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User profile for user: kitbum
kitbum Author
User level: Level 1
0 points

Very Unhappy MBP User

So here's the story.


I bought the 2012 MacBook Pro when it came out last June. Here's an overview of my experience:


Bought laptop (June)

Froze, restarted itself three times in first four days

Camera not connected

Not connecting to wifi...

Long boot time

iPhoto freezing

Preview won't close

Frozen when lid opens (greyed out)

When anything plugged in cursor freezes

Restart to make faster every few days

No cursor in Launchpad


Apple Authorised repair (September)

Nothing wrong with hardware


Problems remain


Apple Phone Support (October)

Software fixes with keys held down on restart


Problems remain


Apple Store (November)

Reinstall OS X


Problems remain


Apple Phone Support (November)

Take in for repair


Replacement Hard Drive (December)

Still slower than 4 year old Dell laptop

Grey screen on wake up, loading bar

Restart every day to prevent slow running

Three applications open – slower than my computer 15 years ago

Rainbow wheel when copying, pasting, performing routine tasks


Apple Phone Support (February)

Uninstalled everything, reinstalled only user data. Installing each program one at a time.

Once Microsoft Office was reinstalled I began using the laptop as my main machine - and problems occur

Typing takes ~5 seconds to show up in Safari

Laggy programmes after opening lid - Mail, Calendar, Safari

Launchpad laggy, has no cursor

Rainbow wheel when copying, pasting, performin routine tasks


Apple Phone Support say that MS Office is the problem - bearing in mind this is my third clean install. I don't agree. They basically told me that I could either not use Office on this machine or put up with it, which I am not happy with. I use Office a lot, so some point soon I will uninstall it and see if Office really is the problem. I don't have any weird apps or anything installed, so I don't understand why Office should be causing the machine to play up so much.


Is there anything I can do here? I would be happy with a replacement or a refund, but doubt this will occur. Considering the amount that I spent on the laptop and the amount of time that I have spent trying to make it work acceptably, I just can't be bothered with it anymore.

MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2012), OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)

Posted on Feb 21, 2013 3:23 AM

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21 replies
User profile for user: Shootist007
Shootist007
User level: Level 6
16,703 points

Feb 21, 2013 3:48 AM in response to kitbum

Welcome to the World of Mac and OS X. You are not alone and Apple will do nothing to correct it. As long as the system turns on and the OS loads Apple doesn't care about usability. Everything is working as it should as far as they are concerned.


And Office isn't the problem, as you already know.


Good Luck and Best Wishes


P.S.


Continue to use the Dell until you can afford to buy a new Windows PC notebook. You know one that "Just Works".

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User profile for user: dwb
dwb
User level: Level 7
32,920 points

Feb 21, 2013 5:12 AM in response to kitbum

First, keep in mind that Shootist007 has an ax to grind with Apple and he tends to be quite negative when stories such as yours appear. Second, my experience with Apple Stores has been mixxed - I know of some great ones and some terrible ones. I could say the same of just about any store though. But the Apple stores are a victim of their own success - the Genius Bar is so packed and busy that sometimes the object becomes to get the problem off the table - fixed or not. With that in mind it is helpful to look for slow times of the day and slow days - if your local store has them. My local stores are less busy Tuesday - Thursday in the early morning and mid afternoon. Once schools and college classes let out, forget about it. And weekends are zoos. Another possible solution is a local independent Apple service provider thus avoiding the crowds.


Finally, you have built up quite a record - that's good. I'd strongly suggest that you make one last effort with an Apple store or independent reseller and then if the problem isn't fixed contact Apple Customer Service. Not tech support. Customer Service is where you'll lay your story out quietly and calmly stressing that you've followed the rules, you've done what a good customer does, and you have a computer you cannot use. I've given this basic advice to quite a few people and all but one got a satisfactory resolution. The one that didn't, knowing the individual, probably didn't keep his temper and blew it.


Good luck.

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User profile for user: kitbum
kitbum Author
User level: Level 1
0 points

Feb 21, 2013 5:31 AM in response to dwb

Thank you - the only issue is the nearest Apple Store is in the next city, so is yet another waste of time and money to visit unless I'm sure of a resolution. I might follow your advice though and try once more. There are authorised resellers in my city - is it worth going to one of them before going to the Apple Store?

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User profile for user: dwb
dwb
User level: Level 7
32,920 points

Feb 21, 2013 5:48 AM in response to kitbum

In a town where an independent reseller is competing with an Apple store the independent reseller tends to survive on service. There's no way to compete on price or produce availability. Apple doesn't play fair and gives its stores every advantage. So yes, I think it is worth going to an independent reseller. Some stores offer genius bar like service and others expect you to simply drop the computer off and pick it up later so call first.

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User profile for user: Linc Davis
Linc Davis
User level: Level 10
209,547 points

Feb 21, 2013 12:23 PM in response to kitbum

First, back up all data immediately, as your boot drive might be failing.


There are a few other possible causes of generalized slow performance that you can rule out easily.


  • If you have many image or video files on the Desktop with preview icons, move them to another folder.
  • If applicable, uncheck all boxes in the iCloud preference pane.
  • Disconnect all non-essential wired peripherals and remove aftermarket expansion cards, if any.


Otherwise, take the steps below when you notice the slowdown.


Step 1


Launch the Activity Monitor application in any of the following ways:


☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)


☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.


☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Activity Monitor in the icon grid.


Select the CPU tab of the Activity Monitor window.


Select All Processes from the menu in the toolbar, if not already selected.


Click the heading of the % CPU column in the process table to sort the entries by CPU usage. You may have to click it twice to get the highest value at the top. What is it, and what is the process? Also post the values for % User, % System, and % Idle at the bottom of the window.


Select the System Memory tab. What values are shown in the bottom part of the window for Page outs and Swap used?


Next, select the Disk Activity tab. Post the approximate values shown for Reads in/sec and Writes out/sec (not Reads in and Writes out.)


Step 2


If you have more than one user account, you must be logged in as an administrator to carry out this step.


Launch the Console application in the same way you launched Activity Monitor. Make sure the title of the Console window is All Messages. If it isn't, select All Messages from the SYSTEM LOG QUERIES menu on the left. If you don't see that menu, select

View ▹ Show Log List

from the menu bar.


Select the 50 or so most recent entries in the log. Copy them to the Clipboard (command-C). Paste into a reply to this message (command-V). You're looking for entries at the end of the log, not at the beginning.


When posting a log extract, be selective. Don't post more than is requested.

Please do not indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.

Important: Some personal information, such as your name, may appear in the log. Anonymize before posting. That should be easy to do if your extract is not too long.

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User profile for user: kitbum
kitbum Author
User level: Level 1
0 points

Feb 24, 2013 3:31 AM in response to Linc Davis

Hi -


21.5% CPU Safari Web Content

% User: 7%

% System: 3%
% Idle: 89%


Page outs 1.29Gb

Swap used 3.84Gb


Reads in/out per second showing between 0-2, the system has calmed down a bit hence how I'm actually able to type...


24/02/2013 11:17:09.000 kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 7168 [xpcd]

24/02/2013 11:17:10.612 com.apple.launchd[1]: (com.apple.xpcd.F6010000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000[7168]) Exited: Killed: 9

24/02/2013 11:17:13.000 com.apple.launchd[1]: (com.apple.iCloudHelper[7167]) Exited: Killed: 9

24/02/2013 11:17:13.000 kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 7167 [com.apple.iCloud]

24/02/2013 11:17:14.000 kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 7172 [SleepServicesD]

24/02/2013 11:17:14.064 com.apple.launchd[1]: (com.apple.sleepservicesd[7172]) Exited: Killed: 9

24/02/2013 11:17:14.627 mDNSResponder[39]: Unknown DNS packet type 6F74 from 192.168.0.3 :57621 to 192.168.0.255 :57621 length 44 on 0000000000000005 (ignored)

24/02/2013 11:17:34.275 com.apple.launchd[1]: (com.apple.sleepservicesd[7173]) Exited: Killed: 9

24/02/2013 11:17:34.000 kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 7173 [SleepServicesD]

24/02/2013 11:17:35.846 com.apple.launchd[1]: (com.apple.cfprefsd.xpc.daemon[6626]) Exited: Killed: 9

24/02/2013 11:17:36.000 kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 6626 [cfprefsd]

24/02/2013 11:17:46.050 com.apple.launchd[1]: (com.apple.sleepservicesd[7175]) Exited: Killed: 9

24/02/2013 11:17:46.000 kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 7175 [SleepServicesD]

24/02/2013 11:17:52.985 com.apple.launchd.peruser.502[112]: ([0x0-0x574574].com.apple.inputmethod.ironwood[7169]) Exited: Killed: 9

24/02/2013 11:17:53.000 kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 7169 [DictationIM]

24/02/2013 11:17:57.129 com.apple.launchd[1]: (com.apple.sleepservicesd[7178]) Exited: Killed: 9

24/02/2013 11:17:57.000 kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 7178 [SleepServicesD]

24/02/2013 11:18:08.279 com.apple.launchd[1]: (com.apple.sleepservicesd[7179]) Exited: Killed: 9

24/02/2013 11:18:08.000 kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 7179 [SleepServicesD]

24/02/2013 11:18:14.016 mDNSResponder[39]: Unknown DNS packet type 6F74 from 192.168.0.3 :57621 to 192.168.0.255 :57621 length 44 on 0000000000000005 (ignored)

24/02/2013 11:18:19.344 com.apple.launchd[1]: (com.apple.sleepservicesd[7182]) Exited: Killed: 9

24/02/2013 11:18:19.000 kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 7182 [SleepServicesD]

24/02/2013 11:18:19.610 configd[18]: SCNC: stop, triggered by SystemUIServer, type L2TP, reason User Requested

24/02/2013 11:18:20.004 pppd[7059]: [DISCONNECT]

24/02/2013 11:18:20.635 com.apple.launchd.peruser.502[112]: (com.apple.tccd[7181]) Exited: Killed: 9

24/02/2013 11:18:20.000 kernel[0]: memorystatus_thread: idle exiting pid 7181 [tccd]


Then a lot of these guys:


24/02/2013 11:20:00.282 Safari[1333]: CGContextClipToRect: invalid context 0x0

24/02/2013 11:23:03.556 mdworker[7250]: Unable to talk to lsboxd


Hope that's not too much of a dump, I tried to be selective.

P.s. All data is backed up. It's a new HDD, so I don't think it's the disk. There are no peripherals, no icons on the desktop at all, no aftermarket anything and nothing on iCloud.

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User profile for user: Linc Davis
Linc Davis
User level: Level 10
209,547 points

Feb 24, 2013 6:29 AM in response to kitbum

At least part of your problem is excessive swapping of data between physical memory and virtual memory.

Please read this whole message before doing anything.

This procedure is a diagnostic test. It won’t solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.

Third-party system modifications are a common cause of usability problems. By a “system modification,” I mean software that affects the operation of other software — potentially for the worse. The following procedure will help identify which such modifications you've installed. Don’t be alarmed by the complexity of these instructions — they’re easy to carry out and won’t change anything on your Mac.


These steps are to be taken while booted in “normal” mode, not in safe mode. If you’re now running in safe mode, reboot as usual before continuing.


Below are instructions to enter some UNIX shell commands. The commands are harmless, but they must be entered exactly as given in order to work. If you have doubts about the safety of the procedure suggested here, search this site for other discussions in which it’s been followed without any report of ill effects.


Some of the commands will line-wrap or scroll in your browser, but each one is really just a single line, all of which must be selected. You can accomplish this easily by triple-clicking anywhere in the line. The whole line will highlight, and you can then either copy or drag it. The headings “Step 1” and so on are not part of the commands.


Note: If you have more than one user account, Step 2 must be taken as an administrator. Ordinarily that would be the user created automatically when you booted the system for the first time. The other steps should be taken as the user who has the problem, if different. Most personal Macs have only one user, and in that case this paragraph doesn’t apply.


Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:


☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)


☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.


☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.


When you launch Terminal, a text window will open with a line already in it, ending either in a dollar sign (“$”) or a percent sign (“%”). If you get the percent sign, enter “sh” and press return. You should then get a new line ending in a dollar sign.


Step 1


Triple-click the line of text below to select it:

kextstat -kl | awk '!/com\.apple/{printf "%s %s\n", $6, $7}'

Copy (command-C) the selected text to the Clipboard. Then click anywhere in the Terminal window and paste (command-V). Post the lines of output (if any) that appear below what you just entered. You can do that by copy-and-paste as well. Omit the final line ending in “$”. No typing is involved in this step.

Step 2


Repeat with this line:

sudo launchctl list | sed 1d | awk '!/0x|com\.(apple|openssh|vix)|edu\.mit|org\.(amavis|apache|cups|isc|ntp|postfix|x)/{print $3}'

This time you'll be prompted for your login password, which you do have to type. It won't be displayed when you type it. Type it carefully and then press return. You may get a one-time warning not to screw up. You don't need to post the warning. If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you're not logged in as an administrator.


Note: If you don’t have a login password, you’ll need to set one before taking this step. If that’s not possible, skip to the next step.


Step 3

launchctl list | sed 1d | awk '!/0x|com\.apple|edu\.mit|org\.(x|openbsd)/{print $3}'

Step 4

ls -1A /e*/mach* {,/}L*/{Ad,Compon,Ex,Fram,In,Keyb,La,Mail/Bu,P*P,Priv,Qu,Scripti,Servi,Spo,Sta}* L*/Fonts 2> /dev/null

Important: If you formerly synchronized with a MobileMe account, your me.com email address may appear in the output of the above command. If so, anonymize it before posting.


Step 5

osascript -e 'tell application "System Events" to get name of every login item' 2> /dev/null

Remember, steps 1-5 are all copy-and-paste — no typing, except your password. Also remember to post the output.


You can then quit Terminal.

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User profile for user: kitbum
kitbum Author
User level: Level 1
0 points

Feb 24, 2013 6:42 AM in response to Linc Davis

Step 1: No output


Step 2:

org.macosforge.xquartz.privileged_startx

com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper

com.adobe.fpsaud


Step 3:

com.spotify.webhelper

com.evernote.EvernoteHelper

com.google.keystone.user.agent

com.google.GoogleContactSyncAgent


Step 4:

/Library/Components:



/Library/Extensions:



/Library/Frameworks:

AEProfiling.framework

AERegistration.framework

Adobe AIR.framework

AudioMixEngine.framework

NyxAudioAnalysis.framework

PluginManager.framework

Snapfish.framework

cisco-vpnclient.framework

iLifeFaceRecognition.framework

iLifeKit.framework

iLifePageLayout.framework

iLifeSQLAccess.framework

iLifeSlideshow.framework

iTunesLibrary.framework



/Library/Input Methods:



/Library/Internet Plug-Ins:

Flash Player.plugin

JavaAppletPlugin.plugin

Quartz Composer.webplugin

QuickTime Plugin.plugin

SharePointBrowserPlugin.plugin

SharePointWebKitPlugin.webplugin

Silverlight.plugin

flashplayer.xpt

iPhotoPhotocast.plugin

nsIQTScriptablePlugin.xpt



/Library/Keyboard Layouts:



/Library/LaunchAgents:

com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist

com.adobe.CS5ServiceManager.plist

com.hp.help.tocgenerator.plist

com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist

org.macosforge.xquartz.startx.plist



/Library/LaunchDaemons:

com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist

com.adobe.fpsaud.plist

com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist

com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist

org.eyebeam.SelfControl.plist

org.macosforge.xquartz.privileged_startx.plist



/Library/PreferencePanes:

Flash Player.prefPane

Growl.prefPane

JavaControlPanel.prefPane



/Library/PrivilegedHelperTools:

com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper

org.eyebeam.SelfControl

scheckup



/Library/QuickLook:

iBooksAuthor.qlgenerator

iWork.qlgenerator



/Library/QuickTime:

AppleIntermediateCodec.component

AppleMPEG2Codec.component



/Library/ScriptingAdditions:

Adobe Unit Types.osax



/Library/Spotlight:

Microsoft Office.mdimporter

iBooksAuthor.mdimporter

iWork.mdimporter



/Library/StartupItems:

HP Trap Monitor



/etc/mach_init.d:



/etc/mach_init_per_login_session.d:



/etc/mach_init_per_user.d:



Library/Address Book Plug-Ins:

SkypeABDialer.bundle

SkypeABSMS.bundle



Library/Fonts:

Jaguar-Bold.ttf

Jaguar-Regular.ttf

encodings.dir

fonts.dir

fonts.list

fonts.scale



Library/Frameworks:

EWSMac.framework

SamsungKiesFoundation.framework

SamsungKiesSerialPort.framework



Library/Input Methods:

.localized



Library/Internet Plug-Ins:

Google Earth Web Plug-in.plugin

WebEx64.plugin



Library/Keyboard Layouts:



Library/LaunchAgents:

com.apple.AddressBook.ScheduledSync.PHXCardDAVSource.7F83DA42-D97C-4A50-99A1-C5E C48912C53.plist

com.apple.CSConfigDotMacCert-**********@me.com-SharedServices.Agent.plist

com.google.GoogleContactSyncAgent.plist

com.google.keystone.agent.plist

com.spotify.webhelper.plist



Library/PreferencePanes:



Library/Services:


Step 5:

CheatSheet, Flexiglass, iTunesHelper, Mail, GeekTool Helper, Dropbox, Skype, fuspredownloader

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Very Unhappy MBP User

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