I started Indigo yesterday evening on a MacBook Pro (a temporary situation but convenient as I was also using the camera to try and capture footage of a heron breaking into the pond overnight).

Checked everything this morning and whilst OK the MacBook seemed to be under a load (could hear the fans + was hot to touch). Didn't think any more about it.

Just came back a few minutes ago and it's still very warm with the fans running full tilt. Checked activity monitor - guess what? Shows that the Indigo server (under admin) is running at 137% CPU (for reference garageband was using 14% and safari 8%).

I can't believe this is normal. Is there something wrong?

Killed the server and could hear the fans wind down almost immediately. Next time I want to cook breakfast I know what to do

Are you seeing this when running Indigo using your launch-before-login technique you previously discussed? I wonder if that is what is causing the problem.

Indigo Server should use only a fraction of 1% of your CPU utilization when idle. It goes up some if you are accessing it via a web browser, if the Indigo Client is also running, or if it is sending/receiving power line commands, but you should never see it get very high for a long period of time.

A looping AppleScript executing within Indigo Server could cause a problem though.

What is the Event Log showing while it is > 100%?

Regards,
Matt

No, this was purely the result of having started Indigo, triggered a couple of devices and quit it (leaving the server running).

I've since had a re-occurrence tonight, but here's part of the event log.

2007-05-24 18:44:06 Application Client connected
2007-05-24 18:44:12 Application Connected to CM-11/HD-11 interface
2007-05-24 18:44:12 Application CM-11 firmware version 8
2007-05-24 18:44:16 Sent X10 "Pond Pump" off
2007-05-24 18:44:16 Trigger Action Send Pond Pump Off Email
2007-05-24 18:44:18 Sent X10 "Pond Pump" on
2007-05-24 18:44:18 Trigger Action Send Pond Pump On Email
2007-05-24 18:44:41 Application Client disconnected
2007-05-24 18:44:45 Error FillSerialInputStream() caught exception: SerialCommunicationError -- unexpected -1 returned from serial read()
2007-05-24 18:44:49 Error fatal communication error with interface
2007-05-24 18:44:49 Error switching interface to offline mode
2007-05-24 18:44:50 Email Sent to "nicplum@mac.com"; subject "INDIGO: Pond Pump OFF"
2007-05-24 18:45:47 Email Sent to "nicplum@mac.com"; subject "INDIGO: Pond Pump ON"
2007-05-24 18:51:10 Email Scanned from "wikitect@mac.com"; subject "INDIGO: Pond Pump OFF"
2007-05-24 18:51:10 Email Scanned from "wikitect@mac.com"; subject "INDIGO: Pond Pump ON"
2007-05-24 19:11:46 Email Scanned from "nicplum@mac.com"; subject "YouTube - Gates vs. Jobs"
2007-05-24 21:35:56 Email Scanned from "net.shop@lakeland.co.uk"; subject "Lakeland Password Help"
2007-05-24 21:46:14 Email Scanned from "net.shop@lakeland.co.uk"; subject "Lakeland order confirmation"
2007-05-24 22:48:01 Email Scanned from "UKPriority.Emails@ctshirts.co.uk"; subject "re: Your Charles Tyrwhitt Order [OrderCnf]"
2007-05-24 23:39:30 Email Scanned from "spotlight@noreply.bebo.com"; subject "Spotlight on Bebo"

I have a MacBook, and though I do not use it for Indigo, I have noticed odd behavior with the fan. I don't have anything set to run when it boots up, but occasionally the fan starts right up and doesn't stop until I reboot. During these times there is nothing running, but the computer is hot and the fan is running. I think this may be a symptom of the exploding batteries that are going on.

My problem may be completely separate from what you have described, but judging from these exploding batteries and wierd overheating issues, it could all be related.

Did you have the "Error fatal communication error with interface" line in the Event Log the first time it happened as well? That shouldn't be happening.

What type of USB to serial adapter are you using, and what driver are you using? Make sure you plug it directly into a USB port on your Mac -- sometimes those adapters aren't very compatible with USB hubs.

Regards,
Matt

I'm going to use this topic to report a similar problem in my setup.
I've noticed for a couple of weeks now that Indigo Server 3.0.3 is using between 90% and 120% of CPU usage on a 2 GHz Mac mini, 2GB RAM. Still running Tiger 10.4.11 with all updates applied.

The event log shows no special events at that moment, just normal stuff like motion detectors, triggers and action groups executing.

CPU usage is high for about 15-20 seconds, then it drops back to normal, minimal usage.
No clues at this moment what is causing this behaviour.

Are any AppleScripts being executed by Indigo during those 15 to 20 seconds? Any loops in those AppleScripts?

Regards,
Matt

Not that I can see, but I do have some background tasks running.
But there is no pattern that I can recognize in this CPU usage.

macpro wrote:... but I do have some background tasks running...

Come to think of it: those background tasks should not be the cause of the problem, because they have their own osascript processes. And those processes always have low CPU counts.

macpro wrote:Come to think of it: those background tasks should not be the cause of the problem, because they have their own osascript processes. And those processes always have low CPU counts.

True, but not necessarily always. If those osascript processes call into Indigo at all (tell app "IndigoServer"), then it is the main Indigo Server process that will be fulfilling that call. This is true for all AppleScript attachment functions you have defined and are calling as well.

Regards,
Matt

I found the cause of the CPU usage: the e-mail scan feature.
Indigo sends lots of e-mails to me during the day and I delete e-mails from the POP server after one month. So there's a lot of e-mails waiting at the POP server and doing nothing.
To detect if my internet connection is still up-and-running, I have Indigo setup to scan this e-mail account every 15 minutes.
When this scanning starts, the CPU goes up, with Indigo skipping al those e-mails it has already read. It goes to normal when e-mail scanning has finished.