Any know how to run down a MacBook problem. I get my fans running super fast. Check Activity Monitor and Kernel Tast is always above 100%. This isn't a program I can close.

I ran Etre Check and have a report but no idea how to read it.

Anyone understand this enough to throw out some solutions.

Thanks

I'm assuming you've rebooted? but had to ask. Is it maybe doing an update in the background?

You can kill that process. Open a terminal window, run TOP to get the process id, exit top and then type KILL followed by the process id. If that won’t kill it, SUDO KILL along with the id certainly will. Warning: Be careful when playing with the “super user do” command.

More importantly, what is the process and what is it doing? Killing a kernel task will probably require the system to restart.

Yes, I have rebooted it. This problem comes and goes. Haven't figured out a reason yet though. Seems somewhat random to what is running.

It was doing it earlier. Rebooted and it started up again. Closed the screen and did a few things came back and it's working normally.

sigcrazy7 will that cause any problems. I know you can not kill a Kernel Tast through the Activity Monitor.

If you can make it happen at will, take the machine to the Apple Store and let a "genius" take a look at it.

In my experience, when the kernel itself is running "hot," it is either a network configuration error, or a failing disk. These are the kernel subsystems that have a high enough priority, and a short enough retry delay to eat up the entire CPU.

The system log (/var/log/system.log) might have messages that can cast light on the why, but all log files in /var/log should be examined for rapid growth, and relevant content.

If you "just want it to stop" and don't care about diagnosis, preparing an installation thumb drive, rebooting, wiping the disk, and reinstalling the OS is probably the quickest remediation. This, of course, is not proof against recurrence.

Ensure you have a recent backup of your hard drive as well.

What year? Some have recalls. I have a 2010 with a documented video card problem.

How long has this been going on? Isn't High Sierra supposed to go out today (9/24)? Do you have auto update enabled?

Just a thought.

It's been doing it randomly for a while. I can not make it happen at will. I could use my computer for an hour or two every day and it may not do it for a week. Then it starts doing it.

Drive is SSD so I don't think that is the issue.

This is a Mid-2014 Machine
2.5 GHz intel i7
intel iris pro 1536 Graphics card

Running High Sierra 10.13.6

According to one of Apple's hardware forums- a runaway kernel_task can be due to a number of factors, such as:

-a failed or disconnected temperature sensor
cooling system inefficiency (an inoperative exhaust fan on Macs so equipped, possibly clogged with dust, including the heat sink)
-a worn out, missing, or non-Apple (user-installed) battery on laptop Macs
-similar hardware-specific causes including internal hardware additions or modifications, external USB and other connected devices, or the driver software required to use them.

I saw this on one Macbook Pro and discovered that the fins were completely clogged with black lint (college student putting laptop on bedspread frequently). I completely removed the cooling fans, blew out the fins and carefully cleaned dirt from the fan blades. This solved my problem.
Had several Macbooks benefit in performance from separation of heat sinks and cleaning and replacement of thermal paste-

Nothing is clogged. I've heard the temp sensor before but I don't think that is the issue. I've run a hardware test in the past when I was having this issue and no hardware problems.

This computer was repaired for another problem by Apple about 9 months ago. This problem could not be replicated then. May have to go back in but tough since it doesn't do it when I want it to.

Apple replaced the battery when they did the other repair. They also replaced the screen since it had a defect and was covered by warranty.

You could download Smart Reporter ( FREE ) to keep a check on your hard drive . Runs unobtrusively in the background and if your hard drive is starting to fail , it will turn red .
best .

quote:

Originally posted by bernborough2000:
You could download Smart Reporter ( FREE ) to keep a check on your hard drive . Runs unobtrusively in the background and if your hard drive is starting to fail , it will turn red .
best .

This program works only on hard drive. OP has a SSD drive in his mac.

1.Open Activity Monitor to see which apps are using the most CPU. You can also see which apps are using the most energy as well. Apps like Photoshop, Final Cut Pro, and VMware Fusion/Parallels tend to cause the fans to speed up, as the temperature of your CPU/GPU will increase when using those apps.

2.Disable Flash in your browser. Flash is now disabled by default in Firefox. In Chrome, you can use Flashcontrol to disable instances of Flash (it still allows you to view Flash on a per-site basis as needed). It’s one of the biggest causes of CPU/GPU stress, and will no doubt increase your Macbook Pro fan speed because Flash is so intensive on hardware.

3.Restart your Macbook Pro. If the fan is continually running at a high speed, try a Restart.

 
What is the kernel utilization after a reboot and with no apps running? OK then? Open one app at a time and use it, then open another and use it, and try to see which one causes higher kernel use. As others mentioned it could be hardware related and not due to an app, but I would try to rule out an app first.
 

This may have been solved in newer releases of macOS (I just upgraded to Mojave this morning), but at one time, high CPU and fan activity was caused by syslogd. I wrote a script to manage this, which may or may not solve your problem:

 
#!/bin/ksh
#
# When CPU usage goes to 100% and stays there, it's usually the syslogd program. Why
# this happens is unknown. Here is a way to stop it, clean up the asl.db file and
# restart the syslogd daemon.
#
# Needs to run as root. Or via sudo
#
if [ "$USER" != "root" ]; then
	echo "Must run as the root user."
	exit
fi;

launchctl stop com.apple.syslogd
launchctl stop com.apple.aslmanager

mkdir ~/Desktop/temp
mv /var/log/asl/* ~/Desktop/temp/

launchctl start com.apple.syslogd

echo "Process complete. You may examine (and delete) the temp folder on your desktop." 

Activity Monitor only tells me it's the Kernel Task that is using all the CPU power. None of the apps running ever show a high CPU usage. You can not stop/kill Kernel Test in Activity Monitor as you can apps. It's actually the one thing on Activity Monitor that Apple will not let you stop.

I could be flash but I will normally close any window in Chrome that could cause an issue with flash. May try and run Flash control.

fpuhan thanks may upgrade later.

FWIW I posted this just after restarting my computer when this was happening. Since then it hasn't happened again. Although at some random point I'm sure it will.