Alfredo Jahn

Q: Intermittent slowness; should I wipe and re-install from scratch?

I realize this is a loaded question... I have a 2013 iMac that I purchased as a referb from Apple a little less than a year ago. Right from the start I had a lot of performance issues. I finally took it to an Apple authorized service place (they have worked on many of my other macs in the past). They discovered a bad internal drive and replaced it. Compared to the original performance issues, it seemed much better (for a time).

 

Within weeks, I was seeing a lot of intermittent slowdowns (lots of spinning beach balls). I took it back to them and the "cleaned it up" and without asking, upgraded me from Yosemite to El Capitan. I was a bit miffed by that move, but in retrospect, I'm glad I upgraded (because I hate upgrading -- if it ain't broke, don't fix it).

 

Fast forward a few months. Things are still sluggish. Generally when starting up apps. Once things are up an running, they seem ok. But after waking up the machine, it can take a while for things to settle down. Lots and lots of spinning beach balls. Very frustrating to say the least, and worse of all, it's my wife's main computer and I'm getting tired of all the complaints... "What is going on?" "Why is the mouse not scrolling?" "What is taking so long?"

 

A little history that might shed some light... I was happily running Snow Leopard on an iMac for many years. One day it wouldn't display (but appeared to be booting up). Since the thing was out of warranty, I decided to take the plunge and get a new iMac. It came with Yosemite. I was told that I could transfer all my stuff using a firewire cable connected between the 2 macs. I did that. I ended up with a lot of broken apps, which I deleted.

 

My question is, could my problems be related to a bunch of old junk on the new mac? I hate to reinstall everything again, but I'm starting to wonder if that would be the best solution. Wipe the hard drive, install the OS, do all the upgrades, then create my user accounts (my wife and kid and me), then manually reinstall all the apps (that I still need).  Luckily, I have a macbook pro that I use, so the iMac is less important to me these days. All my data is on external drives and I have a ton of backups. I was thinking of using Carbon Copy Cloner to clone the internal, so I could still book off the clone if I need to.

 

Any thoughts?  I know this is a long winded post, but I feel better getting it all off my chest.

 

Thanks

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11.5), 8GB RAM, 1TB HD

Posted on May 24, 2016 6:29 AM

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Q: Intermittent slowness; should I wipe and re-install from scratch?

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  • Helpful answers

  • by JimmyCMPIT,

    JimmyCMPIT JimmyCMPIT May 24, 2016 6:43 AM in response to Alfredo Jahn
    Level 6 (8,035 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 24, 2016 6:43 AM in response to Alfredo Jahn

    please post an etrecheck report in this thread for further analysis of your system.

    http://etrecheck.com

    Etrecheck is a reporting tool, it does not correct any issues, or provide any personal information and it's the preferred method of providing information about your system to the majority of volunteers here who can offer to help you.

  • by Alfredo Jahn,

    Alfredo Jahn Alfredo Jahn May 24, 2016 6:47 AM in response to JimmyCMPIT
    Level 3 (844 points)
    Desktops
    May 24, 2016 6:47 AM in response to JimmyCMPIT

    JimmyCMPIT wrote:

     

    please post an etrecheck report in this thread for further analysis of your system.

    http://etrecheck.com

    I'll run it tonight and post. I just upgraded and rebooted so it may look clean. But I'll post it anyway.

    Thanks

  • by Alfredo Jahn,

    Alfredo Jahn Alfredo Jahn May 24, 2016 7:23 PM in response to Alfredo Jahn
    Level 3 (844 points)
    Desktops
    May 24, 2016 7:23 PM in response to Alfredo Jahn

    EtreCheck version: 2.9.12 (265)

    Report generated 2016-05-24 21:20:19

    Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

    Runtime 2:36

    Performance: Excellent

     

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

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

     

    Problem: Beachballing

    Description:

    Often getting beach balls.

     

    Hardware Information:

        iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2013)

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

        iMac - model: iMac14,1

        1 2.7 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 4-core

        8 GB RAM Upgradeable - [Instructions]

            BANK 0/DIMM0

                4 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

            BANK 1/DIMM0

                4 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

        Bluetooth: Good - Handoff/Airdrop2 supported

        Wireless: Unknown

    Video Information:

        Intel Iris Pro

            iMac 1920 x 1080

     

    System Software:

        OS X El Capitan 10.11.5 (15F34) - Time since boot: about one day

     

    Disk Information:

        APPLE HDD HTS541010A9E662 disk0 : (1 TB) (Rotational)

            EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

            Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / : 999.21 GB (400.96 GB free)

            Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted>  [Recovery]: 784 MB

     

    USB Information:

        Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub

            Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

        Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

        Apple Inc. MacBook Air SuperDrive

        GenesysLogic USB2.0 Hub

     

    Firewire Information:

        OWC Mercury Elite Pro Quad USB 3 800mbit - 800mbit max

            EFI (disk2s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

            TM Backup (disk2s2) /Volumes/TM Backup : 3.00 TB (1.24 TB free)

            Media (disk2s3) /Volumes/Media : 999.52 GB (350.27 GB free)

        OWC Mercury Elite Pro Quad USB 3 800mbit - 800mbit max

            EFI (disk1s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

            OWC FW 2TB (disk1s2) /Volumes/OWC FW 2TB : 1.50 TB (725.96 GB free)

            SG_Data (disk1s3) /Volumes/SG_Data : 501.72 GB (122.28 GB free)

     

    Thunderbolt Information:

        Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

            Apple Inc. Thunderbolt to FireWire Adapter

     

    Gatekeeper:

        Mac App Store and identified developers

     

    Kernel Extensions:

            /Applications/Transmit.app

        [not loaded]    com.panic.TransmitDisk.transmitdiskfs (4.0.0 - SDK 10.6 - 2016-01-13) [Support]

     

            /Library/Application Support/VirtualBox

        [not loaded]    org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxDrv (4.3.4 - 2016-01-13) [Support]

        [not loaded]    org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetAdp (4.3.4 - 2016-01-13) [Support]

        [not loaded]    org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetFlt (4.3.4 - 2016-01-13) [Support]

        [not loaded]    org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxUSB (4.3.4 - 2016-01-13) [Support]

     

            /System/Library/Extensions

        [not loaded]    com.Cycling74.driver.Soundflower (1.5.1 - 2016-05-23) [Support]

        [not loaded]    com.rogueamoeba.InstantOn (6.0.0 - SDK 10.6 - 2016-05-23) [Support]

     

            /System/Library/Extensions/InstantOn.kext/Contents/PlugIns

        [not loaded]    com.rogueamoeba.InstantOnCore (6.0.0 - SDK 10.6 - 2012-06-25) [Support]

     

            ~/Applications/TemperatureMonitor.app

        [not loaded]    com.bresink.driver.BRESINKx86Monitoring (9.0 - 2016-01-13) [Support]

     

    System Launch Agents:

        [not loaded]    7 Apple tasks

        [loaded]    156 Apple tasks

        [running]    75 Apple tasks

     

    System Launch Daemons:

        [not loaded]    44 Apple tasks

        [loaded]    149 Apple tasks

        [running]    97 Apple tasks

     

    Launch Agents:

        [not loaded]    com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist (2015-07-09) [Support]

        [loaded]    com.google.keystone.agent.plist (2016-03-02) [Support]

        [loaded]    com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist (2016-01-13) [Support]

     

    Launch Daemons:

        [failed]    com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (2016-04-15) [Support]

        [loaded]    com.adobe.versioncueCS3.plist (2010-11-23) [Support]

        [loaded]    com.apple.aelwriter.plist

        [loaded]    com.bombich.ccchelper.plist (2016-02-17) [Support]

        [running]    com.crashplan.engine.plist (2016-05-17) [Support]

        [loaded]    com.google.keystone.daemon.plist (2016-03-02) [Support]

        [loaded]    com.malwarebytes.MBAMHelperTool.plist (2016-01-11) [Support]

        [loaded]    com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist (2012-04-02) [Support]

        [loaded]    com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist (2016-01-13) [Support]

        [running]    com.timesoftware.timemachineeditor.backup-auto.plist (2016-02-13) [Support]

        [loaded]    com.timesoftware.timemachineeditor.helper.plist (2016-02-13) [Support]

        [not loaded]    org.virtualbox.startup.plist (2016-01-13) [Support]

     

    User Launch Agents:

        [loaded]    com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist (2013-09-01) [Support]

        [failed]    com.amazon.cloud-player.plist (2013-11-07) [Support]

        [running]    com.c-command.SpamSieve.LaunchAgent.plist (2016-05-21) [Support]

        [loaded]    com.digitalrebellion.PreferenceManagerAutoSave.plist (2012-01-30) [Support]

        [loaded]    com.digitalrebellion.SoftwareUpdateAutoCheck.plist (2012-01-30) [Support]

        [running]    com.spotify.webhelper.plist (2016-02-23) [Support]

        [loaded]    com.valvesoftware.steamclean.plist (2016-02-27) [Support]

        [not loaded]    org.virtualbox.vboxwebsrv.plist (2013-12-13) [Support]

        [running]    ws.agile.1PasswordAgent.plist (2014-10-20) [Support]

     

    User Login Items:

        Dropbox    Application  (/Applications/Dropbox.app)

        CrashPlan menu bar    Application  (/Applications/CrashPlan.app/Contents/Helpers/CrashPlan menu bar.app)

     

    Other Apps:

        [running]    com.code42.b42menuextra.135392

        [running]    com.etresoft.EtreCheck.157472

        [running]    com.getdropbox.dropbox.20832

        [loaded]    421 Apple tasks

        [running]    190 Apple tasks

     

    Internet Plug-ins:

        MeetingJoinPlugin: Unknown - SDK 10.6 (2016-01-13) [Support]

        Default Browser: 601 - SDK 10.11 (2016-05-23)

        AmazonMP3DownloaderPlugin101750: AmazonMP3DownloaderPlugin 1.0.17 - SDK 10.4 (2016-01-13) [Support]

        net.juniper.DSSafariExtensions: Unknown (2015-08-30) [Support]

        AdobeAAMDetect: AdobeAAMDetect 1.0.0.0 - SDK 10.6 (2016-01-13) [Support]

        FlashPlayer-10.6: 21.0.0.226 - SDK 10.6 (2016-04-22) [Support]

        AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: 11.0.03 - SDK 10.6 (2013-08-23) [Support]

        Silverlight: 5.1.20125.0 - SDK 10.6 (2016-01-13) [Support]

        QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (2016-05-23)

        Flash Player: 21.0.0.226 - SDK 10.6 (2016-04-22) Outdated! Update

        iPhotoPhotocast: 7.0 - SDK 10.7 (2016-01-13)

        SharePointBrowserPlugin: 14.3.9 - SDK 10.6 (2013-12-13) [Support]

        AdobePDFViewer: 8.0.0 (2013-09-01) [Support]

        JavaAppletPlugin: Java 7 Update 80 (2016-01-13) Check version

     

    Safari Extensions:

        1Password - AgileBits - http://agilebits.com/onepassword (2013-12-18)

     

    Audio Plug-ins:

        DVCPROHDAudio: 1.3 (2007-04-20)

     

    3rd Party Preference Panes:

        Flash Player (2016-04-15) [Support]

        Growl (2009-10-28) [Support]

        Java (2015-04-10) [Support]

     

    Time Machine:

        Skip System Files: NO

        Mobile backups: OFF

        Auto backup: NO - Auto backup turned off

        Volumes being backed up:

            OWC FW 2TB: Disk size: 1.50 TB Disk used: 772.23 GB

            SG_Data: Disk size: 501.72 GB Disk used: 379.44 GB

            Macintosh HD: Disk size: 999.21 GB Disk used: 598.25 GB

        Destinations:

            TM Backup [Local]

            Total size: 3.00 TB

            Total number of backups: 77

            Oldest backup: 7/1/15, 4:07 PM

            Last backup: 5/24/16, 7:33 PM

            Size of backup disk: Too small

                Backup size 3.00 TB < (Disk used 1.75 TB X 3)

     

    Top Processes by CPU:

             2%    WindowServer

             1%    kernel_task

             1%    fontd(2)

             1%    SystemUIServer(2)

             0%    notifyd

     

    Top Processes by Memory:

        1.09 GB    Google Chrome Helper(7)

        791 MB    kernel_task

        778 MB    CrashPlanService

        451 MB    softwareupdated

        303 MB    Dropbox(2)

     

    Virtual Memory Information:

        77 MB    Free RAM

        7.92 GB    Used RAM (1.44 GB Cached)

        512 KB    Swap Used

     

    Diagnostics Information:

        May 24, 2016, 12:34:21 AM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/CrashPlanService_2016-05-24-003421_[redacted].c pu_resource.diag [Details]

            /Applications/CrashPlan.app/Contents/MacOS/CrashPlanService

        May 23, 2016, 11:25:54 PM    Self test - passed

     

  • by Alfredo Jahn,

    Alfredo Jahn Alfredo Jahn May 25, 2016 6:27 AM in response to Alfredo Jahn
    Level 3 (844 points)
    Desktops
    May 25, 2016 6:27 AM in response to Alfredo Jahn

    JimmyCMPIT -

     

    Like I said, after rebooting, things are pretty responsive, as you can see by the EtreCheck results above. It shows "Excellent". I did notice that free RAM was only at 77MB. Wow! What the heck?  I did uninstall Growl, although I had it disabled. I also see a lot of memory usage by Chrome. Disappointing, since it is my favorite browser and I use it everywhere (and all my bookmarks are synced). I may ask my wife to start using Safari... She's not a die hard Chrome lover, and like I said, I generally use my macbook pro and there are no issues whatsoever there (using Mavericks). Fast as lightning.

     

    I am using CrashPlan. I wonder if there are some performance issues with that. I did change it to only backup my user data, so it wasn't constantly running to backup email and other system level (Library) files.\

     

    I guess I can let the thing run for a while and if I notice a big slowdown, run another EtreCheck. Even when it is running fast, I do get the occasional spinning beachball. I NEVER see them on my macbook. Maybe the SSD has a lot to do with that.\

     

    I would consider wiping the drive and reinstalling everything if it would fix my problems. A lot of work and hassle, but doable. There are a ton of things I no longer need on that system.

     

    Do you have any other suggestions?

     

    Thanks

  • by JimmyCMPIT,Helpful

    JimmyCMPIT JimmyCMPIT May 25, 2016 9:45 AM in response to Alfredo Jahn
    Level 6 (8,035 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 25, 2016 9:45 AM in response to Alfredo Jahn

    your running crash plan, spotify, dropbox, something called digital rebellion preference manager, SoftwareUpdateAutoCheck

    this is a tremendous amount of internet overhead. While your system might be squeaky clean and running like a champ you may have a serious bottleneck from all this Up/Down transmissions.

    I would get rid of Chrome or limit it, it used to be my favorite on mac, I've found Safari to be utterly superior which a year ago you would never hear me say that. Chrome has too much overhead, it's sending a $#!+ton of data back to google so they could clone you without DNA at this point, but I'd also look into removing the other stuff I noticed in the first sentence, at least to test response.

    also CS3 version cue, unless you are collaborating with other CS3 artists on projects get rid of it, it chattier than AppleTalk.

     

    boot into safe mode and see if the system is more responsive

    Try safe mode if your Mac doesn't finish starting up - Apple Support

  • by Alfredo Jahn,

    Alfredo Jahn Alfredo Jahn May 25, 2016 9:28 AM in response to JimmyCMPIT
    Level 3 (844 points)
    Desktops
    May 25, 2016 9:28 AM in response to JimmyCMPIT

    I'm a little confused about a few things... Yes, I have spotify on my machine, but I am not actually running it. Is there a background task always running? Dropbox, I kind of need. Store my 1Password vault there. Not sure what digital rebellion pref manager is. I'll google it. Also not sure what SoftwareUpdateAutoCheck is. I will try and get rid of those last two.

     

    I think I can convince my wife and kid to use Safari, I can too when I do log in there. I may also clean up my huge spam folder in my email.

     

    I don't want CS3 version cue. Need to figure out how to get rid of that. I only use PhotoShop once in a great while.

     

    Can I do everything in save mode? Have all my users, etc?

     

    thanks

  • by JimmyCMPIT,Helpful

    JimmyCMPIT JimmyCMPIT May 25, 2016 9:45 AM in response to Alfredo Jahn
    Level 6 (8,035 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 25, 2016 9:45 AM in response to Alfredo Jahn

    Yes, this can be done in safe mode

     

    go to

    >System Preferences>User & Groups

    unlock the panel with an administrative user and password

    go to your user account

    select the login items tab

    remove the applications from the list you do not want to start up with your computer

    go to the other accounts, do the same

     

    go to

    Macintosh HD/Library/StartupItems

    remove the applications from the list you do not want to start up with your computer

  • by Alfredo Jahn,

    Alfredo Jahn Alfredo Jahn May 25, 2016 3:33 PM in response to JimmyCMPIT
    Level 3 (844 points)
    Desktops
    May 25, 2016 3:33 PM in response to JimmyCMPIT

    I see nothing in my /Library/StartupItems

    Screen Shot 2016-05-25 at 5.07.54 PM.png

    Looking in my login items, I only see dropbox and crashplan. Where do I find CS3 version cue? Or the others? digital rebellion and software update auto check?

     

    Thanks

  • by Alfredo Jahn,

    Alfredo Jahn Alfredo Jahn May 25, 2016 5:47 PM in response to Alfredo Jahn
    Level 3 (844 points)
    Desktops
    May 25, 2016 5:47 PM in response to Alfredo Jahn

    After running for a day...

     

    EtreCheck version: 2.9.12 (265)

    Report generated 2016-05-25 19:39:47

    Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

    Runtime 3:01

    Performance: Good

     

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

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

     

    Problem: No problem - just checking

    Description:

    Checking

     

    Hardware Information:

        iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2013)

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

        iMac - model: iMac14,1

        1 2.7 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 4-core

        8 GB RAM Upgradeable - [Instructions]

            BANK 0/DIMM0

                4 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

            BANK 1/DIMM0

                4 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

        Bluetooth: Good - Handoff/Airdrop2 supported

        Wireless: Unknown

    Video Information:

        Intel Iris Pro

            iMac 1920 x 1080

     

    System Software:

        OS X El Capitan 10.11.5 (15F34) - Time since boot: about 2 days

     

    Disk Information:

        APPLE HDD HTS541010A9E662 disk0 : (1 TB) (Rotational)

            EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

            Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / : 999.21 GB (401.19 GB free)

            Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted>  [Recovery]: 784 MB

     

    USB Information:

        Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub

            Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

        Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

        Apple Inc. MacBook Air SuperDrive

        GenesysLogic USB2.0 Hub

     

    Firewire Information:

        OWC Mercury Elite Pro Quad USB 3 800mbit - 800mbit max

            EFI (disk2s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

            TM Backup (disk2s2) /Volumes/TM Backup : 3.00 TB (1.24 TB free)

            Media (disk2s3) /Volumes/Media : 999.52 GB (350.16 GB free)

        OWC Mercury Elite Pro Quad USB 3 800mbit - 800mbit max

            EFI (disk1s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

            OWC FW 2TB (disk1s2) /Volumes/OWC FW 2TB : 1.50 TB (725.96 GB free)

            SG_Data (disk1s3) /Volumes/SG_Data : 501.72 GB (122.28 GB free)

     

    Thunderbolt Information:

        Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

            Apple Inc. Thunderbolt to FireWire Adapter

     

    Gatekeeper:

        Mac App Store and identified developers

     

    Kernel Extensions:

            /Applications/Transmit.app

        [not loaded]    com.panic.TransmitDisk.transmitdiskfs (4.0.0 - SDK 10.6 - 2016-01-13) [Support]

     

            /Library/Application Support/VirtualBox

        [not loaded]    org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxDrv (4.3.4 - 2016-01-13) [Support]

        [not loaded]    org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetAdp (4.3.4 - 2016-01-13) [Support]

        [not loaded]    org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetFlt (4.3.4 - 2016-01-13) [Support]

        [not loaded]    org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxUSB (4.3.4 - 2016-01-13) [Support]

     

            /System/Library/Extensions

        [not loaded]    com.Cycling74.driver.Soundflower (1.5.1 - 2016-05-23) [Support]

        [not loaded]    com.rogueamoeba.InstantOn (6.0.0 - SDK 10.6 - 2016-05-23) [Support]

     

            /System/Library/Extensions/InstantOn.kext/Contents/PlugIns

        [not loaded]    com.rogueamoeba.InstantOnCore (6.0.0 - SDK 10.6 - 2012-06-25) [Support]

     

            ~/Applications/TemperatureMonitor.app

        [not loaded]    com.bresink.driver.BRESINKx86Monitoring (9.0 - 2016-01-13) [Support]

     

    System Launch Agents:

        [failed]    com.apple.softwareupdate_notify_agent.plist

        [not loaded]    7 Apple tasks

        [loaded]    146 Apple tasks

        [running]    81 Apple tasks

        [killed]    3 Apple tasks

        3 processes killed due to insufficient RAM

     

    System Launch Daemons:

        [not loaded]    44 Apple tasks

        [loaded]    147 Apple tasks

        [running]    94 Apple tasks

        [killed]    5 Apple tasks

        5 processes killed due to insufficient RAM

     

    Launch Agents:

        [not loaded]    com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist (2015-07-09) [Support]

        [loaded]    com.google.keystone.agent.plist (2016-03-02) [Support]

        [loaded]    com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist (2016-01-13) [Support]

     

    Launch Daemons:

        [failed]    com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (2016-04-15) [Support]

        [loaded]    com.adobe.versioncueCS3.plist (2010-11-23) [Support]

        [loaded]    com.apple.aelwriter.plist

        [loaded]    com.bombich.ccchelper.plist (2016-02-17) [Support]

        [running]    com.crashplan.engine.plist (2016-05-17) [Support]

        [loaded]    com.google.keystone.daemon.plist (2016-03-02) [Support]

        [loaded]    com.malwarebytes.MBAMHelperTool.plist (2016-01-11) [Support]

        [loaded]    com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist (2012-04-02) [Support]

        [loaded]    com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist (2016-01-13) [Support]

        [running]    com.timesoftware.timemachineeditor.backup-auto.plist (2016-02-13) [Support]

        [loaded]    com.timesoftware.timemachineeditor.helper.plist (2016-02-13) [Support]

        [not loaded]    org.virtualbox.startup.plist (2016-01-13) [Support]

     

    User Launch Agents:

        [loaded]    com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist (2013-09-01) [Support]

        [failed]    com.amazon.cloud-player.plist (2013-11-07) [Support]

        [running]    com.c-command.SpamSieve.LaunchAgent.plist (2016-05-21) [Support]

        [loaded]    com.digitalrebellion.PreferenceManagerAutoSave.plist (2012-01-30) [Support]

        [loaded]    com.digitalrebellion.SoftwareUpdateAutoCheck.plist (2012-01-30) [Support]

        [running]    com.spotify.webhelper.plist (2016-02-23) [Support]

        [loaded]    com.valvesoftware.steamclean.plist (2016-02-27) [Support]

        [not loaded]    org.virtualbox.vboxwebsrv.plist (2013-12-13) [Support]

        [not loaded]    ws.agile.1PasswordAgent.plist (2014-10-20) [Support]

     

    User Login Items:

        Dropbox    Application  (/Applications/Dropbox.app)

        CrashPlan menu bar    Application  (/Applications/CrashPlan.app/Contents/Helpers/CrashPlan menu bar.app)

     

    Other Apps:

        [running]    2BUA8C4S2C.com.agilebits.onepassword4-helper

        [running]    com.code42.b42menuextra.135392

        [running]    com.etresoft.EtreCheck.157472

        [running]    com.getdropbox.dropbox.20832

        [loaded]    401 Apple tasks

        [running]    212 Apple tasks

        [killed]    6 Apple tasks

     

    Internet Plug-ins:

        MeetingJoinPlugin: Unknown - SDK 10.6 (2016-01-13) [Support]

        Default Browser: 601 - SDK 10.11 (2016-05-23)

        AmazonMP3DownloaderPlugin101750: AmazonMP3DownloaderPlugin 1.0.17 - SDK 10.4 (2016-01-13) [Support]

        net.juniper.DSSafariExtensions: Unknown (2015-08-30) [Support]

        AdobeAAMDetect: AdobeAAMDetect 1.0.0.0 - SDK 10.6 (2016-01-13) [Support]

        FlashPlayer-10.6: 21.0.0.226 - SDK 10.6 (2016-04-22) [Support]

        AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: 11.0.03 - SDK 10.6 (2013-08-23) [Support]

        Silverlight: 5.1.20125.0 - SDK 10.6 (2016-01-13) [Support]

        QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (2016-05-23)

        Flash Player: 21.0.0.226 - SDK 10.6 (2016-04-22) Outdated! Update

        iPhotoPhotocast: 7.0 - SDK 10.7 (2016-01-13)

        SharePointBrowserPlugin: 14.3.9 - SDK 10.6 (2013-12-13) [Support]

        AdobePDFViewer: 8.0.0 (2013-09-01) [Support]

        JavaAppletPlugin: Java 7 Update 80 (2016-01-13) Check version

     

    Safari Extensions:

        1Password - AgileBits - http://agilebits.com/onepassword (2013-12-18)

     

    Audio Plug-ins:

        DVCPROHDAudio: 1.3 (2007-04-20)

     

    3rd Party Preference Panes:

        Flash Player (2016-04-15) [Support]

        Java (2015-04-10) [Support]

     

    Time Machine:

        Skip System Files: NO

        Mobile backups: OFF

        Auto backup: NO - Auto backup turned off

        Volumes being backed up:

            OWC FW 2TB: Disk size: 1.50 TB Disk used: 772.23 GB

            SG_Data: Disk size: 501.72 GB Disk used: 379.44 GB

            Macintosh HD: Disk size: 999.21 GB Disk used: 598.02 GB

        Destinations:

            TM Backup [Local]

            Total size: 3.00 TB

            Total number of backups: 76

            Oldest backup: 7/1/15, 4:07 PM

            Last backup: 5/25/16, 3:38 PM

            Size of backup disk: Too small

                Backup size 3.00 TB < (Disk used 1.75 TB X 3)

     

    Top Processes by CPU:

           103%    mdworker(40)

             3%    WindowServer

             1%    kernel_task

             1%    lsd(3)

             1%    Spotlight(2)

     

    Top Processes by Memory:

        892 MB    kernel_task

        606 MB    mdworker(40)

        516 MB    com.apple.WebKit.WebContent(5)

        180 MB    Finder(2)

        156 MB    Safari(2)

     

    Virtual Memory Information:

        1.55 GB    Free RAM

        6.45 GB    Used RAM (1.95 GB Cached)

        268 MB    Swap Used

     

    Diagnostics Information:

        May 25, 2016, 07:21:42 PM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Safari_2016-05-25-192142_[redacted].crash

            com.apple.Safari - /Applications/Safari.app/Contents/MacOS/Safari

        May 25, 2016, 07:10:50 PM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Mail_2016-05-25-191050_[redacted].cpu_resource. diag [Details]

            /Applications/Mail.app/Contents/MacOS/Mail

        May 25, 2016, 05:27:56 PM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/iTunes_2016-05-25-172756_[redacted].hang

            /Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunes

        May 24, 2016, 12:34:21 AM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/CrashPlanService_2016-05-24-003421_[redacted].c pu_resource.diag [Details]

            /Applications/CrashPlan.app/Contents/MacOS/CrashPlanService

        May 23, 2016, 11:25:54 PM    Self test - passed

  • by Alfredo Jahn,

    Alfredo Jahn Alfredo Jahn May 25, 2016 7:46 PM in response to Alfredo Jahn
    Level 3 (844 points)
    Desktops
    May 25, 2016 7:46 PM in response to Alfredo Jahn

    So....  I just had to physically reboot my mac. Everything was fine, no real issues. My wife got on it to check her email. She clicked on my name in the top right corner (to switch users to her account). There were only two of us logged in, me and her. I hear "what the heck, I can't do anything" (my worst nightmare with this computer). I get up and walk over and ask "what's going on"?.

     

    There is a constant beach ball...  It was like finder was hung up. I tried to open another application. After it came up, It would then turn into a beach ball on that app. I was trying to get to a point where I could click the apple icon and restart, Finder. No luck. I opened a browser to search for the keyboard shortcut to bring up the "Force Quit', no luck. My only option was to push and hold the power button.

     

    My wife made a good comment "I tell you, if this was the first mac we ever had, it would be the last". I have to agree. I realize that it has to be this computer. We have 2 other macs that are great. What can I do here?

     

    PLEASE HELP!

  • by JimmyCMPIT,

    JimmyCMPIT JimmyCMPIT May 26, 2016 6:36 AM in response to Alfredo Jahn
    Level 6 (8,035 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 26, 2016 6:36 AM in response to Alfredo Jahn

    alfredo,

     

    you seem to have a bunch of things going on with with that mac

     

    1)

    Top Processes by CPU:

          103%    mdworker(40)

    a bit of research indicates this is a Spotlight process.

    try either reindexing spotlight or turning it off entirely to see if it rectifies the issue

     

    to REINDEX spotlight see this article

    Rebuild the Spotlight index on your Mac - Apple Support

     

    to turn OFF spotlight open the Terminal and type

    sudo launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.metadata.mds.plist


    to turn ON spotlight open the Terminal and type

    sudo launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.metadata.mds.plist


    1a)

    turn OFF FileVault if it is enabled, this may help with system response.

    OS X Yosemite: Turn off FileVault encryption

     

    2)

    I don't have version queue in front of me but I think the method to remove is described here.

    choose only version queue if it is shown as an option.

    https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-suite/kb/remove-creative-suite-3-cs3.html

     

    3)

    You appear to have several network intensive applications still existing on your system. While they all might not be running and sucking all your bandwidth there is no way to tell without monitoring your network, further the implementation of these applications and how they integrate with OS X is questionable.

    I'm not sure if you are reluctant to remove these to test the outcome or you don't want to be bothered, but your system has resources to run OS X, and there many other mac users with the same hardware who are not feeling the "this is the last mac we'll ever own" crash (I'm no fanboy, I build PC's as well)

    Part of the process is determining if 3rd party software is causing issues on top of anything Mac OS X is doing that could be a problem.

     

    Some Windows PC owners who get a Mac have a preconceived idea that they need a lot of assistant software like Windows is famous for (read: bloatware) on the Mac to work properly, and this is where Mac OS and Windows make a major separation on behavior. Mac OS X does an incredible job (in comparison to Windows) on maintaining itself without these products and providing the tools internally to perform most of these functions. What Mac OS X doesn't do well is integrate with these 3rd party utilities trying to help, on top of that many of the free/trial/try before you buy software from CNET, Softpedia, Download.com have taken it upon themselves to bundle junk with the download as a consolation for both you and the developer using their bandwidth.

     

    InstantOnCore

    RogueAmeoba develops software that historically tries to circumvent safeguards of other developers to extract something from a file that was not intended as an option in the original software either as an oversight or due to a legal obligation.

     

    crashplan

    again there is some question about the legitimacy of this product depending on who you talk to. While the idea of a cloud based backup is wonderful the necessity of network bandwidth to accommodate it is concerning. The most effective and fasted form of backup is still a drive connected directly to a computer that if need be is removable.

    https://support.code42.com/CrashPlan/4/Getting_Started/Uninstalling_The_Code42_C rashPlan_App

     

    additionally, I'd look at getting rid of some of these

     

        [failed]    com.amazon.cloud-player.plist (2013-11-07)

    no idea, but see if you can find a removal on Amazons website, it's not running anyway. 


      [running]    com.c-command.SpamSieve.LaunchAgent.plist

    may be conflicting with your webmail or mail client 


      [loaded]    com.digitalrebellion.PreferenceManagerAutoSave.plist

    this is unnecessary overhead, find out from the developer how to remove it.

     

       [loaded]    com.digitalrebellion.SoftwareUpdateAutoCheck.plist

    Use App Store instead


        [running]    com.spotify.webhelper.plist

    lots of bandwidth, I removed this on a beach balling i5 the other day and the user saw improvement.


        [loaded]    com.valvesoftware.steamclean.plist*


        [not loaded]    org.virtualbox.vboxwebsrv.plist


        [running]    ws.agile.1PasswordAgent.plist

    use keychain instead

     

    *steam not so much but you can try it, steam on the PC is a hit or miss affair, I can't see it being much better on the Mac


    if problems persist consider backing up entirely and doing a clean install. Your system should be pretty robust and not pinwheeling all the time.

  • by Alfredo Jahn,

    Alfredo Jahn Alfredo Jahn May 26, 2016 6:50 AM in response to JimmyCMPIT
    Level 3 (844 points)
    Desktops
    May 26, 2016 6:50 AM in response to JimmyCMPIT

    JimmyCMPIT,

    Thank you so much for taking the time to really help me. I rally appreciate it.

    As far as crashplan goes, I like the idea of having a good offsite backup, but the company has been going through some problems with support. I may consider something else. I just worry about losing all my data if I have fire or tornado, etc. I use to manually backup and keep a drive at work, but would eventually forget and never have a current backup. I of course use time machine, but that is not off-site.

    I use 1Password across devices, so keychain is not an option.

    With that said, I would be glad to get rid of everything else you suggested. Just need to figure out how to do it. I will read your suggested links. I am a software engineer, so using terminal and such is not a concern for me. I just don't want to really mess things up.

    I just ordered an external drive and plan to use CCC to create a clone, just in case. I have also contacted my local Apple service place (they have worked on my macs before and are pretty good). Not sure if they can help me clean this up or make some suggestions.

     

    Thanks again! I'll report back if things improve.

     

    Alfredo

  • by JimmyCMPIT,

    JimmyCMPIT JimmyCMPIT May 26, 2016 8:44 AM in response to Alfredo Jahn
    Level 6 (8,035 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 26, 2016 8:44 AM in response to Alfredo Jahn

    if an authorized Apple service center is available to you it's not a bad idea at all.

    let us know what happens.

  • by Alfredo Jahn,

    Alfredo Jahn Alfredo Jahn Jun 1, 2016 8:23 AM in response to JimmyCMPIT
    Level 3 (844 points)
    Desktops
    Jun 1, 2016 8:23 AM in response to JimmyCMPIT

    JimmyCMPIT -

     

    Last night I ran into another lockup-like issue. The machine was running fine since last boot. But a few days passed and after waking it up, it was slooooooooooooow. I am planning to take it in when I can. The biggest problem is how can they reproduce it? After a reboot, it is perfect. Unless there is a hardware issue, like when they found my internal drive was going out and they replaced it....

     

    I was able to remove the Adobe CS3 Cue stuff. Still not sure what I should do about the Spotlight lndexing. I did look, and I don't see anything in the exclusion list. I would think my Time Machine partition would be there, but nothing is. Should I at least add that one in there and leave it?

     

    I am not using File Vault, so that shouldn't be causing problems.

     

    I contacted Amazon about removing the [failed]    com.amazon.cloud-player.plist (2013-11-07) but they were really no help. They told me to drag the app to my trash, problem is, I see no "cloud player" app in my Applications folder. There are two Amazon upload and download applications. Do I just trash them? Should I look for the com.amazon.cloud-player.plist file and remove it?

     

    I am re-thinking the use of CrashPlan. I like the idea of having an offsite storage, but reading more about CrashPlan, they say it is a resource hog. I may configure it to only run at night while I'm asleep, instead of all the time.

     

    If you have any suggestions of what I can tell the Apple Certified guys, I would appreciate it.

     

    Thanks again,

    Alfredo