Kernel_task high cpu usage, high fan speed, and low cpu tempterature

Hi,
I've noticed that a lot of people have been having trouble with the kernel_task process, but I couldn't quite find a situation similar to mine (most seem temperature related).
Here is the situation (15' MBP, mid-2010):
- on boot (while the apple logo is shown), the fans speed suddenly jumps, and stays there, even if the computer has been off for a while.
- boot takes a little over a minute, which is considerably slower than what I was used to before today
- when finally started-up, the activity monitors shows kernel_task using between 160-180% of the CPU!
- temperatures are shown to be around 30C, except for the mem controller at 40C (still very low temp), but the fan speed is arround 6000rpm for both fans.
- this happened out of nowhere, as I woke the mpb from sleep this morning.
Since then I've tried:
- multiple reboots
- install all updates
- uninstall flash player (some people where having trouble with that)
- empty the system cache with Onyx (reported as a cause of slow boot)
- reset PRAM
- reset SMC
- put some ice packs under the mpb to cool things even further!
And so far, nothing has worked! I've had this laptop for 1 year, and nothing had ever failed. I upgraded to lion a few weeks ago, and everything had been working fine since the upgrade. This really happened out of nowhere, and none of the many forums I have read could offer a solution, and cals to apple support do not seem to yield better results (though I scheduled a call with them at 9am this morning, we'll see).
Has anyone had a similar set of problems?
I appreciate any help or advice you may have!
Thanks!
-Sebastien

I have the same issue (2.66 2010 MBP Hi-Res Anti Glare.)
I took it to Apple Store Covent Garden, JUST within warranty.
18 days later my machine has a new Main Logic borad, heat sensors, top case, palm rest. etc.
I turned it on.
The fans kicked in. All processors at 50%, big ole kernal task.
I took it back, geniuses rest SMC and tested it under load and it was fine.
weirdly it failed diagnostics at first but then seemed fine
I came home. Fans kicked in...
I took it back. Diagnostics failed heat sensors again
Replaced logic board and heats sensors again, but more carefully this time just in case, tested again.
I took it home. FANS FANS FANS.
Last time I was in the store I was told my machine was fine and had been thoroughly tested.
In mac store, no fans.
I erased hard drive and clean installed Lion
FANS
I replaced hard drive with OCZ SSD, clean LION.
Fans
Software update
SMC
PRAM
permissions
Onyx complete clean/maintenace
FANS/CPU
switched back to Snow Leopard SSD
PRAM SMC ONYX etc.
FANS/CPU
replaced RAM, memtest-ed. fine, FANS
gonna try again but up to nearly 2 months of all my spare time trying to shut this thing up so I can sell it.

Similar Messages

  • Cpu usage high on macbook air in Windows 8.1

    Guys Please Help me!!! 
    I have installed windows 8.1 using Bootcamp. And each time I open my Task manger the Cpu usage spikes to 100 and return to normal. I searched internet several hours. I installed antivirus but it didn't help me. I re installed windows 8.1 and didn't install anything yet but the same thing occurs. Is this a external problem?
    Model= Mac air A1466.. 13 inch
    http://prntscr.com/4imrae

    I have had bootcamp running on this computer for since june last year and this has only just started happening. where abouts do i get the windows support software? that could be the problem

  • Cpu Usage High On Mac Air (A1466)

    Guys Please Help me!!!
    I have installed windows 8.1 using Bootcamp. And each time I open my Task manger the Cpu usage spikes to 100 and return to normal. I searched internet several hours. I installed antivirus but it didn't help me.
    Model= Mac air A1466..

    I have reinstall the windows yesterday and i havent install anything but cpu 100% when task manger open then it drops to 5-8
    http://prntscr.com/4imrae
    i accidentally clicked this solved my question -_-

  • [Solved] lm-sensors fan speeds and voltage.

    After installing lm-sensors and running sensors-detect I have the following readings from sensors;
    ~$ sensors
    acpitz-virtual-0
    Adapter: Virtual device
    temp1: +42.0°C (crit = +80.0°C)
    coretemp-isa-0000
    Adapter: ISA adapter
    Core 0: +47.0°C (high = +78.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)
    coretemp-isa-0001
    Adapter: ISA adapter
    Core 1: +42.0°C (high = +78.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)
    I am sure in the recent past I was able to retrieve fan speed and voltage readings from this machine;
    |Abit FP-IN9 SLI | Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU [email protected] | GeForce 9800 GT |
    I suspect this is something that I am doing wrong (or is it a kernel issue??) as I have the same problem on a similar machine running Ubuntu 10.04.
    Any ideas appreciated.
    Last edited by ancleessen4 (2010-03-09 08:31:15)

    Hi graysky,
    You were spot on!
    I followed the instructions in the wiki article to add
    acpi_enforce_resources=lax
    to /boot/grub/menu.lst
    Reboot...
    Voila!
    [neil@archbox ~]$ sensors
    acpitz-virtual-0
    Adapter: Virtual device
    temp1: +30.0°C (crit = +80.0°C)
    coretemp-isa-0000
    Adapter: ISA adapter
    Core 0: +36.0°C (high = +78.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)
    coretemp-isa-0001
    Adapter: ISA adapter
    Core 1: +34.0°C (high = +78.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)
    w83627dhg-isa-0290
    Adapter: ISA adapter
    Vcore: +1.12 V (min = +0.00 V, max = +1.74 V)
    in1: +0.91 V (min = +0.51 V, max = +0.21 V) ALARM
    AVCC: +3.30 V (min = +2.98 V, max = +3.63 V)
    VCC: +3.30 V (min = +2.98 V, max = +3.63 V)
    in4: +1.10 V (min = +0.00 V, max = +0.14 V) ALARM
    in5: +1.20 V (min = +0.13 V, max = +0.00 V) ALARM
    in6: +1.58 V (min = +0.02 V, max = +0.00 V) ALARM
    3VSB: +3.23 V (min = +2.98 V, max = +3.63 V)
    Vbat: +3.01 V (min = +2.70 V, max = +3.30 V)
    fan1: 0 RPM (min = 340 RPM, div = 128) ALARM
    fan2: 811 RPM (min = 332 RPM, div = 16)
    fan3: 0 RPM (min = 340 RPM, div = 128) ALARM
    fan4: 0 RPM (min = 340 RPM, div = 128) ALARM
    fan5: 0 RPM (min = 527 RPM, div = 128) ALARM
    temp1: +28.0°C (high = +72.0°C, hyst = +0.0°C) sensor = thermistor
    temp2: +29.0°C (high = +70.0°C, hyst = +65.0°C) sensor = diode
    temp3: +38.5°C (high = +70.0°C, hyst = +65.0°C) sensor = thermistor
    cpu0_vid: +0.000 V
    [neil@archbox ~]$
    :D

  • IMac (early 2009), 3.06 GHz, ATI 4850 - fan speed and temperature questions

    Well, so I downloaded and installed Temperature Monitor and iMac Fan Control - mainly for observational purposes and not for toying around with the fan speeds and I've got some questions. Mind you, I haven't tampered at all with the fan speed settings, just installed Fan Control. Here are my readings (while browsing the internet with Safari and doing a chat via iChat):
    Fan Speeds:
    CPU fan (desired) 1300 RPM / (current) 1530 RPM
    HD fan (desired) 2100 RPM / (current) 2099 RPM
    DVD fan (desired) 1300 / 1298 RPM
    Temperatures:
    CPU Heatsink: 92°F
    Internal HD: 108°F
    Internal DVD: 95°F
    GPU Heatsink: 107°F
    Are these, under the circumstances, normal readings?
    Thanks in advance for your replies.

    Your welcome and no problem. I would say only the Apple engineers can tell you why the fans are set to those speeds however my best guess is the obvious they found those speeds the closest to keeping the temps at an optimum operating temperature. I found when I'm doing graphics intensive work my machine heats up but quickly cools down when I'm done.

  • After updating to latest Firefox - when I click on google taskbar my CPU usage goes to 100% and stays there... and computer is really slow. No other search engine show the 100% usage like Google. There was NOT a problem with older versions of Firefox...?

    My computer got really slow after updating to latest version of Firefox. I checked all processes and I was testing the system. THe CPU usage goes between 2 and 70 percent staying around 25% on average, when I check my e-mail. As soon as I click on Google taskbar (without even typing in anything) the CPU usage jumps to 100% and STAYS at 100 %, and computer extremely slow.

    My computer got really slow after updating to latest version of Firefox. I checked all processes and I was testing the system. THe CPU usage goes between 2 and 70 percent staying around 25% on average, when I check my e-mail. As soon as I click on Google taskbar (without even typing in anything) the CPU usage jumps to 100% and STAYS at 100 %, and computer extremely slow.

  • Fan Speeds, and Mirror Raid with New Internal Hard Drive

    Regards,
    I recently installed and formatted a new hard drive in my PowerMac dual 2.3 ghz computer and I have a few questions.
    1. Now that there are two hard drives do I need to do anything to ensure that the fan on my computer can keep them cool? I think the fans I have in the hard drive bay is enough, but I do not know if they will automatically set themselves to run properly. I can monitor the fan speeds and temp from iStat pro, but do not remember what level the temperature was before installing the new one.
    2. Given that my new drive is a SeaDisc hard drive and the older one is a Western Digital, will this cause any problems in creating a mirrored RAID. I believe that both are 7200rpm drives, and my second hard drive is a little larger (I will just have unused space after making the RAID). I am concerned with the fact that these two drives are from two different manufactures. Will this cause problems or drastically slow down the reading and writing of data? Has anyone else experienced problems in making a mirrored RAID from two hard drives that are not exact matches, and even come from different manufacturers?
    Any advice will help.
    Thanks
    earpshmael

    Hi earpshmael;
    Generally when creating RAID arrays the more similar the drive the less problems you tend to have.
    The real question is exactly why do you want or need RAID?
    I think so many people seem to think that RAID will solve all of their problem. I hate to tell you the bad news but it will not.
    Generally there are to varieties of RAID available using the software RAID built into OS X which are 0 and 1. RAID 0 or stripling is generally for moving large file rapidly for applications like HD video. It usually doesn't help the OS. RAID 1 or mirroring is for protection from drive failure. It is not a valid backup solution.
    Allan

  • MSI 5900XT-VTD Fan speed and GPU Temperature

    Hello,
    I wonder if someone can tell me how can i know the temperature and fan speed of my MSI Gforce FX 5900 XT-VTD.
    I have installed 3D Turbo Experience (MSI utility) but when i get the window,i'm only able to see the Core and Mem Speed(I can modify them).The fan speed and core temperature are not active.....
    Is it normal ?..

    that card doesnt surport monitoring of temps and fan speed

  • What are you using for Fan speed AND temp monitor?

    Thanks to Bosskiller, my rig seems to be running a bit stabler now!  Knock on wood.  Is there any program other than MSI's core center that monitor fan speed AND temp?   I used to use MBM but it's no longer being supported and CoreCenter doesn't seem all that popular here? 

    Quote from: BOSSKILLER on 25-September-08, 00:42:40
    http://www.cpuid.com/hwmonitor.php
    http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/
    Actually how accurate is the temp reading on HWMonitor for your MSI board?  One thing I noticed is that w/ Coretemeter the temp reading was around 48-50c on Rig#1 and almost 58-60c on Rig#2 (That's my HTPC w/ EXTREMELY tight spacings so still work in progress as far as cooling's concern!) but using HWMonitor I got 31c CONSISTENTLY on both rigs!     I'll love to think that I'm indeed running this cool but feeling the exhaust air, I think this 31c reading is not real...

  • Satellite R830-1GZ - CPU usage high ( 25%) and fan speed increase after wakeup

    Hello all
    The CPU usage of my laptop shoots up to 25% (and beyond) and the fan speed increases dramatically after waking up, but only when I'm using an external mouse (Microsoft Natural Wireless Laser Mouse 6000) - disconnecting the mouse once this has happened does not solve the problem, so I'm always forced to restart my computer if I have let it go to sleep with the mouse connected.
    I've noticed that when this happens System Interrupts - Deferred Procedure Calls and Interrupt Service Routines appears in the Resource monitor>CPU>Processes, and seems to explain the increase in CPU usage.
    Any ideas on how to fix this would be most appreciated.
    I'm using a Toshiba Satellite R830-1GZ with Windows 7 (64 bit). This problem does not happen when I use the same mouse with another laptop (Dell with Windows XP).
    Thank you very much.
    CM

    Thank you for your reply.
    I was using the mouse without installing the software that came with it (IntelliPoint), which seems to have been necessary to obtain the latest driver. So I've installed the latest driver now, but... I've still come across the same high CPU usage problem after wakeup.
    If your suspicion is correct, should disconnecting the mouse before putting the computer to sleep (hopefully allowing the process that controls the mouse to close properly) stop this problem from occurring when it wakes up?
    Could this problem also occur due to an external keyboard? I'm pretty sure it's the mouse (given my experience of using only the external mouse and only the external keyboard) and my understanding is that keyboards don't require special drivers (at least the A4Tech one I have claims it doesn't)... just trying to exclude all possibilities.
    Thanks again for your help.

  • I have about 97% directoryservice cpu usage, 55% cpu usage, high temps and fan speeds with very minimal activity on my macbook, how can I resolve this?

    Recently my computer has only been showing 42% idle when im doing absolutely nothing on the computer, i'll only be browsing the internet. Even when I shut down programs such as drop box, skype, itunes, etc. When I check activity monitor the only process that is using over 5% is directoryservice, and it is usually sitting between 90-99% usage. I downloaded istat which is showing my cpu temp at 77 degrees and fan at 4000 rpm. If I watch a youtube video it will kick into 6000 rpm. Please tell me how I can resolve this issue!! When I restart the macbook it seems to work for about 10-20 minutes where I can browse with ~90% idle and ~2000 rpm.

    I discovered this issue independent of this thread, and can confirm that killing KiesWifiAgent will instantly take care of DirectoryService's high CPU load.  You'll also free up a bunch of memory.  On my MBP (8 GB RAM), Kies had leaked its way to consuming 1.5 GB of memory.

  • High Fan Noise and 100% CPU usage by Dock

    My MacBook Pro 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo running 10.6.8 just started making a constant fan noise. When I checked the Activity Monitor, it shows my Doc CPU usage as 100%, and my Percent User Usage is about 52% System 2.5% and % Idle is 47%. These numbers are when there is nothing running except Activity Monitor. When I log out and log in as another user, the high fan noise stops, and the CPU usage of the Doc is <1%. I have tried restarting my computer, Rebuilt my Permissions, Emptied the Trash, and Reset the SMC (I think I did it correctly for the MBPro, but the Power Light did not change, and nothing seemed to be any different on my computer.) I think I recently did a recent Apple Update, but I don't know how long ago that was. But it was sometime in the past few days. Does anyone have any idea about what could be going on?
    Thanks,
    Frank

    Frank Moore wrote:
    How do I give you the credit. It looks like I only gave you a Helpful credit instead of Correct Answer? The only correct option was in one of my replies under you correct answer. You gave the correct answer.
    Oh well, no worries.

  • Imac high fan speed and goes to sleep 10sec after wake-up

    Hi,
    Since today my imac's fan speed is high (optical fan and cpu fan speed at: 4000rpm)
    Done a hardware test wich gives me 4SNS/1/40000001:IDSR-0.000 indicating something with logic board. According to istat all my temperatures are below 35°C (95°F). istat has readings for the cpu and optical drive temp (both around 26°C)
    On top of that if I put my imac to sleep after wakeup (give or take) 10sec later it would go to sleep again. tried the smc reset procedure. no success
    Any other tricks to try or just go for an exchange? (imac was bought on 2feb2010)

    I've had this problem since replacing the MLB in my iMac a few weeks ago. Initially brought in for repair when the CPU fan came on at 4k rpm and stayed on even after SMC reset and nvram reset. First replacement MLB was a dud, second corrected the fan problems. Now I'm having the sleep issue, I can't tie it to any particular process. Initially I thought it was graphics related as it would go to sleep during graphics intensive work, but yesterday it was doing it when just copying data to an external drive. The temperatures of the CPU and the GPU diode are within spec. I now use a fan controller to keep the CPU fan at 2100rpm and the HD fan at 2100rpm and I don't have the problem. From what I can tell now is that a sensor is incorrectly reporting temperatures intermittently. It may not be the MLB or the graphics card specifically, but the cable connecting the sensor to the board. I ran AHT after the last time it did this and it failed a sensor, but after running ASD on the machine it passed all the hardware. I'm bringing it back into my shop later this month and if i can remember i'll post here with the resolution, not much I can do at home beyond software diagnostics.

  • High fan speeds and high GPU temperature during idle

    Hi,
    I'm hearing slight similar problems around this subject but this one seems to be obscure.
    My iMac 20inch (Early 2008 - 8,1) has just passed by the 3 year mark now and only yesterday just suddenly started haven't this weird gain in fan speeds mainly on the CPU.
    Checking the temperature in iStat shows that its coming mainly from the GPU (GPU - 79c / GPU diode - 91c / GPU heatsink - 83c) and that's from looking as I type this.
    I've done the SMC reset a few times and the PRAM reset too, but that's only managed to make things worse...occasionally on startup after the resets the screen will blank out and ask me to reset.
    Below are screenshots from istats of the state of my iMac during idle:
    Hope someone can help and this be of some help to others in the same situation.

    I think a SMC reset will handle this for you. If not then also do a PRAM reset.
    SMC RESET
    Shut down the computer.
    Unplug the computer's power cord and all peripherals.
    Press and hold the power button for 5 seconds.
    Release the power button.
    Attach the computers power cable.
    Press the power button to turn on the computer.
    PRAM RESET
    Shut down the computer.
    Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command, Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
    Turn on the computer.
    Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
    Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
    Release the keys.

  • MBP with 10.6.8: CPU usage high, no responsible processes shown in Activity Monitor. What causes this?

    After using my computer for some time, CPU usage climbs to about 90% (ca. 65% user / 26% system) and fans run at high speed, but there is no processes that seem to use CPU (other than Activity Monitor itself ~1%).
    This has happened a few times recently. It happens when I've used my computer for some time, hours or a couple of days (I usually put my computer to sleep when not using it but rarely shut it down). I've tried to quit all running apps incl. Growl, Dropbox, and anything that could be responsible to this but with no results. Putting computer to sleep for a long time doesn't help, cpu usage will climb instantly after wake up. Restarting system is the only thing that helps.
    Most of the time I use my laptop with external monitor, lid closed and connected to power supply. When experiencing this, opening the lid causes fans to slow down, but CPU usage remains high and battery drains quick.
    Any ideas what might cause this?
    My MBP is 15" model with Core 2 Duo 2,66 GHz (MacBookPro 5,3), OS X version is 10.6.8, all available updates are installed.

    Perform a SMU reset.
    https://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964
    Remove the anti-virus, it's running a root level process all the time that's taking your CPU and it's not necessary as there are no Mac viruses, Apple has the trojan angle covered already.
    Always on anti-virus on a Mac is always a source of problems, also is MacKeeper, uninstall that here if you have it.
    http://applehelpwriter.com/2011/09/21/how-to-uninstall-mackeeper-malware/
    If you need to clean the Windows filth off PC files, then use the free, run as you need, ClamXav.
    http://www.clamxav.com/
    It seems your machine is used in a corporate enviroment, thus likely a rule that anti-virus must be used, you can avoid high CPU usuage by using the ClamXav instead.

Maybe you are looking for

  • PO with GR/IR

    Hi Gugus, Is there a way you can change/edit a PO with a follow-on document like GR or Invoice without canceling the the later documents? Any step by step config will be appreciated. thanks!

  • How i can fix error r6034

    by any chance some one can tell me how to fix error r6034 i install the new update for itune n wont open how can i fix that.

  • Can you make a custom alarm clock tones

    is it possible to make a custom alarm tone such as a voice recording?

  • Trial of Lightroom 4 won't open... help!

    I just downloaded the trial of lightroom 4. It fully downloaded & didn't say anything about errors but now it won't open... need help!

  • How do I speed up itunes?

    It takes almost 45 seconds to load/start playing music.  I have 45,000 mp3's and 750 full length movies, running on a MBpro 8 gig ram 3.06 core 2 duo stored on an external 2 TB drive