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time capsule backing up everything

I went into Time Capsule preferences to check the right destination drive was being used, and it was. The reason being, it hadn't backed up for 8 days. I clicked on the drive name before leaving Preferences.


It is now backing up, but it is backing up everything, ignoring all the old backups already on the Time Capsule.


Is there a way I can make it see the old backups so that it only performs an incremental backup?


Thanks

Steve

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2012)

Posted on Nov 13, 2018 12:16 PM

Reply
14 replies

Nov 13, 2018 4:28 PM in response to Flybr1dge

I have no idea what model the Time Capsule is. I bought it with the MBP mid 2012. I have no idea of the firmware, nor how to find it out.

Does your TC look more like the image on the right or the left?

User uploaded file User uploaded file

The image on the left would be an 802.11n TC, and if you purchased it around 2012 then it could be a 4th generation model. How you can tell for sure, and what version of firmware it is running, is to use the AirPort Utility, as follows:

  • Run the AirPort Utility
  • Select the TC.
  • Hold down the option key, and then, select Edit.
  • The Model and firmware Version will be provided on the Summary tab.

I have had issues occasionally with this TC. I have had to reset before now, but I didn't do that this time.

As you can imagine, your TC is getting a little "long in the tooth." ... so it potentially can start having issues with backups. Coupled with Time Machine becoming more inconsistent the TC since macOS Sierra, you may want to consider using another incremental backup strategy ... either use a directly attached drive or use another backup app, like Carbon Copy Cloner.

I'm not using any VM.

Thanks for clarifying that. I asked because just about any time you run a VM, its "file" will change. This will cause TM to want to back it up ... and those VMs typically can be multiple GBs in size.

The back up is still running. It has done 18.62Gb of 554.3 Gb in the last 5 or 6 hours.

FWIW. TM, typically, backs up at a rate of around 25-30 GB per hour (over an Ethernet connection), even less for a wireless one ... which could indicate a network issue as you alluded to.

Using Onyx to build the Spotlight index earlier today has helped a bit) so I'm guessing it will take a few days for this backup to complete.

Good idea! TM requires Spotlight indexing on the TM volume, and this will occur regardless of whether that volume in included in Spotlight's Privacy tab or not.

Nov 14, 2018 9:28 AM in response to Flybr1dge

Using the option key doesn't bring up anything. I had to sign in with my password to bring up a dialogue box. This shows me the serial number and version (7.6.3) but not the model.

I'm assuming that you are using v6.x of the AirPort Utility to manage your AirPort Extreme base station ... is that correct? If so, when you run it, your Extreme should appear in the initial window. When you click on it, you should get a pop-up window with an option button to Edit. Now if you hold down the option key BEFORE clicking on the Edit button, you should now get another pop-up window which has a number of tabs. The first one should be "Summary." This is the tab I was referring to from my previous post and the one with the info on the model and firmware version.


7.6.3 is a relatively old version. Since then, there are 7.6.4, 7.6.7, 7.6.8, & 7.6.9. At this point, you may want to consider upgrading the base station's firmware up to level 7.6.8, at least ... but is not critical at this point in time.

Update the firmware on your AirPort base station - Apple Support

I assume that if I click the Update button it will check then ask me if I want an update (if available) rather than just launch into an available update. I suppose that may help.

Yes, this would be the path to upgrade the base station's firmware. Again, let's hold off for now.

It recognises that only 380GB of 2TB is available (554.3GB is being backed up), so it can see the disk is occupied, even though it is performing a full back up. Is there any merit in wiping the disk and starting again?

Yes, you should start "fresh." However, before proceeding there's one very important question to ask yourself:

Is the current backups critical to you? If yes, perform an archive to an external drive connected to the TC. If no, then perform an "erase" to wipe the TC's internal drive clean. Both of these options are available from the AirPort Utility on the Disk tab.

I don't understand why it has decided to perform a full back up. Hence me wondering if I should just wipe it and start again. (I do have remote data back up to the web, so if there is a major fail, I can at least get all my data back, even if I can't get a full disk image from TC).

Again, there are a number of reasons for this. The most common one is that TM has become more unreliable for backing up to a TC since macOS Sierra ... and that's not the case if you have it back up to an external drive directly attached to your Mac or to a dedicate NAS device that supports TM backups, like any from Synology.

(And the speed issue in general isn't the wireless. My machine is painfully slow now. I had a new disk fitted and an OS reset 2 years ago at the local Apple store. For a short while it was great, but it is just so slow now. I don't download lots of apps or games, so I'm not sure what is building up to slow it down. I've tried resetting the PRAM etc. but to no avail. I guess I'm stuck with a slowing machine.)

To help troubleshoot your Mac, I would suggest that you consider using EtreCheck and posting the resultant report for us to review. (Note: The EtreCheck report does NOT contain any personal information.)

  • You can download EtreCheck fromhere.
  • Start EtreCheck from a normal user account. Optionally, you can run it from a user account with Administrator privileges.
  • Select a problem from the drop-down menu to enable the "Start EtreCheck" button. Optionally, you can add comments on what issues your Mac is experiencing, especially to aide others with similar Mac issues.
  • Click on Start EtreCheck
  • Allow the program to run to completion.
  • When done, select Report from the left-side window to display it.
  • Select the "Share Report" icon.

    Select Copy Report

  • Paste the report to your reply post.


Ref: Using EtreCheck - ASC (etresoft)

Nov 14, 2018 2:04 PM in response to Flybr1dge

Ok, let's go over the report...

EtreCheck version:5.0.2 (5015)

Report generated:2018-11-14 20:15:48

Runtime:6:24

Performance:Below Average

Minor Issues:

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

Upgradeable hard drive- This machine’s hard drive could be replaced with an SSD. This would dramatically improve your machine’s performance.

Out of RAM- This machine is running short on RAM and has a mechanical hard drive, reducing the speed of the virtual memory system.

System modifications- There are a large number of system modifications running in the background.

Low performance- EtreCheck report took over 5 minutes to run. This is unusual.

Corrupt hosts file- Hosts file is corrupt.

There are a number of things here that identify some areas for potential performance improvements:

  1. Upgradeable hard drive - Your notebook has a "slow" 5400 rpm HDD. Replacing it with an SSD should provide a significant performance enhancement.
  2. Out of RAM - You will not be able to do much about the RAM as you system is currently maxed out. Running less apps concurrently should help with this one.
  3. System modifications - We will come back to this one.
  4. Low performance - EtreCheck should take less than 5 mins to run. When it takes more, it usually indicates a failing HDD.
  5. Corrupt host file - This indicates that your notebook's hosts file has been compromised. This file is used BEFORE using DNS to translate URLs to IP addresses when accessing resources on the Internet. We'll come back for this one later as well.

Configuration Files:

/etc/hosts - Count: 0 - Corrupt!

Take a look at the following two articles. They should set you straight on how to resolve this one and why you will want to:

User Login Items:

(/Applications/AppCleaner.app/Contents/Library/LoginItems/AppCleaner SmartDelete.app)

Backup and Sync.app (Google, Inc. - installed 2018-10-05)

(/Applications/Backup and Sync.app)

Performance:

System Load: 1.81 (1 min ago) 1.86 (5 min ago) 1.75 (15 min ago)

Nominal I/O speed: 2.55 MB/s

File system: 68.69 seconds

Write speed: 55 MB/s

Read speed: 47 MB/s

Top Processes by CPU:

Process (count) Source CPU Location
Other processes ? 62.80 %
EtreCheck App Store 7.32 %
helpd Apple 0.57 %
ZoomOpener ? 0.56 % ~/.zoomus/ZoomOpener.app
mdworker (5) Apple 0.37 %


Virtual Memory Information:

Available RAM 2.26 GB
Free RAM 179 MB
Used RAM 5.74 GB
Cached files 2.08 GB
Swap Used 230 MB

Clean up:

/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.lacie.LaCieDesktopManagerDaemon.plist

/Applications/LaCie Desktop Manager.app/Contents/Helpers/LDM.app/Contents/MacOS/LaCieDesktopManagerDaemon

Executable not found

/Library/LaunchAgents/com.lacie.LaCieDesktopManagerAgent.plist

/Applications/LaCie Desktop Manager.app/Contents/Helpers/LDM.app/Contents/MacOS/LDM

Executable not found

Here are some comments/suggestions about this last section:

  • Completely remove AppCleaner. We get numerous posts here at the ASC with folks asking us how to get rid of this ... as this app seems to cause more issues than it resolves them.
  • Use a Cloud-based backup system is going to extract a heavy demand on your system & network when it is running. You may want to consider this and use alternative non-Cloud methods for backups ... if you're not using them already.
  • The read/write speeds of your notebook's system drive are dismal. Again, replacing it with an SSD should show significant improvement in these numbers.
  • The amount of free RAM is extremely low. This will cause your notebook to use the system hard drive to cache apps. This will significantly slow down how the apps function.
  • Lastly, I suggest that you follow EtreCheck's recommendations on what's reported in the Clean up section of the report.

Nov 13, 2018 1:05 PM in response to Flybr1dge

A few questions if you don't mind:

  1. Which version of OS X or macOS is your MacBook Pro (MBP) running?
  2. Which model is your Time Capsule (TC) and which version of firmware is it running?
  3. Was this the first time that Time Machine (TM) stopped performing backups to this TC?
  4. Do you run a Virtual Machine, like Parallels or VMware on your notebook?
  5. Finally, did you stop the full backup or let it finish?

Nov 13, 2018 2:24 PM in response to Tesserax

Hi


I'm running High Sierra 10.13.6.

I have no idea what model the Time Capsule is. I bought it with the MBP mid 2012. I have no idea of the firmware, nor how to find it out.

I have had issues occasionally with this TC. I have had to reset before now, but I didn't do that this time.

I'm not using any VM.

The back up is still running. It has done 18.62Gb of 554.3 Gb in the last 5 or 6 hours. (I have general speed issues I can't get to the bottom of. Using Onyx to build the Spotlight index earlier today has helped a bit) so I'm guessing it will take a few days for this backup to complete.

Nov 14, 2018 2:11 AM in response to Tesserax

Wow, lots of info.


My device looks like the one on the left. But when I access it via the Airport utility I don't quite get what you mention. Using the option key doesn't bring up anything. I had to sign in with my password to bring up a dialogue box. This shows me the serial number and version (7.6.3) but not the model.


I assume that if I click the Update button it will check then ask me if I want an update (if available) rather than just launch into an available update. I suppose that may help.


It recognises that only 380GB of 2TB is available (554.3GB is being backed up), so it can see the disk is occupied, even though it is performing a full back up. Is there any merit in wiping the disk and starting again? If I enter the TC I can see previous versions, so it is still accessing them, I think, which implies that, if they were needed, I could still recover from one of them. I don't understand why it has decided to perform a full back up. Hence me wondering if I should just wipe it and start again. (I do have remote data back up to the web, so if there is a major fail, I can at least get all my data back, even if I can't get a full disk image from TC).


I am connected over wireless, so it will be at a lower speed. 10 days I'm guessing.


(And the speed issue in general isn't the wireless. My machine is painfully slow now. I had a new disk fitted and an OS reset 2 years ago at the local Apple store. For a short while it was great, but it is just so slow now. I don't download lots of apps or games, so I'm not sure what is building up to slow it down. I've tried resetting the PRAM etc. but to no avail. I guess I'm stuck with a slowing machine.)

Nov 14, 2018 12:05 PM in response to Tesserax

Hi


OK, I got the model details. It says


AirPort Time Capsule 802.11n (4th Generation)


And the version, as mentioned above is 7.6.3


I will hold off on the update for now.


I will however, download EtreCheck and give that a go. If that solves the speed problem that will be a big bonus.


Thanks. I will post the results when the software completes its analysis.

Nov 14, 2018 12:31 PM in response to Flybr1dge

Here is the report from EtreCheck.


No major problems found (?) with some minor ones listed. There are references to apps I have deleted - WD apps (it was slowing the Mac down a lot, especially at start up) but the remaining entries may still be needed to manage the drives?, Lacie software (for a Lacie drive I returned and replaced with the WD Drives) and ZoomUs, but they may have all been deleted since I last booted, If that is the case, perhaps they will disappear when I restart?


Any help/tips greatly appreciated!


EtreCheck version:5.0.2 (5015)

Report generated:2018-11-14 20:15:48

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime:6:24

Performance:Below Average

Sandbox:Enabled

Full drive access:Disabled

Problem:Beachballing

Description:

A lot of tasks take a long time to run, including waiting for web pages to open. It is especially slow when I have both LightRoom and PhotoShop running. I often have to close down and restart.

Major Issues: None

Minor Issues:

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

Upgradeable hard drive- This machine’s hard drive could be replaced with an SSD. This would dramatically improve your machine’s performance.

Out of RAM- This machine is running short on RAM and has a mechanical hard drive, reducing the speed of the virtual memory system.

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

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

System modifications- There are a large number of system modifications running in the background.

Low performance- EtreCheck report took over 5 minutes to run. This is unusual.

Corrupt hosts file- Hosts file is corrupt.

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

Hardware Information:

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2012)

MacBook Pro Model: MacBookPro9,1

1 2.7 GHz Intel Core i7 (i7-3820QM) CPU: 4-core

8 GB RAM -At maximum

BANK 0/DIMM0 - 4 GB DDR3 1600 ok

BANK 1/DIMM0 - 4 GB DDR3 1600 ok

Battery: Health = Normal - Cycle count = 701

Video Information:

Intel HD Graphics 4000 - VRAM: 1536 MB

NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M - VRAM: 1024 MB

Color LCD 1680 x 1050

DELL P2317H 1920 x 1080

Drives:

disk0 - APPLE HDD HTS541010A9E662 1.00 TB (Mechanical - 5400 RPM)

Internal SATA 3 Gigabit Serial ATA

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

disk0s2 [Core Storage Container] 999.35 GB

disk1 - Macintosh HD (Journaled HFS+) 998.97 GB (522.83 GB used)

disk0s3 - Recovery HD [Recovery] 650 MB


disk2 - WD My Passport 25F3 256.03 GB

External USB 5 Gbit/s USB

disk2s1 - EFI (MS-DOS FAT32) [EFI] 210 MB

disk2s2 - P********d (Journaled HFS+) 255.68 GB (93.54 GB used)


disk3 - WD My Passport 25F3 256.03 GB

External USB 480 Mbit/s USB

disk3s1 - EFI (MS-DOS FAT32) [EFI] 210 MB

disk3s2 - P***********y (Journaled HFS+) 255.68 GB (164.18 GB used)

Mounted Volumes:

disk1 - Macintosh HD 998.97 GB (475.89 GB free)

Journaled HFS+

Mount point: /


disk2s2 - P********d 255.68 GB (162.15 GB free)

Journaled HFS+

Mount point: /Volumes/P********d


disk3s2 - P***********y 255.68 GB (91.51 GB free)

Journaled HFS+

Mount point: /Volumes/P***********y


disk4s2 - T******************s 2.00 TB (379.17 GB free)

Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled)

Disk Image

Mount point: /Volumes/T******************s

Network:

Interface en0: Ethernet

Interface en4: iPhone

Interface fw0: FireWire

Interface en1: Wi-Fi

802.11 a/b/g/n

Interface en3: Bluetooth PAN

Interface bridge0: Thunderbolt Bridge

System Software:

macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 (17G65)

Time since boot: About a day

Configuration Files:

/etc/hosts - Count: 0 - Corrupt!

Security:

SystemStatus
GatekeeperEnabled
System Integrity ProtectionEnabled

Unsigned Files:

Launchd: ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.spotify.webhelper.plist

Executable: ~/Library/Application Support/Spotify/SpotifyWebHelper

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

Launchd: /Library/LaunchAgents/com.wdc.WD-Discovery.plist

Executable: /Applications/WD Discovery/WD Discovery.app/Contents/MacOS/WD Discovery --autolaunch

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

Launchd: /Library/LaunchAgents/com.amazon.sendtokindle.launcher.plist

Executable: /usr/bin/stkLaunchAgent.sh

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

Launchd: /Library/LaunchDaemons/jp.co.canon.MasterInstaller.plist

Executable: /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/jp.co.canon.MasterInstaller

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

Launchd: /Library/LaunchAgents/com.wdc.WDTrashObserver.plist

Executable: /Applications/WD Discovery/WD Discovery.app/Contents/WDTrashObserver

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

Launchd: /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist

Executable: /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

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

Executable: /Library/Application Support/Adobe/SwitchBoard/SwitchBoard.app/Contents/MacOS/launch.switchboard

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

32-bit Applications:

41 32-bit apps

Kernel Extensions:

/Library/Extensions

Pen Tablet.kext (Wacom Technology Corp., Pen Tablet 5.3.7-6 - SDK 10.12)


/System/Library/Extensions

LaCieScsiType00.kext (1.9.1 - SDK 10.5)

System Launch Agents:

[Not Loaded]16 Apple tasks
[Loaded]161 Apple tasks
[Running]100 Apple tasks
[Killed]15 Apple tasks
[Other]2 Apple tasks

System Launch Daemons:

[Not Loaded]38 Apple tasks
[Loaded]178 Apple tasks
[Running]103 Apple tasks
[Killed]16 Apple tasks

Launch Agents:

[Running]com.adobe.AdobeCreativeCloud.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2018-11-04)
[Loaded]com.wdc.WD-Discovery.plist (? 61ae7c00 - installed 2018-09-27)
[Other]com.lacie.LaCieDesktopManagerAgent.plist (? 1d7977d3 - installed 2017-11-06)
[Running]com.adobe.GC.AGM.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2018-11-01)
[Other]com.adobe.ARMDCHelper.cc24aef4a1b90ed56a725c38014c95072f92651fb65e1bf9c8e43c37a2 3d420d.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2018-02-15)
[Loaded]com.google.keystone.agent.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2018-07-17)
[Running]com.wacom.pentablet.plist (Wacom Technology Corp. - installed 2016-10-11)
[Not Loaded]com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist (? ffb65062 - installed 2018-11-04)
[Running]com.wdc.WDTrashObserver.plist (? fce4d9b2 - installed 2018-09-27)
[Running]com.amazon.sendtokindle.launcher.plist (? d18c2039 - installed 2016-09-27)
[Not Loaded]com.adobe.GC.Invoker-1.0.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2018-11-01)

Launch Daemons:

[Other]com.lacie.LaCieDesktopManagerDaemon.plist (? f806c6ee - installed 2015-10-27)
[Loaded]com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2017-11-27)
[Loaded]com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist (? 6d8cb30e - installed 2012-04-02)
[Running]com.sonos.SonosLibraryServer.plist (Sonos, Inc. - installed 2018-09-29)
[Loaded]jp.co.canon.MasterInstaller.plist (? d0637166 - installed 2017-12-22)
[Loaded]com.adobe.ARMDC.Communicator.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2018-02-15)
[Running]com.adobe.acc.installer.v2.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2018-11-04)
[Running]com.prosoftnet.idrivedaemon.plist (IDrive Incorporated - installed 2018-07-25)
[Loaded]com.google.keystone.daemon.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2018-07-17)
[Loaded]com.adobe.agsservice.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2018-11-01)
[Loaded]com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist (? 856489a3 - installed 2017-10-27)
[Running]com.prosoftnet.idwifimanager.plist (IDrive Incorporated - installed 2018-07-25)
[Loaded]com.prosoftnet.idsyncdaemon.plist (IDrive Incorporated - installed 2018-07-25)
[Loaded]com.apple.installer.osmessagetracing.plist (Apple - installed 2018-07-04)
[Loaded]com.prosofteng.DriveGenius.locum.plist (PROSOFT Engineering, Inc. - installed 2017-06-14)
[Loaded]com.adobe.ARMDC.SMJobBlessHelper.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2018-02-15)

User Launch Agents:

[Loaded]com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist (? 0 - installed 2018-01-31)
[Loaded]com.dropbox.DropboxMacUpdate.agent.plist (Dropbox, Inc. - installed 2018-10-24)
[Loaded]com.adobe.GC.Invoker-1.0.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2018-01-30)
[Running]com.spotify.webhelper.plist (? 0 - installed 2018-10-18)
[Running]com.prosofteng.DGMonitor.plist (PROSOFT Engineering, Inc. - installed 2017-12-12)

User Login Items:

AdobeResourceSynchronizer.app (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2018-10-25)

(/Applications/Adobe Acrobat Reader DC.app/Contents/Helpers/AdobeResourceSynchronizer.app)

AppCleaner SmartDelete (Julien Ramseier - installed 2018-04-06)

(/Applications/AppCleaner.app/Contents/Library/LoginItems/AppCleaner SmartDelete.app)

Backup and Sync.app (Google, Inc. - installed 2018-10-05)

(/Applications/Backup and Sync.app)

CIJSUAgent (Canon Inc. - installed 2017-12-22)

(/Applications/Canon Utilities/IJ Scan Utility/Canon IJ Scan Utility2.app/Contents/Library/LoginItems/CIJSUAgent.app)

CIJSULAgent (Canon Inc. - installed 2017-12-22)

(/Applications/Canon Utilities/IJ Scan Utility/Canon IJ Scan Utility Lite.app/Contents/Library/LoginItems/CIJSULAgent.app)

Day One Helper (App Store - installed 2018-10-17)

(/Applications/Day One.app/Contents/Library/LoginItems/Day One Helper.app)

Dropbox.app (Dropbox, Inc. - installed 2018-11-07)

(/Applications/Dropbox.app)

FreeSpace.app (App Store - installed 2017-06-14)

(/Applications/FreeSpace.app)

IDriveMonitor.app (IDrive Incorporated - installed 2018-07-27)

(/Library/Application Support/IDriveforMac/IDriveHelperTools/IDriveMonitor.app)

SpyderUtility.app (? - installed 2017-06-14)

(/Applications/Datacolor/Spyder4Elite/Support/SpyderUtility.app)

iTunesHelper.app (Apple - installed 2018-07-11)

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

Internet Plug-ins:

AdobeExManDetect: AdobeExManDetect 1.1.0.0 (installed 2017-10-30)

AdobeAAMDetect: 3.0.0.0 (installed 2018-11-04)

QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (installed 2018-07-11)

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: 17.012.20098 (installed 2018-10-25)

Flash Player: 28.0.0.126 (installed 2017-12-14)

AdobePDFViewer: 19.008.20080 (installed 2018-10-25)

EPPEX Plugin: 10.0 (installed 2017-09-05)

FlashPlayer-10.6: 28.0.0.126 (installed 2017-12-14)

SharePointBrowserPlugin: 14.7.7 (installed 2017-09-29)

WacomTabletPlugin: WacomTabletPlugin 2.1.0.6 (installed 2016-10-11)

3rd Party Preference Panes:

Flash Player (installed 2017-11-27)

PenTablet (installed 2017-12-22)

Time Machine:

Time Machine information not available without Full Drive Access.

Performance:

System Load: 1.81 (1 min ago) 1.86 (5 min ago) 1.75 (15 min ago)

Nominal I/O speed: 2.55 MB/s

File system: 68.69 seconds

Write speed: 55 MB/s

Read speed: 47 MB/s

CPU Usage:

TypeOverallIndividual cores
System7 %13 %10 %7 %4 %6 %2 %6 %6 %
User2 %9 %0 %3 %0 %3 %0 %4 %0 %
Idle91 %78 %90 %90 %96 %90 %98 %90 %94 %

Top Processes by CPU:

Process (count)SourceCPULocation
Other processes?62.80 %
EtreCheckApp Store7.32 %
helpdApple0.57 %
ZoomOpener?0.56 %~/.zoomus/ZoomOpener.app
mdworker (5)Apple0.37 %

Top Processes by Memory:

Process (count)SourceRAM usageLocation
EtreCheckApp Store509 MB
firefoxMozilla Corporation376 MB
SparkApp Store340 MB
Adobe Desktop ServiceAdobe Systems, Inc.185 MB
DropboxDropbox, Inc.139 MB

Top Processes by Network Use:

ProcessSourceInputOutputLocation
kernel_taskApple17.41 GB193.70 GB
IDriveDaemonIDrive Incorporated2 MB5 MB
DropboxDropbox, Inc.1 MB1 MB
mDNSResponderApple1 MB113 KB
apsdApple50 KB69 KB

Virtual Memory Information:

Available RAM2.26 GB
Free RAM179 MB
Used RAM5.74 GB
Cached files2.08 GB
Swap Used230 MB

Software Installs (past 30 days):

NameVersionInstall Date
Adobe Acrobat Reader DC (19.008.20074)2018-10-16
Day One2.9.12018-10-17
Evernote7.5.22018-10-17
Adobe Acrobat Reader DC (19.008.20080)2018-10-25
Gatekeeper Configuration Data1562018-11-01
OneDrive18.175.08262018-11-02
Keynote8.02018-11-07
Pages7.02018-11-07
Numbers5.02018-11-07
Spark2.1.22018-11-12
EtreCheck5.0.22018-11-14

Clean up:

/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.lacie.LaCieDesktopManagerDaemon.plist

/Applications/LaCie Desktop Manager.app/Contents/Helpers/LDM.app/Contents/MacOS/LaCieDesktopManagerDaemon

Executable not found

/Library/LaunchAgents/com.lacie.LaCieDesktopManagerAgent.plist

/Applications/LaCie Desktop Manager.app/Contents/Helpers/LDM.app/Contents/MacOS/LDM

Executable not found

Diagnostics Information (past 7 days):

Directory /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports is not accessible without Full Drive Access.

End of report

Nov 14, 2018 5:12 PM in response to Flybr1dge

I use a fairly old (early 2011) Macbook pro.. with SSD.. and the improvement is out of this world.


If you are going to stick with this laptop.. (6 years old now it is a good time to think about a change over).


Definitely install an SSD.. if you are not a DIYer type it is easy job on your model laptop and you can buy a 1TB SSD now for very reasonable money. Plenty of Apple repair stores will do the job for $100 or so plus parts.

If the laptop breaks down in the next year or two you can always recover the SSD as that is still worth keeping.. although the new Macs don't use SATA connected drives.. you can still use it in USB enclosure.


You could also upgrade RAM to 16GB.. but I think you will find SSD will make the biggest difference.. and using the SSD for swap is also a lot faster than with current slow hard disk.


Once you put the new drive in it.. do a clean install of the OS.. latest even if you want to fully update.. and install the absolute min of applications.. so don't even migrate.. as I think you will get a lot better performance out of the laptop with a clean OS and just the Apps you actually require right now.


Keep the original hard disk.. and make a bootable clone of the drive as well using a tool like Carbon Copy Cloner.. so nothing gets lost.. and you can always go back to exactly where you are now to recover something.

Nov 15, 2018 10:14 AM in response to Tesserax

Thanks for the advice. I have removed App Cleaner, edited my hosts file (it was empty!) and removed the items listed in the Cleanup section.


The reason for the cloud based back up is to ensure I have an off site data backup. So I think I will continue with that, even if it impacts general performance.


I will consider an SSD. An idea for a Christmas present!


You said you would come back to system modifications, but didn't - unless that was another reference to the hosts file edit. Was there something else you thought would be worthwhile looking at?


Thanks.

Nov 15, 2018 10:21 AM in response to Flybr1dge

You said you would come back to system modifications, but didn't - unless that was another reference to the hosts file edit. Was there something else you thought would be worthwhile looking at?

Yes, sorry about that. What I was referring to can be "seen" under "Top Processes by CPU" section. Specifically, the item "Other processes." At this point, I don't know what they are and I would start by using the Activity Monitor to see what is using up this amount of CPU processing. This should identify processes/apps that will need to be further investigated. Remember the EtreCheck report is an instant in time. These processes may or may not still be there when you run it again. However, if they are, then they should be looked into.

Nov 15, 2018 12:47 PM in response to Flybr1dge

"kernel_task" is an important process used by macOS. The following article explains it well, especially when it appears to use up a lot of CPU:

What Is kernel_task, and Why Is It Running on My Mac? - How-To Geek

As you will read, this process can and will use up considerable amount of CPU processing if your system is "overloaded" to help cool down the CPU.

time capsule backing up everything

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