Monterey working fine, but start up time is very long (10X previous start up time). What happened.

With the Limited Disc Access Report and from what can be seen - there are issues primarily with outdated, orphan left overs for previous applications that were remove but not completely removed and a Host of Applications set to start when the OS is Loading. This last item will hamper the speed by which the computer will boot or reboot.

Full drive access: Disabled

Limited drive access - More information may be available with Full Drive Access.

Unsigned files - There are unsigned software files installed that could be adware and should be reviewed.

No Time Machine backup - Time Machine backup not found.

Clean up - There are orphan files that could be removed.

Unsigned files - There are unsigned software files installed. Apple has said that unsigned software will not run by default in a future version of the operating system.

Kernel extensions present - This computer has kernel extensions that may not work in the future.

Launchd: /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.bombich.ccchelper.plist - Good there is some form of backup / clone utility

Plugin: /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/Flip4Mac WMV Plugin.plugin Outdated - Remove

Plugin: /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/RealPlayer Plugin.plugin Outdated - Remove

Preference Pane: /Library/PreferencePanes/Flip4Mac WMV.prefPane Outdated - Remove

User Launch Agents: Anything here will slooooowdown boot time

[Loaded] com.logmein.GoToMeeting.G2MAIRUploader.plist (? 0 - installed 2020-10-15)

[Loaded] com.logmein.GoToMeeting.G2MUpdate.plist (? 0 - installed 2020-10-15)

[Other] com.mapupdatetool.aivi.plist (? 0 - installed 2019-12-29)

User Login Items:

[Not Loaded] LaunchHelper (App Store - installed 2020-05-19)

Modern Login Item

/Applications/Memory Diag.app/Contents/Library/LoginItems/LaunchHelper.app

Hi ebsjr,

Have you tried a Safe mode reboot and login? If you have, how did that improve the boot? If you haven't, give it a try. I suspect that it may help many issues you've noted. Also, P. Phillips detailed responses will give you other tricks to determine issues and possibly how to resolve.

What I would suggest is, once you've done a reboot into Safe mode, go into your normal user account and then to into System Preferences > Users&Groups > UserID > Login Items and disable/remove any/all you know you do not need. Once this is done, are there any external drives/devices that you can afford to disconnect as well, if there are, disconnect them? Once this is done, reboot and see if that improves your boot. Did you boot time improve? I suspect that issue you have is possible due to either Login Items and/or external drives.

If your reboot works and speed has improved, before reconnecting external drives/devices, I would also suggest running Disk Utility's First Aid on your boot disk.

As a comment, I am also on a Late 2014 Mac mini (16GB Ram, 2.6 GHz setup) with an after market internal SSD. It boots quickly and though moderately slower than Big Sur was, not appreciably so.

Post back and let us know.

Cheers,

Anthony

How many other External Drives are attached at Cold Boot ?

Suggest downloading the Application Etrecheck directly from a well Respected ASC Contributor. 

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with nor receive compensation from the Developer.

The application is free or paid from added features. 

Run the application with Full Disc Access ( Security & Privacy - Full Disc Access ).

It will take a Snap Shot -  both the hardware and software.

 The Report will Not Reveal Any Personal Information. 

Post back the Full Report - copy and paste - using the Additional Text Icon ( 3rd Icon to last )

We can have a look at the report for possible issues and may have possible suggestions to resolve the issues.

Any Third Party Applications that will interfere with the normal operation of the OS, alter, modify, remove or delete or attempt to do so is an invitation for disaster and may require a Reinstallation of the OS.

This includes AntiVirus, Disk Cleaners, Disk Optimizes, UnInstaller etc.

The The Built in Security  is all that is required.

Hi ebsjr,

Good to see the improvement in boot time. I have heard of similar boot time issue with SD card readers, USB thumb drives and the like. I would suggest that in future, best to remove the SD card after needed, as they are often very slow to be read from, even the fastest ones, and only install it once the OS has fully booted and as needed.

As to the CPULed, if you don't need that constant light in your menubar to indicate CPU load, I would suggest removing it and possibly uninstalling it (as well as any apps you don't need). Also, any you do have still and/or need, make sure they are all up-to-date, as that will help improve compatibility.

Glad the cause though was found and have a great rest of your day.

Cheers,

Anthony

Is the SSD internal?

Is it an Apple SSD?

Try booting to Safe Mode, which takes minutes, and then a normal boot.

Thanks so much. This is useful information as I sometimes use a 128GB SD card as a temporary USB key (using an external SD reader). In future, I'll be careful not to leave the SD reader plugged in to a USB port while booting (my Mac mini (2018)).

- Pie Lover

Please define the meaning of Prouction version. The Released version if working fine on all my units including MBA and Mac Mini