CafeTran

Hello,

I'm experiencing an issue with Cafetran's resource use. I'm using a 2014 Retina Macbook Pro with i5 2,6 GHz, 8 GB of RAM and a solid state drive running the final build of El Capitan 10.11. The laptop is still pretty new and maintains a stable 8-9 hour battery life (~120 load cycles) while using Safari, MS Office and other simple, everyday tools.

However, using Cafetran decreases the battery life to approximately 2,5 - 3 hours, the fan fires up to more than 3,000 rpm (idle value = ~1,300), also the temperatures rise considerably. I've already tried changing the autosave setting value for glossaries, projects and memories to 10.
At the moment I'm using a single TMX memory consisting of little less than 12,000 entries and a couple of glossaries with several hundred terms.

I'm using the full version of Cafetran, revision 2015101301 released today and I have the newest java 8 installed.

The above happens regardless of the translated file's size. It makes no difference if the document contains five thousand characters or a hundred thousand.

I'm attaching a screenshot of the Activity Monitor's energy tab, with the second and third columns being Energy Impact and Average Energy Impact. That's after ten minutes of working in Cafetran. CPU Usage stays between 15 and 20%.

I had the same issue with older revisions of Cafetran on my old 2010 Macbook white running Mavericks and, later on, Yosemite. However, it wasn't that much of an issue since that laptop wouldn't last more than two hours on a single charge anyway.

As my hardware finally allows to spend more than a couple of hours away from the wall socket, it would be great to take advantage of it.

I would be very grateful for any help on this matter.

...or is it supposed to be like that?

piotrek.szczepanski: is it supposed to be like that?

Probably. If you go the the next segment, CT seems to use a lot of energy (I just checked, figures are similar to yours on an iMac, 5,000 words document, 50k TM). Some time ago, somebody complained that his (m/f) MacBook got very hot. Igor recommended to use Pretranslation. I don't particularly like pretranslation, because the results are saved in the cache, possibly ruining (terms) consistency. I'd suggest you use pretranslation, save it, quit CT, run CT with the pretranslation file (lowest priority) and the ProjectTM (high priority) only. The pretranslation won't be in the cache in that case. [correct me if I'm wrong, Igor].

That should save battery life.

H

Hello Piotrek,

I have a MBP that is pretty much the same as yours. I'm happy to do some comparing tests, as soon as it is back from Apple repair (hopefully next week). I haven't used El Cap for production yet. Regarding: "I had the same issue with older revisions of Cafetran on my old 2010 Macbook white running Mavericks and, later on, Yosemite", I can say that there have never been any issues with CT on these versions of OS X.

You aren't running any other software in the background, are you?

> Igor recommended to use Pretranslation.

I've stumbled upon that post almost right after posting here. I tried that and it seems to help. At least until I change the segment structure (e.g. merge or split segments), however it does seem logical that I have to run Pretranslation again in such instance. After Pretranslation the CPU spikes are gone, and battery calculation settles at approximately 6-7 hours, although I need to test it for a couple more days to give a definitive answer.
However, I still think that having to use Pretranslation in case of documents containing ~500 words is a bit of an overkill. ;-)

> You aren't running any other software in the background, are you? 

Nope. Nothing power hungry, at least according to Activity Manager. Safari with a couple of tabs open, Mail.app, an occasional PDF or two in stock Preview. Cafetran is definitely the culprit here.

Also, may I know what happened to your MBP? I have a month left to purchase the extended warranty and I'm starting to consider doing so.

>Also, may I know what happened to your MBP? I have a month left to purchase the extended warranty and I'm starting to consider doing so.

I spilled liquid on the keyboard. It stilled worked but I couldn't stand the stickiness of the Return key.

The problem with these compact Macs is that everything is connected. You cannot replace a keyboard: the whole top case (the keyboard plus the trackpad plus the aluminium top) and the battery (!) has to be replaced. Quite expensive.

So I'd really advise you to take this extended warranty. I'll do so next time (again). It's cheeper.

Hello Igor,

I'm afraid my happiness was premature. After applying Pretranslation the issue persists. Cafetran takes up an almost constant 15-25% of CPU and battery life still drops down to approximately 2 hours.

Perhaps it's a RAM issue? Too much swapping to SSD? Hardly likely? 

>Perhaps it's a RAM issue? Too much swapping to SSD? Hardly likely?

I don't have a clue. How can I check it?

I even switched to Total Recall thinking that a smaller, recalled memory might lessen the CPU load. No luck there. I still get 3 hours on battery. 

piotrek: How can I check it?

Check your RAM usage in the Activity monitor. If it's more than the 2 GB default (quite possible), assigning more RAM to CT may help for the reason Hans CafeTran Wiki mentioned.

In the menu, Edit | Options | Memory, and check the Java memory. You may want to perform an extra check in the .plist (Open CT package, Contents, Info.plist.I think the default is 2 GB (2000 MB, it probably says). You may want to increase that to at least 4 GB. You may want to perform an extra check in the .plist. Open CT package, Contents, Info.plist, at the end of the list. My settings:

That Recall memory may actually become pretty large. For every word in your source document (minus stopwords, I think), Recall can generate up to 100 segments if you use the default settings. You can lower the default, or you can "pretranslate" the Recall memory, import it, and "delete" the Recall TM.

H.

Thanks for your answer!

>Check your RAM usage in the Activity monitor. If it's more than the 2 GB default (quite possible), >assigning more RAM to CT may help for the reason Hans CafeTran Wiki mentioned.

CafeTran stays at ~1 GB, often even less. 

>You can lower the default, or you can "pretranslate" the Recall memory, import it, and "delete" the >Recall TM.

I've been doing precisely that – no change.

I opened a small project after changing java memory to 4 gigs – and lost 10% of battery charge in 15 minutes (i.e. business as usual) The CPU temp rises to 75C and the fan starts spinning at as much as 4000 rpm as soon as I translate a couple of segments and add them to the Project TM.

I give up, Piotrek. I don't have that problem, because I don't have a MacBook.

I can't think of anything else. Sorry!

H.

Hans CafeTran Wiki: Did you do a clean install of El Capitan?

Piotrek, don't waste your time. There's no need for a "clean install" on a Mac. Never. Well, unless you have numerous other complaints, and even that is doubtful. And most certainly not on a 2014 rMBP.

H.