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mid 2011 iMAC OS Question

I have the mid 2011 iMAC 21.5" with 4 GB of memory. I find Mavericks runs sluggish. Would I get the best performance by going back to Mountain Lion? Basically, what would the best OS be for my machine? I am in no need of the latest apps, as I don't have an iPhone, etc.


can I go back to Mountain Lion using the command-option-R keys method?


Thanks.

iMac

Posted on Jul 3, 2015 11:25 AM

Reply
8 replies

Jul 3, 2015 11:32 AM in response to VLCRuler

Your iMac may simply be starved for RAM and needs a RAM upgrade. There is no "best" version of OS X for your machine, my 2011 runs Yosemite 10.10.4 just fine however I have upgraded the RAM. What I would recommend is giving us an EtreCheck report of your system and then we can look for obvious issues. You can get EtreCheck by clicking http://www.etresoft.com/etrecheck

Jul 3, 2015 2:31 PM in response to rkaufmann87

Ok. Here it is:


EtreCheck version: 2.2 (132)

Report generated 7/3/15, 5:19 PM

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

iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2011) (Technical Specifications)

iMac - model: iMac12,1

1 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 4-core

4 GB RAM Upgradeable

BANK 0/DIMM0

2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

2 GB DDR3 1333 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

AMD Radeon HD 6750M - VRAM: 512 MB

iMac 1920 x 1080

DELL SE198WFP 1440 x 900 @ 60 Hz


System Software: ℹ️

OS X 10.9.5 (13F1096) - Time since boot: 5:25:16


Disk Information: ℹ️

WDC WD5000AAKS-402AA0 disk0 : (500.11 GB)

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / : 499.25 GB (257.97 GB free)

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


OPTIARC DVD RW AD-5680H


USB Information: ℹ️

Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

Hewlett-Packard HP LaserJet P1005

Genius USB Optical Mouse

Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Canon CanoScan

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Apple Internal Memory Card Reader


Thunderbolt Information: ℹ️

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus


Configuration files: ℹ️

/etc/launchd.conf - Exists


Gatekeeper: ℹ️

Anywhere


Kernel Extensions: ℹ️

/Library/Extensions

[loaded] net.telestream.driver.TelestreamAudio (1.1.1 - SDK 10.8) [Click for support]

[loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxDrv (4.1.8) [Click for support]

[not loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetAdp (4.1.8) [Click for support]

[not loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetFlt (4.1.8) [Click for support]

[loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxUSB (4.1.8) [Click for support]


/System/Library/Extensions

[loaded] com.rim.driver.BlackBerryUSBDriverInt (0.0.74) [Click for support]

[not loaded] com.rim.driver.BlackBerryUSBDriverVSP (0.0.74) [Click for support]

[not loaded] com.smarttech.iokit.SMARTBoard (11 - SDK 10.7) [Click for support]

[not loaded] com.tectona.driver.PL2303 (1.3.0) [Click for support]

[not loaded] com.wacom.kext.wacomtablet (6.1.7) [Click for support]


Startup Items: ℹ️

VirtualBox: Path: /Library/StartupItems/VirtualBox

Startup items are obsolete in OS X Yosemite


Launch Agents: ℹ️

[not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.adobe.CS5ServiceManager.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist [Click for support]

[running] com.rim.BBAlbumArtCacher.plist [Click for support]

[running] com.rim.BBLaunchAgent.plist [Click for support]

[running] com.smarttech.boardservice.plist [Click for support]

[not loaded] com.smarttech.floatingtools.plist [Click for support]

[running] com.smarttech.ink.plist [Click for support]

[running] com.smarttech.SBWDKService.plist [Click for support]

[running] com.smarttech.smartnotification.plist [Click for support]

[running] com.smarttech.systemtrayicon.plist [Click for support]

[running] com.wacom.wacomtablet.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] org.macosforge.xquartz.startx.plist [Click for support]


Launch Daemons: ℹ️

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

[loaded] com.google.keystone.daemon.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.klieme.TimeMachineScheduler.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.oracle.java.JavaUpdateHelper.plist [Click for support]

[running] com.rim.BBDaemon.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] org.macosforge.xquartz.privileged_startx.plist [Click for support]


User Launch Agents: ℹ️

[loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist [Click for support]

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

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

[running] com.google.Chrome.framework.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.valvesoftware.steamclean.plist [Click for support]

[not loaded] org.virtualbox.vboxwebsrv.plist [Click for support]


User Login Items: ℹ️

iTunesHelper UNKNOWN (missing value)

AdobeResourceSynchronizer Application (/Applications/Adobe Acrobat X Pro/Adobe Acrobat Pro.app/Contents/Support/AdobeResourceSynchronizer.app)

Dropbox Application (/Applications/Dropbox.app)

AirServer UNKNOWN (missing value)

ConnectService Application (/Library/Application Support/ArcSoft/Connect Service/ConnectService.app)


Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️

DirectorShockwave: Version: 12.1.0r150 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

o1dbrowserplugin: Version: 5.41.0.0 - SDK 10.8 [Click for support]

WacomNetscape: Version: 1.1.1-1 [Click for support]

Default Browser: Version: 537 - SDK 10.9

Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: Version: 2.4.4.2 [Click for support]

WacomSafari: Version: 1.1.1-1 [Click for support]

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: Version: 10.1.14 [Click for support]

FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 18.0.0.194 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

Silverlight: Version: 5.1.40416.0 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

Flash Player: Version: 18.0.0.194 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

googletalkbrowserplugin: Version: 5.41.0.0 - SDK 10.8 [Click for support]

iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0 - SDK 10.7

AdobePDFViewer: Version: 10.1.14 [Click for support]

SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.5.1 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

JavaAppletPlugin: Version: Java 8 Update 45 Check version


3rd Party Preference Panes: ℹ️

Flash Player [Click for support]

Flip4Mac WMV [Click for support]

Growl [Click for support]

Java [Click for support]

MacFUSE [Click for support]

SMART Board [Click for support]

TimeMachineScheduler [Click for support]

WacomTablet [Click for support]


Time Machine: ℹ️

Skip System Files: NO

Mobile backups: OFF

Auto backup: YES

Volumes being backed up:

Macintosh HD: Disk size: 499.25 GB Disk used: 241.28 GB

Destinations:

TimeMachine [Network]

Total size: 991.33 GB

Total number of backups: 36

Oldest backup: 2015-05-25 21:59:14 +0000

Last backup: 2015-06-28 00:00:07 +0000

Size of backup disk: Adequate

Backup size 991.33 GB > (Disk used 241.28 GB X 3)


Top Processes by CPU: ℹ️

7% firefox

2% WindowServer

2% plugin-container

1% launchservicesd

1% SMARTBoardService


Top Processes by Memory: ℹ️

836 MB firefox

425 MB kernel_task

168 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent(7)

143 MB iTunes

98 MB mdworker(9)


Virtual Memory Information: ℹ️

96 MB Free RAM

3.25 GB Used RAM

0 B Swap Used


Diagnostics Information: ℹ️

Jul 3, 2015, 11:49:51 AM Self test - passed

Jul 1, 2015, 11:13:25 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Installer_2015-07-01-231325_[redacted].hang

Jul 3, 2015 2:46 PM in response to VLCRuler

I don't see anything that looks particularly troublesome, however you use Chrome which is a resource hog. I also see you have a lot of Internet plugins. Finally I see you have VirtualBox as a startup app, this indicates you are running Windows simultaneously to OS X. All of these items use a lot of RAM, you may benefit by upgrading from 4GB to 8-12GB. If you decided to take this route, only purchase Crucial (buy direct) or OWC (www.macsales.com). The reason being is iMacs do better with high quality RAM and both vendors supply this.

Jul 3, 2015 3:42 PM in response to rkaufmann87

Thanks for the analysis.


I normally run Firefox only. I added Chrome to try out something that wasn't working with Firefox. Should I remove Firefox as well, or is it less of a hog?


Also, I did attempt to run Win on the machine, but I do not have it installed now. Maybe I will do a clear install and see if things improve.


As for the memory, I may indeed upgrade to at least 8 GB. I will certainly go for the brands you have suggested. With the system cleaned up and more ram, do you think my machine will have issues running Yosemite?


Thank you kindly for your help.

Jul 3, 2015 3:58 PM in response to VLCRuler

VLCRuler wrote:


Thanks for the analysis.


I normally run Firefox only. I added Chrome to try out something that wasn't working with Firefox. Should I remove Firefox as well, or is it less of a hog?


Also, I did attempt to run Win on the machine, but I do not have it installed now. Maybe I will do a clear install and see if things improve.


As for the memory, I may indeed upgrade to at least 8 GB. I will certainly go for the brands you have suggested. With the system cleaned up and more ram, do you think my machine will have issues running Yosemite?


Thank you kindly for your help.

Browsers are a personal preference, if you use only one then uninstall the one you don't use. If you no longer have a need for running Windows apps then uninstall Virtual Box. As for a clean install, it's not necessary and I doubt it would change anything. The best thing you can do for any system is ensure it has up-to-date apps, don't use a torrent to download and keep OS X up-to-date. The RAM upgrade couldn't hurt either.

mid 2011 iMAC OS Question

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