MacBook Pro very slow beachballing EtreCheck HELP?

Thanks for running EtreCheck.

Aside from the Symantec software (which is probably unneeded antivirus), your software looks ok. Not sure why you have several kernel extensions installed though.

Good job on backing up your Mac with Time Machine. That will help significantly in case something goes wrong, or if you need to transfer your data.

I'm seeing two major slowdowns in the hardware section:

• Your internal drive is a spinning hard drive. You can significantly improve performance by swapping it out with a compatible solid state drive (SSD).
• Your Mac only has 4 GB of RAM. macOS Catalina and later runs best when you have at least 8 GB of RAM. Your Mac supports up to 16 GB of RAM.

OWC has some good parts available, and they are compatible with your Mac.

RAM: https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Apple_MacBook_MacBook_Pro/Upgrade/DDR3_1600MHz_SDRAM

SSD: https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ssd/owc/macbook-pro/2012

Installation videos (please be careful!): https://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/macbookpro-13-unibody-mid12/

If you plan to upgrade your internal drive to an SSD, follow these steps:

1. Turn on FileVault. This encrypts all of the data on your internal hard drive and protects it from thieves. It could take several hours for encryption to complete. Make sure your Mac has its power cable plugged in the entire time. (Removing the power cable will not damage your data, but it will pause the encryption process.)
2. Complete the internal drive swap as per OWC's instructions.
3. Start up your Mac from macOS Recovery over the Internet: Press and hold Option-Command-R as you power on or restart your Mac. Release the keys when a spinning globe appears, or when you're prompted to select a Wi-Fi network.
4. When the utilities menu appears, select Disk Utility and click Continue.
5. Click the View button, then select Show All Devices.
6. Select the top level of the internal SSD and click Erase. Choose these options, then click Erase:
   1. Name: Macintosh HD
   2. Format: APFS
   3. Scheme: GUID Partition Table/Map
7. When the erase is finished, quit Disk Utility.
8. Select Install macOS and follow the onscreen instructions. It may take quite a while to download all of macOS, depending on your Internet connection.
9. While macOS is installing on the SSD, put your previous hard drive into an external caddy. Or, get the appropriate cable to connect the hard drive to your Mac (as an external drive).
10. When the Setup Assistant appears, choose to migrate your data when prompted. Connect the previous hard drive at this time.
11. You'll be asked what data you want to migrate. Exclude "Other" and "System" for now, then continue. (If some of your apps don't work as expected, you can re-run Migration Assistant later and include just those categories later on.)
12. When finished, confirm that all of your data is present and that everything works as expected.
13. If you're completely finished with your previous hard drive, you can erase it if desired using Disk Utility.

JimmyJam8476 wrote:

Hi Encryptor5000

Thank you for your reply. I am not tech savvy enough to know what about the kernel extensions or how to clean them up if you can help would appreciate?

This MacBook was loaded from an older 17" PowerMac or PPC using the Time Machine functions when I bought it, I always wondered if the problem I have are related to incompatible software copied over from the old PowerMac?

Anyway I will certainly get some more RAM, and look at hard drive upgrade also.

So if any help with the Kernels or thoughts on PPC legacy issues would be great to hear from you.

Cheers

Thanks for that info! It doesn't look like you have any incompatible software so far.

When you start up your Mac, it boots the operating system (macOS) and loads your data. At the heart of the operating system is a small program called the kernel. It has access to all hardware and software, and is responsible for managing system resources.

Kernel extensions ("kexts") are low-level programs that run as part of the kernel and extend what it can do. Apple includes many kernel extensions with macOS, and these run by default with the kernel.

Apple isn't the only entity that can create kernel extensions, though. Third-party developers can also create kernel extensions and ask you to install them when you install a related app.

As a general rule, it's best to install third-party kexts only if absolutely necessary. This is because they run with the kernel, and therefore gain access to the entire system.

Most of the third-party kexts your system has appear to be drivers for certain things (such as printers). These should be reasonably safe.

Three kexts are associated with Symantec. Do you have any apps installed that are made by this developer? If yes, which apps?

Note: Kernel extensions are not the same as system extensions. System extensions run in a safer area and do not have kernel privileges.

Hi Jimmy,

Thanks for running another report! It looks like the extra RAM is helping with the test time. The next step is to upgrade your internal drive to an SSD.

Regarding the Norton kernel extensions, none of them were running at the report's time. I wouldn't worry about them for now. That said, if the Norton software provides an uninstaller, use that to uninstall the software.

As mentioned, your device has a 5400 rpm snail speed spinning drive and only 4 GB RAM. I had the very same model and immediately replaced the super slow drive with an SSD as well as adding more RAM and the machine was as speedy as it could get until I finally sold it. That is the only/best way to speed it up. Be aware that macs are extremely finicky about their RAM and getting it from one of the two most recommended Mac RAM vendors ir important: Crucial (direct) or macsales.com. I got both the RAM and SSD from macsales - make sure that the SSD is not the latest or fastest but compatible with your 2012 device.