Mac behaving strangely slow after SSD upgrade

Question

Level 1

10 points

Mac behaving strangely slow after SSD upgrade

After upgrading from a standard HD to an OWC 1.0TB Mercury Electra™ 3G SSD my MBP 13 (MacBookPro7,1, MacOS El Capitan) runs slow.

Here listed are a few symptoms:

1) long white screen at boot,

2) it freezes for a few seconds after inserting my password on the login screen

3) after few hours of usage apps seem to load slowly and the mac gets a bit chunky.

I should also add that this does not seem to be linked to a bad SSD as for the above listed reasons I have returned a first drive that I received and got a new in replacement, but I see the symptoms.

I read quite some posts on the subject and I found that some people observing similar symptoms could solve by re-setting the new SSD as the startup disk (Macbook Pro SSD slow boot after SSD), however this does not work for me. I actually seem not to be able to perform this step because, despite I set the new SSD drive as startup drive, if I boot with the old HD connected via USB the mac will start from the old disk.

I also tried PRAM reset and clean install but both did not help.

I'm running out of ideas, any idea as how to solve that?

Thanks a lot!

MacBook Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11.5), iPhone 3Gs iOS6.3

Posted on Oct 18, 2016 1:16 PM

Reply

Answer 1

OGELTHORPE

Level 9

57,349 points

Oct 19, 2016 5:09 AM in response to pulceblue

Download and post an Etrecheck report:

http://www.etresoft.com/etrecheck

Do you have TRIM enabled?

Ciao.

Reply

Answer 2

pulceblue Author

Level 1

10 points

Oct 22, 2016 4:59 AM in response to OGELTHORPE

Hi Ogelthorpe,

thank you very much for your reply. Please find below the Etrecheck report on my system with SSD as internal drive.

As for the TRIM, it looks that it is not enabled. (see attached picture).

What do you suggest to do?

Thank you very much for your help.

EtreCheck version: 3.0.6 (315)

Report generated 2016-10-22 13:40:28

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime 2:00

Performance: Excellent

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

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

Problem: Other problem

Description:

Cannot change startup drive.

Mac hangs al login screen after inserting login password (problem occurring after SSD upgrade).

Mac takes long time at white screen at boot (problem occurring after SSD upgrade).

Hardware Information: ⓘ

MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2010)

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

MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro7,1

1 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU: 2-core

16 GB RAM Upgradeable - [Instructions]

BANK 0/DIMM0

8 GB DDR3 1067 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

8 GB DDR3 1067 MHz ok

Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported

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

Battery: Health = Check Battery - Cycle count = 447

Video Information: ⓘ

NVIDIA GeForce 320M - VRAM: 256 MB

Color LCD 1280 x 800

System Software: ⓘ

OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 (15G1004) - Time since boot: less than an hour

Disk Information: ⓘ

OWC Mercury Electra 3G SSD disk0 : (960.2 GB) (Solid State - TRIM: No)

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

[redacted] OS (disk0s2) / [Startup]: 959.34 GB (723.02 GB free)

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

MATSHITADVD-R UJ-898 ()

USB Information: ⓘ

Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

Apple Card Reader

Apple Inc. Built-in iSight

Gatekeeper: ⓘ

Mac App Store and identified developers

Kernel Extensions: ⓘ

/Applications/Parallels Desktop.app

[not loaded] com.parallels.kext.hypervisor (10.4.0 29337 - SDK 10.7 - 2016-06-07) [Support]

[not loaded] com.parallels.kext.netbridge (10.4.0 29337 - SDK 10.7 - 2016-06-07) [Support]

[not loaded] com.parallels.kext.usbconnect (10.4.0 29337 - SDK 10.7 - 2016-06-07) [Support]

[not loaded] com.parallels.kext.vnic (10.4.0 29337 - SDK 10.7 - 2016-06-07) [Support]

/Library/Extensions

[not loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxDrv (4.1.18 - 2016-10-11) [Support]

[not loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetAdp (4.1.18 - 2016-10-11) [Support]

[not loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetFlt (4.1.18 - 2016-10-11) [Support]

[not loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxUSB (4.1.18 - 2016-10-11) [Support]

Startup Items: ⓘ

Aladdin: Path: /Library/StartupItems/Aladdin

StartOuc: Path: /Library/StartupItems/StartOuc

VirtualBox: Path: /Library/StartupItems/VirtualBox

wpa_supplicant_srv: Path: /Library/StartupItems/wpa_supplicant_srv

Startup items no longer function in OS X Yosemite or later

System Launch Agents: ⓘ

[not loaded] 8 Apple tasks

[loaded] 159 Apple tasks

[running] 72 Apple tasks

System Launch Daemons: ⓘ

[not loaded] 45 Apple tasks

[loaded] 162 Apple tasks

[running] 83 Apple tasks

Launch Agents: ⓘ

[not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist (2016-08-29) [Support]

[loaded] com.adobe.CS5ServiceManager.plist (2011-02-09) [Support]

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist (2013-04-08) [Support]

[not loaded] com.teamviewer.teamviewer.plist (2014-02-07) [Support]

[not loaded] com.teamviewer.teamviewer_desktop.plist (2014-02-07) [Support]

[loaded] org.macosforge.xquartz.startx.plist (2012-09-28) [Support]

Launch Daemons: ⓘ

[loaded] com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist (2011-02-08) [Support]

[running] com.adobe.agsservice.plist (2016-10-06) [Support]

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (2016-09-24) [Support]

[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist (2010-08-25) [Support]

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist (2013-04-08) [Support]

[not loaded] com.teamviewer.teamviewer_service.plist (2014-02-07) [Support]

[loaded] org.macosforge.xquartz.privileged_startx.plist (2012-09-28) [Support]

User Launch Agents: ⓘ

[loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist (2011-02-09) [Support]

[loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist (2010-12-29) [Support]

[loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist (2014-06-04) [Support]

[failed] com.apple.CSConfigDotMacCert-[...]@me.com-SharedServices.Agent.plist (2010-12-23)

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

[loaded] com.macpaw.CleanMyMac3.Scheduler.plist (2016-01-10)

[not loaded] org.virtualbox.vboxwebsrv.plist (2012-08-13) [Support]

User Login Items: ⓘ

Citations Application (/Applications/Papers2.app/Contents/SharedSupport/Citations.app)

Dropbox Application (/Applications/Dropbox.app)

MenuMetersApp Application (/Library/PreferencePanes/MenuMeters.prefPane/Contents/Resources/MenuMetersApp. app)

Internet Plug-ins: ⓘ

OVSHelper: 1.0 (2011-02-08) [Support]

Default Browser: 601 - SDK 10.11 (2016-07-09)

AdobeAAMDetect: AdobeAAMDetect 1.0.0.0 - SDK 10.6 (2015-09-14) [Support]

FlashPlayer-10.6: 23.0.0.185 - SDK 10.9 (2016-10-11) [Support]

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: 11.0.17 - SDK 10.6 (2016-08-16) [Support]

DivXBrowserPlugin: 2.1 (2011-02-08) [Support]

QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (2016-07-09)

Flash Player: 23.0.0.185 - SDK 10.9 (2016-10-11) [Support]

iPhotoPhotocast: 7.0 - SDK 10.8 (2013-04-25)

SharePointBrowserPlugin: 14.6.8 - SDK 10.6 (2016-09-22) [Support]

AdobePDFViewer: 11.0.17 - SDK 10.6 (2016-08-16) [Support]

Silverlight: 5.1.40416.0 - SDK 10.6 (2015-07-29) [Support]

JavaAppletPlugin: Java 8 Update 101 build 13 (2016-10-08) Check version

User internet Plug-ins: ⓘ

Google Earth Web Plug-in: 7.1 (2013-10-07) [Support]

Safari Extensions: ⓘ

Open in Internet Explorer - Parallels - http://www.parallels.com (2016-01-20)

3rd Party Preference Panes: ⓘ

DivX (2011-02-08) [Support]

Flash Player (2016-09-24) [Support]

Growl (2011-05-27) [Support]

Java (2016-09-07) [Support]

MacFUSE (2008-12-19) [Support]

MenuMeters (2016-02-13) [Support]

Perian (2011-07-23) [Support]

Time Machine: ⓘ

Skip System Files: NO

Mobile backups: ON

Auto backup: YES

Volumes being backed up:

Destinations:

Claudio's TM [Local]

Total size: 500.10 GB

Total number of backups: 90

Oldest backup: 25/02/15 14:57

Last backup: 10/10/16 20:22

Size of backup disk: Excellent

Backup size 500.10 GB > (Disk size 0 B X 3)

Top Processes by CPU: ⓘ

19% kernel_task

5% WindowServer

0% fontd

0% Dropbox

0% askpermissiond

Top Processes by Memory: ⓘ

812 MB kernel_task

508 MB mdworker(24)

229 MB helpd

164 MB Dropbox

147 MB Mail

Virtual Memory Information: ⓘ

11.00 GB Free RAM

4.83 GB Used RAM (3.04 GB Cached)

0 B Swap Used

Diagnostics Information: ⓘ

Oct 22, 2016, 01:33:19 PM Self test - passed

Reply

Answer 3

OGELTHORPE

Level 9

57,349 points

Oct 22, 2016 5:27 AM in response to pulceblue

It is my understanding that OWC SSDs do no require TRIM. I would check with OWC and determine if that is the case.

You have CleanMyMac3 installed. I suggest that you rid the MBP of this Mac corrupter which is totally unnecessary:

http://macpaw.com/support/cleanmymac/knowledgebase/how-to-uninstall-cleanmymac-3

You have Virtualbox and Parallels installed. It has been determined that they do not coexist well with each other. Delete one and see if that improves the performance.

Ciao.

Reply

Answer 4

pulceblue Author

Level 1

10 points

Oct 22, 2016 6:22 AM in response to OGELTHORPE

Hi Ogelthorpe,

thank you for your suggestions. I now removed Cleanmymac and Virtualbox and will check if this improves performance. However, do you think that this might be the cause of the long white screen at boot and of the system freeze on login screen after I put my password? I have read that re-setting the startup from System Preferences disk might solve this. I have the feeling that my problems come from this, however, if I do System Prefences > Startup Disk and Select my SSD I do not seem to able to make this change effective. Indeed no matter what if I have both the old and new drives connected the system will boot from the old one.

What do you think? Do have suggestions as how to make this change in startup disk effective? Note that I already tried a clean install and a PRAM reset.

Thank you very much for your help.

Reply

Answer 5

OGELTHORPE

Level 9

57,349 points

Oct 22, 2016 8:20 AM in response to pulceblue

pulceblue wrote:

if I do System Prefences > Startup Disk and Select my SSD I do not seem to able to make this change effective.

This I do not understand. If the SSD is the only drive connected, it should boot the MBP every time.

If you connect the old HDD to the MBP, are you saying that the MBP will boot from the HDD and not the SSD?

Ciao.

Reply

Answer 6

pulceblue Author

Level 1

10 points

Oct 22, 2016 9:22 AM in response to OGELTHORPE

Yes exactly

Reply

Answer 7

John Galt

Level 10

158,460 points

Oct 22, 2016 10:22 AM in response to pulceblue

Exactly how did you install OS X on that SSD?

You wrote the you performed a "clean install" but Apple does not use that terminology so it has no clearly defined meaning. Regardless, it certainly is not what that report shows.

Reply

Answer 8

pulceblue Author

Level 1

10 points

Oct 22, 2016 3:49 PM in response to John Galt

THank you John for your reply.

I used the procedure suggested by the OWC assitence (https://eshop.macsales.com/articles/how-to-transfer-your-data-from-your-old-driv e-to-a-new-drive). In short, I format the drive, install mac OS from scratch and then migrate my data with migration assistent.

What exactly does the report not show? How/where do you see that?

thank you very much for your help.

Reply

Answer 9

John Galt

Level 10

158,460 points

Oct 22, 2016 5:50 PM in response to pulceblue

In short, I format the drive, install mac OS from scratch and then migrate my data with migration assistent.

There's nothing wrong with that technique, but to keep things simple I suggest doing it this way: format the SSD and reinstall macOS. Stop there – don't migrate your old account. When asked to create an account, create a temporary account using a throwaway name. Make sure you can boot normally, log in and use that account.

When you are satisfied it's working for you, then use Migration Assistant to migrate your existing account from the Time Machine backup – the account you intend to use normally. When Migration Assistant finishes, log out of the temporary account and log in to the one you migrated.

Assuming everything works the way you want, you can then delete the temporary account with the throwaway name. If your migrated account doesn't work, it will most likely be due to having used CleanMyMac to do something at some point. Even though it is no longer installed, your account or the applications you use may have been corrupted by it, and migrating a corrupted account obviously migrates the corruption along with it.

The "com.macpaw.CleanMyMac3.Scheduler.plist" file its uninstaller leaves behind can and should be dragged to the Trash.

How/where do you see that?

A lot of old, outdated software in the report you posted. "DivX" "MacFUSE" etc. Also, "startup items" no longer do anything. They are inert in that location.

Battery: Health = Check Battery - Cycle count = 447

Do not overlook that. A battery that is not working properly affects just about everything in a portable Mac. It could conceivably be the only contributing factor.

Reply