kernel_task bogging down SecuritySpy M1 Mac mini
Running Ventura 13.2 on M1 Mac mini with 16 gigs of RAM. SS 5.5.5. For the last few weeks SS has been getting bogged down by a kernel_task process using over 9 gigs of RAM. This is PID 0. 50 cameras at 10 fps or less. Only fix is to restart SS computer.
Comments
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I'm afraid it's impossible to know exactly what kernel_task is doing with all that memory - this is a vital task that handles many aspects of the system, and it's possible that either this is valid memory usage or it's a bug in macOS. Are you finding that this memory is building up gradually over time? Also, are you finding that this memory usage is having real effects on the performance of the system?
One thing you could implement is a scheduled reboot every week, using the following Terminal command:
sudo pmset repeat restart S 8:00:00
This automatically reboots the Mac every Saturday at 8 AM. Just make sure that there are never any open applications or documents that could interrupt the reboot. This will keep the Mac running smoothly in general.
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Thanks, Ben. Yes. It builds over time, but during the day. Sometimes only a few hours and the system slows down. I get SS errors that it can't write or decompress video and I'll miss big swathes of footage. Any way it's a camera? May need to do a clean install.
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It's possible that there is something about the video stream from a particular camera that could be contributing to this, although it's very difficult to say. You said this has been happening for the "last few weeks" so are you saying that all was working well before this time? Can you correlate this to some particular macOS update that was applied perhaps?
