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Level 1

9 points

iMac suddenly extremely slow

Hello, my iMac is suddenly running terribly slow. It takes minutes for an application to open and run.

I've run EtreCheck and do not see anything strange except for the fact that EtreCheck ran really slow. Does anyone see something I am missing? Thanks so much for any help.

EtreCheck version: 4.3.1 (4D024)

Report generated: 2018-05-25 22:24:39

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime: 110:14

Performance: Poor

Problem: Computer is too slow

Major Issues:

Anything that appears on this list needs immediate attention.

Poor performance - EtreCheck report took over 10 minutes to run. This is very unusual.

Minor Issues:

These issues do not need immediate attention but they may indicate future problems.

Apps hanging - There have been numerous app hangs.

Apps with heavy CPU usage - There have been numerous cases of apps with heavy CPU usage.

Clean up - There are orphan files that could be removed.

Unsigned files - There is unsigned software installed. They appear to be legitimate but should be reviewed.

32-bit Apps - This machine has 32-bits apps that may have problems in the future.

Hardware Information:

iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2014)

iMac Model: iMac15,1

1 4 GHz Intel Core i7 (i7-4790K) CPU: 4-core

32 GB RAM - At maximum

BANK 0/DIMM0 - 8 GB DDR3 1600 ok

BANK 1/DIMM0 - 8 GB DDR3 1600 ok

BANK 0/DIMM1 - 8 GB DDR3 1600 ok

BANK 1/DIMM1 - 8 GB DDR3 1600 ok

Video Information:

AMD Radeon R9 M295X - VRAM: 4096 MB

iMac

Drives:

disk0 - APPLE SSD SD0128F 121.33 GB (Solid State - TRIM: Yes)

Internal PCI 5.0 GT/s x2 Serial ATA

disk0s1 - EFI (MS-DOS FAT32) [EFI] 210 MB

disk0s2 [Core Storage Container] 120.99 GB

disk0s3 - B*******X [Recovery] 134 MB

disk1 - APPLE HDD ST3000DM001 3.00 TB (Mechanical)

Internal SATA 6 Gigabit Serial ATA

Mounted Volumes:

Network:

Interface Bluetooth-Modem: Bluetooth DUN

Interface en0: Ethernet

Interface en1: Wi-Fi

802.11 a/b/g/n/ac

One IPv4 address

2 IPv6 addresses

Interface en5: iPhone

Interface en6: iPad

Interface en4: Bluetooth PAN

Interface bridge0: Thunderbolt Bridge

System Software:

macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 (17E202)

Time since boot: Less than an hour

System Load: 1.61 (1 min ago) 1.69 (5 min ago) 1.66 (15 min ago)

Security:

System	Status
Gatekeeper	Mac App Store and identified developers
System Integrity Protection	Enabled

Unsigned Files:

Launchd: ~/Library/LaunchAgents/jp.co.canon.Inkjet_Extended_Survey_Agent.plist

Executable: /Applications/Canon Utilities/Inkjet Extended Survey Program/Inkjet Extended Survey Program.app/Contents/Resources/Canon_Inkjet_Extended_Survey_Agent

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

Launchd: /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.bomgar.bomgar-scc-5B084E82.plist

Executable: /Library/LaunchDaemons/.com.bomgar.bomgar-scc-5B084E82.helper/mac_service_helpe r.sh com.bomgar.bomgar-scc-5B084E82 /Users/***/bomgar-scc-20180525-195706.app/Contents/MacOS/sdcust -service:run

Details: Executable file is hidden - possibly adware

Launchd: /Library/LaunchAgents/com.bomgar.bomgar-scc-sdcust-login-drone-5B084E82.plist

Executable: /Users/***/bomgar-scc-20180525-195706.app/Contents/MacOS/sdcust -drone

32-bit Applications:

22 32-bit apps

System Launch Agents:

[Not Loaded]	8 Apple tasks
[Loaded]	177 Apple tasks
[Running]	106 Apple tasks
[Other]	2 Apple tasks

System Launch Daemons:

[Not Loaded]	37 Apple tasks
[Loaded]	180 Apple tasks
[Running]	118 Apple tasks

Launch Agents:

[Loaded]	com.microsoft.update.agent.plist (? 5cdbb3ff - installed 2018-04-21)
[Not Loaded]	com.bomgar.bomgar-scc-sdcust-login-drone-5B084E82.plist (? 2ce58eef - installed 2018-05-25)

Launch Daemons:

[Loaded]	com.microsoft.autoupdate.helper.plist (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2018-04-21)
[Loaded]	com.bomgar.bomgar-scc-5B084E82.plist (? 4989abff - installed 2018-05-25)
[Loaded]	com.apple.installer.osmessagetracing.plist (Apple - installed 2018-04-18)
[Loaded]	com.oracle.java.JavaUpdateHelper.plist (? 3298096d - installed 2014-06-01)
[Not Loaded]	mac_service_helper.sh (? 408479ce - installed 2018-05-25)
[Loaded]	com.microsoft.office.licensingV2.helper.plist (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2018-01-17)

User Launch Agents:

[Loaded]	com.google.keystone.agent.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2018-02-04)
[Loaded]	com.dropbox.DropboxMacUpdate.agent.plist (Dropbox, Inc. - installed 2018-04-21)
[Loaded]	com.logmein.GoToMeeting.G2MUpdate.plist (Citrix Online LLC - installed 2017-08-30)
[Loaded]	com.citrixonline.GoToMeeting.G2MUpdate.plist (Citrix Online LLC - installed 2017-08-30)
[Not Loaded]	jp.co.canon.Inkjet_Extended_Survey_Agent.plist (? 0 - installed 2012-06-18)
[Other]	com.apple.CSConfigDotMacCert-*@*-SharedServices.Agent.plist (? 0 - installed 2013-01-12)

User Login Items:

Launch Nikon Message Center 2 Application (? - installed 2013-03-15)

(/Applications/Nikon Software/Nikon Message Center 2/Nikon Message Center 2.app/Contents/SharedSupport/Launch Nikon Message Center 2.app)

iTunesHelper Application (? - installed 2018-04-22)

(/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)

Dropbox Application (Dropbox, Inc. - installed 2018-05-22)

(/Applications/Dropbox.app)

Google Chrome Application (Google, Inc. - installed 2018-05-17)

(/Applications/Google Chrome.app)

Internet Plug-ins:

Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: 3.1.0.24 (installed 2015-01-17)

QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (installed 2018-04-22)

iPhotoPhotocast: 7.0 (installed 2015-01-17)

JavaAppletPlugin: Java 7 Update 60 (installed 2015-01-17)

EPPEX Plugin: 10.0 (installed 2015-01-17)

User Internet Plug-ins:

Google Earth Web Plug-in: 7.1 (installed 2013-10-07)

Time Machine:

Skip System Files: No

Mobile backups:

Auto backup: Yes

Volumes being backed up:

Destinations:

U******d [Local] (Last used)

Total size: 4.00 TB

Total number of backups: 119

Oldest backup: 2016-10-21 17:10:43

Last backup: 2018-05-24 22:32:11

Top Processes by CPU:

Process (count)	Source	% of CPU	Location
sandboxd	Apple	5
kernel_task	Apple	1
diagnosticd	Apple	0
Activity Monitor	?	0	/Applications/Utilities/Activity Monitor.app
Console	Apple	0

Top Processes by Memory:

Process (count)	Source	RAM usage	Location
Google Chrome Helper (14)	Google, Inc.	1.88 GB
kernel_task	Apple	1.68 GB
WindowServer	Apple	353 MB
mdworker (7)	Apple	343 MB
com.apple.MediaLibraryService (2)	Apple	325 MB

Top Processes by Network Use:

Process	Source	Input	Output	Location
mDNSResponder	Apple	542 KB	72 KB
Dropbox	Dropbox, Inc.	246 KB	159 KB
netbiosd	Apple	14 KB	10 KB
apsd	Apple	4 KB	6 KB
CalendarAgent	Apple	5 KB	5 KB

Top Processes by Energy Use:

Process (count)	Source	Energy (0-100)	Location
Google Chrome Helper (14)	Google, Inc.	0
Activity Monitor	?	0	/Applications/Utilities/Activity Monitor.app
WindowServer	Apple	0
sysmond	Apple	0
launchd	Apple	0

Virtual Memory Information:

Available RAM	23.39 GB
Free RAM	18.12 GB
Used RAM	8.61 GB
Cached files	5.27 GB
Swap Used	0 B

Software Installs (past 30 days):

Name	Version	Install Date
Numbers	5.0	2018-05-06
Pages	7.0	2018-05-06
Keynote	8.0	2018-05-06
Security Update 2018-001	2018-05-06
Photo Image Editor Pixelstyle	3.6.3	2018-05-07
Carbonite	2018-05-14
Microsoft Excel for Mac	2018-05-17
Microsoft PowerPoint for Mac	2018-05-17
PhotoScape X	2.8	2018-05-21
Microsoft Word for Mac	2018-05-23
Microsoft OneNote for Mac	2018-05-23
Microsoft Outlook for Mac	2018-05-25

Clean up:

~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.CSConfigDotMacCert-***@***-SharedServices.Agent .plist

/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Frameworks/OSServices.framewor k/Versions/A/Support/CSConfigDotMacCert

Executable not found

Diagnostics Information (past 7 days):

2018-05-25 07:59:41 CarboniteDaemon.app CPU (26 times)

/Library/Application Support/Carbonite/CarboniteDaemon.app

2018-05-25 00:18:32 logd Crash

/usr/libexec/logd

2018-05-24 23:54:12 Nikon Message Center 2.app CPU

/Applications/Nikon Software/*/Nikon Message Center 2.app

2018-05-24 23:36:56 Dropbox.app CPU (3 times)

/Applications/Dropbox.app

2018-05-23 10:17:41 Image Capture.app Hang (7 times)

/Applications/Image Capture.app

End of report

iMac, macOS High Sierra (10.13.4)

Posted on May 25, 2018 2:07 PM

Similar questions

6 replies

etresoft

Level 8

46,312 points

May 26, 2018 6:47 PM in response to ejhannon

ejhannon wrote:

is it possible that my RAM is failing and not my hard drive?

Did your computer start running terribly slow immediately after installing the 3rd party RAM? If not, then no. It is your hard drive.

How would I be able to tell the difference in the report?

There isn't anything in an EtreCheck report to specifically check for the validity of RAM. You can run an Apple Hardware Test to check your RAM: macOS Sierra: Use Apple Diagnostics or Apple Hardware Test

However, your EtreCheck report did have three separate issues that pointed to a bad hard drive:

1) 110 minutes to run the report

2) Missing "Mounted volumes" section

3) Signature failure on Apple-provided app (Activity Monitor)

I ask because I have a 3rd party RAM (Samsung) that I bought when I first purchased the machine.

If you have had this RAM since first purchasing the machine, and the problem only started recently, then the RAM is fine.

When I previously took the iMac into the Apple store for service around a year ago, they scoffed at my non-Apple RAM and said I should replace it.

I scoff at their scoffing. Apple explicitly supports 3rd party RAM in this machine and even provides specification and instructions on how to upgrade it: https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT201191#1

What you might not realize is that the 3 TB mechanical drives that Apple installs in these machines have been problematic for years. Apple even had a special recall program just for these 3 TB drives. This program has now ended (here is an Internet Archive version) and it didn't apply to your specific machine. But I'm willing to bet that the 3 TB drives are still flaky. I've seen a number of reports very similar to yours. Apple is only going to issue that kind of recall if the drives fail too soon, while the machine could still be under an AppleCare warranty. But your 2014 machine is past that 3-year window. All bets are off.

P.P.S. FYI, Bomgar and Carbonite were related. Carbonite is an off-site back-up and the first time I ran EtreCheck, it showed the CarboniteDaemon as taking 104% CPU. Carbonite used Bomgar to remote access the computer and check if their software was the reason my machine was so slow.

That makes sense. I have seen a number of reports with Carbonite running wild like that. But you have machine with 4 cores. Even with Carbonite running crazy, you should still have 3 cores left. That does not explain your machine running 50 times too slow.

macjack

Level 10

111,168 points

May 25, 2018 3:12 PM in response to ejhannon

It looks like one of your files may be malware. Download and run Malwarebytes. Malwarebytes was developed by one of our own colleagues here in ASC and is about the most proven anti-malware software for Mac.

If that doesn't help then I'd suspect hardware. You Etrecheck runtime for your report is about the longest I've seen, it may indicate a failing hard drive. Boot into Recovery Mode and run Disk Utility > First Aid. If it reports errors run it until it either reports no errors or it reports the disk could not be fixed.

May 26, 2018 10:34 AM in response to ejhannon

Bomgar seems like a weird component in the list. It seems to be installed recently without being listed in the recently installed software list; that is suspicious in itself.

Carbonite is a recent addition from an unregistered (!) developer. Keep checking on it if it behaves well.

Lots of other junk detected as well. Consider deleting:

Canon Inkjet Extended Survey - Do you really need to send your daily ink levels to Canon?

Nikon Message Center - I don’t think Nikon uses this update method anymore.

Java 7 - Java 10 is the current version, if you still have use for Java

CSConfigDotMacCert - Obsolete part of a predecessor before iCloud

iPhotoPhotocast - Obsolete; feature no longer exists

EPPEX Plugin - Part of Canon software; no idea why they thought they needed a browser plugin?

Google Earth Web Plug-in - obsolete; replaced by WebGL (no plug-in needed).

GoToMeeting - There are newer versions (2018-02), if you still use it.

etresoft

Level 8

46,312 points

May 25, 2018 5:17 PM in response to ejhannon

Hello ejhannon,

I think your hard drive is failing. You have Fusion drive which includes an SSD as well as a traditional mechanical drive. I'm pretty sure the mechanical portion has failed. Your EtreCheck report ran about 50 times slower than it should. Your report was missing any information for "Mounted volumes". I have sometimes seen machines that are missing any "disk information" and that is flagged as a particularly serious issue. I will add this "Mounted volumes" section to that category. Activity Monitor was listed in your running processes but it is being reported as having an invalid or missing signature. Activity Monitor's signature should be there. A failing hard drive would explain that problem too.

The Bomgar software is an enterprise/white-label remote control software used by various help desks. It is legitimate software but doesn't act like it.

Take your machine to an Apple Store or Authorized Apple Service Centre. You can't fix an iMac on your own. In the future, never buy a Mac with a mechanical hard drive.

ejhannon Author

Level 1

9 points

May 26, 2018 10:42 AM in response to etresoft

Thank you for the help. Very much appreciated. One follow-up question: is it possible that my RAM is failing and not my hard drive? How would I be able to tell the difference in the report?

I ask because I have a 3rd party RAM (Samsung) that I bought when I first purchased the machine. When I previously took the iMac into the Apple store for service around a year ago, they scoffed at my non-Apple RAM and said I should replace it.

Thanks in advance for any additional tips on this!

P.S. I tried to click on ‘Helpful‘ for your answer, but it is grayed out for some reason. I will try again.

P.P.S. FYI, Bomgar and Carbonite were related. Carbonite is an off-site back-up and the first time I ran EtreCheck, it showed the CarboniteDaemon as taking 104% CPU. Carbonite used Bomgar to remote access the computer and check if their software was the reason my machine was so slow.

ejhannon Author

Level 1

9 points

May 25, 2018 3:14 PM in response to macjack

Thank you so much for the quick help. Much appreciated. I will try those tips.

iMac suddenly extremely slow