Mojave slow to reboot and boot

[jwolf6589]

3 minutes is definitely not normal and the fact that it goes black seems strange.

But we don't know if OP is experiencing the same symptoms except that it "seems slower". First thing I'd do would be to boot with verbose.

I am experiencing the same thing and no the os is just as fast as Hi Sierra once it’s loaded so some posters are wrong in their assessment.

 

[F1Mac]

I am experiencing the same thing and no the os is just as fast as Hi Sierra once it’s loaded so some posters are wrong in their assessment.

But you didn't mention black screen or anything in your first post, other than Mojave "seems slower at rebooting and booting up" so some posters might have been misled. So you have a several minutes black screen when your mac boots? Have you tried resetting NVRAM and SMC? Can you boot with verbose on to see what's going on during the startup process?

 

[XGO7]

First thing I'd do would be to boot with verbose.

So get this, Verbose wont appear until after that lengthy 3-minute black screen. Afterwords, verbose zooms pretty fast and loads the OS.

I get this strange feeling that its trying to load the OS from my internal HD that is blank, instead of my external SSD that houses the OS itself. However, when I go to boot disk I see it is targeting the right disk.

 

[jwolf6589]

But you didn't mention black screen or anything in your first post, other than Mojave "seems slower at rebooting and booting up" so some posters might have been misled. So you have a several minutes black screen when your mac boots? Have you tried resetting NVRAM and SMC? Can you boot with verbose on to see what's going on during the startup process?

I do get a black screen on boot up but I never timed how long it is. I have not reset NVRAM or SMC. And I have not booted into verbose mode.

 

[XGO7]

So I did some digging and it seems that the problem comes from running your OS from an External SSD (Which I currently am). Im currently installing a copy to my internal HD to see if it makes a difference. Unfortunately my internal drive is a Normal HD. Which will make the OS run sufficiently slower. But I just want to confirm that this is the issue. I found it on an apple discussion board with most people confirming it was the issue. However, it has since been removed (really strange).

I will post/edit this post once I can confirm it is the external SSD running AFPS that is the issue.

 

[F1Mac]

I do get a black screen on boot up but I never timed how long it is. I have not reset NVRAM or SMC. And I have not booted into verbose mode.

Let us know how it goes after you’ve tried these. Obviously XGO7 has a different issue even if you both have the same symptoms.

 

[jwolf6589]

Let us know how it goes after you’ve tried these. Obviously XGO7 has a different issue even if you both have the same symptoms.

I do not know anything about Unix. So what will I be testing?

 

[F1Mac]

I do not know anything about Unix. So what will I be testing?

You’re just monitoring the startup sequence, you don’t test anything by using verbose mode. But if it gets suck somewhere during boot, verbose can tell us *where* it gets stuck and that’s helpful for troubleshooting. Try it and tell us what happens.

 

[jwolf6589]

You’re just monitoring the startup sequence, you don’t test anything by using verbose mode. But if it gets suck somewhere during boot, verbose can tell us *where* it gets stuck and that’s helpful for troubleshooting. Try it and tell us what happens.

Probably will get to it later this week. Since the Mac runs swell after booted it’s not a huge deal. Ms Office apps take longer to launch the first time but besides that the HDD runs well with all other apps.

My mom just bought a MacBook Mini 512GB so she is taking full advantage of the SSD.

 

[jwolf6589]

You’re just monitoring the startup sequence, you don’t test anything by using verbose mode. But if it gets suck somewhere during boot, verbose can tell us *where* it gets stuck and that’s helpful for troubleshooting. Try it and tell us what happens.

Okay booted into verbose mode and saw no black screen. How do I retract the log?

 

[Hrti]

Found this thread as I'm also currently experiencing the black screen during boot/reboot. Haven't timed it, but 3 minutes seems to be a good guess. I'm also booting from an external SSD (Samsung T5) through USB 3.0 on my late 2015 iMac 27 5K. The disk booted normally on High Sierra, albeit it was running HFS+ at the time. It's apparently been reformatted as APFS during the Mojave install.

 

[kagharaht]

Nothing we can do unless you go back to HFS on the external SSD. If Apple doesn’t fix it I’ll do just that with CCC.

 

[Hrti]

Nope, did som research and remembered it was one of the reasons I formatted as HFS+ in the first place Are there any other adverse effects to running APFS through USB 3.0? I can live with the boot times as I keep my iMac 24/7 and only reboot when installing system updates etc. Don't know if I care enough to do and maintain the workaround if Apple is going to force the disk over to APFS with every OS release. Read/write speeds seem just fine at approx 420/420, which is identical to High Sierra running on HFS+.

 

[XGO7]

Nothing we can do unless you go back to HFS on the external SSD. If Apple doesn’t fix it I’ll do just that with CCC.

I actually tried this and it didnt work. It makes me wonder if its really from AFPS or is it because Mojave has some serious bugs. But I already tried formatting a second SSD with HFS and copied my other external to it and there was no improvements unfortunately.

 

[kagharaht]

I actually tried this and it didnt work. It makes me wonder if its really from AFPS or is it because Mojave has some serious bugs. But I already tried formatting a second SSD with HFS and copied my other external to it and there was no improvements unfortunately.

If true then going back to HS is the only option left. Unless Apple decides to fix this.

 

[XGO7]

I own the following

1 x SSD 1TB (Samsung) - AFPS Mojave OS running (OS drive)
1 x SSD 1TB (Western Digital) - Formatted to HFS (empty)

I used CCC To copy the contents of the Samsung to the WD. It retained the HFS (according to disk utility) and was running Mojave (I think) as HFS. But the delay still persisted. Perhaps you can't copy an AFPS drive to a blank HFS and have it still remain HFS (despite it saying it is still HFS)

 

[kagharaht]

I own the following

1 x SSD 1TB (Samsung) - AFPS Mojave OS running (OS drive)
1 x SSD 1TB (Western Digital) - Formatted to HFS (empty)

I used CCC To copy the contents of the Samsung to the WD. It retained the HFS (according to disk utility) and was running Mojave (I think) as HFS. But the delay still persisted. Perhaps you can't copy an AFPS drive to a blank HFS and have it still remain HFS (despite it saying it is still HFS)

What a mess then. I guess for now is to keep the iMac on sleep never shutting it down. Or revert back to HS. Again if Apple never fixes this mess.

 

[XGO7]

What a mess then. I guess for now is to keep the iMac on sleep never shutting it down. Or revert back to HS. Again if Apple never fixes this mess.

Thats what I mean, I dont think its HFS. I read in other forums that it has to do with running your OS on an External drive. Which is what im currently doing since my internal is a slow HD.

Im starting to think that all we can do is wait for an update and hope apple fixes this pretty important issue.

 

[XGO7]

Sorry for double post, but I did figure out the root of the issue.

So this happens when running Mojave AFPS from an External Drive. I know bc I did 2 work arounds that both worked.

1) I tried installing Mojave afps to my internal HDD (it worked)
2) I tried HFS on an external SSD with Mojave. (Also worked)

So its a specific issue:

External SSD running Mojave in AFPS (USB) (slow boot times)

Im thinking of going to a service repair shop and having them install my SSD internally to fix this issue. (I'm a bit scared about doing it myself)

 

[chscag]

I have no idea what's going on with your and the others systems. But I can boot with my external Samsung T5 SSD almost as fast as my iMac's (2017 5K 27") internal PCIe drive. Both are formatted to APFS (not AFPS). The Samsung however, is attached to one of my Mac's Thunderbolt/USB 3.1 ports. That may be the difference.

The Apple File System (APFS) is here to stay and unless you want to remain on High Sierra forever, you may as well get used to your internal HDD or SSD being formatted to APFS if you upgrade to Mojave and beyond.

 

[XGO7]

is attached to one of my Mac's Thunderbolt/USB 3.1 ports. That may be the difference.

So, this was one of the tests some users on the apple discussion boards said he tested. And that once he connected with a thunderbolt enclosure, it worked. So it's a very particular circumstance that this happens (USB enclosures).

I've already ordered the kit to open up my 2013 iMac and swap the HDD for the SSD. This should fix my issue. I can't say the same for others though.

 

[mactectom]

Mojave seems slower than Hi Sierra at rebooting and booting up. Anyone else experiencing this?

After the Mojave update, it is booting markedly slower than ever. Im using an ssd. I use an ssd externally, and if I have ANY other usb drives attached, my Mac will only boot from the internal drive. I have to unplug everything and reboot. Then its very sloooow to boot from the ssd. After that, I re attach all the drives and its much faster at all tasks.

 

[Brian Y]

I have about a 1 minute delay before the boot loader is called. Seems to be an EFI thing.

I do have a lot of devices connected, but there's a noticeable delay under Mojave

 

[XGO7]

Update: It worked. Taking my external SSD and installing it internally fixed all the issues I was having. My iMac is super fast now. Probably even faster than it was before with it running externally.

 

[Fishrrman]

I have a 2012 Mac Mini i7.

I use Mojave "for test purposes only", it's not my day-to-day OS.
I've installed it onto an external USB3 SSD -- formatted for HFS+, and NOT APFS.

My test Mojave SSD boots quickly and runs well under HFS+.
Might be the fastest-booting OS I have on hand.

But for now, my "daily driver" OS remains Low Sierra...