Multiple system performance oddities

[eN0ch]

[limited geekery, so please speak English slowly 😉]

This behaviour started suddenly a week ago, and it's got me stumped. It's not just one weird behaviour; it's a whole suite of them.
As follows:

• Cascading Finder popup notifications “scansnap0<othernumbers>.pdf could not be found”. Up to maybe 50 of them? All need to be dismissed one by one. Always the same set of filenames; not sure if same order. Happens about a minute after login and then at intervals thereafter (maybe about an hour??) [happens on safe boot too]
• New PDF files in iCloud have created-dates way in the future (either 1/1/2038 or 12/4/2262; no others so far). Modified dates sometimes same, other times current time as they should be. Doesn’t happen if saved direct to local drive. Doesn’t happen with text files. [Happens on safe boot too]
• Mouse pointer regularly goes AWOL (variously jumps to top left corner of screen, or gone entirely for several seconds, barely controllable thereafter). Reboot seems only remedy
• Active app becomes inactive for no reason (so keyboard input stops)
• Mouse scroll gesture stops working, and then manually dragging scroll handle with left button held down works, but erratically
• System performance becomes poor
• Reboot fixes most of this behaviour (except the created date thing), but only temporarily

What I've tried so far:

• Disk Utility First Aid, both logged in and from Recovery. (Drive always comes up ok)
• Reinstalled OS, for whatever that may have been worth?? (15.6.1)
• Safe Boot (first two items above still happen)
• Scouring and deleting every orphaned launch agent, daemon or .plist I can find
• Repaired file permissions (CleanMyMac X)
• Rebuilt spotlight index
• Checked for viruses / malware (no sign of anything)
• Confirmed date / time / timezone settings correct

Please advise what to try next? If that includes creating a clean user account, I'll want some careful tips and some questions answered. And/or a link to a good tutorial or how-to. TIA

 

[Slartibart]

Some more hardware info - e.g. what mouse model? If you create an additional user and log in as such, does the problems appear too? What does the reports in the macOS console say? For a first look you could run the free version of Etrecheck

 

[eN0ch]

Some more hardware info - e.g. what mouse model?

Magic Mouse 3.1.1
Magic Keyboard with Touch ID and Numeric Keypad 2.0.6
Scanner (one source for new PDFs) ScanSnap S1300i
Ext SSD: Samsung PSSD T9 4TB

If you create an additional user and log in as such, does the problems appear too?

No it doesn't.

What does the reports in the macOS console say?

Console geeks me out. So I'll need guidance on where to look for what.

For a first look you could run the free version of Etrecheck

I actually have the pro version of Etrecheck. Just running it again now, and will attach the report

 

[Fishrrman]

Slart wrote:
"If you create an additional user and log in as such, does the problems appear too?"

And the OP replied:
"No it doesn't."

Then this points to something within your user account -- an app, a combination of apps, login items, extensions, SOMETHING -- that is causing problems "locally" (that is, they are not "system/OS based", but are "account-based").

There's a limited amount of help others can offer in a case like this.
You'll have to "dig into" your account and discover what's cauing the problems.

When all these problems began... was it just after you added some new software, or made "some other change"?

Worst case scenario:
You can create a NEW user account, which will be destined to become your new "working account".

Next, you start "manually moving" things into it, one or two items at a time.
KEEP HANDWRITTEN NOTES as to what was moved.
After each incremental move, see if the problems re-appear.
If they DO, then go back to your notes and see what was just added "into the mix".
I reckon that will be "the culprit"...

Hmmm...
Just looked a bit at the etrecheck report.
An iMac with 8gb of RAM running Sequoia?
My guess is the amount of RAM is going to slow things down as excessive virtual memory and disk swapping comes into play.

If the iMac is a 27" -- could you add RAM?
Have you tried reducing the number of apps you run at once?
Do you have too many tabs open in your web browsers?

 

[eN0ch]

When all these problems began... was it just after you added some new software, or made "some other change"?

Thanks for the thorough consideration 🙂. OK ... Don't recall adding any particular new apps immediately before the trouble started. But there might be clues on that in the etrecheck report. I'll have another look at that.

The only thing I can remember is that when I first encountered the odd behaviour (I think start of a day after overnight sleep), an old Finder replacement app I've used (Yep), which I hadn't used or even launched in ages, was acting up something awful, apparently searching for files it couldn't find, and running in a continuous loop. I think that might have been where the multiple Finder popups started. (Or at least the two coincided). But since then I've uninstalled that app (which included searching and deleting everywhere (including invisible directories like usr and opt) for any file associated with Yep). And none of that stopped these Finder popups.

Worst case scenario:
You can create a NEW user account, which will be destined to become your new "working account".

Next, you start "manually moving" things into it, one or two items at a time......

In your view is that a better worst case scenario than - backup everything > wipe the internal disk > reinstall macOS > fresh install non-Apple apps > restore ~/<home> (minus most of ~/Library) from backup?

An iMac with 8gb of RAM running Sequoia?
My guess is the amount of RAM is going to slow things down as excessive virtual memory and disk swapping comes into play.

I'll certainly say it's been a less than optimum system to work with from the start. (And then it was Monterey). My best research suggested I'd be fine with 8GB, and 16GB would have upped the price substantially (and cashflow was tight, and I needed it pretty urgently ...). With hindsight, I should have got 16GB ...

If the iMac is a 27" -- could you add RAM?

Alas the previous system was one of those. It's sudden death was what forced the purchase of the current one.

Have you tried reducing the number of apps you run at once?
Do you have too many tabs open in your web browsers?

Been doing my best to minimise both of those. e.g. use AppTamer to hide and quit apps inactive 30mins, save bookmarks rather than keep tabs open ... All helps, but not ideal

 

[taylor999]

I feel you on the 8GB. Apple says it’s enough, but in real-world use it always feels tight, especially with Sequoia. I’ve been in the same spot, juggling tabs and background apps just to keep things snappy. That’s not the main cause of your Finder errors, but it definitely doesn’t help. Keeping the new user account lean will at least give you a performance boost.

 

[benwiggy]

In your view is that a better worst case scenario than - backup everything > wipe the internal disk > reinstall macOS > fresh install non-Apple apps > restore ~/<home> (minus most of ~/Library) from backup?

Don't wipe the disk and reinstall MacOS. You never need to do this. At worst, just "Erase all User Content" in System Settings. That wipes the "Data" volume, on which everything you do is saved.

And if you're just going to wipe it and reinstall everything -- that will put you back at square one. (Looking at your EtreCheck report, you've got a ton of crap installed that you could probably do without, for starters.)

The problem is something in the user Library. Login Items, Extensions, Launch Agents; but it could also be corrupt caches or incorrect preferences, settings, etc. Try testing without any third-party stuff launching. Try deleting the user Application Support folder for some apps. (You can always restore it from your backup.)