Constant spinning beachball iMac 27" 5K 2017

[dksp]

Hello all

I have problems with my Mac that last for several weeks or months now. Every 2-10 minutes I get a spinning beach ball, which will last for 1-2 minutes before releasing my Mac again. But sometimes (1 of 10 maybe), the current app or the Windowserver crash (need to log in again). Once a week I also get a kernel panic message.

It's an Intel iMac running Ventura (up-to-date). I am this Mac for working with Adobe Creative Suite mostly (Indesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, XD and also After Effects and Premiere).

iMac 5K 27" 2017
4.2 GHz i7
Radeon Pro 580 8GB
32 GB of RAM
2 TB Fusion Drive
macOS Ventura 13.2.1

I tried cleaning cashes with Onyx.
I tried reapplied the complete macOS Ventura installer from Apple (as you would do with combo updaters in the past).
The SMART status shows no errors.
Installed, ran and uninstalled Avast anti virus software, which found nothing.

So right now, I don't know what to check else and I'm asking for your help and advice.

See below for a Etre Check report.


Many thanks in advance, dksp

Spoiler: EtreCheck

EtreCheckPro version: 6.8.1 (68024)
Report generated: 2023-03-23 14:09:42
Download EtreCheckPro from https://etrecheck.com
Runtime: 4:12
Performance: Good

Problem: Beachballing
Description:
Constant spinning beachball every 5 minutes, sometimes less. Resulting
in apps quitting or window server restarting, or even kernel panics.
Tried re-applying latest complete macOS Ventura installer from Apple,
no change.

Major Issues:
Anything that appears on this list needs immediate attention.
Automatic updates disabled - Automatic updates are disabled. This computer is at risk of malware infection.
Security updates disabled - Security updates are disabled. This computer is at risk of malware infection.
Kernel panics - This system has experienced kernel panics. This could be a sign of hardware failure.
Apple security disabled - Apple security software is disabled. This computer is at risk of malware infection.

Minor Issues:
These issues do not need immediate attention but they may indicate future problems or opportunities for improvement.
Apps crashing - There have been numerous app crashes.
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 are unsigned software files installed. These files could be old, incompatible, and cause problems. They should be reviewed.
System modifications - There are a large number of system modifications running in the background.
Limited permissions - More information may be available with Full Disk Access.
Kernel extensions present - This computer has kernel extensions that may not work in the future.

Hardware Information:
iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017)
Status: Supported
iMac Model: iMac18,3
4,2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7 (i7-7700K) CPU: 4-core
32 GB RAM - Upgradeable
BANK 0/DIMM0 - 8 GB DDR4 SO-DIMM 2400
BANK 0/DIMM1 - 8 GB DDR4 SO-DIMM 2400
BANK 1/DIMM0 - 8 GB DDR4 SO-DIMM 2400
BANK 1/DIMM1 - 8 GB DDR4 SO-DIMM 2400

Video Information:
Radeon Pro 580 - VRAM: 8 GB
iMac (built-in) 5120 x 2880

Drives:
disk0 - APPLE SSD SM0128L 121.33 GB (Solid State - TRIM: Yes)
Internal PCI-Express 8.0 GT/s x4 NVM Express
disk0s1 - EFI [EFI] 315 MB
disk0s2 [APFS Fusion Drive] 121.02 GB
disk2 [APFS Virtual drive] 2.12 TB (Shared by 6 volumes)
disk2s1 - M********************s (APFS) [APFS Virtual drive] (1.16 TB used)
disk2s2 - Preboot (APFS) [APFS Preboot] (1.86 GB used)
disk2s3 - Recovery (APFS) [Recovery] (1.13 GB used)
disk2s4 - VM (APFS) [APFS VM] (2.15 GB used)
disk2s5 (APFS) [APFS Container] (8.94 GB used)
disk2s5s1 - Macintosh HD (APFS) [APFS Snapshot] (8.94 GB used)
disk2s6 - Update (APFS) (9 MB used)

disk1 - APPLE HDD ST2000DM001 2.00 TB (Mechanical - 7200 RPM)
Internal SATA 6 Gigabit Serial ATA
disk1s1 - EFI (MS-DOS FAT32) [EFI] 210 MB
disk1s2 [APFS Fusion Drive] 2.00 TB
disk2 [APFS Virtual drive] 2.12 TB (Shared by 6 volumes)
disk2s1 - M********************s (APFS) [APFS Virtual drive] (1.16 TB used)
disk2s2 - Preboot (APFS) [APFS Preboot] (1.86 GB used)
disk2s3 - Recovery (APFS) [Recovery] (1.13 GB used)
disk2s4 - VM (APFS) [APFS VM] (2.15 GB used)
disk2s5 (APFS) [APFS Container] (8.94 GB used)
disk2s5s1 - Macintosh HD (APFS) [APFS Snapshot] (8.94 GB used)
disk2s6 - Update (APFS) (9 MB used)

Mounted Volumes:
disk2s1 - M********************s [APFS Virtual drive]
Filesystem: APFS
Mount point: /System/Volumes/Data
Fusion drive
Used: 1.16 TB
Shared values
Size: 2.12 TB
Free: 942.86 GB
Available: 986.97 GB

disk2s2 - Preboot [APFS Preboot]
Filesystem: APFS
Mount point: /System/Volumes/Preboot
Fusion drive
Used: 1.86 GB
Shared values
Size: 2.12 TB
Free: 942.86 GB

disk2s4 - VM [APFS VM]
Filesystem: APFS
Mount point: /System/Volumes/VM
Fusion drive
Used: 2.15 GB
Shared values
Size: 2.12 TB
Free: 942.86 GB

disk2s5s1 - Macintosh HD [APFS Snapshot]
Filesystem: APFS
Mount point: /
Fusion drive
Read-only: Yes
Used: 8.94 GB
Shared values
Size: 2.12 TB
Free: 942.86 GB
Available: 986.97 GB

disk2s6 - Update
Filesystem: APFS
Mount point: /System/Volumes/Update
Fusion drive
Used: 9 MB
Shared values
Size: 2.12 TB
Free: 942.86 GB

Network:
Interface en0: Ethernet
Interface en5: USB 10/100 LAN
Interface en1: Wi-Fi
Interface bridge0: Thunderbolt Bridge

System Software:
macOS Ventura 13.2.1 (22D68)
Time since boot: About 2 hours

Notifications:
EtreCheckPro.app
2 notifications

Keka.app
5 notifications

Creative Cloud.app
2 notifications

Security:
Gatekeeper: App Store and identified developers
System Integrity Protection: Enabled
Automatic Updates: Disabled
Security Updates: Disabled

Antivirus software: None!

Unsigned Files:
Launchd: /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.microsoft.OneDriveUpdaterDaemon.plist
Executable: /Applications/OneDrive.app/Contents/OneDriveUpdaterDaemon.xpc/Contents/MacOS/OneDriveUpdaterDaemon
Details: Exact match found in the legitimate list - probably OK

Launchd: /Library/LaunchDaemons/org.virtualbox.startup.plist
Command: /Library/Application Support/VirtualBox/LaunchDaemons/VirtualBoxStartup.sh restart
Details: Exact match found in the legitimate list - probably OK

Launchd: /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.microsoft.OneDriveStandaloneUpdaterDaemon.plist
Executable: /Applications/OneDrive.app/Contents/StandaloneUpdaterDaemon.xpc/Contents/MacOS/StandaloneUpdaterDaemon
Details: Exact match found in the legitimate list - probably OK

Running app: /Applications/Typeface.app/Contents/MacOS/Typeface
Running app: /Library/DropboxHelperTools/Dropbox_u501/dbkextd
Details: Domain name invalid - possibly malware

Apps: 10

Applications:
529 apps
67 x86-only apps
14 unsigned apps

Kernel Extensions:
/Library/Application Support/Logitech.localized/Logitech Options.localized
[Not Loaded] LogiMgrDriver.kext - com.logitech.manager.kernel.driver (7.12.1 - SDK 10.12)

/Library/Application Support/VirtualBox
[Not Loaded] VBoxDrv.kext - org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxDrv (6.1.40)
[Not Loaded] VBoxNetAdp.kext - org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetAdp (6.1.40)
[Not Loaded] VBoxNetFlt.kext - org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetFlt (6.1.40)
[Not Loaded] VBoxUSB.kext - org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxUSB (6.1.40)

/Library/Extensions
[Loaded] EnergyDriver.kext - com.intel.driver.EnergyDriver (3.7.0 - SDK 10.14)

System Launch Daemons:
[Not Loaded] 37 Apple tasks
[Loaded] 190 Apple tasks
[Running] 156 Apple tasks
[Other] One Apple task

System Launch Agents:
[Not Loaded] 19 Apple tasks
[Loaded] 192 Apple tasks
[Running] 179 Apple tasks

Launch Daemons:
[Loaded] com.adobe.ARMDC.Communicator.plist (Adobe Inc. - installed 2022-01-10)
Executable: /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.adobe.ARMDC.Communicator

[Loaded] com.adobe.ARMDC.SMJobBlessHelper.plist (Adobe Inc. - installed 2022-01-10)
Executable: /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.adobe.ARMDC.SMJobBlessHelper

[Running] com.adobe.acc.installer.v2.plist (Adobe Inc. - installed 2023-03-03)
Executable: /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.adobe.acc.installer.v2

[Not Loaded] com.avast.hub.schedule.plist (AVAST Software a.s. - installed 2023-03-23)
Command: /Library/Application Support/AvastHUB/com.avast.hub.app/Contents/scripts/schedule.sh --ttl 14400

[Not Loaded] com.avast.hub.xpc.plist (AVAST Software a.s. - installed 2023-03-23)
Executable: /Library/Application Support/AvastHUB/com.avast.hub.app/Contents/Helpers/com.avast.hub.xpc

[Running] com.efi.fieryd.plist (EFI Inc - installed 2022-11-21)
Executable: /usr/local/fieryd

[Loaded] com.google.keystone.daemon.plist (Google LLC - installed 2022-10-27)
Executable: /Library/Google/GoogleSoftwareUpdate/GoogleSoftwareUpdate.bundle/Contents/MacOS/GoogleSoftwareUpdateDaemon

[Not Loaded] com.linotype.FontExplorerX.securityhelper.plist (Linotype GmbH - installed 2022-03-28)
Executable: /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.linotype.FontExplorerX.securityhelper

[Loaded] com.microsoft.OneDriveStandaloneUpdaterDaemon.plist (Not signed - installed 2021-11-17)
Executable: /Applications/OneDrive.app/Contents/StandaloneUpdaterDaemon.xpc/Contents/MacOS/StandaloneUpdaterDaemon

[Loaded] com.microsoft.OneDriveUpdaterDaemon.plist (Not signed - installed 2021-11-17)
Executable: /Applications/OneDrive.app/Contents/OneDriveUpdaterDaemon.xpc/Contents/MacOS/OneDriveUpdaterDaemon

[Not Loaded] com.microsoft.autoupdate.helper.plist (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2023-03-15)
Executable: /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.microsoft.autoupdate.helper
Location: /Library/Application Support/Microsoft/MAU2.0/Microsoft AutoUpdate.app

[Loaded] com.microsoft.autoupdate.helper.plist (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2023-03-15)
Executable: /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.microsoft.autoupdate.helper

[Loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensingV2.helper.plist (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2022-06-02)
Executable: /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.microsoft.office.licensingV2.helper

[Loaded] com.microsoft.teams.TeamsUpdaterDaemon.plist (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2023-02-23)
Executable: /Applications/Microsoft Teams.app/Contents/TeamsUpdaterDaemon.xpc/Contents/MacOS/TeamsUpdaterDaemon

[Not Loaded] org.virtualbox.startup.plist (Not signed - installed 2022-12-07)
Command: /Library/Application Support/VirtualBox/LaunchDaemons/VirtualBoxStartup.sh restart

Launch Agents:
[Other] com.adobe.ARMDCHelper.cc24aef4a1b90ed56a725c38014c95072f92651fb65e1bf9c8e43c37a23d420d.plist (Adobe Inc. - installed 2022-01-10)
Executable: /Library/Application Support/Adobe/ARMDC/Application/Acrobat Update Helper.app/Contents/MacOS/Acrobat Update Helper

[Running] com.adobe.AdobeCreativeCloud.plist (Adobe Inc. - installed 2023-03-03)
Command: /Applications/Utilities/Adobe Creative Cloud/ACC/Creative Cloud.app/Contents/MacOS/Creative Cloud --showwindow=false --onOSstartup=true

[Loaded] com.adobe.ccxprocess.plist (Adobe Inc. - installed 2023-03-14)
Command: /Applications/Utilities/Adobe Creative Cloud Experience/CCXProcess/CCXProcess.app/Contents/MacOS/CCXProcess --openAtBoot

[Not Loaded] com.avast.hub.plist (AVAST Software a.s. - installed 2023-03-23)
Executable: /Library/Application Support/AvastHUB/com.avast.hub.app/Contents/MacOS/com.avast.hub

[Loaded] com.efi.fpdu.plist (EFI Inc - installed 2022-11-06)
Command: /Applications/Fiery Driver Updater.app/Contents/MacOS/Fiery Driver Updater -showonupdate

[Loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist (Google LLC - installed 2022-10-27)
Command: /Library/Google/GoogleSoftwareUpdate/GoogleSoftwareUpdate.bundle/Contents/Resources/GoogleSoftwareUpdateAgent.app/Contents/MacOS/GoogleSoftwareUpdateAgent -runMode ifneeded

[Loaded] com.google.keystone.xpcservice.plist (Google LLC - installed 2022-10-27)
Command: /Library/Google/GoogleSoftwareUpdate/GoogleSoftwareUpdate.bundle/Contents/Resources/GoogleSoftwareUpdateAgent.app/Contents/MacOS/GoogleSoftwareUpdateAgent -runMode xpchost

[Running] com.logitech.manager.daemon.plist (Logitech Inc. - installed 2023-02-23)
Command: /Applications/Logi Options.app/Contents/Support/LogiMgrDaemon.app/Contents/MacOS/LogiMgrDaemon --launchd

[Other] com.microsoft.OneDriveStandaloneUpdater.plist (Not signed - installed 2021-11-17)
Executable: /Applications/OneDrive.app/Contents/StandaloneUpdater.app/Contents/MacOS/OneDriveStandaloneUpdater

[Not Loaded] com.microsoft.update.agent.plist (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2023-03-12)
Command: /Library/Application Support/Microsoft/MAU2.0/Microsoft AutoUpdate.app/Contents/MacOS/Microsoft Update Assistant.app/Contents/MacOS/Microsoft Update Assistant --launchByAgent
Location: /Library/Application Support/Microsoft/MAU2.0/Microsoft AutoUpdate.app

[Loaded] com.microsoft.update.agent.plist (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2023-03-15)
Command: /Library/Application Support/Microsoft/MAU2.0/Microsoft AutoUpdate.app/Contents/MacOS/Microsoft Update Assistant.app/Contents/MacOS/Microsoft Update Assistant --launchByAgent

User Launch Agents:
[Loaded] com.dropbox.DropboxMacUpdate.agent.plist (Dropbox, Inc. - installed 2023-03-08)
Command: ~/Library/Dropbox/DropboxMacUpdate.app/Contents/MacOS/DropboxMacUpdate -check periodic

[Not Loaded] com.linotype.FontFolderProtector.plist (Linotype GmbH - installed 2022-12-13)
Executable: /Applications/FontExplorer X Pro.app/Contents/Helpers/FontFolderProtector

[Loaded] com.valvesoftware.steamclean.plist (Valve Corporation - installed 2022-11-29)
Command: ~/Library/Application Support/Steam/SteamApps/steamclean Public

[Not Loaded] org.virtualbox.vboxwebsrv.plist (Oracle America, Inc. - installed 2022-12-07)
Executable: /Applications/VirtualBox.app/Contents/MacOS/vboxwebsrv

User Login Items:
[Running] AdobeResourceSynchronizer (Adobe Inc. - installed 2022-03-24)
Application
/Applications/Adobe Acrobat DC/Adobe Acrobat.app/Contents/Helpers/AdobeResourceSynchronizer.app

[Running] Dropbox (Dropbox, Inc. - installed 2023-03-22)
Application
/Applications/Dropbox.app

[Running] MenuMeters (Yuji Tachikawa - installed 2021-11-12)
Application
/Applications/MenuMeters.app

[Loaded] FigmaAgent (Figma, Inc. - installed 2022-06-09)
Application
~/Library/Application Support/Figma/FigmaAgent.app

[Running] Android File Transfer Agent (Google, Inc. - installed 2022-03-09)
Application
~/Library/Application Support/Google/Android File Transfer/Android File Transfer Agent.app

App Extensions:
Finder sync extensions:
Dropbox Finder Extension - /Applications/Dropbox.app
Keka Finder Integration - /Applications/Keka.app
Adobe Content Synchronizer Finder Extension - /Applications/Utilities/Adobe Sync/CoreSync/Core Sync.app

Safari extensions:
Open in IINA - /Applications/IINA.app
WhatFont - /Applications/WhatFont.app

Share services:
Telegram - /Applications/Telegram.app
OneNote - /Applications/Microsoft OneNote.app
Dropbox Transfer - /Applications/Dropbox.app

File providers:
Dropbox - /Applications/Dropbox.app

QuickLook Previews:
InDesign QuickLook Extension - /Applications/Adobe InDesign 2023/Adobe InDesign 2023.app
com.adobe.indesign-document *.indd
com.adobe.indesign-template *.indt
public.data
EtreCheckQuickLook - /Applications/EtreCheckPro.app
com.etresoft.etrecheck4 *.etrecheck

QuickLook Previews (legacy):
Cinema 4D - /Applications/Maxon Cinema 4D R25/Cinema 4D.app
net.maxon.cinema4d.c4d *.c4d
Figma - /Applications/Figma.app
com.figma.document *.fig
DropboxQL - ~/Library/QuickLook/DropboxQL.qlgenerator
com.adobe.illustrator.ai-image *.ai
public.text
org.oasis-open.opendocument.spreadsheet *.ods
org.oasis-open.opendocument.presentation *.odp
com.adobe.encapsulated-postscript *.eps

Internet Plug-ins:
AdobeAAMDetect: 3.0.0.0 (Adobe Inc. - installed 2023-03-03)

Audio Plug-ins:
MSTeamsAudioDevice: 2020.42.00.9 (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2020-10-13)

Backup:
Time Machine information is limited without Full Disk Access
Destinations:
B****p [Local] (Last used)
10 local snapshots
Oldest local snapshot: 2023-03-16 19:39:42
Last local snapshot: 2023-03-23 11:57:20

Performance:
System Load: 2.58 (1 min ago) 2.41 (5 min ago) 1.91 (15 min ago)
Nominal I/O usage: 0.12 MB/s
File system: 42.61 seconds
Write speed: 731 MB/s
Read speed: 2860 MB/s

CPU Usage Snapshot:
Type Overall
System: 1 %
User: 3 %
Idle: 96 %

Top Processes Snapshot by CPU:
Process (count) CPU (Source - Location)
EtreCheckPro 10.32 % (Etresoft, Inc.)
WindowServer 7.46 % (Apple)
Safari 6.48 % (Apple)
Google Chrome Helper (Renderer) (12) 5.03 % (Google LLC)
Google Chrome Helper (GPU) 2.48 % (Google LLC)

Top Processes Snapshot by Memory:
Process (count) RAM usage (Source - Location)
Dropbox (4) 1.17 GB (Dropbox, Inc.)
Google Chrome Helper (Renderer) (12) 1.12 GB (Google LLC)
EtreCheckPro 1.04 GB (Etresoft, Inc.)
Creative Cloud UI Helper (Renderer) 991 MB (Adobe Inc.)
Mail 418 MB (Apple)

Top Processes Snapshot by Network Use:
Process (count) Input / Output (Source - Location)
mDNSResponder 3 MB / 140 KB (Apple)
Dropbox 624 KB / 172 KB (Dropbox, Inc.)
netbiosd 78 KB / 5 KB (Apple)
apsd 9 KB / 21 KB (Apple)
Mail 20 KB / 6 KB (Apple)

Top Processes Snapshot by Energy Use:
Process (count) Energy (0-100) (Source - Location)
com.apple.WebKit.Networking (2) 3 (Apple)
Safari 2 (Apple)
trustd (4) 1 (Apple)
WindowServer 1 (Apple)
Google Chrome Helper (GPU) 1 (Google LLC)

Virtual Memory Information:
Physical RAM: 32 GB

Free RAM: 8.92 GB
Used RAM: 12.75 GB
Cached files: 10.33 GB

Available RAM: 19.25 GB
Swap Used: 0 B

Software Installs (past 60 days):
Install Date Name (Version)
2023-01-31 macOS 13.2 (13.2)
2023-02-16 InstallAssistant (22.3.68)
2023-02-17 macOS 13.2.1 (13.2.1)
2023-02-23 Microsoft Teams (1.00.601159)
2023-03-06 Disk Space Analyzer Free (4.1)
2023-03-15 Microsoft AutoUpdate (4.57.23031200)
2023-03-15 Microsoft Excel (16.71.23031200)
2023-03-15 Microsoft OneNote (16.71.23031200)
2023-03-15 Microsoft PowerPoint (16.71.23031200)
2023-03-15 Microsoft Word (16.71.23031200)
2023-03-20 Face fitness (1.1)
2023-03-20 LanScan (6.9.2)
2023-03-22 Microsoft Outlook (16.71.23031800)
2023-03-23 Avast Security (15.6.0)
2023-03-23 AvastHUB (3.1.41)

Clean up:
/Library/LaunchAgents/com.microsoft.OneDriveStandaloneUpdater.plist
/Applications/OneDrive.app/Contents/StandaloneUpdater.app/Contents/MacOS/OneDriveStandaloneUpdater
Executable not found

Diagnostics Information (past 7-30 days):
2023-03-23 11:52:44 Dropbox.app High CPU Use (13 times)
Executable: /Applications/Dropbox.app

2023-03-23 11:49:42 CCXProcess Crash (13 times)
Executable: /Applications/Utilities/Adobe Creative Cloud Experience/CCXProcess/CCXProcess.app

2023-03-23 11:34:48 bluetoothd Crash (16 times)
Executable: /usr/sbin/bluetoothd
Details:
libsystem_c.dylib: abort() called

2023-03-22 09:19:47 dynamiclinkmanager Crash
Executable: /Applications/Adobe Photoshop 2023/Adobe Photoshop 2023.app

2023-03-17 15:03:44 Kernel Panic (2 times)
Details:
panic(cpu 4 caller 0xffffff8022531941): userspace watchdog timeout: no
successful checkins from WindowServer in 120 seconds
Panicked task 0xffffff90574a5620: 4 threads: pid 123: watchdogd



End of report

 

[rpmurray]

You have a 2TB Fusion Drive which appears to consist of:
APPLE SSD SM0128L 121.33 GB
APPLE HDD ST2000DM001 2.00 TB

When you said you checked the SMART status, which application did you use to check it?

You're also running at least one Virtualbox VM on the Fusion drive. How much RAM, CPU and HDD have you allocated to that? And is it running when you see these issues?

 

[dksp]

Hi rpmurray and thanks for your reply.

The virtual machine (VirtualBox) is not running and hasn't in months. I don't use it very often, maybe one or twice a year. It runs a car parts software when I have to look up part numbers. It has 1024 MB of RAM, 32 MB of VRAM and 32GB of disk space allocated.

I looked up the SMART status of ST2000DM001 and SM0128L with the "System report" in "About your Mac". It says "Verified" for both. The SSD has TRIM enabled.

 

[rpmurray]

Hi rpmurray and thanks for your reply.

The virtual machine (VirtualBox) is not running and hasn't in months. I don't use it very often, maybe one or twice a year. It runs a car parts software when I have to look up part numbers. It has 1024 MB of RAM, 32 MB of VRAM and 32GB of disk space allocated.

I looked up the SMART status of ST2000DM001 and SM0128L with the "System report" in "About your Mac". It says "Verified" for both. The SSD has TRIM enabled.

For the VM, I was just worried that you may have allocated too many resources to it and that might have contributed to your problem. Since it's not running, that does not seem to be the case.

You cannot rely on the System Report to report SMART status. In my experience it won't show a problem until things are already in the crapper. You'd want to use a more robust tool like DriveDx (it has a trial period, so you can just do a quick check without needing to buy it).

One thing you may also want to try is bring up Activity Monitor and keep it on the screen and see what it says is using the most % CPU when you get the spinning beach balls.

 

[ignatius345]

You cannot rely on the System Report to report SMART status. In my experience it won't show a problem until things are already in the crapper. You'd want to use a more robust tool like DriveDx (it has a trial period, so you can just do a quick check without needing to buy it).

My 2014 iMac 5K started slowing down, and I eventually figured out that the Fusion Drive was dying when DriveDx showed the SSD having a ton of wear. I think it was down to like 5% of remaining estimated lifespan.

The thing about Fusion Drives is that the SSD part takes a real beating since data is being migrated on and off of it more or less constantly. The problem is compounded by the fact that Apple used very tiny SSDs. Mine was 128 GB, and I think they made ones later with a mere 32GB SSD -- absurdly tiny.

Anyway, I squeezed another year or so out of it by cracking it open and putting in a SATA SSD in place of the SATA HDD. You can replace the blade SSD but apparently sourcing the SSD and associated hardware is a bit of a pain.

 

[rpmurray]

The thing about Fusion Drives is that the SSD part takes a real beating since data is being migrated on and off of it more or less constantly. The problem is compounded by the fact that Apple used very tiny SSDs. Mine was 128 GB, and I think they made ones later with a mere 32GB SSD -- absurdly tiny.

Yeah, I'm thinking that the OP is having a problem with the Fusion Drive but it would be good to check with DriveDx. I also seem to remember that Apple had some issues with the Seagate HDDs that they used in these Fusions.

It also doesn't help that APFS isn't optimized for HDDs.

 

[ignatius345]

Yeah, I'm thinking that the OP is having a problem with the Fusion Drive but it would be good to check with DriveDx. I also seem to remember that Apple had some issues with the Seagate HDDs that they used in these Fusions.

Yeah, the Fusion Drive was a very clever hack when SSDs were crazy expensive but they're all ticking time bombs at this point. I'd have to guess a huge percentage of them that are in regular use will have failed within the next few years.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

1. Buy SSD external.
2. SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Clone to it as new boot drive.
3. Boot with it and stop using internal drive.

If you want, buy the external with the intent of making it the new internal replacement. Do the above and then use a shop with those kinds of skills to swap out the old drive for the new one. And an all-SSD will likely be noticeably faster than the old hybrid drive.

If you don't want to do that, basically retire using the internal drive and always boot the external (clone). In effect, it takes over as your boot drive and you just ignore the internal completely.

 

[dksp]

Thanks all for your replies.

I tried to download DriveDx from the Binary Fruit website, but it is not working and I only get a blank page. Do you know another location to download this application?

I'm not sure if it a fault with the SSD, there are a lot of bluetooth crashes also (maybe the Logitech driver?)?

Unfortunately, this is not my Mac, so no modification can be done to it. My own iMac 2010 21.5" with i7, SSD and Nvidia K2100M is running fine

 

[dksp]

So i managed to download Drive Dx. The SSD part is fine, but shows 68% lifetime left.
The Seagate has problems, it shows "failing" status.

I'll talk to my boss if we can get the machine serviced. Normally, this Mac should already have been replaced by a new one, but there is no equivalent in Apple's current line up.

Spoiler: Drive Dx Report for the Seagate HDD

### SYSTEM INFORMATION ###
Report Timestamp : 24 mars 2023 09:54:11 UTC+1
Report Timestamp (ISO 8601 format) : 2023-03-24T09:54:11

Application Name : DriveDx
Application Version : 1.11.0.730
Application SubBuild : 0
Application Edition : Standalone
Application Website : https://binaryfruit.com/drivedx
DriveDx Knowledge Base Revision : 101/101

Computer Name : iMac de xxx
Host Name : iMac-de-xxx
Computer Model : iMac18,3

OS Boot Time : 2023-03-24T08:27:44
Time Since Boot : 01h 26m 27s
OS Name : macOS
OS Version : 10.16.0
OS Build : 22D68
OS Kernel Version : Darwin 22.3.0

SAT SMART Driver Version : N/A
ATA Command Support Tolerance : verypermissive
N of drives in report : 1



### DRIVE 1 OF 1 ###
Last Checked : 24 mars 2023 09:53:13 UTC+1
Last Checked (ISO 8601 format) : 2023-03-24T09:53:13

Advanced SMART Status : FAILING
Overall Health Rating : N/A 78.9%
Overall Performance Rating : GOOD 78.9%
Issues found : 5

Serial Number : Z8E0J1JD
WWN Id : 5 000c50 0a2b923f5
Volumes : Macintosh HD
Device Path : /dev/disk1
Total Capacity : 2.0 TB (2 000 398 934 016 Bytes)
Model Family : Apple (Seagate-based) HDDs
Model : APPLE HDD ST2000DM001
Form Factor : 3.5 inches
Firmware Version : AQ03
Drive Type : HDD 7200 rpm

Power On Time : 17 754 hours (24 months 19 days 18 hours)
Power Cycles Count : 18 666
Current Power Cycle Time : 1.4 hours



=== DEVICE CAPABILITIES ===
S.M.A.R.T. support enabled : yes
DriveDx Active Diagnostic Config : Apple (Seagate-based) HDDs config [hdd.seagate.apple]
Sector Logical Size : 512
Sector Physical Size : 4096
Physical Interconnect : SATA
Logical Protocol : SATA
Removable : no
Ejectable : no
ATA Version : ACS-2, ACS-3 T13/2161-D revision 3b
SATA Version : SATA 3.1, 6.0 Gb/s (current: 6.0 Gb/s)
I/O Path : IOService:/AppleACPIPlatformExpert/PCI0@0/AppleACPIPCI/SATA@17/AppleIntelPchSeriesAHCI/PRT0@0/IOAHCIDevice@0/AppleAHCIDiskDriver/IOAHCIBlockStorageDevice
Attributes Data Structure Revision : 10
SMART Command Transport (SCT) flags : 0x10bd
SCT Status supported : yes
SCT Feature Control supported : yes
SCT Data Table supported : yes
Error logging capabilities : 0x1
Self-tests supported : yes
Offline Data Collection capabilities : 0x73
Offline Data Collection status : 0x0
Auto Offline Data Collection flags : 0x0
[Known device ]: yes
[Drive State Flags ]: 0x6000300
[Last State Change Timestamp ]: 2023-03-24T09:53:13
[Last State Change Flags ]: 0x6000300
[Last State Change Diff Flags ]: 0x1
Last Email Report Timestamp : 2023-03-24T09:53:13
Last Email Report Reason Flags : 0x6000300
Last Email Report State Change Flags : 0x1


=== CURRENT POWER CYCLE STATISTICS ===
Time since computer startup : 1 hours
Data Read : 3 220 240 896 bytes (3.2 GB)
Data Written : 3 276 169 216 bytes (3.3 GB)
Data Read/Write Ratio : 0.98
Data Read/hour : 2.2 GB/hour
Data Write/hour : 2.3 GB/hour

Operations (Read) : 140 098
Read IOPS : 13
Operations (Write) : 90 864
Write IOPS : 9
Operations Read/Write Ratio : 2
Throughput per operation (Read) : 23.0 KB/Op
Throughput per operation (Write) : 36.1 KB/Op

Latency Time (Read) : 0 ns
Latency Time (Write) : 0 ns
Retries (Read) : 0
Retries (Write) : 0
Errors (Read) : 21
Errors (Write) : 0


=== PROBLEMS SUMMARY ===
Failed Indicators (life-span / pre-fail) : 0 (0 / 0)
Failing Indicators (life-span / pre-fail) : 4 (3 / 1)
Warnings (life-span / pre-fail) : 0 (0 / 0)
Recently failed Self-tests (Short / Full) : 0 (0 / 0)
I/O Error Count : 21 (21 / 0)
Time in Under temperature : 0 minutes
Time in Over temperature : 0 minutes


=== IMPORTANT HEALTH INDICATORS ===
ID NAME RAW VALUE STATUS
5 Reallocated Sector Count 2 120 98.4% Failing
187 Reported Uncorrectable Errors 26 318 1.0% Failing
197 Current Pending Sector Count 2 976 82.0% Failing
198 Offline Uncorrectable Sector Count 2 976 82.0% Failing
199 UDMA CRC Error Count 0 100% OK
241 Total LBAs Written 117 424 572 350 (60.1 TB) 100% OK


=== TEMPERATURE INFORMATION (CELSIUS) ===
Current Temperature : 40
Power Cycle Min Temperature : 22
Power Cycle Max Temperature : 40
Lifetime Min Temperature : 16
Lifetime Max Temperature : 48
Recommended Min Temperature : 3
Recommended Max Temperature : 62
Temperature Min Limit : 0
Temperature Max Limit : 65


=== DRIVE HEALTH INDICATORS ===
ID | NAME | TYPE | UPDATE | RAW VALUE | VALUE | THRESHOLD | WORST | LAST MODIFIED | STATUS
1 Raw Read Error Rate Pre-fail online 0x1CE5361 96 6 77 24/03/2023 09:53 78.9% OK
3 Spin Up Time Pre-fail online 0 96 0 96 24/03/2023 09:53 96.0% OK
4 Start Stop Count Life-span online 12 820 88 20 88 24/03/2023 09:53 85.0% OK
5 Reallocated Sector Count Pre-fail online 2 120 99 36 99 24/03/2023 09:53 98.4% Failing
7 Seek Error Rate Pre-fail online 0x689AF86 80 30 60 24/03/2023 09:53 100% OK
9 Power On Hours Life-span online 17 754 80 0 80 24/03/2023 09:53 80.0% OK
10 Spin Retry Count Pre-fail online 0 100 97 100 24/03/2023 09:53 100% OK
12 Power Cycle Count Life-span online 18 666 82 20 82 24/03/2023 09:53 77.5% OK
184 End-to-End Error Life-span online 0 100 99 100 24/03/2023 09:53 100% OK
187 Reported Uncorrectable Errors Life-span online 26 318 1 0 1 24/03/2023 09:53 1.0% Failing
188 Command Timeout Life-span online 0x100020018 100 0 99 24/03/2023 09:53 100% OK
189 High Fly Writes Life-span online 14 86 0 86 24/03/2023 09:53 100% OK
190 Airflow Temperature Celsius Life-span online 40 60 45 51 24/03/2023 09:53 27.3% OK
191 G-Sense Error Rate Life-span online 0 100 0 100 24/03/2023 09:53 100% OK
192 Power-Off Retract Count Life-span online 231 100 0 100 24/03/2023 09:53 100% OK
193 Load Cycle Count Life-span online 18 671 91 0 91 24/03/2023 09:53 91.0% OK
194 Temperature (Celsius) Life-span online 40 60 35 51 24/03/2023 09:53 38.5% OK
197 Current Pending Sector Count Life-span online 2 976 82 0 73 24/03/2023 09:53 82.0% Failing
198 Offline Uncorrectable Sector Count Life-span offline 2 976 82 0 73 24/03/2023 09:53 82.0% Failing
199 UDMA CRC Error Count Life-span online 0 200 0 200 24/03/2023 09:53 100% OK
240 Head Flying Hours Life-span offline 21 087 100 0 253 24/03/2023 09:53 100% OK
241 Total LBAs Written Life-span offline 117 424 572 350 (60.1 TB) 100 0 253 24/03/2023 09:53 100% OK
242 Total LBAs Read Life-span offline 6 425 648 337 697 (3.3 PB) 100 0 253 24/03/2023 09:53 100% OK



=== DRIVE ERROR LOG ===
# | TIME OCCURRED | ERRORS | PRIOR COMMAND
5 17754 hours UNC READ DMA EXT
4 17754 hours UNC READ DMA EXT
3 17754 hours UNC READ DMA EXT
2 17754 hours UNC READ DMA EXT
1 17754 hours UNKNOWN ERROR WRITE FPDMA QUEUED


=== DRIVE SELF-TEST LOG ===
self-test log is empty

 

[rpmurray]

Apple is still selling refurb 27 inch iMacs. They're indistinguishable from new. Different models show up all the time but some sell out quickly so you have to keep an eye out to see what comes back into stock.

The cheapest route would be to pull both the NVMe SSD and the HDD and have them replaced with just a larger NVMe 2TB. Stay away from trying to create a new Fusion. B&H is selling the Samsung 2TB 980 PRO (overkill) for $159.99 at the moment. You'd just need to get an adapter and find someone who can crack open the iMac without breaking anything (especially the display). iFixit, OWC and YouTube have lots of videos showing the process.

Or, like HobeSoundDarryl said, you can get an external Thunderbolt drive and boot/work from that. OWC sells the Envoy FX/SX drives (in various sizes) that work well for that. There are also DIY solutions.

 

[dksp]

Thanks, I'm in France so prices are a liitle different.

I just can't justify spending 5K€ on an Intel Mac in 2023. Now that I know that the HDD is failing, I was thinking about replacing only the SATA HDD by a SATA SDD (Samsung 870 EVO 2TB).

But I didn't know you could fit the Samsung PCIe/NVMe in an iMac, that is good news. Opening the Mac should be doable

Or get a Mac Studio with the Apple display, but it would be around 7K€ for a decent configuration.

 

[ignatius345]

If you want, buy the external with the intent of making it the new internal replacement. Do the above and then use a shop with those kinds of skills to swap out the old drive for the new one. And an all-SSD will likely be noticeably faster than the old hybrid drive.

Exactly what I did and it was very easy. I cloned the internal onto an external, booted off that and ran it for a while, let it reconcile iCloud and whatever else. Then when I was satisifed everything was running normally I used an iFixit kit to open up the iMac, pull out the SATA HDD and plug that SSD in its place. If you're a little mechanically inclined and set aside some time and space and follow the instructions carefully it's doable in a couple hours -- much of which will be spent peeling the old adhesive off the display before putting the new adhesive on. After all that, it booted right up, no issues at all.

I would *also* recommend doing normal backups before starting this whole process, just to have some redundancy in case something goes wrong. The SATA HDD you pull out will be absolutely useless to recover data from, as it's part of a Fusion Drive and will not be seen by the system as a formatted readable drive by itself.

 

[dksp]

[…] You'd just need to get an adapter […]

Could you post a link for this adapter please?

 

[rpmurray]

Could you post a link for this adapter please?

I believe either one of these:
Sintech NGFF M.2 nVME SSD Adapter
Sintech NGFF M.2 nVME SSD Adapter

There is a forum thread where you can get more recommendations, A list of successful iMac 27" (2012-2019) SSD upgrades.

 

[dksp]

Quick update. We ordered and an OWC Envoy enclosure and a WD Black 850 2TB and migrated all data to the new drive. Time Machine was a bit reluctant but it finally worked out. For now, this allows us to continue working on this Mac. And take time to figure out what to do with it later. Speed is more than sufficient, it's a huge improvement compared to the dying Fusion drive.

 

[stradify]

Good quick fix! Sometimes taking the easiest solution is the way to go.
Now that you found out that TimeMachine can be problematic consider expanding your backup strategy to include
cloning software like Carbon Copy Cloner.

 

[dksp]

Yes, it would be better. This is the Mac at the office, so it is not my money.
I used CCC for years, when you could use it for free.