kernal_task 110% plus CPU usage, running hot, constant crashing/restart

[shiffd]

Please help.

Macbook Pro, 2010
latest maverick 10.9.4

machine acting really weird for about a week. Constantly crashing, freezing on load screen. Tried checking permissions and a million other things. The only thing that I can see that is weird is the stupid kernel_task is 110% and the machine is running super hot for no reason (even if I turn everything off, no programs running...or like when it is suppose to be asleep...)

I think the crashes might be from overheating. IT also beeps and bleeps at me when it crashes.

Please help. I tried doing SMC reset but it won't work. All I could find for directions was to turn the machine off and while it is off press controlshiftoptionpower all 4 keys at once. This is suppose to cycle the power indicator or whatever but it does not. It does nothing. How can I reset SMC if this isn'T working? Will this even help?

 

[Weaselboy]

Kernal task is sort of like the traffic cop for all the other processes that run on a Mac. So KT showing 110% is a symptom of some other task running crazy.

Start Activity Monitor and go to the CPU tab and sort by CPU % and see what other processes are there running high CPU%.

When it beeps, is it three beeps? That means bad memory normally.

Try running the Apple Hardware Test.

 

[shiffd]

Kernal task is sort of like the traffic cop for all the other processes that run on a Mac. So KT showing 110% is a symptom of some other task running crazy.

Start Activity Monitor and go to the CPU tab and sort by CPU % and see what other processes are there running high CPU%.

When it beeps, is it three beeps? That means bad memory normally.

Try running the Apple Hardware Test.

All the other tasks are within normal bounds. The most usage would be if I also have Safari open and Safari can take a total of up to like 60% or so, but usually like 28% or something like that.

As far as the Beeps, I think it has been 3. Sometimes I think its just 1. Its happened a half dozen times and it is always suddenly in the middle of trying to do something. I checked memory and Kernal task is eating around 700megs...which I think is too much isn't it? I have 2 gigs available though so should function. The crashes have happened in the following circumstances~ When doing absolutely nothing (like just turning the thing on and it crashes instantly), when trying to open a webpage, when trying to watch/while watching a video on net, when playing video games and when using open office. So to me it seems the crashes are something fundamental. sometimes I have safari or chrome open, sometimes not. And I generally speaking always end any and all programs before running any other. So there shouldn't be any one program open at all times when I have a crash. I use SMC fan control to control heat when playing some video games, but lately I have used it just all the time now because the machine is constantly so hot because of this kernel task problem.

Thanks for the link, I will try that as well.

Any idea how I can get a SMC reset to work? The directions I found online are not working and the battery when I open the case says 'warning do not remove' so I, for now, am not going to remove it to try that route.

 

[Weaselboy]

All the other tasks are within normal bounds. The most usage would be if I also have Safari open and Safari can take a total of up to like 60% or so, but usually like 28% or something like that.

As far as the Beeps, I think it has been 3. Sometimes I think its just 1. Its happened a half dozen times and it is always suddenly in the middle of trying to do something. I checked memory and Kernal task is eating around 700megs...which I think is too much isn't it? I have 2 gigs available though so should function. The crashes have happened in the following circumstances~ When doing absolutely nothing (like just turning the thing on and it crashes instantly), when trying to open a webpage, when trying to watch/while watching a video on net, when playing video games and when using open office. So to me it seems the crashes are something fundamental. sometimes I have safari or chrome open, sometimes not. And I generally speaking always end any and all programs before running any other. So there shouldn't be any one program open at all times when I have a crash. I use SMC fan control to control heat when playing some video games, but lately I have used it just all the time now because the machine is constantly so hot because of this kernel task problem.

Thanks for the link, I will try that as well.

Any idea how I can get a SMC reset to work? The directions I found online are not working and the battery when I open the case says 'warning do not remove' so I, for now, am not going to remove it to try that route.

Yeah... that three beeps is bad memory. Try the hardware test. Here is the SMC reset info, but I would be surprised if that helped.