Level 1

5 points

My MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014, macOS Big Sur v.11.6.4) boots and runs uncharacteristically slowly despite SSD

All in the title, really.

As a frame of reference, my Windows 10 Partition via Boot Camp runs blisteringly fast - like macOS used to - so I'm convinced it's a software issue.

Furthermore, my battery just flat-out died a few days ago; it was a third-party replacement that up until the time of its failure was doing just fine.

I've got an EtreCheck report I can share if anyone wants to take a look, so just let me know.

The solution I'm thinking of (aside from getting the battery replaced ASAP) is simply reinstalling Big Sur (or maybe upgrading to Monterey, though I'm loathe to do so due to some legacy software issues I'm bound to run into) and then restoring from my Time Machine backup, though I'm worried that such a restore might just replicate all the issues I'm currently having.

Any and all advice welcome, thanks!

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 11.6

Posted on Jul 13, 2022 3:48 AM

Top-ranking reply

Owl-53

Level 10

103,369 points

Posted on Jul 14, 2022 7:16 AM

EtreCheck version: 5.7.2 (5247)

A - This would explain the No Full Disk Access. It is either Apple Store Version or Outdated version. Current from Developer is 6.6.1

Major Issues:

Q - Runaway process - A process is using a large percentage of your CPU.

A - This would dove-tail into the section below entitled User Login Items: There are 12 Processes or Applications set to start when the computer is started from a Cold Boot.

Minor Issues:

Q - SSD too slow - SSD is showing poor performance.

A - The computer is from 2014 or 8 Years old and SSD Drive do have a life expectancy before that start to slow their age - not performing as expected.

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

A - Self Explanatory and needs the user to review and action this

Q - 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.

A - Self Explanatory and needs the user to review and action this

Q - System modifications - There are a large number of system modifications running in the background.

A - Running with many System Modifications has unintended consequences including what the computer is experiencing now

Drives:

Q - disk0 - APPLE SSD SM0512F 500.28 GB (Solid State - TRIM: Yes)

450.00 GB (Shared - 306.46 GB used, 140.59 GB available, 120.80 GB free)

A - it is suggested to keep at least 15% to 20% of the Drive Total Capacity as Empty Space for good operations of the computer. The more time the computer spend searching for Empty Space the lower the overall performance will be.

System Software:

Q - macOS Big Sur 11.6.4 (20G417) Time since boot: Less than an hour

A - The current version of Big Sur is 11.6.7 and needs to be installed

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

Q- Plugin: /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/RealPlayer Plugin.plugin

Q Plugin: /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/Silverlight.plugin

A - All the above are obsolete and need to be removed.

System Extensions:

Q - [Not Loaded] Surfshark Antivirus - version 4.2.1 (SURFSHARK LTD - 2022-06-17)

A - There are no known Windows-like Viruses in the wild that self replicate and affect macOS, because of the underling UNIX Foundation and Permission Limitation.

Additionally, and specific to Big Sur macOS 11 and Monterey macOS 12, the Operating System resides in a Sealed and Read Only Volume that can not be opened by the User or “ Bad Actor “ Software.

The Only thing this Antivirus software is protecting is the Bank Account of the Developers and for zero return to the User aside from the problems this software creates.

The The Built in Security is all that is required to protect the computer.

Q - [Running] Surfshark. WireGuard - version 4.2.1 (SURFSHARK LTD - 2022-06-17)

A - Same as above

Kernel Extensions:

Q - /Applications/ExpressVPN.app

ExpressVPNSplitTunnel.kext - com.expressvpn.splittunnel (1.0.2 - SDK 10.14)

A - Commercial VPNs should only be used if Mandated by Corporate Head Office for working remotely. Otherwise - ones Privacy and Security touted by the VPN is suspect.

Q - User Login Items:

1 - [Running] CIJSUAgent (Canon Inc. - installed 2017-11-30)

2 - [Not Loaded] ETBLauncher (Belight Software, ltd - installed 2021-06-15)

3 - [Not Loaded] ExpressVPN Launcher (ExprsVPN LLC - installed 2021-07-12)

4 - [Not Loaded] GOG Galaxy Auto Launch Helper (GOG Sp. z o.o. - installed 2021-09-09)

5 - [Not Loaded] LaunchService (LG Electronics - installed 2022-05-04)

6 - [Not Loaded] Launcher Disabler (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2022-07-09)

7 - [Not Loaded] OneDrive Launcher (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2022-07-09)

8 - [Not Loaded] FSMenuAppLoginItemHelper (Paragon Software GmbH - installed 2017-10-31)

9 - [Not Loaded] SpeedTestHelper (App Store - installed 2022-05-04)

10 - [Not Loaded] Surfshark (SURFSHARK LTD - installed 2022-06-17)

11- [Not Loaded] HP Device Monitor (HP Inc. - installed 2019-04-04)

12 - [Not Loaded] HP Product Research (HP Inc. - installed 2019-04-04)

A - Covered Earlier above and suggest evaluation what is Required and What is Not

Internet Plug-ins:

Q - Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: 2.2.1.11 (? - installed 2008-08-15)

Q - OVSHelper: 1.0 (? - installed 2010-12-10)

Q - SharePointBrowserPlugin: 14.0.0 (? - installed 2010-08-25)

Q - RealPlayer Plugin: (?)

Q - Silverlight: 5.1.40728.0 (? - installed 2015-10-28)

A - All are Obsolete and should be removed

3rd Party Preference Panes:

Q - NTFS (Paragon Software GmbH - installed 2017-09-15)

A - really suggest checking for more Current version of this software and especially Big Sur Compatible version

Clean up:

~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.expressvpn.ExpressVPN.update.plist

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40 replies

Owl-53

Level 10

103,369 points

Jul 15, 2022 4:29 AM in response to Ey3God

You are welcome 🇨🇦

Do come back to the Apple Support Communities ( ASC ) in the future, if / or when additional questions may arise

Malwarebytes is safe if downloaded Directly from the Developer.

There are no known Windows-like Viruses in the wild that self replicate and affect macOS, because of the underling UNIX Foundation and Permission Limitation.

Additionally, and specific to Big Sur macOS 11 and Monterey macOS 12, the Operating System resides in a Sealed and Read Only Volume that can not be opened by the User or “ Bad Actor “ Software.

The Only thing this Antivirus software is protecting is the Bank Account of the Developers and for zero return to the User aside from the problems this software creates.

The The Built in Security is all that is required to protect the computer.

There is Adware & Malware which will affect the computer and is generally downloaded from “ Shady “ Websites or Developers who Inject this software into the download.

Should “ Certain & Specific Software “ referenced from above be installed - it will negatively impact macOS. It is suggested, to download directly from a respected ASC Contributor, the application Malwarebytes for Mac.

It is free or paid for added features.

Run the Application and it should remove the malware / adware. Once done, restart computer and test.

Owl-53

Level 10

103,369 points

Jul 15, 2022 6:54 AM in response to Ey3God

The Age of the Drive becomes a Major Factor regardless of the present clean up and update to 11.6.7.

Doing a " Scorched Earth Method " will bring the machine back to as clean an operating system as if New.

Yes, this method will remove Everything including any Partitions allocated for Bootcamp

Restoring the machine post " Scorched Earth " will re-introduce the Exiting Software Issue that exist at the Time the Time Machine Backup is made.

That would effective Negate the Clean Installation.

So suggest not following this method

Install All Applications with Due Diligence and Directly from Developers.

Jul 13, 2022 6:17 AM in response to Ey3God

if safe mode doesn't help, then yes, please post your etrecheck report.

Owl-53

Level 10

103,369 points

Jul 13, 2022 7:09 AM in response to Ey3God

For one - the machine is 8 years old and has had a long and productive life.

Parts of the computer maybe starting to show its age. This would include the Internal Drive be it Rotational or SSD

This computer does not Qualify to upgrade beyond what it is running now Computer Qualify for the Monterey upgrade

This computer is running " Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014, macOS Big Sur v.11.6.4 "

The current version of Big Sur, as of this writing, in version 11.6.7

And Yes, do post the Full Report only if the Etrecheck Application was run with Full Disc Access

HWTech

Level 9

69,560 points

Jul 16, 2022 12:21 PM in response to etresoft

etresoft wrote:

Your EtreCheck report shows that your internal SSD is about half as fast as the SSD is on most other identical computers. I don't know if that difference in performance is due to a hardware fault or a software fault.

FYI, The performance of the Apple SSD in this particular laptop is fine as it is a SATA based SSD. The NVMe based SSDs are the ones which get 1200MB/s or more transfer rates.

etresoft

Level 9

56,810 points

Jul 17, 2022 2:31 PM in response to Ey3God

Ey3God wrote:

Is that an option that will be available to me upon restore?

It should be. I haven't done a restore in a long time.

Alright, so now I'm thinking I'll have the battery replaced first before doing anything.

I think that's the best course of action. Your computer is in "vintage" state. Apple may not fix the battery anymore.

Ey3God Author

Level 1

5 points

Jul 14, 2022 3:26 AM in response to Owl-53

Report

Please see my report attached; even though I enabled full disk access, it doesn't show that I did, and it also doesn't register my Time Machine, which is weird cos it's plugged in right now and working.

Ey3God Author

Level 1

5 points

Jul 14, 2022 3:27 AM in response to jeffreythefrog

Report

Ey3God Author

Level 1

5 points

Jul 14, 2022 4:54 AM in response to Owl-53

Hey there; I’d love to give you a report with Full Disk Mode enabled, but even though I’ve enabled EtreCheck under the correct settings, it simply won’t report correctly.

Do you have any other advice for me, & thanks for the offer!

Owl-53

Level 10

103,369 points

Jul 14, 2022 5:00 AM in response to Ey3God

Hum - normally Etrecheck should run in full Disk Access Only if the User ( you ) are signed into the Admin Account of this computer.

If this is the case at a loss.

Regardless, will have a detailed review of the existing report and get back to you soon. 🇨🇦

Ey3God Author

Level 1

5 points

Jul 15, 2022 4:22 AM in response to Owl-53

Wow, this was a really thoughtful and helpful response; thank you SO much!

I've worked through the list and I've basically gone and trashed everything listed in your assessment; still not erased, but residing in my bin for the moment; don't know if it's just a placebo, but things are already feeling more responsive.

I think my next course of action is to fully update Big Sur to 11.6.7 and then do a reset and see where I land.

Not that re the antivirus plugin, I'm not running it, it's just part of the Surfshark app at this point, it seems.

Finally, I asked for similar advice in a Reddit support forum, where a user suggested I run Malwarebytes, but it seems to be an antivirus package, and I'm wary of that; what are your thoughts on that suggestion?

Thanks again!

Ey3God Author

Level 1

5 points

Jul 15, 2022 4:26 AM in response to HWTech

Thanks, and noted!

I've trashed the Nvidia CUDA software; I think it was installed when I demoed GeForce Now.

Re the 50Gb FAT partition, that's my Windows 10 partition.

I'm attaching two screen shots, one from Disk Utility and the other from Paragon NTFS for Mac; there are so many listings, I'm not sure what's what, or what to run First Aid on, so your advice is welcome.

Thanks again!

Ey3God Author

Level 1

5 points

Jul 15, 2022 6:41 AM in response to Owl-53

Well, I'm fully up to date now, but alas, no changes! :(

Booting still takes ages and the UI is incredibly laggy; opening web pages takes forever, and shifting between tabs is unresponsive.

Feels like a clean install is my best course of action; if I do that, and restore from Time Machine, would I replicate all the issues I have now?

Also, would this affect my Boot Camp partition?

Finally, would running First Aid help at all?

Ey3God Author

Level 1

5 points

Jul 15, 2022 11:35 AM in response to HWTech

Great advice, thanks!

Downloading DriveDx right now and will report back; will also run Apple Diagnostics.

I ran First Aid via Disk Utility but nothing came up.

Noted re clean install suggestions.

Thanks again!

Ey3God Author

Level 1

5 points

Jul 15, 2022 11:42 AM in response to HWTech

DriveDx Report

Alright, the DriveDx Report seems to give me the all clear, only thing that looks (slightly) suspect is the Power Cycle Count, perhaps?

FYI I've done SMC and PRAM Resets a number of times (particularly when I first noted that my battery had died), but I guess I can do those again after updating my OS today?

Gonna run First Aid one more time, then Diagnostics.

Will keep you appraised.

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My MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014, macOS Big Sur v.11.6.4) boots and runs uncharacteristically slowly despite SSD