t-hawks
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: 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

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t-hawks

Q: Slow Mac and pinwheel problem - 10.11.3

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  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Mar 11, 2016 7:57 AM in response to t-hawks
    Level 10 (207,963 points)
    Applications
    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.

  • by t-hawks,

    t-hawks t-hawks Mar 11, 2016 9:54 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 11, 2016 9:54 AM in response to Linc Davis

    Tried Recovery mode - after seeing the apple on the screen, the Stop sign (no access) appears. No boot drive, right? And yesterday that was working fine.

    Then did the Internet recovery mode - triangle stop sign there too, ''2002F''

     

    I don't have an external drive with OS X installed, I can try doing that now, if it's of any help at this point.

    I also have a Time Machine that backed up 2.5 months ago, before the El Capitan upgrade. Could that help?

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Mar 11, 2016 12:06 PM in response to t-hawks
    Level 10 (207,963 points)
    Applications
    Mar 11, 2016 12:06 PM in response to t-hawks

    It doesn't sound like you can back up. You'll have to take it in for service without doing that.

  • by t-hawks,

    t-hawks t-hawks Mar 11, 2016 12:48 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 11, 2016 12:48 PM in response to Linc Davis

    At least I have the most important data from there backed up somewhere. And a pretty good reason for not meeting the deadline.

    Thanks, and I'll post here after I come back from the service.

  • by t-hawks,

    t-hawks t-hawks Mar 17, 2016 9:15 AM in response to t-hawks
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 17, 2016 9:15 AM in response to t-hawks

    Hard disc was dead, had it repaired. Thanks for the help.

  • by glenisfromfort lauderdale,

    glenisfromfort lauderdale glenisfromfort lauderdale Mar 17, 2016 2:27 PM in response to t-hawks
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 17, 2016 2:27 PM in response to t-hawks

    I have the same problem, after installing El Capitan OS 10.11.13 my computer is extremely slow, I hear a hard disk noise and get the beach bowl and several programs ( mail, numbers, pages, etc stop responding) I just used Time machine to back up and run the Egret diagnostic. Here is the result. Can someone help me?

     

    EtreCheck version: 2.9.10 (261)

    Report generated 2016-03-17 17:22:17

    Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

    Runtime 2:47

    Performance: Excellent

     

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

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

    Click the [Remove] links to remove adware.

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

     

    Problem: Beachballing

    Description:

    after installing El Capitan OS 10.11.13 my computer is very slow, beach balling. I just backed all the data using Time machine. Do I need to erase the disk and re-install El capitan?

     

    Hardware Information: ⓘ

        iMac (27-inch, Mid 2011)

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

        iMac - model: iMac12,2

        1 3.4 GHz Intel Core i7 CPU: 4-core

        8 GB RAM Upgradeable - [Instructions]

            BANK 0/DIMM0

                4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

            BANK 1/DIMM0

                4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

            BANK 0/DIMM1

                Empty  

            BANK 1/DIMM1

                Empty  

        Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported

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

     

    Video Information: ⓘ

        AMD Radeon HD 6970M - VRAM: 2048 MB

            iMac 2560 x 1440

     

    System Software: ⓘ

        OS X El Capitan 10.11.3 (15D21) - Time since boot: less than an hour

     

    Disk Information: ⓘ

        Hitachi HDS722020ALA330 disk0 : (2 TB) (Rotational)

            EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

            Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / : 2.00 TB (689.35 GB free)

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

     

        HL-DT-STDVDRW  GA32N   ()

     

    USB Information: ⓘ

        Brother HL-5250DN

        Seagate Backup+ Desk 4 TB

            EFI (disk1s1) <not mounted> : 315 MB

            Seagate 4T (disk1s2) /Volumes/Seagate 4T : 4.00 TB (2.71 TB free)

        Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

        Apple Card Reader

        Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

        Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

            Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

     

    Firewire Information: ⓘ

        Apogee Electronics Duet 400mbit - 400mbit max

     

    Thunderbolt Information: ⓘ

        Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

     

    Gatekeeper: ⓘ

        Mac App Store and identified developers

     

    Adware: ⓘ

        /Library/Application Support/Conduit

        /Library/InputManagers/CTLoader


  • by BobHarris,

    BobHarris BobHarris Mar 17, 2016 5:54 PM in response to glenisfromfort lauderdale
    Level 6 (19,410 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 17, 2016 5:54 PM in response to glenisfromfort lauderdale

    A) this thread is getting too long, and you should start you own "New" thread (see the "New" button at the top of this page).

     

    B) you did not post all of the EtreCheck output.  You stopped just when it started to get interesting.

     

    C) Beachballing is too generic a term that can be caused by way too may different things, so starting your own new thread means you will not get caught in cross communications.  All the discussion will focused on you, and not on someone else's problem.

     

    D) you say you have the same problem.  But t-hawks found it was a dead disk.  Do you really think you have a failing/dead disk?  From what little I could see of your EtreCheck output, it is not showing disk errors in the report.  So my guess is you have a totally different problem, that justifies your own new thread.

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