powerlogd consuming high cpu

[jimmysofat6864]

For some reason, powerlogd is eating up a lot of cpu for no reason. Like it gets up to 80 and stays there for no reason. I got my battery serviced recently so it might be that but I just want to see if there is a fix for this. I have tried resetting the smc and the pram to no avail. Does anybody have any ideas on how to fix this?

 

[Rod]

I dont recognise the processes activity window you have posted, can you check the native Activity Monitor app where you will have the option to force quit and access more info on the process.
Processes that end with the letter d are generally daemons, essential parts of the operating system that run in the background and handle critical system tasks. This particular daemon, powerd, manages your energy consumption so it is most likely related to your recent battery "service".

 

[jimmysofat6864]

I dont recognise the processes activity window you have posted, can you check the native Activity Monitor app where you will have the option to force quit and access more info on the process.
Processes that end with the letter d are generally daemons, essential parts of the operating system that run in the background and handle critical system tasks. This particular daemon, powerd, manages your energy consumption so it is most likely related to your recent battery "service".

I tried to force quit it with activity monitor but that didn't do anything. Is there a fix for this or do I have to live with it?

 

[Rod]

This article explains it pretty well; What Is the powerd Process, and Why Is It Running on My Mac?
check the Force Quit procedure in the HELP ! paragraph.

 

[Horsa]

Is it ridiculous of me to point out that everybody is talking about a process called "powerd", while the OP's rogue process is called "powerlogd".

The only other reference to "powerlogd" I can find is on this reddit group, and it's not terribly helpful:

https://www.reddit.com/r/applehelp/comments/91ntzb

 

[Rod]

No, not ridiculous to point our horsa and when you talk about "people" you are referring to me. I too read the above article but it is no more helpful than the one I quoted.
The point is, a deamon is a system process, hardly rogue, is most likely related to the power circuit /battery which the OP recently had "serviced" and can be quit from AM although might likely restart if required.
In all cases I have been able to find including the above it ceased by itself after a few days.

On the other hand there is this reference to PowerLog a PUA akin to adware (not a virus). It seems less likely to be the culprit but might warrant investigation if the issue does not resolve on its own. It seems unlikely that it would appear in AM as a deamon but these days who knows. How to get rid of PowerLog Virus (Mac) - virus removal guide (updated)
Easiest way to prove or didprove this possibility would be (not the suggestion on the above page) but with DetectX Swift a free app available here.https://sqwarq.com/detectx/

 

[pm-r]

A quick google search provides this for me with the first hit, and it seems like you want to get rid of it fairly fast!!!

Remove PowerLog and MacPerformance from MacOS

What is PowerLog?
PowerLog is an adware-type app and part of the Pirrit family. After installation, PowerLog installs another app of this type called MacPerformance. This app forces browsers to open web pages that offer updates to software with fake tools. Adware is software designed to display various ads.

In some cases, these apps can be used to record user-system (and other) information. Typically, people download and install adware inadvertently. Therefore, these programs are categorized as potentially unwanted applications (PUAs).

PowerLog Virus (Mac)

www.pcrisk.com

It seems this might be the same thing the OP asked about???


- Patrick
=======

 

[Rod]

Patrick, that is the link I attached to my last post. It's not particularly harmful one of the Potentially Unwantef Applications it's essentially adware and as I suggested can be removed with DetectX.

 

[Rod]

Here is a definition; A potentially unwanted application (PUA) is a program that contains adware, installs toolbars, or has other unclear objectives. There are some situations where a user may feel that the benefits of a potentially unwanted application outweigh the risks.

For this reason, ESET assigns such applications a lower-risk category compared to other types of malicious software, such as trojan horses or worms.

 

[jimmysofat6864]

No, not ridiculous to point our horsa and when you talk about "people" you are referring to me. I too read the above article but it is no more helpful than the one I quoted.
The point is, a deamon is a system process, hardly rogue, is most likely related to the power circuit /battery which the OP recently had "serviced" and can be quit from AM although might likely restart if required.
In all cases I have been able to find including the above it ceased by itself after a few days.

On the other hand there is this reference to PowerLog a PUA akin to adware (not a virus). It seems less likely to be the culprit but might warrant investigation if the issue does not resolve on its own. It seems unlikely that it would appear in AM as a deamon but these days who knows. How to get rid of PowerLog Virus (Mac) - virus removal guide (updated)
Easiest way to prove or didprove this possibility would be (not the suggestion on the above page) but with DetectX Swift a free app available here.https://sqwarq.com/detectx/

Unfortunately its been going on for a few days and it didn't fix itself.

 

[Rod]

Okay, I'm curious about the "service" you had done on your battery. Do you mean you had it replaced?
You have said you reset SMC and NVRAM which is a good idea after battery replacement and assuming you did it correctly it maybe wise to run the suggested free app from sqwarq that i posted in post #6. If it detects a PUA/PUP it will give you the option to quarantine it or delete it.

Combo Cleaner for Mac on the other hand is US$45.00 and is "bloatware" in my opinion doing all sorts of things like:

• Disk cleanup feature.
• Smart Scanning.
• External hard drive scanner.
• Duplicate file finder.
• Privacy scanner.
• Big files finder.
• App uninstaller.

Like all apps of this kind it attempts to do too much and probably doesn't do anything very well.

 

[jimmysofat6864]

Okay, I'm curious about the "service" you had done on your battery. Do you mean you had it replaced?
You have said you reset SMC and NVRAM which is a good idea after battery replacement and assuming you did it correctly it maybe wise to run the suggested free app from sqwarq that i posted in post #6. If it detects a PUA/PUP it will give you the option to quarantine it or delete it.

Combo Cleaner for Mac on the other hand is US$45.00 and is "bloatware" in my opinion doing all sorts of things like:

• Disk cleanup feature.
• Smart Scanning.
• External hard drive scanner.
• Duplicate file finder.
• Privacy scanner.
• Big files finder.
• App uninstaller.

Like all apps of this kind it attempts to do too much and probably doesn't do anything very well.

Yea I meant replaced with a third party battery. I ran that application and deleted the things it found even though they looked like false positives. Also did the same thing with malwarebytes. So far I don't think that did anything.

 

[Rod]

Worth rebooting the device just to be sure.

 

[jimmysofat6864]

Worth rebooting the device just to be sure.

That's the first thing I tried and it didn't work.

 

[Rod]

If DetectX and Malwarebytes found nothing and the process is continuing to run I would suspect the battery itself may be faulty or unsuitable.
The article on PowerLog and MacPerformance suggests that you would be experiencing; Internet browser tracking (potential privacy issues), display of unwanted ads, redirects to dubious websites, loss of private information.
If you are not experiencing any of the above then it may be that the daemon is unable to complete it's task related to power management due to the battery.

 

[jimmysofat6864]

If DetectX and Malwarebytes found nothing and the process is continuing to run I would suspect the battery itself may be faulty or unsuitable.
The article on PowerLog and MacPerformance suggests that you would be experiencing; Internet browser tracking (potential privacy issues), display of unwanted ads, redirects to dubious websites, loss of private information.
If you are not experiencing any of the above then it may be that the daemon is unable to complete it's task related to power management due to the battery.

That's odd Coconut battery even reports it as a new battery and it is a new battery. I even put in the old one back in to be sure and the same issue happens.

 

[Rod]

Hmmmm. Running out of ideas here.

 

[jimmysofat6864]

Hmmmm. Running out of ideas here.

I bit the bullet and did a clean install and it appears that had seemed to fix the issue. I think this might have happened in the first place because I forgot to shut down the computer before unplugging the battery. Now everything appears to be normal for now and I can wake the computer without high cpu for no reason. Thanks for all who could help.

 

[Rod]

Well, that's certainly worth knowing, thanks for the valuable feedback