Q: MacBook Pro (3-inch, Mid 2012) suddenly started running very slow; beach balls very common

Question

BlueGreenGrape

Level 1 (4 points)

Notebooks

Q: MacBook Pro (3-inch, Mid 2012) suddenly started running very slow; beach balls very common

About a week and a half ago it started running very slowly with spinning beach balls popping up all the time. It reminds me of how it runs when I've had way too many browser tabs open in the past, but now, even with browsers closed, opening Word or Skype is really slow. (I'm sorry for any confusing wording; I'm not very computer savvy unfortunately!)

Some of the things I've tried so far and EtreCheck below):

-running in Safe Mode

-testing for hardware problems (Command+D)

-resetting PRAM

-using Disk Utility to repair/first aid; also verifying

-erasing the hard drive and reinstalling original OS X Lion (still was slow with beach balls; I tried to install OS X El Capitan to see if that would help, but the installation couldn't finish)

-erasing the hard drive and rebooting from a previous backup (one from a month before the problems started)

EtreCheck version: 3.0.3 (307)

Report generated 2016-09-11 17:51:16

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime 34:39

Performance: Poor

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

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

Problem: Beachballing

Description:

also very slow in general

Hardware Information: ⓘ

MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2012)

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

MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro9,2

1 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 2-core

4 GB RAM Upgradeable - [Instructions]

BANK 0/DIMM0

2 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

2 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

Bluetooth: Good - Handoff/Airdrop2 supported

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

Battery: Health = Normal - Cycle count = 1054

Video Information: ⓘ

Intel HD Graphics 4000

Color LCD 1280 x 800

System Software: ⓘ

OS X El Capitan 10.11.4 (15E65) - Time since boot: less than an hour

Disk Information: ⓘ

TOSHIBA MK5065GSXF disk0 : (500.11 GB) (Rotational)

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / : 499.25 GB (349.39 GB free)

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

HL-DT-ST DVDRW GS31N ()

USB Information: ⓘ

Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

Thunderbolt Information: ⓘ

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

Gatekeeper: ⓘ

Mac App Store and identified developers

System Launch Agents: ⓘ

[not loaded] 6 Apple tasks

[loaded] 164 Apple tasks

[running] 68 Apple tasks

System Launch Daemons: ⓘ

[not loaded] 43 Apple tasks

[loaded] 161 Apple tasks

[running] 85 Apple tasks

Launch Agents: ⓘ

[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist (2016-07-12) [Support]

Launch Daemons: ⓘ

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (2016-06-29)

[loaded]	com.google.keystone.daemon.plist (2016-09-11) [Support]
	[loaded]	com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist (2011-03-10) [Support]

User Launch Agents: ⓘ

[loaded]

com.valvesoftware.steamclean.plist (2016-05-14) [Support]

Internet Plug-ins: ⓘ

	FlashPlayer-10.6: 22.0.0.209 - SDK 10.9 (2016-07-22) [Support]
	QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (2016-04-05)
	Flash Player: 22.0.0.209 - SDK 10.9 (2016-07-22) [Support]
	Default Browser: 601 - SDK 10.11 (2016-04-05)
	o1dbrowserplugin: 5.41.3.0 - SDK 10.8 (2015-12-21) [Support]
	SharePointBrowserPlugin: 14.2.4 - SDK 10.6 (2012-10-03) [Support]
	googletalkbrowserplugin: 5.41.3.0 - SDK 10.8 (2015-12-12) [Support]
	Silverlight: 5.1.10411.0 - SDK 10.6 (2014-03-29) [Support]

User internet Plug-ins: ⓘ

Google Earth Web Plug-in: Unknown (2013-01-24)

Safari Extensions: ⓘ

AdBlock - BetaFish, Inc. - https://getadblock.com (2015-10-14)

3rd Party Preference Panes: ⓘ

Flash Player (2016-06-29) [Support]

Time Machine: ⓘ

	Mobile backups: ON
	Auto backup: YES
	Volumes being backed up:
	Macintosh HD: Disk size: 499.25 GB Disk used: 149.86 GB
	Destinations:
	X's Backup [Local]
	Total size: 999.86 GB
	Total number of backups: 7
	Oldest backup: 1/5/16, 5:26 PM
	Last backup: 8/28/16, 11:43 PM
	Size of backup disk: Adequate
	Backup size 999.86 GB > (Disk used 149.86 GB X 3)

Top Processes by CPU: ⓘ

	11%	firefox
	4%	kernel_task
	3%	hidd
	2%	sandboxd
	2%	WindowServer

Top Processes by Memory: ⓘ

	1.00 GB	firefox
	457 MB	kernel_task
	291 MB	mdworker(15)
	143 MB	mds_stores
	90 MB	Microsoft Word

Virtual Memory Information: ⓘ

	36 MB	Free RAM
	3.96 GB	Used RAM (657 MB Cached)
	0 B	Swap Used

Diagnostics Information: ⓘ

Sep 11, 2016, 04:37:21 PM

Self test - passed

Sep 11, 2016, 09:20:57 AM

~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/suggestd_2016-09-11-092057_[redacted].crash

/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/CoreSuggestions.framework/Versions/A/Support/s uggestd

Thank you in advance for your responses--I'm just at a loss for what the real problem might be!

MacBook Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11.4), null

Posted on Sep 11, 2016 5:41 AM

I have this question too

Solved

OGELTHORPE

Level 9 (52,147 points)

Mac OS X

A:

You MBPs HDD is suspect. Boot into the recovery partition (COMMAND + R) and select Disk Utility from the 4 option menu. Run Disk Utility>First Aid>Repair.

Not related, but your battery has seen a lot of use. I suggest replacing it.

Ciao.

Posted on Sep 11, 2016 7:07 AM

Q: MacBook Pro (3-inch, Mid 2012) suddenly started running very slow; beach balls very common

All replies

Helpful answers

by alex7375,Helpful

alex7375 Sep 12, 2016 1:40 AM in response to BlueGreenGrape
Level 2 (215 points)

Desktops

Sep 12, 2016 1:40 AM in response to BlueGreenGrape

I have the same MBP. I suggest you do a hardware upgrade as your MBP is getting old.

I did the hardware upgrade on my MBP and now it performs great. No more beachballs.
Applications open instantly. Macbook performs better than NEW.

Here are the parts I use in the upgrade.

240gb. SSD - $65
https://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-OCZ-Trion-Internal-TRN150-25SAT3-240G/dp/B01B4NUK MY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1473601237&sr=8-2&keywords=coz+trion+150

16gb. of Crucial memory - $70
https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-PC3-12800-SODIMM-204-Pin-Memory/dp/B008LTBJFW/ref =sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473601287&sr=8-1&ke…

Battery - $56
https://www.amazon.com/Anker-Replacement-Battery-MacBook-6000mAh/dp/B00D780NNQ/r ef=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473601415&s…
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by BlueGreenGrape,

BlueGreenGrape Sep 11, 2016 7:18 AM in response to OGELTHORPE
Level 1 (4 points)

Notebooks

Sep 11, 2016 7:18 AM in response to OGELTHORPE

Thank you for your response! I just repaired it and got the message "The volume MacIntosh HD appears to be OK" during the repair. No luck though; after restarting it's still having the same problems. Is it possible that the HDD is having problems that Disk Utility can't find, and is there any way to be more sure the problem's with the HDD? I'd happily replace the HDD with an SSD if that would likely fix the problem, but i just want to rule out that the problem's not something else as much as I can.
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by Grant Bennet-Alder,

Grant Bennet-Alder Sep 11, 2016 7:56 AM in response to BlueGreenGrape
Level 9 (60,729 points)

Desktops

Sep 11, 2016 7:56 AM in response to BlueGreenGrape

You have not completed a backup since the 28th of last month. You need to have a Trusted Backup on hand, before you do anything else.

One reason for unexplained slowness can be a drive that is near death.
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by alex7375,

alex7375 Sep 11, 2016 9:26 AM in response to BlueGreenGrape
Level 2 (215 points)

Desktops

Sep 11, 2016 9:26 AM in response to BlueGreenGrape

I found you a New OEM battery for $27
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-OEM-Apple-Battery-For-MacBook-Pro-13-A1322-A1278-Mid -2009-2010-2011-2012-/321931407588?hash=…
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by Grant Bennet-Alder,

Grant Bennet-Alder Sep 11, 2016 10:08 AM in response to alex7375
Level 9 (60,729 points)

Desktops

Sep 11, 2016 10:08 AM in response to alex7375

Some readers here suggest you ONLY use Apple original batteries when possible.

Third party batteries often have issues and short lives that Apple batteries do not seem to have. About the only third-party batteries that get any respect are ones made by newer technology.
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by BlueGreenGrape,

BlueGreenGrape Sep 12, 2016 1:32 AM in response to alex7375
Level 1 (4 points)

Notebooks

Sep 12, 2016 1:32 AM in response to alex7375

Thank you! These are some useful links for upgrade options. I'll let you know if I use some in the end!
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by BlueGreenGrape,

BlueGreenGrape Sep 12, 2016 1:40 AM in response to OGELTHORPE
Level 1 (4 points)

Notebooks

Sep 12, 2016 1:40 AM in response to OGELTHORPE

Good news--I was using the computer more at work, and it's been running better so far (knock on wood). It might've just had post start-up sluggishness before that made me think the problem hadn't been helped. In any case though, it looks like I should upgrade the hard drive and replace the battery soon.

Thank you so much for your help!!
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by BlueGreenGrape,

BlueGreenGrape Sep 12, 2016 1:48 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
Level 1 (4 points)

Notebooks

Sep 12, 2016 1:48 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

That's a good suggestion; thank you!
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Accepted Answer · Sep 11, 2016 7:07 AM

OGELTHORPE

Level 9 (52,147 points)

Mac OS X

Sep 11, 2016 7:07 AM in response to BlueGreenGrape

You MBPs HDD is suspect. Boot into the recovery partition (COMMAND + R) and select Disk Utility from the 4 option menu. Run Disk Utility>First Aid>Repair.

Not related, but your battery has seen a lot of use. I suggest replacing it.

Ciao.

Q: MacBook Pro (3-inch, Mid 2012) suddenly started running very slow; beach balls very common

All replies Helpful answers

by OGELTHORPE,Solvedanswer

by alex7375,★Helpful

by BlueGreenGrape,

by Grant Bennet-Alder,

by alex7375,

by Grant Bennet-Alder,

by BlueGreenGrape,

by BlueGreenGrape,

by BlueGreenGrape,

All replies

Helpful answers

by alex7375,Helpful