Beach ball on Mac Studio M2 Ultra Ventura

Hello Everyone,


I have a new Mac Studio M2 Ultra, 128 GB memory, and OS Ventura 13.5.2. I am editing a video that includes a good number of tracks for both audio and video (including effects). The software I am using is Camtasia 2023. The video is about 10 minutes long. Every time I save my progress I get the beach ball for a longer time as I continue editing. The last time I saved my progress, the beach ball appeared for about 7 seconds! So far, I have only seen the beach ball while saving, not during editing (adding elements, effects, or modifying existing ones). I thought I should not experience this with the Mac Studio, especially with the M2 Ultra chip and 128 GB of memory. Am I correct? Is the beach ball normal while saving? Should I be alarmed? Your guidance and support will be greatly appreciated.


OskeyWaskey


Mac Studio, macOS 13.5

Posted on Sep 25, 2023 12:27 PM

Reply
20 replies

Sep 25, 2023 4:57 PM in response to OskeyWaskey

You are correct...


We need to see what all is running, a report from this will not display any personal info...


EtreCheck is a FREE simple little diagnostic tool to display the important details of your system configuration and allow you to copy that information to the Clipboard. It is meant to be used with Apple Support Communities to help people help you with your Mac. It will not display any personal info.

https://www.etrecheck.com/


Thanks for Old Toad’s etrecheck instructions…

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/255121100?answerId=259529290022#259529290022


Use the Note tool on the bottom of this editor's toolbar, as shown in the image, to copy and paste the output from EtreCheck. In a Reply before you click post, look for this to add longer texts...


Sep 27, 2023 4:43 PM in response to OskeyWaskey

I was worried when I saw Msecure in your recent downloads.


By far the easiest way to cause poor performance, instability, overheating and crashing is to install ANY third-party speeder-uppers, Cleaners, Optimizers, or Virus scanners. or a VPN that you installed yourself.


The idea that a third party, with no special knowledge of the inner workings of MacOS, can somehow find a simple way to protect your computer — that is not already being done by MacOS itself — suggests that the MacOS developers are somehow "holding out on you". That is absurd.


You should remove any and all (other than Apple built-in) virus scanners, speeder uppers, optimizers, cleaners, App deleters or VPN packages you installed yourself, or anything of that ilk.


Third-party file Sync-ers such as DropBox, BackBlaze, OneDrive, or GoogleDrive can ruin performance, but are not inherently dangerous.


ALSO, NB >> there are ways to set up dropBox oneNote and similar sharing services so that everything you do is scanned, and/or everything you do is Saved to your sharing services. Doing either that would ruin performance in a rather remarkable way -- sort of like what you are reporting.


The way to run syncing services if you MUST use them, is to launch when ready to start saving stuff there, and quit them the Moment the files are saved.


If you launch at login and leave non-Native file sync-ers running, they scan every file non-stop, because they are ported [badly] from another Operating System, and were never enhanced to take advantage of MacOS features like the Mac File System Event Store that could tell them instantly what folders had recent changes. They can be worse that running a Virus scanner, and you appear to be running TWO at once.


Sep 28, 2023 6:10 AM in response to OskeyWaskey

Thank you very much Grant and BDAqua. I need more clarification.


I have not installed any speeder-uppers, cleaners, optimizers, or virus scanners; or a VPN (at least willingly). mSecure is a password manager app that I downloaded from the Apple AppStore and that I have been using since 2013 on iPhone and on Mac, so I trusted Apple scans and approves all apps you can get on the AppStore, correct?


OS keychain interacts with mSecure and retrieves passwords from it. I didn’t think that would be a problem. Do you think I should uninstall it? From all my devices (iPhone, iPad, and Mac Studio?)


As for Dropbox, I had no idea it would interfere with the computer performance. I have been using Dropbox since 2012 on all my Apple devices and I also thought it was safe to use since I got the app at the Apple AppStore. I am interested in learning more about your suggestion on how to use it appropriately and safely.


Additionally, I would like to learn about using solid state drives for storage. I would like to save the videos I produce separately to free up space on my Mac Studio.


OneDrive is a recent thing. I actually don’t even use it, but for a couple of Word documents that got saved there. OneDrive got installed when I downloaded the Microsoft Office suite that I also got from the Apple AppStore when I got my Mac Studio last July. I had originally subscribed to Microsoft 365 back in 2015 so that I could use Word and PowerPoint on the iPad as well as on the MacBook Pro I used to have. I would like to learn what the best way to use Word and PowerPoint on all my Apple devices is.


Also, how do I safely uninstall the troublesome apps? What are the recommended next steps I should take?


Thank you very much for your guidance and support!

Sep 28, 2023 6:25 AM in response to BDAqua

Thank you BDAqua. I was editing a video exactly at the time you point out.


I have been using Camtasia (video and audio editor) by TechSmith since 2015. I have been reading some articles online comparing it with FinalCut Pro, and several sources point out Camtasia is better user friendly, but lagging or crashing on occasion when working on heavy projects. I use a good number of elements in my editing (videos, images of different kinds, animations, transitions, audio files and effects). I cannot afford FinalCut Pro right now, and I have been paying for a subscription with Camtasia that includes updates and upgrades every year for only $65.


I am wondering whether Camtasia, along with the apps that Grant mentions are the reason why I get the beach ball. I lost a project when Camtasia crashed on me in the middle of editing last year. I was working on my 2016 MacBook Pro (Intel chip). That’s why I panicked when I started getting the beach ball last week.


As soon as I could afford a Mac Studio I purchased the one that I have. I was sooo hopeful the super M2 Ultra chip would make editing seamless and all my workflow smooth sailing, assuming that the problem was the old Intel chip and lack of RAM on my old MacBook Pro.


I am confused and a bit frustrated. Please advise!


Thank you for your guidance and support!

Question marked as Helpful

Sep 28, 2023 6:53 AM in response to OskeyWaskey

OskeyWaskey

There are some simple steps you can take to see what is running and using resources. Open utilities folder in applications. Then find & open Activity Monitor in the utilities folder. When that program opens. You can see CPU and Memory at the top. Click each one to see a list of things running that are using CPU and Memory.

Question marked as Helpful

Sep 28, 2023 7:10 AM in response to OskeyWaskey

Dropbox and similar apps behaved better on older Macs, because their drives were so slow, they could not generate an overwhelming amount of disk I/O in a short period of time.


Drives on recent Macs are over 100 times faster than drives of only a decade ago, and also accept dozens more pending requests before saying 'no more'.


>> see following post focused on launch at login items

Sep 28, 2023 7:11 AM in response to OskeyWaskey

The suggestion to look in Activity Monitor is a sound one in general for many cases, but in this case, Dropbox and similar file-syncers will NOT show up there, because the compute-power consumed is negligible. What they [and virus scanners] do is, read your files as fast they can until the File System backs up, and then they suspend until the I/O logjam (they created) clears, only to do it all again.


if you MUST use Dropbox, do not launch at login. Launch ONLY when you need to move a file, then quit dropbox, or Restart.


Login items are specified here:

...

NB> Items that APPEAR on the list are launched at login. Select an Item and use the remove button below the list [-].

(the checkbox is just to make them invisible when they are launched)

Sep 28, 2023 7:36 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Thank you again Grant. I am not on my Mac Studio at the moment, but I remember seeing two sections in the “Login Items” settings. On the top there was only OneDrive. I toggled the switch to off, but I would like to delete OneDrive completely instead.


The section below has a list of apps “Running in the Background.” There I remember seeing Dropbox, Spotify, Zoom, and possibly another one, but I cannot remember. After running EtreCheck yesterday, I also toggled that switch off, so nothing was running in the background while I was editing. I still got the beach ball for about 7 seconds every time I saved my progress (about every 15 minutes).


I would like to have a reliable and safe workflow, software, and hardware that allows me to smoothly edit complex and heavy videos and audio recordings, and count on reliable and secure storage for the projects and all their assets or components (videos, images, music files, and other resources).


Thank you very much for your guidance. What do you suggest I should do as soon as I get on my MacStudio this evening?

Sep 28, 2023 8:16 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Yes sir. I do agree that drop box and other syncing utilities may not show up. However, those may not be the only issue. It is possible to have other apps that are resource hogs. I would say that it never hurts to look and see what is going on. The editing software may be an issue. Slamming the CPU to 100% for a period. While all of this is speculation. One will never know without some investigation.


Cheers

Sep 28, 2023 8:53 AM in response to OskeyWaskey

Oskey, I came across this when looking into EtreCheck. https://sites.google.com/site/howtotellifyourmacishacked/is-etrecheck-malware

There are numerous reports claiming EtreCheck to be malware. Please read the article that the link will take you to. Several top anti-virus companies have deemed it dangerous and listed it as malware. There are some very crafty scammers online that look to get your information by any means they can. So read the article. I think you will find it useful. Cheers

Sep 28, 2023 10:31 AM in response to BDAqua

Interesting that you don't want someone to go investigate software before it is installed. HUGE red flag! If everyone in the anti-malware industry is saying it is malware. I will lean to them and not you. To say that I am spreading an UNTRUTH is preposterous. I am saying check it. Don't just take some random persons recommendations in a forum or chat room, video etc without researching it. No matter what the level of that person is. What better way to scam someone than to be a high level in a forum. Making people feel that they are safe. You are upset that someone is challenging you and has the intellect to perform that challenge.

Cheers

Beach ball on Mac Studio M2 Ultra Ventura

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