Mavericks files / directories in finder slow showing up

I have had the same problem. I am running a late 2012 model 15" MacbookPro with Retina display with a clean install of Mavericks. When attaching files in Mail, uploading documents to Google Drive, or any other activity that involves the open file dialog box, it is initially VERY slow to show the sub folders or any individual documents. This problem did not exist under 10.8. I have repaired and verified disk permissions, do not have file sharing enabled, do not have Time Machine enabled, have no external disks connected, and my SSD has 217/250 GB free. Once I get the slow dialog box once, it seems to happen with normal speed the next time I open it, but each time I log back in or restart it happens again. Very annoying to deal with, especially considering the speed improvements promised with 10.9. I have sumited bug reports to Apple as instructed in this thread and am anixously looking for any solutions.

djmason9 wrote:

this worked for me to by showing scroll bars. but its a hack fix..

Experience of others( including me ) suggests it's not a fix at all and the problem returns but YMMV.

I found that this fix didn't last past rebooting. But again, YMMV.

Sam Porter wrote:

or any other activity that involves the open file dialog box, it is initially VERY slow to show the sub folders or any individual documents.

Thanks Sam for detailing what didn't help. FWIW, I've tried SAFE mode reboot ( which does extra fsck checks ) and booting into the recovery partition to run Disk Utility ( Repair disk and Repair Permissions ) and this seemed to help for the first two/three times ( my test case uses Preview.app - just launch it and select "Open.." from the File menu ) but the waits returned.

For those that are willing( and FWIW -- because I've elminated all start-ups with no change ), maybe post the output of EtreCheck so we can see if there is any common software involved in the issue.

Working workaround:

Use the following statements in Terminal.

sudo vi /etc/auto_master

In this file comment out /net with # (#/net .....)

sudo automount -vc

Fixed.

Snaggletooth_DE wrote:

Working workaround:

Use the following statements in Terminal.

sudo vi /etc/auto_master

In this file comment out /net with # (#/net .....)

sudo automount -vc

Fixed.

Confirmed here too both for Preview.app Open file sluggishness and Finder window population. Thanks Snaggletooh_DE!

Couple of notes:

(1) Some folks may be more comfortable using a GUI editor like TextWrangler instead of vi

a) in the Finder use the GO menu and select Go to Folder

b) type '/etc' ( without single quotes ) in the Go to folder dialog box and press the Go button

c) Right ( Control ) click the auto_master file in the resulting Finder window. Select "Open with...." and use TextWrangler ( your choice )

d) Comment out the line by inserting a '#' ( pound sign ) as noted in Snaggletooth_DE's instructions

e) Save the file ( probably need to authenticate with your admin password )

f) Do the 'sudo automount -vc' per Snaggletooth_DE's instructions. Will need to authenticate again.

(2) Notice Snaggletooth_DE described this as a "workaround" because it bypasses an Apple bug. Presumably most people have not changed their auto_master file and it worked fine in Mountain Lion and prior. In other words: If you haven't done so already, please continue to submit feedback and bug reportsto Apple for this issue

Kudos to Snaggletooth_DE for figuring out code is trying to look at network ( NFS ) volumes that maybe don't exist.

btw: I updated the rdar ( 15437435 ) to include Snaggletooth_DE's workaround

HUGE Thanks!

Note that people who have the version of Text Wrangler that distributed in the Mac App Store will not be able to use it to manually change the relevant file as described above. For that, you need the "real" version from the Text Wrangler website. http://www.barebones.com/products/textwrangler/

I am having the same issue. I have a Late 2012 iMac 27" i7, SSD (Fusion), 32GB Ram and Finder has the little wheel in the bottom as a go through a heirchy. It takes at least 10 seconds per folder as I progressivly get deeper.

Confirming that so far in one day of HEAVY use after doing this workaround described above from Snaggletooth_DE, this appears to have fixed the issue. I have not had one episode of a hung finder using file/open, mail attachments, anything. Maybe if Apple is listening they will tweak next version of Mavericks to include this.

brilor wrote:

Kudos to Snaggletooth_DE for figuring out code is trying to look at network ( NFS ) volumes that maybe don't exist.

But keep in mind that network volumes using the NFS protocol may exist, & commenting out the /net entry in /etc/auto_master will prevent them from mounting automatically.

FWIW, from the auto_master man page, the default master map should look like this (& has not changed for at least five years, so it is not specific the Mavericks):

#

# Automounter master map

#

+auto_master # Use directory service

/net -hosts -nobrowse,hidefromfinder,nosuid

/home auto_home -nobrowse,hidefromfinder

/Network/Servers -fstab

/- -static

I suggest at least comparing this default to what your own /etc/auto_master file looks like before changing anything. (Mine looks exactly like that & I do not have any slow Finder population issues except for one: if I open the root level startup disk -- typically named Macintosh HD -- directly from the desktop, it takes about 10 seconds for it to populate, but only once per startup of the system.)

Snaggletooth_DE,

Thanks for this workaround until Apple fixes it! It's been bugging the heck out of me!