Continuing and new issues after updating from Sierra to High Sierra

Question

Continuing and new issues after updating from Sierra to High Sierra

I was hoping a newer OS would remedy some of my problems; no such luck.

First, the old/continuing problems:

Everything is sloth slow--the spinning beach-ball of death syndrome--seemingly anything in Finder and, especially, in Pages. Some days, every time I click on an icon, a page, anything, and the ball does a protracted whirl. This has gone on for many months, occasionally appearing to improve, only to bog down again, but, overall, it's gotten worse. Sometimes just scrolling down the list of Apps takes two minutes or more. Sometimes app/pages simply will not load. I was hoping at least some of this was caused by staying in Sierra OS for a long time; unfortunately, it persists. However, with the SSD, startup takes less than 30 seconds, max.
Songs and some movies become corrupted after months or years of stability.
Internal HDD gets hot--like 187º--and it's a 500GB SSD. (When I swapped it in I cleaned all dust and checked all connections inside before closing everything.)

New issues:

At times, the machine will not turn off; a few nights ago, this persisted for 10 minutes or longer. I have to manually hold the on/off button to achieve shut-down.
I'm finding several apps don't like the update (all were checked for compatibility before update; 32-bit ones were either upgraded or deleted). For example, Time Machine's "sharing and permissions" was auto-populated by new "users". When I attempt to delete them, TM pop-up window informs me--the sole Administrator-- that I don't have permission to effect any changes. Other apps will not comply with my newly entered preferences for functions, etc., after multiple attempts.

More issues manifest themselves every day, but I'll limit this post to the above-mentioned ones.

Some data re the computer, if this helps:

Internal SSD available space=55%
I put a lot of data on externals instead of on the internal HD
I daily use a computer "cleaner" to erase superfluous data, remnants of removed apps, etc.
RAM is 14GB, cleaned daily
I considered malware/viruses as possible culprits. Multiple daily internal passes via two good security/malware software apps don't find anything (maybe 6 bugs over past several years--quarantined and deleted); perform scans of externals at not-too-long intervals, same results.
A VPN, 3 different ad blockers and safe firewall settings are always used for internet noodling; I never use wi-fi.
iMac is not 2012, per below. Page does not offer selection of anything pre-2012.
Computer specs: 21.5", mid-2011; 25GHz, Intel Core i5; 14GB of RAM; 500GB SSD HD. "Storage" panel of system specs not bad, though I'm contemplating moving all 150GB of docs to a couple of externals.

Thanks in advance.

iMac Line (2012 and Later)

Posted on Jan 14, 2020 1:51 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

BDAqua

Level 10

239,495 points

Jan 14, 2020 4:07 PM in response to CloudsRestWalk

Smokerz very likely has you covered on the temperature, but...

What temperatures does this App report?

This App can be used to speed up the fans, all my iMacs would be dead without it.

Never ever ever drop fan speeds below the speed that the Mac itself is calling for.

MacFansControl…

https://www.crystalidea.com/macs-fan-control

On the other issues, High Sierra has no problems running 32 Bit OR 64 Bit Apps.

EtreCheck is a simple little app to display the important details of your system configuration and allow you to copy that information to the Clipboard. It is meant to be used with Apple Support Communities to help people help you with your Mac.

http://www.etresoft.com/etrecheck

Pastebin is a good place to paste the whole report...

https://pastebin.com/

Or use the paperclip at the bottom of a Reply to attach the full report here. :)

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Answer 2

Eau Rouge

Level 8

42,554 points

Jan 14, 2020 9:31 PM in response to CloudsRestWalk

There are no viruses that affect the mac, so it is pointless and unnecessary to have one app let alone several, they just use up your macs resources for little benefit, often they quarantine system files and then you no doubt will delete them.

There are countless posts on these communities regarding the use of anti virus apps, overwhelmingly the answer is don't use them. This is the same for any 'cleaner' apps the general consensus of opinion is that they do more harm than good. If you want to delete apps consult the developer of the app on how to uninstall them, if apps do not have an uninstaller they can probably just be deleted from the Applications folder.

RAM, mac RAM does not need to be cleaned, if you open Activity Monitor from Applications/ Utilities and you will see the Memory Pressure panel, it should be green under normal circumstances, the mac allocates the right amount of RAM for the tasks at hand, no outside interference is necessary.

You can run this app on your mac, http://www.etrecheck.com this gives a snapshot of wha is running on your mac and pinpoints areas of concern, the app is written by a contributor to these pages, you can post the report back here if you want using the Additional Text button, third from the right of the icons at the bottom of a Reply window here. The report does not contain any personal information.

Your mac sounds like a total mess with you adding apps to improve a perceived problem when there is none to fix rather than understanding your mac and trusting that it knows more about what it is doing than you.

Read this article by a fellow contributor to these communities,

Effective defenses against malware and ot… - Apple Community

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Answer 3

Jan 14, 2020 8:09 PM in response to BDAqua

Odd--I used that button to attach the image; it was visible when I clicked "reply". I'll try again, see if the poltergeists will allow it to fly...

It's showing, directly above here; however, knowing some sites have a problem with opening .png files, here it is as a .jpeg:

Hope you can see one or both.

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Answer 4

Jan 14, 2020 7:44 PM in response to DonH49

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. I have a fan speed/temp monitor: Macs Fan Control. The high temps started occurring a year or so ago, back when I still had a spinner HDD. It's interesting that some days the temps go high, others seem to stay within acceptable levels. Obviously, when I run multiple tasks--especially copying a movie, etc.--while switching among browsing tabs the temps go up.

The fans began to accelerate and remain at pretty high rpm levels. At times I had manually revved them when things first started getting hot. When things got to concern levels I rigged up an inflatable mattress air pump with flex plastic tubing and aimed the output at the center air intake grid opening on the back of the case...until the pump burned up (not meant to be left running like I made it do); also wiped the aluminum case with a moist sponge. The combinations worked pretty well and quickly and, for the most part, the computer has run at lower temps lately.

The heat buildup concerned me, as I read that, among other things, glues and other connective agents get brittle and can cake off, as well as internals cooking their lubricants and component parts. If the computer goes out, I'm toast as well, living in a "Third World" country. There are only 2 places in the country that sell anything Apple; one had the lowest, 21.5", base model iMac at $1670 and a 27" base at $2001. I've been able to travel back to the States only occasionally (on Social Security), and the thought of trying to get a new iMac through customs here is not promising (they often charge 33% import duty on electronics). I'm not whining; I just know that I can't afford a new computer now.

Since BDAqua has asked for a readout, I'm attaching a screenshot to the response to him/her.

Thanks.

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Answer 5

Eau Rouge

Level 8

42,554 points

Jan 14, 2020 8:11 PM in response to CloudsRestWalk

You say you use a 'cleaner' app daily on your mac. It is unwise to use any type of 'cleaner' app as they tend to cause more problems than they claim to fix, often deleting system files that can cause your mac to behave erratically. The mac does a

good job of looking after itself, to remove the app consult the developers webpage to see how to delete it thoroughly, simply deleting is not enough. The same goes for anti-virus apps, macs don't need them. Malwarebytes is good for keeping on top of Malware/ Adware. You do not need to clean your RAM, RAM cleaners can cause problems. Why are you using 3 adblockers, one will do. I think you are the engineer of your own problems.

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Answer 6

Jan 14, 2020 8:54 PM in response to Eau Rouge

Hi again,

One of the uses for the "cleaner" (Movavi Mac Cleaner2) is to get rid of the vestiges of deleted apps. It seems to be the same or similar to the "Manage" tab/button in Storage in the Mac System Report.

Thanks for the words on RAM. I thought RAM space could be freed up with no negative effects. I do it because often free space is down to 2GB and anything complex or hungry stalls; eg., a youtube video will stop for a lot longer than the entire file size and sporadically run for 15 seconds at a time (I finally sprang for 10MBs after 7+ years of making do with 2; almost no one has more than 20, as it costs $74/month). I'll read up on how/why paring RAM can hurt.

As for other computer functions and systems, if I shut down a session with, say, 2GB on one area of the system, another 3GB in Trash, unused/unwanted languages keep auto-repopulating, all adding more stored usage that never seems to go away or be removed by the computer, only when I purposely do it myself. Do you have some articles that address and explain the evils of doing too much elimination and cleaning? I don't expect or want you to spend your time explaining it to me if there are some good resources on it; I'm open to learning.

Thanks again for your take on the issues I'm having and being there to help.

Re the anti-virus apps: I've used ESET for about 5 or 6 years, long before the slowdown and heat buildup problems arose. It has identified and quarantined several that were passed by the computer. I do have Malwarebytes and Intego Virus Barrier; don't use the former much, while the latter does a daily scan. Also, Ghostery maintains a block of trackers in the background. Again, I don't have them running at the same time, but having them gives me a sense of better safety. I know it seems paranoid to have multiple layers like this, but here the internet provider company does almost nothing to provide secure access. Several people will use others' wi-fi, as the router pw is set by the company, not the client, and it's one of the easiest "1234" types to be found. Relatively few people have personal internet connections, or computers; most rely on cybercafés and/or cell phones with no security on either. Every time I have had to use a cybercafé--like when my printer dies and I have to send forms, etc.--my flash drives come back loaded with adware, spyware, viruses galore. The computers have hundreds of cookies on them and no privacy settings used; people sign in, use the internet, then get up and leave with their account and passwords completely open to the next person to use... Oh, and my business and personal Ccards were hacked some years ago, an experience I don't want to ever repeat. So, yes, I'm pretty jumpy about keeping my privacy intact, but I respect what you are writing and will look into it again.

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Answer 7

Jan 15, 2020 7:48 PM in response to BDAqua

Hi,

As you can see on the screenshot, the fans are set to "auto", but don't rev. When the temps started being elevated--and they reached 182º once or twice--I started nursing the computer. In addition to the other methods, I moved a floor fan in position to blow at an acute angle to take the heat off and up. After a few minutes, they usually fall to around the 120's, and even into the teens on cooler days.

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