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'Syslogd' taking up 100% Cpu usage, and its relation with time machine

Z

Zedsdead185

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Anyone else get this error?
Basically, ever since i first started using time machine a few weeks ago I noticed that my Macbook Pro was reaching Very high temperatures much faster than usual, (to point this out, I'm currently only using safari and the temp of my mac is 80 degrees Celsius, and the fans are running at 6000rpm).
Well after a thread on on here ( for those interested https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/588899/ ), and an explore on google I found that it was an issue with a runaway process called syslogd eating up all the cpu power.

The reason I'm posting again is that I have tried following several guides to fix this:
http://smartic.us/2007/11/8/leopard-100-cpu-usage-caused-by-syslogd-and-possibly-time-machine
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20071030233438149

and basically, none of them work. 🙁. Everytime i use my mac it is severely overheating (this also means that i only get something like half an hour battery life from a 85% capacity battery).

Does anyone else have this problem, and do they know how to fix it? I know its a long shot as i don't think the original problem is that common in the first place.
 
JavierP said:
How big is this file: /private/var/log/asl.db?
Click to expand...

Well, it's actually gettin bigger as i look at it. When i first found it a few seconds ago it was 79.1mb, then it went up to 80.3mb, now its 82.3mb.

I don't kno if this is normal or horribly wrong, i don't usually look around in the hidden files 😕
 
That's a lot of messages, 83 Mbs is too much.

* Execute the Console application and identify the app that is writting tons of messages to the system log.

I will post some instructions later on how to automatically clean this data base of messages regulary (I don't have time now). Firstly identify the app that is causing problems. If you have MS Office 2008, update it to last version, older versions wrote tons of sh-t to the log.
 
Using an administrator account, execute the following commands in the terminal (the first command will ask for the admin password):

Code: 
sudo launchctl unload /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.syslogd.plist
sudo rm /private/var/log/asl.db

Then edit /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.syslogd.plist using a text editor, and change the ProgramArguments key to:

Code: 
<key>ProgramArguments</key>
<array>
	<string>/usr/sbin/syslogd</string>
	<string>-ttl</string>
	<string>36000</string>
	<string>-sweep</string>
	<string>3600</string>
</array>

From now on, syslogd will sweep 10 hours old messages every 1 hour (Change this values to whatever pleases you)

Execute this final command from the terminal:

Code: 
sudo launchctl load /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.syslogd.plist
 
JavierP said:
Using an administrator account, execute the following commands in the terminal (the first command will ask for the admin password):

Code: 
sudo launchctl unload /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.syslogd.plist
sudo rm /private/var/log/asl.db

Then edit /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.syslogd.plist using a text editor, and change the ProgramArguments key to:

Code: 
<key>ProgramArguments</key>
<array>
	<string>/usr/sbin/syslogd</string>
	<string>-ttl</string>
	<string>36000</string>
	<string>-sweep</string>
	<string>3600</string>
</array>

From now on, syslogd will sweep 10 hours old messages every 1 hour (Change this values to whatever pleases you)

Execute this final command from the terminal:

Code: 
sudo launchctl load /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.syslogd.plist
Click to expand...

Wow!😱 Thanks! This is possibly the most useful piece of info I've ever gained from posting on this site. Hopefully it will work over time 😀.

Thanks again
 
That change cannot make your computer not boot. Have you tried unplugging everything from the computer and booting holding shift key? If you get it to boot check that you made the correct changes to the plist file.
 
JavierP said:
That change cannot make your computer not boot. Have you tried unplugging everything from the computer and booting holding shift key? If you get it to boot check that you made the correct changes to the plist file.
Click to expand...

I don't kno what was wrong, i did exactly as you said, and I now don't think it could have been that that must have made it not boot. It makes me wonder what on earth has caused it. Anyway, I tried reviving it in a frantic mess this morning. I eventually booted from the install disk and restored from a time machine back up since just before I made the change. Everythings fine again now, and somehow it has even solved my overheating problem. 😕 I am really puzzled. I swear this thing has a mind of its own...
 
GAH! Spoke too soon, now time machine is being a complete bitch. I've set it to backup again, and within half hour its backed up a total of 73kb out of 565.3mb. Yes, thats 73 kilobytes. I tell ya, I'm ready to burn this friggin thing. 😡

I'm highly considering erasing time machine backups from my external hard drive, and doing manual backups of all my important stuff, like uni work, itunes library, iPhoto and iMovie libraries etc. Then do an absolute clean re-install of os x. maybe even get a new internal hard drive in the process.

By the way, after writing this, my backup still hasn't moved from 73kb, I swear that time machine has been the worst program for mac i have ever bothered with...
 
Zedsdead185 said:
GAH! Spoke too soon, now time machine is being a complete bitch. I've set it to backup again, and within half hour its backed up a total of 73kb out of 565.3mb. Yes, thats 73 kilobytes. I tell ya, I'm ready to burn this friggin thing. 😡

I'm highly considering erasing time machine backups from my external hard drive, and doing manual backups of all my important stuff, like uni work, itunes library, iPhoto and iMovie libraries etc. Then do an absolute clean re-install of os x. maybe even get a new internal hard drive in the process.

By the way, after writing this, my backup still hasn't moved from 73kb, I swear that time machine has been the worst program for mac i have ever bothered with...
Click to expand...

well ... at least syslogd is not eating all the cpu now. May be TM is the app that's filling the log with ton of messages. Does the asl.db keep growing like crazy now? You should check the messages being written to the log using the Console app, you may get some clue about the problem.
 
Actually... the same thing happened to me after following these instructions 🙁 I can't repair the install because I'm traveling at the moment and don't have install disks. Help!! Is there an way I can get in and undo the changes otherwise? I won't even start up in Safe Mode.

I'm just lucky I have Windows 7 installed dual boot on my machine. Otherwise I'd be completely in the dark!

JavierP said:
well ... at least syslogd is not eating all the cpu now. May be TM is the app that's filling the log with ton of messages. Does the asl.db keep growing like crazy now? You should check the messages being written to the log using the Console app, you may get some clue about the problem.
Click to expand...
 
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