LOGIN is slow!

[alexus]

my computer takes pretty long time to boot up and even though there is not much under /Library/StartupItems/ it still takes too much time...

mbp:~ alexus$ ls -la /Library/StartupItems/
total 0
drwxr-xr-x 6 root wheel 204 May 3 13:18 ./
drwxrwxr-t+ 70 root admin 2380 Mar 12 11:42 ../
drwxr-xr-x 8 root wheel 272 Oct 26 2009 IPSecuritasDaemon/
drwxr-xr-x 5 root wheel 170 Apr 19 12:31 VirtualBox/
drwxr-xr-x 5 root wheel 170 Sep 23 2009 tap/
drwxr-xr-x 5 root wheel 170 Sep 23 2009 tun/
mbp:~ alexus$

where else I can look what's being executed upon boot? because under process I see BlackBerry's Daemon (I'm no longer BlackBerry user, I'm okay to leave Application, but I don't want it to boot up during startup) and I'm pretty sure there is other stuff as well...

 

[Hellhammer]

System Preferences -> Startup disk -> Select you OS X disk and reboot

If still slow, repair permissions with Disk Utility

 

[calderone]

System Preferences -> Startup disk -> Select you OS X disk and reboot

If still slow, repair permissions with Disk Utility

A permissions repair will not fix a slow boot.

OP:

/System/Library/LaunchDaemons (Apple startup daemons)
/Library/LaunchDaemons (3rd party startup daemons)
/System/Library/StartupItems (older items not updated to launchd, started by /sbin/SystemStarter)
/Library/StatupItems (older items not updated to launchd, started by /sbin/SystemStarter)

Start your computer with verbose mode by holding Command + V, take note of any items that hang or any errors. You will find those items in the folders above, update or remove them.

 

[alexus]

System Preferences -> Startup disk -> Select you OS X disk and reboot

If still slow, repair permissions with Disk Utility

already did that, yet same thing

 

[calderone]

already did that, yet same thing

Did you read and try what I posted?

 

[alexus]

Did you read and try what I posted?

yes, i did

 

[calderone]

yes, i did

And....

 

[alexus]

And....

and it didn't help at all

 

[calderone]

and it didn't help at all

So you booted verbosely and you didn't find anything?

And you looked in the folder paths I gave for possible offending items?

What I suggested is the way to determine software based boot problems. I cannot believe you tried and came up with nothing. It is not a "one click" fix, you have to actually figure it out yourself. So if it didn't help at all that means you didn't try hard enough.

The Blackberry software is likely a LaunchAgent and would not affect boot up since LaunchAgents are called by the user launchd. However, you won't know unless you look.

 

[alexus]

A permissions repair will not fix a slow boot.

OP:

/System/Library/LaunchDaemons (Apple startup daemons)
/Library/LaunchDaemons (3rd party startup daemons)
/System/Library/StartupItems (older items not updated to launchd, started by /sbin/SystemStarter)
/Library/StatupItems (older items not updated to launchd, started by /sbin/SystemStarter)

Start your computer with verbose mode by holding Command + V, take note of any items that hang or any errors. You will find those items in the folders above, update or remove them.

i ran verbose mode and i didn't see anything that would bring my attention, but it seems like once i'm in OS X thats when it's slow not before boot, boot itself happening fast

 

[calderone]

i ran verbose mode and i didn't see anything that would bring my attention, but it seems like once i'm in OS X thats when it's slow not before boot, boot itself happening fast

Why did you title the thread "booting slow" then?

You need to look at LaunchAgents

/Library/LaunchAgents (All Users)
~/Library/LaunchAgents (Your User)

Check console for errors.

 

[alexus]

maybe this would help

mbp:~ alexus$ ls -al /Library/LaunchDaemons
total 56
drwxr-xr-x 9 root wheel 306 May 1 20:43 ./
drwxrwxr-t+ 70 root admin 2380 Mar 12 11:42 ../
-r--r--r-- 1 root wheel 573 Feb 1 10:55 at.obdev.littlesnitchd.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 634 May 1 20:43 com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 543 Apr 22 10:41 com.apple.aelwriter.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 795 Mar 31 16:50 com.google.keystone.daemon.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 root staff 488 Mar 28 2009 com.palm.novacomd
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 748 Apr 9 00:48 com.rim.BBDaemon.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 724 Nov 23 2008 de.jinx.SmartSleepDaemon.plist
mbp:~ alexus$ ls -al /Library/LaunchAgents
total 48
drwxr-xr-x 8 root wheel 272 May 1 20:43 ./
drwxrwxr-t+ 70 root admin 2380 Mar 12 11:42 ../
-r--r--r-- 1 root wheel 460 Feb 1 10:55 at.obdev.LittleSnitchNetworkMonitor.plist
-r--r--r-- 1 root wheel 437 Feb 1 10:55 at.obdev.LittleSnitchUIAgent.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 612 May 1 20:42 com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist
-r-xr-xr-x 1 root wheel 582 May 1 20:43 com.adobe.CS5ServiceManager.plist*
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 791 Mar 31 16:50 com.google.keystone.agent.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 516 Apr 9 00:48 com.rim.BBLaunchAgent.plist
mbp:~ alexus$ ls -al ~/Library/LaunchAgents
total 40
drwxr-xr-x 7 alexus staff 238 May 2 00:06 ./
drwx------ 59 alexus staff 2006 Apr 27 17:40 ../
-rw-r--r-- 1 alexus staff 697 May 2 00:06 com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 alexus staff 543 Apr 30 13:56 com.akamai.client.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 alexus staff 455 Oct 29 2008 com.apple.FolderActions.enabled.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 alexus staff 547 Oct 29 2008 com.apple.FolderActions.folders.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 alexus staff 572 Apr 22 13:10 com.valvesoftware.steam.ipctool.plist
mbp:~ alexus$

 

[calderone]

I can't tell you what is slowing you down. I can tell you that you need to look in:

~/Library/LaunchAgents
/Library/LaunchAgents

The best place to look for issues is in Console.app. Search for the items you found in the two folders above. See if there are any errors listed.

 

[alexus]

Why did you title the thread "booting slow" then?

You need to look at LaunchAgents

/Library/LaunchAgents (All Users)
~/Library/LaunchAgents (Your User)

Check console for errors.

because from the moment when i press power on till the time i can do something, i call it booting process

I see bunch of stuff in this directory i dont know what i should get rid of and what to keep but i guess i'm going have to play w/ it...

 

[yellow]

Are you using auto-login?
If so.. Turn that off to identify if the BOOT process is slow, or the LOGIN process is slow.

 

[calderone]

because from the moment when i press power on till the time i can do something, i call it booting process

I see bunch of stuff in this directory i dont know what i should get rid of and what to keep but i guess i'm going have to play w/ it...

Well, for future reference the boot process is divided into System Initialization and the User Session.

The User Session begins when the system launchd calls the loginwindow. My guess is your are using auto-login which makes it all seem like one process.

Open /Applications/Utilities/Console.app and look at the logs to find out what is causing the problem. It is best to do this just after login is finished.

It may not be LaunchAgents at all, so you may need to disable automatic login and try Safe Login to rule that out.

I cannot tell you what the problem is by looking at ls output. If you are not using the BlackBerry software, you can trash the LaunchDaemon and the LaunchAgent.

 

[alexus]

Well, for future reference the boot process is divided into System Initialization and the User Session.

The User Session begins when the system launchd calls the loginwindow. My guess is your are using auto-login which makes it all seem like one process.

I don't use auto-login.

Open /Applications/Utilities/Console.app and look at the logs to find out what is causing the problem. It is best to do this just after login is finished.

I see a lot of stuff, kind of hard to identify what is what...

It may not be LaunchAgents at all, so you may need to disable automatic login and try Safe Login to rule that out.

What's Safe Login?

I cannot tell you what the problem is by looking at ls output. If you are not using the BlackBerry software, you can trash the LaunchDaemon and the LaunchAgent.

I just disabled a lot of it by moving these files out

mbp:.temp alexus$ ls -la
total 16
drwxr-xr-x 6 alexus staff 204 May 3 16:12 ./
drwxr-xr-x 67 alexus staff 2278 May 3 14:53 ../
-rw-r--r--@ 1 alexus staff 6148 May 3 16:09 .DS_Store
drwxr-xr-x 6 alexus staff 204 May 3 16:11 LaunchAgents/
drwxr-xr-x 5 alexus staff 170 May 3 16:09 LaunchAgents2/
drwxr-xr-x 6 alexus staff 204 May 3 16:13 LaunchDaemons/
mbp:.temp alexus$ ls -la *
LaunchAgents:
total 32
drwxr-xr-x 6 alexus staff 204 May 3 16:11 ./
drwxr-xr-x 6 alexus staff 204 May 3 16:12 ../
-r--r--r-- 1 alexus staff 612 May 1 20:42 com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist
-r-xr--r-- 1 alexus staff 582 May 1 20:43 com.adobe.CS5ServiceManager.plist*
-r--r--r-- 1 alexus staff 791 Mar 31 16:50 com.google.keystone.agent.plist
-r--r--r-- 1 alexus staff 516 Apr 9 00:48 com.rim.BBLaunchAgent.plist

LaunchAgents2:
total 24
drwxr-xr-x 5 alexus staff 170 May 3 16:09 ./
drwxr-xr-x 6 alexus staff 204 May 3 16:12 ../
-rw-r--r-- 1 alexus staff 697 May 2 00:06 com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 alexus staff 543 Apr 30 13:56 com.akamai.client.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 alexus staff 572 Apr 22 13:10 com.valvesoftware.steam.ipctool.plist

LaunchDaemons:
total 32
drwxr-xr-x 6 alexus staff 204 May 3 16:13 ./
drwxr-xr-x 6 alexus staff 204 May 3 16:12 ../
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 634 May 1 20:43 com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 795 Mar 31 16:50 com.google.keystone.daemon.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 root staff 488 Mar 28 2009 com.palm.novacomd
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 748 Apr 9 00:48 com.rim.BBDaemon.plist
mbp:.temp alexus$

after reboot, it seems a lot quicker...
not sure if there is more stuff i need to do to clean more stuff up

Are you using auto-login?
If so.. Turn that off to identify if the BOOT process is slow, or the LOGIN process is slow.

i guess LOGIN is a correct term for that

 

[calderone]

I don't use auto-login.

Then it should be clear that boot and login are separate concepts.

I see a lot of stuff, kind of hard to identify what is what...

Then you search for specific items, namely those you found in the LaunchAgent folders.

What's Safe Login?

Hold Shift before clicking the login button, this will instruct peruser launchd to ignore all LaunchAgents. This is one way to determine if LaunchAgents are the problem.

I just disabled a lot of it by moving these files out
after reboot, it seems a lot quicker...
not sure if there is more stuff i need to do to clean more stuff up

This is a common technique, albeit it is probably more work than required.

Now, if you want to determine which LaunchAgent is causing the problem you can drop one in, logout and then login. Repeat this until things slow down to the previous levels. The last one you put in is probably the one causing the problem.

You probably could have figured it out by looking in Console, but this will work too.