Fixing Zoom hang

Create and log into a new, basic, admin user account, Set up users, guests, and groups on Mac,  and see if the problem persists. This tells us if the problem is limited to your user account or is system wide.

Note: do not launch any 3rd party apps in the account so as to not install any of the supporting files that most create.

If the problem persists then your original account has software installed that is causing the problem.

Mark LeBar wrote:

Zoom (now 5.12.9) Zoom hangs any time I have tried to open, unless I am in Safe Mode, where it appears to operate normally.

This indicates you most likely have some third party software installed which is interfering with the normal operation of macOS. Typical culprits are anti-virus apps, cleaning/optimizer apps, and third party security software. None of these apps are needed on a Mac and usually causes more problems than they solve, plus they impact system performance. If you have any of these types of apps installed, then uninstall them by following the developer's instructions.

To look for possible software issues, run EtreCheck and post the report here using the "Additional Text" icon which looks like a piece of paper. This will show if any remnants are still around and other contributors can examine the software list for possible causes.

I don't see any of the usual culprits, but I would suggest uninstalling Tech Tool by following the developer's instructions. TechTool doesn't really provide much usefulness these days anyway.

I also see some type of app with "BitCoin" in its name. I have no idea what this may be, but any "bitcoin" related item may end up using/wasting CPU cycles. Some third party apps have been known to install Bitcoin software to help the developer make money off of your computer.

[Running] com.bitcointrezor.trezorBridge.trezord.plist (Not signed - installed 2022-12-02)

After this, I would consider your cloud services such as One Drive and Drop Box, or even possibly iCloud if you are using it. I have seen some knowledgeable contributors mention that One Drive & Drop Box can cause some issues at times in addition to the normal possible performance issues during any file syncing.

You do have some apps installed which I don't recognize, so I don't know about them, but I don't see anything else which really stands out. If these things don't help, then look at any of those "Running" and "Loaded" items, but of course some of the others listed as "Not Loaded" may end up "Running" if you launch their respective app later on or utilize/trigger their service.

I would suggest turning off MalwareByte's real time scanning option as well if it is enabled. There really is no reason to have it running all the time even though MalwareBytes is fairly well behaved.

I do see a lot of "ProxiedDevice-Bridge" logs listed in the report. I'm not sure if this is a source of the problem or another symptom. I'm not sure what these errors "ProxiedDevice-Bridge" errors are, but I have seen them a lot in many of the EtreCheck reports posted on these forums, many times when everything else in the report looks Ok.

You can also try running Disk Utility First Aid on the hidden Container to see if there may be any file system issues. Within Disk Utility you may need to click "View" and select "Show All Devices" before the hidden Container appears on the left pane of Disk Utility. Even if First Aid says everything is "Ok", click "Show Details" and scroll back through the report to see if any unfixed errors are listed. If there are any unfixed errors listed, then try running First Aid from Internet Recovery Mode, otherwise you will need to erase the whole physical SSD followed by reinstalling macOS and restoring from a backup. I doubt this is the case since Safe Mode works for you, but maybe while in Safe Mode you are not accessing the areas of the file system with issues. I suspect one or maybe more of the items in your EtreCheck report are the problem.

You can also try disconnecting all external devices in case one of them is causing a problem.

You do have a lot of both Time Machine and CCC snapshots there. I don't use TM at all and I have never used CCC to run all the time for backups, so I'm entirely sure what is normal here, but it seems like you have more backup snapshots listed than I usually see most EtreCheck reports.

Hopefully another more knowledgeable contributor can chime in if these suggestions don't help.

Mark LeBar wrote:

I'm not sure about MalwareByte; I can't find the source of that anywhere, including the Library. What's more I don't know how it got there, which is worrisome.

MalwareBytes should be located in the Applications folder. MalwareBytes is a known app. If MalwareBytes was deleted from the system instead of being properly uninstalled, then it would have left behind its lower level ties to macOS.

If you are still having problems, then you will need to uninstall each of the apps which have extensions or launch daemons/agents listed in the EtreCheck report. These are the items which are most likely to cause a problem since they are tied into macOS at a lower level than other third party apps. Make sure to uninstall the apps by following the developer's instructions. I would begin with the lesser known apps.