Resolved iMac asks for Spotify on startup (I’ve never installed Spotify)

[Anais Ninja]

Hi folks, this is my first thread on MacRumors. I was wondering if you could kindly help me with an issue on my Mac.

Whenever I reboot my iMac, this window pops up:

It asks "Where is Spotify?" But I've never installed Spotify on either my iMac or my iPhone.

I tried searching Google, but only found threads from people who DO have Spotify installed.

I've also checked System Preferences < Users & Groups < Login Items, and there is nothing about Spotify in there. Only startup items I do know about, like BetterTouchTool.

If I hit "Browse", the window disappears. If I hit "Cancel", the window disappears.

If I do a Finder search for "Spotify", nothing shows up, even if I choose the option of "System files - are included".

I don't really shut down my Mac often, instead I use sleep. But I've rebooted a couple of times in the last few days, which is when this window first started showing up.

Any ideas how to get rid of it?

Specs:
iMac 27", late 2013
Latest update of Sierra (10.12.5)
24 gigabytes of installed RAM

 

[BrianBaughn]

What is in your System Preferences>Users & Groups>Login Items? I ask because perhaps there is another item running that is looking for Spotify.

 

[DeltaMac]

Another great tool that can help is the good utility EtreCheck.
Download, run, and post the resulting log here.

 

[Anais Ninja]

What is in your System Preferences>Users & Groups>Login Items? I ask because perhaps there is another item running that is looking for Spotify.

Thanks, Brian. Here are the items under System Preferences>Users & Groups>Login Items:

1. f.lux. This changes the color temperature of your monitor depending on the time of day.
2. Flycut. This gives you a history pallet for your clipboard.
3. Rowmote. This allows you to use your iPhone as a remote control for your Mac (volume control).
4. BetterTouchTool. This allows you trigger actions on your Mac with hot keys.
5. CornerClick. Makes it so you have to CLICK (not hover) to activate hot corners (Exposé, etc).

For what it's worth, I tried manually un-installing each of the above (by selecting each one in System Preferences and hitting the minus symbol) - on rebooting the Mac, I still got the Spotify alert.

PS: I also tried looking in Activity Monitor with the "Spotify" alert still open. There was noting called Spotify in the Activity Monitor.

EDIT: Added CornerClick to the list, I somehow missed typing it when I first wrote this post.

 

[DeltaMac]

Makes sense --- if Spotify is not installed, and some other app or service calls for Spotify, and Spotify is not installed, then you would get an alert like that. And, it wouldn't be caused by Spotify. It will be something else that loads during boot.
AND --- EtreCheck will be a good tool to help you find what that might be.
My first guess: Rowmote.
(Clicking the minus icon in startup list does NOT uninstall or remove the software, it only removes it from the list - and usually prevents a startup action during boot, but not always)

 

[Anais Ninja]

Another great tool that can help is the good utility EtreCheck.
Download, run, and post the resulting log here.

Thanks, Delta. Here is the output (I've duplicated the red highlights that appear in the app):

EtreCheck version: 3.4 (420)
Report generated 2017-07-18 09:33:26
Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com
Runtime: 2:11
Performance: Excellent

Click the [Lookup] links for more information from Apple Support Communities.
Click the [Details] links for more information about that line.
Click the [Clean up] link to delete unused files.

Problem: No problem - just checking

Hardware Information: ⓘ
iMac (27-inch, Late 2013)
[Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty & Service]
iMac - model: iMac14,2
1 3.2 GHz Intel Core i5 (i5-4570) CPU: 4-core
24 GB RAM Upgradeable - [Instructions]
BANK 0/DIMM0
4 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok
BANK 1/DIMM0
4 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok
BANK 0/DIMM1
8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok
BANK 1/DIMM1
8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok
Bluetooth: Good - Handoff/Airdrop2 supported
Wireless: en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac

Video Information: ⓘ
NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M - VRAM: 1024 MB
iMac 2560 x 1440

Disk Information: ⓘ
APPLE SSD SD0128F disk0: (121.33 GB) (Solid State - TRIM: Yes)
[Show SMART report]
EFI (disk0s1 - MS-DOS FAT32) <not mounted> [EFI]: 210 MB
(disk0s2) <not mounted> [CoreStorage Container]: 120.99 GB
Boot OS X (disk0s3 - Journaled HFS+) <not mounted> : 134 MB

APPLE HDD ST1000DM003 disk1: (1 TB) (Rotational)
[Show SMART report]
EFI (disk1s1 - MS-DOS FAT32) <not mounted> [EFI]: 210 MB
(disk1s2) <not mounted> [CoreStorage Container]: 999.35 GB
Recovery HD (disk1s3 - Journaled HFS+) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB

USB Information: ⓘ
USB30Bus
VIA Labs, Inc. USB3.0 Hub
VIA Labs, Inc. USB3.0 Hub
Seagate Expansion
Expansion disk4: (2 TB)
EFI (disk4s1 - MS-DOS FAT32) <not mounted> [EFI]: 210 MB
TM (disk4s2 - Journaled HFS+) /Volumes/TM : 2.00 TB (97.36 GB free)
Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub
Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller
Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)
VIA Labs, Inc. USB2.0 Hub
VIA Labs, Inc. USB2.0 Hub
Apple, Inc. Keyboard Hub
Apple Inc. Apple Keyboard
Western Digital Elements 1023
Elements 1023 disk3: (500.11 GB)
EFI (disk3s1 - MS-DOS FAT32) <not mounted> [EFI]: 210 MB
HD II (disk3s2 - Journaled HFS+) /Volumes/HD II : 499.76 GB (57.62 GB free)

Thunderbolt Information: ⓘ
Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

Virtual disks: ⓘ
Mac HD (disk2 - Journaled HFS+) / [Startup]: 1.11 TB (536.76 GB free)
Physical disk: disk0s2 120.99 GB Online
Physical disk: disk1s2 999.35 GB Online

System Software: ⓘ
macOS Sierra 10.12.5 (16F73) - Time since boot: less than an hour

Configuration files: ⓘ
/etc/hosts - Count: 23

Gatekeeper: ⓘ
Anywhere [Fix Gatekeeper security]

Clean up: ⓘ
/Library/LaunchAgents/com.machangout.glims.agent.plist
/Library/Application Support/Glims/Agent/Glims Agent.app/Contents/MacOS/Glims Agent -launchedbylogin
Executable not found!
/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.machangout.glims.loader.plist
/Library/Application Support/Glims/Agent/Glims Agent.app/Contents/MacOS/Glims Agent -helper
Executable not found!
2 orphan files found. [Clean up]

Kernel Extensions: ⓘ
/Applications/Toast 14 Titanium/Toast Audio Assistant.app
[not loaded] com.Cycling74.driver.Soundflower (1.6.7 - SDK 10.7) [Lookup]

/Applications/Toast 14 Titanium/Toast Titanium.app
[not loaded] com.roxio.TDIXController (2.0) [Lookup]

/Applications/Utilities/DiskWarrior.app
[not loaded] com.alsoft.Preview (5.0 - SDK 10.5) [Lookup]

/Applications/Utilities/Rowmote Helper.app
[loaded] com.regularrateandrhythm.driver.RowmoteIREmu (1.2 - SDK 10.11) [Lookup]

/Applications/Utilities/Screenflick.app
[not loaded] com.araeliumgroup.driver.screenflickaudio (1.0.0d1) [Lookup]

/Library/Extensions
[loaded] at.obdev.nke.LittleSnitch (3.7.4 - SDK 10.11) [Lookup]
[loaded] com.AmbrosiaSW.AudioSupport (4.1.4 - SDK 10.11) [Lookup]
[loaded] com.usboverdrive.driver.hid (3.3 - SDK 10.9) [Lookup]

/Library/Extensions/USBOverdrive.kext/Contents/PlugIns
[loaded] com.usboverdrive.driver.bt (3.3 - SDK 10.9) [Lookup]
[not loaded] com.usboverdrive.driver.hid.safe (3.3) [Lookup]

/System/Library/Extensions
[loaded] com.microsoft.driver.MicrosoftMouse (8.2) [Lookup]

/System/Library/Extensions/MicrosoftMouse.kext/Contents/PlugIns
[loaded] com.microsoft.driver.MicrosoftMouseBluetooth (8.2) [Lookup]
[not loaded] com.microsoft.driver.MicrosoftMouseUSB (8.2) [Lookup]

Startup Items: ⓘ
ProTec6b: Path: /Library/StartupItems/ProTec6b
Startup items no longer function in OS X Yosemite or later

System Launch Agents: ⓘ
[not loaded] 6 Apple tasks
[loaded] 184 Apple tasks
[running] 92 Apple tasks

System Launch Daemons: ⓘ
[not loaded] 40 Apple tasks
[loaded] 178 Apple tasks
[running] 100 Apple tasks

Launch Agents: ⓘ
[running] at.obdev.LittleSnitchUIAgent.plist (Objective Development Software GmbH - installed 2017-04-04) [Lookup]
[not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2017-05-12) [Lookup]
[failed] com.adobe.ARMDCHelper.cc24aef4a1b90ed56a725c38014c95072f92651fb65e1bf9c8e43c37a23d420d.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2015-08-29) [Lookup]
[not loaded] com.adobe.AdobeCreativeCloud.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2017-05-12) [Lookup]
[loaded] com.adobe.CS5ServiceManager.plist (? 40cdc1ff dd391a6f - installed 2015-02-28) [Lookup]
[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist (Google Inc. - installed 2016-07-11) [Lookup]
[failed] com.machangout.glims.agent.plist (? 771a8dbf 0 - installed 2015-07-02) [Lookup] - /Library/Application Support/Glims/Agent/Glims Agent.app/Contents/MacOS/Glims Agent: Executable not found!
[loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist (? acc9ad2b be93c7fb - installed 2017-07-16) [Lookup]

Launch Daemons: ⓘ
[running] at.obdev.littlesnitchd.plist (Objective Development Software GmbH - installed 2017-04-04) [Lookup]
[loaded] com.adobe.ARMDC.Communicator.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2015-08-29) [Lookup]
[loaded] com.adobe.ARMDC.SMJobBlessHelper.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2015-08-29) [Lookup]
[loaded] com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist (? 68cad67 0 - installed 2015-02-28) [Lookup]
[running] com.adobe.adobeupdatedaemon.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2017-05-12) [Lookup]
[running] com.adobe.agsservice.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2017-05-12) [Lookup]
[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (? 2afb3af7 18a4fa69 - installed 2017-06-23) [Lookup]
[loaded] com.ambrosiasw.ambrosiaaudiosupporthelper.daemon.plist (Ambrosia Software, Inc. - installed 2016-09-03) [Lookup]
[loaded] com.barebones.authd.plist (? c13813d8 591bf8bf - installed 2015-06-04) [Lookup]
[loaded] com.google.keystone.daemon.plist (Google Inc. - installed 2016-07-11) [Lookup]
[failed] com.machangout.glims.loader.plist (? dc51751d 0 - installed 2015-07-02) [Lookup] - /Library/Application Support/Glims/Agent/Glims Agent.app/Contents/MacOS/Glims Agent: Executable not found!
[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensingV2.helper.plist (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2016-04-11) [Lookup]
[loaded] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist (Shell Script e3fefdd2 - installed 2017-03-15) [Lookup]
[running] com.regularrateandrhythm.rowmotehelperaide.plist (Evan Schoenberg, M.D. - installed 2015-02-27) [Lookup]

User Launch Agents: ⓘ
[loaded] com.valvesoftware.steamclean.plist (? b5495096 f03ac3b1 - installed 2017-07-03) [Lookup]

User Login Items: ⓘ
Flux Application
(/Applications/Flux.app)
CornerClickBG Application
(~/Documents/Pref Panes/CornerClick.prefPane/Contents/Resources/CornerClickBG.app)
Rowmote Helper Application
(/Applications/Utilities/Rowmote Helper.app)
Flycut Application
(/Applications/Utilities/Flycut.app)
BetterTouchTool Application
(/Applications/Utilities/BetterTouchTool.app)
com.adobe.SwitchBoard.monitor.plist MachInit - Hidden
(/etc/mach_init_per_user.d/com.adobe.SwitchBoard.monitor.plist)
Mach Init items are deprecated

Internet Plug-ins: ⓘ
AdobeAAMDetect: 3.0.0.0 (installed 2017-05-12) [Lookup]
FlashPlayer-10.6: 26.0.0.137 (installed 2017-07-11) [Lookup]
QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (installed 2017-05-15)
AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: 15.008.20082 (installed 2015-07-02) [Lookup]
AdobePDFViewer: 15.008.20082 (installed 2015-07-02) [Lookup]
Flash Player: 26.0.0.137 (installed 2017-07-11) [Lookup]
EPPEX Plugin: 10.0 (installed 2014-10-14) [Lookup]
Silverlight: 5.1.50428.0 (installed 2016-07-29) [Lookup]
JavaAppletPlugin: Java 8 Update 131 build 11 (installed 2017-07-16) Check version

Safari Extensions: ⓘ
[enabled] Stylish - Vladimir Sobolev - http://sobolev.us/stylish (installed 2017-06-08)

3rd Party Preference Panes: ⓘ
CornerClick (installed 2010-04-04) [Lookup]
Cursorcerer (installed 2017-07-18) [Lookup]
Flash Player (installed 2017-06-23) [Lookup]
Java (installed 2017-07-16) [Lookup]
Perian (installed 2013-12-10) [Lookup]

Time Machine: ⓘ
Skip System Files: NO
Mobile backups: OFF
Auto backup: YES
Volumes being backed up:
Mac HD: Disk size: 1.11 TB Disk used: 575.07 GB
Destinations:
TM [Local]
Total size: 2.00 TB
Total number of backups: 67
Oldest backup: 3/16/17, 2:36 AM
Last backup: 7/18/17, 8:44 AM
Size of backup disk: Adequate
Backup size 2.00 TB > (Disk used 575.07 GB X 3)

Top Processes by CPU: ⓘ
3% WindowServer
2% firefox
1% launchd
1% coreaudiod
1% kernel_task

Top Processes by Memory: ⓘ
1.13 GB kernel_task
973 MB firefox
365 MB mds_stores
257 MB iTunes
145 MB assistant_service

Top Processes by Network Use: ⓘ
Input Output Process name
26 KB 24 KB mDNSResponder
10 KB 9 KB apsd
5 KB 3 KB firefox
4 KB 2 KB assistantd
522 B 354 B netbiosd

Top Processes by Energy Use: ⓘ
7.32 mdworker
6.44 mdworker
5.72 WindowServer
4.94 firefox

Virtual Memory Information: ⓘ
19.33 GB Available RAM
16.91 GB Free RAM
4.67 GB Used RAM
2.42 GB Cached files
0 B Swap Used

Software installs: ⓘ
WhatsOn: 2.0.0 (installed 2017-06-27)
Adobe Flash Player: (installed 2017-07-11)
Java 8 Update 131: (installed 2017-07-16)

Install information may not be complete.

Diagnostics Information: ⓘ
2017-07-17 23:37:43 com.apple.appkit.xpc.openAndSavePanelService Crash [Open]
Cause: Crashing on exception: +[NSOpenAndSavePanelService loadViewToService:isOpenPanel:appCentric:] : failed entitlements check
2017-07-17 22:26:23 Xee³.app Crash [Open]
Cause: small free list metadata inconsistency (headers[previous] != previous size)
2017-07-16 23:06:08 Transmission.app High CPU use [Open] [Details]
2017-07-16 20:11:03 Firefox.app High CPU use [Open] [Details]

*********
Notes: Some of this stuff appears to be really old or outdated. I tried USBOverdrive for a day, then deleted it. I installed (and paid for) Screenflick, but then I never used it. Same goes for Glims, which appears to be a Safari plugin - I only use Firefox. I have no idea what ProTec6b is.

The only apps that have updated recently (that I'm aware of) are BetterTouchTool and Java. Both of these have updated in the last few days.

I have Gatekeeper set to "Anywhere" because I download certain apps from the developer's website (instead of the Mac App Store).

 

[ApfelKuchen]

Legitimate browser plug-ins don't have to install Launch Agents or Launch Daemons - they launch when the browser is launched. Machangout/Glims is an (apparently) old app that seems intended to modify Safari in ways not supported by Apple's plug-in and extensions capabilities.

Not sure whether running MalwareBytes would help, but it could, since the technique is similar to adware. The fact that it's asking for a specific app you've never used smells a lot like adware to me - people will "fix" a problem like this by downloading the "missing" app (maybe Machangout was paid to do this by Spotify).

The dialog box does not seem to be a standard Apple dialog - does the Menu bar show Finder as the active app?

 

[DeltaMac]

A few items that caught my eye (and you could decide to remove, or not), in no particular order, and without actually blaming anything for what you see...

WhatsOn (I noticed that the current version of this includes Spotify - probably where you got
Spotify... yes? )

Perian (probably doesn't actually do anything or work with Sierra)
Glims (likely just abandonware, suggest removing completely, hasn't been updated for nearly 4 years)

I did not put down everything that I found, but then I did notice that Spotify is included with WhatsOn - so that's probably it! You may have trashed Spotify, but then WhatsOn looks for it, I suppose...

 

[Anais Ninja]

A few items that caught my eye (and you could decide to remove, or not), in no particular order, and without actually blaming anything for what you see...

WhatsOn (I noticed that the current version of this includes Spotify - probably where you got
Spotify... yes? )

Perian (probably doesn't actually do anything or work with Sierra)
Glims (likely just abandonware, suggest removing completely, hasn't been updated for nearly 4 years)

I did not put down everything that I found, but then I did notice that Spotify is included with WhatsOn - so that's probably it! You may have trashed Spotify, but then WhatsOn looks for it, I suppose...

DeltaMac, you are an absolute Mac Jedi! Quitting WhatsOn (and deselecting "Launch at Start Up" in its preferences) got rid of that annoying Spotify popup! A million thanks!

I installed WhatsOn a week or two ago, but since I haven't rebooted my Mac until the last few days I never noticed the Spotify thing before. Whatever the case, it's going bye-bye, as there is no setting in the app to turn off the Spotify request.

One final question, if I may be so bold: I have uninstalled Perian, Glims, and USBOverdrive, and they no longer appear in my EtreCheck results.

But what about the two other Adobe items that EtreCheck called attention to, specifically com.adobe.SwitchBoard.monitor.plist MachInit and com.adobe.ARMDCHelper? Can (or should) I delete those as well?

And what about: Configuration files: /etc/hosts - Count: 23 - do I need to get rid of those?

If so, what is the preferable method for deleting them?

Thanks again (and thanks also to ApfelKuchen)!

 

[BrianBaughn]

Good that you now know the culprit.

You might want to consider a completely clean install of the OS and starting fresh with your User Account (no migration tools...just file transfers from backup). It's a pain but it will truly clean your OS of outdated legacy software.

 

[Anais Ninja]

One final question, if I may be so bold - what about the two other Adobe items that EtreCheck called attention to, specifically com.adobe.SwitchBoard.monitor.plist MachInit and com.adobe.ARMDCHelper? Can (or should) I delete those as well?

And what about: Configuration files: /etc/hosts - Count: 23 - do I need to get rid of those?

Just a final post, as I am marking this thread as "Resolved":

Seeing as how I did not receive a response to my question above, I did some Google searching. The general consensus seems to be that if these files aren't causing any problems then it's okay to leave them alone - so that's what I'm going to do.

Brian, I am going to pass on doing a clean install of the OS, as everything is running perfectly.

Thanks again to all who replied to this thread, your assistance has been greatly appreciated!