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Just yesterday my iMac w/ Sierra 10.13.4 started taking more than 20 minutes to boot, and that was after two forced shutdowns. What's happening?

Just yesterday my iMac w/ Sierra 10.13.4 started taking more than 20 minutes to boot, and that was after two forced shutdowns. What's happening?

iMac, macOS High Sierra (10.13)

Posted on Jun 8, 2018 8:33 AM

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Question marked as Best reply

Posted on Jun 14, 2018 9:35 AM

Cottontail41 wrote:


Thank you, Mike. How do I find this "Recovery" to get to "Disk Utility?" They don't show up in "Search."



Shut down your iMac and restart while holding the Command-R keys until you see the Apple logo. You will be presented with the Mac Utilities screen from where you can select Disk Utility. About macOS Recovery - Apple Support

16 replies
Question marked as Best reply

Jun 14, 2018 9:35 AM in response to Cottontail41

Cottontail41 wrote:


Thank you, Mike. How do I find this "Recovery" to get to "Disk Utility?" They don't show up in "Search."



Shut down your iMac and restart while holding the Command-R keys until you see the Apple logo. You will be presented with the Mac Utilities screen from where you can select Disk Utility. About macOS Recovery - Apple Support

Jun 14, 2018 9:35 AM in response to SeaPapp

Mike: Finally had a chance to follow all Apple support for macOS Recovery. Went from Time Machine with latest backup. Took about 1-1/2 hours, then 2 minutes to reboot w/ Apple pw and a new verification code. It's still taking a long time to reboot. Got everything back w/ Sierra 10.13.5. I'm thinking the long startup is still telling me it may be time (8 years) to spring for a new iMac ??

Jun 14, 2018 9:59 AM in response to Cottontail41

To confirm that it's not any 3rd party software that's contribution to the Mac's performance 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's performance.

Jun 14, 2018 11:28 AM in response to Old Toad

EtreCheck version: 4.3.2 (4D034)

Report generated: 2018-06-14 13:34:58

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime: 12:19

Performance: Poor


Problem: Computer is too slow

Description:

Very slow on startup. No other problems as yet after the slow booting.


Major Issues:

Anything that appears on this list needs immediate attention.


Stuck iCloud - This machine has a large number of pending iCloud transfers.

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.


Upgradeable RAM - This machine has upgradeable RAM that would help its performance.

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.

Vintage hardware - This machine may be considered vintage.

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


Hardware Information:

iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2010) - Vintage!

iMac Model: iMac11,2

1 3.2 GHz Intel Core i3 (i3) CPU: 2-core

4 GB RAM - Upgradeable

BANK 0/DIMM0 - Empty

BANK 1/DIMM0 - Empty

BANK 0/DIMM1 - 2 GB DDR3 1333 ok

BANK 1/DIMM1 - 2 GB DDR3 1333 ok


Video Information:

ATI Radeon HD 5670 - VRAM: 512 MB

iMac 1920 x 1080


Drives:

disk0 - WDC WD1001FALS-40Y6A0 1.00 TB (Mechanical)

Internal SATA 3 Gigabit Serial ATA

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

disk0s2 - Macintosh HD (Journaled HFS+) 999.35 GB

disk0s3 - Recovery HD [Recovery] 650 MB


disk1 - Seagate BUP Slim SL 2.00 TB

External USB 480 Mbit/s

disk1s1 - EFI (MS-DOS FAT32) [EFI] 210 MB

disk1s2 - S***********************e (Case-Sensitive Journaled HFS+) 2.00 TB


disk2 - SanDisk Ultra 125.12 GB

External USB 480 Mbit/s

disk2s1 - H*****S (MS-DOS FAT32) 125.09 GB


Mounted Volumes:

disk0s2 - Macintosh HD 999.35 GB (907.85 GB free)

Journaled HFS+

Mount point: /


disk1s2 - S***********************e 2.00 TB (1.60 TB free)

Case-Sensitive Journaled HFS+

Mount point: /Volumes/S***********************e


disk2s1 - H*****S 125.09 GB (121.76 GB free)

MS-DOS FAT32

Mount point: /Volumes/H*****S


Network:

Interface en0: Ethernet

Interface en4: iPhone

Interface en3: iPad

Interface fw0: FireWire

Interface en1: Wi-Fi

802.11 a/b/g/n

One IPv4 address

Interface en2: Bluetooth PAN

iCloud Quota: 42.39 GB available

iCloud Status: 5483 pending files


System Software:

macOS High Sierra 10.13.5 (17F77)

Time since boot: Less than an hour

System Load: 1.89 (1 min ago) 2.29 (5 min ago) 1.59 (15 min ago)


Security:

SystemStatus
GatekeeperMac App Store and identified developers
System Integrity ProtectionEnabled


Unsigned Files:

Launchd: /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.wdc.SmartwareDriveService.plist

Executable: /Library/Application Support/WD SmartWare Services/SmartwareDriveService

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

Launchd: /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.adobe.fpsaud.plist

Executable: /Library/Application Support/Adobe/Flash Player Install Manager/fpsaud

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

Launchd: /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.wdc.WDSmartWareService.plist

Executable: /Library/Application Support/WD SmartWare Services/SmartwareServiceApp.app/Contents/MacOS/SmartwareServiceApp

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

Launchd: /Library/LaunchAgents/com.hp.help.tocgenerator.plist

Executable: /Library/Documentation/Help/Hewlett-Packard/TOCGenerator.app/Contents/MacOS/TOC Generator

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

Launchd: /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.seagate.TBDecorator.plist

Executable: /Library/Application Support/Seagate/TBLoopDriveParams

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK


32-bit Applications:

87 32-bit apps


Kernel Extensions:

/Library/Extensions

[Loaded] Seagate Storage Driver.kext (Seagate Technologies LLC, 5.2.7 (26995) - SDK 10.4)

[Loaded] SophosFileProtection.kext (Sophos, 9.6.53 - SDK 10.11)

[Loaded] SophosWebProtection.kext (Sophos, 9.6.52 - SDK 10.11)


/Library/Extensions/Seagate Storage Driver.kext/Contents/PlugIns

[Not Loaded] SeagateLeafPowSecDriver_10_4.kext (Seagate Technologies LLC, 5.2.7 (26995) - SDK 10.4)

[Loaded] SeagateLeafPowSecDriver_10_5.kext (Seagate Technologies LLC, 5.2.7 (26995) - SDK 10.5)

[Not Loaded] SeagateDriveIcons.kext (Seagate Technologies LLC, 5.2.7 (26995) - SDK 10.4)


/System/Library/Extensions

[Not Loaded] WD1394HPDriver.kext (1.0.9)

[Not Loaded] WDUSBHPDriver.kext (1.0.11)


System Launch Agents:

[Not Loaded] 8 Apple tasks
[Loaded] 182 Apple tasks
[Running] 102 Apple tasks
[Other] One Apple task


System Launch Daemons:

[Not Loaded] 36 Apple tasks
[Loaded] 190 Apple tasks
[Running] 109 Apple tasks


Launch Agents:

[Running] com.sophos.uiserver.plist (Sophos - installed 2017-09-27)
[Loaded] com.hp.quick.connect.software.agent.plist (Hewlett Packard - installed 2014-03-14)
[Loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2018-02-03)
[Other] com.adobe.ARMDCHelper.cc24aef4a1b90ed56a725c38014c95072f92651fb65e1bf9c8e43c37a2 3d420d.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2018-02-14)
[Running] com.canon.MFManager.plist (? 8a8296d7 - installed 2014-10-18)
[Running] com.sophos.agent.plist (Sophos - installed 2017-09-27)
[Loaded] com.hp.help.tocgenerator.plist (? 11d191c4 - installed 2009-08-04)


Launch Daemons:

[Loaded] com.adobe.ARMDC.SMJobBlessHelper.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2018-02-14)
[Running] com.wdc.SmartwareDriveService.plist (? b71286b - installed 2013-11-18)
[Running] com.wdc.WDSmartWareService.plist (? dbb7e753 - installed 2013-11-11)
[Loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (? 2afb3af7 - installed 2016-04-15)
[Loaded] com.adobe.ARMDC.Communicator.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2018-02-14)
[Loaded] com.google.keystone.daemon.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2018-03-06)
[Running] com.seagate.TBDecorator.plist (? 595582c - installed 2015-11-02)
[Running] com.sophos.common.servicemanager.plist (Sophos - installed 2017-09-27)


User Launch Agents:

[Running] com.hp.devicemonitor.plist (HP Inc. - installed 2018-06-14)
[Running] com.hp.productresearch.plist (HP Inc. - installed 2018-06-14)
[Other] com.apple.CSConfigDotMacCert-***@***-SharedServices.Agent.plist (? 0 - installed 2011-09-19)
[Other] com.adobe.ARM.***.plist (? 0 - installed 2011-11-30)


User Login Items:

Kodak EasyShare Wireless Listener Application (? - installed 2011-09-23)

(/Applications/Kodak EasyShare.app/Contents/MacOS/Kodak EasyShare Wireless Listener.app)

Safari Application (Apple - installed 2018-06-13)

(/Applications/Safari.app)

Stickies Application (Apple - installed 2018-06-13)

(/Applications/Stickies.app)

iTunesHelper Folder (?)

(/Applications/Pages.app/Contents/SharedSupport/Templates/10_Moving_Card/hi.lpr oj)

Backup and Sync Application (Google, Inc. - installed 2018-05-30)

(/Applications/Backup and Sync.app)

Garmin Express Service Application (Garmin International - installed 2018-06-14)

(/Applications/Garmin Express.app/Contents/Library/LoginItems/Garmin Express Service.app)

HP Product Research SMLoginItem (HP Inc. - installed 2018-01-16)

(/Library/Printers/hp/Utilities/HPPU Plugins/ProductImprovementStudy.hptask/Contents/Helpers/HP Product Research Manager.app/Contents/Library/LoginItems/HP Product Research.app)

HP Device Monitor SMLoginItem (HP Inc. - installed 2018-01-16)

(/Library/Printers/hp/Frameworks/HPDeviceMonitoring.framework/Versions/1.0/Help ers/HP Device Monitor Manager.app/Contents/Library/LoginItems/HP Device Monitor.app)


Internet Plug-ins:

JavaAppletPlugin: 15.0.1 (installed 2012-07-19)

FlashPlayer-10.6: 21.0.0.226 (installed 2016-04-22)

QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (installed 2018-06-13)

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: 17.012.20098 (installed 2018-05-16)

AdobePDFViewer: 18.011.20040 (installed 2018-05-16)

CANONiMAGEGATEWAYDL: 3.2.0.1 (installed 2012-06-15)

Flash Player: 21.0.0.226 (installed 2016-04-22)

GarminGpsControl: 4.1.0.0 Release (installed 2013-10-09)

Silverlight: 5.1.10411.0 (installed 2012-12-03)

iPhotoPhotocast: 7.0 (installed 2012-04-10)


User Internet Plug-ins:

Picasa: 1.0 (installed 2013-11-18)


3rd Party Preference Panes:

Flash Player (installed 2016-04-15)

LaCie Shortcut Button (installed 2011-09-23)

Seagate Dashboard for Mac OSX (installed 2016-02-03)


Time Machine:

Skip System Files: No

Mobile backups:

Auto backup: Yes

Volumes being backed up:

Macintosh HD: Disk size: 999.35 GB - Disk used: 91.49 GB

Destinations:

S***********************e [Local] (Last used)

Total size: 2.00 TB

Total number of backups: 121

Oldest backup: 2016-01-20 11:55:06

Last backup: 2018-06-14 09:39:48


Top Processes by CPU:

Process (count)Source% of CPULocation
system_profiler (2)Apple11
fontworkerApple9
birdApple8
WindowServerApple6
fontd (2)Apple6


Top Processes by Memory:

Process (count)SourceRAM usageLocation
Google Chrome Helper (19)Google, Inc.1.01 GB
kernel_taskApple447 MB
system_profiler (2)Apple320 MB
mdworker (18)Apple246 MB
Google ChromeGoogle, Inc.196 MB


Top Processes by Network Use:

ProcessSourceInputOutputLocation
SophosWebIntelligence?1 MB44 KB
clouddApple70 KB438 KB
mDNSResponderApple44 KB20 KB
apsdApple26 KB11 KB
SophosSXLD?7 KB19 KB


Top Processes by Energy Use:

Process (count)SourceEnergy (0-100)Location
clouddApple9
WindowServerApple3
birdApple2
SophosScanD?1
mdworker (18)Apple1


Virtual Memory Information:

Available RAM963 MB
Free RAM17 MB
Used RAM3.06 GB
Cached files947 MB
Swap Used0 B


Software Installs (past 30 days):

NameVersionInstall Date
Adobe Acrobat Reader DC (18.011.20040)18.011.200402018-05-16
iTunes12.7.52018-05-30
Gatekeeper Configuration Data1402018-05-31
Full Deck Solitaire1.762018-06-03
Garmin Express02018-06-14


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

~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.adobe.ARM.***.plist

/Applications/Adobe Reader.app/Contents/MacOS/Updater/Adobe Reader Updater Helper.app/Contents/MacOS/Adobe Reader Updater Helper

Executable not found


End of report

Jun 14, 2018 12:11 PM in response to Cottontail41

You have several things that are unnecessary and probably are contributors to the poor performance:


1 - Sophos A/V software. This is totally unneeded and should be removed according to the developer's instructions: Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac: How to uninstall - Sophos Community


2 & 3 - Seagate and WD drive software. The macOSX does not need 3rd party software to manage drives. The software only interferes with the system's management and can lead to performance issues. Remove the Seagate and WD software.


If after addressing the above the Mac is still sluggish consider upping your RAM memory to a minimum of 8 GB. The best suppliers of Mac RAM modules are Crucial.com and macsales.com.

Jun 15, 2018 4:45 AM in response to Old Toad

Thank you so much. I really appreciate your efforts on my behalf. I’m really out of my element here.


Not sure at all about how to handle the iCloud issue. I’d love to just dump it completely. I really do not need to store all the stuff it holds.


Just one more question: on the Seagate, that’s my external backup. Can it function properly without its software? Does it work off the Time Machine?

Jun 15, 2018 2:37 PM in response to Old Toad

Thank you so much. I really appreciate your efforts on my behalf. I’m really out of my element here.


Not sure at all about how to handle the iCloud issue. I’d love to just dump it completely. I really do not need to store all the stuff it holds.


Just one more question: on the Seagate, that’s my external backup. Can it function properly without its software? Does it work off the Time Machine?

Jun 15, 2018 2:45 PM in response to Old Toad

Yes, TM uses the Seagate. As per your suggestion, I’ve dumped it. Never seems to have interfered with Time Machine backups over the years, but it is just as well to be rid of it if it contributed to current problems... and I have noticed the iMac is booting faster. Thanks. (Considering purchasing more RAM, but wondering if this 2010 model is “over the hill” and the problems will just keep coming?)

Just yesterday my iMac w/ Sierra 10.13.4 started taking more than 20 minutes to boot, and that was after two forced shutdowns. What's happening?

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