Macbook mid 2010 -help, super slow

[chicklebird]

i've had this macbook for about 2 years, i bought it refurbished from the apple store online, it ran great in the beginning but over the last year it has gotten worse and worse, it now takes me about 45 minutes just to restart, it freezes when i'm watching youtube videos, it freezes if i do more then one thing at a time, it even freezes if i right click anything

this is my first mac so i'm unable to troubleshoot the way i could with a pc, i've done a few searches and became more familiar with the activity monitory and disk utility but i still don't really have a clue what i'm doing so i'd love any and all help or advice

Processor - 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Memory - 4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
Graphics - NVIDIA GeForce 320M 256 MB
Software - Mac OS X Lion 10.7.5 (11G63)
Storage - 220.38GB free out of 249.2GB

 

[justperry]

Post a screenshot of Activity, do exactly like the one below, to take a screenshot hit Command-Shift-4, then hit spacebar and click the window.

Edit: could be a bad Hard drive.

 

[chicklebird]

Post a screenshot of Activity, do exactly like the one below, to take a screenshot hit Command-Shift-4, then hit spacebar and click the window.

here you go, thanks for responding so quickly, there are multiple processes running and i don't know what the majority of them are, they don't seem to be taking up any CPU%, should i scroll down and post those as well or is this sufficient?

 

[justperry]

here you go, thanks for responding so quickly, there are multiple processes running and i don't know what the majority of them are, they don't seem to be taking up any CPU%, should i scroll down and post those as well or is this sufficient?

All is well there, this is not your problem.

Ok, now Open Disk Utility, click on the HD and look in the lower part for S.M.A.R.T status, what does it say?

Edit: while you are at it, also check the disk for Errors by clicking on the verify button.

 

[chicklebird]

All is well there, this is not your problem.

Ok, now Open Disk Utility, click on the HD and look in the lower part for S.M.A.R.T status, what does it say?

the HD didn't have the S.M.A.R.T status but the one above it did, i took a screen shot of both just incase

EDIT: i verified the Hitachi disk and it says everything is ok, the Macintosh HD took longer to verify, it says it needs to be repaired, i'll post a screenshot, i've tried to repair it in the past and there was one thing that it couldn't fix, should i try again?

 

[justperry]

the HD didn't have the S.M.A.R.T status but the one above it did, i took a screen shot of both just incase

It's the second screenshot, the other one is the Volume, not the HD, but that one is also OK.
I edited my last post to say what is next, click on the Volume/HD and see what it does when you verify the Volume, if there are any Errors you need to repair the HD, this can NOT be done when you startup from it, you need your disks which came with your Mac or if you have a bootable copy of your Mac boot from that one.

 

[chicklebird]

It's the second screenshot, the other one is the Volume, not the HD, but that one is also OK.
I edited my last post to say what is next, click on the Volume/HD and see what it does when you verify the Volume, if there are any Errors you need to repair the HD, this can NOT be done when you startup from it, you need your disks which came with your Mac or if you have a bootable copy of your Mac boot from that one.

i edited my post as well to include the other info you asked for, i don't understand the last part of what you are saying about it not being able to be done from startup? i haven't changed anything on my mac, i bought it refurbished and have changed nothing since i got it, i don't think it came with disk? i could be wrong about that though, or maybe i'm completely misunderstanding what you are saying

 

[justperry]

i edited my post as well to include the other info you asked for, i don't understand the last part of what you are saying about it not being able to be done from startup? i haven't changed anything on my mac, i bought it refurbished and have changed nothing since i got it, i don't think it came with disk? i could be wrong about that though, or maybe i'm completely misunderstanding what you are saying

Now, plenty of red parts, it needs to be repaired.

What I meant:
A HD can not be repaired if you are starting up from that HD, it needs to be unmounted but it can't because it is in use.
The only way you can repair this is starting up from another external source, this can be the OS X DVD Installer if you have one, or a copy of your HD if you made one before, like a backup.

With newer Macs Recovery HD is built in, this means when you need to repair the HD you can do so by holding the D key at startup, but, I think yours did not come with this.
Oh, I just had a look, you have 10.7 installed, you might just have Recovery HD.

Try holding the D key at startup, if this works you get to a Utilities screen, from the menu open Disk Utility and try to repair your Mac.

 

[chicklebird]

Now, plenty of red parts, it needs to be repaired.

What I meant:
A HD can not be repaired if you are starting up from that HD, it needs to be unmounted but it can't because it is in use.
The only way you can repair this is starting up from another external source, this can be the OS X DVD Installer if you have one, or a copy of your HD if you made one before, like a backup.

With newer Macs Recovery HD is built in, this means when you need to repair the HD you can do so by holding the D key at startup, but, I think yours did not come with this.
Oh, I just had a look, you have 10.7 installed, you might just have Recovery HD.

Try holding the D key at startup, if this works you get to a Utilities screen, from the menu open Disk Utility and try to repair your Mac.

it told me to restart while holding Crtl + R and that took me to recovery mode so I guess it did the same thing, I repaired the disk and it said the repair was successful then I didn't know how to get out of recovery mode so I hit the x, it gave me the option to restart then so I did, it is still restarting now (so far it's been on the grey startup screen with the apple logo for 16 minutes) I'm replying to you from my iPad right now

 

[justperry]

it told me to restart while holding Crtl + R and that took me to recovery mode so I guess it did the same thing, I repaired the disk and it said the repair was successful then I didn't know how to get out of recovery mode so I hit the x, it gave me the option to restart then so I did, it is still restarting now (so far it's been on the grey startup screen with the apple logo for 16 minutes) I'm replying to you from my iPad right now

Hm, if it finishes check again in Disk Utility, what I think is that the Install is corrupt.
Do you have anything attached to it, if so startup without anything connected to it.

There are more things you can do, for instance, a safe boot, if you do a safe boot it might startup much faster, to do so hold the Shift key at startup untill the Apple Logo appears.

You can also startup in verbose mode, next time do this and write down where it hangs, a verbose mode will give a startup with text, to do so hold the Command and V keys until the black screen with text arrives.

 

[justperry]

Before you do the above you could try the following, go to Apple downloads, download 10.7.5 Combo Updater and reapply the Update, this might resolve things as well, that is, if your internet connection is fast.

 

[chicklebird]

Hm, if it finishes check again in Disk Utility, what I think is that the Install is corrupt.
Do you have anything attached to it, if so startup without anything connected to it.

There are more things you can do, for instance, a safe boot, if you do a safe boot it might startup much faster, to do so hold the Shift key at startup untill the Apple Logo appears.

You can also startup in verbose mode, next time do this and write down where it hangs, a verbose mode will give a startup with text, to do so hold the Command and V keys until the black screen with text arrives.

it finally restarted after 23 minutes, I'm trying to re verify the disk now but it's moving slow and freezing up, I'm trying to wait it out

do you mean the install of the hard drive might be corrupt? if so wouldn't this have meant that it would have been slow all along? I haven't installed any hardware since I purchased it and it worked smoothly in the beginning

 

[justperry]

it finally restarted after 23 minutes, I'm trying to re verify the disk now but it's moving slow and freezing up, I'm trying to wait it out

do you mean the install of the hard drive might be corrupt? if so wouldn't this have meant that it would have been slow all along? I haven't installed any hardware since I purchased it and it worked smoothly in the beginning

I have all the time.

Yes, the Install could be corrupted, no--- damage can be done to it later on, for instance after a hard reboot.

But, as I said a verbose mode shows where it hangs, it would clear things up a bit for me.
You could also open Console, copy the contents from the last reboot to now and paste it in a text file, then attach it here so I can have a look at it.

The drive could also have bad sectors.

 

[chicklebird]

Before you do the above you could try the following, go to Apple downloads, download 10.7.5 Combo Updater and reapply the Update, this might resolve things as well, that is, if your internet connection is fast.

everything froze while I was verifying and I had to restart again lol I think I've had enough for tonight, I'll try your next suggestion when I get up tomorrow and I'll let you know if it helps, thank you so much for spending time trying to help me tonight, I really appreciate it!

 

[justperry]

everything froze while I was verifying and I had to restart again lol I think I've had enough for tonight, I'll try your next suggestion when I get up tomorrow and I'll let you know if it helps, thank you so much for spending time trying to help me tonight, I really appreciate it!

No worries.
Just reply to this post so I can see it in my MR notifications.

 

[chicklebird]

No worries.
Just reply to this post so I can see it in my MR notifications.

hope i'm replying correctly for you to see it, i'm trying to download the combo updated but there seems to be several, i see one that says "server combo" and one that says "client combo", which one should i try downloading? i did manage to reverify my Macintosh HD disk and it says everything seems to be ok, after i do this update i'll try restarting my computer in the mode you suggested and see if i can get you the info you need

 

[chicklebird]

You can also startup in verbose mode, next time do this and write down where it hangs, a verbose mode will give a startup with text, to do so hold the Command and V keys until the black screen with text arrives.

when I startup in verbose mode the log is getting hung up on
"launchctl : dubious permissions on file (skipping) : /library/launchdaemons/com.adobe.switchboard.plist"

I'm taking pictures of the entire log as it lodes with my iPad, let me know if you need to see that

EDIT: here's the photo I took, there were a few more errors below so I thought I better add it

 

[justperry]

hope i'm replying correctly for you to see it, i'm trying to download the combo updated but there seems to be several, i see one that says "server combo" and one that says "client combo", which one should i try downloading? i did manage to reverify my Macintosh HD disk and it says everything seems to be ok, after i do this update i'll try restarting my computer in the mode you suggested and see if i can get you the info you need

when I startup in verbose mode the log is getting hung up on
"launchctl : dubious permissions on file (skipping) : /library/launchdaemons/com.adobe.switchboard.plist"

I'm taking pictures of the entire log as it lodes with my iPad, let me know if you need to see that

EDIT: here's the photo I took, there were a few more errors below so I thought I better add it

I went to bed a bit early, so you see I do sleep

Yes, you replied the good way, I saw this morning you replied.
You should get the Client Combo Updater.
OS X Lion Update 10.7.5 (Client Combo)
(Freaking big download btw, 1.91 GB!)

Repair permissions will resolve the problem on that Error, but believe me, that is not the problem, not on that file but it could be the problem causing this slow startup/usage on your System.
To do so startup in Recovery mode, click on your Volume, not the HD itself and repair permissions.

Where did it hang, where the cursor is in your photo?
Did it stop for a while while doing fsck, also in your screenshot.

 

[chicklebird]

Where did it hang, where the cursor is in your photo?
Did it stop for a while while doing fsck, also in your screenshot.

glad you got some sleep, i stayed up till 6am messing with this last night, we must be in different time zones, i've been checking this post all day

the only major hang was the launchctl part that i bolded in my post, there where a few 1 - 5 minute pauses after that but the first hang i mentioned was close to 20 minutes

i'm going to try to do some of this stuff now, it will probably take me a while, as anything requiring a restart does

is there was way to tell if the install is corrupt as you where saying yesterday?

 

[justperry]

glad you got some sleep, i stayed up till 6am messing with this last night, we must be in different time zones, i've been checking this post all day

the only major hang was the launchctl part that i bolded in my post, there where a few 1 - 5 minute pauses after that but the first hang i mentioned was close to 20 minutes

i'm going to try to do some of this stuff now, it will probably take me a while, as anything requiring a restart does

is there was way to tell if the install is corrupt as you where saying yesterday?

There is no way to tell if the System is corrupt, the manual reapplying of OS X like I said yesterday is a way to get some corruption repaired if there is corruption.

Bad sectors can be found but dependable on the size of the HD this can take a long time.

 

[chicklebird]

Repair permissions will resolve the problem on that Error, but believe me, that is not the problem, not on that file but it could be the problem causing this slow startup/usage on your System.
To do so startup in Recovery mode, click on your Volume, not the HD itself and repair permissions.

I'm repairing permissions now and there is one message that seems out of the norm, it says
warning: SUID file system/library/coreservices/remotemanagement/ARDAgent.app/contents/macos/ARDAgent has been modified and will not be repaired
is this something to worry about? everything else is being repaired

EDIT: I did a google search and read that it's on a list of repairs that can be ignored, I'm going to try to do the reinstall as soon as my computer restarts, so far it's been 5 minutes on the startup screen so I'm thinking repairing the permissions didnt do much to help

 

[justperry]

I'm repairing permissions now and there is one message that seems out of the norm, it says
warning: SUID file system/library/coreservices/remotemanagement/ARDAgent.app/contents/macos/ARDAgent has been modified and will not be repaired
is this something to worry about? everything else is being repaired

No, I don't think it is a big problem, this is Apple Remote Desktop, if you don't use it it should not interfere at all.
A second run might repair it but I don't think it will, it has been modified by something, I have some of these errors as well as many others do, even a new install could have this.

Did it repair a lot?

 

[chicklebird]

Did it repair a lot?

yes a really long list, I don't know how this stuff happens, I haven't messed with anything

I have 8 more minutes on the 10.7.5 combo reinstall but then it wants me to restart so it'll be another 30 minutes

is there anything I should do next or have we reached the end? I'd look into buying a new hard drive or new ram if I knew either of those things would help, I hear people talking about how macs last forever all the time, did I just get unlucky? or is my machine just too old to run lion smoothly?

 

[justperry]

yes a really long list, I don't know how this stuff happens, I haven't messed with anything

I have 8 more minutes on the 10.7.5 combo reinstall but then it wants me to restart so it'll be another 30 minutes

It shsould finish and yes you need to restart.
Did that help?

is there anything I should do next or have we reached the end? I'd look into buying a new hard drive or new ram if I knew either of those things would help, I hear people talking about how macs last forever all the time, did I just get unlucky? or is my machine just too old to run lion smoothly?

If all of this didn't work you can still do a complete reinstall after backing up your Data.
It is also possible to do a install without erasing, it just replaces all System files without touching user data.

 

[chicklebird]

It shsould finish and yes you need to restart.
Did that help?.

it's stuck, the time has went from 8 to 44 minutes, my patients is wearing thin tonight so I think I'll just leave it opened over night and see what happens, do you think it will hurt it to go into sleep mode while its installing? if I didn't have my iPad through all this I think I would've thrown my MacBook out the window by now lol