NewbMacUser

Q: *PLEASE HELP* Spinning beachball keeps coming up…

Hey guys, even though I've got 500mb of RAM available for OSX to use the spinning beachball comes up every now and again and when it appears I’m unable to do anything other than move my mouse. Im running latest version of OSX Mavericks.


Thanks!

Posted on Sep 5, 2014 5:52 AM

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Q: *PLEASE HELP* Spinning beachball keeps coming up…

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  • by NewbMacUser,

    NewbMacUser NewbMacUser Sep 22, 2014 8:28 AM in response to Csound1
    Level 1 (13 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 22, 2014 8:28 AM in response to Csound1

    Thanks, but what about the Console?

  • by NewbMacUser,

    NewbMacUser NewbMacUser Sep 22, 2014 9:14 AM in response to NewbMacUser
    Level 1 (13 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 22, 2014 9:14 AM in response to NewbMacUser

    Could someone please look at the Console text I pasted?

  • by Tom in London,

    Tom in London Tom in London Sep 22, 2014 9:56 AM in response to NewbMacUser
    Level 4 (1,626 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 22, 2014 9:56 AM in response to NewbMacUser

    NewbMacUser wrote:

     

    Hey guys, even though I've got 500mb of RAM available for OSX to use.....

     

    That isn't enough RAM. To run Mavericks plus the applications use, you need at least 8 GB. I suspect that is your problem. A while ago I installed Mavericks on a computer that only had 4 GB of RAM, which had been fine up until that point, but which gave me all kinds of freezes and beachballs with Mavericks. So I added an extra 4 GB, and everything was fine.

  • by greg sahli,

    greg sahli greg sahli Sep 22, 2014 9:58 AM in response to NewbMacUser
    Level 7 (25,400 points)
    Sep 22, 2014 9:58 AM in response to NewbMacUser

    Yes, the Console text still says the same thing I mentioned before. mDNS is Bonjour. You have a part of your OS X software that is corrupted -- Or, some failure (less likely) in hardware. A failing drive "might" cause this - but we can't know for sure.

    Reinstalling is the simplest troubleshooting (& possible repair) option right now.

    Is there some reason you don't want to do that?

  • by NewbMacUser,

    NewbMacUser NewbMacUser Sep 22, 2014 10:51 AM in response to greg sahli
    Level 1 (13 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 22, 2014 10:51 AM in response to greg sahli

    Hey Greg, thanks for your reply! If Bonjour is the issue, how can I fix it?

     

    I don't want to re-install a fresh install of Mavericks because it'd take sooo much time for me to re-install my apps and set up my preferences. That's why I thought installing Yosemite might be a good idea...

     

    I did a scan of the Mac's HDD using Disk Utilities 'Repair Disk' and it said the drive was fine.

  • by db24401,

    db24401 db24401 Sep 22, 2014 10:57 AM in response to Tom in London
    Level 3 (884 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 22, 2014 10:57 AM in response to Tom in London

    Tom in London wrote:

     

    NewbMacUser wrote:

     

    Hey guys, even though I've got 500mb of RAM available for OSX to use.....

     

    That isn't enough RAM. To run Mavericks plus the applications use, you need at least 8 GB. I suspect that is your problem. A while ago I installed Mavericks on a computer that only had 4 GB of RAM, which had been fine up until that point, but which gave me all kinds of freezes and beachballs with Mavericks. So I added an extra 4 GB, and everything was fine.

     

    According to his initial  ETRecheck report, his computer does have 8GB installed.

     

    Hardware Information:

    Mac mini - model: Macmini5,1

    1 2.3 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 2 cores

    8 GB RAM


  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Sep 22, 2014 10:57 AM in response to NewbMacUser
    Level 9 (51,382 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 22, 2014 10:57 AM in response to NewbMacUser

    NewbMacUser wrote:

     

    Hey Greg, thanks for your reply! If Bonjour is the issue, how can I fix it?

     

    I don't want to re-install a fresh install of Mavericks because it'd take sooo much time for me to re-install my apps and set up my preferences. That's why I thought installing Yosemite might be a good idea...

    Installing a piece of Beta software on a Mac that already has problems is a very bad idea.

  • by NewbMacUser,

    NewbMacUser NewbMacUser Sep 22, 2014 10:59 AM in response to db24401
    Level 1 (13 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 22, 2014 10:59 AM in response to db24401

    Yah, I have 8GB of RAM. I've got enough RAM free.

  • by db24401,

    db24401 db24401 Sep 22, 2014 11:12 AM in response to NewbMacUser
    Level 3 (884 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 22, 2014 11:12 AM in response to NewbMacUser

    My suggestion is --

    1. download & install the latest version of ETRecheck

    2. startup in Safe Mode

    3. while in Safe Mode, run ETRecheck.

    4. post the result.

     

    Hopefully the result will help us make a suggestion as to which applications/etc

    might be causing your problem(s).

  • by NewbMacUser,

    NewbMacUser NewbMacUser Sep 22, 2014 1:25 PM in response to db24401
    Level 1 (13 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 22, 2014 1:25 PM in response to db24401

    Thanks, I'll try this out!

  • by K Shaffer,

    K Shaffer K Shaffer Sep 22, 2014 2:03 PM in response to NewbMacUser
    Level 6 (14,567 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 22, 2014 2:03 PM in response to NewbMacUser

    Also note the capacity of your Mac's hard disk drive is overly full

    and so your saved content is likely in competition to the OS X's

    ability to function using limited resources it needs to work right.

     

    That, and whatever is using the chip RAM isn't leaving scraps

    big enough for anything else running and wasting CPU cycles

    or whatever else you have going on.

     

    Avoid adding a new layer of grief and misery over your Mavericks

    OS X 10.9.x system. Resolve your issues where they are. Backup

    your computer content to an externally enclosed hard drive and

    choose one with its own AC power adapter, and consider using a

    Clone utility (CarbonCopyCloner from Bombich, or SuperDuper from

    maker sites, only; no adware or malware tainted third party) to save

    a working fully bootable copy of your running OS X on a separate

    hard disk drive capable of running the Mac from a Clone.

     

    You can't hardly make enough backups; ones you can fully restore a

    computer directly, & offline as needed; do not rely on a TimeMachine.

    With a good backup, and a bootable clone, you could totally reinstall

    a new Mavericks, &/or restore it w/ your content from external archives.

     

    This on top of other good advice given in at least two threads you have

    going on a similar topic; both need the same cure. Not a beta upgrade.

    Save that idea for a different machine that has nothing you want on it.

     

    Good luck & happy computing!

  • by NewbMacUser,

    NewbMacUser NewbMacUser Sep 22, 2014 2:05 PM in response to K Shaffer
    Level 1 (13 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 22, 2014 2:05 PM in response to K Shaffer

    Thanks for that reply!!!

     

    Is it possible for me to simply re-install Bonjour instead of re-installing the entire Mavericks?

  • by K Shaffer,

    K Shaffer K Shaffer Sep 22, 2014 2:29 PM in response to NewbMacUser
    Level 6 (14,567 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 22, 2014 2:29 PM in response to NewbMacUser

    Not sure if something as simple as an 'archive & install' or basic installation now

    available with Mavericks, would affect any of your applications; however some

    may require you to look into the App Stores to re-download your paid apps, etc.

     

    The OS X Utilities could erase everything on the hard disk drive; however to just

    install Mavericks (and hope that fixes the issue) is possible without wiping out

    your applications and user created files.

     

    You should be able to reinstall Mavericks over the current version and not have

    anything go missing; however you need to make a backup just in case the hard

    disk drive in the computer fails.

     

    The other issues, lack of free capacity in the hard disk drive, as well as almost

    no memory (RAM) need to be addressed; so perhaps someone will repeat

    how to address these before or along with a reinstall of 10.9 in hope to repair

    or replace just the defective system only...

     

    With that, I'm best to not advise you further due to insufficient experience in 10.9.

    Good luck & happy computing!

  • by NewbMacUser,

    NewbMacUser NewbMacUser Sep 22, 2014 9:44 PM in response to NewbMacUser
    Level 1 (13 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 22, 2014 9:44 PM in response to NewbMacUser

    This is odd. I just played a 45minute game of League of Legends and I didn't get the spinning beachball once...

  • by NewbMacUser,

    NewbMacUser NewbMacUser Sep 23, 2014 2:18 AM in response to NewbMacUser
    Level 1 (13 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 23, 2014 2:18 AM in response to NewbMacUser

    Alright. I'm going to try entering safe mode and running the EtreCHECK.

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