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Bought Jan 2017. Have used Apple Support for this problem a month ago. Replaced same Mac which was two years older with Jan. purchase.
Has anyone else with my brand (Sierra 10.12.3) had his problem?
iMac, macOS Sierra (10.12.3)
What do you have stored on the NTFS server and how is it used? Is that what the Seagate software is for? If you're using the Seagate drive as a regular external HD do not use the Seagate software. Uninstall it.
macOS Sierra 10.12.3 (16D32) - Time since boot: about 12 days
You should reboot once a day to clear out old caches and temp files which will speed up the iMac. The following is from this article from the Mac Observer: The Benefits of a 32GB Mac For Average Users
If I were to reboot my Mac every morning I have no doubt I could live with 16GB or even 8GB without experiencing most of the aforementioned symptoms
What do you have stored on the NTFS server and how is it used? Is that what the Seagate software is for? If you're using the Seagate drive as a regular external HD do not use the Seagate software. Uninstall it.
macOS Sierra 10.12.3 (16D32) - Time since boot: about 12 days
You should reboot once a day to clear out old caches and temp files which will speed up the iMac. The following is from this article from the Mac Observer: The Benefits of a 32GB Mac For Average Users
If I were to reboot my Mac every morning I have no doubt I could live with 16GB or even 8GB without experiencing most of the aforementioned symptoms
Ways to help make a slow Mac faster
Run Etrecheck and paste the results in your next post as padams35 suggested.
Etrecheck is a diagnostic tool that was developed by one of the most respected users here in the ASC and recommended by Apple Support to provide a snapshot of the system and help identify the more obvious culprits that can adversely affect a Mac's performance.
Ok. I tried to shut down my Mac last night but it wouldn't let me. Everything on the screen was frozen. So, I forced it to close (by holding the off button). This morning, it opened up in record time with no beach ball! I've signed out of iCloud trying not to heed the warnings about losing eveything. The ED (Seagate) I have has been backing up my whole computer almost every day. I checked it this morning and it's backup for yesterday is there.
I did delete the NFTS software for the Seagate ED. It's been very hard to trust that everything will continue to be backed up without it. But, I'll do some research with Seagate today. (I did that before I installed it, but just don't remember.)
I think, with the help of all of you experts, I may have this problem solved. NOW, I'm going to unwrap the computer. I gave up on (which is only 3 years old) and see if I might be able to fix it.
EtreCheck version: 3.1.5 (343)
Report generated 2017-03-30 12:17:10
Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com
Runtime 9:36
Performance: Below Average
Click the [Support] links for help with non-Apple products.
Click the [Details] links for more information about that line.
Problem: Beachballing
Description:
Computer is slow
iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, Late 2015)
[Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty & Service]
iMac - model: iMac16,2
1 3.1 GHz Intel Core i5 (i5-5675R) CPU: 4-core
8 GB RAM Not upgradeable
BANK 0/DIMM0
4 GB DDR3 1867 MHz ok
BANK 1/DIMM0
4 GB DDR3 1867 MHz ok
Bluetooth: Good - Handoff/Airdrop2 supported
Wireless: en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 6200
iMac 4096 x 2304
macOS Sierra 10.12.3 (16D32) - Time since boot: about 12 days
APPLE HDD HTS541010A9E662 disk0 : (1 TB) (Rotational)
EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB
Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB
Macintosh HD (disk1) / [Startup]: 998.98 GB (775.87 GB free)
Core Storage: disk0s2 999.35 GB Online
Seagate Backup+ Hub
Seagate Backup+ Hub BK
VIA Labs, Inc. USB3.0 Hub
Broadcom Corp. Bluetooth USB Host Controller
Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)
Apple Inc. MacBook Air SuperDrive
Seagate Backup+ Hub
VIA Labs, Inc. USB2.0 Hub
Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus
Mac App Store and identified developers
/Library/Extensions
[loaded] com.paragon-software.filesystems.ntfs (14.2.288 - SDK 10.5 - 2017-03-24) [Support]
[loaded] com.seagate.driver.PowSecDriverCore (5.2.7 (26999) - SDK 10.4 - 2017-03-24) [Support]
/Library/Extensions/Seagate Storage Driver.kext/Contents/PlugIns
[not loaded] com.seagate.driver.PowSecLeafDriver_10_4 (5.2.7 (26999) - SDK 10.4 - 2016-12-24) [Support]
[loaded] com.seagate.driver.PowSecLeafDriver_10_5 (5.2.7 (26999) - SDK 10.5 - 2016-12-24) [Support]
[not loaded] com.seagate.driver.SeagateDriveIcons (5.2.7 (26999) - SDK 10.4 - 2016-12-24) [Support]
[not loaded] 7 Apple tasks
[loaded] 171 Apple tasks
[running] 75 Apple tasks
[killed] 27 Apple tasks
27 processes killed due to insufficient RAM
[not loaded] 41 Apple tasks
[loaded] 161 Apple tasks
[running] 89 Apple tasks
[killed] 19 Apple tasks
19 processes killed due to insufficient RAM
[running] com.paragon-software.NTFS.fsnotify.agent.plist (2016-12-31) [Support]
[loaded] com.paragon-software.facebook.agent.plist (2016-12-31) [Support]
[failed] com.paragon-software.ntfs.automount.plist (2016-11-28) [Support] - /Library/PreferencePanes/ParagonNTFS.prefPane/Contents/Resources/NTFSAutomountA gent: Executable not found!
[loaded] com.paragon.updater.plist (2016-12-31) [Support]
[running] com.paragon-software.NTFS.fsnotify.daemon.plist (2016-08-29) [Support]
[loaded] com.paragon-software.installer.plist (2016-12-27) [Support]
[loaded] com.paragon.NTFS.launch.plist (2017-01-12)
[running] com.seagate.TBDecorator.plist (2016-06-23) [Support]
[loaded] com.wdc.WDPrivilegedHelper.plist (2017-01-01) [Support] - /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.wdc.WDPrivilegedHelper: Executable not found!
[running] com.seagate.dashboard.plist (2016-12-31) [Support]
iTunesHelper Application (2017-03-24)
(/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)
SpeechSynthesisServer Application
(/System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks /SpeechSynthesis.framework/Versions/A/SpeechSynthesisServer.app)
WDDriveUtilityHelper Application
(/Applications/WD Drive Utilities.app/Contents/WDDriveUtilityHelper.app)
Garmin Express Service Application (2017-03-06)
(/Applications/Garmin Express.app/Contents/Library/LoginItems/Garmin Express Service.app)
QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (2016-12-31)
OfficeLiveBrowserPlugin: 12.3.6 (2016-12-31) [Support]
1Password - AgileBits - https://agilebits.com/onepassword (2016-12-23)
Paragon NTFS for Mac ® OS X (2017-01-01) [Support]
Paragon NTFS for Mac® (2016-12-31) [Support]
Seagate Dashboard for Mac OSX (2016-12-24) [Support]
Skip System Files: NO
Auto backup: YES
Volumes being backed up:
Macintosh HD: Disk size: 998.98 GB Disk used: 223.11 GB
Destinations:
Seagate Backup Plus [Local]
Total size: 4.00 TB
Total number of backups: 23
Oldest backup: 12/28/16, 10:24 AM
Last backup: 3/30/17, 11:40 AM
Size of backup disk: Excellent
Backup size 4.00 TB > (Disk size 998.98 GB X 3)
2% WindowServer
2% kernel_task
1% mdworker(14)
0% cloudd
0% com.apple.AmbientDisplayAgent
4.81 GB kernel_task
688 MB Seagate Dashboard
287 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent(3)
221 MB mdworker(14)
172 MB Mail
761 MB Available RAM
37 MB Free RAM
7.26 GB Used RAM
724 MB Cached files
6.75 GB Swap Used
Two computers (identical) have done this slow down. On the first I got support from a local as l repair guy who told me my HD was gone. Do I bought another one. Its only 3mos. Old so I know it's not the HD, But I don't know what it is.
It's an IMac running Sierra 10.3.
Best guess: there is either malware following you whenever you try to reinstall to a new machine from the same backup or you are trying to use a configuration that can't handle your workload.
The magic 8-ball says you have a slow configuration. For example, the 21" iMac default config includes a 5400rpm laptop HDD which is notorious for spawning beach-balls under El Capitan and Sierra. That issue could be migrated by using an external USB-3 or faster SSD as the boot volume.
For a second opinion please run https://etrecheck.com/ and post the results.
Two computers (identical) have done this slow down. On the first I got support from a local as l repair guy who told me my HD was gone. Do I bought another one. Its only 3mos. Old so I know it's not the HD, But I don't know what it is.
It's an IMac running Sierra 10.3.
I'm using the Seagate External Drive to backup my content on the Mac. Because the first one was so wonky, the repair guy sugested that I have a backup. So I bought the Seagate.
Can you show me on the Etrecheck, or just explain what you mean by the Seagate software (to remove)
Thanks too for the suggestion about rebooting. I've often wondered whether to do that. Lately the computer has been so slow to boot that I've hoped by not shutting it down, I could have a speedier experience.
I've posted my Etrecheck here. So you still feel as though I have malware. Or, can you point me to where I can find:
"migrated by using an external USB-3 or faster SSD as the boot volume."
Thanks so much for your suggestions.
After uninstalling the Seagate software rerun Etrcheck to see if all of the Seagate files are gone. Look for these:
/Library/Extensions
[loaded] com.seagate.driver.PowSecDriverCore (5.2.7 (26999) - SDK 10.4 - 2017-03-24) [Support]
/Library/Extensions/Seagate Storage Driver.kext/Contents/PlugIns
[not loaded] com.seagate.driver.PowSecLeafDriver_10_4 (5.2.7 (26999) - SDK 10.4 - 2016-12-24) [Support]
[loaded] com.seagate.driver.PowSecLeafDriver_10_5 (5.2.7 (26999) - SDK 10.5 - 2016-12-24) [Support]
[not loaded] com.seagate.driver.SeagateDriveIcons (5.2.7 (26999) - SDK 10.4 - 2016-12-24) [Support]
You can check to see if you've removed all of the files by downloading and running Find Any File to search for any files with the application's name and the developer's name in the file name. For example for Seagate software you'd search for
Name contains seagate
Any files that are found can be dragged from the search results window to the Desktop for deletion.
FAF can search areas that Spotlight can't like invisible folders, system folders and packages.
Are you using Time Machine for your backups?
This is what I found in "Find Any File"
Well, it won't let me copy and paste. Let's just say it's 162 items, including those you pointed out, which I've deleted.
I'm really in the weeds now, because I just don't know what (other than what you mentioned) to delete. Help?
Pegster560: 'malware' was just a random guess to illiterate a possible software cause. Your etrecheck report makes that possibility unlikely.
As for the SSD: http://www.macworld.com/article/2907125/use-an-external-ssd-to-make-an-old-mac-f eel-new-without-cracking-it-open.html (The same principle applies to baseline 21.5" iMacs.)
SOLVED!!! Deep, deep thanks and gratitude for all you experts advising me and leading me through this lengthy process. But, for two mornings, my Mac has started right up with no hesitation. So far (two days) I've had not beach balls except to signal a few seconds wait.
I have shut down my computer each night. Wow! That helps SO much!
I did sign out of iCloud. I dumped all the software (Kernel Extensions) for the Maxtor ED. It still works and is backing up my HD as we speak. It has 3Tb of space, so it will be a while before I need to delete anything.
What a joy it is to sit down to my computer an finish a task started yesterday in no time!
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
If you took a screenshot it didn't appear in your post. In the FAF search results window click on this button
to easily see where the files are located like this example:
How can I speed up my Mac
