G_tech

Q: MacBook Pro running painfully slow/lagging/freezing

Hi, my Macbook Pro is having some problems running, something that has only recently started.

 

I'm running OS X 10.9.2, Macbook is mid-2012. It was absolutely fine up until a few days ago, when everything started running incredibly slow. The problems I'm currently have are:

- takes around 3 mins to log in

- opening any app or web-browser brings up the spinning disc icon for a good 1 or 2 minutes before I can use the page; typing into address box etc.. also brings up the spinning disc for a while

- opening any apps has the same effect - whole macbook seems to freeze while it loads; copying and pasting in Pages has the same effect, as does trying to change the font, font size, inserting bullet points etc...

- videos lag when I try to watch them; freeze every 2 or 3 mins, and occasionally just stop playing all together even while the audio continues.

 

I've looked into this and it seems to be something that's happened to a lot of people. However, I've tried all the solutions with no luck. What I've tried so far:

- resetting the SMC

- resetting PRAM

- repairing the disk with disk utility

- ran a hard drive check with DriveDx ; all came back with a clean bill of health

- ran disk repair with disk utility; took around 20/30 mins but said disk was sucesfully reparied. No problems were flagged, no red warnings.

- ran a virus check - came back with nothing.

- re-installed Mavericks (though not a clean install)

- disconnected from the network to make sure it wasn't just the internet service provider being slow

- stopped any apps from opening at start up except for one

- changed preferences on system preferences so that the scroll bar is constantly visible

- installed auto-cad and ran that

- made sure there aren't many desktop icons (I have around 10)

- no external hardware is connected aside from an external hard drive I bought after the problems started happening

 

None of these helped my problem. In terms of mac activity:

CPU:

- nothing seems particualry high as % CPU; chrome is highest at 6.0

- system is at 1.90%

- user at 1.50%

- idle at 95%

Memory:

- Physical memory is 4 GB, with 3.18 GB memory used.

- Virtual memory is 4 GB.

- Swap used is 0 bytes.

- Memory pressure graph is just a solid green block running all the way along the y axis

 

There are no audible clicks or noise from the hard drive and the disk utility and drivedx checks didn't turn anything up so I'm not convinced the hard drive is failing. I've backed everything up with time machine just in case.

 

But I'm pretty much out of ideas now, any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

Etrecheck:

Hardware Information:

          MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2012)

          MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro9,2

          1 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 2 cores

          4 GB RAM

 

Video Information:

          Intel HD Graphics 4000 - VRAM: 1024 MB

 

System Software:

          OS X 10.9.2 (13C64) - Uptime: 0 days 0:40:58

 

Disk Information:

          APPLE HDD TOSHIBA MK5065GSXF disk0 : (500.11 GB)

                    EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB

                    Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / [Startup]: 499.25 GB (312.4 GB free)

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

 

          HL-DT-ST DVDRW  GS31N 

 

USB Information:

 

 

          Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub

                    Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

 

          Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

 

          Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

 

          Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

 

FireWire Information:

 

Thunderbolt Information:

          Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

 

Kernel Extensions:

          com.globaldelight.driver.BoomDevice          (1.1 - SDK 10.9)

 

Launch Daemons:

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

 

User Launch Agents:

          [not loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist 3rd-Party support link

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

 

User Login Items:

          Boom

          iTunesHelper

 

Internet Plug-ins:

          Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: Version: 3.0.0.126   - SDK 10.8 3rd-Party support link

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

          QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

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

          Default Browser: Version: 537 - SDK 10.9

          Scorch: Version: 6.0.2 3rd-Party support link

          Unity Web Player: Version: UnityPlayer version 4.2.1f4 - SDK 10.6 3rd-Party support link

          Silverlight: Version: 5.1.10411.0 - SDK 10.6 3rd-Party support link

          DirectorShockwave: Version: 12.0.7r148 - SDK 10.6 3rd-Party support link

          JavaAppletPlugin: Version: Java 7 Update 21 Outdated! Update

 

Safari Extensions:

          AdBlock: Version: 2.6.18

 

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

          Flip4Mac WMV  3rd-Party support link

          Perian  3rd-Party support link

 

Old Applications:

          None

 

Time Machine:

          Mobile backups: ON

          Auto backup: YES

          Volumes being backed up:

                    Macintosh HD: Disk size: 464.96 GB Disk used: 174.02 GB

          Destinations:

                    TOSHIBA EXT [Local] (Last used)

                    Total size: 931.19 GB

                    Total number of backups: 2

                    Oldest backup: 2014-03-05 16:07:51 +0000

                    Last backup: 2014-03-05 17:18:17 +0000

                    Size of backup disk: Adequate

                              Backup size 931.19 GB > (Disk used 174.02 GB X 3)

          Time Machine details may not be accurate.

          All volumes being backed up may not be listed.

 

Top Processes by CPU:

               3%          WindowServer

               1%          coreaudiod

               1%          EtreCheck

               1%          Google Chrome

               0%          Boom

 

Top Processes by Memory:

          143 MB          Google Chrome

          90 MB          mds_stores

          77 MB          Google Chrome Helper

          74 MB          Finder

          45 MB          mds

 

Virtual Memory Information:

          1.73 GB          Free RAM

          1.45 GB          Active RAM

          216 MB          Inactive RAM

          619 MB          Wired RAM

          435 MB          Page-ins

          0 B          Page-outs

 

 



MacBook Pro (13-inch Mid 2012), Mac OS 9.2.x

Posted on Mar 6, 2014 8:28 AM

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Q: MacBook Pro running painfully slow/lagging/freezing

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Mar 6, 2014 8:31 AM in response to G_tech
    Level 10 (271,406 points)
    Desktops
    Mar 6, 2014 8:31 AM in response to G_tech

    Things You Can Do To Resolve Slow Downs

     

    If your computer seems to be running slower here are some things you can do:

     

    Start with visits to:     OS X Maintenance - MacAttorney;

                                      The X Lab: The X-FAQs;

                                      The Safe Mac » Mac Performance Guide;

                                      The Safe Mac » The myth of the dirty Mac;

                                      Mac maintenance Quick Assist.

     

    Boot into Safe Mode then repair your hard drive and permissions:

     

    Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions Pre-Lion

     

    Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list.  In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive.  If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.

     

    Repair the Hard Drive - Lion/Mountain Lion/Mavericks

     

    Boot to the Recovery HD:

     

    Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the Utilites Menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD disk icon and click on the arrow button below.

     

    When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list.  In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive.  If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported, then click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the main menu. Select Restart from the Apple menu.

     

    Restart your computer normally and see if this has helped any. Next do some maintenance:

     

    For situations Disk Utility cannot handle the best third-party utility is Disk Warrior;  DW only fixes problems with the disk directory, but most disk problems are caused by directory corruption; Disk Warrior 4.x is now Intel Mac compatible.

     

    Note: Alsoft ships DW on a bootable DVD that will startup Macs running Snow Leopard or earlier. It cannot start Macs that came with Lion or later pre-installed, however, DW will work on those models.

     

    Suggestions for OS X Maintenance

     

    OS X performs certain maintenance functions that are scheduled to occur on a daily, weekly, or monthly period. The maintenance scripts run in the early AM only if the computer is turned on 24/7 (no sleep.) If this isn't the case, then an excellent solution is to download and install a shareware utility such as Macaroni, JAW PseudoAnacron, or Anacron that will automate the maintenance activity regardless of whether the computer is turned off or asleep.  Dependence upon third-party utilities to run the periodic maintenance scripts was significantly reduced since Tiger.  These utilities have limited or no functionality with Snow Leopard or later and should not be installed.

     

    OS X automatically defragments files less than 20 MBs in size, so unless you have a disk full of very large files there's little need for defragmenting the hard drive.

     

    Helpful Links Regarding Malware Protection

     

    An excellent link to read is Tom Reed's Mac Malware Guide.

    Also, visit The XLab FAQs and read Detecting and avoiding malware and spyware.

    See these Apple articles:

     

              Mac OS X Snow Leopard and malware detection

              OS X Lion- Protect your Mac from malware

              OS X Mountain Lion- Protect your Mac from malware

              About file quarantine in OS X

     

    If you require anti-virus protection I recommend using VirusBarrier Express 1.1.6 or Dr.Web Light both from the App Store. They're both free, and since they're from the App Store, they won't destabilize the system. (Thank you to Thomas Reed for these recommendations.)

     

    Troubleshooting Applications

     

    I recommend downloading a utility such as TinkerTool System, OnyX, Mavericks Cache Cleaner, or Cocktail that you can use for removing old log files and archives, clearing caches, etc. Corrupted cache, log, or temporary files can cause application or OS X crashes as well as kernel panics.

     

    If you have Snow Leopard or Leopard, then for similar repairs install the freeware utility Applejack.  If you cannot start up in OS X, you may be able to start in single-user mode from which you can run Applejack to do a whole set of repair and maintenance routines from the command line.  Note that AppleJack 1.5 is required for Leopard. AppleJack 1.6 is compatible with Snow Leopard. Applejack does not work with Lion and later.

     

    Basic Backup

     

    For some people Time Machine will be more than adequate. Time Machine is part of OS X. There are two components:

     

    1. A Time Machine preferences panel as part of System Preferences;

    2. A Time Machine application located in the Applications folder. It is

        used to manage backups and to restore backups. Time Machine

        requires a backup drive that is at least twice the capacity of the

        drive being backed up.

     

    Alternatively, get an external drive at least equal in size to the internal hard drive and make (and maintain) a bootable clone/backup. You can make a bootable clone using the Restore option of Disk Utility. You can also make and maintain clones with good backup software. My personal recommendations are (order is not significant):

     

      1. Carbon Copy Cloner

      2. Get Backup

      3. Deja Vu

      4. SuperDuper!

      5. Synk Pro

      6. Tri-Backup

     

    Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on backup and restore.  Also read How to Back Up and Restore Your Files. For help with using Time Machine visit Pondini's Time Machine FAQ for help with all things Time Machine.

     

    Referenced software can be found at MacUpdate.

     

    Additional Hints

     

    Be sure you have an adequate amount of RAM installed for the number of applications you run concurrently. Be sure you leave a minimum of 10% of the hard drive's capacity as free space.

     

    Add more RAM. If your computer has less than 2 GBs of RAM and you are using OS X Leopard or later, then you can do with more RAM. Snow Leopard and Lion work much better with 4 GBs of RAM than their system minimums. The more concurrent applications you tend to use the more RAM you should have.

     

    Always maintain at least 15 GBs or 10% of your hard drive's capacity as free space, whichever is greater. OS X is frequently accessing your hard drive, so providing adequate free space will keep things from slowing down.

     

    Check for applications that may be hogging the CPU:

     

    Pre-Mavericks

     

    Open Activity Monitor in the Utilities folder.  Select All Processes from the Processes dropdown menu.  Click twice on the CPU% column header to display in descending order.  If you find a process using a large amount of CPU time (>=70,) then select the process and click on the Quit icon in the toolbar.  Click on the Force Quit button to kill the process.  See if that helps.  Be sure to note the name of the runaway process so you can track down the cause of the problem.

     

    Mavericks and later

     

    Open Activity Monitor in the Utilities folder.  Select All Processes from the View menu.  Click on the CPU tab in the toolbar. Click twice on the CPU% column header to display in descending order.  If you find a process using a large amount of CPU time (>=70,) then select the process and click on the Quit icon in the toolbar.  Click on the Force Quit button to kill the process.  See if that helps.  Be sure to note the name of the runaway process so you can track down the cause of the problem.

     

    Often this problem occurs because of a corrupted cache or preferences file or an attempt to write to a corrupted log file.

  • by LTomio,

    LTomio LTomio Aug 29, 2014 9:19 AM in response to G_tech
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 29, 2014 9:19 AM in response to G_tech

    As I start having almost the same problem with my MPB (mid 2012) with OS X 10.9.4 (i7 with 16GB RAM), please let me know if your problem was soved and how. I have followed all the suggestions till now (even with HD reformatting) and nothing solved my problem.