Lion A Resource Hog?

[two_bone35]

The download and install went great. No problems there. Problem now is that out of 12GB of ram and with only Safari, Finder, and Activity Monitor running I'm showing 3.16GB of memory being used. Kernel_task is eating up 875.3MB of real memory alone. I also notice that it takes longer to boot up now and my apps are taking longer to load.

With a 2.93GHz Intel Core i7 and 12GB memory, the new OS shouldn't be an issue. So far I'm on the fence about Lion and may be heading back to Snow Leopard unless Apple comes out with a solution other than a faster processor and more RAM.

Anybody else experiencing this issue?

 

[Slydude]

I am showing 2.26 GB of memory used out of my 4 GB total. I have Safari, Colloquy Activity Monitor, Mail, and iChat all open. Kernel task is taking up less than 400 MB.

Most of my apps are launching a little faster and some appear noticeably faster. There may be a few that are slower. I am still in the midst of re-installing and testing.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

The download and install went great. No problems there. Problem now is that out of 12GB of ram and with only Safari, Finder, and Activity Monitor running I'm showing 3.16GB of memory being used. Kernel_task is eating up 875.3MB of real memory alone. I also notice that it takes longer to boot up now and my apps are taking longer to load.

With a 2.93GHz Intel Core i7 and 12GB memory, the new OS shouldn't be an issue. So far I'm on the fence about Lion and may be heading back to Snow Leopard unless Apple comes out with a solution other than a faster processor and more RAM.

Anybody else experiencing this issue?

With Safari, Finder, and Postbox open on an iMac i3 with 4 GB RAM, I have 3.98 GB used but 1.31 GB active (that is the important part here). Swap file is a mere 32.6 MB. The kernel_task is 290.3 MB. So your kernel_task appears to be taking up a lot of extra memory. Are you SURE you have nothing else running, even in the background? See my signature…

EDIT: just like Sly, I am finding Lion to be faster and snappier overall than Snow Leopard was. And I was quite satisfied with Snow Leopard's performance.

 

[two_bone35]

I've had the same background apps running that I had with Snow Leopard (Bluetooth, UPS monitor, WD Smartware, etc..) Before Lion, my available memory was between 10-10.5 GB. Currently I have no antivirus installed and no Mac cleaning software has been used. Also, my finder windows disappear and are not accessible until I do a relaunch. So, there's some definite quirkiness with the system.

Here's the breakdown:

Same three Windowed Processes: (Finder, Safari (one window), Activity Monitor)
Total RAM: 12GB
Free: 8.76GB
Wired: 1003.7MB
Active: 1.25GB
Inactive: 1.01GB
Used: 3.24GB

CPU% Idle: 99.56

 

[schweb]

Can you take a screenshot of your Activity Monitor?

 

[two_bone35]

Screenshot

Here it is. I'm not sure if I went the long way around to put it up.

 

[two_bone35]

Wow. Anyone have a magnifying glass?

 

[pigoo3]

Here it is. I'm not sure if I went the long way around to put it up.

It looks like a lot of process's are going on in that Activity Monitor screen shot...but if you look at the ram usage graphic at the bottom of the photo...there's quite a bit of "green". With 12 gig of ram you shouldn't be having a problem.

So...how full is your hard drive (gigs used/gigs free)? An almost full HD or an HD that is having problems will really slow things down.

Also...when was the last time you repaired permissions?

- Nick

 

[two_bone35]

It looks like a lot of process's are going on in that Activity Monitor screen shot...but if you look at the ram usage graphic at the bottom of the photo...there's quite a bit of "green". With 12 gig of ram you shouldn't be having a problem.

So...how full is your hard drive (gigs used/gigs free)? An almost full HD or an HD that is having problems will really slow things down.

Also...when was the last time you repaired permissions?

- Nick

HD has 918GB free plus and additional 1TB backup drive.

 

[pigoo3]

HD has 918GB free plus and additional 1TB backup drive.

What about repairing permissions?

- Nick

 

[Lifeisabeach]

Wow. Anyone have a magnifying glass?

I simply dragged it to my desktop, opened up with Xee, and zoomed in.

Anywho… best suggestions at the moment are to clear the PRAM and run some cache cleaning and other maintenance tasks. I'd normally recommend Onyx, but it's still in beta for Lion. Best free bet right now is iTweaX.

 

[two_bone35]

What about repairing permissions?

- Nick

One permission modified/not repaired. Here's the screenshot.

 

[two_bone35]

Thanks to all!

After permissions repair and resetting PRAM and NVRAM I'm looking at 10.5GB of free memory again. I appreciate the help everyone. To anyone who is unfamiliar with resetting PRAM and NVRAM, here's the info link...

Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM

As for the other quirky things with Finder and some of my other apps, I'll report back on that.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

After permissions repair and resetting PRAM and NVRAM I'm looking at 10.5GB of free memory again. I appreciate the help everyone. To anyone who is unfamiliar with resetting PRAM and NVRAM, here's the info link...

Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM

As for the other quirky things with Finder and some of my other apps, I'll report back on that.

Hmmm. I zapped my PRAM for kicks, and with the same tasks open now, my used RAM is down to 1.49 GB. And I didn't even think I was having issues. LOL!

 

[two_bone35]

Ok. Here's the update. Reboots are freeing up Kernel memory. So that's all good. My Finder window is still doing it's goofy little thing here but it's not doing it consistently. Every so often, but more often than not, new Finder windows and current open windows just do a vanishing act. But, as I scroll through the desktops the Finder Windows appear briefly, then when I stop on any of the desktops, they disappear again and won't reappear until I relaunch Finder altogether. Perhaps this should be in a new thread, but I mentioned it at the beginning of this thread so I figured I would include it my update.

 

[DavidHH]

PRAM & NRAM - Regular Maintenance?

Hmmm. I zapped my PRAM for kicks, and with the same tasks open now, my used RAM is down to 1.49 GB. And I didn't even think I was having issues. LOL!

Is resetting PRAM and NRAM a good idea on a regular basis, as part of my maintenance activities?
Or should this be done only when required or when something is not acting proberly?

Comments anyone

DavidH

 

[two_bone35]

I really would only do it if you're seeing an excessive amount of memory being used or you're having other issues. But I'm no expert.

 

[quin]

Ok. Here's the update. Reboots are freeing up Kernel memory. So that's all good. My Finder window is still doing it's goofy little thing here but it's not doing it consistently. Every so often, but more often than not, new Finder windows and current open windows just do a vanishing act. But, as I scroll through the desktops the Finder Windows appear briefly, then when I stop on any of the desktops, they disappear again and won't reappear until I relaunch Finder altogether. Perhaps this should be in a new thread, but I mentioned it at the beginning of this thread so I figured I would include it my update.

I was having the exact issue but with my 'configure' window of Parallel 6. It doesn't show on any desktop, but only show a flash in between scrolling through from desktop to desktop. I go to Parallel 6 help page. They suggested I delete all desktop/space thumbnails down to just one. Open the app then add back the original number of desktops I had. This works. You might want to try this with Finder too.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

Is resetting PRAM and NRAM a good idea on a regular basis, as part of my maintenance activities?
Or should this be done only when required or when something is not acting proberly?

Certainly it should be done if something is acting up. Beyond that…. well I can't think of a reason not to. My iMac isn't quite a year old, yet zapping mine seemed to clear up a problem I didn't even know I had. I'm inclined to say go ahead and do it once every few months, or perhaps just after any upgrades or point updates to OS X.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

Hmmm. I zapped my PRAM for kicks, and with the same tasks open now, my used RAM is down to 1.49 GB. And I didn't even think I was having issues. LOL!

It turns out I wasn't having a "problem" after all. It occurred to me that I had run Handbrake overnight before this thread popped up and I reset my PRAM. I decided to run it again last night and despite that being long done and the app quit, my RAM usage is back up. So it would seem Handbrake has a memory leak.