Jay Power

Q: Mac mini has ground almost to a halt.

Hi

 

My mac mini is getting slower, and slower, and slower.  It's got to the point of being unusable.  Activity monitor, when it finally loads, shows nothing unusual, and there's plenty of spare hard disk space.  Any ideas?

 

OS X 10.11.2

Mac mini (Late 2012)

2.5 GHz Intel Core i5

4 GB 1600 MHz DDR3

Intel HD Graphics 4000 1536 MB

500 GB hard disk, 85 GB free

Posted on Dec 12, 2015 7:51 AM

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Q: Mac mini has ground almost to a halt.

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  • Helpful answers

  • by den.thed,Helpful

    den.thed den.thed Dec 16, 2015 6:33 AM in response to Jay Power
    Level 7 (27,560 points)
    Dec 16, 2015 6:33 AM in response to Jay Power

    Run > http://www.etresoft.com/etrecheck and report back with the results so that we can see if there is anything unusual.

     

    I could be wrong, but I suspect a couple of things:

     

    1. Your 5400rpm HDD is nearly full and reading/writing on the slowest part of the platter.

    2. You are running to many processes on 4GB of RAM.

     

    Most likely though, it is a combination of both 1 and 2 above. 

  • by Linc Davis,Helpful

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Dec 16, 2015 6:33 AM in response to Jay Power
    Level 10 (207,990 points)
    Applications
    Dec 16, 2015 6:33 AM in response to Jay Power

    When you see a beachball cursor or the slowness is especially bad, note the exact time: hour, minute, second.  

    These instructions must be carried out as an administrator. If you have only one user account, you are the administrator.

    Launch the Console application in any one of the following ways:

    ☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)

    ☞ In the Finder, select Go Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

    ☞ Open LaunchPad and start typing the name.

    The title of the Console window should be All Messages. If it isn't, select

              SYSTEM LOG QUERIES All Messages

    from the log list on the left. If you don't see that list, select

              View Show Log List

    from the menu bar at the top of the screen.

    Each message in the log begins with the date and time when it was entered. Scroll back to the time you noted above.

    Select the messages entered from then until the end of the episode, or until they start to repeat, whichever comes first.

    Copy the messages to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. Paste into a reply to this message by pressing command-V.

    The log contains a vast amount of information, almost all of it useless for solving any particular problem. When posting a log extract, be selective. A few dozen lines are almost always more than enough.

    Please don't indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.

    Please don't post screenshots of log messages—post the text.

    Some private information, such as your name, may appear in the log. Anonymize before posting.

    When you post the log extract, you might see an error message on the web page: "You have included content in your post that is not permitted," or "The message contains invalid characters." That's a bug in the forum software. Please post the text on Pastebin, then post a link here to the page you created.

    If you have an account on Pastebin, please don't select Private from the Paste Exposure menu on the page, because then no one but you will be able to see it.

  • by Jay Power,

    Jay Power Jay Power Dec 12, 2015 9:52 AM in response to den.thed
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Dec 12, 2015 9:52 AM in response to den.thed

    OK here's the etrecheck thing.  I've deleted some stuff, so now there's 114 Gb free. Maybe that's help a bit.

     

    EtreCheck version: 2.6.6 (226)

    Report generated 12/12/2015, 21:33

    Runtime 2:31

    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?)

        Mac mini (Late 2012)

        [Click for Technical Specifications]

        [Click for User Guide]

        Mac mini - model: Macmini6,1

        1 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 2-core

        4 GB RAM Upgradeable

        [Click for upgrade instructions]

            BANK 0/DIMM0

                2 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

            BANK 1/DIMM0

                2 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

        Bluetooth: Good - Handoff/Airdrop2 supported

        Wireless: Unknown

    Video Information: (What does this mean?)

        Intel HD Graphics 4000

            Panasonic-TV 1280 x 720 @ 50 Hz

     

    System Software: (What does this mean?)

        OS X El Capitan 10.11.2 (15C50) - Time since boot: about 2 hours

     

    Disk Information: (What does this mean?)

        APPLE HDD HTS545050A7E362 disk0 : (500.11 GB) (Rotational)

            EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

            Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / : 499.25 GB (114.95 GB free)

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

     

    USB Information: (What does this mean?)

        Apple, Inc. IR Receiver

        Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub

            Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

     

    Thunderbolt Information: (What does this mean?)

        Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

     

    Gatekeeper: (What does this mean?)

        Mac App Store and identified developers

     

    Kernel Extensions: (What does this mean?)

            /Applications/WiTopia.app

        [loaded]    com.viscosityvpn.Viscosity.tap (1.0) [Click for support]

        [loaded]    com.viscosityvpn.Viscosity.tun (1.0) [Click for support]

     

    System Launch Daemons: (What does this mean?)

        [failed]    com.apple.Kerberos.digest-service.plist [Click for details]

     

    Launch Daemons: (What does this mean?)

        [loaded]    StrongHelper.plist [Click for support]

        [loaded]    com.adobe.SC.FPFeedbackService-1.0.plist [Click for support]

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

        [loaded]    net.witopia.WiTopiaHelper.plist [Click for support]

     

    User Launch Agents: (What does this mean?)

        [running]    com.spotify.webhelper.plist [Click for support]

     

    User Login Items: (What does this mean?)

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

        Dropbox    Application  (/Applications/Dropbox.app)

        WiTopia    Application  (/Applications/WiTopia.app)

        Spotify    Application Hidden (/Applications/Spotify.app)

     

    Other Apps: (What does this mean?)

        [running]    2BUA8C4S2C.com.agilebits.onepassword-osx-helper

        [running]    com.apple.xpc.launchd.oneshot.0x1000000c.EtreCheck

        [running]    com.getdropbox.dropbox.47392

        [running]    com.spotify.client.53472

     

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

        Silverlight: Version: 5.1.20513.0 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

        FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 20.0.0.235 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

        QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

        Flash Player: Version: 20.0.0.235 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

        LogitechHarmony: Version: 2.0 - SDK 10.7 [Click for support]

        Default Browser: Version: 601 - SDK 10.11

     

    Safari Extensions: (What does this mean?)

        1Password

     

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

        Flash Player  [Click for support]

     

    Time Machine: (What does this mean?)

        Time Machine not configured!

     

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

            51%    mdworker(9)

             7%    WindowServer

             5%    Spotify Helper(2)

             3%    Spotify

             2%    kernel_task

     

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

        562 MB    kernel_task

        209 MB    Spotify Helper(2)

        180 MB    installd

        172 MB    mdworker(9)

        152 MB    mds_stores

     

    Virtual Memory Information: (What does this mean?)

        44 MB    Free RAM

        3.96 GB    Used RAM (1.00 GB Cached)

        59 MB    Swap Used

     

    Diagnostics Information: (What does this mean?)

        Dec 12, 2015, 07:28:06 PM    ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Spotify Helper_2015-12-12-192806_[redacted].crash

        Dec 12, 2015, 06:42:21 PM    Self test - passed

        Dec 12, 2015, 05:40:15 PM    ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/BezelUIServer_2015-12-12-174015_[redacted].cra sh

        Dec 11, 2015, 08:14:02 PM    ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/BezelUIServer_2015-12-11-201402_[redacted].cra sh

        Dec 10, 2015, 10:44:57 PM    ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/BezelUIServer_2015-12-10-224457_[redacted].cra sh

        Dec 10, 2015, 03:50:29 PM    ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/BezelUIServer_2015-12-10-155029_[redacted].cra sh

  • by lllaass,

    lllaass lllaass Dec 12, 2015 10:01 AM in response to Jay Power
    Level 10 (189,006 points)
    Desktops
    Dec 12, 2015 10:01 AM in response to Jay Power
  • by den.thed,

    den.thed den.thed Dec 12, 2015 10:24 AM in response to Jay Power
    Level 7 (27,560 points)
    Dec 12, 2015 10:24 AM in response to Jay Power

    In addition to mdworker bogging your system down, you could also use more RAM.

     

    You have only been started up for about 2 hours and your system is already low on Free RAM and starting to Swap Use.

     

    Screen Shot 2015-12-12 at 10.05.37 AM.jpg

     

    For quality RAM upgrades go to either http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/mac-mini/ or http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/apple-memory and get at least a 4x4=8GB or better a 8x8=16GB kit.


    The RAM upgrade is DIY pretty easy, macsales.com has a video and the Apple instructions are at > Mac mini: How to remove or install memory - Apple Support


    If you are tight on funds, you can also replace 1 2GB module with an 8GB module and run 10GB like I have with my Late 2012 Mini.


    Screen Shot 2015-12-12 at 10.19.16 AM.jpg


  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Dec 12, 2015 10:31 AM in response to Jay Power
    Level 10 (207,990 points)
    Applications
    Dec 12, 2015 10:31 AM in response to Jay Power

    You're getting the usual results of posting "etrecheck" stuff on this site. You have adequate memory and disk space. Neither of those is causing the problem.

  • by etresoft,

    etresoft etresoft Dec 12, 2015 11:01 AM in response to Jay Power
    Level 7 (29,243 points)
    Mac OS X
    Dec 12, 2015 11:01 AM in response to Jay Power

    Hello Jay,

    Just how long does it take to run Activity Monitor?

     

    Your EtreCheck report ran in only 2 and a half minutes. That is quite good for a machine like yours. That probably rules our a hard drive failure. Your EtreCheck report also rules out antivirus or scam-ware problems. But I noticed that you had restarted your machine about 2 hours before running EtreCheck. EtreCheck is more effective if you don't restart before running it. Restarting erases some of the data that EtreCheck uses. Wait until it exhibits the problem and then run EtreCheck, ideally during the problem or shortly afterwards. That would definitively report if your machine is running low on RAM. Modern versions of OS X are designed to use all available RAM. Only a tool like EtreCheck will be able to detect memory pressure that happened in the past. As you noticed, once your machine locks up, by the time Activity Monitor finally launches, the problem has likely resolved itself.

  • by den.thed,Solvedanswer

    den.thed den.thed Dec 13, 2015 10:03 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 7 (27,560 points)
    Dec 13, 2015 10:03 AM in response to Linc Davis

    Linc Davis wrote:

     

    You have adequate memory and disk space. Neither of those is causing the problem.

     

    That is not totaly true.


    I'm not sure what system(s) you have or use..?

     

    But if you have a Mac Mini with a 3 quarter full 5400rpm HDD, 4GB of used up RAM and you open other App like Photos or iMovie that have moderate sized libraries, you will get the colored wheel for far longer than just a few seconds.

  • by Jay Power,

    Jay Power Jay Power Dec 16, 2015 6:35 AM in response to den.thed
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Dec 16, 2015 6:35 AM in response to den.thed

    Thanks you all; you have been very helpful indeed. 

     

    I ran all the updates, deleted loads of stuff off the HDD, emptied the trash, dusted the case, switched it off and went to bed.

     

    Next day, all is well.

     

    If it happens again I'll try the ideas posted above. 

     

    Again, thank you all for your assistance.