"Launch Daemons" failed. So what for 10.9?

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pwwwayne Author

Level 2

152 points

"Launch Daemons" failed. So what for 10.9?

Mavericks 10.9.1 and I are living together tolerably but just bearably!

I ran an EntrCheck today and as before a few items show up in red as having failed: Specifically:

Launch Daemons

anacron.plist = failed

com.app4mac.CheckUpAgent.plist = failed

com.littleknownsoftware.MPC.CopyMoveHelper.plist

User Launch Agents

com.apple.SafariBookmarksSyncer.plist

I searched Google for info about these but nothing I understand came up.

What are "Launch" Daemons or User Agents? What are they for? Since they are said to be red/failed, does that mean they are adversely impacking my MBP under Mavericks? Can they be deleted safely and reliably by moving to Trash?

My "specific" problems with Mavericks are mainly that the computer does not work as reliably and crisply as it did under Mountain Lion. Dragon Dictate freezes occasionaly, won't let me change font size or style sometimes. Double-clicking a word anywhere no longer high-lites the word/phrase in any application anywhere. Most often double-click doesn't Open anything and I have to use cmd-O instead. and there are several other glitches ("bugs"?) that are a pain you-know-where.

So I'm trying to sort this out by piece-work, starting with Launch & Daemons.

Any enlightened help greatly appreciated but not remunerated. TIA

MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9), 8GB SDRAM; 750GB HD

Posted on Dec 18, 2013 4:38 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

arthur

Level 5

5,242 points

Dec 18, 2013 4:58 PM in response to pwwwayne

Daemon (computing) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

User agent - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If they have failed it means that they are not compatible with Mavericks, and were so incompatible that they couldn't load.

Mavericks does not play well with old and/or poorly written software.

This is why your mac's performance is poor.

People with mac issues like this usually have Crapware on their computers that is slowing things down. Crapware is stuff like "monitors", "cleaners", "optimizers", "defragmenters", and the like. Your three failed items smell like crapware. This stuff is unnecessary on macs these days, and frequently harmful. The developers who market this junk know that it is unnecessary and harmful, but they keep selling it because people keep buying it.

You can test this theory with a safe boot: (restart, hold down shift until you see the Apple logo). This does some diagnostic testing and then starts up your mac without third party added on stuff like daemons and launch agents. Mac OS X: What is Safe Boot, Safe Mode?

I bet your mac will run way faster with a safe boot.

A safe boot doesn't fix the problem, however. It just starts up without the third party stuff.

If you want to get rid of that stuff the best way is to uninstall the program that puts them there. The best way to do this is with the uninstaller from the developer. One of the hallmarks of crapware, however, is there is usually no uninstaller. So you may have to go digging a bit to find all the bits to be removed. A browser search can be helpful, as in "uninstall xxx" where xxx is the name of the item you are trying to find.

Sometimes this can seem like a daunting proposition, especially if someone is not too familiar with some basics of system files on their mac. In that case it may be reasonable to back up your documents, erase your hard drive, and start from scratch with a clean reinstall of Mavericks.

There. No remuneration necessary.

So you can either try to remove some of these problematic launch items individually, or do a clean reinstall. I can try to guide you through either way. If you want to try the individual route then a full Etrecheck posting would be helpful.

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Answer 2

g_wolfman

Level 4

1,137 points

Dec 18, 2013 5:03 PM in response to pwwwayne

Agents and daemons are background processes that do things on behalf of applications and users. The plist files are used by the launchd process (which manages the launching and shutdown of other processes for the system) to determine when and with what parameters various processes are started.

In this case, the plists refer to (as far as I can tell):

A helper agent for the application CheckUp;

The "cron" replacement anacron;

A helper agent for a mail plugin CopyMove; and

The Safari Bookmarks Sync agent.

I general, I'd start by identifying all your applications and third-party add on of any sort and determine if they are actually Mavericks compatible. Some may not be launching because they aren't compatible. Some may have been uninstalled, but not completely, and the launchd plists were left behind. Some may not be compatbile, but still launching and just behaving badly...

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Answer 3

pwwwayne Author

Level 2

152 points

Dec 18, 2013 8:36 PM in response to g_wolfman

Under Spotlight search for "CopyMove" I find I have 74 files listed in Users/home/Library/Logs/DiagnosticLogs each a few hundred bytes all dated in November, a few in December, last Dec. 6th. This is all back when I was first struggling with Mavericks

Choosing 1 at random it reads: /Users/Home/Library/Logs/CrashReporter/MobileDevice/my iPhone/DiagnosticLogs/security.log.20131108T184415Zgz

I googled Uninstall CopyMove and found this url:

http://documentation.sharepointproducts.com/CopyMove2013/index.html?uninstalling _copymove.htm

which I haven't the slighteast idea how to use!

Thank you, but more HELP! please.

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Answer 4

pwwwayne Author

Level 2

152 points

Dec 18, 2013 8:56 PM in response to g_wolfman

Again using Spotlight, I find I do have a license for Checkup, purchased when I was using Tiger.

There are 228 files in User/my Home/Library/Caches/com.apple.Safari/fsCachedData/#####

Listed as Document with a identifier of 21ED8A-### for about 20 more digits/letters.

I sent a request on how to Uninstall Checkup -- now called XScan and not compatible with 10.9. Waiting for a reply from Developer. Since these are in what looks to me like a Safari cache location, can I just Trash?

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Answer 5

pwwwayne Author

Level 2

152 points

Dec 18, 2013 9:08 PM in response to g_wolfman

Google & Spotlight of Safari Bookmarks Sync agent doesn't yield anything I see as helpful? Lots of syncservices.log under Console. I see no path for dealing with this Daemon. So, please, help more?

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Answer 6

arthur

Level 5

5,242 points

Dec 19, 2013 4:46 AM in response to pwwwayne

This is looking more and more like the "daunting proposition" scenario. If I were you I'd do a clean reinstall.

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Answer 7

andyBall_uk

Level 7

20,516 points

Dec 19, 2013 5:25 AM in response to pwwwayne

You could remove the relevant entries from the LaunchDaemons & LaunchAgents folders. I'd avoid trashing individual files in Safari's cache list, and it won't help in any case..

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Answer 8

pwwwayne Author

Level 2

152 points

Dec 19, 2013 9:28 AM in response to andyBall_uk

The developed of CheckUp replied to just move the app to Trash. There is no CheckUp app in my Applications folder to move to Trash, which I told developer and got same reply.

I have removed the files referenced above when detecked by Spotlight for CopyMove and CheckUp. and re-started. So far I haven't detected any chnage - for better or for worse.

I will add a fresh EtreCheck report.

The reason I am "daunted" as to doing a clean install of Mavericks is that Apple Tech Support guided me through that about a month, which got me and Mavericks/Apple out of divorce court to present state of tolerance.

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Answer 9

pwwwayne Author

Level 2

152 points

Dec 19, 2013 9:48 AM in response to pwwwayne

On this new EtreCheck report red/failed items remain the same = failed.

There are 3 Watcher.plist failed that I never asked about in my original post:

[failed] com.UninstallerTool.plist

[failed]com.VolumeWatcherTool.plist

[failed] de.writeitstudios.cookiestumbleragent.plist

Complete report:

Hardware Information:

MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2012)

MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro9,2

1 2.9 GHz Intel Core i7 CPU: 2 cores

8 GB RAM

Video Information:

Intel HD Graphics 4000 - VRAM: 1024 MB

Audio Plug-ins:

BluetoothAudioPlugIn: Version: 1.0

AirPlay: Version: 1.9

AppleAVBAudio: Version: 2.0.0

iSightAudio: Version: 7.7.3

Startup Items:

balanced - Path: /Library/StartupItems/balanced

HyperPenTabletDriverStarter - Path: /Library/StartupItems/HyperPenTabletDriverStarter

ProTec6b - Path: /Library/StartupItems/ProTec6b

QuickBackStartupItem - Path: /Library/StartupItems/QuickBackStartupItem

RetroRun - Path: /Library/StartupItems/RetroRun

System Software:

OS X 10.9.1 (13B42) - Uptime: 0 days 0:18:40

Disk Information:

APPLE HDD HTS547575A9E384 disk0 : (750.16 GB)

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB

Macintosh HD (disk0s2) /: 749.3 GB (258.49 GB free)

Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted>: 650 MB

HL-DT-ST DVDRW GS31N

USB Information:

VIA Labs, Inc. 4-Port USB 3.0 Hub

VIA Labs, Inc. USB3.0 Hub

Seagate Backup+ Desk 3 TB

3TB Seagate Backup + (disk2s1) /Volumes/3TB Seagate Backup +: 3 TB (3 TB free)

VIA Labs, Inc. USB3.0 Hub

Seagate Expansion Desk 3 TB

EFI (disk3s1) <not mounted>: 314.6 MB

Seagate 3TB 3.0 (disk3s2) /Volumes/Seagate 3TB 3.0: 3 TB (2.65 TB free)

Seagate Expansion 750.16 GB

EFI (disk1s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB

Seagate 3.0 (disk1s2) /Volumes/Seagate 3.0: 749.3 GB (44.45 GB free)

Recovery HD (disk1s3) <not mounted>: 650 MB

Logitech USB Receiver

VIA Labs, Inc. USB2.0 Hub

Sennheiser Communications Sennheiser USB headset

VIA Labs, Inc. USB2.0 Hub

Canon CanoScan

VIA Labs, Inc. USB2.0 Hub

Infowave Software Inc. USB to Parallel Cable

Apple Computer, Inc. Apple Cinema HD Display

LaCie LaCie Hard Drive FW&USB 1 TB

EFI (disk4s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB

Mountain Lion Backup Super Duper (disk4s2) /Volumes/Mountain Lion Backup Super Duper: 999.86 GB (524.32 GB free)

Apple, Inc. Keyboard Hub

Apple Inc. Apple Keyboard

Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

FireWire Information:

Thunderbolt Information:

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

Kernel Extensions:

com.seagate.driver.PowSecDriverCore (5.2.4)

com.Logitech.Control Center.HID

com.seagate.driver.PowSecLeafDriver_10_5 (5.2.4)

com.Logitech.Unifying.HID Driver

org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxDrv (4.2.6)

org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxUSB (4.2.6)

com.parallels.virtualsound (1.0

com.bresink.driver.BRESINKx86Monitoring (9.0)

Problem System Launch Daemons:

[loaded] com.seagate.TBDecorator.plist

Problem System Launch Agents:

Launch Daemons:

[failed] anacron.plist

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist

[loaded] com.anchorfree.ajaxserver.plist

[failed] com.app4mac.CheckUpAgent.plist

[failed] com.atomicbird.macaroni.launchd.plist

[loaded] com.barebones.authd.plist

[loaded] com.barebones.textwrangler.plist

[loaded] com.bombich.ccc.plist

[loaded] com.bombich.ccc.scheduledtask.1D4B45E0-5108-4529-B3C9-4173F51ED456.plist

[loaded] com.bombich.ccc.scheduledtask.2DA5914B-EF72-46EC-9897-54FAED6FDA4F.plist

[loaded] com.bombich.ccc.scheduledtask.32BBDB95-22FE-4A2B-B899-9B92CB1E5C2E.plist

[loaded] com.bombich.ccc.scheduledtask.67268744-AA04-4726-9CE7-B1B8301B9697.plist

[not loaded] com.bombich.ccc.scheduledtask.731E451D-CBB1-481E-B0F8-35F55F59D7BA.plist

[loaded] com.bombich.ccc.scheduledtask.807C2E4D-4D13-42E6-9919-4BEEC79869A8.plist

[loaded] com.bombich.ccc.scheduledtask.D9FFBE6E-F52E-479B-BF9A-DF5A12D453D6.plist

[loaded] com.cardscan.cardscan.plist

[loaded] com.charlessoft.pacifist.helper.plist

[loaded] com.littleknownsoftware.MPC.CopyMoveHelper.plist

[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist

[loaded] com.parallels.mobile.dispatcher.launchdaemon.plist

[loaded] com.parallels.mobile.kextloader.launchdaemon.plist

[loaded] com.westerndigital.WD-Software-Uninstaller.plist

Launch Agents:

[not loaded] com.cooliris.SetLaunchArch.plist

[loaded] com.divx.dms.agent.plist

[loaded] com.divx.update.agent.plist

[loaded] com.flipvideo.FlipShare.AutoRun.plist

[loaded] com.hp.messagecenter.launcher.plist

[loaded] com.Logitech.Control Center.Daemon.plist

[loaded] com.parallels.mobile.prl_deskctl_agent.launchagent.plist

[loaded] net.culater.SIMBL.Agent.plist

User Launch Agents:

[loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist

[loaded] com.akamai.client.plist

[loaded] com.akamai.single-user-client.plist

[loaded] com.bombich.ccc-user-agent.plist

[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist

[loaded] com.littleknownsoftware.MailPluginTool-Watcher.plist

[loaded] com.parallels.mobile.startgui.launchagent.plist

[failed] com.UninstallerTool.plist

[failed] com.VolumeWatcherTool.plist

[failed] de.writeitstudios.cookiestumbleragent.plist

[not loaded] org.virtualbox.vboxwebsrv.plist

User Login Items:

Bartender

PopClip

PopChar

Caps Warn Helper

Login Items Engine

Hear Daemon

iTunesHelper

Jawbone Updater

Dropbox

Keyboard Maestro Engine

3rd Party Preference Panes:

3ivx MPEG-4

Akamai NetSession Preferences

CAPS Warn

Flash Player

FUSE for OS X (OSXFUSE)

Logitech Control Center

QuickTime Player X Preferences

Synergy

Widget Manager

Internet Plug-ins:

AdobePDFViewer.plugin

AmazonMP3DownloaderPlugin.plugin

AmazonMP3DownloaderPlugin1017287.plugin

CoolirisWebKitPlugin.plugin

Default Browser.plugin

DivX Web Player.plugin

Flash Player.plugin

FlashPlayer-10.6.plugin

Google Earth Web Plug-in.plugin

iPhotoPhotocast.plugin

JavaAppletPlugin.plugin

Loki.plugin

OVSHelper.plugin

QuickTime Plugin.plugin

RealPlayer Plugin.plugin

SharePointBrowserPlugin.plugin

Silverlight.plugin

User Internet Plug-ins:

Dashlane.plugin

Move_Media_Player.plugin

Bad Fonts:

None

Time Machine:

Skip System Files: NO

Mobile backups: ON

Auto backup: YES

Volumes being backed up:

Macintosh HD: Disk size: 749.3 GB Disk used: 490.8 GB

Destinations:

Park Wayne Wagers's Time Ca [Network] (Last used)

Total size: 2 TB

Total number of backups: 52

Oldest backup: 2013-08-15 07:57:10 +0000

Last backup: 2013-12-19 16:05:08 +0000

Size of backup disk: Adequate

Backup size 2 TB > (Disk used 490.8 GB X 3)

Data [Network]

Total size: 2 TB

Total number of backups: 49

Oldest backup: 2013-09-07 07:44:15 +0000

Last backup: 2013-12-19 14:57:11 +0000

Size of backup disk: Adequate

Backup size 2 TB > (Disk used 490.8 GB X 3)

Top Processes by CPU:

3% WindowServer

1% EtreCheck

1% Finder

0% fontd

0% Bartender

0% launchservicesd

0% Canon IJScanner2

0% Jawbone Updater

0% SystemUIServer

0% natpmpd

Top Processes by Memory:

467 MB com.apple.IconServicesAgent

295 MB mds_stores

147 MB Safari

131 MB Finder

74 MB Dock

66 MB Dropbox

57 MB WindowServer

41 MB mds

33 MB Jawbone Updater

33 MB Keyboard Maestro Engine

Virtual Memory Statistics:

4.33 GB Free RAM

2.19 GB Active RAM

610 MB Inactive RAM

900 MB Wired RAM

877 MB Page-ins

0 B Page-outs

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Answer 10

arthur

Level 5

5,242 points

Dec 19, 2013 10:21 AM in response to pwwwayne

A few comments for you:

/Volumes/Seagate 3.0: 749.3 GB (44.45 GB free) this one is only 5% free space. Might not work well. 10% free is probably a good minimum.

You have a ton of third party items that are loaded at startup.

If I were you I'd just cut to the chase and do a clean reinstall. It would be a lot more straightforward than trying to figure out which of the dozens of items are slowing things down the most. And after that I'd not reinstall all the non-essential stuff.

I have one kernel extension, four launch daemons, five user login items, and one launch agent. My mac is really fast.

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Answer 11

pwwwayne Author

Level 2

152 points

Dec 19, 2013 11:26 AM in response to arthur

The Seagate 3.0 is an external HD used by CarbonCopyCloner for backup and Mountain Lion OSX 10.8.4 and I never use it as a Sartup disc (although I could).

That Startup list is strange! I have no idea what HyperPenTabletDriverStarter ProTec6b etc. is or how it got in there or how to get it out. I don't own a HyperPen Tablet.

Actually I don't see in the report nor know how to access or change items loaded at startup. Help my ignorance, please!

Is this the list you are referring to?

User Login Items:

Bartender

PopClip

PopChar

Caps Warn Helper

Login Items Engine

Hear Daemon

iTunesHelper

Jawbone Updater

Dropbox

Keyboard Maestro Engine

My Login Items folder (Mac HD/pww home) is empty -?

I could remove Bartender, Hear Daemon (what is that?), iTunesHelper I presume is put in by Apple, I can remove Jawbone Updater, don't often use DropBox --

I'm lost!

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Answer 12

g_wolfman

Level 4

1,137 points

Dec 19, 2013 6:07 PM in response to pwwwayne

Did you buy this computer secondhand or something? I don't understand how you can have so many things installed where you don't even know what they are or how they got installed.

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Answer 13

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Dec 19, 2013 6:13 PM in response to pwwwayne

I don't use "etrecheck," but from observations on this site, it's pretty obvious that "failed" doesn't really mean failed. It means that a task exited with a non-zero exit status, which may be perfectly normal. The "etrecheck" fad is causing a lot of unnecessary concern, and a lot of wasted time when people try to diagnose problems with it.

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Answer 14

pwwwayne Author

Level 2

152 points

Dec 19, 2013 8:48 PM in response to g_wolfman

No, I bought this MBP new myself in mid 2012. I do not use it for business purposes (a few personal financial tasks and shopping via internet). In my retirement I am a bit of a pack-rat with "stuff" which often does turn out to be crap-ware.

I have had misgivings about the proliferation of EtreCheck in so many replies to requests for help. Some of the replies look like macro boiler-plate.

Since my last post, I used Disk Utility and found that my HD was corrupted and then successfully repaired with cmd-R Recovery Disk.

However, the complaints I have about Mavercks 10.9.1 in my first post remain. It "works" with tolerable "bug"/glitches that perhaps were really deliberate changes made by Apple from Mountain Lion (e.g., Pages). Much of this new stuff, I just plain don't like (too reminiscent of iOS). They have been darned slow and parsimonious with complaints that have proliferated on this Support Community imho! -- I don't recall ever seeing such a massive proliferation as in the Mavericks threads!

I think it would be more expeditious to resurrect Steve than to fix Mavericks!

I'll speak with him when I get there.

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