ZeroCitizen

Q: I've tried everything I can possibly think of to improve my computer's performance, and it seems to be getting slower every day.

Before I begin, let me post my system specs real quick:

 

Hardware Overview:

 

  Model Name: MacBook

  Model Identifier: MacBook5,1

  Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo

  Processor Speed: 2 GHz

  Number of Processors: 1

  Total Number of Cores: 2

  L2 Cache: 3 MB

  Memory: 4 GB

  Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz

  Boot ROM Version: MB51.007D.B03

  SMC Version (system): 1.32f8

  Serial Number (system): W8******1B0

  Hardware UUID: 90146DFB-93C5-5699-AB59-05403BEC071C

  Sudden Motion Sensor:

  State: Enabled

 

Storage:

 

  Available: 61.79 GB (61,793,218,560 bytes)

  Capacity: 255.2 GB (255,200,755,712 bytes)

  Mount Point: /

  File System: Journaled HFS+

  Writable: Yes

  Ignore Ownership: No

  BSD Name: disk0s2

  Volume UUID: 2DA6DBEC-85AD-3415-81FA-B6979712E3E5

  Physical Drive:

  Media Name: V4-CT256V4SSD2 Media

  Medium Type: SSD

  Protocol: SATA

  Internal: Yes

  Partition Map Type: GPT (GUID Partition Table)

  S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified

 

 

So, a while ago I decided to get a SSD and upgrade to 4GB of RAM when I was still using Snow Leopard. Great investment, totally worth it. Well, for a while. Boot times were good at first. But they got sluggish. So of course I decided to upgrade to Mountain Lion because that would speed up my mac, right? Wrong. It takes my computer ten seconds from the time I push the power button to respond and begin booting. It takes anywhere from one to two and a half minutes to get to the login screen. On the login screen it won't respond to any input from keyboard, trackpad, or mouse for ten seconds more. When I type in my password, it's another thirty seconds to a minute before the spinning beach ball of death disappears and what should be my desktop appears. Instead I'm greeted by my desktop picture and nothing else. One to one and a half minutes later, my desktop, dock, and menu bar are all there in front of me. But we're not out of the woods yet. It takes about two or three more minutes before my computer becomes even remotely usable- if I just start clicking I'll get the beach ball of death and have to wait longer, watching my once-swift Google Chrome browser bounce endlessly up and down, never opening.

 

TL;DR: It takes way too long for my computer to start up given its specifications.

 

You might be poised at your keyboard right now, telling me to repair disk permissions, clear caches, reset PRAM and SMC, etc... but I've already done that. I have about 75GB free space on my solid state drive, so that's not an issue. I've used Onyx and CleanMyMac2 to clean up anything that could be causing the problem, and it hasn't fixed slow boot times and general sluggishness.

 

I've scoured the forums far and wide to find the answer that will transform my computer into the speed-demon it once was. That is why I have turned to you, dear internet, to aid me in my quest.

 

I'm not a digital dummy- I can follow just about any advice you give me if you're clear enough in explaining steps required. The OP in almost every thread I've visited thus far was clueless and simply needed routine maintenace or a hardware upgrade to fix the problem, and I know that can't be the issue... so what can?

 

(PS I did select the SSD as my startup disk after installing it)

 

<Edited By Host>

MacBook, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.4)

Posted on Aug 28, 2013 1:49 PM

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Q: I've tried everything I can possibly think of to improve my computer's performance, and it seems to be getting slower every day.

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  • by ZeroCitizen,

    ZeroCitizen ZeroCitizen Aug 28, 2013 4:10 PM in response to a brody
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 28, 2013 4:10 PM in response to a brody

    The plot thickens.

     

    First off, I tried to do a hardware test. I kept holding down "D" while booting and nothing happened. The diagnostic screen didn't come up. So I decided to come back to that at another time and booted into single user mode. I used the commands you recommended, and, good news! It's probably not a hardware issue! It said that the disk appeared to be ok after i did a

    /sbin/fsck -fy

     

    so then I did

    /sbin/mount -uw

    and got this message:

     

    "root device on / (hfs, local, read only, journaled) devfs on /dev (devfs, local, nobrowse)"

     

    I typed exit and saw a long series of unix-y type stuff, but one thing caught my eye...

     

    Previous shutdown cause: 5

    probing

    welcome to controllermate v4.5.5

    So I wrote this down and typed restart.

     

    Controllermate is an application that would allow me to use a gamepad with my computer. If you check the startup and login items, nowhere does it mention controllermate- I use gamepad companion and know for a fact that controllermate is a completely different program because I tried it before settling on gamepad companion and hated it, promptly uninstalling it (again this was in middle school, so for me uninstalling simply meant dragging to the trash). Like parallels, I've encountered fragments of the program across my SSD.

     

    I have no idea what to do at this point, but unless you think otherwise I'm pretty sure it's not a hardware problem.

  • by ZeroCitizen,

    ZeroCitizen ZeroCitizen Aug 28, 2013 4:15 PM in response to Eric Root
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 28, 2013 4:15 PM in response to Eric Root

    All of these suggestions are irrelevant- I've already given information that indicates none of this is the problem.

  • by ZeroCitizen,

    ZeroCitizen ZeroCitizen Aug 28, 2013 4:19 PM in response to a brody
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 28, 2013 4:19 PM in response to a brody

    Sorry... I keep leaving out information. I appreciate that you're so willing to help. Time Machine, Spotlight, and Hardware don't seem to be the problem.

  • by fingalls,

    fingalls fingalls Aug 28, 2013 4:51 PM in response to ZeroCitizen
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 28, 2013 4:51 PM in response to ZeroCitizen

    I have noticed that starting a Mac in Safe Mode can help speed it up. Because it clears out potentially corrupt caches that you may not have checked, it can be an invaluable tool for troubleshooting slowness.

     

    Also, if you run out of options, you may try an erase and reinstall of the operating system. Or simply a reinstall without the erase, which is almost guarenteed not to affect any of your data beyond rebuilding the OS itself. The erase and reinstall will clear up all of the pesky remnants of those old programs you mentioned, effectively cleaning your hard drive and allowing you to drag back in all the files you want from an external backup drive or online backup service. Naturally, you will have to reinstall all of the programs you previously had installed, unless you can restore from a time machine backup.

     

    Alternatively, you can try an archive and install. However I do not recommend this because of the amount of empty space necessary on the hard drive.

     

    In my experience, Parallels doesn't affect the speed of a computer unless it's actually running, which of course can be determined in Activity Monitor. However, it will probably behoove you to uninstall it anyway if you don't plan on using it.

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Aug 28, 2013 5:15 PM in response to fingalls
    Level 9 (50,968 points)
    Desktops
    Aug 28, 2013 5:15 PM in response to fingalls

    fingalls wrote:

     

    I have noticed that starting a Mac in Safe Mode can help speed it up. Because it clears out potentially corrupt caches that you may not have checked, it can be an invaluable tool for troubleshooting slowness.

    Emptying caches slows the Mac down, unless they were corrupt (rare) otherwise it is a waste of time.

     

    Safe mode is a troubleshooting mode, it disables lots of things, best to test with a clean slate.

  • by Barney-15E,

    Barney-15E Barney-15E Aug 28, 2013 5:18 PM in response to ZeroCitizen
    Level 9 (50,483 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 28, 2013 5:18 PM in response to ZeroCitizen

    You've got quite a few things that could be causing problems:

    Kernel Extensions:

              com.orderedbytes.driver.CMUSBDevices          (4.4.3)

              com.orderedbytes.driver.ControllerMateFamily          (4.4.3)

              com.Cvnt.nke          (2.1.2)

              com.Cvnt.driver.CvntDriver          (2.1.2)

              com.vara.driver.VaraAudio          (1.0.3)

     

    Problem System Launch Daemons:

     

    Problem System Launch Agents:

     

    Launch Daemons:

              [loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist

              [loaded] com.Cvnt.daemon.plist

              [loaded] com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2.Agent.plist

              [loaded] org.macosforge.xquartz.privileged_startx.plist

     

    Launch Agents:

              [loaded] com.Cvnt.start.plist

     

    User Launch Agents:

              [loaded] com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2Helper.scheduledScan.plist

              [loaded] com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2Helper.trashWatcher.plist

              [loaded] com.valvesoftware.steamclean.plist

     

    User Login Items:

              Covenant Eyes

              Caffeine

              HP Scheduler

  • by a brody,

    a brody a brody Aug 28, 2013 6:44 PM in response to ZeroCitizen
    Level 9 (66,882 points)
    Classic Mac OS
    Aug 28, 2013 6:44 PM in response to ZeroCitizen

    Since your Mac predates 10.7's release, it may be that you need the original system discs to run the hardware test.  If these are missing, you'll want to call Applecare to get a replacement at a nominal fee.   Controlermate 4.6 is needed for certain 10.8 compatibility.   I would contact them to make sure you know how to upgrade it, if it is worth upgrading for your use, and determine how to remove it if necessary.

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