Head's up for rogue mdworker32 processes.

[elagache]

Dear WeatherCat power Mac users,

I'm still trying to settle down in my new(er) MacBook Pro and had another one of those bizarre runaway CPU loading episodes that led to a very unexpected culprit.   In Activity Monitor, I was seeing a lot of CPU use from the application mdworker32.  This immediately got me very suspicious.  This is a newer Mac that runs the 64-bit kernel.  The 32 in that application made me suspect that this was something running in 32-bit compatible mode - what gives?

I found this thread on Apple's discussion forum:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2146203?start=15&tstart=0

In it there was a suggestion that Microsoft Office was behind the problem and that a plug-in for the Spotlight indexer was actually the CPU hog.  It was suggested to inspect the mdworker32 in Activity Monitor and look to see which files were open at the time of the runaway CPU use.  What I discovered was actually related to another piece of software: Mariner Write.  The offending file had this path:

/Applications/MarinerWrite/Mariner Write.app/Contents/Library/Spotlight/WriteImporter.mdimporter/Contents/MacOS/WriteImporter

Following the suggestions in the Apple thread, I made a backup of Mariner Write, then I went into the application bundle of the Mariner Write application and compressed the WriteImporter.mdimporter file.  I then trashed the uncompressed file.   After I did this, the use of mdworker32 disappeared. 

I think what the problem is stems from an old and obsolete application that alas, Mariner hasn't updated (even if they still claim to support Write.)  By making it inaccessible, The Spotlight indexer for Mariner Write doesn't run - problem solved.  It does mean that my Mariner Write documents aren't being indexed by Spotlight, but I'm not sure this was working properly anyway.  I can live without that indexing.

A number of WeatherCat users have mentioned having problems with Spotlight.  If you are experiencing this sort of thing, you might be able to fix it rather than turning off Spotlight to avoid the issues.

For Your Information!

Cheers, Edouard 

[xairbusdriver]

Found your post yesterday when I started having "mdworker32" problems. I, too, had deleted the 'importer' file in Mariner Write a couple of years ago. But I was rather surprised to see it again since I had been using Yosemite for a couple of weeks (some call me paranoid!). Apparently, even opening some of the Mariner Write documents can cause this problem; I don't recall even opening the app intentionally!

To make this post shorter, here's a link to what I posted at a <Mac tech/help site> I help admin. Mainly, I'm just posting here to suggest that you don't have to totally disable Spotlight. You can use the 'Info' button in Activity Monitor to find out what specific file might be causing the problem. While I seldom use Spotlight, I have other apps that use its database, so I let it keep that updated.

BTW, I've bookmarked this site as I've always been interested in using some kind of personal weather station, naturally connected to my Mac! Probably an interest kindled by my previous career as a 'fly-by-nite' pilot!

BTW#2: If you follow the link above, be sure to take some time to look around the site. We may be rather small, but it's the friendliest 'tech/help' site I've ever seen. We can always use new users, especially ones with good Mac trouble-shooting skills! 

[Blicj11]

Thanks for posting here and welcome to the WeatherCat forum. If you are looking for native Mac weather software you have found the right bunch to hang with.

[xairbusdriver]

At the risk of hi-jacking this thread, thanks for the 'Welcome'! I've been reading through many of the threads in this Category and you guys seem very cordial and friendly! I'll probably end up spending several hours combing through the 'brands' thread for recommendations and problems/tips.

Stay warm this Winter! Right now I'm in the process of finding out who should be fired for allowing all the freezing rain/sleet/snow! We're only supposed to have that kind of stuff every other year! Even then, the temp is supposed to go back to above 40?F and the Sun should shine 10 hours for at least three consecutive days!!!

[Blicj11]

Ha ha!

"Conversation about the weather is the last refuge of the unimaginative."
Oscar Wilde, Irish Writer & Poet (1854-1900)

This is a great forum with some really helpful members. As far as hardware is concerned, many of us use Davis Instruments products. They are more expensive than the other supported brands but have a higher quality and reliability track record. If you get serious, jump into the hardware section and we can tell you where to purchase online for considerably less than Amazon.