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Allyd123

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 1, 2018
6
0
Hi all, I've been having ongoing kernel task related problems (Kernel task is running really high, with fans going crazy, now even in safe mode.) with my mid 2010 macbook pro, managing to fix it a couple of times over the last 6 months but now everything I've tried in the past doesn't help eg resetting SMC and PRAM, stopping log in items, clearing out old software etc.

I've just completed an etrecheck report, and it appears that the hard drive and battery are not in great shape, are these things that could be giving these symptoms? Is there anything else in the report I should be checking out? Are these parts that are worth replacing in an old machine? (I can't really afford to buy a new one) Thank you :)

EtreCheck version: 5.0.2 (5A011)
Report generated: 2018-10-01 11:32:29
Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com
Runtime: 11:40
Performance: Poor

Problem: Computer is too slow
Description:
Fans running high, kernel task running high

Major Issues:
Anything that appears on this list needs immediate attention.
No Time Machine backup - Time Machine backup not found.
Failing hard drive - This machine has an older, mechanical hard disk
that appears to be failing.
Heavy CPU usage - Some processes are using an unusually high amount of CPU.
Obsolete hardware - This machine may be considered obsolete.

Minor Issues:
These issues do not need immediate attention but they may indicate
future problems.
Upgradeable hard drive - This machine’s hard drive could be replaced
with an SSD. This would dramatically improve your machine’s performance.
Killed launchd tasks - This machine is running short on RAM and has a
mechanical hard drive, reducing the speed of the virtual memory system.
High battery cycle count - Your battery may be losing capacity.
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.

Hardware Information:
MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2010) - Obsolete!
MacBook Pro Model: MacBookPro7,1
1 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (Duo) CPU: 2-core
8 RAM - At maximum
BANK 0/DIMM0 - 4 GB DDR3 1067 ok
BANK 1/DIMM0 - 4 GB DDR3 1067 ok
Battery: Health = Replace Soon - Cycle count = 1208

Video Information:
NVIDIA GeForce 320M - VRAM: 256 MB
Color LCD 1280 x 800

Drives:
disk0 - ST500LM012 HN-M500MBB 500.11 GB (Mechanical - 5400 RPM)
Internal SATA 3 Gigabit Serial ATA
disk0s1 - EFI (MS-DOS FAT32) [EFI] 210 MB
disk0s2 (Journaled HFS+) 449.25 GB (107.99 GB used)
disk0s3 - Recovery HD (Journaled HFS+) [Recovery] 650 MB
disk0s4 (MS-DOS FAT12) 50.00 GB

Mounted Volumes:
disk0s2 449.25 GB (340.99 GB free)
Journaled HFS+
Mount point: /

Network:
Interface en0: Ethernet
Interface en3: iPhone
Interface fw0: FireWire
Interface en1: Wi-Fi
802.11 a/b/g/n
Interface en2: Bluetooth PAN

System Software:
macOS Sierra 10.12.6 (16G1510)
Time since boot: Less than an hour

Security:
System Status
Gatekeeper Enabled
System Integrity Protection Enabled

Unsigned Files:
Launchd: /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist
Executable: /Library/Application
Support/Adobe/SwitchBoard/SwitchBoard.app/Contents/MacOS/launch.switchboard
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


Kernel Extensions:
/System/Library/Extensions
Wacom Tablet.kext (Wacom Tablet 6.3.6-3 - SDK 10.8)

System Launch Agents:
[Not Loaded] 6 Apple tasks
[Loaded] 181 Apple tasks
[Running] 99 Apple tasks

System Launch Daemons:
[Not Loaded] 42 Apple tasks
[Loaded] 175 Apple tasks
[Running] 100 Apple tasks
[Other] 3 Apple tasks

Launch Agents:
[Not Loaded] com.mcafee.menulet.plist (? 781f459 - installed 2018-03-09)
[Not Loaded] com.epson.esua.launcher.plist (Seiko Epson Corporation -
installed 2018-07-09)
[Not Loaded] com.mcafee.McAfeeSafariHost.plist (? 0 - installed 2018-08-23)
[Not Loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist (Google, Inc. - installed
2018-07-18)
[Not Loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist (? ffb65062 - installed
2014-11-09)
[Not Loaded] com.wacom.wacomtablet.plist (? 9e9edb5e - installed 2013-06-05)

Launch Daemons:
[Not Loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist (? 6d8cb30e -
installed 2010-08-25)
[Not Loaded] com.apple.installer.cleanupinstaller.plist (Apple -
installed 2018-06-11)
[Not Loaded] jp.co.canon.MasterInstaller.plist (? 81ce49d7 - installed
2016-07-06)
[Not Loaded] com.mcafee.cspd.plist (McAfee, Inc. - installed 2017-12-01)
[Not Loaded] com.google.keystone.daemon.plist (Google, Inc. - installed
2018-07-18)
[Not Loaded] com.mcafee.ssm.ScanFactory.plist (? 0 - installed 2018-03-23)
[Not Loaded] com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist (? 68cad67 - installed 2014-11-09)
[Not Loaded] com.mcafee.virusscan.fmpd.plist (McAfee, Inc. - installed
2018-03-07)
[Not Loaded] com.mcafee.ssm.ScanManager.plist (? 0 - installed 2018-03-23)

User Launch Agents:
[Not Loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist (? 0 - installed 2014-11-09)
[Not Loaded] com.dropbox.DropboxMacUpdate.agent.plist (Dropbox, Inc. -
installed 2018-08-23)
[Not Loaded] com.spotify.webhelper.plist (Spotify - installed 2018-06-12)
[Not Loaded] com.adobe.ARM.***.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed
2017-11-01)

User Login Items:
com.adobe.SwitchBoard.monitor.plist (?)
(/etc/mach_init_per_user.d/com.adobe.SwitchBoard.monitor.plist)

Internet Plug-ins:
JavaAppletPlugin: 15.0.1 (installed 2014-11-09)
WacomNetscape: 2.1.0-1 (installed 2013-06-05)
QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (installed 2018-09-23)
AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: 11.0.23 (installed 2018-09-12)
AdobePDFViewer: 11.0.23 (installed 2018-09-12)
EPPEX Plugin: 10.0 (installed 2014-09-16)
Web Control: 10.2.0 (installed 2018-03-09)
SharePointBrowserPlugin: 14.1.3 (installed 2014-11-10)
Silverlight: 5.1.40728.0 (installed 2015-09-02)
WacomTabletPlugin: WacomTabletPlugin 2.1.0.2 (installed 2013-06-05)
iPhotoPhotocast: 7.0 (installed 2011-02-11)

User Internet Plug-ins:
Picasa: 1.0 (installed 2015-07-10)

Safari Extensions:
Pinterest.safariextz - Pinterest Inc - http://www.pinterest.com/
(installed 2014-01-27)
McAfee SiteAdvisor - App Store (installed 2018-03-09)

3rd Party Preference Panes:
WacomTablet (installed 2013-06-05)

Time Machine:
Time Machine Not Configured!

Performance:
System Load: 13.95 (1 min ago) 19.55 (5 min ago) 18.08 (15 min ago)
Nominal I/O speed: 3.76 MB/s
File system: 91.23 seconds
Write speed: 55 MB/s
Read speed: 69 MB/s

Top Processes by CPU:
Process (count) Source CPU Location
EtreCheckPro Etresoft, Inc. 56.20 %
system_profiler Apple 44.40 %
Activity Monitor Apple 39.28 %
WindowServer Apple 22.66 %
installd Apple 21.60 %

Top Processes by Memory:
Process (count) Source RAM usage Location
kernel_task Apple 476 MB
EtreCheckPro Etresoft, Inc. 466 MB
update_dyld_shared_cache Apple 325 MB
system_profiler (3) Apple 302 MB
UserEventAgent (2) Apple 146 MB

Top Processes by Network Use:
Process Source Input Output Location
apsd Apple 13 KB 19 KB
netbiosd Apple 17 KB 5 KB
mDNSResponder Apple 11 KB 7 KB
assistantd Apple 5 KB 4 KB
ntpd Apple 432 B 432 B

Virtual Memory Information:
Available RAM 969 MB
Free RAM 18 MB
Used RAM 7.05 GB
Cached files 951 MB
Swap Used 54 MB

Software Installs (past 30 days):
Name Version Install Date
Adobe Reader XI (11.0.23) 11.0.23 2018-09-12
Safari 12.0 2018-09-23
Security Update 2018-004 10.12.6 2018-09-23
Disk Cleaner 1.3 2018-09-24
Gatekeeper Configuration Data 155 2018-09-24

Clean up:
/Library/LaunchAgents/com.mcafee.menulet.plist
/Library/Application
Support/McAfee/MSS/Applications/Menulet.app/Contents/MacOS/Menulet
Executable not found

Diagnostics Information (past 7 days):
2018-09-24 18:31:05 sysmond CPU
/usr/libexec/sysmond

2018-09-24 11:36:42 cloudd Crash
/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/CloudKitDaemon.framework/Support/cloudd
*** Terminating app due to uncaught exception 'NSGenericException',
reason: 'Failed to step (6922): "select apsEnvironment, isApplication,
isCKSystemService, canMasquerade, canSetEnvironment,
allowCustomAccounts, canAccessProtectionData, canSetDeviceIdentifier,
hasAccessDuringBuddy, hasLightweightPCS, hasTCCAuthorization,
allowsPowerNapScheduling, isOOPUI, allowsParticipantPII,
displaysSystemAcceptPrompt, appIdentifier, clientPrefix from AppBundle
where appBundleIdentifier = ? AND sourceAppBundleIdentifier = ?" -
errcode:1b0a, msg:"disk I/O error", size: (null),
path:/Users/***/Library/Caches/*/CloudKitMetadata, fs:(null)/(null)'
abort() called
terminating with uncaught exception of type NSException


End of reportEtreCheck version: 5.0.2 (5A011)
Report generated: 2018-10-01 11:32:29
Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com
Runtime: 11:40
Performance: Poor

Problem: Computer is too slow
Description:
Fans running high, kernel task running high

Major Issues:
Anything that appears on this list needs immediate attention.
No Time Machine backup - Time Machine backup not found.
Failing hard drive - This machine has an older, mechanical hard disk
that appears to be failing.
Heavy CPU usage - Some processes are using an unusually high amount of CPU.
Obsolete hardware - This machine may be considered obsolete.

Minor Issues:
These issues do not need immediate attention but they may indicate
future problems.
Upgradeable hard drive - This machine’s hard drive could be replaced
with an SSD. This would dramatically improve your machine’s performance.
Killed launchd tasks - This machine is running short on RAM and has a
mechanical hard drive, reducing the speed of the virtual memory system.
High battery cycle count - Your battery may be losing capacity.
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.

Hardware Information:
MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2010) - Obsolete!
MacBook Pro Model: MacBookPro7,1
1 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (Duo) CPU: 2-core
8 RAM - At maximum
BANK 0/DIMM0 - 4 GB DDR3 1067 ok
BANK 1/DIMM0 - 4 GB DDR3 1067 ok
Battery: Health = Replace Soon - Cycle count = 1208

Video Information:
NVIDIA GeForce 320M - VRAM: 256 MB
Color LCD 1280 x 800

Drives:
disk0 - ST500LM012 HN-M500MBB 500.11 GB (Mechanical - 5400 RPM)
Internal SATA 3 Gigabit Serial ATA
disk0s1 - EFI (MS-DOS FAT32) [EFI] 210 MB
disk0s2 (Journaled HFS+) 449.25 GB (107.99 GB used)
disk0s3 - Recovery HD (Journaled HFS+) [Recovery] 650 MB
disk0s4 (MS-DOS FAT12) 50.00 GB

Mounted Volumes:
disk0s2 449.25 GB (340.99 GB free)
Journaled HFS+
Mount point: /

Network:
Interface en0: Ethernet
Interface en3: iPhone
Interface fw0: FireWire
Interface en1: Wi-Fi
802.11 a/b/g/n
Interface en2: Bluetooth PAN

System Software:
macOS Sierra 10.12.6 (16G1510)
Time since boot: Less than an hour

Security:
System Status
Gatekeeper Enabled
System Integrity Protection Enabled

Unsigned Files:
Launchd: /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist
Executable: /Library/Application
Support/Adobe/SwitchBoard/SwitchBoard.app/Contents/MacOS/launch.switchboard
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


Kernel Extensions:
/System/Library/Extensions
Wacom Tablet.kext (Wacom Tablet 6.3.6-3 - SDK 10.8)

System Launch Agents:
[Not Loaded] 6 Apple tasks
[Loaded] 181 Apple tasks
[Running] 99 Apple tasks

System Launch Daemons:
[Not Loaded] 42 Apple tasks
[Loaded] 175 Apple tasks
[Running] 100 Apple tasks
[Other] 3 Apple tasks

Launch Agents:
[Not Loaded] com.mcafee.menulet.plist (? 781f459 - installed 2018-03-09)
[Not Loaded] com.epson.esua.launcher.plist (Seiko Epson Corporation -
installed 2018-07-09)
[Not Loaded] com.mcafee.McAfeeSafariHost.plist (? 0 - installed 2018-08-23)
[Not Loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist (Google, Inc. - installed
2018-07-18)
[Not Loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist (? ffb65062 - installed
2014-11-09)
[Not Loaded] com.wacom.wacomtablet.plist (? 9e9edb5e - installed 2013-06-05)

Launch Daemons:
[Not Loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist (? 6d8cb30e -
installed 2010-08-25)
[Not Loaded] com.apple.installer.cleanupinstaller.plist (Apple -
installed 2018-06-11)
[Not Loaded] jp.co.canon.MasterInstaller.plist (? 81ce49d7 - installed
2016-07-06)
[Not Loaded] com.mcafee.cspd.plist (McAfee, Inc. - installed 2017-12-01)
[Not Loaded] com.google.keystone.daemon.plist (Google, Inc. - installed
2018-07-18)
[Not Loaded] com.mcafee.ssm.ScanFactory.plist (? 0 - installed 2018-03-23)
[Not Loaded] com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist (? 68cad67 - installed 2014-11-09)
[Not Loaded] com.mcafee.virusscan.fmpd.plist (McAfee, Inc. - installed
2018-03-07)
[Not Loaded] com.mcafee.ssm.ScanManager.plist (? 0 - installed 2018-03-23)

User Launch Agents:
[Not Loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist (? 0 - installed 2014-11-09)
[Not Loaded] com.dropbox.DropboxMacUpdate.agent.plist (Dropbox, Inc. -
installed 2018-08-23)
[Not Loaded] com.spotify.webhelper.plist (Spotify - installed 2018-06-12)
[Not Loaded] com.adobe.ARM.***.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed
2017-11-01)

User Login Items:
com.adobe.SwitchBoard.monitor.plist (?)
(/etc/mach_init_per_user.d/com.adobe.SwitchBoard.monitor.plist)

Internet Plug-ins:
JavaAppletPlugin: 15.0.1 (installed 2014-11-09)
WacomNetscape: 2.1.0-1 (installed 2013-06-05)
QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (installed 2018-09-23)
AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: 11.0.23 (installed 2018-09-12)
AdobePDFViewer: 11.0.23 (installed 2018-09-12)
EPPEX Plugin: 10.0 (installed 2014-09-16)
Web Control: 10.2.0 (installed 2018-03-09)
SharePointBrowserPlugin: 14.1.3 (installed 2014-11-10)
Silverlight: 5.1.40728.0 (installed 2015-09-02)
WacomTabletPlugin: WacomTabletPlugin 2.1.0.2 (installed 2013-06-05)
iPhotoPhotocast: 7.0 (installed 2011-02-11)

User Internet Plug-ins:
Picasa: 1.0 (installed 2015-07-10)

Safari Extensions:
Pinterest.safariextz - Pinterest Inc - http://www.pinterest.com/
(installed 2014-01-27)
McAfee SiteAdvisor - App Store (installed 2018-03-09)

3rd Party Preference Panes:
WacomTablet (installed 2013-06-05)

Time Machine:
Time Machine Not Configured!

Performance:
System Load: 13.95 (1 min ago) 19.55 (5 min ago) 18.08 (15 min ago)
Nominal I/O speed: 3.76 MB/s
File system: 91.23 seconds
Write speed: 55 MB/s
Read speed: 69 MB/s

Top Processes by CPU:
Process (count) Source CPU Location
EtreCheckPro Etresoft, Inc. 56.20 %
system_profiler Apple 44.40 %
Activity Monitor Apple 39.28 %
WindowServer Apple 22.66 %
installd Apple 21.60 %

Top Processes by Memory:
Process (count) Source RAM usage Location
kernel_task Apple 476 MB
EtreCheckPro Etresoft, Inc. 466 MB
update_dyld_shared_cache Apple 325 MB
system_profiler (3) Apple 302 MB
UserEventAgent (2) Apple 146 MB

Top Processes by Network Use:
Process Source Input Output Location
apsd Apple 13 KB 19 KB
netbiosd Apple 17 KB 5 KB
mDNSResponder Apple 11 KB 7 KB
assistantd Apple 5 KB 4 KB
ntpd Apple 432 B 432 B

Virtual Memory Information:
Available RAM 969 MB
Free RAM 18 MB
Used RAM 7.05 GB
Cached files 951 MB
Swap Used 54 MB

Software Installs (past 30 days):
Name Version Install Date
Adobe Reader XI (11.0.23) 11.0.23 2018-09-12
Safari 12.0 2018-09-23
Security Update 2018-004 10.12.6 2018-09-23
Disk Cleaner 1.3 2018-09-24
Gatekeeper Configuration Data 155 2018-09-24

Clean up:
/Library/LaunchAgents/com.mcafee.menulet.plist
/Library/Application
Support/McAfee/MSS/Applications/Menulet.app/Contents/MacOS/Menulet
Executable not found

Diagnostics Information (past 7 days):
2018-09-24 18:31:05 sysmond CPU
/usr/libexec/sysmond

2018-09-24 11:36:42 cloudd Crash
/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/CloudKitDaemon.framework/Support/cloudd
*** Terminating app due to uncaught exception 'NSGenericException',
reason: 'Failed to step (6922): "select apsEnvironment, isApplication,
isCKSystemService, canMasquerade, canSetEnvironment,
allowCustomAccounts, canAccessProtectionData, canSetDeviceIdentifier,
hasAccessDuringBuddy, hasLightweightPCS, hasTCCAuthorization,
allowsPowerNapScheduling, isOOPUI, allowsParticipantPII,
displaysSystemAcceptPrompt, appIdentifier, clientPrefix from AppBundle
where appBundleIdentifier = ? AND sourceAppBundleIdentifier = ?" -
errcode:1b0a, msg:"disk I/O error", size: (null),
path:/Users/***/Library/Caches/*/CloudKitMetadata, fs:(null)/(null)'
abort() called
terminating with uncaught exception of type NSException


End of report
 
Step 1, any old Mac with a spinning hard drive will run slowly. Replace it with an SSD immediately. Here is an example of a 500GB SSD from OWC (that fits your machine) for $140. https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ssd/owc/macbook-pro/2010

Step 2, you have some crap that should be deleted.

1. McAfee
2. Adobe Air
3. Adobe Switchboard
4. Silverlight
5. Adobe Reader (it's bloated, and Preview does everything Reader does)

Step 3, after you've done the above update to High Sierra.

You'll probably find the easiest solution is to combine steps 2 and 3 by backing up your data, performing a clean install of High Sierra, and then restoring your data with only up-to-date applications.
 
Thank you for the advice, I haven't tried a clean install, it hasn't been cleaned out properly for a while and probably full of all sorts of hidden stuff so should help I'm sure, I'll give it a go and get a SSD when I next get paid, I'll let you know how I get on. Thanks again.
 
Hey, so I've wiped the old drive and re-installed os, then transfered over to a new ssd and also cleaned the logic board and fan with compressed air. Sadly has not fixed the problem. Fans are running non-stop, mac is incredibly slow and unresponsive. As I've wiped everything, I'm guessing it must be a hardware issue. The only other two things I've read that might be causing it is the old battery (could this cause these symptoms?) or a thermal sensor causing the fans to run out of control (this would be game over if its a new logic board?)

If it's possible that the battery is causing this I would really appreciate some advice as I would like to order one at lunch :)

Here's the etracheck from today:

EtreCheck version: 5.0.5 (5A016)

Report generated: 2018-10-12 01:45:02

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime: 6:16

Performance: Below Average


Problem: Other problem

Description:

Fans running non-stop, Mac incredibly slow and unresponsive


Major Issues:

Anything that appears on this list needs immediate attention.


No Time Machine backup - Time Machine backup not found.

Obsolete hardware - This machine may be considered obsolete.


Minor Issues:

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


High battery cycle count - Your battery may be losing capacity.

Low performance - EtreCheck report took over 5 minutes to run. This is unusual.

Abnormal shutdown - Your machine shut down abnormally.


Hardware Information:

MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2010) - Obsolete!

MacBook Pro Model: MacBookPro7,1

1 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (Duo) CPU: 2-core

8 GB RAM - At maximum

BANK 0/DIMM0 - 4 GB DDR3 1067 ok

BANK 1/DIMM0 - 4 GB DDR3 1067 ok

Battery: Health = Replace Soon - Cycle count = 1208


Video Information:

NVIDIA GeForce 320M - VRAM: 256 MB

Color LCD 1280 x 800


Drives:

disk0 - KINGSTON SA400S37240G 240.06 GB (Solid State - TRIM: No)

Internal SATA 3 Gigabit Serial ATA

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

disk0s2 - A*******D (Journaled HFS+) 239.71 GB (12.98 GB used)


Mounted Volumes:

disk0s2 - A*******D 239.71 GB (226.47 GB free)

Journaled HFS+

Mount point: /


Network:

Interface en0: Ethernet

Interface fw0: FireWire

Interface en1: Wi-Fi

802.11 a/b/g/n

Interface en2: Bluetooth PAN


System Software:

macOS Sierra 10.12.6 (16G29)

Time since boot: Less than an hour


Security:

System Status
Gatekeeper Enabled
System Integrity Protection Enabled

System Launch Agents:

[Not Loaded] 6 Apple tasks
[Loaded] 190 Apple tasks
[Running] 86 Apple tasks

System Launch Daemons:

[Not Loaded] 42 Apple tasks
[Loaded] 181 Apple tasks
[Running] 92 Apple tasks
[Other] 3 Apple tasks

Internet Plug-ins:

QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (installed 2017-07-14)


Time Machine:

Time Machine Not Configured!


Performance:

System Load: 3.61 (1 min ago) 12.68 (5 min ago) 8.55 (15 min ago)

Nominal I/O speed: 2.69 MB/s

File system: 59.94 seconds

Write speed: 216 MB/s

Read speed: 268 MB/s


Top Processes by CPU:

Process (count) Source CPU Location
helpd Apple 71.06 %
EtreCheckPro Etresoft, Inc. 53.90 %
WindowServer Apple 6.26 %
ps (5) Apple 6.00 %
kernel_task Apple 0.96 %

Top Processes by Memory:

Process (count) Source RAM usage Location
kernel_task Apple 448 MB
EtreCheckPro Etresoft, Inc. 431 MB
helpd Apple 159 MB
UserEventAgent (2) Apple 145 MB
Finder Apple 117 MB

Top Processes by Network Use:

Process Source Input Output Location
netbiosd Apple 24 KB 5 KB
helpd Apple 15 KB 14 KB
mDNSResponder Apple 7 KB 6 KB
apsd Apple 5 KB 7 KB
ntpd Apple 336 B 336 B

Virtual Memory Information:

Available RAM 3.08 GB
Free RAM 1.85 GB
Used RAM 4.92 GB
Cached files 1.23 GB
Swap Used 0 B

Diagnostics Information (past 7 days):

2018-10-12 01:37:59 Activity Monitor.app Crash

/Applications/Utilities/Activity Monitor.app

Performing @selector(toolbarTabDidChange:) from sender NSSegmentedControl 0x600000184ed0


2018-10-12 01:32:13 Last Shutdown Cause: 3 - Hard shutdown



End of report
 
Could be the thermal paste failing or heat sink mount failing, causing poor contact and struggling to cool.

Kernel task runs like this to keep cpu cooler if fans fail to keep temperatures in check, a sensor reporting wrong is possible too, but more likely to be heat sink related.

( could also just be totally clogged with dust )
 
Are there further diagnostics I can do to determine if its the thermal paste or heat sink?

Also if it makes any difference, the fans run fast right from the moment it's been turned on after being off and in a cool room for a day.

When you say clogged with dust, do you mean the fan? I cleaned the fan and the vent yesterday with compressed air and allot of fluff and dust came out. ( I didn't remove from the mac first so could be cleaner I guess.)

Thank you for your help
 
Could be the thermal paste failing or heat sink mount failing, causing poor contact and struggling to cool.

Kernel task runs like this to keep cpu cooler if fans fail to keep temperatures in check, a sensor reporting wrong is possible too, but more likely to be heat sink related.

( could also just be totally clogged with dust )
Hi,

So I've replaced the thermal paste, had a seriously good clean inside and I'm still having issues.

After this I installed temp monitoring software and it looks like when I'm having issues with the fans running really fast it seems like the temp sensors are giving seemingly false, crazy high readings. With the CPU die and fin stack at 128 C! (see image)

Do you think this is due to a faulty sensor? If so would that be a new logic board? (Meaning death of laptop as probably not worth it for the age of the mac...? )

Any help greatly appreciated,

Thank you.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_4466.PNG
    IMG_4466.PNG
    1.7 MB · Views: 215
Yeah, that does unfortunately sound like a sensor fault causing it then.. not sure if could get that sorted at a reasonable cost or not, apple certainly will just say new logic board, but not sure if could find a third party repair for such at reasonable cost or not.
 
Yeah, that does unfortunately sound like a sensor fault causing it then.. not sure if could get that sorted at a reasonable cost or not, apple certainly will just say new logic board, but not sure if could find a third party repair for such at reasonable cost or not.


Ah ok, think I'll start saving for a new one then! Thank you for all your help :)
 
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