macOS Process Mobileassetupdaterd Hogging CPU

TerryETerryE
Posted:
in Genius Bar
A process named Mobileassetupdaterd owned by the user _accessoryupc, hogs 35% of CPU.

It's associated with a file named MobileAssetUpdater at:

/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/MobileAssetUpdater.framework/MobileAssetUpdater

Which is a 35 byte alias pointing to the executable at:

/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/MobileAccessoryUpdater.framework/Support/accessoryupdaterd

Which is consistently relaunches using this Plist:

/System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd.plist

I tried unloading the process with this command others have suggested:

sudo launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd.plist

But I just get the error: Unload failed: 5: Input/output error

So I'm just not a Terminal master.

I've also tried exhaustive searches at Apple, here at StackOverflow, and online to find a solution, with no luck.

I watch processes periodically, and it wasn't there until I Updated OS from Ventura to Sonoma 14.5.

Anyone have thoughts?

Running macOS Sonoma 14.5 on 2021 M1 MacBook Pro.

Thanks!

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 9
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,375moderator
    TerryE said:
    A process named Mobileassetupdaterd owned by the user _accessoryupc, hogs 35% of CPU.

    It's associated with a file named MobileAssetUpdater at:

    /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/MobileAssetUpdater.framework/MobileAssetUpdater

    Which is a 35 byte alias pointing to the executable at:

    /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/MobileAccessoryUpdater.framework/Support/accessoryupdaterd

    Which is consistently relaunches using this Plist:

    /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd.plist

    I tried unloading the process with this command others have suggested:

    sudo launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd.plist

    But I just get the error: Unload failed: 5: Input/output error

    So I'm just not a Terminal master.

    I've also tried exhaustive searches at Apple, here at StackOverflow, and online to find a solution, with no luck.

    I watch processes periodically, and it wasn't there until I Updated OS from Ventura to Sonoma 14.5.

    Anyone have thoughts?

    Running macOS Sonoma 14.5 on 2021 M1 MacBook Pro.

    Thanks!
    The CPU usage in the Activity Monitor is per core, if you have an 8-core Mac, it's 0.35 x 8 = 2.8% CPU. 800% = full CPU usage. It shouldn't be continually using that though.

    You won't be able to unload the system process without disabling system integrity protection but it's probably not a good idea to disable it.

    This process is described as being used for software updates for peripherals like Bluetooth devices. Maybe a peripheral is having connection/update issues. Check the Console log in /Applications/Utilities/Console to see if there are errors being logged for the accessory update.

    https://www.reddit.com/r/MacOS/comments/18bgp6n/constant_30_cpu_use_from_accessoryupdaterd/

    Check Bluetooth menu > Bluetooth Preferences for devices listed. Try disabling Bluetooth to see if the process stops.
    muthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 2 of 9
    TerryETerryE Posts: 5member
    Thanks for the kind reply.

    I've tried everything. Can't unload it with terminal because of system integrity protection. Apple help just want's me to reinstall OS but warned that the Time Machine backup might still contain the problem. That's because while it persists in Safe Mode, it did NOT occur when I set up a new user account on my machine to test it. So the trigger to launch the bugger is likely somewhere in my user data

    And I've tried just about every Bluetooth option I could think of including removing all Bluetooth devices, uninstalling anything related to Bluetooth peripheral apps, then restarting. Still there. 

    I just really don't want to rebuild my system. It would takes weeks and more, and there are data reliant apps like Black Magic Resolve video editor that is REALLY a difficult task to move and restore. Sigh.

    If it is indeed in my user data, I'm hoping that trigger might be found and might not be system protected.

    BTW, can you tell me which console log to check? I'm no expert and there's a long list.
  • Reply 3 of 9
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,375moderator
    TerryE said:
    while it persists in Safe Mode, it did NOT occur when I set up a new user account on my machine to test it. So the trigger to launch the bugger is likely somewhere in my user data
    That's interesting, it's good that it's not happening on a new account. Migrating to a new account shouldn't take too long, the user folder content can be copied to /Users/Shared, then move these folders into the same place in the new account. Preferences can take a while to setup again but they can be copied over where needed.

    Check if there are any files in /Users/<user>/Library/LaunchAgents that might be launching some processes.

    In the Console, start streaming the messages and put the process name in the search box, e.g accessoryupdaterd, MobileAssetUpdater and hit return.

    You can also try searching in the Terminal app for files used by a process:

    lsof -P | grep -i "accessoryupdaterd"
  • Reply 4 of 9
    TerryETerryE Posts: 5member
    Marvin said:
    TerryE said:
    while it persists in Safe Mode, it did NOT occur when I set up a new user account on my machine to test it. So the trigger to launch the bugger is likely somewhere in my user data
    That's interesting, it's good that it's not happening on a new account. Migrating to a new account shouldn't take too long, the user folder content can be copied to /Users/Shared, then move these folders into the same place in the new account. Preferences can take a while to setup again but they can be copied over where needed.

    Check if there are any files in /Users/<user>/Library/LaunchAgents that might be launching some processes.

    In the Console, start streaming the messages and put the process name in the search box, e.g accessoryupdaterd, MobileAssetUpdater and hit return.

    You can also try searching in the Terminal app for files used by a process:

    lsof -P | grep -i "accessoryupdaterd"

    Yikes. Over my head here. There are some launch agent processes listed in /Users/<user>/Library/LaunchAgents . Not sure if any are involved. Nothing shows up with terminal request using that string, but no error either. In Console under logs > launchd,  it's a continuous list of varied results, too much to post here but here's a little cut:

    2024-05-24 13:01:39.142806 (system/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd [2869]) <Notice>: exited due to exit(0), ran for 120241ms
    2024-05-24 13:01:39.142836 (system/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd [2869]) <Notice>: service state: exited
    2024-05-24 13:01:39.142848 (system/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd [2869]) <Notice>: internal event: EXITED, code = 0
    2024-05-24 13:01:39.142853 (system) <Notice>: service inactive: com.apple.accessoryupdaterd
    2024-05-24 13:01:39.142938 (system/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd [2869]) <Notice>: service state: not running
    2024-05-24 13:01:39.142975 (system/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd) <Notice>: internal event: WILL_SPAWN, code = 0
    2024-05-24 13:01:39.142981 (system/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd) <Notice>: service state: spawn scheduled
    2024-05-24 13:01:39.142986 (system/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd) <Notice>: service state: spawning
    2024-05-24 13:01:39.143017 (system/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd) <Notice>: launching: ipc (mach)
    2024-05-24 13:01:39.146487 (system/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd [2895]) <Notice>: xpcproxy spawned with pid 2895
    2024-05-24 13:01:39.146522 (system/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd [2895]) <Notice>: internal event: SPAWNED, code = 0
    2024-05-24 13:01:39.146528 (system/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd [2895]) <Notice>: service state: xpcproxy
    2024-05-24 13:01:39.146592 (system/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd [2895]) <Notice>: internal event: SOURCE_ATTACH, code = 0
    2024-05-24 13:01:39.162624 (system/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd [2895]) <Notice>: service state: running
    2024-05-24 13:01:39.162640 (system/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd [2895]) <Notice>: internal event: INIT, code = 0
    2024-05-24 13:01:39.162656 (system/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd [2895]) <Notice>: Successfully spawned accessoryupdaterd[2895] because ipc (mach)
    2024-05-24 13:03:39.391905 (system/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd [2895]) <Notice>: exited due to exit(0), ran for 120240ms
    2024-05-24 13:03:39.391944 (system/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd [2895]) <Notice>: service state: exited
    2024-05-24 13:03:39.391962 (system/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd [2895]) <Notice>: internal event: EXITED, code = 0
    2024-05-24 13:03:39.391970 (system) <Notice>: service inactive: com.apple.accessoryupdaterd
    2024-05-24 13:03:39.392119 (system/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd [2895]) <Notice>: service state: not running
    2024-05-24 13:03:39.392174 (system/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd) <Notice>: internal event: WILL_SPAWN, code = 0
    2024-05-24 13:03:39.392181 (system/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd) <Notice>: service state: spawn scheduled
    2024-05-24 13:03:39.392186 (system/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd) <Notice>: service state: spawning
    2024-05-24 13:03:39.392228 (system/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd) <Notice>: launching: ipc (mach)
    2024-05-24 13:03:39.396339 (system/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd [2916]) <Notice>: xpcproxy spawned with pid 2916

    BTW, thanks for the feedback. This is above my paygrade but it's still worth learning about.






  • Reply 5 of 9
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,375moderator
    TerryE said:
    Marvin said:
    TerryE said:
    while it persists in Safe Mode, it did NOT occur when I set up a new user account on my machine to test it. So the trigger to launch the bugger is likely somewhere in my user data
    That's interesting, it's good that it's not happening on a new account. Migrating to a new account shouldn't take too long, the user folder content can be copied to /Users/Shared, then move these folders into the same place in the new account. Preferences can take a while to setup again but they can be copied over where needed.

    Check if there are any files in /Users/<user>/Library/LaunchAgents that might be launching some processes.

    In the Console, start streaming the messages and put the process name in the search box, e.g accessoryupdaterd, MobileAssetUpdater and hit return.

    You can also try searching in the Terminal app for files used by a process:

    lsof -P | grep -i "accessoryupdaterd"

    Yikes. Over my head here. There are some launch agent processes listed in /Users/<user>/Library/LaunchAgents . Not sure if any are involved. Nothing shows up with terminal request using that string, but no error either. In Console under logs > launchd,  it's a continuous list of varied results, too much to post here but here's a little cut:

    2024-05-24 13:01:39.142806 (system/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd [2869]) <Notice>: exited due to exit(0), ran for 120241ms
    2024-05-24 13:01:39.142836 (system/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd [2869]) <Notice>: service state: exited
    2024-05-24 13:01:39.142848 (system/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd [2869]) <Notice>: internal event: EXITED, code = 0
    2024-05-24 13:01:39.142853 (system) <Notice>: service inactive: com.apple.accessoryupdaterd
    2024-05-24 13:01:39.142938 (system/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd [2869]) <Notice>: service state: not running
    2024-05-24 13:01:39.142975 (system/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd) <Notice>: internal event: WILL_SPAWN, code = 0
    2024-05-24 13:01:39.142981 (system/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd) <Notice>: service state: spawn scheduled
    2024-05-24 13:01:39.142986 (system/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd) <Notice>: service state: spawning
    2024-05-24 13:01:39.143017 (system/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd) <Notice>: launching: ipc (mach)
    2024-05-24 13:01:39.146487 (system/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd [2895]) <Notice>: xpcproxy spawned with pid 2895
    2024-05-24 13:01:39.146522 (system/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd [2895]) <Notice>: internal event: SPAWNED, code = 0
    2024-05-24 13:01:39.146528 (system/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd [2895]) <Notice>: service state: xpcproxy
    2024-05-24 13:01:39.146592 (system/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd [2895]) <Notice>: internal event: SOURCE_ATTACH, code = 0
    2024-05-24 13:01:39.162624 (system/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd [2895]) <Notice>: service state: running
    2024-05-24 13:01:39.162640 (system/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd [2895]) <Notice>: internal event: INIT, code = 0
    2024-05-24 13:01:39.162656 (system/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd [2895]) <Notice>: Successfully spawned accessoryupdaterd[2895] because ipc (mach)
    2024-05-24 13:03:39.391905 (system/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd [2895]) <Notice>: exited due to exit(0), ran for 120240ms
    2024-05-24 13:03:39.391944 (system/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd [2895]) <Notice>: service state: exited
    2024-05-24 13:03:39.391962 (system/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd [2895]) <Notice>: internal event: EXITED, code = 0
    2024-05-24 13:03:39.391970 (system) <Notice>: service inactive: com.apple.accessoryupdaterd
    2024-05-24 13:03:39.392119 (system/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd [2895]) <Notice>: service state: not running
    2024-05-24 13:03:39.392174 (system/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd) <Notice>: internal event: WILL_SPAWN, code = 0
    2024-05-24 13:03:39.392181 (system/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd) <Notice>: service state: spawn scheduled
    2024-05-24 13:03:39.392186 (system/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd) <Notice>: service state: spawning
    2024-05-24 13:03:39.392228 (system/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd) <Notice>: launching: ipc (mach)
    2024-05-24 13:03:39.396339 (system/com.apple.accessoryupdaterd [2916]) <Notice>: xpcproxy spawned with pid 2916

    BTW, thanks for the feedback. This is above my paygrade but it's still worth learning about.
    Check if any of the LaunchAgents are for perhipherals like Logitech or other device manufacturers. The following Terminal command will list non-Apple services:

    launchctl list | grep -v "apple"

    The Console log says the accessoryupdaterd process is crashing repeatedly. It runs for around 120,000ms (2 minutes) then hits exit(0) and crashes. Then it respawns as a new process. It doesn't say what's crashing the process.

    Check if those logs still appear when Bluetooth is turned off.

    Also look in System Prefs > Software Update > More Info to see if there are any updates needing installed like firmware updates.
  • Reply 6 of 9
    TerryETerryE Posts: 5member


    Thank you SO much for the kind replies and suggestions!

     launchctl list | grep -v "apple"

    PID    Status    Label
    764    0    application.com.rockysandstudio.Battery-Diag.141576981.141577051
    -    0    com.rockysandstudio.Battery-Diag.LaunchHelper
    -    0    com.rockysandstudio.Memory-Diag.LaunchHelper
    762    0    application.com.sascha-simon.gists.56411183.56411189
    767    0    application.com.rockysandstudio.Memory-Diag.1044883.1044962
    -    2    com.adobe.AdobeCreativeCloud
    -    0    com.openssh.ssh-agent
    -    0    com.microsoft.update.agent
    893    0    application.com.adobe.accmac.125511103.125511109
    766    0    application.com.bitdefender.vpn.141650567.141650574
    553    0    application.org.mozilla.firefox.611382.134422294
    778    0    application.com.adobe.CCXProcess.132816590.132816596
    742    0    com.logitech.manager.daemon
    -    78    com.microsoft.OneDriveStandaloneUpdater
    791    0    application.com.adobe.AdobeCRDaemon.132818674.132818679
    736    0    com.bitdefender.antivirusformac
    -    0    com.adobe.ccxprocess
    -    1    com.ccStudio.tray

    Don't know if any of these might be calling the accessoryupdaterd Plist or how to tell. Wish I could find the calling culprit, because it might be unprotected and I could possibly stop it.

    I uninstalled everything Logitech and rebooted, reinstalled everything Logitech, rebooted, forgot ALL Bluetooth accessories of ALL kinds and turned them all off, rebooted, added back Bluetooth accessories one by one, rebooting, and tried about a dozen other efforts, reboots, and shots in the dark. I checked all possible app update notifications.

    With Bluetooth off the process still appears in Activity Monitor and restarts two seconds after manual kill.

    I had a version of Bitdefender sub from an attack problem I had on a previous MacBook, but it was not currently installed. I reinstalled it to run a full system check just in case there was something lurking. It was clean. According to Activity Monitor, the accessoryupdaterd process is not writing to disk or communicating via network.

    This did not show up until I upgraded from Ventura to Sonoma.

    I suspect it's an Apple OS issue. But maybe not. It definitely is System Integrity protected.  It's a scarce one, so not much info.

    Interesting that it doesn't show up in the second user I added, but then there's almost nothing in Activity Monitor there anyway. It's not interacted with any serious apps.

    I don't know too much about all this.

    I AM loathe to attempt to rebuild the entire system. Took months to get all apps up to par on current MacBook Pro, and probably a year to fine tune Photoshop, Davinci Resolve, and Microsoft Spreadsheets. They ALL are difficult to setup again from scratch for a new user, with preference and hidden databases all over the place. I'm also not sure that after porting everything over to a second user or even a clean install, the problem might not just show up again.

    Last check since reboot a few hours ago: threads 2, ports 34, CPU 34.44%, Context Switches 565300, faults 4555, Assertions 0, Page Ins, 11, Mach Messages In/Out null, Mach System Calls 269, Unix System Calls 6491.

    I did a process sample dump. A bit much for me to interpret though.

    Sigh. So much for spending $3500 for a fault free Apple system just to get away from nearly forgotten Windows Registry nightmares. At the least though, with help like yours, I'm learning more about the system I depend on.


  • Reply 7 of 9
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,375moderator
    TerryE said:
    I AM loathe to attempt to rebuild the entire system. Took months to get all apps up to par on current MacBook Pro, and probably a year to fine tune Photoshop, Davinci Resolve, and Microsoft Spreadsheets. They ALL are difficult to setup again from scratch for a new user, with preference and hidden databases all over the place. I'm also not sure that after porting everything over to a second user or even a clean install, the problem might not just show up again.
    Everything that sets up applications is in the home folder so copying the entire contents of the home folder to another will set them up the same way as the current user.

    Copying everything at once is likely to copy the problem files over but if the copy is done in stages, it will narrow down where the issue comes from.

    If you copy over /Users/<user>/Library/Preferences and /Users/<user>/Library/Application Support to the second user, log out and log into the second user, apps should be setup with the same settings. Check if the Activity Monitor is still ok after this. Then all you need are the user files like Documents, Music, Mail etc.
  • Reply 8 of 9
    TerryETerryE Posts: 5member
    Thank you so much for your kind and continued support. 

    Been on the phone with Apple just to get advice on moving/copying user info. They were not much help. The best support I've had is right here from your kind replies.

    But I have successfully rebuilt most of the new use account by porting over data folders. The new user account is surprisingly clean, so I'm working on deleting and removing as much junk as possible. I'm amazed at the sparse posting with Activity Monitor. Whole system moves faster, even Time Machine. So maybe it's a good thing, even if just a slog to get everything moved.

    Managed to get most personal and app profiles set up. Email was a mess and even after online help from Apple had to be rebuilt from scratch.  Trying to move V10 just refused to work, and Apple Support was having none of that. They tried to get me to restore the mail folder from user/library, but Time Machine restore would only allow moving the whole library, which is likely where the error is anyway. I tried moving it manually, but it just didn't work. There were more than 35 accounts on it, including 10 actual online accounts, the rest on the Mac where I have smart accounts set up.  It's fine now so far, but one of the time consuming reasons I just didn't want to mess with either an OS restore or manually moving to a new user account.

    Three things left: bookmarks and browser profile, databasees for Davinci Resolve, Documents. Probably a lot of app tweaks as well. Documents is 600Gb so  I've backed up to an SSD AND a pair of HDD's I use for long term safety storage. 

    I'm not sure yet how to actually move Documents from one user to another, but dont' have room on my 1TB sys SSD for two versions. Got any ideas? Otherwise I will I have to delete Documents from first account and restore them from SSD to the second. Doable but uncomfortable. More than a decade of personal data, taxes, Photoshop, Davinci Resolve, scores of hand built client websites, tens of thousands of files.

    With System Integrity and many other security changes, Apple has made it harder for users to screw up their own account. Makes sense. BUT it also makes it almost impossible for Apple to offer help fixing the problems their own OS and app updates cause.




  • Reply 9 of 9
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,375moderator
    TerryE said:

    Three things left: bookmarks and browser profile, databasees for Davinci Resolve, Documents. Probably a lot of app tweaks as well. Documents is 600Gb so  I've backed up to an SSD AND a pair of HDD's I use for long term safety storage. 

    I'm not sure yet how to actually move Documents from one user to another, but dont' have room on my 1TB sys SSD for two versions. Got any ideas? Otherwise I will I have to delete Documents from first account and restore them from SSD to the second. Doable but uncomfortable. More than a decade of personal data, taxes, Photoshop, Davinci Resolve, scores of hand built client websites, tens of thousands of files.
    The contents of user folders can be moved to /Users/Shared and then moved into the other user. The root folders will try to duplicate but the contents will move without duplicating so if there's a file /Users/<user>/Documents/file, moving the file to /Users/Shared/Documents/file will be accessible from the other user.

    The bookmarks for Safari are in /Users/<user>/Library/Safari/Bookmarks.plist, that file can be copied over. The whole folder can probably be copied over.
    Da Vinci content will be in /Users/<user>/Library/Application Support/Blackmagic Design/, this folder should copy over.

    If it's a single-user computer, the /Users/Shared folder can be used to store some files and it makes it easier to switch to a new user, they wouldn't all have to be copied/moved back into another user folder.
    muthuk_vanalingam
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