Intermittent display freezing

Question

Level 1

4 points

Intermittent display freezing

Very annoying problem that came up several days ago. I think I can almost perfectly track back to the moment that this happened too which is frustrating. I foolishly clicked on an ad for a fun-looking web game, filled out some dumb survey on the site (not sure what I was thinking), and hit the play button (nothing happened). I was unaware that a browser could make changes to your computer without permission; so I am pretty lost as to how this could happen? I didn't accept any downloads.

The problem is quite severe and is happening right now even as I am entering text. Everything will freeze up for about 2 seconds, during which time, for example, the cursor in this field will stop animating, no visual updates will happen at all, etc. Anything that I type during the freeze will appear after the screen updates again, so it probably points to a display issue?

It's happening A LOT. Like, 2 - 5 times per sentence that I've typed here. The system is practically unusable since this happened last week.

I'll probably just reformat at this point since I don't have any time machine backups, but I'm just so curious how this could have resulted from web interactions with no downloads?

EtreCheck attached in additional text

EtreCheck log

Posted on Aug 17, 2019 1:06 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Lexiepex

Level 6

14,102 points

Aug 17, 2019 10:59 AM in response to BDAqua

There is a remark about the battery which is well worth looking at.

Restarting into Safe Mode, then restarting in normal mode, will eliminate over used Ram, for a while I guess. That will eliminate a number of overloaded caches.

About the Valvesoftware: a number of users have said that there are issues (roaringapps), I would like to add, that this was always so.

Reply

Answer 2

Eau Rouge

Level 8

42,590 points

Aug 17, 2019 1:28 AM in response to Applehater

You need to be careful what webpages you visit and practise due diligence, things can be downloaded in the background.

Download Malwarebytes, there is a free version, run it to see if it reports you have adware/ malware. Don't do a full install just yet you can download this, https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1970?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US it is ok to install this over your 10.13.6 install, it will do no harm. It will reset some system files and caches.

Reply

Answer 3

Lexiepex

Level 6

14,102 points

Aug 17, 2019 7:04 AM in response to Applehater

Except the malware, which is addressed perfectly well by EauRouge:

Valvesoftware is reported not to be fully mojave compatible, which may be the causing the issue with audio too. Perhaps you better uninstall it and wait for the next release.

Reply

Answer 4

BDAqua

Level 10

245,111 points

Aug 17, 2019 8:49 AM in response to Applehater

I don't see anything in the etrecheck report other than low free RAM.

Safe Boot from the HD, (holding Shift key down at bootup), does the problem occur in Safe Mode?

Safe mode attempts to repair Disks & clears lots of caches, so if Safe Mode works try again in regular boot.

Reply

Answer 5

Applehater Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 17, 2019 6:09 PM in response to Lexiepex

Yeah now that you mention it the problem almost felt like the behavior of the system when it's on the verge of dying due to battery; that jumpiness. I've also had battery issues with this computer in the past (dying randomly when it's at ~40% battery and then not even turning on, random jumps in battery)

Restarting the computer, closing most of the open programs (had a lot of programs open) and not having steam open fixed the issue for me. Probably just got worked up over the malware thing. Appreciate the help y'all.

I wonder if it is just Steam? I've recently been playing a steam game for the first time in a while so the problem could be coinciding with that. No problems right now with most programs closed and running on battery power. I was plugged in when experiencing these issues last night.

Reply