Kernal Task problem reappeared with 10.6.4 update

[Jitisha]

I have the first generation Macbook Air and I was facing the core shutdown problem. I was surfing for the solution that updating the OS will solve the problem and it is was true. I updated it to 10.6.4 and this solves the issue but created another one. Now the problem is with the Kernel task. It is taking about 100 percent of the CPU. When I open two or more than two browser then it shows 100% CPU utilization. This is happening from when I applied the update. Is there anyone who is facing the same problem like this or have any idea about this issue then please let me know. I will be thankful to all for their replies.

[Bon-Z]

There is a software available in the market named ClickToFlash. If you are having the problem with the flash that is increasing the CPU utilization then you can install this software to your system and this will help you to solve your problem.There are many advantages of using the ClickToFlash software because the flash are not getting loaded till you purposely ask for it and the CUP uses will remain in the level. There is a lot of benefits for it: you will find that browsing stays speedy, laptop will also not become hot. I can give the guarantee that if you use the ClickToFlash then the battery life for your Macbook will be quintuple and also help you to reduce the CPU uses.

[Gonzo]

The problem that you are telling is not limited to Macbook Air. I am using the Macbook pro with Intel Core 2 Duo 2.16 GHz processor and have the same issue with it. Sometimes it seems like that it is hanged and I am not able to do anything else on that. Still I have not searched for it so this can be of no use. You can try to restart the finder by using the activity monitor. I do that whenever I get that problem and many of the time it helps me to solve that.

[Odalis]

The most common cause of the increasing the CPU uses is overheating. If your computer’s temperature crosses the normal temperature for the laptop then the use of the CPU increases accordingly. Just test the temperature for your laptop and if you find that it heated more than the normal then you can use the cooling pad for it.

There are several cooling pad for the Macbook Air available on web. You can search that and can buy and use anyone of them that you like. This will help you reduce the temperature of the laptop and you will find that accordingly the use of the CPU also decreases. According to me this will the best option for you to solve the issue. Thank you.

[Regina]

It is definitely with the Air overheating. This happens to me when I travel to hot countries. I found that the Kernel tasks takes up around all the CPU making other processes slow. When I returned to UK then there was a cool surroundings and laptop was not getting overheated.
After all these, I concluded the following:

1. If the processor is unoccupied the heatsink is cool and the processor can scale to 1.6ghz,
2. The processor reaches to 800 MHz when heat starts building up.
3. If second step does not makes the heating stop then the reason for the overheating is that the OS is making the loops in the processor by the Kernel and therefore it is showing the 100% use of the CPU.

I hot type of weather, I am not able to stop it therefore I sell that and purchase Unibody MBP and I found that it is much cooler that never get overheated.

[Ceesar]

This is far all who are facing this problem. You should start the Activity Monitor and see what process is hogging the cpu. After reading your post, I think that this is syslogd(system logger) problem. This point toward a corrupt cache file and that is causing the problem for you. You can use OnyX to solve the issue. This is a free maintenance utility and will help you to clean all the cache from the memory. Once you clear all the cache the =n you have to reboot the system instantaneously. If this problem is with the cache then it will clear the problem and free the CPU from 100 percent use. If that also not help you there may be some problems which is consuming the CPU. I hope that it will help you to solve the problem.