Q: Spinning wheel prisoner - help!

When you see a beachball cursor or the slowness is especially bad, note the exact time: hour, minute, second.  

These instructions must be carried out as an administrator. If you have only one user account, you are the administrator.

Launch the Console application in any of the following ways:

☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)

☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

☞ Open LaunchPad and start typing the name.

The title of the Console window should be All Messages. If it isn't, select

          SYSTEM LOG QUERIES ▹ All Messages

from the log list on the left. If you don't see that list, select

          View ▹ Show Log List

from the menu bar at the top of the screen.

Each message in the log begins with the date and time when it was entered. Scroll back to the time you noted above.

Select the messages entered from then until the end of the episode, or until they start to repeat, whichever comes first.

Copy the messages to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. Paste into a reply to this message by pressing command-V.

The log contains a vast amount of information, almost all of it useless for solving any particular problem. When posting a log extract, be selective. A few dozen lines are almost always more than enough.

Please don't indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.

Please don't post screenshots of log messages—post the text.

Some private information, such as your name, may appear in the log. Anonymize before posting.

When you post the log extract, you might see an error message on the web page: "You have included content in your post that is not permitted," or "The message contains invalid characters." That's a bug in the forum software. Please post the text on Pastebin, then post a link here to the page you created.

The startup drive is failing, or there is some other internal hardware fault.

Back up all data on the drive immediately if you don't already have a current backup. There are ways to back up a computer that isn't fully functional—ask if you need guidance.

Make a "Genius" appointment at an Apple Store, or go to another authorized service provider.

If privacy is a concern, erase the data partition(s) with the option to write zeros* (do this only if you have at least two complete, independent backups, and you know how to restore to an empty drive from any of them.) Don’t erase the recovery partition, if present.

Keeping your confidential data secure during hardware repair

Apple also recommends that you deauthorize a device in the iTunes Store before having it serviced.

*An SSD doesn't need to be zeroed.

Try this first:

Mac Basics: Time Machine backs up your Mac - Apple Support

If you want to preserve the data on the startup drive, and it's not already backed up, you must try to back up now, before you do anything else. It may or may not be possible. If you don't care about the data, you can skip this step.

There are several ways to back up a Mac that is not fully functional. You need an external hard drive or other storage device to hold the data.

1. Start up from the Recovery partition, from Internet Recovery, or from a local Time Machine backup volume (option key at startup.) Launch Disk Utility and follow the instructions in this support article, under “Instructions for backing up to an external hard disk via Disk Utility.” The article refers to starting up from a DVD, but the procedure in Recovery mode is the same. You don't need a DVD if you're running OS X 10.7 or later.

If you use FileVault 2, then you must first unlock the startup volume. Select its icon ("Macintosh HD," unless you gave it a different name.) It will be nested below another disk icon, usually with the same name. Click the Unlock button in the toolbar. Enter your login password when prompted.

2. If Method 1 fails because of disk errors, then you may be able to salvage some of your files by copying them in the Finder. If you already have an external drive with OS X installed, start up from it. Otherwise, if you have Internet access, follow the instructions on this page to prepare the external drive and install OS X on it. You'll use the Recovery installer, rather than downloading it from the App Store.

3. If you have access to a working Mac, and both it and the non-working Mac have FireWire or Thunderbolt ports, start the non-working Mac in target disk mode. Use the working Mac to copy the data to another drive. This technique won't work with USB, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth.

4. If the internal drive of the non-working Mac is user-replaceable, remove it and mount it in an external enclosure or drive dock. Use another Mac to copy the data.

Linc,

You have been kind enough to help be with this before. I took mine to Genius bar and I had a hardware issue. It was fixed and I got a new backup drive (seagate) and all has been good for 2 months. The beach ball is back today and here is my "EntreCheck" report for you, if you don't mind? I tried to follow instructions to remove but it can't be find?

EtreCheck version: 2.6 (220)

Report generated 10/25/15, 10:15 AM

Runtime 3:08

Download EtreCheck from http://etresoft.com/etrecheck

Click the [Click for support] links for help with non-Apple products.

Click the [Click for details] links for more information about that line.

Click the [Click to remove] links for help removing adware.

Hardware Information: (What does this mean?)

   MacBook Pro (13-inch, Early 2011)

   [Click for Technical Specifications]

   [Click for User Guide]

   MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro8,1

   1 2.3 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 2-core

   4 GB RAM Upgradeable

   [Click for upgrade instructions]

       BANK 0/DIMM0

           2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

       BANK 1/DIMM0

           2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

   Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported

   Wireless: en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n

   Battery: Health = Normal - Cycle count = 470 - SN = W0333A95BD3LC

Video Information: (What does this mean?)

   Intel HD Graphics 3000

       Color LCD 1280 x 800

System Software: (What does this mean?)

   OS X Yosemite 10.10.4 (14E46) - Time since boot: less than an hour

Disk Information: (What does this mean?)

   ST9320325ASG disk0 : (320.07 GB) (Rotational)

       EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

       Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / : 319.21 GB (156.47 GB free)

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

   MATSHITADVD-R  UJ-898  ()

USB Information: (What does this mean?)

   Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

   Apple Inc. BRCM2070 Hub

       Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

   Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

   Seagate BUP Slim Mac SL 1 TB

       EFI (disk1s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

       Seagate Backup Plus Drive (disk1s2) /Volumes/Seagate Backup Plus Drive : 999.86 GB (729.17 GB free)

   Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Thunderbolt Information: (What does this mean?)

   Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

Gatekeeper: (What does this mean?)

   Mac App Store and identified developers

Adware: (What does this mean?)

   Genieo, InstallMac Adware! [Click to remove]

   More adware files Adware! [Click to remove]

Kernel Extensions: (What does this mean?)

       /Applications/VMware View Client.app

   [not loaded]   com.vmware.kext.vmioplug.10.3.20 (10.3.20) [Click for support]

       /System/Library/Extensions

   [loaded]   com.rim.driver.BlackBerryUSBDriverInt (0.0.67) [Click for support]

   [not loaded]   com.rim.driver.BlackBerryUSBDriverVSP (0.0.67) [Click for support]

Launch Agents: (What does this mean?)

   [loaded]   com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist [Click for support]

   [failed]   com.adobe.ARMDCHelper.cc24aef4a1b90ed56a...plist [Click for support]

   [running]   com.adobe.AdobeCreativeCloud.plist [Click for support]

   [loaded]   com.google.keystone.agent.plist [Click for support]

   [loaded]   com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist [Click for support]

   [running]   com.rim.BBLaunchAgent.plist [Click for support]

Launch Daemons: (What does this mean?)

   [loaded]   com.adobe.ARMDC.Communicator.plist [Click for support]

   [loaded]   com.adobe.ARMDC.SMJobBlessHelper.plist [Click for support]

   [loaded]   com.adobe.fpsaud.plist [Click for support]

   [loaded]   com.google.keystone.daemon.plist [Click for support]

   [loaded]   com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist [Click for support]

   [loaded]   com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist [Click for support]

   [running]   com.rim.BBDaemon.plist [Click for support]

User Launch Agents: (What does this mean?)

   [loaded]   com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist [Click for support]

   [failed]   com.apple.CSConfigDotMacCert-[...]@me.com-SharedServices.Agent.plist - Executable not found!

   [loaded]   com.genieo.completer.download.plist Adware! [Click to remove]

   [loaded]   com.genieo.completer.ltvbit.plist Adware! [Click to remove]

   [running]   com.genieo.completer.update.plist Adware! [Click to remove]

   [loaded]   com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2Helper.diskSpaceWatcher.plist [Click for support]

   [loaded]   com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2Helper.scheduledScan.plist [Click for support]

   [loaded]   com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2Helper.trashWatcher.plist [Click for support]

   [running]   com.spotify.webhelper.plist [Click for support]

User Login Items: (What does this mean?)

   Spotify   Application Hidden (/Applications/Spotify.app)

Other Apps: (What does this mean?)

   [running]   com.apple.xpc.launchd.oneshot.0x10000002.EtreCheck

   [running]   com.spotify.client.44336

Internet Plug-ins: (What does this mean?)

   Google Earth Web Plug-in: Version: 6.2 [Click for support]

   Default Browser: Version: 600 - SDK 10.10

   AdobeAAMDetect: Version: AdobeAAMDetect 2.0.0.0 - SDK 10.7 [Click for support]

   FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 19.0.0.226 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

   AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: Version: 15.009.20069 - SDK 10.8 [Click for support]

   Silverlight: Version: 5.1.30514.0 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

   Flash Player: Version: 19.0.0.226 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

   QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

   iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0 - SDK 10.8

   SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.5.7 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

   AdobePDFViewer: Version: 15.009.20069 - SDK 10.8 [Click for support]

   CouponPrinter-FireFox_v2: Version: Version 1.1.6

   JavaAppletPlugin: Version: Java 8 Update 60 build 27 Check version

User internet Plug-ins: (What does this mean?)

   CitrixOnlineWebDeploymentPlugin: Version: 1.0.39 [Click for support]

   WebEx64: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

Safari Extensions: (What does this mean?)

   AddThis

   AddThis

   Add To Amazon Wish List

3rd Party Preference Panes: (What does this mean?)

   Flash Player [Click for support]

   Java [Click for support]

Time Machine: (What does this mean?)

   Skip System Files: NO

   Auto backup: YES

   Volumes being backed up:

       Macintosh HD: Disk size: 319.21 GB Disk used: 162.74 GB

   Destinations:

       Mac Backup [Local]

       Total size: 250.04 GB

       Total number of backups: 1

       Oldest backup: 2/14/15, 3:07 PM

       Last backup: 2/14/15, 3:07 PM

       Size of backup disk: Too small

           Backup size 250.04 GB < (Disk used 162.74 GB X 3)

       Seagate Backup Plus Drive [Local]

       Total size: 999.86 GB

       Total number of backups: 8

       Oldest backup: 8/18/15, 5:49 PM

       Last backup: 9/6/15, 11:44 AM

       Size of backup disk: Excellent

           Backup size 999.86 GB > (Disk size 319.21 GB X 3)

Top Processes by CPU: (What does this mean?)

       52%   mdworker(15)

       22%   backupd

        5%   WindowServer

        2%   Spotify Helper(2)

        2%   fontd

Top Processes by Memory: (What does this mean?)

   482 MB   kernel_task

   250 MB   Spotify Helper(2)

   238 MB   mdworker(15)

   172 MB   com.apple.WebKit.WebContent

   123 MB   mds_stores

Virtual Memory Information: (What does this mean?)

   511 MB   Free RAM

   3.50 GB   Used RAM (1.09 GB Cached)

   0 B   Swap Used

Diagnostics Information: (What does this mean?)

   Oct 25, 2015, 09:58:17 AM   Self test - passed

   Oct 22, 2015, 11:12:16 AM   ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/com.apple.WebKit.WebContent_2015-10-22-111216_[ redacted].crash