Beachballs, crashes for a single user account

Question

groovman Author

Level 1

8 points

Beachballs, crashes for a single user account

EtreCheck - Effected User

EtreCheck - Regular User

DriveDX Report

Hey all,

Having major issues with a single user account (of 4 users) on a 2017 iMac 18,3 (i7, 24gb, 2TB Fusion Drive). The computer is basically unusable by my user account and symptoms are:

Window resizing/opening/closing causes beachballs (inc opening/closing apps)
Hang / crashes after 3-10 minutes after logging in and trying to use normally
Etrecheck took around 12 minutes to complete (vs 3 mins on other account)
Occasional bluetooth drop outs (Magic Mouse and Keyboard purchased with system)
- This has been happening for quite awhile, remedied by using plug-in devices

Steps I've taken:

Safe Mode boot - no change to behavior
Internet Recovery boot - Disk Utility shows everything working just fine
Tried using OnyX, CleanMyMac, and Malwarebytes - no major changes
Removed login items and extensions via Terminal (not a great technique, probably messed up more than I fixed, and now I'm seeing folders in my Library that I don't recognize)
Diagnosis boot - showed everything working normally
Internet Recovery boot - reinstalled MacOS (not wiped w/ clean install)
Deleted effected user, reloaded from Time Machine backup via Migration Assistant

My user account is still not working correctly and is encountering major issues. In browsing the forum, I read how one person found some relief from using a different USB mouse, which has also worked a little for me. (I don't understand why this works). Also, I learned about Etrecheck, which is attached (note that running from a different user account does not show major issue of drive failure). I now also have a trial version of DriveDX which is reporting that my platter drive is failing (attached).

So here are my questions:

Is there a way to fix the effected user account so that it's not crashing all the time?
Is the platter drive really failing if Disk Utility doesn't seem concerned?
Is my bluetooth hosed?

Thanks for taking a look!

iMac 27″ 5K

Posted on Mar 22, 2023 9:41 PM

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Answer 1

Mar 23, 2023 1:18 AM in response to groovman

Your drive shows some 700GB available but only some 60 GB free.

In practical terms, the disk is full.

I’d try to get some more free space now.

A common cause for this are Time Machine local snapshots.

What is the output if the following command in Terminal:

tmutil listlocalsnapshots /

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Answer 2

groovman Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 27, 2023 5:02 PM in response to Luis Sequeira1

Terminal output:

com.apple.TimeMachine.2023-03-26-181055.local

com.apple.TimeMachine.2023-03-26-212858.local

com.apple.TimeMachine.2023-03-27-095103.local

com.apple.TimeMachine.2023-03-27-104958.local

com.apple.TimeMachine.2023-03-27-131917.local

com.apple.TimeMachine.2023-03-27-161127.local

I have gone through and removed old programs and files that were just taking up space (somehow had two Steam application folders) and have salvaged quite a bit of space. I can't see the updated DriveDX stats, but Finder tells me I'm using 1.37 of 2.12TB.

I think I've determined the culprit of the massive slowdown was iCloud file sync. When opening a Finder window, I noticed a small progress indicator next to my "iCloud Drive" folder, it was stuck at 23mb of some huge gb number. I turned off iCloud drive, and everything became much more responsive. Now I have to figure out the best way to re-enable this feature without wiping out all of my previously saved files.

I believe it was trying to upload a new copy of everything that Migration Assistant had restored from the Time Machine Backup. (When the files were restored, they all had March 18th as the file created date.)

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Answer 3

Owl-53

Level 10

112,081 points

Mar 23, 2023 3:09 AM in response to groovman

Manage Storage

It is generally a good computer practice to alway keep at least 15% to 20% of the Total Drive Capacity’s as Empty Space. Allowing the computer to drop below these guidelines may eventually, cause unintended consequences.

The links below will assist in identifying what is taking up space on the Internal Drive and provide possible ways to remove data that is under the direct control of the User ( Home Folder ) .

Rebuild the Spotlight index on your Mac

What is “Other” storage on a Mac, and how can I clean it out?

Free up storage space on your Mac

OmniDiskSweeper Safe to use

GrandPerspective

How to delete Time Machine snapshots on your Mac

See used and available storage space on your Mac

Locate backups of your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch

Notation - If the user is using a cloning software like Carbon Copy Cloner - suggest tweaking the Safety Net Feature in this software. It may be making additional Snap Shots that are not being Cloned to the Eternal Drive. If this should be the case, these Snap Shot could be using additional space on the drive

The final word from Apple on Managing the " Other/ System Data “ Category

Other / System Data: Contains files that don’t fall into the categories listed here. This category primarily includes files and data used by the system, such as log files, caches, VM files, and other runtime system resources. Also included are temporary files, fonts, app support files, and plug-ins. You can't manage the contents of this category. The contents are managed by macOS, and the category varies in size depending on the current state of your Mac.

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Answer 4

groovman Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 27, 2023 5:33 PM in response to groovman

Updated Etrecheck Log

So my outstanding items are now:

How to regain files from iCloud Drive:

- Do I turn it back on and hope there's no loss?
- Or do I restore my files from Time Machine and have iCloud Drive upload another copy of all my files with different dates?

2. Determine if I truly am heading for drive failure and how best to mitigate: clone to external drive or perform iMac surgery.

3. Figure out why bluetooth keyboard and mouse (and sometimes WiFi) disconnects randomly. Is this a faulty communications card?

I appreciate all your insight and help!

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Beachballs, crashes for a single user account

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