MacbookPro mid 2015 mds_stores or configd CPU high load

[itank2]

Ok, i've replaced my Simplo battery with other one and it seems that configd daemon no longer utilise any CPU. Previously disabling powerd daemon make it stop but there were issues with network ( which could explain other posts ). I hope it is a solution. Battery looked the same but i've purchased from local dealer with a lot of good product comments. Battery is 2.7 years old but overall it prevented throwing my laptop against wall ...

 

[itank2]

Two days of usage and two cycles of battery - problem is missing, I think this is battery controller issue, battery also showing steady 27 Celsius of temperature. I'm glad it fixed problem. Keep you posted after week. Also laptop is not hot as previously. I was observing previously configd and it was spiking sometimes around few percentage of usage, causing laptop to work more, now it is much cooler.

 

[VladOliinyk]

Two days of usage and two cycles of battery - problem is missing, I think this is battery controller issue, battery also showing steady 27 Celsius of temperature. I'm glad it fixed problem. Keep you posted after week. Also laptop is not hot as previously. I was observing previously configd and it was spiking sometimes around few percentage of usage, causing laptop to work more, now it is much cooler.

Can you share which battery exactly you used? MAybe you have a link?

 

[Act1v1si0n]

I have the same issue with OCLP Ventura on a 11,3 MBP and a Duracell Battery (2Power).Maybe it's worth mentioning that I still have the OEM Apple SSD inside of it.

 

[VladOliinyk]

Two days of usage and two cycles of battery - problem is missing, I think this is battery controller issue, battery also showing steady 27 Celsius of temperature. I'm glad it fixed problem. Keep you posted after week. Also laptop is not hot as previously. I was observing previously configd and it was spiking sometimes around few percentage of usage, causing laptop to work more, now it is much cooler.

Hey Man, how is it going? Any updates?

 

[megaksa]

Can you describe the entire process of installing a system with OCLP?

Just use the official instructions.

Download and build macOS Installers | OpenCore Legacy Patcher

There are a lot of videos on Youtube as well. As the Sonoma is pretty new, I generally recommend to wait a little and go with Ventura for now. For that
- Install OpenCore Legacy Patcher 0.6.8
- Create Ventura installer on USB drive (external SSD/HDD or just 16+GB USB stick).
- Enable "Disable Firmware Throttling" feature before building and installing OpenCore!!! This is the one that prevents the battery issue discussed in this thread.
- Install OpenCore EFI on that external drive.
- Reboot and hold 'Alt' while booting to choose EFI loader. Effectively you will be using non-native loader to bypass built-in checks that prevent installing newer OSes on older hardware). Macbook will remember the startup partition for the next boots, so you won't need to pick EFI anymore during installation.
- Select "OS installer" or whatever it is called to install the new OS.
- During the installation your screen will go black for a few seconds (less than a minute). Then will go back. Expect small fonts, this is normal.
- Once the OS is installed, install the OpenCore on internal SSD. This is for you to be able to load OS without the external SSD.
- Reboot to check that EFI on the internal drive is working.
- Install "Post-install patches". This is drivers back ported from old OSes into OCLP which are missing or not working in the new OS.

I confirmed that the battery issue totally gone on multiple laptops. Maybe there is a way to enable this "Disable throttling feature" in the native OS, but at this point I don't see a reason to not use OCLP.

 

[megaksa]

As for Sonoma via OCLP. I actually installed it today using OCLP 1.0.1 and Sonoma installer. The issue is that Macbook doesn't see the OpenCore EFI created by OCLP 1.0.1. So I have to boot from external usb for now. I guess this will be fixed soon.

 

[megaksa]

I have the same issue with OCLP Ventura on a 11,3 MBP and a Duracell Battery (2Power).Maybe it's worth mentioning that I still have the OEM Apple SSD inside of it.

I'm pretty sure SSD doesn't matter. Have you tried the fix I mentioned?

 

[megaksa]

Kinda offtopic, but if anyone is interested in Sonoma, this is the solution to the issue I mentioned:
https://www.reddit.com/r/OpenCoreLegacyPatcher/comments/16zxtor/_/k3k2m0y

 

[ethanielk]

I can also confirm that this problem is battery related. When this problem occurs, the "Power" tab in my "System Information" is empty. Otherwise it's showing:

Model Information:
Serial Number: C01514309YEF90MA4
Manufacturer: SMP
Device Name: bq20z451
Pack Lot Code: 3230
PCB Lot Code: 3230
Firmware Version: 2d31
Hardware Revision: 322d
Cell Revision: 3036
Charge Information:
Fully Charged: No
Charging: No
Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 9229
State of Charge (%): 89
Health Information:
Cycle Count: 42
Condition: Normal

 

[stas.sl]

@megaksa, thanks a lot, seems, like indeed disabling firmware throttling in OCLP settings solved the issue for me. Like many others here I replaced my battery on my MacBook Pro mid-2014 earlier this year and since then was experiencing CPU hogging by configd and powerd when on battery and opening some heavy tabs in Chrome, it could be video or just some JS heavy sites. A few months ago I upgraded from Monterey to Ventura using OCLP, but the issue persisted. So today I tried your advice and upgraded from 0.6.8 to the latest 1.0.1 OCLP and disabled FW throttling (while staying on Ventura for now). I already almost emptied my battery, but haven't experienced any issues so far, despite trying to reproduce it. Will monitor for longer period and report back if the issue will reappear (I hope no).

 

[VladOliinyk]

@megaksa, thanks a lot, seems, like indeed disabling firmware throttling in OCLP settings solved the issue for me. Like many others here I replaced my battery on my MacBook Pro mid-2014 earlier this year and since then was experiencing CPU hogging by configd and powerd when on battery and opening some heavy tabs in Chrome, it could be video or just some JS heavy sites. A few months ago I upgraded from Monterey to Ventura using OCLP, but the issue persisted. So today I tried your advice and upgraded from 0.6.8 to the latest 1.0.1 OCLP and disabled FW throttling (while staying on Ventura for now). I already almost emptied my battery, but haven't experienced any issues so far, despite trying to reproduce it. Will monitor for longer period and report back if the issue will reappear (I hope no).

UPD: Seems like I figured it ou by trial and error. And this solution looks like to be working so far.

Hey man, can you help to figure out the process?

I need to completely reinstall Macos with some kind of new settings? Or just create OCLP installer?

Can you help, please? I'm not very proficient in it and don't want to mess everything up.

 

[megaksa]

UPD: Seems like I figured it ou by trial and error. And this solution looks like to be working so far.

Hey man, can you help to figure out the process?

I need to completely reinstall Macos with some kind of new settings? Or just create OCLP installer?

Can you help, please? I'm not very proficient in it and don't want to mess everything up.

Sorry, missed your message. I guess you've figured it out already. I've provided the process few messages above:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/macbookpro-mid-2015-mds_stores-or-configd-cpu-high-load.2380126/post-32601823

Feel free to ask specific questions. So far I am on Sonoma via OCLP on my MBP 15 2015 and MBP 15 2013.

 

[VladOliinyk]

Sorry, missed your message. I guess you've figured it out already. I've provided the process few messages above:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/macbookpro-mid-2015-mds_stores-or-configd-cpu-high-load.2380126/post-32601823

Feel free to ask specific questions. So far I am on Sonoma via OCLP on my MBP 15 2015 and MBP 15 2013.

Yes man, thank you, I followed exact your guidance, except my goal was to simply have fixed version of my current OS -Monterey.

So I wasn’t sure if I need to erase my SSD completely or simply install a patched Mac OS over the existing one.

I decided to try just override OS without SSD erasing and it worked.

 

[megaksa]

Yeah, fixing or upgrading won't erase your data. Even if you upgrade to Sonoma. Effectively this is the usual Apple's upgrade/reinstall process with extra steps that bypass Apple's lock to upgrade the system and extra drivers added afterwards.

 

[ethanielk]

Here is an interesting observation. I had my battery unofficially replaced in Thailand, then I bumped into this thread and had it replaced again, this time in Mexico. The shop promised me that they are using the original battery.

In both cases the serial number was the same (C01514309YEF90MA4), it also has a bunch of search results in google. What a crazy small world.

So anyways, I asked the shop to put me an ACTUAL original battery, which they had laying around, which had around 1000+ cycles and was showing a “Service recommended” error.

And now I will be taking this laptop to Apple, they should have the battery replaced for $200 (instead of $600).

This seems to be the only solution, since the aftermarket fake batteries don’t work properly.

I’ll report back with results.

 

[itank2]

Hey Man, how is it going? Any updates?

Yesterday i had the same issue when new battery was 35%, after a week of uptime, multiple sleep and restore. I think it happened also one time before (within 2 months span). Nevertheless this new battery has also issue with shutting off mac when high cpu and over 90W peek of discharge. I've noticed also that temperature is always showing 26.4.
I think now that there is difference with previous one (which i replaced for testing and have almost immediate issue with high cpu configd). I was certain that throttling was disabled in open core, but after update it could be switched off so i'm testing it once again old and new one. Let's hope it is throttling that solves the issue.

 

[megaksa]

OCLP writes default config during update unless you purposely set up necessary options in the options screen.

 

[kopurando]

Just wanted to say HUGE thanks to @megaksa, as this configd issue has been annoying me for more than a year.

My story is the same as everyone else's here: old MBP with a replaced battery, configd at 100% CPU on certain websites, rendering whole Macbook unusable until I plug it in.
I figured it was related to the OEM battery I had installed last year (unstable voltage/wattage maybe?), but this week I replaced it with a new one, and exactly same symptoms with configd making my MBP crawl! It sent me googling again, which used to be unfruitful until enough people had the same problem and this topic had appeared. Long story short: it's the `firmware throttling` that's causing configd 100% cpu usage, and it can be disabled thru OCLP advanced settings. Very stupid of Apple if you ask me, as the throttling usually starts when battery is fairly discharged already, and "throttling" it by using 100% of CPU just makes sure it discharges even faster, rendering Macbook unusable in the meantime. WtF, Cuppertino?

A guaranteed reproduction of the problem:
- open any heavy website (not google but something like CNN or HP.com or Reddit)
- in your Chrome devtools (cmd+shift+I) enable Network Throttling, set it to 'OFFLINE'. It will effectively block network requests in the current tab, so you'd have to press Refresh button to reload website and let the throttling kick in.
- observe configd awakening and causing havoc.

If you check your MacOS console logs, you can see lots of messages from configd related to power and IOKit, it's a bit of mistery how it all related to battery and blocked network requests, but it is what it is. Very verbose and totally useless.

After disabling "Firmware throttle" in OCLP, I tried the network throttling steps above and no configd anymore! Finally I can work untethered from powerpoint, and I believe it will improve battery lifespan as well as it won't run 2-3 cycles per day anymore.

P.S. I also recommend free Stats app (https://github.com/exelban/stats) to quickly observe your apps and kill CPU hogs. It's unbelievable how inefficient MacOS is at killing rouge apps, and the only indication for most users are the cooling fans running at 200% RPM and plastic melting under their macbooks, while in reality it's just Spotlight looping thru some cache or even time machine backup folder with million files in it or Reminders/Calendar app stuck in some limbo update cycle, using 150% of your cores. Used to happen all the time with previous MacOS versions, and Stats is amazing at catching such offending processes. Ventura is remarkably stable in this respect, almost as good as Mojave used to be (apart from configd issue which is finally fixed I hope).

 

[itank2]

I can also confirm this with my tests. Long live OCLP !

 

[ethanielk]

SOLVED.​

As people mentioned above, my problem started after the unofficial battery replacement. I was promised that it was genuine, but turns out it wasn't.

I fixed my problem by finding a repair shop which had old original batteries (with Firmware version 702). They gladly installed one of their old batteries (they were going to discard them anyways) and the problem went away.

Because the battery is old, it's showing "Service recommended". However because of this exact message, I can now go to Apple and have the battery officially replaced to a brand new one for $290 (without this message it would be $600+).

So to sum this topic up - if your newly unofficially replaced battery is showing

Pack Lot Code: 3230
PCB Lot Code: 3230
Firmware Version: 2d31
Hardware Revision: 322d

(or similar) then you have a fake battery and will be getting high configd cpu usage as a result (due to some weird battery firmware incompatibility).

This is how a proper battery should look like:

 

[in-buro]

For me, the main question now is ‘How to order another battery from a third-party reseller?’
what should I check before order? the Pack Lot Code should be different?

 

[ethanielk]

For me, the main question now is ‘How to order another battery from a third-party reseller?’
what should I check before order? the Pack Lot Code should be different?

"Pack Lot Code" and "PCB Lot Code" should be equal to 0. The battery should have Apple logos. It takes trial and error and I haven't seen official new batteries being available for resale. Only fake ones (with Pack Log and PCB Lot not equal to 0). The only way to get an official battery is to go to a repair shop and be upfront about your request - you need an old battery that has been pulled out before, ideally not bloated.

 

[in-buro]

Is it possible to update the battery firmware?

 

[mobiletuner]

SOLVED.​

As people mentioned above, my problem started after the unofficial battery replacement. I was promised that it was genuine, but turns out it wasn't.

I fixed my problem by finding a repair shop which had old original batteries (with Firmware version 702). They gladly installed one of their old batteries (they were going to discard them anyways) and the problem went away.

Because the battery is old, it's showing "Service recommended". However because of this exact message, I can now go to Apple and have the battery officially replaced to a brand new one for $290 (without this message it would be $600+).

So to sum this topic up - if your newly unofficially replaced battery is showing

(or similar) then you have a fake battery and will be getting high configd cpu usage as a result (due to some weird battery firmware incompatibility).

This is how a proper battery should look like:

View attachment 2312808

Yep, this is exactly what my battery details are showing (fake battery details I mean). Bought one from VHBW. It's a shame, previously only had good experiences with their batteries for other devices.

If I might add, I've noticed that the issue only happens when:
1) A charger is disconnected
2) RAM usage is high and a Mac resorts to heavy swap use

Apps like VSCode freeze when I try to save anything when it begins, even though I'm trying to save to a local drive. Doesn't seem to be dependent on network activity for me.

Usually, by the time I notice it, is too late to close some apps to free up RAM as a command to force apps to shut down is not responsive anymore. But it does clear up in a minute or so if I connect a charger. If you're using your Mac with a charger nearby or don't open too many apps at the same time, you can keep using your Mac with the same battery without having to reinstall or modify your OS.