Insufficient memory for Mojave

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Calidris Author

Level 1

8 points

Insufficient memory for Mojave

Does anyone know what to do if my MacbookAir has insufficient memory to install Mojave?

Posted on Nov 16, 2018 10:58 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

babowa

Level 9

78,103 points

Nov 24, 2018 4:55 PM in response to Calidris

Okay, you appear to have about 20 GB empty space; however, for the Mojave download and install you need 18 GB (some of that will be freed up again once finished), so that is cutting it close. Unfortunately, you have a really tiny hard drive - 120 GB is not too good. So, copy space hogging stuff (photos, videos, etc) to an external hard drive and then delete from your internal drive.

Also, you have Symantec installed - follow their uninstall instructions to get rid of it. It does not play all that well with a Mac and uses a lot of resources.

And, you are swapping too much memory (RAM) which means you are constantly running out and whatever app is then borrowing it from elsewhere. Try to cut down on having too many apps open at the same time - you have a lower end model and you can't expect it to perform like a high end model with loads of RAM and a huge drive. Unfortunately, I don't believe you can add RAM to that model.

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Answer 2

Nov 19, 2018 5:00 PM in response to Calidris

You have plenty of RAM for Mojave. The new Mac Minis come with 8GB base, so it's fine.

You are very tight on storage, though. Apple's Mojave upgrade page says you need 18.5 GB of free space, so you don't have enough room: macOS - How to Upgrade - Apple

Go through your user folder and see if you can move any videos, pictures, or other documents to an external drive (or to the Cloud, I suppose?), and you'll should be able to make enough room.

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Answer 3

babowa

Level 9

78,103 points

Nov 16, 2018 5:00 PM in response to Calidris

Are you referring to RAM (which is memory) or your hard drive or SSD available space?

You can delete or copy files from your drive to an external drive to gain space. You should have at least 10 - 15 GB empty at all times to allow the OS to work properly.

As for the RAM, that depends on your device model.

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Answer 4

Calidris Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 16, 2018 5:03 PM in response to babowa

When I tried to install Mojave, it proceeded for a while, then stopped and said I had insufficient memory to install the OS upgrade. Since the MacbookAir is 100% flashdrive, I really don't know if it would be RAM or storage that's the problem.

Could I just drag ALL my applications on a connected external drive to free up space? Or does each app have to actually be "installed" on the external drive?

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Answer 5

babowa

Level 9

78,103 points

Nov 23, 2018 8:26 AM in response to Calidris

So your hard drive is a flash drive - what's the capacity and how much space is left? Highlight the Macintosh HD and hit Command + I for a get info window and send a screenshot of that or let us know how much space there is.

As for RAM, memory modules are separate. Mojave requires more RAM than older OS versions - 8 GB is generally recommended as a minimum. If you will post the exact model/year you have, we can check the specs.

As for the apps, I'd suggest moving/deleting movies, videos, photos, etc - those are the space hogging files. Apps themselves do not take up that much room and it is best to have them on the drive that you are actually booted from.

You could also download/copy/post the entire report of this diagnostic utility - it is helpful in checking out possible problem:

http://etrecheck.com

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Answer 6

Calidris Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 19, 2018 4:29 PM in response to babowa

OK. The "About this Mac" says it has "Memory = 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3."

When I check "Information" on the hard drive, it says there is a 121.12 GB capacity, and 15.77 GB (495 MB purgeable).

The serial number is C1***943. It is a MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2015).

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Answer 7

babowa

Level 9

78,103 points

Nov 19, 2018 4:34 PM in response to Calidris

It would be helpful to be able to take a look at an etrecheck report. You’re right at the edge of available empty space. If you want to install/download anything, think about deleting something first. As for the Ram, we’d need to see the report to figure out what if anything is using all the RAM.

I will ask the hosts to remove the serial number as this is a public online forum.

I just checked the specs for yours and it appears that your RAM cannot be upgraded on that model.

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Answer 8

babowa

Level 9

78,103 points

Nov 19, 2018 6:31 PM in response to gordonmcalpin

Apple computers are always tested in ideal conditions and shipped with the minimum RAM. Just because the new Mini comes with 8 GB does not mean it will be enough to run not only the OS, but processor and RAM hungry apps like Adobe anything, or FCPX as an example.

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Answer 9

Nov 19, 2018 6:40 PM in response to babowa

I’m a professional animator and routinely had Illustrator, Animate, After Effects, Safari, Final Cut Pro, AND various smaller apps all running *simultaneously* with only 8GB of RAM in my i7 2018 Mac Mini. It ran them much more smoothly than my 2014 MacBook Pro with 16GB of RAM did before it.

(I’ve since upgraded it to 32GB. Obviously it is better. 8GB was more than useable.)

If this guy’s MacBook Air will install Mojave, it’ll run fine.

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Answer 10

Nov 19, 2018 8:43 PM in response to babowa

You're completely derailing this thread because you're so obsessed with turning this into a ******* contest.

There are only two relevant points of fact:
1) He has a 2015 MacBook Air, which is within Mojave's installation requirements.

2) He has a 8GB of RAM, which is within Mojave's installation requirements.

Please. Stop. Talking.

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Answer 11

Calidris Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 24, 2018 4:07 PM in response to babowa

Here is Part I the etrecheck report:

EtreCheck version:5.0.2 (5015)

Report generated:2018-11-23 08:40:59

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime:4:57

Performance:Good

Sandbox:Enabled

Full drive access:Disabled

Problem:Other problem

Description:

Insufficient memory

Major Issues: None

Minor Issues:

These issues do not need immediate attention but they may indicate future problems.

Low disk space- This machine is running low on free hard drive space.

Clean up- There are orphan files that could be removed.

Unsigned files- There are unsigned software files installed. They appear to be legitimate but should be reviewed.

System modifications- There are a large number of system modifications running in the background.

32-bit Apps- This machine has 32-bits apps that may have problems in the future.

Hardware Information:

MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2015)

MacBook Air Model: MacBookAir7,2

1 1.6 GHz Intel Core i5 (i5-5250U) CPU: 2-core

8 GB RAM -Not upgradeable

BANK 0/DIMM0 - 4 GB DDR3 1600 ok

BANK 1/DIMM0 - 4 GB DDR3 1600 ok

Battery: Health = Normal - Cycle count = 250

Video Information:

Intel HD Graphics 6000 - VRAM: 1536 MB

Color LCD 1440 x 900

Drives:

disk0 - APPLE SSD SM0128G 121.33 GB (Solid State - TRIM: Yes)

Internal PCI 5.0 GT/s x4 Serial ATA

disk0s1 - EFI (MS-DOS FAT32) [EFI] 210 MB

disk0s2 [APFS Container] 121.12 GB

disk1 [APFS Virtual drive] 121.12 GB (Shared by 4 volumes)

disk1s1 - D***o (APFS) (Shared - 101.56 GB used)

disk1s2 - Preboot (APFS) [APFS Preboot] (Shared)

disk1s3 - Recovery (APFS) [Recovery] (Shared)

disk1s4 - VM (APFS) [APFS VM] (Shared - 4.30 GB used)

Mounted Volumes:

disk1s1 - D***o 121.12 GB (14.60 GB free)

APFS

Mount point: /

disk1s4 - VM [APFS VM] (Shared - 4.30 GB used)

APFS

Mount point: /private/var/vm

Network:

Interface en3: Thunderbolt Ethernet 2

Interface en0: Wi-Fi

802.11 a/b/g/n/ac

Interface en2: Bluetooth PAN

Interface bridge0: Thunderbolt Bridge

System Software:

macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 (17G3025)

Time since boot: About 12 days

Security:

System	Status
Gatekeeper	Enabled
System Integrity Protection	Enabled

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Answer 12

Calidris Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 24, 2018 4:14 PM in response to Calidris

Part II:

Unsigned Files:

Launchd: /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/JavaAppletPlugin.plugin/Contents/Resources/com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool .plist

Executable: /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/JavaAppletPlugin.plugin/Contents/Resources/Helper-Tool

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

Launchd: /Library/LaunchAgents/com.cisco.anyconnect.gui.plist

Executable: '/Applications/Cisco/Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client.app'

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

Launchd: /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist

Executable: /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/JavaAppletPlugin.plugin/Contents/Resources/Helper-Tool

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

Launchd: /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist

Executable: /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

Launchd: /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.cisco.anyconnect.vpnagentd.plist

Executable: /opt/cisco/anyconnect/bin/vpnagentd -execv_instance

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

32-bit Applications:

50 32-bit apps

Kernel Extensions:

/Applications/zoom.us.app

ZoomAudioDevice.kext (1.1 - SDK 10.8)

/Library/Extensions

AX88179_178A.kext (WEI LU SU, 1.6.0 - SDK 10.9)

/System/Library/Extensions

SymInternetSecurity.kext (14.0 - SDK 10.8)

SymIPS.kext (14.0 - SDK 10.8)

NortonForMac.kext (14.0 - SDK 10.8)

System Launch Agents:

[Not Loaded]	15 Apple tasks
[Loaded]	155 Apple tasks
[Running]	63 Apple tasks
[Killed]	61 Apple tasks

System Launch Daemons:

[Not Loaded]	38 Apple tasks
[Loaded]	173 Apple tasks
[Running]	73 Apple tasks
[Killed]	52 Apple tasks

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Answer 13

Calidris Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 24, 2018 4:20 PM in response to Calidris

Part II

Unsigned Files:

Launchd: /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/JavaAppletPlugin.plugin/Contents/Resources/com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool .plist

Executable: /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/JavaAppletPlugin.plugin/Contents/Resources/Helper-Tool

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

Launchd: /Library/LaunchAgents/com.cisco.anyconnect.gui.plist

Executable: '/Applications/Cisco/Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client.app'

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

Launchd: /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist

Executable: /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/JavaAppletPlugin.plugin/Contents/Resources/Helper-Tool

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

Launchd: /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist

Executable: /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

Launchd: /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.cisco.anyconnect.vpnagentd.plist

Executable: /opt/cisco/anyconnect/bin/vpnagentd -execv_instance

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

32-bit Applications:

50 32-bit apps

Kernel Extensions:

/Applications/zoom.us.app

ZoomAudioDevice.kext (1.1 - SDK 10.8)

/Library/Extensions

AX88179_178A.kext (WEI LU SU, 1.6.0 - SDK 10.9)

/System/Library/Extensions

SymInternetSecurity.kext (14.0 - SDK 10.8)

SymIPS.kext (14.0 - SDK 10.8)

NortonForMac.kext (14.0 - SDK 10.8)

System Launch Agents:

[Not Loaded]	15 Apple tasks
[Loaded]	155 Apple tasks
[Running]	63 Apple tasks
[Killed]	61 Apple tasks

System Launch Daemons:

[Not Loaded]	38 Apple tasks
[Loaded]	173 Apple tasks
[Running]	73 Apple tasks
[Killed]	52 Apple tasks

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Answer 14

Calidris Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 24, 2018 4:24 PM in response to Calidris

Part III

Launch Agents:

[Not Loaded]	com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist (Apple - installed 2018-07-07)
[Running]	com.adobe.AdobeCreativeCloud.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2018-09-14)
[Loaded]	com.symantec.errorreporter-periodicagent.NFM.plist (Symantec - installed 2018-06-22)
[Running]	com.symantec.uiagent.application.NFM.plist (Symantec - installed 2018-03-20)
[Loaded]	com.microsoft.update.agent.plist (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2018-11-23)
[Running]	com.adobe.GC.AGM.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2018-11-10)
[Other]	com.adobe.ARMDCHelper.cc24aef4a1b90ed56a725c38014c95072f92651fb65e1bf9c8e43c37a2 3d420d.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2018-02-16)
[Loaded]	com.adobe.CS4ServiceManager.plist (Apple - installed 2017-04-04)
[Loaded]	com.google.keystone.agent.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2018-07-17)
[Not Loaded]	com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist (? ffb65062 - installed 2018-10-01)
[Loaded]	com.cisco.anyconnect.gui.plist (? 40bd3462 - installed 2013-12-12)
[Not Loaded]	com.adobe.GC.Invoker-1.0.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2018-11-10)

Launch Daemons:

[Loaded]	com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2018-11-15)
[Loaded]	com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist (? 6d8cb30e - installed 2011-03-10)
[Other]	com.symantec.liveupdate.daemon.NFM.plist (Symantec - installed 2018-03-20)
[Loaded]	com.adobe.ARMDC.Communicator.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2018-02-16)
[Loaded]	com.adobe.acc.installer.v2.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2018-09-14)
[Loaded]	com.symantec.UninstallerToolHelper.NFM.plist (Symantec - installed 2018-03-20)
[Running]	com.cisco.anyconnect.vpnagentd.plist (? a7cbca7 - installed 2013-12-12)
[Running]	com.symantec.sharedsettings.NFM.plist (Symantec - installed 2018-03-20)
[Loaded]	com.google.keystone.daemon.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2018-07-17)
[Loaded]	com.adobe.agsservice.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2018-11-10)
[Loaded]	com.microsoft.autoupdate.helper.plist (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2018-11-23)
[Not Loaded]	com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist (? e3fefdd2 - installed 2018-07-07)
[Loaded]	com.apple.installer.osmessagetracing.plist (Apple - installed 2018-10-26)
[Loaded]	com.symantec.errorreporter-periodic.NFM.plist (Symantec - installed 2018-06-22)
[Running]	com.symantec.symdaemon.NFM.plist (Symantec - installed 2018-03-20)
[Loaded]	com.jdi.ss.SSHelper.plist (SS Protect Limited - installed 2018-02-28)
[Loaded]	com.symantec.SymLUHelper.NFM.plist (Symantec - installed 2018-03-20)
[Loaded]	com.adobe.ARMDC.SMJobBlessHelper.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2018-02-16)

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Answer 15

Calidris Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 24, 2018 4:29 PM in response to Calidris

Part IV

User Launch Agents:

[Loaded]	com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist (? 0 - installed 2018-09-14)
[Loaded]	com.dropbox.DropboxMacUpdate.agent.plist (Dropbox, Inc. - installed 2018-10-25)
[Loaded]	com.adobe.GC.Invoker-1.0.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2018-01-31)
[Other]	com.jdibackup.ZipCloud.autostart.plist (Apple - installed 2017-09-18)
[Other]	com.adobe.ARM.***.plist (? 0 - installed 2016-04-05)
[Other]	com.jdibackup.ZipCloud.notify.plist (Apple - installed 2017-09-18)

User Login Items:

AdobeResourceSynchronizer.app (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2018-11-01)

(/Applications/Adobe Acrobat DC/Adobe Acrobat.app/Contents/Helpers/AdobeResourceSynchronizer.app)

Dropbox.app (Dropbox, Inc. - installed 2018-11-06)

(/Applications/Dropbox.app)

PhotoStreamAgent (App Store - installed 2038-01-18)

(/Applications/iPhoto.app/Contents/Library/LoginItems/PhotoStreamAgent.app)

iTunesHelper.app (Apple - installed 2018-07-10)

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

Internet Plug-ins:

AdobeAAMDetect: 3.0.0.0 (installed 2018-09-14)

FlashPlayer-10.6: 31.0.0.153 (installed 2018-11-21)

QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (installed 2018-11-01)

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: 15.023.20056 (installed 2017-01-29)

Flash Player: 31.0.0.153 (installed 2018-11-21)

JavaAppletPlugin: Java 8 Update 181 build 13 (installed 2018-07-27)

SharePointBrowserPlugin: 14.7.7 (installed 2018-03-27)

MeetingJoinPlugin: (installed 2017-03-21)

DirectorShockwave: 12.2.5r195 (installed 2016-08-31)

3rd Party Preference Panes:

Flash Player (installed 2018-11-15)

Java (installed 2018-07-27)

Xmarks for Safari (installed 2015-03-04)

Time Machine:

Time Machine information not available without Full Drive Access.

Performance:

System Load: 2.55 (1 min ago) 2.68 (5 min ago) 2.78 (15 min ago)

Nominal I/O speed: 0.26 MB/s

File system: 120.15 seconds (timed out)

Write speed: 234 MB/s

Read speed: 1098 MB/s

CPU Usage:

Type	Overall	Individual cores
System	8 %	11 %	5 %	10 %	5 %
User	13 %	17 %	9 %	16 %	10 %
Idle	79 %	72 %	86 %	74 %	85 %

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Insufficient memory for Mojave

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