ESET Smart Security 8 memory leak

[BALTAGY 32]

memory leak problem was in v6 and v7 before and been fixed but now again it's there with v8!

 

my pc running for 6h and ekrn.exe now 198MB

 

 

my system:

i5

Windows 8.1 64Bit

12 GB ram
 

[SweX 871]

And I have another bug ekrn.exe starts using 99% CPU and the only way to fix it is to restart. It happened 4 times yesterday. I have created a full mem dump for ESET. 

[Peter Randziak 1,130]

Hello,

 

can you please compress the memory dumps alongside with ESET SysInspector and send me a download link via private message?

 

We will check it.

[BALTAGY 32]

Hello,

 

can you please compress the memory dumps alongside with ESET SysInspector and send me a download link via private message?

 

We will check it.

when i tried to create the memory dumps i got blus screen and then system restarted i don't know if that normal in windows 8

 

i have 12GB ram and i found the memory dump 12 GB size but when i compressed it become 980 mb, i have a very bad internet these day's and i can't upload that much

[Peter Randziak 1,130]

In case of BSOD memory written to the pagefile.sys and than on next system start is converted to a memory.dmp file, but you need to have it set.

Memory dumps can be usually compressed with really high compression ratio so 980 MB from 12 GB RAM may be O.K (anyway I assume that most of the memory was not allocated.)

In case you have only memory leak on ekrn.exe processdump would be enough (you can create it via Task manager) alongside with SysInspector log.

In case you get a BSOD we need full memory dump and SysInspector for analysis.

[TJP 143]

memory leak problem was in v6 and v7 before and been fixed but now again it's there with v8!

 

my pc running for 6h and ekrn.exe now 198MB

 

I can confirm this issue too.

 

I've seen ekern.exe using as much as 230MB of RAM with version 8 after 4 hours with nothing running other than the default Win 8.1 processes and Firefox open. I reverted back to version 7 (ironic that V7 is the only version of ESS available in my region) and the RAM usage for ekern.exe fluctuates between 90-98MB with Firefox running (3 open tabs) and Steam downloading.

[rugk 397]

@TJP

Please also create a memory dump from ekrn.exe, but 230 MB is not "so much too much", because about around 100 MB are normal.

But if you feel that this is an issue you can send this to ESET.

[TJP 143]

@TJP

Please also create a memory dump from ekrn.exe, but 230 MB is not "so much too much", because about around 100 MB are normal.

But if you feel that this is an issue you can send this to ESET.

I agree that 230 MB of RAM usage is hardly earth shattering

 

Version 7 consistently hovers around the 95 MB mark no matter what I'm doing or how long the PC is running, where as version 8 starts off at 100 MB, quickly climbs to 150-160 MB and then goes even higher despite nothing being open or running apart from the MS services that are a part of a vanilla Win 8.1 x64 install, I think it's fair to suggest something isn't quite right with version 8 at this point in time.

 

I will endevor to upload a memory dump when I reinstall version 8, presuming the issue isn't sorted between now and then

[BALTAGY 32]

memory dump file for ekrn.exe sent

Edited October 4, 2014 by BALTAGY

[SweX 871]

@TJP

Please also create a memory dump from ekrn.exe, but 230 MB is not "so much too much", because about around 100 MB are normal.

But if you feel that this is an issue you can send this to ESET.

Yes it is indeed an issue because that is not anywhere near the normal amount. And several users are reporting it. So something is clearly not right with the latest build. 

Edited October 4, 2014 by SweX

[rugk 397]

Yes it is an issue of our goes up to 160 or 180 MB like he said. This is clearly to much!

Edited October 4, 2014 by rugk

[BALTAGY 32]

more than 150 MB is too much i think, Eset Smart Security v7 had this problem before and problem been fixed long time ago

[TJP 143]

Yes it is an issue of our goes up to 160 or 180 MB like he said. This is clearly to much!

Are you using version 8 and if so, have you observed the same RAM usage? I'm curious to see if others on the forum are experiencing the same issue. Further, I am slightly reluctant to change from version 7 simply because it is performing at a flawless level; if it helps ESET to solve the issue, I'll reinstall version 8.

 

Anyone know why the international, UK and AU download sites still have version 7 as the most current version of ESS?

Edited October 5, 2014 by TJP

[SweX 871]

It seems this memory issue is isolated to Win8 based on what I have read, or are there any Win 7, Vista and XP users that are seeing a similar ram usage from ekrn.exe on their PCs?

 

@TJP, I think the dumps that already have been sent in from several users should be enough for analysis, so you can stay with V7. I too no longer have V8 installed due to the 99% cpu usage issue I had with ekrn.exe. But I don't believe there is a connection between these two problems.

[Driver8 4]

I am using Windows 7 on my desktop computer and have ESET version 8 installed.  For me, ekrn starts off at about 106 MB and stays there after several hours of general computing.  It only goes up a small amount when I am running a few applications.  I am not seeing any CPU usage spikes.  I do think that ESET version 7 used a little less RAM on the same computer but 106 is fine by me. 

[TJP 143]

Thanks SweX.

 

I was curious if the memory leak issue was caused by Win 8.1 or by installing version 8 'over' version 7 (instead of uninstalling version 7, reboot the PC and install version 8).

 

Perhaps some settings carried across from version 7 are causing trouble...

[Morisato 8]

Win 7 x64

 

Idle with no scan. Upgraded from 7 to 8. Only mem leak issue but no high cpu issue.

Edited October 6, 2014 by Morisato

[TJP 143]

I've reinstalled a fresh download of ESS version 8. The key difference is that I uninstalled version 7 and rebooted, deleted any remaining ESET folders (in \AppData\Local and \AppData\Roaming), ran CCleaner and installed ESS version 8.
 
Version 8 of ESS has been operational for several hours I see no RAM usage increases over the three hours. Per the attached picture, ESS UI is using 7.9MB and the ekrn.exe 91.2MB (now at 89.1MB as I type this). I cannot be sure what has caused the change:

 

• Module and/or signature updates,
• A clean install of ESS version 8 rather than installing version 8 over the top of version 7,
• Manual change to the Diagnostics settings from create minidump - which is the default - to 'Do not generate memory dump', or
• A combination of all of these.

 

I'll continue to monitor the RAM usage to see if it climbs again.

 

Cheers.

[BALTAGY 32]

I've reinstalled a fresh download of ESS version 8. The key difference is that I uninstalled version 7 and rebooted, deleted any remaining ESET folders (in \AppData\Local and \AppData\Roaming), ran CCleaner and installed ESS version 8.

 

Version 8 of ESS has been operational for several hours I see no RAM usage increases over the three hours. Per the attached picture, ESS UI is using 7.9MB and the ekrn.exe 91.2MB (now at 89.1MB as I type this). I cannot be sure what has caused the change:

 

• Module and/or signature updates,
• A clean install of ESS version 8 rather than installing version 8 over the top of version 7,
• Manual change to the Diagnostics settings from create minidump - which is the default - to 'Do not generate memory dump', or
• A combination of all of these.

 

I'll continue to monitor the RAM usage to see if it climbs again.

 

Cheers.

look at "working set" at details tab not processes tab

[TJP 143]

look at "working set" at details tab not processes tab

 

There was no need as they were indicating the same RAM usage:

[SweX 871]

That's good TJP, the working set is what one should watch. If it increases be sure to make a dump. And I guess then we can rule out the V8 install over V7 as the possible cause for this.  But fingers crossed TJP

[Peter Randziak 1,130]

Hello,

 

I have one dump from BALTAGY, I have created ticket with the Dev team to check it.

In case you have memory usage over 200 MB please create a dump and let me know via private message.

[TJP 143]

That's good TJP, the working set is what one should watch. If it increases be sure to make a dump. And I guess then we can rule out the V8 install over V7 as the possible cause for this.  But fingers crossed TJP

Yeah, I know the working set was the correct one to look at however both task manger and working set details were the same figure (or very close). Day 2 and the RAM usage via working set remains between 90-100MB.

[Peter Randziak 1,130]

Hello,

 

in case you have x64 OS please create a dump via Procdump utility, these dumps are much easier to analyze than dumps created via Task manager.

[BALTAGY 32]

Hello,

 

in case you have x64 OS please create a dump via Procdump utility, these dumps are much easier to analyze than dumps created via Task manager.

i created a new one with Procdump utility if you want i can send it to you, after 1h ekrn.exe become 179MB