Very slow Mac Mini (late 2012) - with EtreCheck logs

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ted_no Author

Level 1

4 points

Very slow Mac Mini (late 2012) - with EtreCheck logs

Initial EtreCheck run

Second EtreCheck run

Third EtreCheck run

Hi,

I have a Mac mini (Late 2012) that’s very slow, bordering on unusable. I have the original 5400rpm HDD so I expect it to be slow, but not to this level. 16gb RAM.

I ran the EtreCheck tool and generated 3 reports (attached)

The initial one was done with the mac having been running for days if not weeks. Time 140:28 !

The second one was run in restarted Safe Mode. Time to complete 5:24

The third one was run after a norma reboot and after having waited maybe 15 min post logon. Time 7:42.

I suspect that the slow HDD cannot be blamed for all of this.

A clean install would be the next step, but I’d love to figure out if there is a way to find out what’s causing this (if not only the slow HDD) so I wont be back at this level of performance a few weeks after a re-install.

Cheers,

Posted on Jan 18, 2019 6:47 AM

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Answer 1

macjack

Level 10

111,168 points

Jan 18, 2019 6:55 AM in response to ted_no

As the report indicates, the problem is a failing hard drive and should be replaced. An SSD would make a dramatic difference in speed. Be sure to backup your drive now, either with Time Machine or a clone.

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Answer 2

dwb

Level 7

32,920 points

Jan 18, 2019 6:59 AM in response to ted_no

Extreme slowness is often one of the initial symptoms of a failing drive and all three EtreCheck posts indicate a failing hard drive. The report also indicates that you have no TimeMachine backup so unless you are using another backup program, run, don't walk, to purchase an external drive and make a backup. Other than the note of extreme network activity (probably DropBox) I saw nothing else.

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Answer 3

Jan 18, 2019 9:44 AM in response to dwb

Thanks!

The Dropbox activity is for getting everything up there instead of Time Machine backups. I hope to move to a 100% DropBox setup for this mac. I'll follow your advice and order a new SSD to replace the current HDD and do a new install once everything is up on Dropbox.

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Answer 4

dwb

Level 7

32,920 points

Jan 18, 2019 9:49 AM in response to kent_kurt

Using DropBox as an auxiliary backup for documents isn’t a bad idea but it is no good for your OS or apps and unless you have fiber it will be slow restoring data. When I moved into my new Mac mini I used my TimeMachine backup to prepare it. About three hours later I was back in business. It would take three times that to pull all my docs down from Dropbox

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Answer 5

etresoft

Level 8

46,330 points

Jan 21, 2019 6:01 PM in response to kent_kurt

Hello,

Are you the same person as the original poster?

Your hard drive read and write speeds are extremely slow. Also, DropBox may be making it worse. DropBox shows down all file system operations on the machine.

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Answer 6

Jan 18, 2019 9:51 AM in response to dwb

Agree, Dropbox is only for my personal files, not the system etc.

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Very slow Mac Mini (late 2012) - with EtreCheck logs

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