memory pressure makes no sense

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Level 2

393 points

memory pressure makes no sense

I have a user who is still on Mavericks, and his system performance is a constant train wreck. When you click on a folder in Finder it takes several minutes for the file names to appear, and a couple more minutes for the file icons to appear. When I use Activity Monitor, it shows terrible memory pressure, BUT I can't figure out WHAT is using the memory. Looking at the individual applications, they sum up to a few hundred MB, with the App Memory around 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 GB and Compressed memory 1-1/2 to 2 GB. In the system.log, we're getting lots of "UI updates were forcibly disabled" followed by "finally reenabled" by multiple applications, but nothing that looks suspicious. (The last system that I had that was performing this badly the Launch Services Daemon was quitting/restarting multiple times per second, but that was really obvious because the error messages were just streaming into the system.log.)

And then at one point this morning the pressure briefly went green, as chrome was starting up. But the totals were still unremarkable. I've attached some screen shots -- can anybody tell me what I'm supposed to be looking for? (Yes, I need to update this user. But it's a little complicated as I'm 250 miles away.)

Posted on Feb 14, 2018 10:13 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

cathy fasano Author

Level 2

393 points

Feb 15, 2018 8:07 AM in response to cathy fasano

Ok, with a little pain, I was able to figure out how to get the report out of EtreCheck. I don't think Chrome is a problem, because the system is equally crappy without it running as with, and the memory pressure goes back and forth mostly yellow sometimes green and whether or not chrome is running -- either way it doesn't seem to matter. We are not going to stop using it anyway, as we rely heavily on google apps (we have the paid enterprise version), and we have hundreds of these exact macbook pros deployed running these same apps without the problems that this one machine has. This is the webmaster's machine, and he has to monitor their website in all browsers.

So, does anything jump out at anybody? (I restored the red coloring, but not any of the other colors. Is there some trick to pasting RTF into apple discussions forum?) There are three pieces flagged as possible adware, but two of them have missing executables.

EtreCheck version: 3.4.7 (461)

Report generated 2018-02-15 09:51:27

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime: 9:33

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[Remove/Report] links to remove adware or update the whitelist of legitimate software.

Click the[Clean up] link to delete unused files.

Problem: Computer is too slow

Description:

System unresponsive, memory pressure high, whether chrome running or not.

Hardware Information:ⓘ

MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2012)

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

MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro9,2

1 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 (i5-3210M) CPU: 2-core

4 GB RAM Upgradeable - [Instructions]

BANK 0/DIMM0

2 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

2 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

Handoff/Airdrop2: supported

Wireless:
en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n

Battery: Health = Check Battery - Cycle count = 279

Video Information:ⓘ

Intel HD Graphics 4000 - VRAM: 1024 MB

Display 1680 x 1050 @ 60 Hz

Disk Information:ⓘ

APPLE HDD HTS547550A9E384 disk0: (500.11 GB) (Rotational)

[Show SMART report]

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

Macintosh HD (disk0s2 - Journaled HFS+) /
[Startup]: 499.25 GB (241.97 GB free)

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

HL-DT-ST DVDRW
GS41N
()

USB Information:ⓘ

XHCI Root Hub SS Simulation

XHCI Root Hub USB 2.0 Simulation

EHCI Root Hub Simulation

hub_device

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

EHCI Root Hub Simulation

hub_device

Logitech USB Optical Mouse

Apple Computer, Inc. Apple Cinema Display

Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

Thunderbolt Information:ⓘ

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

System Software:ⓘ

OS X Mavericks 10.9.5 (13F34) - Time since boot: about 2 hours

Configuration files:ⓘ

/etc/sysctl.conf - File exists but not expected

Gatekeeper:ⓘ

Mac App Store and identified developers

Possible adware:ⓘ

Adware: /Library/LaunchAgents/com.EasyShopper.agent.plist

Adware: /Library/LaunchAgents/com.SoftwareUpdater.agent.plist

Adware: /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.iobit.AMCDaemon.plist

3 possible adware files found. [Remove/Report]

Clean up:ⓘ

/Library/LaunchAgents/com.EasyShopper.agent.plist

/Applications/EasyShopper/EasyShopper -guid 46943302671458641 -source pr-1612 -brand EasyShopper -dt 1458927751

Executable not found!

/Library/LaunchAgents/com.SoftwareUpdater.agent.plist

/Applications/SoftwareUpdater/SoftwareUpdater -guid 46943302671458641 -source pr-1612

Executable not found!

2 orphan files found. [Clean up]

Kernel Extensions:ⓘ

/Library/Application Support/Citrix Receiver

[not loaded] com.citrix.kext.gusb (12.4.0 - SDK 10.9) [Lookup]

/Library/Extensions

[loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxDrv (4.2.4) [Lookup]

[not loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetAdp (4.2.4) [Lookup]

[not loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetFlt (4.2.4) [Lookup]

[loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxUSB (4.2.4) [Lookup]

/System/Library/Extensions

[loaded] com.LivestreamProcaster.driver.ProcasterAudioRedirector (2.0.0 - SDK 10.0) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.cisco.nke.ipsec (1.0.0) [Lookup]

Startup Items:ⓘ

CiscoVPN: Path: /System/Library/StartupItems/CiscoVPN

VirtualBox: Path: /Library/StartupItems/VirtualBox

Startup items no longer function in OS X Yosemite or later

System Launch Agents:ⓘ

[not loaded] 5 Apple tasks

[loaded] 152 Apple tasks

[running] 27 Apple tasks

System Launch Daemons:ⓘ

[failed] com.apple.installd.plist (Apple, Inc. - installed 2014-03-25)

[failed] com.apple.softwareupdated.plist (Apple, Inc. - installed 2014-07-11)

[not loaded] 49 Apple tasks

[loaded] 137 Apple tasks

[running] 60 Apple tasks

Launch Agents:ⓘ

[failed] com.EasyShopper.agent.plist (? 36ec7868 0 - installed 2016-03-25) Adware!
[Remove/Report]

[failed] com.SoftwareUpdater.agent.plist (? 6079de5d 0 - installed 2016-03-25) Adware!
[Remove/Report]

[not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2014-06-20) [Lookup]

[running] com.adobe.AdobeCreativeCloud.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2013-07-17) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.cisco.anyconnect.gui.plist (? 40bd3462 0 - installed 2016-08-18) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.citrix.AuthManager_Mac.plist (? 8bba567b d10bd3ad - installed 2017-12-21) [Lookup]

[running] com.citrix.ReceiverHelper.plist (? 75b63b97 7e1c3222 - installed 2017-12-21) [Lookup]

[running] com.citrix.ServiceRecords.plist (? 484f5457 27768e09 - installed 2017-12-21) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2017-09-27) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist (? 59bd7a52 1a4bf56e - installed 2018-02-08) [Lookup]

Launch Daemons:ⓘ

[not loaded] com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist (? 68cad67 0 - installed 2013-04-15) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2018-02-01) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.adobe.versioncueCS3.plist (? e716f322 9b3e398d - installed 2012-11-23) [Lookup]

[running] com.cisco.anyconnect.vpnagentd.plist (? 4e4892ba c3b5d163 - installed 2016-07-10) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.citrix.ctxusbd.plist (? 44dc9c9f 7c15dcb9 - installed 2016-11-09) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.google.keystone.daemon.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2017-10-13) [Lookup]

[running] com.iobit.AMCDaemon.plist (? ce7f599b 71907915 - installed 2014-08-27) Adware!
[Remove/Report]

/Library/Application Support/AMC/AMCDaemon

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist (Shell Script e3fefdd2 - installed 2017-12-19) [Lookup]

[loaded] org.ocsng.agent.plist (? 9e10bef3 3731ef16 - installed 2017-06-23) [Lookup]

User Login Items:ⓘ

iTunesHelper Application (Apple, Inc. - installed 2018-02-08)

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

Internet Plug-ins:ⓘ

o1dbrowserplugin: 5.41.3.0 (installed 2015-12-16) [Lookup]

Default Browser: 537 (installed 2016-03-15)

OfficeLiveBrowserPlugin: 12.3.6 (installed 2013-06-28) [Lookup]

AdobeAAMDetect: AdobeAAMDetect 2.0.0.0 (installed 2013-07-17) [Lookup]

FlashPlayer-10.6: 28.0.0.161 (installed 2018-02-08) [Lookup]

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: 11.0.09 (installed 2014-09-22) [Lookup]

Silverlight: 5.1.50901.0 (installed 2016-10-19) [Lookup]

Flash Player: 28.0.0.161 (installed 2018-02-08) [Lookup]

PepperFlashPlayer: 28.0.0.161 (installed 2018-02-08) [Lookup]

CitrixICAClientPlugIn: 12.4.0 (installed 2017-12-21) [Lookup]

googletalkbrowserplugin: 5.41.3.0 (installed 2015-12-11) [Lookup]

AdobePDFViewer: 8.0.0 (installed 2016-03-17) [Lookup]

QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (installed 2016-03-15)

JavaAppletPlugin: Java 8 Update 161 build 12 (installed 2018-02-08) Check version

3rd Party Preference Panes:ⓘ

Adobe Version Cue CS3 (installed 2012-11-23) [Lookup]

Flash Player (installed 2018-02-01) [Lookup]

Growl (installed 2012-12-27) [Lookup]

Java (installed 2018-02-08) [Lookup]

Time Machine:ⓘ

Time Machine not configured!

Top Processes by CPU:ⓘ

15%
Google Chrome Helper

11%
Google Chrome Helper

6%
WindowServer

4%
Google Chrome

3%
screensharingd

Top Processes by Memory:ⓘ

478 MB kernel_task

204 MB Google Chrome Helper

186 MB Google Chrome Helper

165 MB Google Chrome Helper

142 MB Google Chrome Helper

Top Processes by Energy Use:ⓘ

22.44 Google Chrome Helper

13.98 Google Chrome

13.24 Google Chrome Helper

6.68 WindowServer

5.34 Citrix Viewer

Virtual Memory Information:ⓘ

215 MB Available RAM

8 MB Free RAM

3.79 GB
Used RAM

206 MB Cached files

109 MB Swap Used

Software installs (last 30 days):ⓘ

Adobe Flash Player:
(installed 2018-02-08)

Adobe Pepper Flash Player:
(installed 2018-02-08)

Java 8 Update 161:
(installed 2018-02-08)

Citrix Receiver: 11.8.2 (installed 2018-02-13)

Install information may not be complete.

Diagnostics Events (last 3 days for minor events):ⓘ

2018-02-15 09:21:30 ManagedClient.app Crash [Open]

Cause: abort() called

_RegisterApplication(), unable to get application ASN from launchservicesd, and this application requires an ASN, so aborting.
error=#-1.

2018-02-13 16:33:43 screensharingd Crash [Open]

2018-02-12 14:04:26 Kernel Panic [Open] [Details]

3rd Party Kernel Extensions:

org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxUSB 4.2.4

org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxDrv 4.2.4

com.LivestreamProcaster.driver.ProcasterAudioRedirector 2.0.0

Reply

Answer 2

BobHarris

Level 9

56,939 points

Feb 14, 2018 5:30 PM in response to cathy fasano

EtreCheck output please.

<https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-6174> or <https://etrecheck.com>

EtreCheck is a tool that helps Apple Support Community volunteers debug problems without any access to the troubled computers. Debugging problems can be a difficult task even when the machine is in front of you. Attempting it via a discussion forum is extremely difficult. EtreCheck is a great help that regards.

Chrome is a resource hog on macOS

Keep the number of browser tabs to a minimum.

It is possible there are 3rd party additions that are consuming RAM and system resources, such as CPU and I/O bandwidth.

I found that from Lion onwards, 4GB was not enough RAM. I've been maxing out my Macs these days (16GB on my MacBook Pros, and 32GB on my iMac).

Reply

Answer 3

BobHarris

Level 9

56,939 points

Feb 15, 2018 8:16 AM in response to cathy fasano

See the part where it says Adware. That is most likely the root of the problem.

Suggest removing the Adware. See the [Remove/Report] button.

After that more RAM would be nice, but first get the Adware off the system, then re-evaluate.

Reply

Answer 4

KiltedTim

Level 10

225,978 points

Feb 14, 2018 10:19 AM in response to cathy fasano

Try running etrecheck and post the resulting report here.

http://etrecheck.com

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Answer 5

KiltedTim

Level 10

225,978 points

Feb 15, 2018 8:42 AM in response to Csound1

I use a 2011 iMac with a quad core i5 and 12GB of RAM and it suits my needs just fine. The difference here is a dual core i5 with only 4GB of RAM, a slow rotational hard drive, and gobs of Adobe crud... It's just not enough to run it effectively. That and the adware, of course.

Reply

Answer 6

Limnos

Level 10

428,237 points

Feb 14, 2018 10:28 AM in response to cathy fasano

Some thoughts, not thorough:

Run Etrecheck for a simpler analysis presentation.

I don't use Chrome but my recollections from reading are it isn't the best on older systems.

4GB isn't much RAM for Mavericks. I also only have 4 GB on a computer with Mavericks and this system is slow. Yes, Apple says "2 GB minimum" but that's if you're content running the system + TextEdit and nothing else. I'd really think 8GB.

I find I simply have to restart the computer more often than I did with older OSX versions, or at least log out of the user and log back in again.

Reply

Answer 7

Csound1

Level 9

60,063 points

Feb 15, 2018 8:20 AM in response to KiltedTim

Allow me to disagree, I use a 2012 i7 as my daily driver, I also have a new 2015 i7 which is no faster than the 2012. The 2012 has 16GB of RAM and an OWC SSD in it.

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Answer 8

KiltedTim

Level 10

225,978 points

Feb 15, 2018 8:18 AM in response to cathy fasano

The #1 problem you have is that you have adware installed. Clean it up.

Problem #2 is that you only have 4GB of RAM. If you had an SSD instead of a rotational drive, it might not be such a big problem, but between the speed of the hard drive, and the burden that Adobe products put on the system, it's just not enough. Upgrade the RAM.

It might be time to think about a new machine as a 2012 MBP is getting pretty long in the tooth, especially if you're wanting to run Adobe products.

Reply

Answer 9

macjack

Level 10

111,242 points

Feb 14, 2018 10:28 AM in response to cathy fasano

Google Chrome is a real memory hog. Uninstall that and you'll probably see a significant change. Also with only 4GB RAM and running Adobe Desktop Publising programs can be a drain.

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memory pressure makes no sense

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