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Macbook Running Slower and Slower...

S

s2gilx3gil

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Hey,
Im a new user to macs. I recently (month ago) bought the new aluminum 2.4ghz macbook and upgraded to 4gigs of ram.

I was really really happy when i first got the macbook. It ran way faster then all my previous laptops... (i mainly use my macbook to surf the net, use microsoft 08')

However, 2 weeks later... the start up slowed up dramatically...
I did install updates AND install microsoft word 08 during this period. Could these be the cause of the extended start up? (went from about 5-10 secs to 20-30secs)

And, my safari is lagging now. When i open new tabs there is a slight lag and sometimes the beach ball even comes up. Also, it has crashed several times.

Is there anything i should be worried about? Anything i should get checked out? Because i beleive with 4 gigs of ram inside this machine it should be running much more faster and smoothly...
 
I have 210GB left as free space.

I already currently have a "maintenance program" and have run it a few times already but it hasnt help significantly.
 
Have you installed many apps which open on login? Go into Accounts in system preferences, unlock the panel with Keychain in the bottom left, click on your username, and then go to the Login Items tab. What apps are showing on that list?
 
How much RAM do you have?

If you run 'Activity Monitor' and look in the 'Kind' column - does every line say 'Intel'?
 
I have no items that load up on start up.

I have 4 Gigs of Ram and yes... in the kind column it's all "intel"

Any ideas?

Thanks

it says i currently have 2.7gigs of ram "free".... is it possible to use this "free" ram???
 
What about Dashboard widgets? Dashboard can slow down OS X quite a bit if you fill your screen up with widgets.

Also, it may be worth checking your hard drive status in Disk Utility. Run a 'Veryify Disk' on your hard drive in Disk Utility and also check it's 'SMART Status' (which is displayed at the bottom). Post what the results are here, and that should ensure that the hard drive is all A.OK.
 
Run 'Console' in Applications -> Utilities

Take a look at the system log. Does it seem to be whining about anything in particular?

Run 'Activity Monitor' and sort the listing by CPU. Anything suspicious hogging the CPU?

Run 'Disk Utility' and try 'First Aid -> Verify Disk' of your boot drive. Any S.M.A.R.T errors?
 
Verified Disk and everything is fine.
SMART is also verified...

mmhm...

I hardly ever use the dashboard and i havent added any extra things so i doubt it...

There are a few items that are using the CPU...

kernel_task
WindowServer
hidd
pmtools

i have no idea what these are as im a mac newbie....

On a side note... i "reset" safari... and i havent crashed/hanged in a while now...
 
It sounds fine.

If you're still worried, try to get to an Apple store / Genius. It's really difficult to judge whether slow is too slow without seeing the machine in person.
 
s2gilx3gil said:
I already currently have a "maintenance program" and have run it a few times already but it hasnt help significantly.
Click to expand...

What "maintenance program" are you running?
Please don't say Norton

Woof, Woof - Dawg
pawprint.gif
 
The 'hidd' process is to do with drivers etc... so is pretty essential and shouldn't really affect the performance of your Mac.

pmTool is to do with Activity Monitor and doesn't actually run unless Activity Monitor is open - so again, not something to worry about.

Everything seems normal. 😕

Is it just startup time which has slowed dramatically? If so, I would kinda expect that, and instead of shutting down your Mac, I would leave it in sleep mode which is what most Mac users do anyway, unless you're leaving it for hours with no mains supply.

Generally, Windows systems will slow down hugely until they come to a complete halt. Macs do slow down a little, but it all happens within the first few months while you set it up as you want. After this, it should keep running at the same speed until a new hard drive is needed (which is years down the line).
 
You might also want to check under System Preferences -> Accounts -> Log In Items to see what is loading as you log in.

Woof, Woof - Dawg
pawprint.gif
 
From what I have read and researched Onyx seems to be pretty tried and tested, I for one have had no problems and it helps to run the maintenance scripts that OSX has in it already, except my laptop is usually sleeping at 3am.

Give it a whirl, if it makes no difference take it a Genius...
 
Did you install the ram yourself? The slower the boot is, the more things your mac is checking,hardware wise,I suppose. If your machine gives you a lot of beach-balling it is possible some of your hardware is bad,might also want to try booting with one RAM stick at the time. So, if you did put the ram yourself, try putting back the 2GB of stock that you probably still have around and check the booting time now,as well. BTW, 20 seconds isn't bad at all.
If it's really too much for you, don't reboot your machine unless a System Update requests it, just send it to sleep.
It is perfectly fine for you not to be using all of your ram, the ram is used by programs, just like your CPU,so the more you're using,the less available ram you have. Once you are out of free ram and your macbook starts paging out,you might look into getting 2 extra GB of RAM.
 
Is the macbook also slow in a new user? This lets you start with a clean library.
Did you removed the caches folder from your user library? This can speed things up.

And indeed, often restart the mac instead of putting it always in sleep.
 
Okay Thanks Everyone!!!

Im using Onyx now.. and performed one just then.

If it keeps getting slower i'll take it to an apple store.

Thanks for the info KillyP

I have a few questions about the "console" thing firestarter was talking about tho...

This is my latest one: (note some "unexpected object type 7" at the bottom)
I have no idea what it all means...
I'm just worried because on day 1... everything was moving much faster...(and i'm puzzled at how opening a new tab would make the mac lag)
Just a question... how long is start up for you guys?

Jan 3 01:10:57 stephen-laus-macbook login[321]: USER_PROCESS: 321 ttys000
Jan 3 01:11:05 stephen-laus-macbook login[321]: DEAD_PROCESS: 321 ttys000
Jan 3 01:11:15 stephen-laus-macbook org.x.privileged_startx[265]: font_cache: Done
Jan 3 01:11:15 stephen-laus-macbook org.x.startx[242]: font_cache: Done
Jan 3 01:11:22 stephen-laus-macbook org.x.startx[242]: Quitting Xquartz...
Jan 3 01:11:22 stephen-laus-macbook org.x.startx[242]: xinit: connection to X server lost.
Jan 3 01:12:03 stephen-laus-macbook login[338]: USER_PROCESS: 338 ttys000
Jan 3 01:12:39 stephen-laus-macbook [0x0-0x41041].org.x.X11[350]: X11.app: main(): argc=2
Jan 3 01:12:39 stephen-laus-macbook [0x0-0x41041].org.x.X11[350]: argv[0] = /Applications/Utilities/X11.app/Contents/MacOS/X11
Jan 3 01:12:39 stephen-laus-macbook [0x0-0x41041].org.x.X11[350]: argv[1] = -psn_0_266305
Jan 3 01:12:39 stephen-laus-macbook org.x.startx[351]: font_cache: Scanning user font directories to generate X11 font caches
Jan 3 01:12:39 stephen-laus-macbook org.x.startx[351]: font_cache: Updating FC cache
Jan 3 01:12:39 stephen-laus-macbook org.x.privileged_startx[366]: font_cache: Scanning user font directories to generate X11 font caches
Jan 3 01:12:39 stephen-laus-macbook org.x.startx[351]: xauth: creating new authority file /Users/StephenLau/.serverauth.351
Jan 3 01:12:39 stephen-laus-macbook org.x.privileged_startx[366]: font_cache: Updating FC cache
Jan 3 01:12:39 stephen-laus-macbook org.x.startx[351]: xinit: Detected Xquartz startup, setting CFProcessPath=/Applications/Utilities/X11.app/Contents/MacOS/X11
Jan 3 01:12:39 stephen-laus-macbook org.x.startx[351]: Xquartz starting:
Jan 3 01:12:39 stephen-laus-macbook org.x.startx[351]: X.org Release 7.2
Jan 3 01:12:39 stephen-laus-macbook org.x.startx[351]: X.Org X Server 1.3.0-apple22
Jan 3 01:12:39 stephen-laus-macbook org.x.startx[351]: Build Date: 20080821
Jan 3 01:12:39 stephen-laus-macbook org.x.startx[351]: Launchd socket fd: 6
Jan 3 01:12:39 stephen-laus-macbook org.x.startx[351]: Could not init font path element /System/Library/Fonts, removing from list!
Jan 3 01:12:39 stephen-laus-macbook [0x0-0x41041].org.x.X11[350]: X11.app: Closing the display and sleeping for 2s to allow the X server to start up.
Jan 3 01:12:39 stephen-laus-macbook [0x0-0x41041].org.x.X11[350]: X11.app: Launching /usr/X11/bin/xterm:
Jan 3 01:12:39 stephen-laus-macbook [0x0-0x41041].org.x.X11[350]: argv[0] = /usr/bin/login
Jan 3 01:12:39 stephen-laus-macbook [0x0-0x41041].org.x.X11[350]: argv[1] = -fp
Jan 3 01:12:39 stephen-laus-macbook [0x0-0x41041].org.x.X11[350]: argv[2] = StephenLau
Jan 3 01:12:39 stephen-laus-macbook [0x0-0x41041].org.x.X11[350]: argv[3] = /bin/sh
Jan 3 01:12:39 stephen-laus-macbook [0x0-0x41041].org.x.X11[350]: argv[4] = -c
Jan 3 01:12:39 stephen-laus-macbook [0x0-0x41041].org.x.X11[350]: argv[5] = /usr/X11/bin/xterm
Jan 3 01:12:39 stephen-laus-macbook login[350]: USER_PROCESS: 350 tty??
Jan 3 01:12:41 stephen-laus-macbook org.x.startx[351]: font_cache: Done
Jan 3 01:12:41 stephen-laus-macbook org.x.privileged_startx[366]: font_cache: Done
Jan 3 01:13:33 stephen-laus-macbook login[350]: DEAD_PROCESS: 350 tty??
Jan 3 01:13:33 stephen-laus-macbook org.x.startx[351]: Quitting Xquartz...
Jan 3 01:13:33 stephen-laus-macbook [0x0-0x41041].org.x.X11[350]: Last login: Sat Jan 3 01:12:03 on ttys000
Jan 3 01:13:33 stephen-laus-macbook org.x.startx[351]: xinit: connection to X server lost.
Jan 3 01:13:43 stephen-laus-macbook login[338]: DEAD_PROCESS: 338 ttys000
Jan 3 01:14:47 stephen-laus-macbook Microsoft Word[188]: CGBitmapContextGetData: invalid context
Jan 3 01:14:50: --- last message repeated 5 times ---
Jan 3 01:14:50 stephen-laus-macbook loginwindow[22]: DEAD_PROCESS: 0 console
Jan 3 01:14:50 stephen-laus-macbook shutdown[434]: halt by StephenLau:
Jan 3 01:14:50 stephen-laus-macbook shutdown[434]: SHUTDOWN_TIME: 1230905690 608659
Jan 3 01:14:50 stephen-laus-macbook com.apple.loginwindow[22]: Shutdown NOW!
Jan 3 01:14:50 stephen-laus-macbook com.apple.loginwindow[22]: System shutdown time has arrived^G^G
Jan 3 01:14:50 stephen-laus-macbook mDNSResponder mDNSResponder-176.3 (Sep 30 2008 16:59:38)[21]: stopping
Jan 3 01:15:17 localhost kernel[0]: npvhash=4095
Jan 3 01:15:16 localhost com.apple.launchctl.System[2]: launchctl: Please convert the following to launchd: /etc/mach_init.d/dashboardadvisoryd.plist
Jan 3 01:15:16 localhost com.apple.launchd[1] (com.apple.blued): Unknown key for boolean: EnableTransactions
Jan 3 01:15:16 localhost com.apple.launchd[1] (org.cups.cupsd): Unknown key: SHAuthorizationRight
Jan 3 01:15:16 localhost com.apple.launchd[1] (org.ntp.ntpd): Unknown key: SHAuthorizationRight
Jan 3 01:15:17 localhost kextd[10]: 415 cached, 0 uncached personalities to catalog
Jan 3 01:15:17 localhost kernel[0]: hi mem tramps at 0xffe00000
Jan 3 01:15:17 localhost kernel[0]: PAE enabled
Jan 3 01:15:17 localhost kernel[0]: 64 bit mode enabled
Jan 3 01:15:17 localhost kernel[0]: Darwin Kernel Version 9.6.0: Mon Nov 24 17:37:00 PST 2008; root:xnu-1228.9.59~1/RELEASE_I386
Jan 3 01:15:17 localhost kernel[0]: standard timeslicing quantum is 10000 us
Jan 3 01:15:17 localhost kernel[0]: vm_page_bootstrap: 906269 free pages and 76771 wired pages
Jan 3 01:15:17 localhost kernel[0]: mig_table_max_displ = 79
Jan 3 01:15:17 localhost kernel[0]: 96 prelinked modules
Jan 3 01:15:17 localhost kernel[0]: AppleACPICPU: ProcessorApicId=0 LocalApicId=0 Enabled
Jan 3 01:15:17 localhost kernel[0]: AppleACPICPU: ProcessorApicId=1 LocalApicId=1 Enabled
Jan 3 01:15:17 localhost kernel[0]: Loading security extension com.apple.security.TMSafetyNet
Jan 3 01:15:17 localhost kernel[0]: calling mpo_policy_init for TMSafetyNet
Jan 3 01:15:17 localhost kernel[0]: Security policy loaded: Safety net for Time Machine (TMSafetyNet)
Jan 3 01:15:17 localhost kernel[0]: Loading security extension com.apple.nke.applicationfirewall
Jan 3 01:15:17 localhost kernel[0]: Loading security extension com.apple.security.seatbelt
Jan 3 01:15:17 localhost kernel[0]: calling mpo_policy_init for mb
Jan 3 01:15:17 localhost kernel[0]: Seatbelt MACF policy initialized
Jan 3 01:15:17 localhost kernel[0]: Security policy loaded: Seatbelt Policy (mb)
Jan 3 01:15:17 localhost kernel[0]: Copyright (c) 1982, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1993
Jan 3 01:15:17 localhost kernel[0]: The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Jan 3 01:15:17 localhost kernel[0]: MAC Framework successfully initialized
Jan 3 01:15:17 localhost kernel[0]: using 16384 buffer headers and 4096 cluster IO buffer headers
Jan 3 01:15:17 localhost kernel[0]: IOAPIC: Version 0x11 Vectors 64:87
Jan 3 01:15:17 localhost kernel[0]: ACPI: System State [S0 S3 S4 S5] (S3)
Jan 3 01:15:17 localhost kernel[0]: mbinit: done
Jan 3 01:15:17 localhost kernel[0]: Security auditing service present
Jan 3 01:15:17 localhost kernel[0]: BSM auditing present
Jan 3 01:15:17 localhost kernel[0]: rooting via boot-uuid from /chosen: 0D0B4C15-CF3D-3B20-9B56-F64DEE93EFE8
Jan 3 01:15:17 localhost kernel[0]: Waiting on <dict ID="0"><key>IOProviderClass</key><string ID="1">IOResources</string><key>IOResourceMatch</key><string ID="2">boot-uuid-media</string></dict>
Jan 3 01:15:17 localhost kernel[0]: BTCoexistence feature not supported!
Jan 3 01:15:17 localhost kernel[0]: wl0: Broadcom BCM432b 802.11 Wireless Controller
Jan 3 01:15:17 localhost kernel[0]: 5.10.38.24
Jan 3 01:15:17 localhost kernel[0]: Got boot device = IOService:/AppleACPIPlatformExpert/PCI0@0/AppleACPIPCI/SATA@B/AppleMCP79AHCI/PRT0@0/IOAHCIDevice@0/AppleAHCIDiskDriver/IOAHCIBlockStorageDevice/IOBlockStorageDriver/FUJITSU MHZ2250BH FFS G1 Media/IOGUIDPartitionScheme/Customer@2
Jan 3 01:15:17 localhost kernel[0]: BSD root: disk0s2, major 14, minor 2
Jan 3 01:15:17 localhost kernel[0]: Jettisoning kernel linker.
Jan 3 01:15:17 localhost kernel[0]: Resetting IOCatalogue.
Jan 3 01:15:17 localhost kernel[0]: IGPU: family specific matching fails
Jan 3 01:15:17 localhost kernel[0]: Matching service count = 1
Jan 3 01:15:17 localhost kernel[0]: Matching service count = 2
Jan 3 01:15:17: --- last message repeated 4 times ---
Jan 3 01:15:17 localhost kernel[0]: Previous Shutdown Cause: 5
Jan 3 01:15:17 localhost kernel[0]: NVDANV50HAL loaded and registered.
Jan 3 01:15:17 localhost kernel[0]: IGPU: family specific matching fails
Jan 3 01:15:17 localhost kernel[0]: Sound assertion "0 == mMikeyPeripheralInterruptSource" failed in "/SourceCache/AppleHDA/AppleHDA-162.1.37/AppleMikeyDriver/AppleMikeyACPI.cpp" at line 289 goto Exit
Jan 3 01:15:17 localhost kernel[0]: IGPU: family specific matching fails
Jan 3 01:15:18: --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Jan 3 01:15:18 localhost kernel[0]: Matching service count = 0
Jan 3 01:15:18 localhost kernel[0]: AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement: initialization complete
Jan 3 01:15:19 localhost kernel[0]: [HCIController][configurePM] power parent ready after 1 tries
Jan 3 01:15:21 localhost bootlog[35]: BOOT_TIME: 1230905713 0
Jan 3 01:15:21 localhost fseventsd[26]: bumping event counter to: 0xd4c8fe (current 0x0) from log file '0000000000d4879b'
Jan 3 01:15:21 localhost rpc.statd[17]: statd.notify - no notifications needed
Jan 3 01:15:23 localhost kernel[0]: NVEthernet: Ethernet address 00:23:df:7b:aa:98
Jan 3 01:15:23 localhost DirectoryService[31]: Launched version 5.6 (v514.24)
Jan 3 01:15:23 localhost kernel[0]: AirPort_Brcm43xx: Ethernet address 00:23:6c:83:89:96
Jan 3 01:15:23 localhost /System/Library/CoreServices/loginwindow.app/Contents/MacOS/loginwindow[22]: Login Window Application Started -- Threaded auth
Jan 3 01:15:23 localhost blued[43]: Apple Bluetooth daemon started.
Jan 3 01:15:24 localhost mDNSResponder mDNSResponder-176.3 (Sep 30 2008 16:59:38)[21]: starting
Jan 3 01:15:26 localhost /usr/sbin/ocspd[59]: starting
Jan 3 01:15:27 localhost kernel[0]: NVEthernet::mediaChanged - Link Down
Jan 3 01:15:27 localhost kernel[0]: AirPort: Link Down on en1
Jan 3 01:15:27 localhost loginwindow[22]: Login Window Started Security Agent
Jan 3 01:15:27 stephen-laus-macbook configd[33]: setting hostname to "stephen-laus-macbook.local"
Jan 3 01:15:27 stephen-laus-macbook authorizationhost[68]: MechanismInvoke 0x128fd0 retainCount 2
Jan 3 01:15:27 stephen-laus-macbook SecurityAgent[69]: MechanismInvoke 0x101600 retainCount 1
Jan 3 01:15:27 stephen-laus-macbook loginwindow[22]: Login Window - Returned from Security Agent
Jan 3 01:15:27 stephen-laus-macbook SecurityAgent[69]: MechanismDestroy 0x101600 retainCount 1
Jan 3 01:15:27 stephen-laus-macbook authorizationhost[68]: MechanismDestroy 0x128fd0 retainCount 2
Jan 3 01:15:27 stephen-laus-macbook loginwindow[22]: USER_PROCESS: 22 console
Jan 3 01:15:28 stephen-laus-macbook com.apple.launchd[1] (com.apple.UserEventAgent-LoginWindow[65]): Exited: Terminated
Jan 3 01:15:29 stephen-laus-macbook kernel[0]: Auth result for: 00:1b:2f:5b:4b:42 MAC AUTH succeeded
Jan 3 01:15:29 stephen-laus-macbook kernel[0]: AirPort: Link Up on en1
Jan 3 01:15:35 stephen-laus-macbook kextd[10]: writing kernel link data to /var/run/mach.sym
Jan 3 01:15:39 stephen-laus-macbook Dock[86]: _DESCRegisterDockExtraClient failed 268435459
Jan 3 01:15:39 stephen-laus-macbook /System/Library/CoreServices/coreservicesd[44]: SFLSharePointsEntry::CreateDSRecord: dsCreateRecordAndOpen(Stephen Lau's Public Folder) returned -14135
Jan 3 01:15:40 stephen-laus-macbook com.apple.quicklook[90]: invalid #-escape sequence.
Jan 3 01:15:40 stephen-laus-macbook com.apple.quicklook[90]: encountered unexpected object type: 7.
Jan 3 01:15:40 stephen-laus-macbook com.apple.quicklook[90]: invalid #-escape sequence.
Jan 3 01:15:40 stephen-laus-macbook com.apple.quicklook[90]: encountered unexpected object type: 7.

I got the extra 2 Gigs of ram installed at apple...

HOWEVER... they did say they had a few problems putting it (or something) and it did take a while....
 
I wouldn't really call myself an expert but the unexpected object simply looks like you tried to open a file which confused QuickLook - either it didn't have the video codecs you needed, or it was expecting one file type and actually found it was another.
 
Where is most of the bootup time being lost? Blue screen, or grey screen with and without Apple logo?
 
The longest is with the apple logo/beach ball spinning...

However.... the blue screen is also significant(10secs)... if i can remember... when i first got it... i dont even remember there being a blue screen...

How long is start up for you? If its around the same dont worry abt it =)
 
Around the same on my iMac! Shorter on my MacBook Pro, but I keep that only for recording, so it has hardly anything on it other than what I need.

If it spends most of it's time on the grey screen, then it could be a sign that your RAM is having issues. Either way, it doesn't sound excessively long. With faulty RAM, I would expect a minute or more on the grey screen.
 
So it takes 40 secs to load up on ur Imac too?

Ahh.... i was just worried because with 4 Gigs of ram... i would of thought tihngs would be running a bit faster....

Thanks anyways! You've been a great help!!!
 
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