7545b4fd - installed 2014-04-12) [Lookup]
[failed] com.starfield.backupservice.plist (? e9a26e0a 0 - installed 2011-09-30) [Lookup] - /Applications/Workspace/BackupService/offSyncService: Executable not found!
[failed] com.vmware.launchd.vmware.plist (Shell Script 40d1be26 - installed 2009-12-07) [Lookup]
User Launch Agents: ⓘ
[loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist (? 6a3cceca 17b9373f - installed 2012-03-16) [Lookup]
[loaded] com.dropbox.DropboxMacUpdate.agent.plist (Dropbox, Inc. - installed 2017-08-11) [Lookup]
User Login Items: ⓘ
Dropbox Application
(/Applications/Dropbox.app)
Internet Plug-ins: ⓘ
DirectorShockwave: 11.0.3r472 (installed 2011-03-30) [Lookup]
o1dbrowserplugin: 5.41.3.0 (installed 2015-12-16) [Lookup]
Google Earth Web Plug-in: 6.0 (installed 2011-05-16) [Lookup]
OfficeLiveBrowserPlugin: 12.3.2 (installed 2012-01-02) [Lookup]
Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: 2.3.8.1 (installed 2011-01-13) [Lookup]
Silverlight: 5.1.10411.0 (installed 2012-10-23) [Lookup]
FlashPlayer-10.6: 27.0.0.187 (installed 2017-11-14) [Lookup]
DivXBrowserPlugin: 2.0 (installed 2011-03-30) [Lookup]
LogMeIn: 1.0.935 (installed 2013-03-12) [Lookup]
QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (installed 2017-11-19)
Flash Player: 27.0.0.187 (installed 2017-11-14) [Lookup]
googletalkbrowserplugin: 5.41.3.0 (installed 2015-12-11) [Lookup]
iPhotoPhotocast: 7.0 (installed 2011-10-31)
AdobePDFViewer: 9.5.0 (installed 2012-01-13) [Lookup]
LogMeInSafari32: 1.0.935 (installed 2013-03-12) [Lookup]
Yahoo! Installer 3: 1.0.128 (installed 2011-03-30) [Lookup]
JavaAppletPlugin: 15.0.1 (installed 2012-01-20) Check version
Audio Plug-ins: ⓘ
DVCPROHDAudio: 1.3 (installed 2011-03-30)
3rd Party Preference Panes: ⓘ
DivX (installed 2011-03-30) [Lookup]
Flash Player (installed 2017-10-25) [Lookup]
Flip4Mac WMV (installed 2011-01-13) [Lookup]
Time Machine: ⓘ
Skip System Files: NO
Mobile backups: OFF
Auto backup: YES
Volumes being backed up:
Macintosh HD: Disk size: 499.25 GB Disk used: 158.15 GB
Destinations:
Poipu Time Machine [Local]
Total size: 2.00 TB
Total number of backups: 88
Oldest backup: 11/2/16, 3:46 PM
Last backup: 11/24/17, 7:06 PM
Size of backup disk: Excellent
Backup size 2.00 TB > (Disk size 499.25 GB X 3)
Top Processes by CPU: ⓘ
4% firefox
2% WindowServer
1% com.apple.WebKit.WebContent
1% kernel_task
0% Dock
Top Processes by Memory: ⓘ
783 MB firefox
596 MB kernel_task
74 MB com.apple.preferences.icloud.remoteservice
59 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent
39 MB mds_stores
Top Processes by Network Use: ⓘ
Input Output Process name
29 MB 337 KB Dropbox
7 MB 526 KB Dropbox
2 MB 216 KB firefox
2 MB 408 KB mDNSResponder
94 KB 61 KB netbiosd
Top Processes by Energy Use: ⓘ
14.78 firefox
8.90 LogMeIn
5.42 WindowServer
1.90 DDService64d
Virtual Memory Information: ⓘ
526 MB Available RAM
18 MB Free RAM
3.49 GB Used RAM
507 MB Cached files
401 MB Swap Used
Diagnostics Events (last 3 days for minor events): ⓘ
2017-11-23 14:28:45 Safari.app High CPU use [Open] [Details]
2017-11-22 16:52:11 coreaudiod Crash [Open]
Cause: abort() called
terminating with uncaught exception of type CAException
2017-11-22 16:51:22 Last shutdown cause: 3 - Hard shutdown
First upgrade the RAM to 16GB using either Crucial (buy it direct) or OWC (www.macsales.com) RAM. Then get rid of the orphan files and clean up the Internet Plugins and keep your third party apps up to date and uninstall the Tech Tools app which is worthless.
This computer is only used for email and web browsing. And has been working fine, without problem for years. There is no need for 16gb of RAM on this machine.
Of all the things you suggest none explain why Mail's RAM usage is through the roof.
I'm using my person mbp which has WAY more going on and Mail only takes up 630mb RAM.
Look at the report, It will indicate it is starved for RAM. If you only use it for mail and web browsing then do an erase and install and start over. You have so much useless stuff on it then it's easier if you simply start over.
Thank guys for the help. I appreciate the time.
I have gone through and got rid of a lot of the unused stuff.
However, this does not explain why the computer had been working without an issue and then about 10 days ago Mail started using crazy amounts of RAM. There's no reason Mail should spike to use 2gb+ RAM. Even if the computer is under-powered it had been working without problem.
Bump.
Did fresh format and reinstall. Ran diag with no failed reports.
RAM usage shoots up to 6-10gb (4gb machine). Takes a looonnnng time for Mail to load. Like overnight (tested).
???
Still no help.
Post an EtreCheck report from one of the iMacs.
Mail locks up all of a sudden (high RAM)
