2010 iMac slower than a tortoise stuck in mud after swallowing glue

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Level 1

8 points

2010 iMac slower than a tortoise stuck in mud after swallowing glue

Ever since upgrading to OS X El Capitan (from the factory 10.6 Snow Leopard), my poor iMac has been incredibly slow. To the point where eventually it would not even boot up.

Since I have everything of importance on an external hard drive, I just went ahead and booted from the install disc, going for a clean install.

It took multiple attempts for the system to boot from disc (Startup holding C) before eventually reading the disc and loading the language choice screen. It took nearly three days to go through the clean install process. And I mean days! Each step taking several hours. I had two sleeps during this horrendous process!

Finally, I got registered and through to the desk top. At which point it was still so slow that I felt a shut down was in order. I left it off for the day. Have just come back and pressed the power button, and have been watching the grey screen with apple logo and daisy spinner for the last 30 minutes.

Does anyone have any ideas why this could be. I appreciate it's a six year old machine, but my experience of Apple computers over the last 15 years has been such that I don't expect one to die after only six years.

My guess is that it's a hard drive problem of some kind? But if anyone could point me in the right direction, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks in advance.

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.8), iTunes version: 11.0.2 (26)

Posted on Sep 27, 2016 10:18 AM

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Answer 1

Sep 27, 2016 1:23 PM in response to kaywerty

It should obviously not take three days to install OS X, even if the Mac is an older model. My 2011 Mac mini ran OS X El Capitan (and currently runs macOS Sierra) just fine, and it has lower overall performance compared to an iMac from 2010.

It took multiple attempts for the system to boot from disc (Startup holding C)

El Capitan is not installed from a disc, so are you saying you reinstalled Snow Leopard first? Is that what is currently running slowly or not at all?

Here are a few things to try...

Since you previously installed El Capitan, depending on how you initiated the "clean install," its hidden Recovery HD partition may still be there on the internal hard drive. Hold down Command-R at startup. Here's more information

About OS X Recovery - Apple Support

Alternately, you can start up with the Option key held down to show the Startup Manager screen, which gives you available startup disk choices. See if Recovery HD is an available choice.

If you can start up (in "Recovery") as described in linked document, run Disk Utility and Erase the internal drive volume. Then Reinstall OS X. This gives you El Capitan directly, instead of first installing Snow Leopard.

If internal drive is actually faulty, and you have a USB external drive that can be erased, you can (temporarily) install the OS on that external drive. You should disconnect your external drive with user data (if it's not already), to prevent accidentally erasing it. You can do this installation from the Recovery screen (if you are able to start up from Recovery HD). If not, you'll need to install Snow Leopard first (hopefully faster than three days). Either way, run Disk Utility (from the menu bar if you're reinstalling Snow Leopard). Select the target external drive in Disk Utility's sidebar, and Erase it completely. Then, install install OS X on that external drive.

After installation and restart, you can reconnect your other external drive with user data, and use it that way until you replace the internal drive. If you installed Snow Leopard, upgrade it to El Capitan using the normal procedure.

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Answer 2

kaywerty Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 27, 2016 2:00 PM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

Dear Kenichi,

Thank you for your reply. I wholeheartedly agree that it shouldn't take three days to wipe and install an OS! whenever I've had a problem before, an erase and install usually fixes it and takes around 40 minutes.

The problem I have is that most commands are hit and miss; holding down CMD+C yields no results, not even a murmur from the disc drive. CMD+R has brought up "Internet Recovery Mode" whatever the heck that is, but that currently sits right at the bottom of the progress bar with a spinning planet earth above and doesn't look like it's going anywhere anytime soon.

To clear things up, I have erased the HD and installed Snow Leopard. I made it to the desktop of 10.6 and it froze, a restart was unsuccessful as it couldn't make it past the grey screen with Apple logo. It appears that instructions to the system are only occasionally recognised (CMD+C/R or holding down OPT or any other startup command work 1 in 10 attempts) and when they are recognised, the system gets an undetermined way through the process and then freezes.

My external HD is not suitable for installation of an OS, it's essentially a memory stick. But I'll look into that option, thank you.

My question at this stage is; is this computer ready for the trash? is it a hardware issue or a solvable software issue?

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Answer 3

Oct 1, 2016 12:14 AM in response to kaywerty

CMD+C/R or holding down OPT or any other startup command work 1 in 10 attempts

Is your keyboard wireless? If so, do you happen to have a wired Apple USB keyboard?

If you can start up from Snow Leopard installation disc using Command-C or through Startup Manager (Option key), on the first Installer screen (after selecting language), go to the menu bar under Utilities and select to run Disk Utility.

Does the internal drive still appear in Disk Utility's sidebar? If it does, select the drive, NOT the volume indented below drive, in sidebar. For an internal drive, its SMART Status should be available along bottom of Disk Utility window. It normally says Verified.

You can do a "stress test" on the internal hard drive by erasing it in a particular way. With internal drive still selected in sidebar, click Erase tab. Click Security Options button, and set to Zero Out Data. This option writes zeros over the entire hard drive media, serving as a good test. Use the default Mac OS Extended (Journaled) format and name it Macintosh HD. Click Erase button. This takes much longer compared to a regular erase, but you should see steady progress on the bar. If it errors out, or stalls "forever," the hard drive is probably faulty.

If the zero out data erase completes successfully, quit Disk Utility and install Snow Leopard again. See if there's any improvement after it restarts into the fresh system on a freshly re-initialized drive.

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Answer 4

kaywerty Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 1, 2016 12:17 AM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

Hi Kenichi,

Thank you very much for your time and detailed trouble shooting.

Having finally managed to get it to read from the Installation Disc, I tried the Erase option using the "Write Zeros" method. Then reinstalled 10.6, upgraded to El Capitan, and am now enjoying the very latest Sierra OS at a very fast speed. The iMac is as good as new.

I presume I must have some form of corrupted OS somewhere in there?

Anyway, thanks once again.

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Answer 5

Oct 1, 2016 12:21 AM in response to kaywerty

All the way up to Sierra now... Good job! 🙂 Thanks for reporting back with outcome.

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