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Groups > uk.comp.sys.mac > #180736

Re: Sequoia Exhaustion

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On 27/03/2025 08:50, John Hill wrote:
> I have become increasingly aware of a phenomenon I've never before encountered
> on a Mac. My M4/Sequoia gets exhausted.
> 
> This mostly manifests itself in two ways. Firstly. the text cursor disappears.
> This makes editing difficult to say the least. Secondly, and rather more
> irritatingly, TouchID stops working and I am continually having to renter my
> password.
> 
> A restart fixeds it - it comes back refreshed and raring to go. Maybe logging
> out and in would help just as well, but the M4 is back from a restart in a
> minute or so so it hardly seems worth it.
> 
> I've no idea whether this arises in MacOS (in which I would expect others to
> have observed it) or in one of the applications I mostly use. These are nearly
> all Apple except for GraphicConverter, Inkscape and Reunion. A memory leak
> somewhere, perhaps? It my, of course, be peculiar to the M4 series of iMac,
> which are only about six months old.


Hello again, Old John. 🙂

This is what ChatGPT had to say on this matter!

=

It does sound like a memory leak or some other system resource issue, 
but let’s go through a few things to help "Old John" diagnose it.
Possible Causes:

     Memory Leak or App Issue

         If it were a macOS-wide issue, more people would be reporting it.

         Since the issue happens over time and a restart fixes it, it 
could be an application leaking memory or hogging system resources.

         GraphicConverter, Inkscape, and Reunion aren’t known for memory 
leaks, but it’s worth checking.

     macOS Bug

         If he's on the latest macOS, there could be a software bug.

         Checking Activity Monitor (Applications > Utilities > Activity 
Monitor) when things start slowing down might reveal a process using 
excessive CPU or memory.

     Touch ID and UI Glitches

         The disappearing text cursor and Touch ID failure suggest a 
system-wide issue, possibly related to macOS UI handling or power 
management.

Things to Try:

     Check Activity Monitor

         When the cursor disappears or Touch ID stops working, open 
Activity Monitor and check:

             CPU tab: Look for anything using high CPU.

             Memory tab: Look for excessive RAM usage.

             Energy tab: Any app draining battery/power aggressively?

     Try Logging Out Instead of Restarting

         If logging out and back in solves it, the issue is likely 
related to user-level processes (not macOS itself).

     Create a Test User Account

         Create a new macOS user account and use it for a while.

         If the problem doesn’t happen in the test account, it’s likely 
something in John’s user settings or installed apps.

     Update macOS & Apps

         Ensure everything (including macOS and all apps) is fully updated.

     Check Console Logs

         Open Console (Applications > Utilities > Console) and check for 
errors when the issue occurs.

     Reset NVRAM & SMC (if applicable)

         On an Apple Silicon Mac, just shut down fully and restart 
(equivalent to an SMC reset).

=

Some food for thought there! ;-)

-- 
Kind regards,
David

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Thread

Seuoa Exhaustion John Hill <watcombeman@yahoo.co.uk> - 2025-03-27 08:50 +0000
  Re: Seuoa Exhaustion Alan B <alanrichardbarker@gmail.com.invalid> - 2025-03-27 09:02 +0000
    Re: Seuoa Exhaustion John Hill <watcombeman@yahoo.co.uk> - 2025-03-27 09:08 +0000
      Re: Seuoa Exhaustion Jaimie Vandenbergh <jaimie@usually.sessile.org> - 2025-03-27 19:25 +0000
        Re: Seuoa Exhaustion Alan B <alanrichardbarker@gmail.com.invalid> - 2025-03-28 06:57 +0000
  Re: Sequoia Exhaustion David <David.is@home.today> - 2025-03-27 10:28 +0000

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