iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2019) running slow with beach-balling while opening apps and documents.

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Level 1

5 points

iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2019) running slow with beach-balling while opening apps and documents.

I have the iMac with the 1TB Fusion Drive. EtreCheckPro reports as a "major" problem that the hard drive is slow. I suspect that's what's causing the problems, but I'm not sure. Also, I don't know how to tell which component of the Fusion Drive, the ssd or the spinning hard drive (or both), is failing. Finally, I have no idea what my options are for replacement.

About ten days ago the iMac failed to wake from sleep and the only option available was to boot into Internet Recovery mode. From there, Disk First Aid said the drive was good, so I re-installed the OS (Monterey) and proceeded to rebuild everything from the Time Machine backup. (That's why you'll see numerous application installs over the last few days...everything had to be re-installed.) After that, the old delay and beach-balling problems started to recur.

I have run Apple's Online Hardware Test, and it reports everything OK. EtreCheckPro is the only utility that reports any problems.

I am religious about Time Machine backups and use iCloud Drive for desktop and document sync.

EtreCheckPro Report

EtreCheckPro report is attached.

iMac 21.5″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Feb 8, 2022 4:29 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Jack-19

Level 8

46,008 points

Feb 8, 2022 7:15 AM in response to captaingyro

Yes, you do have a split Fusion Drive. Correct it following these steps: How to fix a split Fusion Drive - Apple Support.

Also, +1 on a backup. You need one before fixing your Fusion Drive. To start, you need an external hard drive. Here’s a few excellent ones sold by Apple:

You can then follow the steps in this Apple Support article to setup your Time Machine backup: Back up your Mac with Time Machine - Apple Support.

Also, moving forward, I recommend that you use iCloud in addition to Time Machine to sync all your files and photos to all your Apple devices. Although iCloud is not a "true" backup service, iCloud can also act as an emergency off-site backup, but this is why iCloud should be used in addition to Time Machine. Here are some resources on setting up iCloud for Mac:

After you setup iCloud, turn off "Optimize Mac Storage" in System Preferences > Apple ID/iCloud. That way, all changes made to files in iCloud are also backed up to Time Machine. If you have this setting on due to a limited amount of storage on your Mac, that is fine. Just know changes won't be backed up to Time Machine, only iCloud.

Jack

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Answer 2

den.thed

Level 10

82,222 points

Feb 8, 2022 5:09 AM in response to captaingyro

Most serious, it looks like the Fusion Drive has split and you are only running on the slow 5400rpm HDD.

Very serious, you have no Time Machine backup and can not fix the split Fusion Drive without a backup.

see > https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207584

Somewhat less serious, you have a ton of MS and other stuff set to open at login.

(Apple > System Preferences > Users & Groups > Login Items)

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Answer 3

captaingyro Author

Level 1

5 points

Feb 8, 2022 6:43 AM in response to captaingyro

Update: this may be significant. If I open About This Mac, then select Storage, it doesn't show a Fusion drive. It also doesn't show split drives, as Apple's guidance says it should. It only appears to show a hard drive:

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Answer 4

captaingyro Author

Level 1

5 points

Feb 8, 2022 5:48 AM in response to den.thed

I do have Time Machine backup; I had unplugged the external drive yesterday to see if that was contributing to the problem but it's re-connected now and there is a fresh backup.

You're diagnosis (split fusion drive) makes a lot of sense...it would explain everything. So, what do I do? Can it be restored to normal function? If so, how? And how did it get split and what can I do to prevent this in the future?

(I only have one login item selected: Alfred. I have know idea why there are more in the report.)

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Answer 5

captaingyro Author

Level 1

5 points

Feb 9, 2022 7:11 AM in response to den.thed

The issue is solved. It was, in fact a split Fusion Drive. I just want to acknowledge that this forum gave the best diagnosis and the best directions on how to fix it.

Apple support documents said that a slit Fusion Drive would show up in "About This Mac" as two drives. This was inaccurate; in fact, only the hard drive showed up. The SSD was not shown at all.

Apple telephone support was completely unhelpful. At first she told me that my computer had come from the factory with only the hard drive. I had to convince her that it had the Fusion Drive. At that point she said that the only remedy was to take it in to the Genius Bar and have them try to fix it.

This forum accurately diagnosed the problem based on the EtreCheck report, and correctly advised rebuilding the Fusion Drive using Terminal commands. It worked like a charm. Thank you to all who helped me.

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