what is this process?

[MotorcycleBetty]

Hello,

My MBP is 4 years old, and had the battery replaced when it was about 1 1/2 years old. In recent months it has begun to show definite signs of wearing out, but I have hesitated to replace it due to the cost, and figured I'd just deal with being tethered to a power source more often than I'd like to.

A couple of days ago, I noticed the computer was whining up and getting hot when I wasn't doing anything, except Firefox was running. Then just last night, I was browsing unplugged - not downloading anything or running video or music - just browsing. And before I knew it (like in a half hour), my battery was down to 26%. Same thing happened this morning.

I have a widget called iStatPro, which shows a running process called DirectoryS..., that's consistently taking up 92-96% of my CPU usage (see right side of attached screenshot), which is running around 50%.

So my question is: does this seem like a battery issue, or is there something else going on? How do I track down the problem?

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Open Activity Monitor and select All Processes and then sort by CPU to show you the full name of the process(es) using up your CPU.

Using Activity Monitor to show you CPU and RAM usage​

That way, you can find out, if it is really "DirectoryServices".

 

[GGJstudios]

I have a widget called iStatPro, which shows a running process called DirectoryS...,

As simsaladimbamba recommended, use Activity Monitor, rather than iStat Pro to get information about processes running, including their full name. The process you asked about is DirectoryService:

This process acts as a central clearinghouse for "Directory" information -- mainly users/groups/authentication, and service location (e.g. file servers, printers, etc). It gathers information from a variety of plugins (NetInfo, LDAP, Active Directory, NIS, Bonjour/Rendesvous/, AppleTalk, SMB) and hands it out to whatever program requested it.

Description of Mac OS X processes
Mac OS X: What Are All Those Processes?

 

[MotorcycleBetty]

Thanks for the links (bookmarked for future reference).

I do use Activity Monitor (have it on my dock to monitor my RAM), but when I first looked at the running processes, I didn't notice anything unusual, which is why I looked at iStat.

However, this time round I notice that KiesViaWifiAgent is using more RAM than Firefox (see screenshot). Firefox is usually the hog on my system, so I'm really surprised to see this.

Having recently purchased an Android tablet which runs Kies, I installed Kies to help the two systems communicate easier, since Android isn't Mac friendly.

I guess the next logical step is to uninstall Kies and see if the problem gets better.

 

[MotorcycleBetty]

Resolved

Worked like a charm. Computer's cool and battery's draining at the usual rate. Thanks for the links. Since Directory Services doesn't show up in Activity Monitor, thanks for explaining what it is and does. (BTW, Directory Services has completely disappeared from iStat window now.)

 

[Nameci]

Most often than not, it is the third party software that we install that is the culprit of some issues on the system. It is called "poor coding" from the third party vendor.

 

[initialsBB]

Since Directory Services doesn't show up in Activity Monitor

Make sure you use the drop down menu next to the search box and choose "All Processes".