Odd MacBook Airport Quirk: 90% CPU usage!?

[szsiddiq]

So i noticed these days that have my systems ram and CPU are more occupied than usual. i restarted my MacBook (C2D) and reset the PRAM. Then the ram was back to normal, but the CPU usage was still at 90 some percent, the fans were blaring at 6000rpm and the temps were up to 160F... with nothing running!

So i checked out activity monitor, and for some reason the airport utility is hogging 90% of the CPU resources. I turned off my airport, CPU usage drops down to almost zero and almost immediately the fan and temps begin to drop back down to normal.

I turned the airport back on and it's still running normally. In fact, that airport utility isnt even showing in the activity monitor anymore!

Has this happened to anyone else?

 

[hircus]

I turned the airport back on and it's still running normally. In fact, that airport utility isnt even showing in the activity monitor anymore!

Has this happened to anyone else?

Sounds like a driver bug. Probably nothing serious -- it's bizarre that the first restart does not fix it, though. Did you do a soft restart or actually power down and then turn the computer on again?

 

[szsiddiq]

Sounds like a driver bug. Probably nothing serious -- it's bizarre that the first restart does not fix it, though. Did you do a soft restart or actually power down and then turn the computer on again?

soft restart.

just now after that i did the system update and powered down for a little while. upon turning it back on i got the same problem! again, turning on and off the airport remedied the issue.

might take it into the apple store if it continues.

 

[Lyle]

just now after that i did the system update and powered down for a little while. upon turning it back on i got the same problem! again, turning on and off the airport remedied the issue.

might take it into the apple store if it continues.

I know this is a couple of months old, but did you ever get any resolution to this problem? I'm seeing exactly the same thing -- the airport process is pinging the CPU at 99%; if I turn AirPort off and let it "cool down", then turn AirPort back on, all is well.

 

[amc382]

weird

what processes are running in activity monitor

 

[szsiddiq]

wow, this is funny, i was about to post this b4 i saw someone had!

i never talked to apple about it, because so far, its been easily remedied by turning on and off the airport.

generally happens when switching users and occasional when restarting.

i might take it to the genius bar this weekend and let em have a look at it.

 

[Lyle]

i never talked to apple about it, because so far, its been easily remedied by turning on and off the airport.

I've also found that if you just kill that runaway airport process in the Activity Monitor it "fixes" the problem. It doesn't actually drop your AirPort connection, so I'm not sure exactly what it is that the airport process does...

generally happens when switching users and occasional when restarting.

Yeah, for me it seems to only happen on restart (I don't switch users).

i might take it to the genius bar this weekend and let em have a look at it.

Cool. If they offer any suggestions, please let me (us) know!

 

[Sopranino]

Has anyone checked to see if they have something being 'turned on' in the Login items section of System Preferences that has anything to do with the Airport Connection?

Sopranino

 

[szsiddiq]

Has anyone checked to see if they have something being 'turned on' in the Login items section of System Preferences that has anything to do with the Airport Connection?

Sopranino

All i have in login in items are the iTunes helper and Quicksilver

 

[Lyle]

Has anyone checked to see if they have something being 'turned on' in the Login items section of System Preferences that has anything to do with the Airport Connection?

The only thing I see that could be at fault is the Mozy status application -- but I'm pretty sure I was having this problem before I installed Mozy. But you're right -- I should probably try removing this from the login items to see if it affects the AirPort behavior.

 

[flopshot]

has anyone found a solution to this yet? i'm having the same issue with a 2.4ghz mbp. cycling airport off and on makes it go away each time.

 

[Lyle]

No, I still haven't figured out what causes it, although I haven't had time to really dig in and figure it out yet. I did try turning off everything in my login items (e.g. Mozy) and that didn't fix it.

 

[NoOneButMe]

I had this happen as well with my 2.4ghz/15" MBP. Killed process and it went back to normal as well. this suggests it's VPN-related, but I'm pretty sure i dont have any VPN-related software installed (Unless ARD counts somehow..) And This mentions something from almost a year ago where Mac's would use 90% cpu because they didnt properly close a printing job.

Perhaps it's happens if the wireless network drops and reconnects, or something else has a bad connection that doesnt close.. Might be worth keeping an eye on wireless signal when this happens at the very least.

Though it could be as simple as a problem in the Atheros drivers that were shipped - wonder if the update that was sent out a few days ago might have fixed it at all..