MacMini 2014 (Late) Mac OS (Sur) Recent Sluggish - investigation tips

svaardt wrote:

• Hello,

I've got a Mac Mini (2014 Late model). I've upgraded it with an OWC SSD and installed the Mac OS "Big Sur"...

All was well, until recently... when after an update things started to become rather... "sluggish".

Any advice upon how to investigate what's causing this ?

I've done the usual -

unplug attached devices (apart from screens.... I have 2)

• kill any processes not needed, etc.

One thing that has also happened recently, is that one of my screens suddenly goes into a static noise mode - where it just simply displays a random array of black & white dots - just like an old Television set - unplugging the connector, and reinserting fixes that issue....

Any advice upon how to identify the "sluggish" problem without destructively rebuilding the Mac from the ground up ? For example, If its a defective SSD, how can I prove that to be the case ?

Thanks in advance,

To trouble shoot further you can:

—Try a SafeBoot https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201262

Takes noticeable longer to get to the login screen, does a 5 minute disk repair before it fully boots up, and certain system caches get cleared and rebuilt, including dynamic loader cache, etc.

Login and test. Reboot as normal and test. Caches get rebuilt automatically.

In Safe mode third party system modifications and system accelerations are disabled, it removes malware, etc hampering smooth operation, however a reboot will put it back to normal mode.

This test will tell you if third party interference; extensions etc are not loaded in safe boot mode.

—Test issue in another user (or guest user) account https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/set-up-other-users-on-your-mac-mtusr001/mac

This will tell you if it a universal issue or isolated to your user/admin account. 

Uninstall all third party apps that are Cleaners/Optimizers/VPN/Anti-Virus

these are all known to cause issue on the macOS

Download and run Etrecheck. Etrecheck is a diagnostic tool that was developed by one of the most respected users here in the ASC and recommended by Apple Support  to provide a snapshot of the system and help identify the more obvious culprits that can adversely affect a Mac's performance.

IMPORTANT:

Before running Etrecheck assign Full Disk Access to Etrecheck in the Etrecheck's Privacy preference pane so that it can get additional information from the Console and log files for the report:

Also click and read the About info to further permit full disk access.

Copy the report

and use the Additional Text button to include the report in your reply.

Then we can examine the report and see if we can determine what might be causing the problem.