Willow1013
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: iMac slows to a crawl, only Time Machine restore brings it back to life

This has been going on for at least 6 months now and I'm fed up with dealing with it.

 

After upgrading to 10.8 or 10.8.1, I noticed that my computer would slow to a crawl unexpectedly; even just in the finder with no apps running. I would have mouse movement, but even to click within menus, or to open a folder would be met with no repsonse and the spinning beachball. I would walk away, and an hour later, the **** beachball is still spinning and my folder hasn't opened. A restart would result in the same behavior. I tried starting in safe mode = same behavior. I would run disk utilility and repair the disk and disk permissions = same behavior.

 

I ended up doing a restore from Time Machine to a backup that was dated before the trouble started = Things ran smoothly again. I mean really smoothly; I thought "hey, I like this 10.8!". It seemed to be hitting on all cylanders for once. But after a week or two of normal usage (web browsing, youtubing, some adobe creative suite usage), the OS came to screeching halt again.

 

I tried the same steps as before, and the only thing that helped was a Time Machine restore to a backup from a couple of days prior.

 

And so it goes, I am able to use my computer normally and happily for a week or two. But it is ineveitable that my OS will spontaneously slow to a crawl and nothing can break the spell except for a couple-of-days-old Time Machine restore- and poof, I'm back up and running. But I can assure you, this is very frustrating and time-consuming.

 

I swear I'm not downloading anything illicit to my machine; I perform regular computing activites on this computer and my usage varies little from day to day.

 

When things are running well, I will open activity monitor and leave it up so I can watch out for any memory hogs, but this pursuit seems to be fruitless as it teaches me nothing.

 

Maybe this bit of info helps: at one point, a while ago, I created a new user account during one of my Mac's spells, and it seemed to work okay when I logged in. But when I logged back into my main account, I again was faced with the dreaded beachball and could not perform any functions within the Finder. I contemplated migrating all of my files to this new user, but decided that I was determined to salvage my main user account since it was clearly a software issue.

 

Does anyone have any suggestions? I'll be checking to answer any questions about my situation.

iMac, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.3), Early 2008 iMac, 2.4 Ghz, 6GB RAM

Posted on Apr 11, 2013 11:03 AM

by Linc Davis,Solvedanswer
Linc Davis Linc Davis
Level 10 (207,963 points)
Applications
A:

The boot drive is failing, or you have some other hardware fault.

Back up all data immediately, then make a "Genius" appointment at an Apple Store to have the machine tested.

If privacy is a concern, erase the data partition(s) with the option to write zeros* (do this only if you have at least two complete, independent backups, and you know how to restore to bare metal from any of them.) Don’t erase the recovery partition, if present.

*An SSD doesn't need to be zeroed.

Posted on May 2, 2013 9:08 PM

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Willow1013

Q: iMac slows to a crawl, only Time Machine restore brings it back to life

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  • by Willow1013,

    Willow1013 Willow1013 May 2, 2013 5:25 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 2, 2013 5:25 AM in response to Linc Davis

    So I tried step one last night. It appears to have done what you said it would, but things did not seem to improve. I will try step 2 tonight and let you know. Assuming things don't change for the better, what's the next thing we can try? Are they many more options and steps to try?

     

    I'm beginning to feel like giving up, and those refurbised iMacs on Apple's site are looking pretty good right now. Thanks again for all of your help.

  • by Linc Davis,Helpful

    Linc Davis Linc Davis May 2, 2013 7:29 AM in response to Willow1013
    Level 10 (207,963 points)
    Applications
    May 2, 2013 7:29 AM in response to Willow1013

    If you have more than one user account, these instructions must be carried out as an administrator.

         

    Triple-click anywhere in the line below to select it:

     

    syslog -k Sender kernel -k Message CSeq "I/O error" | tail

     

    Copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C).

     

    Paste into a Terminal window (command-V).

     

    The command may take a noticeable amount of time to run. Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign (“$”) to appear.

     

    Post any lines of output that appear below what you entered — the text, please, not a screenshot. There may not be any output.

  • by Willow1013,

    Willow1013 Willow1013 May 2, 2013 8:35 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 2, 2013 8:35 PM in response to Linc Davis

    Okay, Step 2 of your last post didn't change anything either.

     

    Here are the results of the "I/O error" terminal command:

     

    Le-iMac:~ username$ syslog -k Sender kernel -k Message CSeq "I/O error" | tail

     

     

    Apr 26 00:57:17 Le-iMac kernel[0] <Debug>: disk0s2: I/O error.

    --- last message repeated 73 times ---

    Apr 27 11:20:25 localhost kernel[0] <Debug>: disk0s2: I/O error.

    Apr 27 11:22:14 Le-iMac kernel[0] <Debug>: disk0s2: I/O error.

    --- last message repeated 138 times ---

    Le-iMac:~ username$

     

    What do you think needs to be done next?

  • by Linc Davis,Solvedanswer

    Linc Davis Linc Davis May 2, 2013 9:08 PM in response to Willow1013
    Level 10 (207,963 points)
    Applications
    May 2, 2013 9:08 PM in response to Willow1013

    The boot drive is failing, or you have some other hardware fault.

    Back up all data immediately, then make a "Genius" appointment at an Apple Store to have the machine tested.

    If privacy is a concern, erase the data partition(s) with the option to write zeros* (do this only if you have at least two complete, independent backups, and you know how to restore to bare metal from any of them.) Don’t erase the recovery partition, if present.

    *An SSD doesn't need to be zeroed.

  • by Willow1013,

    Willow1013 Willow1013 May 3, 2013 3:59 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 3, 2013 3:59 AM in response to Linc Davis

    Okay, so it's hardware. Maybe it's time to look at those refurnished iMacs after all. Thanks again for all of your help; you're truly a pro. I'll back up eveything and decide what to do next.

  • by Samurai2k,

    Samurai2k Samurai2k May 10, 2013 8:48 AM in response to Willow1013
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 10, 2013 8:48 AM in response to Willow1013

    My iMac starts up slow and often stops working during the day after these errors.  I run the Disk Utility frequently and it never finds any errors, but it is only a bandaid. How do I fix the issue ?

     

     

    My iMac

     

    24-inch, Early 2008

     

    Processor  3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

    Memory  4 GB 800 MHz DDR2 SDRAM

    I can not add anymore physical ram

     

    Graphics  NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS 512 MB

    Software  OS X 10.8.3 (12D78)

     

     

     

     

    5/9/13 10:18:59.386 PM Safari[306]: CGContextClipToRect: invalid context 0x0

    5/9/13 10:22:46.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:23:12.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:23:39.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:24:07.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:24:35.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:24:35.875 PM 1PasswordAgent[240]: [HYBI] socketDidDisconnect: Error Domain=GCDAsyncSocketErrorDomain Code=7 "Socket closed by remote peer" UserInfo=0x10580caa0 {NSLocalizedDescription=Socket closed by remote peer}

    5/9/13 10:25:02.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:25:30.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:25:57.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:26:24.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:26:51.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:27:18.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:27:45.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:28:11.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:28:38.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:29:05.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:29:31.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:29:58.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:30:25.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:30:51.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:31:18.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:31:45.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:32:13.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:32:39.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:33:06.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:33:33.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:34:00.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:34:01.096 PM locationd[249]: NOTICE,CELL_LOC: beginning cell database transaction

    5/9/13 10:34:26.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:34:27.867 PM locationd[249]: NOTICE,CELL_LOC: ending cell database transaction (0 cells still pending)

    5/9/13 10:34:54.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:34:54.577 PM locationd[249]: NOTICE,CELL_LOC: beginning cell database transaction

    5/9/13 10:34:54.587 PM locationd[249]: NOTICE,CELL_LOC: ending cell database transaction (0 cells still pending)

    5/9/13 10:34:55.125 PM locationd[249]: NOTICE,CELL_LOC: beginning cell database transaction

    5/9/13 10:34:55.137 PM locationd[249]: NOTICE,CELL_LOC: ending cell database transaction (0 cells still pending)

    5/9/13 10:35:21.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:35:21.464 PM locationd[249]: NOTICE,CELL_LOC: beginning cell database transaction

    5/9/13 10:35:21.481 PM locationd[249]: NOTICE,CELL_LOC: ending cell database transaction (0 cells still pending)

    5/9/13 10:35:48.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:36:14.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:36:41.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:37:07.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:37:35.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:38:01.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:38:02.069 PM SocialPushAgent[417]: MIG demux failed. This message ID is probably invalid: 0x737a9

    5/9/13 10:38:29.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:38:55.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:39:22.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:39:48.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:40:15.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:40:42.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:41:09.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:41:36.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:42:03.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:42:30.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:42:57.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:43:24.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:43:50.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:44:17.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:44:44.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:45:11.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:45:38.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:46:05.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:46:31.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:46:58.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:47:25.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:47:52.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:48:19.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:48:45.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:49:12.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:49:38.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:50:05.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:50:32.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:50:59.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:51:26.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:51:53.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:52:19.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:52:46.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:53:13.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:53:40.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 10:54:07.000 PM kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.

    5/9/13 11:12:34.000 PM kernel[0]: CODE SIGNING: cs_invalid_page(0x1000): p=563[GoogleSoftwareUp] clearing CS_VALID

    5/9/13 11:27:52.287 PM WindowServer[116]: CGXSetWindowBackgroundBlurRadius: Invalid window 0xffffffff

    5/9/13 11:27:52.678 PM loginwindow[42]: find_shared_window: WID -1

    5/9/13 11:27:52.678 PM loginwindow[42]: CGSGetWindowTags: Invalid window 0xffffffff

    5/9/13 11:27:52.678 PM loginwindow[42]: find_shared_window: WID -1

    5/9/13 11:27:52.678 PM loginwindow[42]: CGSSetWindowTags: Invalid window 0xffffffff

    5/9/13 11:27:54.647 PM WindowServer[116]: Created shield window 0x4f for display 0x04272340

    5/9/13 11:27:54.647 PM WindowServer[116]: device_generate_desktop_screenshot: authw 0x7fc86ac58ab0(2000), shield 0x7fc86ae5f080(2001)

    5/9/13 11:27:54.670 PM WindowServer[116]: device_generate_lock_screen_screenshot: authw 0x7fc86ac58ab0(2000), shield 0x7fc86ae5f080(2001)

    5/9/13 11:27:55.924 PM WindowServer[116]: CGXDisableUpdate: UI updates were forcibly disabled by application "loginwindow" for over 1.00 seconds. Server has re-enabled them.

    5/9/13 11:27:58.000 PM kernel[0]: Sandbox: sandboxd(632) deny mach-lookup com.apple.coresymbolicationd

    5/9/13 11:28:09.925 PM WindowServer[116]: disable_update_likely_unbalanced: UI updates still disabled by application "loginwindow" after 15.00 seconds (server forcibly re-enabled them after 1.00 seconds). Likely an unbalanced disableUpdate call.

    5/9/13 11:28:11.524 PM sandboxd[632]: ([162]) coreaudiod(162) deny file-read-data /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/CamelCrusher.component

    5/9/13 11:28:11.732 PM sandboxd[632]: ([162]) coreaudiod(162) deny file-read-metadata /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/CamelCrusher.component/Contents

    5/9/13 11:28:11.938 PM sandboxd[632]: ([162]) coreaudiod(162) deny file-read-metadata /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/CamelCrusher.component

    5/9/13 11:28:12.148 PM sandboxd[632]: ([162]) coreaudiod(162) deny file-read-data /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/CamelPhat.component

    5/9/13 11:28:12.346 PM sandboxd[632]: ([162]) coreaudiod(162) deny file-read-metadata /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/CamelPhat.component/Contents

    5/9/13 11:28:12.553 PM sandboxd[632]: ([162]) coreaudiod(162) deny file-read-metadata /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/CamelPhat.component

    5/9/13 11:28:12.756 PM sandboxd[632]: ([162]) coreaudiod(162) deny file-read-data /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/CamelSpace.component

    5/9/13 11:28:12.960 PM sandboxd[632]: ([162]) coreaudiod(162) deny file-read-metadata /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/CamelSpace.component/Contents

    5/9/13 11:28:13.165 PM sandboxd[632]: ([162]) coreaudiod(162) deny file-read-metadata /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/CamelSpace.component

    5/9/13 11:57:54.365 PM helpd[230]: Could not find access page in directory /Library/Documentation/Help/Norton Help Scripts

    5/9/13 11:57:54.369 PM helpd[230]: Could not find access page in directory /Library/Documentation/Help/Norton Help Scripts

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root May 10, 2013 9:13 AM in response to Samurai2k
    Level 9 (71,329 points)
    iTunes
    May 10, 2013 9:13 AM in response to Samurai2k

    Since this discussion is marked as solved, some people may not check it. I suggest you start a new discussion.

  • by Topher Kessler,

    Topher Kessler Topher Kessler May 10, 2013 9:18 AM in response to Samurai2k
    Level 6 (9,866 points)
    May 10, 2013 9:18 AM in response to Samurai2k

    Agreed on the new discussion bit, but briefly this looks like a substantial drive malfunction that will warrant at least a reformat, but more likely a replacement. Be sure you fully back up your drive immediately and address the problem ASAP.

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