Applications freeze

Question

Level 1

16 points

Applications freeze

Problem description:

Applications freezing: After normal startup, opened new Pages document, then opened Dictionary to check a word, went back to Pages and got spinning beach ball. I was still able to use other apps (e.g. Calendar, Safari) and went to Apple Support to seek solution. Read about EtreCheck and downloaded copy. Opened Preferences>Time Machine to see why it was not backing up and that screen froze. Now I had Pages and Preferences frozen but other apps still working. That’s when I decided to run EtreCheck and ask others for help. After running report below, I tried to copy and paste into TextEdit, but that app froze. I was able to paste into Notes and to this forum. By the way, my Macbook Air is starting to get quite warm now. One last note, though the report says Time Machine backup is not big enough, I do have a 2-TB Time Capsule which showed over 1-TB unused at last check. Thanks for your help.

EtreCheck version: 2.2 (132)

Report generated 5/7/15 10:21 AM

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

MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2013) (Verified)

MacBook Air - model: MacBookAir6,2

1 1.3 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 2-core

4 GB RAM

BANK 0/DIMM0

2 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

2 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

Bluetooth: Good - Handoff/Airdrop2 supported

Wireless: en0: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac

Battery: Health = Normal - Cycle count = 125 - SN = D8632830U7MF90KAJ

Video Information: ℹ️

Intel HD Graphics 5000 - VRAM: 1024 MB

Color LCD 1440 x 900

System Software: ℹ️

OS X 10.8.5 (12F2518) - Time since boot: 3:13:44

Disk Information: ℹ️

APPLE SSD SD0128F disk0 : (121.33 GB)

disk0s1 (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

MacBookAir HD (disk0s2) / : 120.47 GB (37.39 GB free)

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

USB Information: ℹ️

Apple Internal Memory Card Reader

Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Thunderbolt Information: ℹ️

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

Gatekeeper: ℹ️

Mac App Store and identified developers

Launch Agents: ℹ️

[running] com.epson.Epson_Low_Ink_Reminder.launcher.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.epson.esua.launcher.plist [Click for support]

[running] com.epson.eventmanager.agent.plist [Click for support]

Launch Daemons: ℹ️

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist [Click for support]

User Launch Agents: ℹ️

[loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist [Click for support]

User Login Items: ℹ️

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

Dropbox Application (/Applications/Dropbox.app)

SpeechSynthesisServer Application (/System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks /SpeechSynthesis.framework/Versions/A/SpeechSynthesisServer.app)

Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️

Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: Version: 3.2.0.16 - SDK 10.8 [Click for support]

FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 17.0.0.169 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.1

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: Version: 11.0.10 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

Flash Player: Version: 17.0.0.169 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

AdobePDFViewer: Version: 11.0.10 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

Silverlight: Version: 5.1.30514.0 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

JavaAppletPlugin: Version: 14.6.0 - SDK 10.8 Check version

3rd Party Preference Panes: ℹ️

Flash Player [Click for support]

Flip4Mac WMV [Click for support]

Time Machine: ℹ️

Skip System Files: NO

Auto backup: YES

Volumes being backed up:

MacBookAir HD: Disk size: 120.47 GB Disk used: 83.09 GB

Destinations:

Data [Network]

Total size: 0 B

Total number of backups: 0

Oldest backup: -

Last backup: -

Size of backup disk: Too small

Backup size 0 B < (Disk used 83.09 GB X 3)

Top Processes by CPU: ℹ️

98% fseventsd

4% fontd

2% WindowServer

0% Dropbox

0% Finder

Top Processes by Memory: ℹ️

233 MB WebProcess

123 MB Safari

111 MB Finder

102 MB mds

90 MB Pages

Virtual Memory Information: ℹ️

1.38 GB Free RAM

2.61 GB Used RAM

0 B Swap Used

Diagnostics Information: ℹ️

May 7, 2015, 07:07:32 AM Self test - passed

May 6, 2015, 12:28:31 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Finder_2015-05-06-122831_[redacted].hang

May 4, 2015, 09:19:35 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Finder_2015-05-04-211935_[redacted].hang

Airport Time Capsule 802.11ac, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5), MacBook Air mid 2013

Posted on May 7, 2015 10:43 AM

Reply

Answer 1

a brody

Level 10

82,931 points

May 7, 2015 8:24 PM in response to gimmiegolf

Not sure why it showed the Time Machine not big enough. As long as your destination is at least twice as big as the original you should be fine. Maybe you have backed up enough times, and you have deleted enough previous files to have it confused as to whether or not you want to keep some large files archived that you have removed from your internal. If you think that could be a problem, recover those files, and back them up to another drive. Time Machine/Capsule can only retain data it sees on the original indefinitely. Once off the original, all bets are off as to when the file gets deleted.

Speech Synthesis I know does eat up a fair amount of processing time. If you use it due to a disability, great, but if not, try running without it to see if performance improves. Your type of internet connection, and number of devices sharing your internet could slow down the Dictionary application, as it needs access to the internet to obtain the definitions. Similarly Time Capsule if backing up wirelessly may delay other things needing access to the internet if they are on the same network. Backup your data only when other things are not in use.

Reply

Answer 2

Eric Root

Level 10

684,033 points

May 8, 2015 8:55 AM in response to gimmiegolf

Try a restart.

Do a backup, using either Time Machine or a cloning program, to ensure files/data can be recovered. Two backups are better than one.

Try setting up another admin user account to see if the same problem continues. If Back-to-My Mac is selected in System Preferences, the Guest account will not work. The intent is to see if it is specific to one account or a system wide problem. This account can be deleted later.

Isolating an issue by using another user account

If the problem is still there, try booting into the Safe Mode using your normal account. Disconnect all peripherals except those needed for the test. Shut down the computer and then power it back up after waiting 10 seconds. Immediately after hearing the startup chime, hold down the shift key and continue to hold it until the gray Apple icon and a progress bar appear. The boot up is significantly slower than normal. This will reset some caches, forces a directory check, and disables all startup and login items, among other things. When you reboot normally, the initial reboot may be slower than normal. If the system operates normally, there may be 3rd party applications which are causing a problem. Try deleting/disabling the third party applications after a restart by using the application un-installer. For each disable/delete, you will need to restart if you don't do them all at once.

Safe Mode

Reply

Answer 3

gimmiegolf Author

Level 1

16 points

May 10, 2015 9:31 AM in response to Eric Root

In response to "a brody" and "Eric Root",

Thank you both for your reply. I apologize for the delay in responding but it took awhile to try the suggestions mentioned. Following are the results, but first, some additional information:

* The 2-TB Time Machine/Capsule/router/backup shows 1.86 TB availablefor backups. I've had it for 1 year and use it to backup my MB-Air which is mostly the system and apps since I keep most of the data on other removable disks. The Time Machine does back-up over WiFi, so I turned it off in preferences.

* Speech Synthesis: I don't use this.

* None of the applications ran slow, they just unexpectedly froze.

* I did do another back-up of the hard drive to an OWC USB Drive.

* I created an additional admin user account.

* I don't think “Back-To-My-Mac” is on but I couldn't find it in preferences.

RESULTS:

1. When I boot in "Safe Mode" I do not seem to incur the same problems. Unfortunately, Pages doesn't work (blank) and there are other limitations but at least I have a fallback.

2. When I log in under newly created admin account, I have not had the same problems so far. I have been able to open Pages, Safari, Libre Office, Mail, Calendar, Preview and others without issue. It's only been a short time, so I will keep working in that account and report back.

3. I ran Disk Utilities from new user account and got Permissions Report with hundreds of permission errors (mostly related to iTunes or Safari) and one warning that SUID file (System/Library/Core Services ….. ) has been modified and will not be repaired. Though it says all were repaired (except warning), I re-ran the report and it came back with the same list of permissions.

Questions: a) What is different in the new user account that avoids the problems encountered in the older user account? I still have the same apps, same system, same extentions and add-ons (I believe), so what is different?

b) Why do the differing Permissions still show up when supposedly they were repaired?

c) What is the “SUID file” that was noted as “modified” and “not repaired”?

Again, thank you so much for your help.

Reply

Answer 4

Eric Root

Level 10

684,033 points

May 11, 2015 8:43 AM in response to gimmiegolf

SpeechSynthesisServer Application (/System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks /SpeechSynthesis.framework/Versions/A/SpeechSynthesisServer.app)

Something in your old account is the problem. In your old account. go to System Preferences/Users & Groups/Login Items and remove the above. Restart and test.

Disk Utility – Permission Errors you can ignore

Reply

Answer 5

gimmiegolf Author

Level 1

16 points

May 11, 2015 7:17 PM in response to Eric Root

Responding to Eric Root, I appreciate the link about Permission Errors you can ignore which answered that question.

I followed your instructions to delete the Speech Synthesis Server login item in User & Groups pref. for the old user. That left iTunesHelper Application and Dropbox Application as the only login items. I restarted and now will work in that user account and report back.

Grats.

Reply

Answer 6

Eric Root

Level 10

684,033 points

May 12, 2015 6:27 AM in response to gimmiegolf

You are welcome.

Reply

Answer 7

gimmiegolf Author

Level 1

16 points

May 18, 2015 3:49 PM in response to Eric Root

Just a final report to Eric Root and all, It has been a little over a week since dumping the Speech Synthesis Server startup item and I have been working in my normal user account without issue. All applications, internet, mail, etc. have been acting fine. The only unfinished business is to turn my Time Machine/Capsule auto backup back on and open the Quicken Mac 2015 application. I don't anticipate any issues there either so I'm calling this resolved.

Thanks again for all the help.

Tom @ gimmiegolf

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Answer 8

Eric Root

Level 10

684,033 points

May 19, 2015 7:50 AM in response to gimmiegolf

You are welcome.

Reply