Tahoe update has ruined my iMac

Thank you for being pro-active and suppling the report up front

This really helps 👍

The details below were taken from that report

Q -Runtime: 5:31

Q -Performance: Below Average

Q -Problem: Computer is too slow

A - The runtime is usually about 2 to maybe 3 minutes to complete. So this seems to indicate some issue that are covered in below

Q - Heavy RAM usage - Apps are using a large amount of RAM.

Q - Low performance - EtreCheck report took an unusually long time to run.

Q - disk0 - APPLE SSD AP1024N 1.00 TB (Solid State - TRIM: Yes) 

Q - Size: 1.00 TB

Q - Free: 198.87 GB

Q - Available: 537.97 GB

A - From another contributor @etresoft regarding Free Space and Available Space 

Free vs available disk space huge differe… - Apple Community

Quote >>  “ The "available" storage is the amount of used storage that the operating system could automatically delete if it felt that it was really necessary. The "free" storage is the amount that you can actually use for something.

There are system processes that run in the background and automatically delete some of the "available" storage and convert it to "free". If you completely run out of storage, then those system processes will try a little harder. When you "delete" files you are just hinting to the operating system that you don't need those files anymore. The operating system will eventually remove them, but on its own schedule.

Certain tools will allow you to force the issue and manually clean up some of this storage and manually delete local snapshots. But that is only temporary. "  << End Quote 

A - Purgeable Space is controlled by the Operating System and not the user 

Get detailed information about a disk in Disk Utility on Mac

A - The computer it choking on Launch Agents of which there are 18 running in the background

A - Then there is the Google Chrome web browser 

Short and unpopular suggestion for some

 https://chromeisbad.com

May consider an alternative https://brave.com which is essentially Google Chrome without the Google baggage 

Refer to the Posting by Respected Contributor @ John Galt 

Application memory error on my MacBook Pro - Apple Community

Refer to the Posting by Respected Contributor @ Kurt Lang

etrecheck... Mac running slow - Apple Community

1 - Google Chrome is overly aggressive in Resource and Memory usages.

2 - Google Chrome harvests all your personal data unbeknownst to you and sells your personal data,  which intern allows the Third Parties to Target you for their purposes 

Q - com.wacom.DataStoreMgr.plist (Wacom Technology Corp. - installed 2024-06-03)

A - You may also need to see if there is an update software driver for the Wacom Tablet

Q - com.wdc.WDTrashObserver.plist (Western Digital Corporation Branded Products Group - installed 2025-11-19)

A - Unless there is a Special Need for Third Party Software to manage the external drive Get Rid of it 

Q - Backup:

  Time Machine information is limited without Full Disk Access

  Destinations: 

    E*******e [Local] (Last used)

  11 local snapshots

  Oldest local snapshot: 2023-05-24 14:35:57

  Last local snapshot: 2026-02-04 16:24:44

A - For some reason there are 11 Time Machine Backup Snapshot hanging around and possible utilizing Space on the Internal Drive 

In Terminal application run below command 

tmutil listlocalsnapshots /

You’ll get output like:

com.apple.TimeMachine.2026-02-04-153210

com.apple.TimeMachine.2026-02-05-091445

Each line is a snapshot, timestamped as:

YYYY-MM-DD-HHMMSS

A - You delete them one by one using the timestamp:

sudo tmutil deletelocalsnapshots 2026-02-04-123456

macOS will immediately free the space.

Q - Performance:

  System Load: 2.65 (1 min ago) 3.22 (5 min ago) 4.11 (15 min ago)

    File system: 89.06 seconds

  Write speed: 562 MB/s

  Read speed: 960 MB/s

A - The Read and Write Speeds look Off to me

I do know a few contributors like  @ Allen Jones  and a few others who are far more expert in knowing what the Read and Writes Speed should be  but as I said they look off  

Q - Top Processes Snapshot by CPU:

Google Chrome Helper (Renderer) (17) 5.86 % (Google LLC)

Google Chrome Helper (4) 4.02 % (Google LLC)

Q - Top Processes Snapshot by Memory:

 Google Chrome Helper (Renderer) (17) 2.76 GB (Google LLC)

Q - Top Processes Snapshot by Energy Use:

 Process (count) Energy (0-100) (Source - Location)

 Google Chrome Helper (4) 2 (Google LLC)

 Google Chrome Helper (Renderer) (17) 2 (Google LLC)

 Google Chrome 0 (Google LLC)

The SSD speeds for the internal SSD is much too slow. I would at least expect the Read speed to be closer to 2,000MB/s while the Write speed could be anywhere between 1,000MB/s to 2,000MB/s (Write speeds tend to be a bit slower especially on the boot drive). Spotlight showed a high CPU utilization which is also unusual and could point to an SSD or file system issue.

Try running the third party app DriveDx (free trial period) to check the health of the internal SSD and post the complete text report here using the "Additional Text" icon which looks like a piece of paper on the forum editing toolbar.

I would also try running Disk Utility First Aid on the hidden Container. Even if the First Aid summary says everything is Ok, click "Show Details" and scroll through the report to see if there are any unfixed errors or warning. If there are any errors, then run First Aid again until they are gone. If after several scans the errors/warnings remain, the run First Aid while booted into Internet Recovery Mode. If the errors still remain after several scans, then they cannot be fixed and you will need to erase the disk. See the following Apple article for details on running First Aid:

How to repair a Mac storage device with Disk Utility - Apple Support

I'm not a macOS software expert, but like @D.I. Johnson mentioned, I don't really see any of the usual third party software culprits. The only item which I'm not familiar is the Muse Hub. Unusual is where I usually start looking.

The Wacom tablet software has been known to have problems, but doesn't usually cause system performance issues. Make sure all of your third party apps are completely up to date.

This item in the EtreCheck report is unusual as I don't know what "sl" is, but the path shown is part of the core OS so that part is safe although I don't know what "[Other] here signifies and why it is there. Again, unusual is a good place to look & question.

[Other] sl

Folder

/System/Library/F********s/A********************k/X*********s/c*******************************c/C******s/R*******s/s******j

danthejan wrote:

Should it take more than a week?

I just paid to double my internet speed - no change. I really didn't think that was the problem.

Then I thought, my iMac is to old. Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2020, Processor: 3.3 GHz 6-Core Intel Core i5, Graphics: AMD Radeon Pro 5300 4 GB, Memory: 32 GB 2667 MHz DDR4

Do I have to upgrade to fix this?

Your Mac is not too old. I have an older Mac, just 16 GB memory (MacBook Pro 2019 Intel 16").

What I find most concerning, which others have also noted, are your read/write speeds on your iMac's SSD:

System Load: 2.65 (1 min ago) 3.22 (5 min ago) 4.11 (15 min ago)

File system: 89.06 seconds

Write speed: 562 MB/s

Read speed: 960 MB/s

My 2019 laptop gets 3000 MB/s for both read and write. Your write speed is closer to what I would expect from a mechanical 7200 rpm drive, not from an SSD, it is 5x slower than it should be.

Also WD drive tools software may be slowing things down, it duplicates normal MacOS functions and with your multiple external WD drives, it may be trying to interact with those drives repeatedly. I suggest operating your Mac with all externals disconnected, as a test. No external drives and no Wacom tablet ... your Wacom software was installed long before Tahoe came out, I wonder if it is even incompatible with Tahoe.

So the things that I would be wary of are: WD and Wacom software; external drives that utilize WD software; and anomalously slow internal SSD.

Q - Performance:

  System Load: 2.65 (1 min ago) 3.22 (5 min ago) 4.11 (15 min ago)

    File system: 89.06 seconds ⬅️ B

  Write speed: 562 MB/s

  Read speed: 960 MB/s

A - The Read and Write Speeds look Off to me

I do know a few contributors like  @ Allen Jones  and a few others who are far more expert in knowing what the Read and Writes Speed should be  but as I said they look off  

Hi OT and danthejan

Found you. Yes, those drive scores are somewhere between dismal and abysmal. If seen iMAcs with Apple;s flaky Fusion drive system outscore yours.

I just ran EtreCheck on my eight-year old, high-mileage 2017 iMac 5K with the very same 1TB Apple SSD option as yours. On mine, File System shows 13 seconds. Writes were 1961 MB/sec and reads were 2536 MB/sec. I did not restart or anything else, and it's been sitting idle for several days. Huge differences for virtually the same drive mechanism.

EtreCheck's help menu says File System is an indication of drive health. 89 seconds is 3/4 of the way to the test timing out (usually 120 sec) and is as high as I've seen some failing mech hard drives report.

I claim no expertise in reading DriveDx reports but there seems a disconnect between its health eval and the overly high File system result in EtreCheck. That could indicate a software interference, although I do not see too many of the "usual suspects."

What I would do:

— Before anything else, I would disconnect all external USB drives and test. Do another EtreCheck report. I've see enough issues with WD Passports here to add the external-drive-disconnect test to my checklist. My personal experience is that WD bare drives are great but not their enclosures. If the scores increse dramatically, reconnect the drives one at a time and retest after each is added back. Wash, rinse repeat, then...

— If nothing changes with the external drive test, I would next do a Safe Mode boot (Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support). That has sped up a number of sluggish SSDs for me.

TIP: Safe mode needs a little "quiet personal time" to complete all its housekeeping. I always let the computer "soak" in Safe Mode for at least 30 minutes before doing a regular boot and testing. Another tip: I found out only last month with my iMac 5K 2017 that, with Apple's rechargeable wireless keyboard, you need to connect its cable to the computer to get into Safe Mode.

That's I all have right now. Looking forward to your findings.

steve626 wrote:

danthejan wrote:

Should it take more than a week?

I just paid to double my internet speed - no change. I really didn't think that was the problem.

Then I thought, my iMac is to old. Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2020, Processor: 3.3 GHz 6-Core Intel Core i5, Graphics: AMD Radeon Pro 5300 4 GB, Memory: 32 GB 2667 MHz DDR4

Do I have to upgrade to fix this?

Your Mac is not too old. I have an older Mac, just 16 GB memory (MacBook Pro 2019 Intel 16").

What I find most concerning, which others have also noted, are your read/write speeds on your iMac's SSD:

System Load: 2.65 (1 min ago) 3.22 (5 min ago) 4.11 (15 min ago)

File system: 89.06 seconds

Write speed: 562 MB/s

Read speed: 960 MB/s

My 2019 laptop gets 3000 MB/s for both read and write. Your write speed is closer to what I would expect from a mechanical 7200 rpm drive, not from an SSD, it is 5x slower than it should be.

Also WD drive tools software may be slowing things down, it duplicates normal MacOS functions and with your multiple external WD drives, it may be trying to interact with those drives repeatedly. I suggest operating your Mac with all externals disconnected, as a test. No external drives and no Wacom tablet ... your Wacom software was installed long before Tahoe came out, I wonder if it is even incompatible with Tahoe.

So the things that I would be wary of are: WD and Wacom software; external drives that utilize WD software; and anomalously slow internal SSD.

Thank you too for your contribution

🦉-53

danthejan wrote:

I've started up in safe mode and run another EtreCheck with no external drives connected.

Wish I could find the one thing to do to fix it...

Thanks for your help, Allan and everyone!

Dan

<EtreCheck Feb 6 at 2pm.log>

That really improved those SSD speeds.

Either one or more of your external drives was causing the problem, or the cause is one or more of the apps listed in the EtreCheck report (Launch Agents/Daemons, Login Items).

You can boot normally & run EtreCheck again to compare the SSD speeds while no external drives are connected. Follow the advice @Allan Jones provided for Safe Mode (give the system a bit of time to settle down).

If the speeds are very low again, then look at the Launch Agents/Daemons & Login items listed in the EtreCheck report for the source of the problem. Also look closely at those Finder sync extensions......seems you have several syncing extensions which could impact drive & system performance. Actually these may be the problem.

If speeds are normal when booted normally without the external drives, then one or more of those drives may be the problem. Connect them one at a time to see which one causes the problem, it is possible the problem may only occur when two drives are connected simultaneously. You can also use DriveDx to check the health of those external drives, but you will need to install a special USB driver to do so (included with DriveDx).

Give the computer several days to finish its shakedown which may include reindexing by Spotlight and other processes. How long this takes may be impacted by the number and capacity of any external drives you have connected, including iCloud Drive.

The SSD looks Ok, so unless the SSD's controller is glitching out, the SSD itself is probably Ok. FYI, there is no health monitoring for the SSD's controller and most SSD failures are due to their controllers no longer communicating with the system which generally results in Kernel Panics for a macOS boot drive.

I would look at possible file system corruption, or even the external drives as suggested by @steve626.

No, I don’t believe it should take a week to shake out.

Run Disk Utility First Aid on the startup drive, and then check the overall health of your startup drive with Drive DX.

I don’t see anything in your EtreCheck report that looks concerning, but I’m not especially good at reading them.

danthejan wrote:

<DriveDxReport_APPLE SSD AP1024N_2026-02-06.log>

I did everything Owl-53 recommended. No more Chrome. Now using Brave.

There seems to be some improvement. I'll know more as I get back to work.

I also suggest running the EXTENDED TEST on the SSD in DriveDx. I have had SSDs that passed the quick test and had satisfactory health indicators (which yours does have) but failed the extended test. The quick test (which you can run also) takes maybe 5-10 minutes, the extended test can take 30 minutes or more.

If however you find that making the changes Owl-53 recommended has restored the Mac's normal functioning, then maybe no need to follow through with more tests.

Follow up:

FYI: After posting the above, I did the Safe Mode thing on my SSD-equipped 2017 5K iMac. I let it soak for a timed 30 minutes. I did no other maintenance steps.

Before Safe Mode boot: Writes 1961 MB/sec; reads 2536 MB/sec.

After Safe Mode boot: Writes 2112 MB/sec; reads 2683 MB/sec.

Not a huge bump, but the was on a know healthy drive. The Safe mode test is free and very DIY.

HWTech wrote:

The SSD looks Ok, so unless the SSD's controller is glitching out, the SSD itself is probably Ok. FYI, there is no health monitoring for the SSD's controller and most SSD failures are due to their controllers no longer communicating with the system which generally results in Kernel Panics for a macOS boot drive.

I would look at possible file system corruption, or even the external drives as suggested by @steve626.

Thank you for your contribution

🦉-53

A FAST look

The computer is chocking with Launch Agents

About 18 or more of them

Some are Run Away process

Meaning unnecessary Resource are allocation to background processes

Two cents here

Not too experienced at reading the results from DriveDx

But looking only at === PROBLEMS SUMMARY ===

It would seem good

Though, I might wait for the More Expert One ( @ HWTech ) to review the numbers and offer some details

Should they too arrive at the same conclusions

The issues that have been outlined would come into play