eleve

Q: slow macbook

Hi, all,

 

My beloved and generally well behaved MacBook has been running very slowly for the past several months.  Would appreciate any help with diagnosing and curing the problem. 

 

Screen Shot 2014-09-28 at 10.12.18 AM.png

Doubtless other info will be needed.  Please tell me what/where to find. 

 

Thanks!

MacBook, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5)

Posted on Sep 28, 2014 10:15 AM

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Q: slow macbook

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  • Helpful answers

  • by stevejobsfan0123,

    stevejobsfan0123 stevejobsfan0123 Sep 28, 2014 10:16 AM in response to eleve
    Level 8 (43,997 points)
    iPhone
    Sep 28, 2014 10:16 AM in response to eleve

    Run EtreCheck - http://etresoft.com/etrecheck, and paste the output here.

  • by eleve,

    eleve eleve Sep 28, 2014 10:34 AM in response to stevejobsfan0123
    Level 1 (86 points)
    Sep 28, 2014 10:34 AM in response to stevejobsfan0123

    Will do. 

     

    FYI - just after I posted request, I was unexpectedly logged out & got repeated "access denied" messages across all devices.  Was just now let out of that jail.  Got any idea what that was all about? 

     

    Screen Shot 2014-09-28 at 10.33.24 AM.png

  • by eleve,

    eleve eleve Sep 28, 2014 11:41 AM in response to stevejobsfan0123
    Level 1 (86 points)
    Sep 28, 2014 11:41 AM in response to stevejobsfan0123

    EtreCheck version: 1.9.15 (52)

    Report generated September 28, 2014 11:39:27 AM PDT

     

    Hardware Information: ?

      MacBook (13-inch, Mid 2010) (Verified)

      MacBook - model: MacBook7,1

      1 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU: 2 cores

      4 GB RAM

     

    Video Information: ?

      NVIDIA GeForce 320M - VRAM: 256 MB

      Color LCD 1280 x 800

     

    System Software: ?

      OS X 10.8.5 (12F45) - Uptime: 0 days 0:47:0

     

    Disk Information: ?

      Hitachi HTS545050B9SA02 disk0 : (500.11 GB)

      S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified

      disk0s1 (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB

      Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / [Startup]: 499.25 GB (180.87 GB free)

      Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted>: 650 MB

     

      MATSHITADVD-R   UJ-898 

     

    USB Information: ?

      Apple Inc. Built-in iSight

      Apple Inc. BRCM2070 Hub

      Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

      Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

     

    Gatekeeper: ?

      Anywhere

     

    Kernel Extensions: ?

      [not loaded] com.aliph.driver.jstub (1.1.2) Support

      [not loaded] com.palm.ClassicNotSeizeDriver (3.2) Support

     

    Launch Daemons: ?

      [loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist Support

      [loaded] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist Support

      [loaded] com.oracle.java.JavaUpdateHelper.plist Support

     

    Launch Agents: ?

      [not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist Support

      [loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist Support

     

    User Login Items: ?

      None

     

    Internet Plug-ins: ?

      Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: Version: 2.3.8.1 Support

      FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 15.0.0.152 - SDK 10.6 Support

      AdobeAAMDetect: Version: AdobeAAMDetect 1.0.0.0 - SDK 10.6 Support

      Flash Player: Version: 15.0.0.152 - SDK 10.6 Support

      JavaAppletPlugin: Version: Java 7 Update 67 Check version

      QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.1

      Google Earth Web Plug-in: Version: 6.1 Support

      RealPlayer Plugin: Version: (null) Support

      Silverlight: Version: 5.1.30514.0 - SDK 10.6 Support

      DirectorShockwave: Version: 11.6.8r638 Support

      iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0 - SDK 10.8

     

    Audio Plug-ins: ?

      AirPlay: Version: 1.7 - SDK 10.8

      iSightAudio: Version: 7.7.1 - SDK 10.8

     

    iTunes Plug-ins: ?

      Quartz Composer Visualizer: Version: 1.4 - SDK 10.8

     

    User Internet Plug-ins ?

      WebEx64: Version: 1.0 Support

     

    3rd Party Preference Panes: ?

      Flash Player  Support

      Flip4Mac WMV  Support

      Java  Support

     

    Time Machine: ?

      Skip System Files: NO

      Mobile backups: ON

      Auto backup: YES

      Volumes being backed up:

      Macintosh HD: Disk size: 464.96 GB Disk used: 296.52 GB

      Destinations:

      Data [Network] (Last used)

      Total size: 2 TB

      Total number of backups: 61

      Oldest backup: 2014-01-01 13:36:20 +0000

      Last backup: 2014-09-28 17:15:42 +0000

      Size of backup disk: Excellent

      Backup size 2 TB > (Disk size 464.96 GB X 3)

      Time Machine details may not be accurate.

      All volumes being backed up may not be listed.

     

    Top Processes by CPU: ?

          14% mds

          3% WindowServer

          2% hidd

          0% fontd

          0% ps

     

    Top Processes by Memory: ?

      229 MB CalendarAgent

      160 MB mds

      156 MB Mail

      111 MB Safari

      78 MB coreservicesd

     

    Virtual Memory Information: ?

      1.77 GB Free RAM

      1.23 GB Active RAM

      219 MB Inactive RAM

      547 MB Wired RAM

      414 MB Page-ins

      0 B Page-outs

  • by eleve,

    eleve eleve Sep 29, 2014 9:14 AM in response to stevejobsfan0123
    Level 1 (86 points)
    Sep 29, 2014 9:14 AM in response to stevejobsfan0123

    Hi,

     

    I tried a few things on my own (repaired disk permissions, checked launch items, deleted cache folder) - still pretty slow.  Any thoughts now that the etrecheck info is available?

     

    Thanks. 

  • by eleve,

    eleve eleve Sep 30, 2014 8:55 AM in response to stevejobsfan0123
    Level 1 (86 points)
    Sep 30, 2014 8:55 AM in response to stevejobsfan0123

    Anyone?  Bueller??

  • by eleve,

    eleve eleve Sep 30, 2014 9:03 AM in response to stevejobsfan0123
    Level 1 (86 points)
    Sep 30, 2014 9:03 AM in response to stevejobsfan0123

    Another weird "symptom" it's had is that on sites with static pictures, the images will lose focus slightly and then refocus, or seem to "wiggle" a bit. 

     

    Safari often runs VERY slowly or gives the rainbow wheel of doom.  Last night it hung for a few minutes and then the screen went black for a few seconds. 

     

    When I tried to force quit, it said there was something like "backup_ed" running as well (sorry, forgot to take screen shot).  Time Machine was performing a backup at that time, and it does seem to run more slowly during those backups. 

     

    Again, any help appreciated. 

    Thanks.

  • by Esquared,

    Esquared Esquared Sep 30, 2014 11:26 AM in response to eleve
    Level 6 (8,518 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 30, 2014 11:26 AM in response to eleve

    Was it "backupd" perhaps? That sure is part of the Time Machine routine.

     

    Would it be possible for you to switch off TM for a few days, to check how your MBP behaves then?

  • by eleve,

    eleve eleve Sep 30, 2014 11:40 AM in response to Esquared
    Level 1 (86 points)
    Sep 30, 2014 11:40 AM in response to Esquared

    Yes, I think you're right - it was "backupd".  Will do as you suggest & advise. 

    Thanks! 

  • by eleve,

    eleve eleve Oct 2, 2014 11:57 PM in response to Esquared
    Level 1 (86 points)
    Oct 2, 2014 11:57 PM in response to Esquared

    So, here's the follow up:  I turned off Time Machine & things seemed to be better for a bit. Later in the day, same issues.  Kept Activity Monitor open and noticed Flash Player seemed to be hogging lots of CPU on certain websites.  Googled that and found...Safari Web Content high CPU usage

     

    Logged out of Google and saw instant improvement. 

  • by eleve,

    eleve eleve Oct 5, 2014 12:13 PM in response to Esquared
    Level 1 (86 points)
    Oct 5, 2014 12:13 PM in response to Esquared

    The follow up: Have left TM off for a few days but the problem persisted.  It seemed to happen particularly with sites using lots of Flash.  Twice the screen actually went black, and the last time it crashed.  Left Activity Monitor running and "Safari Web Content" looked to be using lots of CPU.  Have used Chrome, which is not the browser I prefer (and without logging in) and, at least so far, the problem hasn't recurred. 

     

    Any thoughts?  Is it a Mountain Lion/Safari issue that would resolve if I went to Mavericks?