MacbookPro mid 2015 mds_stores or configd CPU high load

[pvandrunen]

Just wanted to add another voice to this conversation. I'm also experiencing this issue. It's fascinating to me how aggressive the configd process is. If I kill it, it immediately restarts, I'll kill it in the terminal 10 or 20 times before it gives up. I see the powerd function less often, but it also seems to be part of the problem.

Like all of you, this happens after I did a battery replacement. I got my battery from iFixit. This only occurs when I am running on battery. It only happens when I'm below about 65% battery life.

Resetting the SMC didn't resolve the issue.
- MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015)
- Monterey 12.6.3 (21G419)

processes installd and remindd also running at high cpu at times.

 

[pvandrunen]

Is everyone here using the Chrome browser? As an experiment I switched to using Firefox and ... the problem seems to have gone away. Give it a try and see what happens.

 

[pvandrunen]

I wouldn't be surprised if it has something to do with this update to Chrome, which would coincide with when I updated the battery — so the battery correlation, but not causation.

Google says Chrome won't drain your MacBook battery as much | TechCrunch

Google said that it is rolling out under-the-hood updates to the latest version of Chrome that makes it eat up the battery less on Macbooks.

techcrunch.com

 

[Romahaaa]

My solution didn't work, unfortunetely. Now `configd` takes 100% of CPU randomly on battery.

I found 1 thread where topic casters said that FileVault encryption can be problematic and cause this issue.
I didn't use FileVault before, and turned it on some months ago. The question to you - does FileVault encryption enabled on your macs?

 

[Romahaaa]

I wouldn't be surprised if it has something to do with this update to Chrome, which would coincide with when I updated the battery — so the battery correlation, but not causation.

I am on Brave which is Chrome based, but I don't believe it's the issue, because I had that problem using Firefox as well.

 

[Romahaaa]

This only occurs when I am running on battery. It only happens when I'm below about 65% battery life.

Interesting... I didn't check the battery status when that appeared. However seems there is a piece of true, because in most cases when I though the issue gone mbp was charged. Today, when that appeared again battery was ~50%.

This time I will try to disable FileVault encryption, re-index the spotlight database and will check everything on different battery levels. Will write down about the results later.

Did someone find any info about potential hardware issues? Is sounds very suspicious that all of us experience same problem after battery replacement.

 

[pvandrunen]

I am on Brave which is Chrome based, but I don't believe it's the issue, because I had that problem using Firefox as well.

It's very consistent for me, as soon as I close all instances of chrome, wait about 30 seconds and configd drops from 100+% to nothing.

 

[pvandrunen]

My solution didn't work, unfortunetely. Now `configd` takes 100% of CPU randomly on battery.

I found 1 thread where topic casters said that FileVault encryption can be problematic and cause this issue.
I didn't use FileVault before, and turned it on some months ago. The question to you - does FileVault encryption enabled on your macs?

I do not have file vault enabled.

 

[Romahaaa]

It's very consistent for me, as soon as I close all instances of chrome, wait about 30 seconds and configd drops from 100+% to nothing.

You are right, I can confirm now that chromium based browser causes that on battery ~60%.

Yesterday I disabled FileVault, re-indexed spotlight, and drain out the battery watching 4k videos in Brave browser youtube tab. I couldn't switch it off because it freezed again.
To unfreeze the mac in such cases I used `sudo killall configd` but it works only if you will close the browser just after, otherwise configd will appear again.
Today made more and more tests on different battery levels - same result. F*ck the Google with all their ****** products. As a developer I always had tons of problems using their "services" like Firebase, but now, when it happens on daily usage, thast's way too much.

That's sad. I liked Brave a lot because of it's integrated security features. Will move to Mozillla

 

[VladOliinyk]

Hey, I also found out a long time ago that when I'm closing my Chrome browser problem is gone.

I was thinking that it was a chrome problem until the same problem appeared when I was using Facebook ads manager on Safari(!) browser.

So, I think the problem is somehow related to internet usage, when we upload/download an unusual big batches of information.

 

[VladOliinyk]

UPD#2: It's not worked

UPD: So, after a day of using seems like it works. I was monitoring my processes with Activity Monitor, and configd sometimes was at 98-100% CPU usage, but it was for a few seconds and it wasn't freezing my laptop.

So, I decided to ask GPT-4 for a possible solution, here is what it says:

I apologize for the confusion. If the issue is specifically related to the "configd" process, it may be due to an issue with your network configuration or a corrupted system file. Here are some additional steps to try:

1. Reset your network settings: a. Open Terminal (you can find it in Applications > Utilities). b. Type the following commands, pressing Enter after each one:
   
   

   sudo rm /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.airport.preferences.plist
   sudo rm /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.network.identification.plist
   sudo rm /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.wifi.message-tracer.plist
   sudo rm /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/NetworkInterfaces.plist
   sudo rm /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/preferences.plist

   
   
   c. Restart your MacBook Pro.
   This will reset your network settings, and you'll need to reconnect to your Wi-Fi network.

Just tried it, will let yu know how it goes.

 

[cristi0x1]

UPD: So, after a day of using seems like it works. I was monitoring my processes with Activity Monitor, and configd sometimes was at 98-100% CPU usage, but it was for a few seconds and it wasn't freezing my laptop.

So, I decided to ask GPT-4 for a possible solution, here is what it says:




Just tried it, will let yu know how it goes.

I remember you mentioned in an previous post that you formatted and re-installed the OS and the issue still happened, is that correct?

If so, I guess removing the network related .plist files will have the same outcome.

 

[VladOliinyk]

I remember you mentioned in an previous post that you formatted and re-installed the OS and the issue still happened, is that correct?

If so, I guess removing the network related .plist files will have the same outcome.

It is true, the problem still happening.

 

[pshufd]

Interesting thread. I just powered up my 2015 MacBook Pro 15 (2.5 Ghz with AMD GPU) running the latest version of Monterey and, after it settled down, it was showing 97% idle. I tested out Firefox and didn't see any issues. I have Spotlight turned off. The battery was replaced May 2021. We also have 2 2014 MacBook Pro 15 (base models) where one had the battery replaced in May 2021 and the other had it replaced March 2023. I'm not the user of those two systems but I've heard no complaints about them. I'd guess that the fans would come on with that additional amount of usage.

We are all Firefox users. If there is a problem on my system, I usually try to debug and fix it. We have graduate CS degrees which helps.

I think that the 2014 systems are running High Sierra or Mojave - one of them needs to run 32-bit programs I think and a Linux virtual machine.

 

[pvandrunen]

Update: It doesn't appear to be specific to Chrome, but at the 66% ish mark, if I am connected to WiFi I will see the behavior of several services behave badly. Configd, Powerd and Spotlightsomething or other. Config d is very aggressive, so *killing* isn't immediately effective or effective at all. My only way out it to plug in power or disable WiFi for things to settle down.

 

[cristi0x1]

I'm thinking this might be related to a faulty WiFi/Bluetooth card. Today I had to format and downgrade from Ventura to Monterey because my mouse was disconnecting and scroll wasn't working. I thought it's a Ventura issue.

After the clean install the same mouse issue happened on Monterey. Now when trying to access Bluetooth settings I get: "Could not load Bluetooth preference pane."

The interesting part is that the configd issue didn't show up.

I ordered a new wifi/bluetooth board from ebay and hopefully it will fix both issues.

 

[pvandrunen]

Let us know how it goes @cristi0x1. I'm seeing VTDecoderXPCService also pwning my mac now. For what it's worth I have WiFi off and Bluetooth off and after a reboot things are still rough. These issues seem to be escalating for me. Maybe it's a conspiracy.

 

[cristi0x1]

Let us know how it goes @cristi0x1. I'm seeing VTDecoderXPCService also pwning my mac now. For what it's worth I have WiFi off and Bluetooth off and after a reboot things are still rough. These issues seem to be escalating for me. Maybe it's a conspiracy.

I've also seen that service using high CPU, usually when I open System Settings on a tab that has some video/animations like the Trackpad one.

 

[VladOliinyk]

I'm thinking this might be related to a faulty WiFi/Bluetooth card.

But how does that happen that this problem is appearing AFTER battery replacement for SO MANY people with the same MBP model?

 

[pshufd]

But how does that happen that this problem is appearing AFTER battery replacement for SO MANY people with the same MBP model?

The sample size here is pretty small. I replaced batteries on 3 of these systems, 2 at the Apple Store and 1 at a 3rd party store (not Apple Certified) and they are all fine.

 

[VladOliinyk]

The sample size here is pretty small. I replaced batteries on 3 of these systems, 2 at the Apple Store and 1 at a 3rd party store (not Apple Certified) and they are all fine.

Search Apple's website for this problem, here are a few links:

Configd and PowerD use high CPU while on … - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com

Configd takes 100% CPU while on battery - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com

Configd using high CPU - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com

This problem isn't new, but no one found out how to fix it.

 

[pshufd]

Search Apple's website for this problem, here are a few links:

Configd and PowerD use high CPU while on … - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com

Configd takes 100% CPU while on battery - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com

Configd using high CPU - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com

This problem isn't new, but no one found out how to fix it.

Sounds like more of a hardware issue if it has been around since 2016.

 

[pvandrunen]

inexplicably this has stopped happening on my computer over the last 3 battery cycles. I'm very confused.

 

[Soul Auctioneer]

MacBook Pro mid-2014. when on battery, configd jumps to 100% CPU when charge reaches ~60%. Chrome, Evernote and MS Teams become unresponsive. Evernote and Teams are both Electron apps, i.e. are web apps running on Chromium. Google Drive also becomes unresponsive; I'm unsure if that uses a Chromium webview.

I just replaced the original battery. The problem remains unchanged. Disabling WiFi doesn't seem to help. Plugging into power is the only solution I've found in this case.

 

[VladOliinyk]

inexplicably this has stopped happening on my computer over the last 3 battery cycles. I'm very confused.

How many cycles do you have?