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hgz's avatar
hgz
Helpful | Level 6
2 years ago

High memory usage on Mac M1

Hi,

 

I've just installed my first M1 iMAC and entered the Dropbox beta program.

I need to add that I run an Intel base MB Pro in parallel and I've entered the beta program there as well.

So far everything went fine, Dropbox runs Apple nativ and functionality is as expected (well known from the past).

Checking memory usage on the M1 Mac made me wondering. 7,4GByte!! 

After rebooting the machine it came down to 750Mbyte but nearly a day later its up again to 1,5Gbyte and is constantly increasing.

On the Intel MB Pro, everything fine and smooth. Memory consumption around 700Mbyte & constant.

Does anyone experience similar memory issues on M1 MAC's?

 

 

  • Issue was resolved.

    Many thx to the Dropbox support team!

    Root cause:

    - a faulty,  external USB hard-disc which was configured for a Dropbox backup. Actually, this drive seemed to work properly but unmount/mounted themself periodically. 

  • ZeroClover's avatar
    ZeroClover
    Explorer | Level 4

    I noticed that the DropboxFileProvider on my Mac is using over 20GB of memory. It is the same on my several Macs. These Macs all use Apple Silicon chips and run the latest macOS (Sonoma 14.0), with at least 16GB of physical memory.

     

     

    This also leads to high memory pressure on my macOS even when no other applications are running.

    Is this expected behavior? Is there any way to reduce Dropbox's memory usage?

    • Hannah's avatar
      Hannah
      Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

      Sorry to hear about this, ZeroClover.

       

      Can you take a look at this article with all the possible reasons this might be happening and let me know if it helps?

      • David K.79's avatar
        David K.79
        Explorer | Level 4

        I have been having this memory leak problem for months on macOS. I just quit Dropbox (again) after it was hogging 30+GB of memory. I do not have more than 300,000 files in the Dropbox folder, and I have contacted support directly without resolution (issues just get marked as solved).

  • Walter's avatar
    Walter
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

    Hey hgz, sorry to hear about this and thanks for your detailed report.

     

    Just to make sure we're on the same page, can you clarify the exact OS version of your computer and the version and status of the desktop app as shown in your menu bar?

     

    Thanks!

    • hgz's avatar
      hgz
      Helpful | Level 6

      Hi Walter,

       

      I run on both machines OS 13.0.1.

      Desktop App Status - beta up&running, no syncs ongoing e.g. all data in sync.

      Version: 

      KR

      Hans-Georg

      • Megan's avatar
        Megan
        Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

        Hi hgz, sorry to jump in here! 

         

        Can you access your account settings, and turn Early releases off? After that, install one of the stable builds of the Dropbox application, and let me know if the behavior remains the same. 

  • goBiGGER's avatar
    goBiGGER
    Explorer | Level 4

    @hgz How did it go for you so far? I am currently getting 31GB+ Dropbox memory usage on a brand new Mac Studio Ultra 64GB ram. It's forcing it to use 4.5GB disk cache, wearing my SSD... Not to mention the CPU 100%. It is uploading a ton of files at the moment, but still... 

    • hgz's avatar
      hgz
      Helpful | Level 6

      Hi goBiGGER 

       

      unfortunately my memory (leak) issue still exists and I need to kill & restart the Dropbox process every 3 days.

      Dropbox support was very kind and proactive so far and we ran through all possible user actions like re-indexing, checking security settings on the Dropbox folder (btw Apple Silicon machines need full access) and so on. As said, unfortunately the issue still exists and as far as I understood support, they will forward it now to engineering. I would assume that your experiences will help engineering identifying the root cause as well.

       

      KR

      Hans-Georg

      • goBiGGER's avatar
        goBiGGER
        Explorer | Level 4

        did the same, restarted and that got it down to 2.9GB at the moment. But I suspect if I leave it on another week or two it will get large again... A memory leak by the looks of it...

  • hgz's avatar
    hgz
    Helpful | Level 6

    Issue was resolved.

    Many thx to the Dropbox support team!

    Root cause:

    - a faulty,  external USB hard-disc which was configured for a Dropbox backup. Actually, this drive seemed to work properly but unmount/mounted themself periodically. 

    • goBiGGER's avatar
      goBiGGER
      Explorer | Level 4

      I don't have a faulty external drive. The memory leak is real, not a hardware issue, it's a coding issue. Currently using 9GB ram. 

      • Walter's avatar
        Walter
        Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

        Hey goBiGGER, sorry to hear you're having issues with this.

         

        Can you please send us a screenshot of the app's exact status and version as shown in your menu bar at the moment? 

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