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Level 1

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iMac 27" running very slow after 10.6.6 update

After updating to the newest OSX build my iMac is running extremely slow. Boot times are the same but once I'm in OSX it takes twice as long to do anything. If I click on the systems icon it takes over 10 seconds to open. I attempted to verify my hard drive permissions and it shows an estimated time of over 4 hours. I'm at a lost as to what the **** happened. I've run several hardware diagnostics and it finds no problems. I also have boot camp installed and Windows 7 runs perfectly. Has anyone experienced something like this with the 10.6.6 build?

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.6)

Posted on Jan 8, 2011 4:16 PM

72 replies

e-nun Author

Level 1

0 points

Jan 11, 2011 2:01 PM in response to MadMax889

Hey Madmax889. You hit the nail on the head! Every time the iMac boots up it looks like the hard drive is getting reindexed. There's some kind of bug with spotlight with this new build. I called Apple tech support and they had no answers. I have a case open but who knows when this issue is going to be addressed. The worst part is that our hard drives are being hammered every time we boot up which can't be a good thing in the long run. 😟

macbig

Level 4

1,680 points

Jan 11, 2011 2:28 PM in response to MadMax889

Reply to all. I have installed 10.6.6 twice with the same results, first freezing then Unable to locate a Valid System folder. Your going to have to bite the bullet and do a complete erase and install. I tried every thing else. No luck.

Message was edited by: macbig

Jan 11, 2011 2:32 PM in response to e-nun

Update:

As per suggestions in this thread and others, I ran "sudo fs_usage -f filesys" and found that this getattrlist process is just hammering my BOOTCAMP partition.

I don't really use spotlight. Is there a way to disable this getattrlist function because it's smoking my hard drive every time I boot up. Can someone smarter than me figure this one out?

-Dave

e-nun Author

Level 1

0 points

Jan 11, 2011 2:41 PM in response to davechandler

Dave that is exactly whats happening to me. We have to exclude the bootcamp partition from spotlight. I'm not around my iMac at the moment but you can try to go to utilities then spotlight/privacy and see if the bootcamp partition is there. If it is remove it and reboot. (crosses fingers).

Jan 11, 2011 2:45 PM in response to e-nun

Ok i removed the bootcamp installation completely (didnt have anything that i needed to save) Everything is fine and working completely ok.

e-nun Author

Level 1

0 points

Jan 11, 2011 2:47 PM in response to MadMax889

So that confirms it. Its spotlight and bootcamp not playing nice with one another. Hopefully just removing the bootcamp partition from spotlight will also work.

e-nun Author

Level 1

0 points

Jan 11, 2011 3:13 PM in response to e-nun

I gave some bad advice before. Spotlight preferences are found in system preferences then spotlight. Go to the privary tab and add all the folders you have in your bootcamp partition. That will exclude those file from the spotlight index. Then reboot and check for slowness.

Message was edited by: e-nun

Jan 11, 2011 3:33 PM in response to e-nun

FIXED!

Just boot into your Windows Bootcamp installation and add an empty file named, ".metadata neverindex" or "metadata neverindex" into the root directory. As per the information found in this thread:

http://discussions.info.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=10244970

Thanks for the help boys! My iMac is now running and booting smooth as silk.

Jan 11, 2011 3:36 PM in response to e-nun

Hi guys you should be able to just drag the bootcamp HDD icon fromthe desktop to the privacy list in spotlight preferences.

Hopefully it works for you guys. If it does please let us all know on this thread. E-nun sorry for putting so many posts up you must have got fed up with the emails in your inbox?

Anyway am glad we solved the issue. Should charge apple for doing their job 🙂 lol

e-nun Author

Level 1

0 points

Jan 11, 2011 3:41 PM in response to MadMax889

Max and Dave. My problem is now resolved! 🙂 I tried dragging the boot camp hard drive icon into the privacy area of spotlight but that didn't work. I ended up adding all the individual folders in there and that worked. I'm back in business. Thanks guys!

Jan 11, 2011 3:47 PM in response to e-nun

Hi guys,

anyone without a bootcamp Discimage has performance issues? My speed is still excruciatingly slow and i don´t have a bootcamp partition....
Thanx for any idea

Jan 11, 2011 3:56 PM in response to e-nun

Guys,

I tried adding BOOTCAMP to the spotlight privacy list first, but this option did NOT survive a reboot (probably because OSX couldn't write to the BOOTCAMP partition). So my option of adding that metadata through windows worked better.

Cheers,
Dave

e-nun Author

Level 1

0 points

Jan 11, 2011 4:18 PM in response to Vera Klovsky

Vera, your problem is different from ours. I suggest you create a new thread describing whats going on with your MBP. From your first post I'm guessing that your laptop's CPU is throttling down. Maybe it's overheating. Check your CPU and GPU temps when your laptop starts running very slowly. You might want to try to take the bottom cover off the laptop and clear out the fans with some compressed air or try a laptop fan tray. Good luck!

LORDREG

Level 1

8 points

Jan 12, 2011 2:24 AM in response to MadMax889

Hi,
I am running imac 27inch and had repeat HAD same problem. After reading the threads, I removed Apple Store from my bar and Voila!!, the beach ball problem has gone. Thanks to all.

Jan 12, 2011 5:00 AM in response to e-nun

Hi e-nun,

thank you for your suggestion. My CPU is fine. The fans don´t even start. The temperature is also fine.
The problems started after updating to 10.6.6. If for example my printer utility starts bouncing in the dock (printer ran out of paper), my QT movie would start stuttering. It seems to me, that graphics in general are buggy since the update. I´m glad that you could resolve your problem though 🙂

Will probably have to wait for a fix from Apple....

iMac 27" running very slow after 10.6.6 update