Trying to speed up MacBook Air

Question

Level 1

4 points

Trying to speed up MacBook Air

Hi -

I'm trying to speed up my son's Air. I have found an error that helped. But, it is still really slow. Here is the info on the book :

Model Name: MacBook Air

Model Identifier:MacBookAir1,1

Processor Name:Intel Core 2 Duo

Processor Speed:1.6 GHz

Number Of Processors:1

Total Number Of Cores:2

L2 Cache:4 MB

Memory:2 GB

Bus Speed:800 MHz

Boot ROM Version:MBA11.00BB.B03

SMC Version (system):1.23f20

Serial Number (system):W8******Y51

Hardware UUID:5F0B333F-3F34-5F18-A37A-426A78C08D80

Sudden Motion Sensor:

State:Enabled

I was wondering what (if any) of the launch agents I can delete , as he has downloaded so many things over the last few years it is hard to find out what is being used/or nessasary. If anyone can spot out things that are not needed or RAM hogs - thanks for the time 🙂

com.apple.AddressBook.abd.plist

com.apple.AirPortBaseStationAgent.plist

com.apple.alf.useragent.plist

com.apple.AOSNotificationOSX.plist

com.apple.AppleGraphicsWarning.plist

com.apple.BezelUI.plist

com.apple.coredata.externalrecordswriter.plist

com.apple.CoreLocationAgent.plist

com.apple.coremedia.videodecoder.plist

com.apple.coreservices.uiagent.plist

com.apple.cvmsCompAgent_i386.plist

com.apple.cvmsCompAgent_ppc.plist

com.apple.cvmsCompAgent_x86_64.plist

com.apple.datadetectors.compiler.plist

com.apple.DictionaryPanelHelper.plist

com.apple.Dock.plist

com.apple.familycontrols.useragent.plist

com.apple.FileSyncAgent.plist

com.apple.Finder.plist

com.apple.fontd.useragent.plist

com.apple.FontRegistryUIAgent.plist

com.apple.FontValidator.plist

com.apple.FontValidatorConduit.plist

com.apple.FontWorker.plist

com.apple.gssd-agent.plist

com.apple.helpd.plist

com.apple.imklaunchagent.plist

com.apple.installd.user.plist

com.apple.isst.plist

com.apple.Kerberos.renew.plist

com.apple.KerberosHelper.LKDCHelper.plist

com.apple.metadata.mdwrite.plist

com.apple.midiserver.plist

com.apple.netauth.useragent.plist

com.apple.NetworkDiagnostics.plist

com.apple.parentalcontrols.check.plist

com.apple.pboard.plist

com.apple.pbs.plist

com.apple.pcastuploader.plist

com.apple.PCIESlotCheck.plist

com.apple.pictd.plist

com.apple.PreferenceSyncAgent.plist

com.apple.PubSub.Agent.plist

com.apple.quicklook.plist

com.apple.RemoteDesktop.plist

com.apple.RemoteUI.plist

com.apple.ReportCrash.plist

com.apple.ReportCrash.Self.plist

com.apple.ReportPanic.plist

com.apple.ScreenReaderUIServer.plist

com.apple.ScreenSharing.plist

com.apple.scrod.plist

com.apple.ServerScanner.plist

com.apple.SubmitDiagInfo.plist

com.apple.syncservices.SyncServer.plist

com.apple.syncservices.uihandler.plist

com.apple.SystemUIServer.plist

com.apple.tiswitcher.plist

com.apple.TrustEvaluationAgent.plist

com.apple.unmountassistant.useragent.plist

com.apple.UserEventAgent-Aqua.plist

com.apple.UserEventAgent-LoginWindow.plist

com.apple.VoiceOver.plist

com.apple.warmd_agent.plist

com.apple.WebKit.PluginAgent.plist

org.openbsd.ssh-agent.plist

org.x.startx.plist

Posted on Oct 28, 2011 8:20 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

rkaufmann87

Level 10

140,196 points

Oct 28, 2011 10:45 PM in response to cheecho

Leave the launch agents alone. However you can check

System Preferences - Users & Groups - Login Items and click apps that don't need to start up and remove each by clicking the - symbol below them.

Also please study and use:

25 Ways to Speed Up Your Mac

You will probably find the solution there.

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Answer 2

slyguy_28

Level 2

187 points

Oct 29, 2011 10:50 AM in response to rkaufmann87

That "25 Ways to Speed Up Your Mac" link is very helpful.

Rock on

Sly

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Answer 3

cheecho Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 29, 2011 4:22 PM in response to cheecho

hahaha - this is never ending.

I did a "repair disk permissions" and got these errors (looks like something in Kerberos, whatever that is)

Open error 18446744073709551594: "Unknown error: -22" on System/Library/CoreServices/CCacheServer.app/Contents/MacOS/CCacheServer

Open error 18446744073709551594: "Unknown error: -22" on System/Library/CoreServices/KerberosAgent.app/Contents/Resources/German.lproj/A uthentication.nib/keyedobjects.nib

Open error 18446744073709551594: "Unknown error: -22" on System/Library/CoreServices/KerberosAgent.app/Contents/Resources/Japanese.lproj /SelectIdentity.nib/keyedobjects.nib

Open error 18446744073709551594: "Unknown error: -22" on System/Library/CoreServices/KerberosAgent.app/Contents/Resources/fi.lproj/Authe ntication.nib/keyedobjects.nib

Open error 18446744073709551594: "Unknown error: -22" on System/Library/CoreServices/KerberosAgent.app/Contents/Resources/pl.lproj/Authe ntication.nib/keyedobjects.nib

Open error 18446744073709551594: "Unknown error: -22" on System/Library/CoreServices/KerberosAgent.app/Contents/Resources/pt_PT.lproj/Au thentication.nib/keyedobjects.nib

Open error 18446744073709551594: "Unknown error: -22" on System/Library/CoreServices/KerberosAgent.app/Contents/Resources/pt_PT.lproj/Se lectIdentity.nib/keyedobjects.nib

Open error 18446744073709551594: "Unknown error: -22" on System/Library/CoreServices/KerberosAgent.app/Contents/Resources/ru.lproj/Authe ntication.nib/keyedobjects.nib

Open error 18446744073709551594: "Unknown error: -22" on System/Library/CoreServices/KerberosAgent.app/Contents/Resources/ru.lproj/Selec tIdentity.nib/keyedobjects.nib

Open error 18446744073709551594: "Unknown error: -22" on System/Library/CoreServices/KerberosAgent.app/Contents/Resources/zh_TW.lproj/Se lectIdentity.nib/keyedobjects.nib

Open error 18446744073709551594: "Unknown error: -22" on System/Library/KerberosPlugins/KerberosFrameworkPlugins/LKDCLocate.bundle/Conte nts/MacOS/LKDCLocate

Open error 18446744073709551594: "Unknown error: -22" on System/Library/PreferencePanes/MobileMe.prefPane/Contents/MacOS/MobileMe

Open error 18446744073709551594: "Unknown error: -22" on System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/GSSRPC.framework/Versions/A/GSSRPC

Open error 18446744073709551594: "Unknown error: -22" on System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/KerberosHelper.framework/Versions/A/KerberosHe lper

Open error 18446744073709551594: "Unknown error: -22" on System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/KerberosHelper.framework/Versions/A/Resources/ kcc-debug

Open error 18446744073709551594: "Unknown error: -22" on System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/KerberosHelper.framework/Versions/A/Resources/ lkdc_acl

Open error 18446744073709551594: "Unknown error: -22" on usr/sbin/kadmin

Open error 18446744073709551594: "Unknown error: -22" on usr/sbin/kadmin.local

Open error 18446744073709551594: "Unknown error: -22" on usr/sbin/kadmind

anybody no if / how to fix this

ps - I did run the repair twice

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Answer 4

rkaufmann87

Level 10

140,196 points

Oct 29, 2011 5:07 PM in response to cheecho

Probably nothing to be concerned about. Please read Disk Utility's Repair Disk Permissions messages that you can safely ignore

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Answer 5

cheecho Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 29, 2011 5:19 PM in response to rkaufmann87

thanks - this list will help in the future.

BUT - no Kerberos on the list. I would like to delete it ; does anyone know if this Kerberos (and all its friends) is nessasary ?

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Answer 6

Pete Mc

Level 1

4 points

Nov 8, 2011 4:58 AM in response to cheecho

My MBAir has been painfully slow since upgrading to Lion. I have had three appointments at the Genius bar without getting to the bottom of the problem, but I think I've found the culprit.

My Air only has 2GB RAM. It's not possible to increase it and Lion needs a minimum of 2GB, so it was always going to struggle I think.

Looking at System Memory in Activity Monitor, a process called "pictd" was using up approx a quater of that RAM leaving no free RAM and killing the machine. Forcing pictd to quit frees up RAM and speeds up the machine with no apparent adverse effects.

But pictd appeared to randomly relaunch itself and kill the machine. Until I discovered (I think) what causes it to launch.

I'm definitely no expert, but I'm fairly sure that I Finder launches pictd only when you use the 3rd Finder view option which produces a mini image of the files. Once active, pictd doesn't quit unless you tell it to in Activity Monitor. It just sits there in the background eating up RAM.

The second Finder view option is the simplest and uses the least RAM I have found.

I'm sure this will help.

How would I feed this info up to Apple developers?

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Answer 7

rkaufmann87

Level 10

140,196 points

Nov 8, 2011 5:39 AM in response to Pete Mc

Pete Mc wrote:

My MBAir has been painfully slow since upgrading to Lion. I have had three appointments at the Genius bar without getting to the bottom of the problem, but I think I've found the culprit.

My Air only has 2GB RAM. It's not possible to increase it and Lion needs a minimum of 2GB, so it was always going to struggle I think.

Looking at System Memory in Activity Monitor, a process called "pictd" was using up approx a quater of that RAM leaving no free RAM and killing the machine. Forcing pictd to quit frees up RAM and speeds up the machine with no apparent adverse effects.

But pictd appeared to randomly relaunch itself and kill the machine. Until I discovered (I think) what causes it to launch.

I'm definitely no expert, but I'm fairly sure that I Finder launches pictd only when you use the 3rd Finder view option which produces a mini image of the files. Once active, pictd doesn't quit unless you tell it to in Activity Monitor. It just sits there in the background eating up RAM.

The second Finder view option is the simplest and uses the least RAM I have found.

I'm sure this will help.

How would I feed this info up to Apple developers?

Good find. There are a couple of things you can do at this point. First is check System Preferences - Users & Groups - Login Items and see if there is anything in the Login Items you do not need. If there is highlight it and click the - symbol to remove it.

Regarding your feedback to Apple, you can post that at www.apple.com/feedback. Be sure to be complete, note exactly what model of a MBA you have, the OS X build # being used, and any other information they may need to try to replicate the issue.

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Answer 8

Nov 8, 2011 10:15 AM in response to Pete Mc

Just some thoughts. Somebody may want to correct me on the logic of action.

Read this article on the PICTD process.

It would seem that you have an application that needed to render a pict file, so the helper was launched. From what I read in various places, this helper file is really flawed insofar as it consumes great memory, causing page-outs for every other app and process and is poor at releasing memory when finished.

I have had similar issues, and routinely run a memory freeing application to "return things to normal".

You might try renaming the file, or moving it out of the (/usr/sbin/pictd) directory for test. The program that uses the file to render a PICT should throw up an error indicating it can't read the file type PICT, when it tries to do so. As long as this file is disabled, no PICT files can be handled. But you may find the program that is illiciting it's use, and discontinue with it.

Apple's apparent support in 32 bit OS X is spotty at best, and is evidence that it is considered obsolete. If so, one should avoid usage of this file type (avoid saving or dealing with images as PICTS)

p.s. I'm betting Apple is aware of the problem and is relying on users and developers to discontinue PICT usage that prompts the process.

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