iMac 27" Mid 2011 - Sometimes stuck at gray Apple screen

Question

I&#x27;m having this bizarre issue with my iMac, which has a 2.7 GHz Core i5, 12GB of RAM (originally 4GB), a 1TB hard drive and an AMD Radeon HD 6770M graphics card with 512MB of video memory.This machine has gotten slow over the years, so when High Sierra came out a couple weeks ago, I downloaded it and created a bootable installer on a USB flash drive. I then reformatted the hard drive as an APFS volume (it was originally HFS+) and performed a fresh install of High Sierra. The computer seemed to perform a bit faster. However...When I tried turning on the iMac today, it seemed to start up like normal; the SuperDrive sought, the startup chime played and the gray Apple screen appeared. However, midway through the startup sequence, the progress bar slowed down drastically, and a moment later, the hard drive stopped spinning! Then, some time later, the HD started up again, then stopped. The progress bar kept filling in slowly, until it got stuck fully filled in. It was stuck like this for half an hour. This is the second time it&#x27;s happened to me.So I held down the power button for 5 seconds to turn off the computer, reset the SMC and now it started up normally! But it&#x27;s still a little slow after the reformat. I think it&#x27;s because of age, since this machine is nearly 6 years old.What do you think is causing this?

Old Toad · Answer

Download and run Etrecheck.  Copy and paste the results into your reply. 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&#x27;s performance.

niclonnic · Answer

Here are my EtreCheck results:EtreCheck version: 3.4.6 (460)Report generated 2017-10-14 15:40:19Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.comRuntime: 2:55Performance: ExcellentClick the [Lookup] links for more information from Apple Support Communities.Click the [Details] links for more information about that line.Problem: Computer is too slowHardware Information: ⓘ    iMac (27-inch, Mid 2011)     [Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty &amp; Service]    iMac - model: iMac12,2    1 2.7 GHz Intel Core i5 (i5-2500S) CPU: 4-core    12 GB RAM Upgradeable - [Instructions]        BANK 0/DIMM0            2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok        BANK 1/DIMM0            2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok        BANK 0/DIMM1            4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok        BANK 1/DIMM1            4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok    Handoff/Airdrop2: not supported    Wireless:  en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n    iCloud Quota: 43.63 GB availableVideo Information: ⓘ    AMD Radeon HD 6770M - VRAM: 512 MB        iMac 2560 x 1440Disk Information: ⓘ    ST31000528AS disk0: (1 TB) (Rotational)    [Show SMART report]        EFI (disk0s1 - MS-DOS FAT32) &lt;not mounted&gt;  [EFI]: 210 MB         (disk0s2) &lt;not mounted&gt;  [APFS Container]: 1000.00 GB    HL-DT-STDVDRW  GA32N  ()USB Information: ⓘ     USB20Bus         Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)          hub_device              USB2.0 Hub             Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub                 Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller      USB20Bus          hub_device             Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver             Apple Internal Memory Card Reader Thunderbolt Information: ⓘ    Apple Inc. thunderbolt_busVirtual disks: ⓘ    Macintosh HD (disk1s1 - APFS) /  [Startup]: 1000.00 GB (959.14 GB free)        Physical disk: disk0s2 1000.00 GB (959.14 GB free)    (disk1s2) &lt;not mounted&gt;  [Preboot]: 1000.00 GB        Physical disk: disk0s2 1000.00 GB     (disk1s3) &lt;not mounted&gt;  [Recovery]: 1000.00 GB        Physical disk: disk0s2 1000.00 GB     (disk1s4) /private/var/vm  [VM]: 1000.00 GB        Physical disk: disk0s2 1000.00 GB System Software: ⓘ    macOS High Sierra  10.13 (17A405) - Time since boot: less than an hourGatekeeper: ⓘ    Mac App Store and identified developersSystem Launch Agents: ⓘ    [not loaded]    9 Apple tasks    [loaded]    176 Apple tasks    [running]    103 Apple tasksSystem Launch Daemons: ⓘ    [not loaded]    36 Apple tasks    [loaded]    183 Apple tasks    [running]    109 Apple tasksLaunch Agents: ⓘ    [running]    com.epson.ecrp.launcher.plist (Seiko Epson Corporation - installed 2017-09-28) [Lookup]    [loaded]    com.epson.esua.launcher.plist (Seiko Epson Corporation - installed 2017-09-28) [Lookup]    [running]    com.epson.eventmanager.agent.plist (Seiko Epson Corporation - installed 2017-09-28) [Lookup]    [running]    com.epson.scannermonitor.plist (Seiko Epson Corporation - installed 2017-09-28) [Lookup]Launch Daemons: ⓘ    [loaded]    com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (? 2afb3af7 ebe01993 - installed 2017-09-25) [Lookup]User Launch Agents: ⓘ    [loaded]    com.google.keystone.agent.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2017-10-14) [Lookup]User Login Items: ⓘ    iTunesHelper    Application (Apple, Inc. - installed 2017-09-27)        (/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)Internet Plug-ins: ⓘ    FlashPlayer-10.6: 27.0.0.159 (installed 2017-10-10) [Lookup]    QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (installed 2017-09-20)    Flash Player: 27.0.0.159 (installed 2017-10-10) [Lookup]3rd Party Preference Panes: ⓘ    Flash Player (installed 2017-09-25) [Lookup]Time Machine: ⓘ    Time Machine not configured!Top Processes by CPU: ⓘ         2%   WindowServer         1%   mdworker         1%   mdworker         1%   Epson Scanner Monitor         1%   kernel_taskTop Processes by Memory: ⓘ    748 MB    kernel_task    112 MB    photoanalysisd    86 MB     mds_stores    68 MB     suggestd    65 MB     FinderTop Processes by Network Use: ⓘ    Input     Output    Process name    116 KB    4 KB      mDNSResponder    14 KB     18 KB     apsd    7 KB      2 KB      cloudd    3 KB      1 KB      netbiosd    0 B       64 B      SystemUIServerTop Processes by Energy Use: ⓘ      4.84 WindowServer      1.68 Epson Scanner Monitor      0.54 EEventManager      0.08 mDNSResponderVirtual Memory Information: ⓘ    9.32 GB   Available RAM    6.68 GB   Free RAM    2.68 GB   Used RAM    2.64 GB   Cached files    0 B       Swap UsedSoftware installs (last 30 days): ⓘ    SD Card Formatter 5.0.0:  (installed 2017-09-27)    EPSON Printer Driver:  (installed 2017-09-28)    Epson Scanner ICA Driver:  (installed 2017-09-28)    Epson Scanner Monitor:  (installed 2017-09-28)    Epson Event Manager:  (installed 2017-09-28)    EPSON PC-FAX Driver:  (installed 2017-09-28)    EpsonNet Setup:  (installed 2017-09-28)    EPSON Printer Patch:  (installed 2017-09-28)    Epson Customer Research Participation:  (installed 2017-09-28)    EPSON Software Updater:  (installed 2017-09-28)    ET-4500:  (installed 2017-09-28)    EPSON Software Updater:  (installed 2017-09-28)    Epson Connect Printer Setup:  (installed 2017-09-28)    EPSON Printer Driver:  (installed 2017-09-28)    EPSON Scan PDF Extensions:  (installed 2017-09-28)    EPSON Scan:  (installed 2017-09-28)    Logitech Control Center:  (installed 2017-09-30)    Oracle VM VirtualBox: 5.1.28 (installed 2017-10-02)    Adobe Flash Player:  (installed 2017-10-04)    Adobe Flash Player:  (installed 2017-10-10)    Install information may not be complete.Diagnostics Events (last 3 days for minor events): ⓘ    2017-10-14 12:38:21    systemsoundserverd Crash [Open]    2017-10-13 01:00:25    accountsd Crash [Open]        Cause:        *** Terminating app due to uncaught exception &#x27;NSInvalidArgumentException&#x27;, reason: &#x27;*** -[__NSPlaceholderArray initWithObjects:count:]: attempt to insert nil object from objects[0]&#x27;        terminating with uncaught exception of type NSException        abort() called

SeaPapp · Answer

Try booting into Safe mode Use safe mode to isolate issues with your Mac - Apple Support Then just restart normally

niclonnic · Answer

Okay, so I booted into Safe Mode, and no issues happened. I then restarted normally, and the computer started up just fine.

SeaPapp · Answer

A safe boot clears out some caches and does some repairs. If your iMac continues to start up and function normally you don&#x27;t need to do anything else.

Old Toad · Answer

Ditto what Mike said.  There are no unusual indicators in your Etrecheck report.  Just keep using your machine and keep an eye on performce.  Good luck.