Strange, late 2013 iMac issue

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Level 2

216 points

Strange, late 2013 iMac issue

I've been using a 27-inch late 2013 iMac as a picture frame, running Powerpoint .ppsx slideshows as a kiosk for several years without a hitch. Using the max version of Catalina allowed for this Mac and the latest version of Powerpoint possible (last update allowed by Microsoft Autoupdate from 2022). With no (apparent) change to either the MacOS or to Powerpoint, about 2 weeks ago the slideshows will no longer run properly; the first slide loads but then the screen goes black within a fraction of a second. Neither the app or the Mac has crashed, it behaves as if the slide show is running, can quit out of the show back to the desktop. Same behavior with different shows, restarting the Mac doesn't make a difference.

Any got an explanation or fix?

Earlier Mac models

Posted on May 19, 2024 7:44 AM

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Answer 1

justin-T Author

Level 2

216 points

May 19, 2024 1:41 PM in response to BDAqua

Thanks, hadn't thought to try EtreCheck. It didn't find any major issues, but did see a ton of files running in the background, as well as obsolete applications. So, I did a mass purge of a slew of old/unneeded files & apps (I discovered it was still accessing my Dropbox...), including a huge clearout from the Library folder. Emptied Trash, rebooted and it now works as before.

Unfortunately, because I deleted so many files I can't tell what the conflict/issue was. However, the main point is that we've got our 27-inch picture frame back!

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Answer 2

BDAqua

Level 10

251,379 points

May 19, 2024 7:50 AM in response to justin-T

Have you run Disk Utility's Disk First Aid on all connected drives?

In Disk Utility>View, select Show all Devices, highlight the top left entry.

Run Disk First Aid on all items in the left panel, from top down.

Are you running any VPN, Anti-Virus, or Cleaning apps?

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

Using EtreCheck - Apple Community

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…

Slow iMac 2017 - Apple Community

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...

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