Spinfaster
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: Unbearably slow Mavericks performance

Hi All,

 

Along with many others on here I'm experiencing crippling Mavericks performance on my Early 2011 Macbook Pro 13inch. I get almost constant beachballing from almost everything, including mundane tasks such as scrolling and moving Finder windows, typing, changing browser tabs etc. As a clue it took 2mins 20 secs to start up from the chime, and this was 'til the icons and dock had appeared. It'd probably be a good 20 seconds more before I'd be able to do anything.

 

Here's my EtreCheck results...

 

Hardware Information:

          MacBook Pro (13-inch, Early 2011)

          MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro8,1

          1 2.3 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 2 cores

          4 GB RAM

 

Video Information:

          Intel HD Graphics 3000 - VRAM: 384 MB

 

System Software:

          OS X 10.9.2 (13C64) - Uptime: 0 days 1:24:57

 

Disk Information:

          Hitachi HTS545032B9A302 disk0 : (320.07 GB)

                    EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB

                    Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / [Startup]: 319.21 GB (225.89 GB free)

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

 

          OPTIARC DVD RW AD-5970H 

 

USB Information:

          Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

 

          Apple Inc. BRCM2070 Hub

                    Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

 

          Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

 

          Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

 

FireWire Information:

 

Thunderbolt Information:

          Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

 

Configuration files:

          /etc/hosts - Count: 29

 

Kernel Extensions:

          at.obdev.nke.LittleSnitch          (4052 - SDK 10.8)

 

Launch Daemons:

          [System] at.obdev.littlesnitchd.plist 3rd-Party support link

          [System] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist 3rd-Party support link

          [System] com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist 3rd-Party support link

          [System] com.google.keystone.daemon.plist 3rd-Party support link

          [System] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist 3rd-Party support link

 

Launch Agents:

          [System] at.obdev.LittleSnitchUIAgent.plist 3rd-Party support link

          [System] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist 3rd-Party support link

          [System] com.google.keystone.agent.plist 3rd-Party support link

 

User Launch Agents:

          [not loaded] com.spotify.webhelper.plist 3rd-Party support link

 

User Login Items:

          iTunesHelper

 

Internet Plug-ins:

          FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 12.0.0.70 - SDK 10.6 3rd-Party support link

          Default Browser: Version: 537 - SDK 10.9

          Flash Player: Version: 12.0.0.70 - SDK 10.6 3rd-Party support link

          NP_2020Player_IKEA: Version: 5.0.93.0 - SDK 10.6 3rd-Party support link

          o1dbrowserplugin: Version: 5.1.5.17733 3rd-Party support link

          QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

          SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.1.0 3rd-Party support link

          npgtpo3dautoplugin: Version: 0.1.44.29 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

          googletalkbrowserplugin: Version: 5.1.5.17733 3rd-Party support link

          Silverlight: Version: 5.0.61118.0 - SDK 10.6 3rd-Party support link

          JavaAppletPlugin: Version: 14.9.0 - SDK 10.7 Outdated! Update

 

Audio Plug-ins:

          BluetoothAudioPlugIn: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.9

          AirPlay: Version: 2.0 - SDK 10.9

          AppleAVBAudio: Version: 203.2 - SDK 10.9

          iSightAudio: Version: 7.7.3 - SDK 10.9

 

iTunes Plug-ins:

          Quartz Composer Visualizer: Version: 1.4 - SDK 10.9

 

3rd Party Preference Panes:

          Flash Player  3rd-Party support link

          Growl  3rd-Party support link

 

Old Applications:

          None

 

Time Machine:

          Time Machine not configured!

 

Top Processes by CPU:

              12%          mds

               6%          mds_stores

               3%          WindowServer

               1%          EtreCheck

               1%          coresymbolicationd

 

Top Processes by Memory:

          119 MB          com.apple.IconServicesAgent

          102 MB          Google Chrome

          64 MB          Google Chrome Helper

          49 MB          Finder

          45 MB          mds

 

Virtual Memory Information:

          1.38 GB          Free RAM

          1.29 GB          Active RAM

          367 MB          Inactive RAM

          995 MB          Wired RAM

          398 MB          Page-ins

          0 B          Page-outs

 

A few other points...

 

Spotlight seems to be constantly indexing or trying to index. It's ALWAYS estimating index time. When it seems to have finished (ie i can do a search) coming out and going back in prompts it to start indexing again. Is this normal?

 

I tried to do a permissions check (in safe mode as well) but it fails. Doing a disk check says there are no problems.

 

I get a lot of HDD thrashing.

 

When I checked my activity monitor a while ago it had very high CPU readings for kernal activity. Normal?

 

I got my MBP with Lion and have since upgraded to ML and then upgraded to Mavericks, so I've never had a clean install (erase and install) which is my next port of call. Probably a good idea to do this once every few years right?

 

Thanks in advance for any help!

MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9.2)

Posted on Mar 3, 2014 2:36 PM

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Spinfaster

Q: Unbearably slow Mavericks performance

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  • by Spinfaster,

    Spinfaster Spinfaster Mar 10, 2014 9:27 AM in response to Drew Reece
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 10, 2014 9:27 AM in response to Drew Reece

    Thanks Drew,

     

    Luckily I made a Bootable USB drive before I re-ran the update installer. This is now my only option as I can't just restart as normal. When I do it just boots into the installer again. I literally can't do anything else.

     

    I'll post some snaps of the errors just for the record / your interest but I'll be doing a wipe and install in the next dew days.

     

    Thanks.

  • by MadMacs0,

    MadMacs0 MadMacs0 Mar 10, 2014 6:26 PM in response to Drew Reece
    Level 5 (4,801 points)
    Mar 10, 2014 6:26 PM in response to Drew Reece

    Drew Reece wrote:

     

    Madmacs0 doesn't doing a 'zero data' erase effectivly do a surface scan + mark bad blocks? It will map out any blocks that cannot be zero'd.

    As long as there are spare blocks, then it will do that, but with modern hard drives, that is supposed to happen automatically when a bad block is discovered through normal read/write operations. Once all the spare blocks have been used things usually go downhill rather quickly.

     

    Since I've never tried to use Disk Utility to do such a surface scan, I'm not certain that the user is notified when a bad block is mapped out without checking the log, so it may not be the best tool available for letting the average user know the condition of a drive surface.

  • by MadMacs0,

    MadMacs0 MadMacs0 Mar 10, 2014 6:28 PM in response to Spinfaster
    Level 5 (4,801 points)
    Mar 10, 2014 6:28 PM in response to Spinfaster

    Just to make sure I understand, you did try to use the Recovery Partition to attempt the re-install, right?

  • by Drew Reece,

    Drew Reece Drew Reece Mar 11, 2014 1:04 PM in response to MadMacs0
    Level 5 (7,813 points)
    Notebooks
    Mar 11, 2014 1:04 PM in response to MadMacs0

    Sorry MadMacs0, I needed to be clearer.

    There is no feedback in a 'zero disk erase' since Disk Utility relies on the disk controller to find/mark bad blocks, writing zeros across the entire volume will try to write to every available bit. From that point the SMART data should indicate the number of bad blocks etc.

     

    Spinfaster, it sounds like the internal disk is setup to boot from the installer, I wonder if 'startup disk' will allow you to reset the system that is selected to boot, recovery mode has the option in the menu. It does sound like you are about to erase & reinstall which is probably more productive than trying to fix the current OS.

     

    P.S. don't forget Apple hardware test if the second install has errors…

    https://support.apple.com/kb/HT1509

  • by Spinfaster,

    Spinfaster Spinfaster Mar 13, 2014 3:39 AM in response to Drew Reece
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 13, 2014 3:39 AM in response to Drew Reece

    Hi All,

     

    Attached are some shots of the error report after trying to install the Mavericks update from the Recovery HD. Hopefully you can read the content...

     

    1.JPG

    2.JPG

    3.JPG

    4.JPG

    5.JPG

    6.JPG

    7.JPG

    Drew, I think the problem is that it's halfway through an install so can only boot back into the install. Maybe. If I boot normally it goes to the intaller. If I boot and hold option I can only select Mavericks Update or Recovery HD, neither of which give me the option to change the start up disc. As far as I remember anyway, I'll check again though. Although as you say, I think the best option now is just a wipe and fresh install as no one seems to have a definitive answer to the problems. Unless someone can decipher the jargon in the above images!

     

    Will the Apple Hardware Test tell me for sure if my HDD is failing? Do you think it's something I can use in my MBP's current state?

     

    Thanks again all for your help so far,

     

    James.

  • by Drew Reece,Helpful

    Drew Reece Drew Reece Mar 13, 2014 9:49 AM in response to Spinfaster
    Level 5 (7,813 points)
    Notebooks
    Mar 13, 2014 9:49 AM in response to Spinfaster

    Apple hardware test doesn't do much for HD diagnostics but it will check out the RAM, GPU, CPU etc.

    It should be built in to the firmware, so the startup shortcut should still allow it to work in this broken state.

     

     

    It looks like the installer can't find certain packages, then it all goes downhill from there and crashes the install process. How did you make this USB installer? It's possible that this installer is damaged & is causing the failed install process.

     

     

    I'd wipe and reinstall at this stage. Erase in Disk Utility inside the installer or recovery mode.

    Check the SMART status for the internal disk (Disk Utility shows it, but I can't remeber the menu name - may be under 'info').

     

    If the installer fails again after erasing the internal HD you will need to reboot to 'internet recovery' (Command+Option+R at startup) to obtain a 'clean' copy of the installer. Or grab the 10.9 installer on another Mac & use that to make a new copy USB bootable disk.

     

    Use an ethernet connection with 'internet recovery' - wifi is slow & can dropout over extended periods, it takes a long time.

  • by Spinfaster,

    Spinfaster Spinfaster Mar 13, 2014 10:06 AM in response to Drew Reece
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 13, 2014 10:06 AM in response to Drew Reece

    I guess checking all the hardware and not just concentrating on the HDD is a good way to go. I'll see what the results are.

     

    As a note, this isn't the result of using my USB boot disc. This is from booting into the Recovery HD and choosing the Mavericks Installer from there. It starts downloading 'additional components' which I'm doing over wifi but it completes it's progress bar so I don't think it drops out. But since you ask, I downloaded the latest full Mavericks Installer from the Mac App Store and used Dismaker X to create the boot disc. This is what I will use once I've wiped the disc.

     

    Thanks.

  • by Drew Reece,

    Drew Reece Drew Reece Mar 13, 2014 10:38 AM in response to Spinfaster
    Level 5 (7,813 points)
    Notebooks
    Mar 13, 2014 10:38 AM in response to Spinfaster

    Thanks for clarifying where it was booted from. You'll need to boot of the USB to erase the HD completely since the 'recovery mode booter' would be on that internal disk, it will prevent you wiping the partition data.

  • by MadMacs0,

    MadMacs0 MadMacs0 Mar 13, 2014 11:25 PM in response to Spinfaster
    Level 5 (4,801 points)
    Mar 13, 2014 11:25 PM in response to Spinfaster

    Spinfaster wrote:

     

    Hi All,

     

    Attached are some shots of the error report after trying to install the Mavericks update from the Recovery HD. Hopefully you can read the content...

    I found it difficult, but it would appear that it's a CrashReport of some sort. Pretty much impossible without being able to read the text and I suspect it would be more trouble than it's worth to try and find the log.

    Will the Apple Hardware Test tell me for sure if my HDD is failing?

    As far as I know, the AHT does not check any aspect of your hard drive.  You'll need a third party utility to do that.

  • by Spinfaster,

    Spinfaster Spinfaster Mar 14, 2014 3:52 AM in response to MadMacs0
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 14, 2014 3:52 AM in response to MadMacs0

    Thanks again to everyone who has tried to help.

     

    And can I just add that it's been nice to have a discussion that hasn't resulted in bickering and pettiness as I've seen on so many other discussions on this forum. Maybe that's because I'm not using MacKeeper or CleanMyMac though.... ;-)

     

    Cheers.

  • by Spinfaster,

    Spinfaster Spinfaster Mar 15, 2014 4:23 AM in response to Spinfaster
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 15, 2014 4:23 AM in response to Spinfaster

    Update: Disc wiped and Mavericks reinstalled and everything seems to be running fine. Seems pretty **** quick too. Hurrah!

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