Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

B4B44L

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 18, 2017
8
0
Hi there,
I own a MBP with specs as listed below:

Model Name: MacBook Pro
Model Identifier: MacBookPro11,3
Processor Name: Intel Core i7
Processor Speed: 2.5 GHz
Number of Processors: 1
Total Number of Cores: 4
L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB
L3 Cache: 6 MB
Memory: 16 GB
Boot ROM Version: MBP112.0138.B18
SMC Version (system): 2.19f12
Serial Number (system): C02NLANRG3QD
Hardware UUID: C0971EC0-A503-543E-8F74-E9744A07B437

I've been trying everything that i've seen online to fix this problem but nothing worked.
any new hints?
thanks.
 

B4B44L

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 18, 2017
8
0
the problem is a kernel task consuming 400 to 600 % of cpu ressource for 20-30 minutes totally randomly and regardless of the applications running, sorry
 

T'hain Esh Kelch

macrumors 603
Aug 5, 2001
6,446
7,365
Denmark
Reinstall the system. You may have an extension of some sort installed which makes it go bonkers. Quite hard to figure out where the problem lies.
 

B4B44L

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 18, 2017
8
0
" an extension of some sort" ?
yeah that's why i'm not so keen to reinstall the system because after bringing my datas back in (timemachine) I might end up with the same problem, no?
I mean I've read many posts where people were saying it didn't change anything
[doublepost=1492592727][/doublepost]I'm a little bit worried as well to re-install since I don't want to upgrade to Sierra yet since there are still lots of incompatibilities going on with music applications
 

T'hain Esh Kelch

macrumors 603
Aug 5, 2001
6,446
7,365
Denmark
Yeah, you can modify the system in many different ways, hence 'an extension of some sort'.

And yes, re-installing everything from a TM backup may end up with the same problem, and may not. As I wrote above, finding the reason for the kernel going haywire is really difficult, as it could be many different things and very hard to trouble shoot.
 

B4B44L

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 18, 2017
8
0
right... ok thank you I'm making a backup right now we'll see
 

daflake

macrumors 6502a
Apr 8, 2008
920
4,329
Yup, rebuild and try a TM restore. If the problem resurfaces, you will need to manually backup your data and rebuild from scratch.
 
  • Like
Reactions: B4B44L

Weaselboy

Moderator
Staff member
Jan 23, 2005
34,463
16,160
California
the problem is a kernel task consuming 400 to 600 % of cpu ressource for 20-30 minutes totally randomly and regardless of the applications running, sorry
kernel task is not the problem, it is just showing a symptom of the underlying problem. Think of kernel task as sort of like the traffic police for managing all the other applications and processes on your system. One of those processes is out of control and just manifesting in kernel task.

Open Activity Monitor and in the CPU tab sort by CPU% like in my screenshot and tell us what you see.

Screen Shot 2017-04-19 at 9.58.46 AM.png
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: DeltaMac

B4B44L

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 18, 2017
8
0
yes, thanks weaselboy, I'm aware about that, sorry for the description I made, I'll try to screen copy it when it happens again, usually it manifests while I'm using Ableton Live or Adobe Photoshop, so that's what is displayed in the next lines of the activity monitor, but sometimes it just manifests like that with Chrome or Firefox opened
 

B4B44L

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 18, 2017
8
0
so, after having reformatted, reinstalled, re-imported my setup via TimeMachine, uninstalled Chrome, uninstalled Avira, deactivated Spotlight(since I don't use it), I still get this:
screenshot_kernel.png
 

daflake

macrumors 6502a
Apr 8, 2008
920
4,329
Was that before or after a TM restore? What did it look like with a fresh install without anything else installed?

The reason I am trying to help is that I had this issue with my Air a few years ago and Apple was of no help. I was told that it was normal for the kernel_task process to do this. Complete rubbish obviously but we ended up buying a new computer.
 

B4B44L

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 18, 2017
8
0
Was that before or after a TM restore? What did it look like with a fresh install without anything else installed?

The reason I am trying to help is that I had this issue with my Air a few years ago and Apple was of no help. I was told that it was normal for the kernel_task process to do this. Complete rubbish obviously but we ended up buying a new computer.

To be honest, I didn't spend much time with the fresh install, it was 4am and I wanted to proceed with the thing... you reckon I should smash everything again and send a screen copy of the Activity monitor again? :)
[doublepost=1492670163][/doublepost]ok I do it...
 

daflake

macrumors 6502a
Apr 8, 2008
920
4,329
To be honest, I didn't spend much time with the fresh install, it was 4am and I wanted to proceed with the thing... you reckon I should smash everything again and send a screen copy of the Activity monitor again? :)
[doublepost=1492670163][/doublepost]ok I do it...


Basically I would approach this in this manner. First, you can totally wipe the machine and do a fresh install and then TM restore. IF that solves it great, but if not, you will need to manually backup your data and then start from scratch with no TM restore. Start installing your apps and monitor the kernel process to see if one of them is the culprit. On the Air I had, even a simple OS install was still showing the same sort of problem and as I said, Apple was a little help (out of warranty) so we just bought a new machine. The Air was 5 years old.
 

B4B44L

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 18, 2017
8
0
Basically I would approach this in this manner. First, you can totally wipe the machine and do a fresh install and then TM restore. IF that solves it great, but if not, you will need to manually backup your data and then start from scratch with no TM restore. Start installing your apps and monitor the kernel process to see if one of them is the culprit. On the Air I had, even a simple OS install was still showing the same sort of problem and as I said, Apple was a little help (out of warranty) so we just bought a new machine. The Air was 5 years old.
Ok i got your point for sure
[doublepost=1492673479][/doublepost]
screen 2.png

[doublepost=1492673517][/doublepost]that's after like 20 mins... just to be sure...
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.