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wth is "kernel_task"

E

EmptyCalm

macrumors member
Original poster
Hello


I have istat menu and this thing is using too much of my memory. How can i stop or delete the program or whatever it is. my active memory is in the 600(and rising sometimes to 800) just using safari and i think this "kernel" is the problem.😡🙁
 
I had firefox same thing was happening. When I first got my MacBook running safari and iTunes was about 340ish active memory range.now Running nothing and the kernel task is using 127mb. <--------bullish
 
firstly kernel_task is Mac OS X's kernel and is pretty much the heart of the OS… why shouldnt it be allowed to use 127mb? WTF?

second read on up this support page from Apple.
 
Alx9876 said:
Then max out the ram. If your having all these issues upgrade the computer already.😕
Click to expand...

I never said I was having issues in the first place😱 Just this thing using memory didn't sit well.

Computer runs fine. thanks alx( does every alex spell their name this way now, I thought I was unique...🙁




richthomas said:
firstly kernel_task is Mac OS X's kernel and is pretty much the heart of the OS… why shouldnt it be allowed to use 127mb? WTF?

second read on up this support page from Apple.
Click to expand...

so as this heart uses up more memory that's okay?
 
EmptyCalm said:
I never said I was having issues in the first place😱 Just this thing using memory didn't sit well.

Computer runs fine. thanks alx( does every alex spell their name this way now, I thought I was unique...🙁


so as this heart uses up more memory that's okay?
Click to expand...


I wasn't trying to be unique. The correct way to spell my name was not available to use as a screen name. So if I have to take out a letter than it should be the "E".
 
xUKHCx said:
You asked that if kernal_task used up more memory it is ok. My question is more memory than what?
Click to expand...

than anything app i have opened. the thing grew in size <----😱

How do you know it is using more memory?
Click to expand...

istat menu. It grew from 80 to 127-130mb

What is it using more memory than?
Click to expand...

safari was all I was running. pretty much it was

kernal: 127-130MB
safari: 63mb

ne way i restarted it and it's stayed at 39mb. I closed some apps that open on startup too cuz i read somewhere else that might help
 
I'm wondering why you are concerned by what task is using what memory? Prudence would dictate that if you aren't familiar with the so-called 'nuts & bolts' and aren't having any issues that you let things lie. Killing random tasks because you think they are hogging too many resources is silly and can lead to system instability, although the likelihood of you doing damage to your OS installation seems minimal. If you are trying to expand computing knowledge, all is well, although you should probably buy a book on OS X and learn and play once you have a basic competence.
 
If it is at 127MB then it needs 127MB to run your computer. Rebooting just clears out the "memory" of kernel_task and doesn't really mean anything. It will slowly grow to a larger size again.

If you aren't having problems then don't worry about it. If it is low then it is normal. The highest I have ever seen my kernel_task was at 300MB. 127MB seems in the normal range from what I have observed.


Back to your original question why do you say that your machine is using too much ram? Are you experiencing Page Outs? Slow Downs? How much total RAM do you have? Have you read the apple knowledge base article linked above?

Do you mean "Used" or "Active" ? If it is "active" with just Safari open then there is something not quite right however it is "Used" then it doesn't really mean it is in use.
 
This is like someone saying "Hey guys can I free some space on my hard drive by deleting OS X? I don't care about this I just wanna use iTunes!!"
 
hello

my kernel task is now using 144% of the CPU
why?

i just use Apple Mail and Safari with a UMTS card
on my macbook air
 
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