cogito2

Q: Keyboard issue slowing down Mac?

I've recently been using an external keyboard for my MacBook, plugging it into a USB socket, and am impressed by how much more speedily my machine is responding now, with many fewer lengthy waits than before (e.g. the spinning beachball if I type too fast; having to wait quite a time for a file listing to appear when saving to a file).  Is this simply a hardware problem with the built in keyboard, or might it be a software issue?  This is particularly relevant as I'll be updating my Mac soon and wonder if the problem, if it is due to software, will transfer itself to the new machine.

 

PS: I did an Apple Hardware test a little while back and it did not report a problem.

MacBook, OS X Yosemite (10.10.5)

Posted on Dec 31, 2015 1:31 AM

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Q: Keyboard issue slowing down Mac?

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  • by Lexiepex,

    Lexiepex Lexiepex Dec 31, 2015 1:40 AM in response to cogito2
    Level 6 (10,492 points)
    Mac OS X
    Dec 31, 2015 1:40 AM in response to cogito2

    Without having any information what might cause a slowness and even a spinning beach ball, it is not possible to give you an advice.

    Your internal keyboard should not be slower than an external.

    Can you download   Etrecheck  from www.etresoft.com/etrecheck

    then run it: it produces a list. There is a Copy button at the bottom of the list, use that, then post the list here with Paste (CMD+V).

    Lex

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Dec 31, 2015 8:25 AM in response to cogito2
    Level 10 (207,990 points)
    Applications
    Dec 31, 2015 8:25 AM in response to cogito2

    Please 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 â–¹ All Messages

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

              View â–¹ Show Log List

    from the menu bar at the top of the screen.

    Click the Clear Display icon in the toolbar. Then take an action that isn't working the way you expect. Select any lines that appear in the Console window. Copy them 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 which is irrelevant to 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 or email address, 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 cogito2,

    cogito2 cogito2 Dec 31, 2015 9:55 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (39 points)
    Dec 31, 2015 9:55 AM in response to Linc Davis

    Thanks for both suggestions.  Neither logs show anything particularly interesting, but a problem is that owing to an incident consquent upon my frustration at the slow response the laptop's own keyboard is not currently functioning (which is why I used an external one), so the original malfunction probably won't show anyway so these logs probably won't be that revealing even for experts.  But if there is still a keyboard problem with the replacement laptop I'm expecting then I will try these diagnostics.  Incidentally, the console listing has no items contianing the word keyboard, and I wonder what messages relating to the keyboard look like?

     

    One other point that might provide a clue is that is that CPU usage when the system was responding slowly was not particularly high, so I wonder what the system was busy doing at that time.  Writing to disc?  But disc i/o rates were not high either.  And there's some 25GB space spare on the hard drive.

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Dec 31, 2015 10:04 AM in response to cogito2
    Level 10 (207,990 points)
    Applications
    Dec 31, 2015 10:04 AM in response to cogito2

    If you're not going to provide the information I asked for, I have no other suggestions. Click the Support link at the top of this page. Good luck.

  • by cogito2,

    cogito2 cogito2 Dec 31, 2015 10:14 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (39 points)
    Dec 31, 2015 10:14 AM in response to Linc Davis

    You said 'take an action that isn't working the way you expect'.  I'm not sure what kind of thing you are referring to, but in any event as the computer is working as expected with an external keyboard plugged in, and cannot be used at all if it this is unplugged, I find it rather difficult to figure out what exactly you are suggesting I do.

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Dec 31, 2015 10:19 AM in response to cogito2
    Level 10 (207,990 points)
    Applications
    Dec 31, 2015 10:19 AM in response to cogito2

    The action that isn't working is typing without the external keyboard. Take that action. Then connect the keyboard and post a log extract.

  • by cogito2,

    cogito2 cogito2 Dec 31, 2015 10:44 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (39 points)
    Dec 31, 2015 10:44 AM in response to Linc Davis

    Since you ask, the only messages that appear in 'all messages' are the usual ones such as 'backup completed successfully', and nothing extra happens if I press the keys that are not working.  With due respect, I am not interested in knowing why the keyboard is not functioning at this time as I already know what the problem is there, and will wait till I have my new machine, and try the various suggestions then if there is still a problem.

  • by my ginger,

    my ginger my ginger Dec 31, 2015 11:11 AM in response to cogito2
    Level 4 (2,472 points)
    Dec 31, 2015 11:11 AM in response to cogito2

    If you don't care why your internal keyboard is not working as it should. Why did you make a post on it? Link wants you to use the internal keyboard if it works at all and then using the external post the log on it here.

  • by cogito2,

    cogito2 cogito2 Dec 31, 2015 12:02 PM in response to my ginger
    Level 1 (39 points)
    Dec 31, 2015 12:02 PM in response to my ginger

    Re your query, II wanted to know, pre-emptively, whether there is a risk that some software fault on my present machine would transfer itself to the new computer when I migrate software to it.  I don't think it was unreasonable to raise the question, but it looks as if no-one has any useful insights into whether software could have caused this unusual anomaly.  Should it have been caused by a corrupted OS then probably it will not get migrated, while again if it was a hardware problem that won't transfer either, but it looks as if the only thing to do in the circumstances is to wait and see. And there is no meaningful log to post. OK?

  • by my ginger,

    my ginger my ginger Dec 31, 2015 12:36 PM in response to cogito2
    Level 4 (2,472 points)
    Dec 31, 2015 12:36 PM in response to cogito2

    Link would, if you followed his instructions. But that is up to you. We try to help, but it depends on if you really want the help.

  • by Lexiepex,

    Lexiepex Lexiepex Dec 31, 2015 12:37 PM in response to cogito2
    Level 6 (10,492 points)
    Mac OS X
    Dec 31, 2015 12:37 PM in response to cogito2

    Luckily you can judge what you have on the information lists you were asked for.

    So you can take appropriate action.

    Have a wonderful 2016.

  • by cogito2,

    cogito2 cogito2 Jan 6, 2016 1:44 AM in response to Lexiepex
    Level 1 (39 points)
    Jan 6, 2016 1:44 AM in response to Lexiepex

    I don't know if this is relevant: some items that have appeared in the console listing after a save to file operation, wating for the file list to appear, which is typically rather slow:

     

    06/01/2016 09:32:16.000 kernel[0]: Sandbox: appleeventsd(52) deny file-read-metadata /Library

     

    and

     

    06/01/2016 09:32:16.000 kernel[0]: Sandbox: appleeventsd(52) deny mach-lookup com.apple.ocspd

     

    both repeated many times.  Does this suggest anything?

  • by my ginger,

    my ginger my ginger Jan 6, 2016 8:42 AM in response to cogito2
    Level 4 (2,472 points)
    Jan 6, 2016 8:42 AM in response to cogito2

    Do any keys work on the internal keyboard? such as the control, option of command keys.  using the internal keyboard can you boot to safe mode with the shift key held down?  You could try making a new user account with admin privileges  and see if the internal keyboard will work.