Will upgrading to my old MacBook Pro from Mavericks to El Capitan speed things up? If not, how do I rollback?

Question

Level 1

1 points

Will upgrading to my old MacBook Pro from Mavericks to El Capitan speed things up? If not, how do I rollback?

My trusty old MBP (15-inch, Mid 2009; Processor 2,8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo; Memory 8 GB 1067 MHz DDR3; Graphics NVIDIA GeForce 9400M 256 MB/9600M GT 512 MB; Software OS X 10.9.5 (13F1134); positively ancient, I know!) is really giving me a hard time. And I'm not even talking video editing or other heavy duty work; no, simple word processing, browsing, etc.; the kinds of things that NEVER used put any strain on the old girl. But nowadays, JEEZ!

So, can anyone advise? Would upgrading to El Capitan make things better or worse?

I've done multiple Disk Repairs and Verifies - from Recovery Mode - even a defragmentation with iDefrag (for what it's worth, right?), but still no luck. So, I'm of a mind that an OS refresh would breathe some new life into my dear old steed before I finally retire her when I can afford to next year.

I'm just dreading that I'll make things worse! So, can I backup with Time Machine and then just rollback to Mavericks if the proverbial poo hits the fan?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks!

MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9.5)

Posted on Dec 7, 2015 2:03 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

seventy one

Level 7

27,430 points

Dec 7, 2015 4:25 AM in response to EyeGod

I think you need to check out your system first. Download and install this app which will tell us something of what is going on to make your system so slow. http://www.etresoft.com/etrecheck

Copy the results as an answer to this post.

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Answer 2

db24401

Level 4

1,564 points

Dec 7, 2015 2:46 AM in response to EyeGod

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Answer 3

John Galt

Level 10

141,320 points

Dec 7, 2015 4:25 AM in response to EyeGod

So, can I backup with Time Machine and then just rollback to Mavericks

Yes, but from what you describe it is possible your startup disk may already be in a failed state. Did Disk Utility report any errors that required correction?

- even a defragmentation with iDefrag

"Defragmenting" conveys no benefit on a Mac, and can only accelerate a hard disk drive's eventual failure. Don't use such things.

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Answer 4

Dec 7, 2015 3:16 AM in response to EyeGod

The suggestion to run Etrecheck is a good one.

It is quite possible also that your drive is beginning to fail, or is getting close to full, which degrades performance.

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Answer 5

EyeGod Author

Level 1

1 points

Dec 7, 2015 3:57 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

This is my fear: I can hear it working all the time, even when the laptop is mostly stable. Been thinking of upgrading to an SSD, which I believe will breathe new life into the machine, but with my battery at 58% health (as well as the MBP telling me it needs a service) and on a device this old, I'm not sure it's worth the trouble?

Anyhow, thanks for the tip on Etrecheck; running it now and will revert.

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Answer 6

EyeGod Author

Level 1

1 points

Dec 7, 2015 3:59 AM in response to John Galt

Thank you, John.

I've been told as much about defragmenting, but I'm so desperate and my tech knowledge only stretches so far.

Disk Utility reported an alarming number errors in Recovery Mode, but seemed to have fixed them all. As per my response to Luis, I agree with the concern that the drive may be beginning to fail, in which case upgrading to El Capitan won't do much, will it?

I've still got 95+Gb free on this drive (500Gb capacity), as well as a Windows partition of 75+Gb that I hardly use anymore; worth wiping that one and giving the existing Mac OS partition some more space?

Reply

Answer 7

EyeGod Author

Level 1

1 points

Dec 7, 2015 4:06 AM in response to seventy one

Thank you, seventy one. Herewith my Etrecheck results enclosed. I look forward to your thoughts:

EtreCheck version: 2.6.6 (226)

Report generated 2015/12/07, 2:00 PM

Runtime 7:34

Download EtreCheck from http://etrecheck.com

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:(What does this mean?)

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2009)

[Click for Technical Specifications]

[Click for User Guide]

MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro5,3

1 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU: 2-core

8 GB RAM Upgradeable

[Click for upgrade instructions]

BANK 0/DIMM0

4 GB DDR3 1067 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

4 GB DDR3 1067 MHz ok

Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported

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

Battery: Health = Check Battery - Cycle count = 422 - SN = W0924A73177VA

Video Information:(What does this mean?)

NVIDIA GeForce 9400M - VRAM: 256 MB

NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT - VRAM: 512 MB

Color LCD 1440 x 900

SMS24A350H 1920 x 1080 @ 60 Hz

System Software:(What does this mean?)

OS X Mavericks 10.9.5 (13F1134) - Time since boot: about 14 days

Disk Information:(What does this mean?)

Hitachi HTS545050B9SA02 disk0 : (500,11 GB) (Rotational)

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / : 400.25 GB (87.12 GB free)

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

Untitled (disk0s4) /Volumes/Untitled : 99.00 GB (32.27 GB free)

MATSHITADVD-R UJ-868 ()

USB Information:(What does this mean?)

Apple Inc. Built-in iSight

Apple Internal Memory Card Reader

Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Logitech USB Receiver

Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Configuration files:(What does this mean?)

/etc/sysctl.conf - File exists but not expected

/etc/hosts - Count: 1

Gatekeeper:(What does this mean?)

Mac App Store and identified developers

Kernel Extensions:(What does this mean?)

/Library/Application Support/Roxio

[not loaded] com.roxio.TDIXController (1.7) [Click for support]

/Library/Extensions

[loaded] com.cyberic.SmoothMouse (9 - SDK 10.8) [Click for support]

/System/Library/Extensions

[not loaded] com.NovatelWireless.driver.NovatelWirelessUSBCDCECMControl (3.0.13) [Click for support]

[not loaded] com.NovatelWireless.driver.NovatelWirelessUSBCDCECMData (3.0.13) [Click for support]

[not loaded] com.novamedia.driver.IceraUSB_MSD_Bypass (1.3.0) [Click for support]

[not loaded] com.novatelwireless.driver.3G (3.0.13) [Click for support]

[not loaded] com.novatelwireless.driver.DisableAutoInstall (3.0.13) [Click for support]

[not loaded] com.novationmusic.nio.driver (1.2.0) [Click for support]

[loaded] com.nvidia.CUDA (1.1.0) [Click for support]

[not loaded] com.option.driver.Option72 (2.15.0) [Click for support]

[not loaded] com.option.driver.OptionHS (3.26.0) [Click for support]

[not loaded] com.option.driver.OptionMSD (1.21.0) [Click for support]

[not loaded] com.option.driver.OptionQC (1.11.0) [Click for support]

[not loaded] com.rim.driver.BlackBerryUSBDriverInt (0.0.39) [Click for support]

[not loaded] com.rim.driver.BlackBerryUSBDriverVSP (0.0.45) [Click for support]

[not loaded] com.vodafone.driver (3.0.9) [Click for support]

[not loaded] de.novamedia.driver.NMSamsung (0.0.2) [Click for support]

[not loaded] de.novamedia.driver.NMSmartplugSCSIDevice (1.0.1) [Click for support]

[not loaded] de.novamedia.oem.vodafone.vtp.huawei.cdc (0.0.2) [Click for support]

/System/Library/Extensions/NMHuaweiPhonesVTPCDC_106.kext/Contents/PlugIns

[not loaded] de.novamedia.driver.NMUSBCDCACMControl (3.2.12) [Click for support]

/System/Library/Extensions/NMSamsungDriver_106.kext/Contents/PlugIns

[not loaded] de.novamedia.driver.NMUSBCDCACMData (3.2.12) [Click for support]

/System/Library/Extensions/NovatelWireless3G.kext/Contents/PlugIns

[not loaded] com.novatelwireless.driver.3GData (3.0.13) [Click for support]

/System/Library/Extensions/Vodafone.kext/Contents/PlugIns

[not loaded] com.vodafone.driver.Data (3.0.9) [Click for support]

Startup Items:(What does this mean?)

HWNetMgr: Path: /Library/StartupItems/HWNetMgr

HWPortDetect: Path: /Library/StartupItems/HWPortDetect

ProTecVb: Path: /Library/StartupItems/ProTecVb

TuxeraNTFSUnmountHelper: Path: /Library/StartupItems/TuxeraNTFSUnmountHelper

Startup items are obsolete in OS X Yosemite

Launch Agents:(What does this mean?)

[failed] com.cineform.stereomodestatus.plist [Click for support]

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

[running] com.machangout.glims.agent.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.nvidia.CUDASoftwareUpdate.plist [Click for support]

[failed] com.trusteer.rapport.rapportd.plist [Click for support]

[running] de.novamedia.VodafoneDeviceObserver.plist [Click for support]

Launch Daemons:(What does this mean?)

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

[running] com.edb.launchd.postgresql-8.4.plist [Click for support]

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

[loaded] com.nvidia.cuda.launcher.plist [Click for support]

[running] com.trusteer.rooks.rooksd.plist [Click for support]

User Launch Agents:(What does this mean?)

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

[loaded] com.apple.SafariBookmarksSyncer.plist - /Applications/Safari.app/Contents/SafariSyncClient.app/Contents/MacOS/SafariSyn cClient: Executable not found!

[loaded] com.cyberic.smoothmouseupdater.plist [Click for support]

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

User Login Items:(What does this mean?)

uHD-Agent UNKNOWN Hidden (missing value)

Dropbox Application (/Applications/Dropbox.app)

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

Other Apps:(What does this mean?)

[loaded] 0x7f9d48415db0.mach_init.Inspector

[running] [0x0-0x67d67d].com.etresoft.EtreCheck

[running] com.codykrieger.gfxCardStatus.29424

[running] com.getdropbox.dropbox.27488

[running] com.google.GoogleTalkPluginD.54064.1642843E-4BB3-463E-A871-425395C717F0

[running] jp.co.canon.cijscannerregister.49488

Internet Plug-ins:(What does this mean?)

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

Google Earth Web Plug-in: Version: 7.1 [Click for support]

Default Browser: Version: 537 - SDK 10.9

Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: Version: 2.2.1.11 [Click for support]

RealPlayer Plugin: Version: Unknown [Click for support]

Silverlight: Version: 5.1.40728.0 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 19.0.0.245 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

Flash Player: Version: 19.0.0.245 - 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

AdobePDFViewer: Version: 9.5.5 [Click for support]

JavaAppletPlugin: Version: 14.9.0 - SDK 10.7 Check version

User internet Plug-ins:(What does this mean?)

BlueStacks Install Detector: Version: Unknown

Safari Extensions:(What does this mean?)

YouTube Center

Audio Plug-ins:(What does this mean?)

DVCPROHDAudio: Version: 1.3.2

3rd Party Preference Panes:(What does this mean?)

Connect360 [Click for support]

CUDA Preferences [Click for support]

Flash Player [Click for support]

Flip4Mac WMV [Click for support]

Hazel [Click for support]

MacFUSE [Click for support]

Perian [Click for support]

Rapport [Click for support]

SmoothMouse [Click for support]

Tuxera NTFS [Click for support]

Time Machine:(What does this mean?)

Skip System Files: NO

Auto backup: YES

Volumes being backed up:

Macintosh HD: Disk size: 400.25 GB Disk used: 313.13 GB

Destinations:

Time Machine [Local]

Total size: 499.76 GB

Total number of backups: 34

Oldest backup: 2015/06/09, 10:31 AM

Last backup: 2015/12/04, 12:25 PM

Size of backup disk: Too small

Backup size 499.76 GB < (Disk used 313.13 GB X 3)

Top Processes by CPU:(What does this mean?)

6% Safari

5% com.apple.WebKit.WebContent(12)

4% com.apple.WebKit.Networking

3% kernel_task

2% Finder

Top Processes by Memory:(What does this mean?)

1.86 GB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent(12)

961 MB kernel_task

147 MB Safari

115 MB Dropbox

82 MB WindowServer

Virtual Memory Information:(What does this mean?)

1.09 GB Free RAM

5.53 GB Used RAM (1.83 GB Cached)

11 MB Swap Used

Diagnostics Information:(What does this mean?)

Nov 9, 2015, 09:11:32 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Kernel_2015-11-09-211132_[redacted].panic [Click for details]

Nov 9, 2015, 03:33:18 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Kernel_2015-11-09-153318_[redacted].panic [Click for details]

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Answer 8

John Galt

Level 10

141,320 points

Dec 7, 2015 4:11 AM in response to EyeGod

When DU reports errors, it should be taken as a sign that hard disk drive should be replaced at the earliest opportunity. Any "repairs" it is able to accomplish are temporary in nature, and are intended to enable you to immediately perform a back up or otherwise extract the information it contains. The symptoms you describe are consistent with failure.

I agree with the concern that the drive may be beginning to fail, in which case upgrading to El Capitan won't do much, will it?

No, in fact due to the extensive read / write activity associated with any significant operating system upgrade, it is far more likely to become completely unbootable. If you do not have a backup, create one immediately: Use Time Machine to back up or restore your Mac - Apple Support. Replacing your MBP's internal hard disk drive is a simple and inexpensive procedure that you can accomplish yourself.

Reply

Answer 9

seventy one

Level 7

27,430 points

Dec 7, 2015 4:29 AM in response to EyeGod

John has advised well about the delicacy of your hard drive. One thing you don't need and may make some difference is the trusteer Rapport. I suggest you get that out of your system ... then check again.

https://www.trusteer.com/support/uninstalling-rapport-mac-os-x

Reply

Answer 10

John Galt

Level 10

141,320 points

Dec 7, 2015 4:43 AM in response to EyeGod

Google insists upon installing a plethora of system-altering components that litter a Mac with numerous processes and "helpers" that are notorious for causing degraded performance in furtherance of Google's zeal to harvest your personal information by any means necessary. It does so by infesting a Mac with constantly running, automatically updating, resource-intensive root level system modifications in the same manner as a "computer virus" would, if such a thing were to exist on a Mac, which it doesn't. Read http://adwords.blogspot.com/2015/09/Google-brings-you-closer-to-your-customers.h tml to learn the extent to which they do that.

By agreeing to install their products, you effectively cede control of your Mac and the information it contains to Google. It effectively hijacks your Mac, turning it into a personal information-harvesting and -uploading "bot". Google doesn't care what that does to your Mac's performance, they only care about the information they are able to gather from you so that they can sell it. If you need to use their products, expect the frequent need to upgrade your hardware at your expense.

Google has yet to demonstrate the ability or apparent desire to write efficient OS X apps. If you are required to use Google products, expect a very limited useful economic life from your hardware investment.

Reply

Answer 11

EyeGod Author

Level 1

1 points

Dec 7, 2015 7:34 AM in response to John Galt

Thanks again, John.

I have a Time Machine backup that I religiously update at least once a week, so pretty safe on that account, I reckon.

I suppose it's time to look at replacing the drive, then.

Reply

Answer 12

EyeGod Author

Level 1

1 points

Dec 7, 2015 7:35 AM in response to seventy one

Thanks, seventy one. I've proceeded to uninstall Rapport. I am going to reboot my MBP (for what it's worth) and run Etrecheck and share the results.

Will report back later.

Reply

Answer 13

seventy one

Level 7

27,430 points

Dec 7, 2015 8:11 AM in response to EyeGod

Yes, a second etrecheck report will confirm the removal of trusteer. If it still appears there may be fragments of it left over. Easy Find should locate any bits left over and is a good little app to have anyway. Find it in the App Store. It's free. As for Google Chrome, one of the worst aspects is the multiplicity of the add-ons/extensions, which just eat memory. Clear out as many as you can.

Thank you for the star.

Reply

Answer 14

Dec 7, 2015 8:24 AM in response to EyeGod

My two cents from another MBP 2009 owner - and my machine is slower than yours (2.53G Hz).

My machine runs great considering its age. I perceive no significant difference from 10.9 --> 10.11, although i must admit that 10.9 was the most trouble free of the bunch.

I did notice a big slowdown going from 10.6.8 --> 10.9.1. about the same time however, i was planing to "refresh" my machine with 8GB (from 4) and an SSD (crucial M500).

Truly amazing.

So my conclusion is:

1. it can be fast on any of the "modern" set of OSes - 10.9--10.11

2. the SSD makes a HUGE difference

3. That aside, if your machine has suddenly slowed, or slow with the upgrade, i'd look to other issues - incompatible software for instance.

Activity monitor is your friend - check what's happening, especially when its slow.

Grant

Reply

Answer 15

EyeGod Author

Level 1

1 points

Dec 7, 2015 11:32 PM in response to seventy one

Hey seventy one; latest Etrecheck report enclosed:

EtreCheck version: 2.6.6 (226)

Report generated 2015/12/07, 6:12 PM

Runtime 3:58

Download EtreCheck from http://etrecheck.com

Hardware Information:(What does this mean?)

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2009)

[Click for Technical Specifications]

[Click for User Guide]

MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro5,3

1 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU: 2-core

8 GB RAM Upgradeable

[Click for upgrade instructions]

BANK 0/DIMM0

4 GB DDR3 1067 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

4 GB DDR3 1067 MHz ok

Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported

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

Battery: Health = Check Battery - Cycle count = 422 - SN = W0924A73177VA

Video Information:(What does this mean?)

NVIDIA GeForce 9400M - VRAM: 256 MB

Color LCD 1440 x 900

SMS24A350H 1920 x 1080 @ 60 Hz

NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT - VRAM: 512 MB

System Software:(What does this mean?)

OS X Mavericks 10.9.5 (13F1134) - Time since boot: less than an hour

Disk Information:(What does this mean?)

Hitachi HTS545050B9SA02 disk0 : (500,11 GB) (Rotational)

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / : 400.25 GB (86.37 GB free)