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Level 1

20 points

Safari spinning wheel

iMac OSX 10.7.5

For a year now, Safari stops working and you get a spinning wheel of death.

When it does this, there is no internet activity at all, and Safari jumps from 15% of CPU usage to 60 or 70% of CPU usage. All other applications work fine, so I can go off and do something else. But Safari will freeze for two minutes. (There is plenty of CPU and disk space - normally about 50% free.)

In frustration I went to Firefox. But I do not always like that browser, so I came back to Safari - and all was well. Hooray!!

Alas, we are now back to 2-minute pauses every five minutes, while Safari sits and thinks.

I have come down to only one page with two tabs open, and it still does it.

Grrrrr.

iMac (21.5-inch Mid 2011), Mac OS X (10.7.5)

Posted on Dec 15, 2014 7:19 AM

29 replies

ralphy Author

Level 1

20 points

Dec 18, 2014 2:07 AM in response to ralphy

Ok, I went to Cache, but could not find Omnibar anywhere. And it is not on my other two Library folders either.

But I did find remnants of VPN and DivX and others, that should have all gone by now, so I deleted those.

This is the new Etrecheck. There is much less red in it, so I presume that is good.

Problem description:

After deleting things from >Library >Cache.

EtreCheck version: 2.1.5 (108)

Report generated December 18, 2014 11:00:49 AM GMT+01:00

Click the [Support] links for help with non-Apple products.

Click the [Details] links for more information about that line.

Click the [Adware] links for help removing adware.

Hardware Information: ℹ️

iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2011) (Verified)

iMac - model: iMac12,1

1 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 4-core

12 GB RAM

BANK 0/DIMM0

2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

BANK 0/DIMM1

4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM1

4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported

Wireless:

Video Information: ℹ️

AMD Radeon HD 6750M - VRAM: 512 MB

iMac 1920 x 1080

System Software: ℹ️

Mac OS X 10.7.5 (11G63) - Uptime: one day 1:7:8

Disk Information: ℹ️

ST3500418AS disk0 : (500.11 GB)

disk0s1 (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / : 499.25 GB (328.51 GB free)

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

OPTIARC DVD RW AD-5690H

USB Information: ℹ️

Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

HitachiGST G-DRIVE slim 500.11 GB

disk2s1 (disk2s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

G-DRIVE slim (disk2s2) /Volumes/G-DRIVE slim : 499.76 GB (153.40 GB free)

Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Apple Internal Memory Card Reader

Thunderbolt Information: ℹ️

Apple, Inc. iMac

Kernel Extensions: ℹ️

/Library/Extensions

[loaded] foo.tap (1.0) [Support]

[loaded] foo.tun (1.0) [Support]

/System/Library/Extensions

[loaded] com.Cycling74.driver.Soundflower (1.5.1) [Support]

Startup Items: ℹ️

tap: Path: /Library/StartupItems/tap

tun: Path: /Library/StartupItems/tun

Startup items are obsolete in OS X Yosemite

Launch Agents: ℹ️

[not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist [Support]

[loaded] com.adobe.CS4ServiceManager.plist [Support]

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist [Support]

Launch Daemons: ℹ️

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist [Support]

[invalid?] com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist [Support]

[loaded] com.crosscountrysoftware.Online_Bible_Installer.plist [Support]

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist [Support]

[loaded] com.oracle.java.JavaUpdateHelper.plist [Support]

User Launch Agents: ℹ️

[loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist [Support]

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

[invalid?] com.google.keystone.agent.plist [Support]

User Login Items: ℹ️

GrowlHelperApp UNKNOWN (missing value)

Safari Application (/Applications/Safari.app)

Skype Application (/Applications/Skype.app)

Mail Application (/Applications/Mail.app)

Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️

JavaAppletPlugin: Version: Java 7 Update 71 Check version

FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 16.0.0.235 - SDK 10.6 [Support]

Becon: Version: Unknown [Support]

Flash Player: Version: 16.0.0.235 - SDK 10.6 [Support]

AdobePDFViewer: Version: 9.5.5 [Support]

OVSHelper: Version: 1.1 [Support]

QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.1

Google Earth Web Plug-in: Version: 6.1 [Support]

RealPlayer Plugin: Version: Unknown [Support]

DirectorShockwave: Version: 12.0.3r133 - SDK 10.6 [Support]

iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0

User internet Plug-ins: ℹ️

DirectorShockwave: Version: 12.0.3r133 - SDK 10.6 [Support]

OVSHelper: Version: 1.1 [Support]

Google Earth Web Plug-in: Version: 6.1 [Support]

RealPlayer Plugin: Version: Unknown [Support]

FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 16.0.0.235 - SDK 10.6 [Support]

DivXBrowserPlugin: Version: Unknown

Flash Player: Version: 16.0.0.235 - SDK 10.6 [Support]

QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.1

iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0

AdobePDFViewer: Version: 9.5.5 [Support]

Becon: Version: Unknown [Support]

JavaAppletPlugin: Version: Java 7 Update 71 Check version

Safari Extensions: ℹ️

Omnibar [Cached] Adware! [Remove]

3rd Party Preference Panes: ℹ️

Akamai NetSession Preferences [Support]

Flash Player [Support]

Java [Support]

Time Machine: ℹ️

Time Machine not configured!

Top Processes by CPU: ℹ️

4% Finder

3% WindowServer

2% activitymonitord

1% firefox

1% WebProcess

Top Processes by Memory: ℹ️

863 MB firefox

567 MB Adobe InDesign CS5.5

387 MB Finder

232 MB mds

206 MB Mail

Virtual Memory Information: ℹ️

7.22 GB Free RAM

3.43 GB Active RAM

842 MB Inactive RAM

1.40 GB Wired RAM

4.56 GB Page-ins

17.75 GB Page-outs

Diagnostics Information: ℹ️

Dec 17, 2014, 09:54:21 AM Self test - passed

Dec 17, 2014, 09:52:05 AM /Users/[redacted]/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/plugin-container_2014-12-17-09 5205_[redacted].crash

Dec 17, 2014, 09:51:46 AM /Users/[redacted]/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Sigil_2014-12-17-095146_[redac ted].crash

Dec 16, 2014, 01:53:47 PM /Users/[redacted]/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Sigil_2014-12-16-135347_[redac ted].crash

Dec 16, 2014, 01:50:33 PM /Users/[redacted]/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Sigil_2014-12-16-135033_[redac ted].crash

ralphy Author

Level 1

20 points

Dec 18, 2014 2:37 AM in response to ralphy

P.S.

Should I have two Library folders? One on Harddisk-Library, and one as a Harddisk-User-Library?

Should I have a third Library, on >hard-disk >System >Library ??

I am sure that last one is my mistake, but it will not let me delete it, because it says it is in use by OSX.

ralphy Author

Level 1

20 points

Dec 18, 2014 2:53 AM in response to ralphy

Ahhhhh, something seems to have happened. Tale a look at the new CPU usage table.

0 kernel_task root 0.6 78 918.4 MB Intel (64 bit) 58.1 MB

1237 Firefox ellis 2.2 56 847.8 MB Intel (64 bit) 744.6 MB

361 InDesign ellis 1.1 36 544.0 MB Intel 548.4 MB

2647 Safari Web ellis 1.4 11 468.4 MB Intel (64 bit) 659.0 MB

165 Finder ellis 0.0 24 372.6 MB Intel (64 bit) 597.3 MB

2643 Safari ellis 0.4 17 284.2 MB Intel (64 bit) 443.2 MB

37 mds root 0.0 4 214.6 MB Intel (64 bit) 970.4 MB

209 Mail ellis 0.0 12 197.7 MB Intel (64 bit) 313.7 MB

Safari is now down to 284 mb, which is less than Firefox, and 1/20th of what it was using before.

It looks like you may have solved the problem here.

I will let you know if it stays like this.

P.S. I wish we could do a search of the Library folders, to find these apps, and all their plug-ins and plists etc: etc:. It a real pain having to search through every folder, in two or more Library folders.

P.P.S. Still cannot find the elusive Omnibar....... ;-)

Thanks,

Ralph

etresoft

Level 8

46,476 points

Dec 18, 2014 4:50 AM in response to ralphy

ralphy wrote:

Unfortunately I have been banned from this thread for some reason. It just says:

"Access to this place or content is restricted."

That's just a bug in the Apple discussion forum software. Logout, clear caches, quit your browser, go back in. Hopefully that will clear it up.

I am contacting you via your personal details page, which had a link to your last posting. I have uploaded a new question, but that appears to have gone missing too - it was called "Safari - Spinning Wheel Freeze." I cannot find it, this morning.

It may have gotten deleted as a duplicate or moved. My person details page doesn't have any contact information. You should be able to find my e-mail address using Google, a couple of clicks, and about 30 seconds of your time.

Regards other plug-ins I could delete.

Sunflower Audio drives my headphones, so I don't really want to get rid of that.

You know, I am very unwilling to give people assistance on manually deleting things. I always recommend using a vendor-provided uninstaller or uninstallation instructions. On the very rare occasions when I do break down and tell somewhere where one particular directory might be found and which specific file should be deleted, they do not delete the file in question but do delete other random, often required, system files. This happens in 100% of the cases where I have made such an unwilling recommendation.

Please, stay out of any and all "Library" folders. Do NOT delete them. Think long and hard about handing over your password to some installer you download over the internet. You are giving the people who made that installer full control over your system, all of your files, your passwords, you photos, your credit cards, etc. Use only vendor-provided uninstaller or uninstallation instructions. If you can't easily figure out how to uninstall something before you install it, then don't install it.

ralphy Author

Level 1

20 points

Dec 18, 2014 8:39 AM in response to etresoft

>>I always recommend using a vendor-provided uninstaller or uninstallation instructions.

Indeed, I understand that.

But I had to take the chance, because I had bits of apps left all over the Library folders, and I had to get rid of them.

Anyway, it seems to have done the trick. Safari CPU usage remains at just 240 MB, which is 1/20th of what it was using before. And I have not had a spinning wheel since.

So thank you all for your help, it is much appreciated.

Cheers,

Ralph

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Dec 18, 2014 8:45 AM in response to ralphy

Are you sure about that, Linc?

Yes. "etrecheck" doesn't know better than Safari itself which extensions are installed.

The DivX Plug-in was not mentioned in Extensions, but is was still installed.

As an Internet plugin, not as a Safari extension. The two are unrelated, though the "DivX" package includes both.

ralphy Author

Level 1

20 points

Dec 18, 2014 8:51 AM in response to Linc Davis

>>As an Internet plugin, not as a Safari extension.

>>The two are unrelated, though the "DivX" package includes both.

Perhaps, but I think it was DivX that was slowing Safari down.

It was after removing that, that I got the most significant reduction in CPU usage.

Cheers,

Ralph

ralphy Author

Level 1

20 points

Dec 19, 2014 11:29 AM in response to ralphy

But can I say thanks to everyone here.

It was a bit of a saga, but the problem was cured in the end.

Linc; Toady; Etrsoft….

Much appreciated.

Ralph

ralphy Author

Level 1

20 points

Dec 26, 2014 5:47 AM in response to ralphy

Final Postscript.

I found the elusive 'Omnibar', the extension that I was told to delete.

It was hiding in >Library >Cashe >Safari >Extensions. (why will finder not search the Library??)

That has freed up even more CPU memory.

Thanks again, chaps.

ralphy Author

Level 1

20 points

Dec 29, 2014 5:27 AM in response to Allan Eckert

Allan Eckert wrote:

Is there a reason why you are so many release behind in the version of OS X installed on your Mac.

Personally I found Lion 10.7 to be one of the slower releases of OS X.DivX.

Yes. Its because I run Sigil (epub software) and the word on the street was that Sigil would not run on Tabby-cat (or whatever the next OSX release is). So I stayed with Lion. Perhaps I should think about changing, but I am happy so far.

My experience with Apple upgrades, is one of tears, headache, heartache, and a strong wish that I had never upgraded.

Dec 29, 2014 7:07 AM in response to ralphy

According to RoaringApps, Sigil is comparable with Mavericks 10.9 but not with Yosemite 10.10 yet.

ralphy Author

Level 1

20 points

Dec 29, 2014 8:36 AM in response to Allan Eckert

Thanks. I may take a look at OSX 10.9 then.

As an aside, Safari's spinning wheel and 60% CPU usage is back.

I had an electrical surge in my house, which crashed the computer, so I had to reload all of Lion 10.7.

This also reloaded Safari 5.1. Which was fine.

I have just reloaded Safari 6.1.6, and I have the spinning wheel back again. If I can, I think I will go back to 5.1.

See what I mean about updates………. :-(

Ralph

Apr 18, 2015 1:34 PM in response to Allan Eckert

Hello, I just updated my wife's 2010 iMac with a SSD and put the 1 tb HDD as extra storage. Everything seems great except the safari. I'm getting the spin wheel every few seconds. This was a clean instal of Yosemite. Report below:

EtreCheck version: 2.1.8 (121)

Report generated April 18, 2015 at 3:22:02 PM CDT

Download EtreCheck from http://etresoft.com/etrecheck

Click the [Click for support] links for help with non-Apple products.

Click the [Click for details] links for more information about that line.

Hardware Information: ℹ️ <etrecheck://help/hardware>

iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2010) (Technical Specifications) <http://support.apple.com/kb/SP588>

iMac - model: iMac11,2

1 3.2 GHz Intel Core i3 CPU: 2-core

8 GB RAM Upgradeable

BANK 0/DIMM0

4 GB DDR3 1067 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

4 GB DDR3 1067 MHz ok

BANK 0/DIMM1

Empty

BANK 1/DIMM1

Empty

Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported

Wireless: en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n

Video Information: ℹ️ <etrecheck://help/video>

ATI Radeon HD 5670 - VRAM: 512 MB

iMac 1920 x 1080

System Software: ℹ️ <etrecheck://help/systemsoftware>

OS X 10.10.3 (14D131) - Time since boot: 2:11:32

Disk Information: ℹ️ <etrecheck://help/disk>

WDC WD1001FALS-40Y6A0 disk1 : (1 TB)

EFI (disk1s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Macintosh HD (disk1s2) /Volumes/Macintosh HD : 999.35 GB (163.38 GB free)

Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250GB disk0 : (250.06 GB)

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Chelserbells (disk0s2) / : 249.20 GB (193.40 GB free)

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

USB Information: ℹ️ <etrecheck://help/usb>

Western Digital My Book 1130 2 TB

EFI (disk2s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Shared 2 (disk2s2) /Volumes/Shared 2 : 742.15 GB (487.17 GB free)

Shared 2 2 (disk2s3) /Volumes/Shared 2 2 : 991.71 GB (990.48 GB free)

Install OS X Yosemite (disk2s4) /Volumes/Install OS X Yosemite : 16.47 GB (11.22 GB free)

Apple Internal Memory Card Reader

Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

CHICONY HP Basic USB Keyboard

SIGMACHIP Usb Mouse

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Apple Inc. Built-in iSight

Gatekeeper: ℹ️ <etrecheck://help/gatekeeper>

Mac App Store and identified developers

User Login Items: ℹ️ <etrecheck://help/loginitems>

Macs Fan Control Application (/Users/[redacted]/Downloads/Macs Fan Control.app)

iTunesHelper Application (/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)

Dropbox Application (/Applications/Dropbox.app)

Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️ <etrecheck://help/internetplugins>

Default Browser: Version: 600 - SDK 10.10

QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

3rd Party Preference Panes: ℹ️ <etrecheck://help/preferencepanes>

None

Time Machine: ℹ️ <etrecheck://help/timemachine>

Time Machine not configured!

Top Processes by CPU: ℹ️ <etrecheck://help/cpu>

5% WindowServer

2% sysmond

0% Activity Monitor

0% MacsFanControl

0% fontd

Top Processes by Memory: ℹ️ <etrecheck://help/memory>

928 MB Safari

196 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent

146 MB mds_stores

137 MB Finder

112 MB Messages

Virtual Memory Information: ℹ️ <etrecheck://help/vm>

2.20 GB Free RAM

4.44 GB Active RAM

1.10 GB Inactive RAM

850 MB Wired RAM

7.85 GB Page-ins

0 B Page-outs

Diagnostics Information: ℹ️ <etrecheck://help/diagnostics>

Apr 18, 2015, 01:09:04 PM Self test - passed

Apr 17, 2015, 08:38:27 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Safari_2015-04-17-203827_[redacted].cpu_resourc e.diag [Click for details] <etrecheck://detail//Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Safari_2015-04-17-203827_%5 Bredacted%5D.cpu_resource.diag>

rkaufmann87

Level 10

140,670 points

Apr 18, 2015 1:44 PM in response to tim_redman

tim_reman,

Please create your own thread, someone will be happy to help you out.

Safari spinning wheel