Recording on Photo Booth is freezing/running slow with Mac OS Sierra 10.12.3, what should I do?

Question

Recording on Photo Booth is freezing/running slow with Mac OS Sierra 10.12.3, what should I do?

Recording on Photo Booth is freezing/running slow since I updated my MacBook Pro mid2010 to the OS Sierra 10.12.3 (which, by the way, I was asked to by the App Store): WHAT CAN I DO in order to FIX this problem?

(PS: I'm afraid it is not only Photo Booth that is running slow now.)

Overview of my MacBook Pro:

- MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2010)

- Processor 2,4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

- Memory 4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3

- Graphics NVIDIA GeForce 320M 256 MB

Thank you all,

Bruno

MacBook Pro, macOS Sierra (10.12.3), Mid 2010

Posted on Feb 15, 2017 8:38 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Feb 16, 2017 11:01 AM in response to S.U.

My drive passed the Smart Utility test, thank you for the advice:

I understand the importance to backup my data as well. I will do that, thanks again.

I live in Rio de Janeiro, any piece of Apple equipment here is VERY expensive, so I don't really think I will have the chance to pay for any improvements on my hardware... So I guess I'll need to find a way to keep working within my 4Gb RAM limit. DO YOU THINK I could "DOWNGRADE" my Macbook Pro back to a previous OS version (other than Sierra)? Is that even possible? It seemed to be working just fine a few days ago, before I switched to Sierra.

PS: Before posting my original question, I went ahead and turned off my iCloud Drive (as someone else's post said this helped him solve the slowness on his Mac), but it didn't seem to make a difference in my case.

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Answer 2

Feb 16, 2017 2:34 AM in response to S.U.

EtreCheck version: 3.1.5 (343)

Report generated 2017-02-16 08:30:23

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime 7:40

Performance: Below Average

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

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

Problem: Computer is too slow

Description:

Recording on Photo Booth is freezing/running slow since I updated my MacBook Pro mid2010 to the OS Sierra 10.12.3 (which, by the way, I was asked to by the App Store):

(PS: I'm afraid it is not only Photo Booth that is running slow now.)

Overview of my MacBook Pro:

- MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2010)

- Processor 2,4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

- Memory 4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3

- Graphics NVIDIA GeForce 320M 256 MB

Thank you.

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 (Duo) CPU: 2-core

4 GB RAM Upgradeable - [Instructions]

BANK 0/DIMM0

2 GB DDR3 1067 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

2 GB DDR3 1067 MHz ok

Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported

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

Battery: Health = Normal - Cycle count = 669

Video Information: ⓘ

NVIDIA GeForce 320M - VRAM: 256 MB

Color LCD 1280 x 800

System Software: ⓘ

macOS Sierra 10.12.3 (16D32) - Time since boot: less than an hour

Disk Information: ⓘ

Hitachi HTS545025B9SA02 disk0 : (250,06 GB) (Rotational)

[Show SMART report]

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / [Startup]: 249.20 GB (42.50 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

Configuration files: ⓘ

/etc/hosts - Count: 1

Gatekeeper: ⓘ

Mac App Store and identified developers

Kernel Extensions: ⓘ

/Library/Extensions

[not loaded] com.wacom.kext.ftdi (1.0 - SDK 10.10 - 2017-02-13) [Support]

/System/Library/Extensions

[not loaded] com.wacom.kext.wacomtablet (Wacom Tablet 6.3.11-3 - SDK 10.9 - 2017-02-13) [Support]

Startup Items: ⓘ

AdobeVersionCueCS2: Path: /Library/StartupItems/AdobeVersionCueCS2

Startup items no longer function in OS X Yosemite or later

System Launch Agents: ⓘ

[not loaded] 7 Apple tasks

[loaded] 177 Apple tasks

[running] 96 Apple tasks

System Launch Daemons: ⓘ

[not loaded] 42 Apple tasks

[loaded] 177 Apple tasks

[running] 93 Apple tasks

Launch Agents: ⓘ

[running] com.adobe.AdobeCreativeCloud.plist (2015-08-14) [Support]

[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist (2017-01-13) [Support]

[loaded] com.hp.help.tocgenerator.plist (2011-01-28) [Support]

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist (2016-04-23) [Support]

[running] com.wacom.wacomtablet.plist (2015-03-05) [Support]

Launch Daemons: ⓘ

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (2016-06-13) [Support]

[loaded] com.google.keystone.daemon.plist (2017-01-26) [Support]

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

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist (2016-04-01) [Support]

[running] com.starfield.backupservice.plist (2017-02-11) [Support]

User Launch Agents: ⓘ

[loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist (2014-04-16) [Support]

[failed] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist (2010-10-26) [Support] - /Volumes/AdbeRdr930_en_US_i386/Adobe Reader 9/Adobe Reader.app/Contents/MacOS/Updater/Adobe Reader Updater Helper.app/Contents/MacOS/Adobe Reader Updater Helper: Executable not found!

[loaded] com.divx.agent.postinstall.plist (2012-06-06) [Support]

User Login Items: ⓘ

WBE Desktop Notifier Application

(/Applications/WBE Desktop Notifier.App)

WorkspaceUpdate Application

(/Applications/Workspace/WorkspaceUpdate.app)

SpeechSynthesisServer Application

(/System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks /SpeechSynthesis.framework/Versions/A/SpeechSynthesisServer.app)

Internet Plug-ins: ⓘ

o1dbrowserplugin: 5.41.3.0 - SDK 10.8 (2016-07-04) [Support]

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

OVSHelper: 1.1 (2012-05-30) [Support]

Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: 2.3.8.1 (2011-01-13) [Support]

WacomTabletPlugin: WacomTabletPlugin 2.1.0.6 - SDK 10.9 (2015-03-05) [Support]

AdobeAAMDetect: 3.0.0.0 - SDK 10.9 (2015-08-14) [Support]

FlashPlayer-10.6: 22.0.0.192 - SDK 10.9 (2016-06-22) [Support]

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: 11.0.06 - SDK 10.6 (2014-04-16) [Support]

DivXBrowserPlugin: 2.2 (2012-05-30) [Support]

QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (2017-01-13)

Flash Player: 22.0.0.192 - SDK 10.9 (2016-06-22) Outdated! Update

googletalkbrowserplugin: 5.41.3.0 - SDK 10.8 (2015-12-11) [Support]

iPhotoPhotocast: 7.0 (2010-09-22)

AdobePDFViewer: 11.0.06 - SDK 10.6 (2014-04-16) [Support]

SharePointBrowserPlugin: 14.4.7 - SDK 10.6 (2015-02-09) [Support]

Silverlight: 4.0.51204.0 (2011-03-13) [Support]

JavaAppletPlugin: Java 8 Update 91 build 14 (2016-04-23) Check version

User internet Plug-ins: ⓘ

Safari Extensions: ⓘ

3rd Party Preference Panes: ⓘ

Adobe Version Cue CS2 (2011-02-07) [Support]

DivX (2012-05-30) [Support]

Flash Player (2016-06-13) [Support]

Flip4Mac WMV (2011-01-13) [Support]

Java (2016-04-23) [Support]

WacomTablet (2015-03-05) [Support]

Time Machine: ⓘ

Time Machine not configured!

Top Processes by CPU: ⓘ

72% iconservicesagent(2)

34% helpd

29% Finder

24% kernel_task

21% mdworker32

Top Processes by Memory: ⓘ

504 MB mdworker(20)

436 MB kernel_task

233 MB spindump

176 MB helpd

160 MB sandboxd

Virtual Memory Information: ⓘ

1.43 GB Available RAM

45 MB Free RAM

2.57 GB Used RAM

1.38 GB Cached files

0 B Swap Used

Diagnostics Information: ⓘ

Feb 16, 2017, 08:13:14 AM Self test - passed

Feb 15, 2017, 09:52:39 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/mdworker_2017-02-15-215239_[redacted].cpu_resou rce.diag [Details]

/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Frameworks/Metadata.framework /Versions/A/Support/mdworker

Feb 15, 2017, 05:16:18 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/MacX Video Converter Pro_2017-02-15-171618_[redacted].cpu_resource.diag [Details]

/Applications/MacX Video Converter Pro.app/Contents/MacOS/MacX Video Converter Pro

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Answer 3

S.U.

Level 6

9,601 points

Feb 16, 2017 2:34 AM in response to Bruno Castello da Costa

Could you download and run Etrecheck and post the report?

https://etrecheck.com/#about

That will help us see what is going on with your Mac.

One thing that would help is to max out your RAM as you only have 4 GB now. I believe you can go up to 16 GB on this model. Sierra will be sluggish on only 4 GB.

Another consideration might be your hard drive. If it's the original, it would be 7 years old and getting very long in the tooth. Upgrading to a SSD would also give you a big performance boost.

However, there may something else going on, hence the Etrecheck report.

Reply

Answer 4

S.U.

Level 6

9,601 points

Feb 16, 2017 10:40 AM in response to Bruno Castello da Costa

It looks like your Adobe reader and Flash need to be updated. See the red lettering.

In addition it looks like this machine may be all original with 4 GB of RAM and the original hard drive. If you were to upgrade your RAM to 16GB, you would get a boost in performance. Sierra is pretty sluggish with only 4 GB of RAM.

Also, if this is the original drive, it could be starting to go south. Slowness is often a symptom of a drive that is starting to fail. You might want to run SMART Utility on it:

https://www.volitans-software.com/apps/smart-utility/

SMART Utility seems to be more critical than Disk Utility, and may be able to detect impending drive failure sooner. There is a demo you can download and run several times for free. It may or may not pass the drive, but if it shows that the drive is failing, then that's one reason for slowness.

I notice that Time Machine is not enabled. With a drive that may potentially be failing, it is important to make a backup of your data onto a good drive, either with Time Machine or a utility like SuperDuper! or Carbon Copy Cloner, which will make a bootable clone. If your drive were to fail, then you would lose all your data if there is no backup.

If your drive is failing physically, then it needs to be replaced.

Good luck!

Reply

Answer 5

S.U.

Level 6

9,601 points

Feb 16, 2017 12:33 PM in response to Bruno Castello da Costa

Downgrading could be a problem, as some apps will have been upgraded for Sierra and won't work in El Capitan.

I just noticed you have a process called "iconservicesagent(2)" listed in red consuming 72% of your CPU. I don't know what that is, but anything using that much should be looked at and quit if possible, as it could be bogging down everything else.

I believe that OWC ships world wide, and if local sources are expensive, you might check here for RAM and drives:

https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Apple_MacBook_MacBook_Pro/Upgrade/DDR3

Otherwise, your best bet would be to run as little as possible at the same time. Too many open processes could be contributing to bogging down your Mac.

Good luck!

Reply

Answer 6

Feb 17, 2017 11:16 AM in response to S.U.

Thanks for all your advice, S.U.. I've just run a quick google research and it looks like that much CPU consumption by "iconservicesagent(2)" might have to do with my Mac getting old, maybe it is really time to get a new one. But I intend to keep on searching for a way out for as long as possible. Thanks a lot!

Reply

Answer 7

S.U.

Level 6

9,601 points

Feb 17, 2017 12:40 PM in response to Bruno Castello da Costa

Open Activity Monitor and see what it says about this. If it's either listed as "unresponding" or shows you listed as the user, it can be safely quit. Sometimes a process will just get hung up and cause problems by using too much of the CPU.

I don't think that your Mac being old is the problem all by itself. More RAM would be a big help, and even though SMART Utility shows no problems with the drive, SMART technology can only evaluate what it is designed to evaluate. There's always the possibility that the drive is developing problems not detected by SMART technology.

I tend to be suspicious of any drive that's more than 3 years old, mostly because that's how long the manufacturers usually warranty them for. It seems like the 2010 MBP's may have had some unusually good drives originally installed, as many of them seem to be lasting way longer than expected. Still, all drives will fail eventually, and sometimes without warning they just quit spinning and disappear. Even if they are still working, they could fail at any time, and there could also be a deterioration in performance as they age.

So if nothing else, you should at least plan on making a backup, and you can use any external drive you like for this--it doesn't have to come from Apple. And it would also be wise to be thinking about a replacement internal drive should this one suddenly fail. And, if you were to go for 8 GB of RAM or even better 16 GB of RAM and a SSD, you will get an enormous performance boost. A friend of mine has the same Mac as you do set up with 8 GB of RAM and a SSD, and he has no problems with Sierra.

Good luck!

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Recording on Photo Booth is freezing/running slow with Mac OS Sierra 10.12.3, what should I do?