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Macmini8,1 (2018) running up to date 10.14.6 OSX Mojave:

My console is getting absolutely destroyed and followed with 'WindowServer: (CoreDisplay) [com.apple.CoreDisplay:default] [DEBUG]' messages and doing excessive amounts of disk activity. The following set of messages are spammed hundreds of times every few seconds:

Timestamp                       Thread     Type        Activity             PID    TTL  
2021-02-16 12:34:51.943692-0600 0x43d      Debug       0x0                  169    0    WindowServer: (CoreDisplay) [com.apple.CoreDisplay:default] [DEBUG] - DisplayID:0x21599882 Brightness:1.000000  BrightnessAttenuationFactor:1.000000  LightAttenuation:1.000000 TableAttenuation:1.000000 LinearBrightness:1.000000 IsAutoBrightnessEnabled:No IsOnBattery:No
2021-02-16 12:34:51.943747-0600 0x43d      Debug       0x0                  169    0    WindowServer: (CoreDisplay) [com.apple.CoreDisplay:default] [DEBUG] - DisplayID:0x21599882 Brightness:1.000000  BrightnessAttenuationFactor:1.000000  LightAttenuation:1.000000 TableAttenuation:1.000000 LinearBrightness:1.000000 IsAutoBrightnessEnabled:No IsOnBattery:No
2021-02-16 12:34:51.943776-0600 0x43d      Debug       0x0                  169    0    WindowServer: (CoreDisplay) [com.apple.CoreDisplay:default] [DEBUG] - DisplayID:0x21599882 Brightness:1.000000  BrightnessAttenuationFactor:1.000000  LightAttenuation:1.000000 TableAttenuation:1.000000 LinearBrightness:1.000000 IsAutoBrightnessEnabled:No IsOnBattery:No
2021-02-16 12:34:51.943803-0600 0x43d      Debug       0x0                  169    0    WindowServer: (CoreDisplay) [com.apple.CoreDisplay:default] [DEBUG] - DisplayID:0x21599882 Brightness:1.000000  BrightnessAttenuationFactor:1.000000  LightAttenuation:1.000000 TableAttenuation:1.000000 LinearBrightness:1.000000 IsAutoBrightnessEnabled:No IsOnBattery:No
2021-02-16 12:34:51.943829-0600 0x43d      Debug       0x0                  169    0    WindowServer: (CoreDisplay) [com.apple.CoreDisplay:default] [DEBUG] - DisplayID:0x21599882 Brightness:1.000000  BrightnessAttenuationFactor:1.000000  LightAttenuation:1.000000 TableAttenuation:1.000000 LinearBrightness:1.000000 IsAutoBrightnessEnabled:No IsOnBattery:No
2021-02-16 12:34:51.943856-0600 0x43d      Debug       0x0                  169    0    WindowServer: (CoreDisplay) [com.apple.CoreDisplay:default] [DEBUG] - DisplayID:0x21599882 Brightness:1.000000  BrightnessAttenuationFactor:1.000000  LightAttenuation:1.000000 TableAttenuation:1.000000 LinearBrightness:1.000000 IsAutoBrightnessEnabled:No IsOnBattery:No
2021-02-16 12:34:51.943959-0600 0x43d      Debug       0x0                  169    0    WindowServer: (CoreDisplay) [com.apple.CoreDisplay:default] [DEBUG] - DisplayID:0x21599882 Brightness:1.000000  BrightnessAttenuationFactor:1.000000  LightAttenuation:1.000000 TableAttenuation:1.000000 LinearBrightness:1.000000 IsAutoBrightnessEnabled:No IsOnBattery:No
2021-02-16 12:34:51.943991-0600 0x43d      Debug       0x0                  169    0    WindowServer: (CoreDisplay) [com.apple.CoreDisplay:default] [DEBUG] - DisplayID:0x21599882 Brightness:1.000000  BrightnessAttenuationFactor:1.000000  LightAttenuation:1.000000 TableAttenuation:1.000000 LinearBrightness:1.000000 IsAutoBrightnessEnabled:No IsOnBattery:No
2021-02-16 12:34:51.944018-0600 0x43d      Debug       0x0                  169    0    WindowServer: (CoreDisplay) [com.apple.CoreDisplay:default] [DEBUG] - DisplayID:0x21599882 Brightness:1.000000  BrightnessAttenuationFactor:1.000000  LightAttenuation:1.000000 TableAttenuation:1.000000 LinearBrightness:1.000000 IsAutoBrightnessEnabled:No IsOnBattery:No
2021-02-16 12:34:51.944045-0600 0x43d      Debug       0x0                  169    0    WindowServer: (CoreDisplay) [com.apple.CoreDisplay:default] [DEBUG] - DisplayID:0x21599882 Brightness:1.000000  BrightnessAttenuationFactor:1.000000  LightAttenuation:1.000000 TableAttenuation:1.000000 LinearBrightness:1.000000 IsAutoBrightnessEnabled:No IsOnBattery:No
2021-02-16 12:34:51.944073-0600 0x43d      Debug       0x0                  169    0    WindowServer: (CoreDisplay) [com.apple.CoreDisplay:default] [DEBUG] - DisplayID:0x21599882 Brightness:1.000000  BrightnessAttenuationFactor:1.000000  LightAttenuation:1.000000 TableAttenuation:1.000000 LinearBrightness:1.000000 IsAutoBrightnessEnabled:No IsOnBattery:No
2021-02-16 12:34:51.944679-0600 0x43d      Debug       0x0                  169    0    WindowServer: (CoreDisplay) [com.apple.CoreDisplay:default] [DEBUG] - On display 0x21599882, surface is not detached, CoreDisplay is detached (0x00000000), DetachCode = 0

I have researched this issue online extensively but unfortunately besides two similar threads, I've found nothing even on the issue:

https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/mojave-console-spammed-by-windowserver.298041/

WindowServer is eating lots of CPU, can't work out why

I did all the suggestions offered there but no luck. I've done an SMC and PRAM reset. I found that the terminal command sudo log config --process="process ID#" --mode "level:off" stops the console spam, but it only works until reset and doesn't actually correct whatever the issue that's causing the messages to occur.

I confirmed that this happens when an HDMI or USBC-HDMI cable is plugged in to the Mini. If I don't have any video connections to the Mini and remote in and check the console, the messages stop. The moment I plug a cable back in again, they start. I've tested it with 3 different monitors and HDMI cables.

This constant log spam is causing my Mini to get warm and doing continuous disk writing.

Does anyone have any ideas why this is happening, how to stop it, or at least properly disable those logs?

Improve this question
1
  • I actually have this on my macbook pro without having external monitors attached. Also went through all the steps above. Also including chromeisbad.com stuff.
    – Dmitry Shvedov
    Mar 24, 2022 at 22:33

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
2
  1. Have you disabled Info and Debug messages in the Console app? (Action -> Include [Info/Debug] Messages)
  2. What are your boot args? ($ nvram boot-args)
Improve this answer
2
  • 1
    1- Doesn't that just hide the messages from being shown in the Console? The issue is still occurring though and being written constantly right? 2- I think my boot args are just normal. I'm not sure what to do with that, sorry.
    – GodzFire
    Feb 18, 2021 at 19:49
  • 1
    @GodzFire 1. Yes. Almost every running process on your system is frequently emitting info- and debug-level messages. This is normal and the logging mechanism has been highly optimized so that you don’t need to worry about an adverse performance effect from the logging itself. There is also no way to prevent it. What you can prevent is the system load from displaying all of these messages to you in Console.app, which can slow the machine down. 2. This is just for the sake of completeness: Please add the output of that command to your original question.
    – pion
    Feb 18, 2021 at 20:03

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