GoogleSoftwareUpdate evil spawn

[MotorcycleBetty]

Hello,

A while back, I discovered that Google Earth's auto-updater was running CONSTANTLY on my 2008 MBP. My first instinct upon seeing the massive log in Console was to uninstall Google Earth. However, this didn't stop the updater from continuing to run, even tho I've got no other Google apps on my Mac - nor have I ever had any other Google apps on my Mac since day 1.

Ironically, I've Googled to find a solution to this problem. I found a few suggestions, which I tried - but the dang thing keeps right on running. As you can see from the attached screenshot, it's an evil spawn!

Sure would appreciate somebody coming up with a way for me to get this monster off my Mac. Would like to still use Google Earth if possible, as it's a great app, but it's not worth the havoc it's causing to my system.

 

[angelwatt]

See this discussion.

 

[MotorcycleBetty]

Thanks for the reply angelwatt. I reviewed that thread. I tried pasting the command into a terminal window (had found this potential solution elsewhere, and it didn't work before, but I tried it again anyway), but get a "command not found" response.

In the meantime, the updater continues it's irritating attempts to connect every minute. It's really obnoxious...if it were a rogue app, one would call it malware...

 

[gr8tfly]

http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20090424045847496&query=remove+google+earth

The above works fine.

Remember, when you download a new version of Google Earth, you will need to again remove the components before first running the app.

 

[MotorcycleBetty]

Thanks gr8tfly. That's a great page. I found it yesterday and was excited to see such complete removal instructions. I *knew* it would work! I went thru the steps as instructed, but after completing them, I was bummed out to see that the messages continued to come, as shown in my screenshot. That's when I decided I'd better look for help, and I came here.

However, in case I did something wrong the first time, I reinstalled Google Earth and then reapplied the instructions. My Console is *still* filled with Google's shenanigans.

It's interesting, tho. After running thru those instructions and removing the following folders the first time, they were not present for removal after reinstalling GE the 2nd time around:

/Library/Google/GoogleSoftwareUpdate
/Library/LaunchAgents/com.google.keystone.daemon.plist
/Library/Caches/com.Google.Keystone.*
/Library/Logs/GoogleSoftwareUpdateAgent.log

But now there are new files in:

/Library/Caches/com.Google.GoogleEarthPlus and
/Library/Caches/com.google.MacFUSE

Should I remove those? If so, do I need to remove them thru the Terminal? (I've just been removing the files/folders thru Finder.)

So...what will stop this software from sucking my system resources with its nasty behavior? I don't want GSU to be running/attempting to run for the rest of the life of my Mac!

And re new versions of GE? I'm thinkin' that once I've got this cleaned up, Google will never touch my machine again! (Sorry Google, but you need to clean up your act)

 

[angelwatt]

Can you elaborate on the error it gave you, showing what you put in? Likely there was a copy and paste issue. Running that uninstaller is likely your best bet. Before I knew about it I had removed everything manually using Finder and was able to get rid of it, but it was a pain and I don't have any log of all the files I deleted.

 

[MotorcycleBetty]

Well, it's kinda hard to screw up a copy & paste, but here's a screenshot per your request for more info on the error. As I said, the message I get is "command not found".

This fix was one of the first I found on my own, and I've actually done it several times, each time hoping that *something* might have changed and that *this* time it would work. Each time, I've been disappointed.

Oh, and here's a twist. These items are in my Trash, and can't be deleted "because the item is in use":
GoogleSoftwareUpdateAgent.log
GoogleSoftwareUpdateAgent
UpdateEngine
KeystoneCommon

 

[BobZune]

There is another thread on it
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/647755/ that might provide a solution. You can see the links from it to the google groups discussion too.

 

[DewGuy1999]

Well, it's kinda hard to screw up a copy & paste, but here's a screenshot per your request for more info on the error. As I said, the message I get is "command not found".

This fix was one of the first I found on my own, and I've actually done it several times, each time hoping that *something* might have changed and that *this* time it would work. Each time, I've been disappointed.

Oh, and here's a twist. These items are in my Trash, and can't be deleted "because the item is in use":
GoogleSoftwareUpdateAgent.log
GoogleSoftwareUpdateAgent
UpdateEngine
KeystoneCommon

Shutdown your Mac and then start it up, you should then be able to empty the trash.

 

[MotorcycleBetty]

Thanks, BobZune for the link. I dl'd the uninstall app, and it seems to have done the trick! Woohoo!!! I'll just keep my eye on the console for awhile to make sure the problem is really gone.....

And DewGuy1999, thanks for the tip on rebooting to stop the processes so I could empty the trash.

 

[MotorcycleBetty]

Update

The next day...

I checked the console first thing in the morning, and all was quiet as far as Google was concerned.

I rebooted (something I seldom do), just so I could see what might come up. What I found was 8 entries where GSU tried to run, but it couldn't find the keystone .plist, and the process quit. While not a perfect fix, it is certainly acceptable, and I'm quite happy with it.

And, there's some icing on this cake. During the process of trying to fix this problem, I uninstalled and reinstalled Google Earth several times over the past couple of weeks. Well, I accidentally ran the uninstaller tool while the program was still installed... which means that after testing, I find that I can still use the tool I originally wanted to use (GE) - but without the undesirable behavior!

Thanks to all who responded.