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UserEventAgent running high CPU non-stop
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Alan Browne
Jan 3, 2016, 6:37:28 PM1/3/16
to
Twice in the last week, UserEventAgent has gone wild running high CPU
(82%) non-stop.
I force quit it but it gets restored. Launchd is also running high CPU
(73%) with cfprefsd coming up at 31%. mds_stores is at 26%. Kernel has
21% (called by the others, I expect)
I rebooted and that kept things calm for a couple days, I just started
(woke from sleep) the computer up and it's off to the races.
Nothing obvious in Console.
Logging out and back in did not fix it.
Logging out, into admin (doesn't show there), log out. Log back into my
user account .... boom there it is.
Various forums have various fixes which either have no effect or do not
work at all (eg: remove a particular plugin from a system folder - not
permitted under 10.11...).
Re-booted again. Gone.
I'll try to keep track of what might be causing this - the only thing I
know is it is not related to anything immediate that I do.
--
"But I am somehow extraordinarily lucky, for a guy with shitty luck."
..Harrison Ford, Rolling Stone - 2015-12-02
(82%) non-stop.
I force quit it but it gets restored. Launchd is also running high CPU
(73%) with cfprefsd coming up at 31%. mds_stores is at 26%. Kernel has
21% (called by the others, I expect)
I rebooted and that kept things calm for a couple days, I just started
(woke from sleep) the computer up and it's off to the races.
Nothing obvious in Console.
Logging out and back in did not fix it.
Logging out, into admin (doesn't show there), log out. Log back into my
user account .... boom there it is.
Various forums have various fixes which either have no effect or do not
work at all (eg: remove a particular plugin from a system folder - not
permitted under 10.11...).
Re-booted again. Gone.
I'll try to keep track of what might be causing this - the only thing I
know is it is not related to anything immediate that I do.
--
"But I am somehow extraordinarily lucky, for a guy with shitty luck."
..Harrison Ford, Rolling Stone - 2015-12-02
Jolly Roger
Jan 4, 2016, 1:31:26 AM1/4/16
to
Alan Browne <alan....@freelunchvideotron.ca> wrote:
> Twice in the last week, UserEventAgent has gone wild running high CPU
> (82%) non-stop.
>
> I force quit it but it gets restored. Launchd is also running high CPU
> (73%) with cfprefsd coming up at 31%. mds_stores is at 26%. Kernel has
> 21% (called by the others, I expect)
>
> I rebooted and that kept things calm for a couple days, I just started
> (woke from sleep) the computer up and it's off to the races.
>
> Nothing obvious in Console.
>
> Logging out and back in did not fix it.
>
> Logging out, into admin (doesn't show there), log out. Log back into my
> user account .... boom there it is.
>
> Various forums have various fixes which either have no effect or do not
> work at all (eg: remove a particular plugin from a system folder - not
> permitted under 10.11...).
>
> Re-booted again. Gone.
>
> I'll try to keep track of what might be causing this - the only thing I
> know is it is not related to anything immediate that I do.
Any processes with "UserEvent" in the path are suspect. Start there. Also
> Twice in the last week, UserEventAgent has gone wild running high CPU
> (82%) non-stop.
>
> I force quit it but it gets restored. Launchd is also running high CPU
> (73%) with cfprefsd coming up at 31%. mds_stores is at 26%. Kernel has
> 21% (called by the others, I expect)
>
> I rebooted and that kept things calm for a couple days, I just started
> (woke from sleep) the computer up and it's off to the races.
>
> Nothing obvious in Console.
>
> Logging out and back in did not fix it.
>
> Logging out, into admin (doesn't show there), log out. Log back into my
> user account .... boom there it is.
>
> Various forums have various fixes which either have no effect or do not
> work at all (eg: remove a particular plugin from a system folder - not
> permitted under 10.11...).
>
> Re-booted again. Gone.
>
> I'll try to keep track of what might be causing this - the only thing I
> know is it is not related to anything immediate that I do.
check the logs for mention of the same phrase.
--
E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my ravenous SPAM filter.
I often ignore posts from Google. Use a real news client instead.
JR
John Somerset
Jan 4, 2016, 3:49:17 AM1/4/16
to
On 1/3/16 6:37 PM, Alan Browne wrote:
> Twice in the last week, UserEventAgent has gone wild running high CPU
> (82%) non-stop.
>
> I force quit it but it gets restored. Launchd is also running high CPU
> (73%) with cfprefsd coming up at 31%. mds_stores is at 26%. Kernel has
> 21% (called by the others, I expect)
>
> I rebooted and that kept things calm for a couple days, I just started
> (woke from sleep) the computer up and it's off to the races.
>
> Nothing obvious in Console.
>
> Logging out and back in did not fix it.
>
> Logging out, into admin (doesn't show there), log out. Log back into my
> user account .... boom there it is.
>
> Various forums have various fixes which either have no effect or do not
> work at all (eg: remove a particular plugin from a system folder - not
> permitted under 10.11...).
>
> Re-booted again. Gone.
>
> I'll try to keep track of what might be causing this - the only thing I
> know is it is not related to anything immediate that I do.
>
If it happened to me, I'd start unplugging input devices. If that
> Twice in the last week, UserEventAgent has gone wild running high CPU
> (82%) non-stop.
>
> I force quit it but it gets restored. Launchd is also running high CPU
> (73%) with cfprefsd coming up at 31%. mds_stores is at 26%. Kernel has
> 21% (called by the others, I expect)
>
> I rebooted and that kept things calm for a couple days, I just started
> (woke from sleep) the computer up and it's off to the races.
>
> Nothing obvious in Console.
>
> Logging out and back in did not fix it.
>
> Logging out, into admin (doesn't show there), log out. Log back into my
> user account .... boom there it is.
>
> Various forums have various fixes which either have no effect or do not
> work at all (eg: remove a particular plugin from a system folder - not
> permitted under 10.11...).
>
> Re-booted again. Gone.
>
> I'll try to keep track of what might be causing this - the only thing I
> know is it is not related to anything immediate that I do.
>
didn't work, I'd wonder about third-party drivers.
Alan Browne
Jan 4, 2016, 3:32:15 PM1/4/16
to
On 2016-01-04 01:31, Jolly Roger wrote:
> Alan Browne <alan....@freelunchvideotron.ca> wrote:
>> Twice in the last week, UserEventAgent has gone wild running high CPU
>> (82%) non-stop.
>>
>> I force quit it but it gets restored. Launchd is also running high CPU
>> (73%) with cfprefsd coming up at 31%. mds_stores is at 26%. Kernel has
>> 21% (called by the others, I expect)
>>
>> I rebooted and that kept things calm for a couple days, I just started
>> (woke from sleep) the computer up and it's off to the races.
>>
>> Nothing obvious in Console.
>>
>> Logging out and back in did not fix it.
>>
>> Logging out, into admin (doesn't show there), log out. Log back into my
>> user account .... boom there it is.
>>
>> Various forums have various fixes which either have no effect or do not
>> work at all (eg: remove a particular plugin from a system folder - not
>> permitted under 10.11...).
>>
>> Re-booted again. Gone.
>>
>> I'll try to keep track of what might be causing this - the only thing I
>> know is it is not related to anything immediate that I do.
>
> Any processes with "UserEvent" in the path are suspect. Start there. Also
Suspect in what way?
> Alan Browne <alan....@freelunchvideotron.ca> wrote:
>> Twice in the last week, UserEventAgent has gone wild running high CPU
>> (82%) non-stop.
>>
>> I force quit it but it gets restored. Launchd is also running high CPU
>> (73%) with cfprefsd coming up at 31%. mds_stores is at 26%. Kernel has
>> 21% (called by the others, I expect)
>>
>> I rebooted and that kept things calm for a couple days, I just started
>> (woke from sleep) the computer up and it's off to the races.
>>
>> Nothing obvious in Console.
>>
>> Logging out and back in did not fix it.
>>
>> Logging out, into admin (doesn't show there), log out. Log back into my
>> user account .... boom there it is.
>>
>> Various forums have various fixes which either have no effect or do not
>> work at all (eg: remove a particular plugin from a system folder - not
>> permitted under 10.11...).
>>
>> Re-booted again. Gone.
>>
>> I'll try to keep track of what might be causing this - the only thing I
>> know is it is not related to anything immediate that I do.
>
> Any processes with "UserEvent" in the path are suspect. Start there. Also
> check the logs for mention of the same phrase.
lsof'd everything with UserEvent and got a shit load. Saved that as a
reference to a .txt file. If it goes A/S again I'll see if anything new
has popped up.
Alan Browne
Jan 4, 2016, 3:39:42 PM1/4/16
to
disconnected it while doing other tests about a month ago and forgot to
plug it back in until 2 days ago (between the 2 events I've mentioned)).
> didn't work, I'd wonder about third-party drivers.
suspect right now is the 10.11.2 update and other Apple updates.
Another suspect may be some parallel processing experiments I've been
doing, but there's nothing important about that so I won't run those
programs for a while and see if that calms things. If they stay calm
then I'll try them again to see if it pops up. (That said nothing in my
source code or the source code for the units I used for PP does
UserEvent signalling that I can see).
Jolly Roger
Jan 4, 2016, 4:24:41 PM1/4/16
to
On 2016-01-04, Alan Browne <alan....@freelunchvideotron.ca> wrote:
> On 2016-01-04 01:31, Jolly Roger wrote:
>> Alan Browne <alan....@freelunchvideotron.ca> wrote:
>>> Twice in the last week, UserEventAgent has gone wild running high CPU
>>> (82%) non-stop.
>>
> On 2016-01-04 01:31, Jolly Roger wrote:
>> Alan Browne <alan....@freelunchvideotron.ca> wrote:
>>> Twice in the last week, UserEventAgent has gone wild running high CPU
>>> (82%) non-stop.
>>
>> Any processes with "UserEvent" in the path are suspect. Start there. Also
>
> Suspect in what way?
One of those processes may be causing the issue you have described.
>
> Suspect in what way?
Alan Browne
Jan 4, 2016, 4:49:47 PM1/4/16
to
On 2016-01-04 16:24, Jolly Roger wrote:
> On 2016-01-04, Alan Browne <alan....@freelunchvideotron.ca> wrote:
>> On 2016-01-04 01:31, Jolly Roger wrote:
>>> Alan Browne <alan....@freelunchvideotron.ca> wrote:
>>>> Twice in the last week, UserEventAgent has gone wild running high CPU
>>>> (82%) non-stop.
>>>
>>> Any processes with "UserEvent" in the path are suspect. Start there. Also
>>
>> Suspect in what way?
>
> One of those processes may be causing the issue you have described.
I was hoping there was something specific. Searching around the web
> On 2016-01-04, Alan Browne <alan....@freelunchvideotron.ca> wrote:
>> On 2016-01-04 01:31, Jolly Roger wrote:
>>> Alan Browne <alan....@freelunchvideotron.ca> wrote:
>>>> Twice in the last week, UserEventAgent has gone wild running high CPU
>>>> (82%) non-stop.
>>>
>>> Any processes with "UserEvent" in the path are suspect. Start there. Also
>>
>> Suspect in what way?
>
> One of those processes may be causing the issue you have described.
hasn't revealed much, alas.
I'll snapshot the ActMon info next time as well.
John Somerset
Jan 4, 2016, 5:01:24 PM1/4/16
to
On 1/4/16 3:39 PM, Alan Browne wrote:
> On 2016-01-04 03:49, John Somerset wrote:
>>> I'll try to keep track of what might be causing this - the only thing I
>>> know is it is not related to anything immediate that I do.
>>>
>> If it happened to me, I'd start unplugging input devices. If that
>
> I haven't changed anything other than re-connecting the UPS (I'd
> disconnected it while doing other tests about a month ago and forgot to
> plug it back in until 2 days ago (between the 2 events I've mentioned)).
>
When I think "user event," I think of keyboards and mice. That's why
> On 2016-01-04 03:49, John Somerset wrote:
>>> I'll try to keep track of what might be causing this - the only thing I
>>> know is it is not related to anything immediate that I do.
>>>
>> If it happened to me, I'd start unplugging input devices. If that
>
> I haven't changed anything other than re-connecting the UPS (I'd
> disconnected it while doing other tests about a month ago and forgot to
> plug it back in until 2 days ago (between the 2 events I've mentioned)).
>
I'd shoot from the hip and try unplugging them in case it's some sort of
electrical mischief.
If it never ever happened with another account, maybe software in the
user library is incompatible with the latest OS update. I've read that
third-party audio plugins have caused the problem.
Jolly Roger
Jan 4, 2016, 5:07:48 PM1/4/16
to
Alan Browne <alan....@freelunchvideotron.ca> wrote:
> On 2016-01-04 16:24, Jolly Roger wrote:
>> On 2016-01-04, Alan Browne <alan....@freelunchvideotron.ca> wrote:
>>> On 2016-01-04 01:31, Jolly Roger wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Any processes with "UserEvent" in the path are suspect. Start there. Also
>>>
>>> Suspect in what way?
>>
>> One of those processes may be causing the issue you have described.
>
> I was hoping there was something specific. Searching around the web
> hasn't revealed much, alas.
A quick search showed me several potential offenders including misbehaving
> On 2016-01-04 16:24, Jolly Roger wrote:
>> On 2016-01-04, Alan Browne <alan....@freelunchvideotron.ca> wrote:
>>> On 2016-01-04 01:31, Jolly Roger wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Any processes with "UserEvent" in the path are suspect. Start there. Also
>>>
>>> Suspect in what way?
>>
>> One of those processes may be causing the issue you have described.
>
> I was hoping there was something specific. Searching around the web
> hasn't revealed much, alas.
USB input device drivers.
Alan Browne
Jan 12, 2016, 4:28:58 PM1/12/16
to
On 2016-01-03 18:37, Alan Browne wrote:
> Twice in the last week, UserEventAgent has gone wild running high CPU
> (82%) non-stop.
>
> I force quit it but it gets restored. Launchd is also running high CPU
> (73%) with cfprefsd coming up at 31%. mds_stores is at 26%. Kernel has
> 21% (called by the others, I expect)
>
> I rebooted and that kept things calm for a couple days, I just started
> (woke from sleep) the computer up and it's off to the races.
>
> Nothing obvious in Console.
>
> Logging out and back in did not fix it.
>
> Logging out, into admin (doesn't show there), log out. Log back into my
> user account .... boom there it is.
>
> Various forums have various fixes which either have no effect or do not
> work at all (eg: remove a particular plugin from a system folder - not
> permitted under 10.11...).
>
> Re-booted again. Gone.
>
> I'll try to keep track of what might be causing this - the only thing I
> know is it is not related to anything immediate that I do.
Just started again. Rules out my parallel processing experiments (which
> Twice in the last week, UserEventAgent has gone wild running high CPU
> (82%) non-stop.
>
> I force quit it but it gets restored. Launchd is also running high CPU
> (73%) with cfprefsd coming up at 31%. mds_stores is at 26%. Kernel has
> 21% (called by the others, I expect)
>
> I rebooted and that kept things calm for a couple days, I just started
> (woke from sleep) the computer up and it's off to the races.
>
> Nothing obvious in Console.
>
> Logging out and back in did not fix it.
>
> Logging out, into admin (doesn't show there), log out. Log back into my
> user account .... boom there it is.
>
> Various forums have various fixes which either have no effect or do not
> work at all (eg: remove a particular plugin from a system folder - not
> permitted under 10.11...).
>
> Re-booted again. Gone.
>
> I'll try to keep track of what might be causing this - the only thing I
> know is it is not related to anything immediate that I do.
haven't run in this boot cycle about 4 days along ...).
Note also that it's writing to disk at some 1.2 MB/s. Note that
mds_stores was running at a good clip 27%.
Just now ... as I'm writing this it's returned to normal low CPU use.
I suspect the culprit was simply mds in the end.
John Somerset
Jan 12, 2016, 7:46:53 PM1/12/16
to
don't know if spotlight does more than it used to, or if I have a
corrupted file.
For me, UserEventAgent doesn't get involved.
Alan Browne
Jan 12, 2016, 9:18:44 PM1/12/16
to
listed in the OP including UserEventAgent - it was just the top draining
process.
John Somerset
Jan 12, 2016, 9:55:18 PM1/12/16
to
This user found that UserEventAgent went wild because update 10.11.1
failed to update permissions for his Wacom driver.
Alan Browne
Jan 13, 2016, 8:14:49 PM1/13/16
to
can live with it from time to time. Though a full scan every few days
seems excessive .... OTOH I didn't let the previous two passes complete.
I'll report back as may be needed....
John Somerset
Jan 13, 2016, 9:11:52 PM1/13/16
to
On 1/13/16 8:14 PM, Alan Browne wrote:
> On 2016-01-12 21:55, John Somerset wrote:
>> On 1/12/16 9:18 PM, Alan Browne wrote:
>
>>> Several processes all seem to be involved in the large CPU drain as
>>> listed in the OP including UserEventAgent - it was just the top draining
>>> process.
>>>
>> <http://forums.macrumors.com/threads/usereventagent-went-mental-proof-el-capitan-need-repair-permissions.1931189/>
>>
>>
>>
>> This user found that UserEventAgent went wild because update 10.11.1
>> failed to update permissions for his Wacom driver.
>
> The sole correlation I see to date is with mds. If that's all it is, I
> can live with it from time to time. Though a full scan every few days
> seems excessive .... OTOH I didn't let the previous two passes complete.
>
> I'll report back as may be needed....
>
I thought the advice about tracking it down was interesting. I don't
> On 2016-01-12 21:55, John Somerset wrote:
>> On 1/12/16 9:18 PM, Alan Browne wrote:
>
>>> Several processes all seem to be involved in the large CPU drain as
>>> listed in the OP including UserEventAgent - it was just the top draining
>>> process.
>>>
>> <http://forums.macrumors.com/threads/usereventagent-went-mental-proof-el-capitan-need-repair-permissions.1931189/>
>>
>>
>>
>> This user found that UserEventAgent went wild because update 10.11.1
>> failed to update permissions for his Wacom driver.
>
> The sole correlation I see to date is with mds. If that's all it is, I
> can live with it from time to time. Though a full scan every few days
> seems excessive .... OTOH I didn't let the previous two passes complete.
>
> I'll report back as may be needed....
>
know if you have a Wacom device, but in the Apple Support forums, they
say Wacom has an updated driver to fix the problem.
Another user who had problems with UserEventAgent and mds stores, was
advised by Apple to disconnect his Time Machine drive. That worked, and
there was no problem when he used another drive for Time Machine. Maybe
a drive used for some other purpose could also cause it.
The forum has other topics about UserEventAgent trouble.
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