Level 1

0 points

Slow Mac and pinwheel problem - 10.11.3

Right after the latest upgrade I did two or three days ago, to 10.11.3. on my MBP, early 2011, I have issues with Mac being slow, every click and type is followed by 10-20sec, sometimes more, of waiting the pinwheel to finish the 'beachballing'. Let alone having more apps running - which I have to do for the work I do for the moment.

I did a Disc utility repair, it fixed some partitioning problem, and it got better for an hour or so, but the problem came back.

Also had OnyX check the startup disc, fix permissions etc. - that also helped but for a little while.

During or after the upgrade the FileVault started encryption (it gets paused if not plugged in to power) and it's not finished yet. That's the only thing that happened at that time with which I can associate this slowing down problem; though I cannot say if it is related or causing the problem.

I wanted to do a back up to Time Machine, but knowing it will take ages and that it may be disrupted with this issue, I didn't do it yet.

I can hardly use the computer, and just hope I can see the replies here. I was surprised I managed to type a message here. I'll try installing EtreCheck, hope it will work, and send a report here.

Thank you in advance!

MacBook Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11.3)

Posted on Mar 10, 2016 4:13 AM

36 replies

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Mar 10, 2016 10:26 AM in response to t-hawks

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.

t-hawks Author

Level 1

0 points

Mar 10, 2016 11:24 AM in response to Linc Davis

I will copy the log below.

By the way, is there any way to revert the encryption? It is stuck on 25%, according to Terminal, and I can't do anything about it!

10/03/16 20:04:53,000 kernel[0]: CoreStorageGroup::completeIORequest - error 0xe00002ca detected for LVG "Macintosh HD" (4124BE23-455B-4F1D-A710-24599A87A29C), pv 49AA48BD-B26E-4AA7-8351-164348DEEF5A, near LV byte offset = 237351578624.

10/03/16 20:04:53,718 corestoraged[243]: 0x7fff7b958000 resumeBackgroundConversion: background conversion started/resumed for lv 8A2B4109-822D-4F3B-ABA0-818CFA996E91.

10/03/16 20:04:53,824 RunOuc[1697]: WARNING: The Gestalt selector gestaltSystemVersion is returning 10.9.3 instead of 10.11.3. This is not a bug in Gestalt -- it is a documented limitation. Use NSProcessInfo's operatingSystemVersion property to get correct system version number.

Call location:

10/03/16 20:04:53,824 RunOuc[1697]: 0 CarbonCore 0x92466913 ___Gestalt_SystemVersion_block_invoke + 135

10/03/16 20:04:53,824 RunOuc[1697]: 1 libdispatch.dylib 0x96e8263f dispatch_once_f + 78

10/03/16 20:04:53,824 RunOuc[1697]: 2 libdispatch.dylib 0x96e83ec9 dispatch_once + 31

10/03/16 20:04:53,824 RunOuc[1697]: 3 CarbonCore 0x923e2576 _Gestalt_SystemVersion + 1047

10/03/16 20:04:53,824 RunOuc[1697]: 4 CarbonCore 0x923e16a5 Gestalt + 154

10/03/16 20:04:53,824 RunOuc[1697]: 5 QtCore 0x00022d0b QtCore + 15627

10/03/16 20:04:53,824 RunOuc[1697]: 6 ??? 0x8fe87f47 0x0 + 2414378823

10/03/16 20:04:54,186 RunOuc[1703]: WARNING: The Gestalt selector gestaltSystemVersion is returning 10.9.3 instead of 10.11.3. This is not a bug in Gestalt -- it is a documented limitation. Use NSProcessInfo's operatingSystemVersion property to get correct system version number.

Call location:

10/03/16 20:04:54,187 RunOuc[1703]: 0 CarbonCore 0x92466913 ___Gestalt_SystemVersion_block_invoke + 135

10/03/16 20:04:54,187 RunOuc[1703]: 1 libdispatch.dylib 0x96e8263f dispatch_once_f + 78

10/03/16 20:04:54,187 RunOuc[1703]: 2 libdispatch.dylib 0x96e83ec9 dispatch_once + 31

10/03/16 20:04:54,187 RunOuc[1703]: 3 CarbonCore 0x923e2576 _Gestalt_SystemVersion + 1047

10/03/16 20:04:54,187 RunOuc[1703]: 4 CarbonCore 0x923e16a5 Gestalt + 154

10/03/16 20:04:54,187 RunOuc[1703]: 5 QtCore 0x00022d0b QtCore + 15627

10/03/16 20:04:54,187 RunOuc[1703]: 6 ??? 0x8fefcf47 0x0 + 2414858055

10/03/16 20:04:54,200 com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (ouc.plist) Service only ran for 0 seconds. Pushing respawn out by 10 seconds.

10/03/16 20:05:20,000 kernel[0]: CoreStorageGroup::completeIORequest - error 0xe00002ca detected for LVG "Macintosh HD" (4124BE23-455B-4F1D-A710-24599A87A29C), pv 49AA48BD-B26E-4AA7-8351-164348DEEF5A, near LV byte offset = 237350813696.

10/03/16 20:05:21,221 RunOuc[1708]: WARNING: The Gestalt selector gestaltSystemVersion is returning 10.9.3 instead of 10.11.3. This is not a bug in Gestalt -- it is a documented limitation. Use NSProcessInfo's operatingSystemVersion property to get correct system version number.

Call location:

BobHarris

Level 9

57,041 points

Mar 10, 2016 11:30 AM in response to t-hawks

System Preferences --> Security&Privacy --> FileVault says:

Encrypting.... (blue line 1/5 full)

Estimating time remaining....

Anything that can be done about this?

Wait for it to finish.

Once the entire disk is encrypted, it will not be doing any extra I/O.

t-hawks Author

Level 1

0 points

Mar 10, 2016 11:49 AM in response to BobHarris

According to Terminal - I checked the proces with: diskutil cs list, it is at 25% for hours now, and I don't remember if and how I paused it and why it's stuck, and what to do about it. I even tried with reverting the process in Terminal (found some instructions online), but I ran into things I don't understand well, and was afraid I make a mess...

To make the problem worse, I have a deadline in 3 days, and can hardly afford waiting for encryption to finish.

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Mar 17, 2016 9:13 AM in response to t-hawks

The startup drive is failing, or there is some other internal hardware fault. Everything else is irrelevant.

Back up all data on the drive immediately if you don't already have a current backup. There are ways to back up a computer that isn't fully functional—ask if you need guidance.

Make a "Genius" appointment at an Apple Store, or go to another authorized service provider.

If privacy is a concern, erase the data partition(s) with the option to write zeros* (do this only if you have at least two complete, independent backups, and you know how to restore to an empty drive from any of them.) Don’t erase the recovery partition, if present.

Keeping your confidential data secure during hardware repair

Apple also recommends that you deauthorize a device in the iTunes Store before having it serviced.

*An SSD doesn't need to be zeroed.

t-hawks Author

Level 1

0 points

Mar 10, 2016 12:45 PM in response to Linc Davis

Thanks Linc Davis, but if it's of any relevance, I tested the startup disc with OnyX and it seems fine.

Since everything takes so long, doing backup now seems impossible, so I'd rather focus on fixing the darn encryption issue since there is a temporal overlap of new security upgrade and the slow down problem.

It doesn't even say it's paused, but can't estimate time remaining and it is stuck....

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Mar 10, 2016 12:50 PM in response to t-hawks

I tested the startup disc with OnyX

No, that wasn't a test of the startup disk, and "Onyx," like all such products, is at best useless. The encryption will never finish because the drive is malfunctioning. Good luck.

t-hawks Author

Level 1

0 points

Mar 10, 2016 12:59 PM in response to Linc Davis

If that is the case, what I don't understand is how did it work fine before the latest upgrade and before the encryption (I regret so much for saying YES to this)?

This said, I don't even what it to finish encryption but stop it, resume and go back to the state where I could use the laptop. Even if the drive is mulfunctioning, if it can get back to how it was before this, so I can get the work done and meet the next week deadline even if the computer dies afterwards.

Anyone has an idea how to stop this?

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Mar 10, 2016 1:43 PM in response to t-hawks

If you don't have time to get the machine fixed now, I suggest that you install OS X on an external drive and migrate your data to it in Migration Assistant. If the migration succeeds, you may then be able to keep working without using the internal drive.

t-hawks Author

Level 1

0 points

Mar 10, 2016 2:31 PM in response to Linc Davis

Any help on how to do that would be great.

In any case, can you explain why this happened with the latest upgrade? Was there a problem with startup/internal hardware before, but went unnoticed? Or this darn encryption had something to do with it? Is there any other way I can check this? Can I do Hardware test?

Sorry for too many inquiries on this, but I can't get my mind around this one.

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Mar 10, 2016 3:07 PM in response to t-hawks

An OS upgrade and FileVault activation are two of the events most likely to trigger a drive failure, because of the sudden burst of write activity. The drive runs out of spare blocks to swap in for bad ones.

How to install OS X on an external drive connected to your Mac - Apple Support

Move your content to a new Mac - Apple Support

t-hawks Author

Level 1

0 points

Mar 10, 2016 3:36 PM in response to Linc Davis

Upgrade results in drive failure?? Well, thank you Apple for the warning! What on earth is a customer supposed to do when this happens?

Thanks for the links.

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Mar 10, 2016 3:38 PM in response to t-hawks

A drive can fail at any time. All drives fail eventually, usually with no warning.

t-hawks Author

Level 1

0 points

Mar 11, 2016 3:12 AM in response to Linc Davis

Unfortunately, with the way it was working it was not possible not only to migrate the data, but do a back up before that. And now things are getting worse, it is veeeeery slow to start up today, it took almost 20mins for the loading bar to fill and then it's stuck there.

Anything that can be done in Recovery mode, as a first aid and save some data? Or take it to the apple service?

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Mar 11, 2016 7:57 AM in response to t-hawks

There are several ways to back up a Mac that is not fully functional. You need an external hard drive or other storage device to hold the data.

1. Start up from the Recovery partition, from Internet Recovery, or from a local Time Machine backup volume (option key at startup.) Launch Disk Utility and follow the instructions in this support article, under “Instructions for backing up to an external hard disk via Disk Utility.” The article refers to starting up from a DVD, but the procedure in Recovery mode is the same. You don't need a DVD if you're running OS X 10.7 or later.

If you use FileVault 2, then you must first unlock the startup volume. Select its icon ("Macintosh HD," unless you gave it a different name.) It will be nested below another disk icon, usually with the same name. Select Unlock from the File menu. Enter your login password when prompted.

2. If Method 1 fails because of disk errors, then you may be able to salvage some of your files by copying them in the Finder. If you already have an external drive with OS X installed, start up from it. Otherwise, if you have Internet access, follow the instructions on this page to prepare the external drive and install OS X on it. You'll use the Recovery installer, rather than downloading it from the App Store.

3. If you have access to a working Mac, and both it and the non-working Mac have FireWire or Thunderbolt ports, start the non-working Mac in target disk mode. If one Mac has Thunderbolt and the other has FireWire, you need a FireWire cable and an adapter. A Retina MacBook (2015 or later model) with a USB-C port can also be started in target disk mode and connected to another Mac using a USB cable and another adapter.

Use the working Mac to copy the data to another drive.

This technique won't work with USB (except on a Retina MacBook), Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth. Note that a Retina MacBook Pro (with Thunderbolt) is different from a Retina MacBook, and it can't be connected to another Mac via USB in target disk mode.

4. If the internal drive of the non-working Mac is user-replaceable, remove it and mount it in an external enclosure or drive dock. Use another Mac to copy the data.

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

Slow Mac and pinwheel problem - 10.11.3