bildo17
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: Sluggish MBP

My Early 2008 MBP has suddenly become very sluggish; I get the spinning ball for interminable amounts of time.  I have not installed any new software or hardware.  I realize the machine is old, but until recently it had still performed admirably.  Also, when the MBP "wakes up" from sleep, I have to reboot to reconnect to the network.  I ran EtreCheck, but I am not savvy enough to interpret the results.  Any help would be appreciated.  Here is the report: 

EtreCheck version: 2.7.6 (236)

Report generated 2016-01-20 16:39:41

Download EtreCheck from http://etrecheck.com

Runtime 5:44

Performance: Below Average

 

Click the [Support] links for help with non-Apple products.

Click the [Details] links for more information about that line.

Click the [Check files] link for help with unknown files.

 

Problem: Beachballing

Description:

Very sluggish; won’t reconnect to internet after sleep

 

Hardware Information: ⓘ

    MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2008)

    [Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty & Service]

    MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro4,1

    1 2.5 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU: 2-core

    4 GB RAM Upgradeable - [Instructions]

        BANK 0/DIMM0

            2 GB DDR2 SDRAM 667 MHz ok

        BANK 1/DIMM1

            2 GB DDR2 SDRAM 667 MHz ok

    Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported

    Wireless:  en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n

    Battery: Health = Replace Now - Cycle count = 319 - SN =

 

Video Information: ⓘ

    GeForce 8600M GT     - VRAM: 512 MB

        Color LCD 1920 x 1200

 

System Software: ⓘ

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

 

Disk Information: ⓘ

    Hitachi HTS725050A9A364 disk0 : (500.11 GB) (Rotational)

        EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

        Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / : 499.11 GB (16.43 GB free)

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

 

USB Information: ⓘ

    Apple, Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

    Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

    Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

        Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

    Apple Inc. Built-in iSight

 

Configuration files: ⓘ

    /etc/hosts - Count: 3

 

Gatekeeper: ⓘ

    Mac App Store and identified developers

 

Unknown Files: ⓘ

    ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.dtv.vgconnect.plist

    ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.pia.pia_manager.plist

    /Library/LaunchDaemons/vyprvpnservice.plist

    /Library/LaunchAgents/com.Affinegy.InstaLANa.plist

    ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.dtv.vgconnect.uninstall.plist

    /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.adobe.versioncueCS3.plist

    6 unknown files found. [Check files]

 

Kernel Extensions: ⓘ

        /Applications/VyprVPN.app

    [loaded]    foo.tap (1.0) [Support]

    [loaded]    foo.tun (1.0) [Support]

 

        /Incompatible Software/Parallels Service.app

    [not loaded]    com.parallels.kext.prl_hid_hook (4.0 3848.450204) [Support]

    [not loaded]    com.parallels.kext.prl_hypervisor (4.0 3848.450204) [Support]

    [not loaded]    com.parallels.kext.prl_netbridge (4.0 3848.450204) [Support]

    [not loaded]    com.parallels.kext.prl_usb_connect (4.0 3848.450204) [Support]

    [not loaded]    com.parallels.kext.prl_vnic (4.0 3848.450204) [Support]

 

        /Library/Application Support/VirtualBox

    [loaded]    org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxDrv (4.3.28) [Support]

    [loaded]    org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetAdp (4.3.28) [Support]

    [loaded]    org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetFlt (4.3.28) [Support]

    [loaded]    org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxUSB (4.3.28) [Support]

 

        /System/Library/Extensions

    [not loaded]    com.Cycling74.driver.Soundflower (1.5.2) [Support]

    [not loaded]    com.TouchBase.iokit.tbupddmxhid (1.0.0) [Support]

    [loaded]    com.globaldelight.driver.BoomDevice (1.1 - SDK 10.9) [Support]

    [not loaded]    com.silex.driver.sxuptp (1.5.1) [Support]

    [not loaded]    jp.co.Canon.bj.print.BJSBP2DriverKext (1.4.4) [Support]

 

Startup Items: ⓘ

    EmagicA26A62mFirmwareLoader: Path: /Library/StartupItems/EmagicA26A62mFirmwareLoader

    FxLicenseManager: Path: /Library/StartupItems/FxLicenseManager

    ParallelsDesktopTransporter: Path: /Library/StartupItems/ParallelsDesktopTransporter

    ParallelsTransporter: Path: /Library/StartupItems/ParallelsTransporter

    ProTec: Path: /Library/StartupItems/ProTec

    ProTec6: Path: /Library/StartupItems/ProTec6

    ProTec6b: Path: /Library/StartupItems/ProTec6b

    Qmaster: Path: /Library/StartupItems/Qmaster

    TBUPDDWU: Path: /Library/StartupItems/TBUPDDWU

    Startup items are obsolete in OS X Yosemite

 

Launch Agents: ⓘ

    [running]    com.Affinegy.InstaLANa.plist [Support]

    [loaded]    com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist [Support]

    [loaded]    com.adobe.CS4ServiceManager.plist [Support]

    [loaded]    com.adobe.CS5ServiceManager.plist [Support]

    [loaded]    com.hp.help.tocgenerator.plist [Support]

    [loaded]    com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist [Support]

    [running]    org.gpgtools.Libmacgpg.xpc.plist [Support]

    [loaded]    org.gpgtools.gpgmail.enable-bundles.plist [Support]

    [loaded]    org.gpgtools.gpgmail.patch-uuid-user.plist [Support]

    [loaded]    org.gpgtools.gpgmail.updater.plist [Support]

    [loaded]    org.gpgtools.macgpg2.fix.plist [Support]

    [running]    org.gpgtools.macgpg2.shutdown-gpg-agent.plist [Support]

    [loaded]    org.gpgtools.macgpg2.updater.plist [Support]

 

Launch Daemons: ⓘ

    [running]    com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist [Support]

    [loaded]    com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist [Support]

    [failed]    com.adobe.fpsaud.plist [Support]

    [loaded]    com.adobe.versioncueCS3.plist [Support]

    [loaded]    com.adobe.versioncueCS4.plist [Support]

    [loaded]    com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist [Support]

    [loaded]    com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist [Support]

    [loaded]    org.gpgtools.gpgmail.patch-uuid.plist [Support]

    [loaded]    org.virtualbox.startup.plist [Support]

    [running]    vyprvpnservice.plist [Support]

 

User Launch Agents: ⓘ

    [loaded]    com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist [Support]

    [loaded]    com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist [Support]

    [running]    com.akamai.single-user-client.plist [Support]

    [running]    com.dtv.vgconnect.plist [Support]

    [loaded]    com.dtv.vgconnect.uninstall.plist [Support]

    [loaded]    com.google.keystone.agent.plist [Support]

    [running]    com.pia.pia_manager.plist [Support]

    [loaded]    org.virtualbox.vboxwebsrv.plist [Support]

 

User Login Items: ⓘ

    AirPort Base Station Agent    Application  (/System/Library/CoreServices/AirPort Base Station Agent.app)

    Microsoft AU Daemon    Application  (/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/MAU2.0/Microsoft AutoUpdate.app/Contents/MacOS/Microsoft AU Daemon.app)

    Belkin Router Monitor    Application Hidden (/Applications/Belkin/Belkin Router Monitor.app)

    uTorrent    Application Hidden (/Applications/uTorrent.app)

    InfiniteHD    Application Hidden (~/Library/Octoshape/InfiniteHD.app)

 

Other Apps: ⓘ

    [running]    com.adobe.bridge5.46752

    [running]    com.adobe.switchboard-2.0.146272

    [running]    com.affinegy.digidomenu.56032

    [running]    com.apple.xpc.launchd.oneshot.0x10000001.Google Chrome

    [running]    com.apple.xpc.launchd.oneshot.0x10000002.Microsoft Outlook

    [running]    com.apple.xpc.launchd.oneshot.0x10000006.Adobe Digital Editions

    [running]    com.apple.xpc.launchd.oneshot.0x1000000a.EtreCheck

    [running]    com.bittorrent.uTorrent.121632

    [running]    com.globaldelight.BoomDaemon

    [running]    com.microsoft.autoupdate.fba.16672

    [running]    com.microsoft.outlook.databasedaemon.83232

    [running]    com.octoshape.client.128992

    [failed]    tv.sage.SageTV

 

Internet Plug-ins: ⓘ

    DirectorShockwave: Version: 12.0.2r122 - SDK 10.6 [Support]

    Default Browser: Version: 601 - SDK 10.11

    Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: Version: 2.2.3.7  [Support]

    OfficeLiveBrowserPlugin: Version: 12.3.6 [Support]

    RealPlayer Plugin: Version: Unknown [Support]

    AdobeAAMDetect: Version: AdobeAAMDetect 1.0.0.0 - SDK 10.6 [Support]

    FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 19.0.0.245 - SDK 10.6 [Support]

    AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: Version: 11.0.14 - SDK 10.6 [Support]

    Silverlight: Version: 5.1.30514.0 - SDK 10.6 [Support]

    QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

    Flash Player: Version: 19.0.0.245 - SDK 10.6 Outdated! Update

    iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0

    SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.6.0 - SDK 10.6 [Support]

    AdobePDFViewer: Version: 11.0.14 - SDK 10.6 [Support]

    GarminGpsControl: Version: 2.5.2.0 Release [Support]

    WidevineMediaOptimizer: Version: 6.0.0.12757 - SDK 10.7 [Support]

    JavaAppletPlugin: Version: Java 8 Update 66 build 17 Check version

 

User internet Plug-ins: ⓘ

    fbplugin_1_0_3: Version: Unknown [Support]

    Move_Media_Player: Version: npmnqmp 071504000001 [Support]

    WebEx64: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.6 [Support]

    Picasa: Version: 1.0 [Support]

    OctoshapeWeb: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.8 [Support]

 

Safari Extensions: ⓘ

    Grammarly Spell Checker & Grammar Checker

 

Audio Plug-ins: ⓘ

    DVCPROHDAudio: Version: 1.3

 

3rd Party Preference Panes: ⓘ

    A 6|2m  [Support]

    Adobe Version Cue CS3  [Support]

    Adobe Version Cue CS4  [Support]

    Akamai NetSession Preferences  [Support]

    Flash Player  [Support]

    Flip4Mac WMV  [Support]

    GPGPreferences  [Support]

    Java  [Support]

    MacFUSE  [Support]

    Perian  [Support]

    SageTV Preferences  [Support]

 

Time Machine: ⓘ

    Skip System Files: NO

    Auto backup: YES

    Volumes being backed up:

        Macintosh HD: Disk size: 499.11 GB Disk used: 482.69 GB

    Destinations:

        Seagate Backup Plus Drive [Local]

        Total size: 999.86 GB

        Total number of backups: 5

        Oldest backup: 10/17/15, 2:05 PM

        Last backup: 1/11/16, 10:03 AM

        Size of backup disk: Too small

            Backup size 999.86 GB < (Disk used 482.69 GB X 3)

 

Top Processes by CPU: ⓘ

        10%    WindowServer

         4%    kernel_task

         1%    ruby(2)

         1%    iTunes

         0%    pia_tray

 

Top Processes by Memory: ⓘ

    502 MB    kernel_task

    487 MB    mdworker(31)

    229 MB    Google Chrome Helper(4)

    143 MB    mds_stores

    139 MB    Google Chrome

 

Virtual Memory Information: ⓘ

    55 MB    Free RAM

    3.95 GB    Used RAM (846 MB Cached)

    13 MB    Swap Used

 

Diagnostics Information: ⓘ

    Jan 20, 2016, 02:31:40 PM    Self test - passed

    Jan 19, 2016, 06:58:06 AM    ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Adobe Digital Editions_2016-01-19-065806_[redacted].crash

        /Applications/Adobe Digital Editions 3.0.app/Contents/MacOS/Adobe Digital Editions

 

MacBook Pro, iOS 9.2.1

Posted on Jan 20, 2016 2:33 PM

Close
bildo17

Q: Sluggish MBP

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by BobTheFisherman,

    BobTheFisherman BobTheFisherman Jan 20, 2016 2:49 PM in response to bildo17
    Level 6 (15,339 points)
    Jan 20, 2016 2:49 PM in response to bildo17

    To start:

    Your Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / : 499.11 GB (16.43 GB free) is full.

    You are using swap indicating RAM is being used to capacity. Force quit and do not auto start some programs.

    Remove uTorrent.

  • by K Shaffer,

    K Shaffer K Shaffer Jan 20, 2016 3:40 PM in response to BobTheFisherman
    Level 6 (14,350 points)
    Desktops
    Jan 20, 2016 3:40 PM in response to BobTheFisherman

    Also, later on after you've sorted out the overly full capacity issue of the internal hard drive,

    there is a possibility of upgrading the total RAM in chip memory to more than it has now...

    (To arrive at a total 6.0GB capacity, one slot would use a 4GB while the other, a 2GB chip.)

     

    According to http://mactracker.ca database, your MacBook Pro 17-inch model spec info:

     

    Introduced    February 2008

    Discontinued    October 2008

    Model Identifier    MacBookPro4,1

    Model Number    A1261

    EMC    2199

    Order Number    MB166LL/A

     

    Maximum Memory    6.0 GB (Actual) 4.0 GB (Apple)

    Memory Slots    2 - 200-pin PC2-5300 (667MHz) DDR2 SO-DIMM

     

    • MacBook Pro: How to remove or install memory - Apple Support

     

    The internal hard drive could be upgraded too, a larger capacity may be installed; and the

    old one inside there now could be put into an enclosure for archive; if not too old or worn.

     

    Hard Drive Interface    1.5 Gbps Serial ATA (SATA)

    Optical Drive Interface    Ultra ATA/100 (running at UATA/66)

     

    The HDD data transfer rate is rather slow, so the fastest spec SSD would not be a valid

    investment, but there are slower SSDs that would certainly speed up this aspect of use.

     

    This SSD is backward compatible to the slower HD interface specs of your MacBook/Pro:

    http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/internal_storage/SSD/Mercury_Electra_3G_Solid_Sta te

     

    See owc macsales.com for drive upgrade options and DIY video; some good instructions

    are also found in the iFixit.com mac repair guides with pictures and descriptions.

     

    Good luck & happy computing!

  • by OGELTHORPE,Helpful

    OGELTHORPE OGELTHORPE Jan 21, 2016 3:02 PM in response to bildo17
    Level 9 (52,323 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 21, 2016 3:02 PM in response to bildo17

    In addition to BobTheFisherman's advice, boot into the recovery partition and select Disk Utility from the 4 option menu.  Run Disk Utility>First Aid, Verify and Repair.

     

    Install a 4 GB RAM module (^ GB RAM is the maximum that your MBP will accept).  It should run El Capitan better and minimize swaps.  The best sources of Mac compatible RAM are OWC and Crucial.

     

    Replace the battery. OWC is a good source:

     

    http://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/BAP15MBP56RS/

     

    Ciao.

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Jan 20, 2016 5:11 PM in response to bildo17
    Level 10 (207,963 points)
    Applications
    Jan 20, 2016 5:11 PM in response to bildo17

    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 bildo17,

    bildo17 bildo17 Jan 21, 2016 3:07 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 21, 2016 3:07 PM in response to Linc Davis

    I deleted a slew of programs and freed up about 45 GB on the hard drive; i booted into the repair partition and ran First Aid on the HD.  I ran Etrecheck again and my performance went from "below average" to "poor".

     

    I thought my MBP's memory was capped at 4GB, otherwise, I would have upgraded already.  I will do that now, as well as getting a larger capacity HD.  I truly appreciate everyone who took the time to read the Etrecheck report and give me advice.  Thank you very much.  (and, yes, I deleted uTorrent).

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Jan 21, 2016 3:23 PM in response to bildo17
    Level 10 (207,963 points)
    Applications
    Jan 21, 2016 3:23 PM in response to bildo17

    Your comment is addressed to me. I didn't suggest that you run "etrecheck," nor did I read its output, because I have no use for it. There is not a shred of evidence here that upgrading memory would have any effect on the problem. It is likely that the hard drive is failing, but I question whether replacing it would be cost effective, as opposed to replacing the whole computer, which you'll have to do anyway before long.

  • by K Shaffer,

    K Shaffer K Shaffer Jan 21, 2016 3:26 PM in response to bildo17
    Level 6 (14,350 points)
    Desktops
    Jan 21, 2016 3:26 PM in response to bildo17

    A greater understanding or reason why the situation exists could be found in the report

    generated by using Linc Davis suggested method of obtaining one.

     

    Also, consider making a backup of the content to an external archive (in addition to

    Time Machine, but not in same drive) and then study the idea of upgrade to larger

    capacity storage hard drive, or faster SSD such as my link to macsales examples; or

    look into a later model computer that has these already.

     

    Good luck!

  • by etresoft,

    etresoft etresoft Jan 21, 2016 6:45 PM in response to bildo17
    Level 7 (29,198 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 21, 2016 6:45 PM in response to bildo17

    Hello bildo17,

    Recent versions of OS X really prefer to have an SSD. People who run them on older machines with only 4 GB RAM and an old mechanical hard disk generally get poor performance. When you deleted those files you may have triggered a reindex of your hard drive or something. With your machine, I expect you would get either "below average" or "poor" when running El Capitan.

     

    So, if you do want to upgrade your RAM, you should consider and SSD too. And since your 500 GB hard drive was almost full, you would need a big SSD. It might be time to consider a new machine.