My Macbook is in bad shape...

[Manic Harmonic]

I'm really not sure what to do here... A few days ago my 2011 MBP has started doing some really strange things. I probably really screwed something up trying to speed up my computer because it was going slow. I tinkertool and onyx hoping I could figure out why my computer kept getting the pinwheel, and I seem to have made it worse. I didn't do anything drastic, or so I thought, just some general clean-up procedures. I'm not sure if it's even related.

Here is what it has done so far:
-when I bring up spaces, it freezes often for about 45 seconds.
-system preferences quits after making any adjustment to a dispaly.
-I got a "your computer needs to be shut down" message at one point.
-I did some research and found something about front row being the cause of the display preferences issue, and as soon as I opened it my computer froze completely. I didn't even know I had front row at this point.
-my primary display is not saved when I restart, it keeps switching back to my laptop screen instead of my external monitor.
-disk utility repairs a bunch of java stuff every time i repair permissions... supposedly. no matter how many times I run it, it always "repairs" the same thing.

I think that's it. I would reinstall, but I'm worried my computer won't be the same; I have a lot of songs and plugins, etc. that I can't imagine trying to install again, especially since I lost the box that had most of those discs. I'm also running SL on a computer that came with lion, so my install disc won't work.

I'm stumped here. I'm afraid to do much else for fear of making it worse. I would hate to have to start all over again.

By the way, this is a 2011 MBP, 10.6.8, 8 GB ram, and 750gb hitatchi HD (all brand new). I have a carbon copy clone as well as a time machine backup, however the CCC was done soon after I started noticing issues, and I'm not so sure about the quality of the time machine backup either.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[pandamonia]

I'm really not sure what to do here... A few days ago my 2011 MBP has started doing some really strange things. I probably really screwed something up trying to speed up my computer because it was going slow. I tinkertool and onyx hoping I could figure out why my computer kept getting the pinwheel, and I seem to have made it worse. I didn't do anything drastic, or so I thought, just some general clean-up procedures. I'm not sure if it's even related.

Here is what it has done so far:
-when I bring up spaces, it freezes often for about 45 seconds.
-system preferences quits after making any adjustment to a dispaly.
-I got a "your computer needs to be shut down" message at one point.
-I did some research and found something about front row being the cause of the display preferences issue, and as soon as I opened it my computer froze completely. I didn't even know I had front row at this point.
-my primary display is not saved when I restart, it keeps switching back to my laptop screen instead of my external monitor.
-disk utility repairs a bunch of java stuff every time i repair permissions... supposedly. no matter how many times I run it, it always "repairs" the same thing.

I think that's it. I would reinstall, but I'm worried my computer won't be the same; I have a lot of songs and plugins, etc. that I can't imagine trying to install again, especially since I lost the box that had most of those discs. I'm also running SL on a computer that came with lion, so my install disc won't work.

I'm stumped here. I'm afraid to do much else for fear of making it worse. I would hate to have to start all over again.

By the way, this is a 2011 MBP, 10.6.8, 8 GB ram, and 750gb hitatchi HD (all brand new). I have a carbon copy clone as well as a time machine backup, however the CCC was done soon after I started noticing issues, and I'm not so sure about the quality of the time machine backup either.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Save your files to an External HD and do a fresh install of Lion and start over again. Stump up the money and buy a SSD. even if its just 120GB its better to role with a External than live with a HDD.

There are many guides on the web to make a Lion Install Disc

 

[RedRaven571]

-disk utility repairs a bunch of java stuff every time i repair permissions... supposedly. no matter how many times I run it, it always "repairs" the same thing.

Whenever I have an issue and can't figure it out, I:

1) Run Repair Disk Permissions (from Disk Utility)
2) Delete whatever is in the caches: you>Library>Caches; your OSX drive>Library>Caches (this will require your password)
3) restart and do a PRAM reset (hold down Command, R, Option, and P keys before the chime sounds, continue to hold until the chime sounds again and release)

Almost always has my MBP running smooth as silk.

 

[Manic Harmonic]

Whenever I have an issue and can't figure it out, I:

1) Run Repair Disk Permissions (from Disk Utility)
2) Delete whatever is in the caches: you>Library>Caches; your OSX drive>Library>Caches (this will require your password)
3) restart and do a PRAM reset (hold down Command, R, Option, and P keys before the chime sounds, continue to hold until the chime sounds again and release)

Almost always has my MBP running smooth as silk.

This fixed most of the issues! I also discovered something very strange... MacFuse was mysteriously missing! I have ntfs-3g which depends on that, so it seemed to be causing all kinds of issues. Thanks guys!

 

[swbusiness]

Whenever I have an issue and can't figure it out, I:

1) Run Repair Disk Permissions (from Disk Utility)
2) Delete whatever is in the caches: you>Library>Caches; your OSX drive>Library>Caches (this will require your password)
3) restart and do a PRAM reset (hold down Command, R, Option, and P keys before the chime sounds, continue to hold until the chime sounds again and release)

Almost always has my MBP running smooth as silk.

My MBP was not shutting down - I was getting desperate ....
THIS WORKED!!!!! It now shuts down very quickly, the startup is still a little slow - any advice on speeding this up?

THANK YOU VERY MUCH,

Sandra

 

[squeakr]

Select the Apple Icon in the upper left corner, Select System Preferences and then select the Startup=Disk option to verify that your correct MAC disk is selected. Also make sure that you don't have tons of things opening at startup.

 

[RedRaven571]

the startup is still a little slow - any advice on speeding this up?
Sandra

"Also make sure that you don't have tons of things opening at startup."

What the OP means is to go into System Preferences > [your account] > Log In Items; delete anything (highlight then click the "-" sign below) extraneous so it is not starting up automatically when your mac does. See if that helps. Also if you have Windows in Bootcamp, prevent Spotlight from indexing the volume.

 

[swbusiness]

"Also make sure that you don't have tons of things opening at startup."

What the OP means is to go into System Preferences > [your account] > Log In Items; delete anything (highlight then click the "-" sign below) extraneous so it is not starting up automatically when your mac does. See if that helps. Also if you have Windows in Bootcamp, prevent Spotlight from indexing the volume.

I already streamed the user login items down to .... nothing.
How do you prevent Spotlight from indexing a volume?
In system preferences>spotlight>privacy? I do not use Bootcamp but this will be good to know.

Thank you

 

[thekev]

I already streamed the user login items down to .... nothing.
How do you prevent Spotlight from indexing a volume?
In system preferences>spotlight>privacy? I do not use Bootcamp but this will be good to know.

Thank you

Yep.. it'll ask you to confirm. I keep my system files private as there are a few applications that make their own proprietary cache files and spotlight otherwise indexes them . I got a laugh at seeing someone suggest an ssd to resolve kernel panics.

 

[James_C]

I already streamed the user login items down to .... nothing.
How do you prevent Spotlight from indexing a volume?
In system preferences>spotlight>privacy? I do not use Bootcamp but this will be good to know.

Thank you

Spotlight is the Mac OS X search engine. You can exclude folders you don't want it to index as you suggest in the preferences>spotlight>privacy tab.

 

[GGJstudios]

Whenever I have an issue and can't figure it out, I:

1) Run Repair Disk Permissions (from Disk Utility)

Some people repair, or recommend repairing permissions for situations where it isn't appropriate. Repairing permissions only addresses very specific issues. It is not a "cure all" or a general performance enhancer, and doesn't need to be done on a regular basis. It also doesn't address permissions problems with your files or 3rd party apps.

Five Mac maintenance myths

Repairing permissions: What you need to know
About Disk Utility's Repair Disk Permissions feature​

Disk Utility repairs the permissions for files installed by the Mac OS X Installer, Software Update, or an Apple software installer. It doesn’t repair permissions for your documents, your home folder, and third-party applications.

You can verify or repair permissions only on a disk with Mac OS X installed.

Does Disk Utility check permissions on all files?

Files that aren't installed as part of an Apple-originated installer package are not listed in a receipt and therefore are not checked. For example, if you install an application using a non-Apple installer application, or by copying it from a disk image, network volume, or other disk instead of installing it via Installer, a receipt file isn't created. This is expected. Some applications are designed to be installed in one of those ways.

Also, certain files whose permissions can be changed during normal usage without affecting their function are intentionally not checked.

There are times when repairing permissions is appropriate. To do so, here are the instructions:

Repairing Disk Permissions​

If repairing permissions results in error messages, some of these messages can be ignored and should be no cause for concern.

Mac OS X: Disk Utility's Repair Disk Permissions messages that you can safely ignore​

2) Delete whatever is in the caches:

No, don't! Deleting cache files can decrease your Mac's performance. Read the maintenance myths I posted above. Before you start deleting things like caches, it's wise to learn what their purpose is and what impact is to be expected by their deletion. Many of these tasks should only be done selectively to troubleshoot specific problems, not en masse as routine maintenance.

3) restart and do a PRAM reset (hold down Command, R, Option, and P keys before the chime sounds, continue to hold until the chime sounds again and release)

As with the other recommendations, resetting NVRAM (Intel-based Macs) or PRAM (PowerPC-based Macs) should only be done to address very specific issues. It is not a "cure-all" or a regular maintenance procedure.resetting the SMC addresses such issues.

Mac OS X: What's stored in PRAM
When to reset NVRAM or PRAM​

It's wise to learn how these things work and what their purpose is before recommending them. Even then, they should only be recommended or performed when they are appropriate to resolve specific issues.

I already streamed the user login items down to .... nothing.

There are more places to look than just Login Items:

Performance Tips For Mac OS X

 

[RedRaven571]

Some people repair, or recommend repairing permissions for situations where it isn't appropriate. Repairing permissions only addresses very specific issues.

Hi GG, I value your opinion on lots of stuff from the many posts you make on the forums. That being said, I believe I stated I do these things as a trouble shooting step if my Mac is acting wonky, not as regular maintenance; plus, the OP indicated this solved/helped their problem so, although it shouldn't be done on a regular basis, it did help their situation.

 

[PaulyD]

Also to note is java files that will never repair is a common thing and happens to a LOT of people.

I got a little worried when it happened to me and after some searching found out it was safe to ignore them.

Follow GGJ's post I have since stopped running repair permissions as a general maintenance thing, found 0% difference in usability of my macbook and happy with it.

They will do just look after themselves fine

 

[/user/me]

Hi GG, I value your opinion on lots of stuff from the many posts you make on the forums. That being said, I believe I stated I do these things as a trouble shooting step if my Mac is acting wonky, not as regular maintenance; plus, the OP indicated this solved/helped their problem so, although it shouldn't be done on a regular basis, it did help their situation.

There was other variables and steps too. Maybe one of those caused the fix and not disk permissions?

 

[GGJstudios]

There was other variables and steps too. Maybe one of those caused the fix and not disk permissions?

Exactly. The point is, these procedures have very specific purposes and address very specific issues. It's less effective to "throw them all against the wall and see what sticks", than it is to use the right tool for the right job. For example, many will claim that a PRAM/NVRAM reset cured a problem that it has nothing to do with, when in reality, the simple process of rebooting fixed the issue, not the NVRAM reset. The danger of recommending a list of procedures like this, even if they might apply in one situation, is that others will recommend those "cures" to others who don't have the same situation.

 

[RedRaven571]

Exactly. The point is, these procedures have very specific purposes and address very specific issues. It's less effective to "throw them all against the wall and see what sticks", than it is to use the right tool for the right job. For example, many will claim that a PRAM/NVRAM reset cured a problem that it has nothing to do with, when in reality, the simple process of rebooting fixed the issue, not the NVRAM reset. The danger of recommending a list of procedures like this, even if they might apply in one situation, is that others will recommend those "cures" to others who don't have the same situation.

And the negative impact of any of the procedures I suggested, alone or in combination, other than they may not fix the issue, is.....?