mac mini 2018 display help!

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Level 1

9 points

mac mini 2018 display help!

I’m here because after almost exhausting every possibility I can think of I don’t know how to make my Mac mini 2018 perform like a decent computer. I’ll explain.

Computer is fully specced-up and for basic tasks it’s a charm, to say the least; but, I bought it for music production and it is just painful to see the lag ruin my creative workflow. I’m connecting a LG 55” 4K display through USB-C. No matter what resolution I use, both high & low, when I’m working on my projects it takes a few minutes before the lag becomes noticeable and it is just discouraging to carry on. There are no issues with the playback, the specs are doing their thing there but scrolling, editing, swiping is all just a patience test. I opted for buying an external EGPU which apple recommends for the Mac mini by BlackMagic and although it improved the graphics performance by about 30-40% the lag always returned so I returned the graphics card because it isn’t worth over £500 just to get a slightly better result than before. As for the external monitor the TV is on Game mode, prior to having a 55” display I had a 27” 4K monitor and it would do exactly the same thing.

I’ve read a lot about this issue on other forums and I just don’t know how to make it work. On another note, I have a 2012 MacBook Pro dual-core that shows absolutely no lag when running any project but the lack of ram and cores does not allow me to use it as a permanent machine.

What I struggle to understand is how a machine worth almost £1500 that has no display cannot even handle 1 single monitor on heavy workloads. It makes me so sad that I spent so much money on something that cannot keep up with more than a few minutes of work.

I welcome every recommendation or suggestion to make it work.

thank you

Mac mini, macOS 11.4

Posted on Nov 20, 2021 9:54 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

hcsitas

Level 6

11,432 points

Nov 22, 2021 4:13 AM in response to Taddein

I’m confused: your TV doesn’t have USB C per spec, how are you connected? I would use HDMI-HDMI with a certified cable not longer than 3’ (maybe 5 at the most) and work issues if any from that point onwards.

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Answer 2

Nov 20, 2021 10:14 AM in response to Taddein

It's very likely that there is some sort of software conflict with the mini.

have you tried disabling/uninstalling any anti-virus, clean up, optimizing software or VPN software. These are often culprits in Mac slowdowns.

I recommend that you run an EtreCheck evaluation of your Mac. EtreCheck is a diagnostic app that gathers important info about your hardware and software and reports it back to you. It is very highly regarded and meant to be used with Apple Support Communities to help others help you troubleshoot and resolve your Mac problems.

Please navigate to EtreCheck.com and download the free version of EtreCheck. Be sure to enable full disk access when you install the app. Once you’ve run the app and created your report please post it with your reply to this message.

You must upload the full report. To see how, please click > How to use Add Text when posting… EtreCheck Report.

We can use the EtreCheck report to look for the more obvious things that may be causing your problem and advise how to correct them.

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Answer 3

Taddein Author

Level 1

9 points

Nov 20, 2021 11:08 AM in response to D.I. Johnson

Mac mini display lagging

Hello D.I

Thank you for replying. I have added a full report as requested. Apps like NordVPN and Malwarebytes are installed on my machine but they are never running on my system unless I intend to use them specifically and then they are quit.

I hope this report has the end to my problem.

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Answer 4

Nov 20, 2021 12:40 PM in response to Taddein

Good job getting the report posted.

The good news is that the hardware looks to be fine. Fast SSD I/O speeds, good amount of RAM. Just what a music or sound pro needs.

I do agree with hcsitas about uninstalling Trusteer and MWB, though the latter is usually pretty benign if not active. In fact, I'd run MWB now to clear any potential malware.

I suspect they also spotted some other issues, as well, and I welcome their additional comments.

This is what concerns me.

Running app: /private/var/folders/fx/2ywynh0x3ws_j_k3g17_qhqm0000gn/T/WDSecurityHelper.app/Contents/MacOS/WDSecurityHelper

Details: Executable file is hidden - possibly adware

You appear to have software that came with a purchased Western Digital drive I would uninstall this as well. It's wholly unnecessary and often is trouble.

The cyberghost and nordVPN apps should be full uninstalled. As I understand them, VPNs are less secure than we are generally led to believe, and unless one is required for work or a particular institution should be avoided.

Look into the PACE Anti-piracy app (?). If it is a required component of one of your legit apps, then keep it. Otherwise remove it.

[Not Loaded] LoginHelper (App Store - installed 2021-05-25)

Modern Login Item

/Applications/Memory Clean 2.app/Contents/Library/LoginItems/LoginHelper.app

Memory Clean 2 is also suspect. I recommend you uninstall this as well. The modern macOS is very capable of taking care of RAM allocation if allowed to do so unhindered.

Please, also see these support documents:

Protecting against malware in macOS - Apple Support:

https://support.apple.com/guide/security/protecting-against-malware-sec469d47bd8/1/web/1

XProtect Explained: How Your Mac’s Built-in Anti-malware Software Works - How-To Geek:

https://www.howtogeek.com/217043/xprotect-explained-how-your-macs-built-in-anti-malware-works/

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Answer 5

Taddein Author

Level 1

9 points

Nov 23, 2021 3:35 PM in response to woodmeister50

Okay, so the short HDMI cable made a massive change and WOW! at least i no longer feel the entire system lag but now I only feel it inside Ableton Live when Im working on projects. I've uploaded some screenshots from Activity Monitor as i was working on one of them and was feeling things inside the DAW slow down.

Is there any thing it is showing that should not be running?

Thank you @Hcsitas the cable swap was worth it and saved me over £500 on the EGPU i returned :)

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Answer 6

hcsitas

Level 6

11,432 points

Nov 20, 2021 11:30 AM in response to Taddein

What model monitor? Why USB C? In the meanwhile, anti-virus software should be uninstalled i.e. deleted from the Applications folder. In particular Trusteer and optionally also Malwarebytes, especially if it’s idle. There’s other stuff that needs attention, best to wait for D.I. to respond.

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Answer 7

Taddein Author

Level 1

9 points

Nov 22, 2021 4:05 AM in response to D.I. Johnson

Thank you D.I and hcsitas for your replies. I followed your advised and removed both Trusteer and MWB; deleted the NordVPN; uninstalled all drivers from WD. I did not find any 'cyberghost' software installed on my machine. To answer @hacsitas questions I'm using an 'LG 50 Inch 50UN7300 Smart 4K Ultra HD LED TV with HDR'. I use USB-C because I remember when I first bought the mini the HDMI could not cope even with my 27" 4K monitor and often times the screen wouldn't even come up which led to looking for alternatives and this has been the most reliable so far although not fully optimal when working with heavy projects.

As for the results, things didn't get all the better. I have to admit that I experienced some improvements but display output still feels rather choppy when I zoom into the project or begin doing audio editing. I also have to mention that I'm using all USB&USB-C ports but they are not always active, I've just got hardware plugged into it. Still, the result was only about 10-15% better.

I even opted, after watching suggestions of people experiencing the same problem, for buying a software called SwitchResX which helps massively to reduce graphics without losing the original resolution. This has helped a lot, but I've had it for almost a year now. I also use the 'low resolution' options from the Scaled display preferences.

Another little detail that I think is relevant is that when I'm working on projects, my CPU reader does not even get to 50% even though I have large amounts of plugins and FX loaded on each track.

To reiterate, performance of the machine when I'm doing light tasks is phenomenal it just cannot keep up with hard tasks. Is this what people refer to as Thermal throttling?

Any other advise?

Thank you :)

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Answer 8

Taddein Author

Level 1

9 points

Nov 22, 2021 4:41 AM in response to hcsitas

It is HDMI to USB-C. Okay I’ve just ordered this cable 0.5m in length. Would you say it is good enough? I’ll test it and get back to you :)

Deal: 4K HDMI Cable 0.5m, AviBrex HDMI 2.0 Cable High Speed 18Gbps Nylon Braid HDMI Lead Support 4K@60Hz 2K@144/165Hz,2160p,1080p,3D,HDCP 2.2,ARC Compatible TV,Blu-Ray,PS4/5,Xbox,Projector,Soundbar,PC-Grey https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B082HMFNHY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_dl_7ST2V1K4MSZ7F20H76H9?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

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Answer 9

Nov 22, 2021 5:14 AM in response to Taddein

When things are all loaded up and running during a session when the lag begins, in Activity Monitor check (and get screen shots) of CPU, Memory (in particular note swap usage), and Disk (you may want to check network but if there is no network needs of during any of your sessions it is likely not necessary).

Slowdowns don't always relate directly to CPU and can be caused by excessive disk activity or excessive RAM use, application memory leaks can be a prime suspect or just too much loaded into RAM at a given time.

You said, "when I’m working on my projects it takes a few minutes before the lag becomes noticeable" which leads me to believe there is some resource issue that gets "used up" and starts slowing things down which leads me to guess that there is a some sort of RAM issue (I know one would not expect it with 64 GB of RAM) such as a memory leak, app cache usage that is not cleaned up properly and/or excessive disk writes to the point that it is stealing time from other apps. In addition, when you say using it otherwise it is running just fine, it leads me to believe it really has little to do with display and more to do with system resources especially since music production is definitely not graphics intensive.

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