Slow bootup on 2011 MBP 13"

[Airboy98]

I just recently switched over to Mac last week with the new 13" MBP. As soon as I restarted it after setting everything up, I noticed it took an unusual amount of time to boot up, staying stuck on the blue screen after that Apple logo for about 20-30 seconds or so. I didn't think much of it then because I thought it would get better the more I use it, but apparently that's not the case. So far I've tried to fix it by these methods found in other slow bootup topics.

-Resetting PRAM
-Resetting SMC
-Repair Disk Permissions
-Command sudo chown in Terminal
-Checking the HD selected on startup
-Trying a restart without any login items

None of these have worked but I REALLY don't want to do a full reinstall of Snow Leopard because I already have the system set up the way I want it. So if there's anything I may be missing, please let me know.

Also, this is the baseline 13" i5 and I realize that the stock 5400 RPM HDD isn't that fast, but I know something has to be wrong if startup takes over a minute, even with an HDD.

TIA

 

[Airboy98]

Also if anyone with the base 2011 13" MBP (without SSD) could confirm their bootup times for me, that'd be great as well.

 

[Koning]

It's normal for the booting to take about 20-30 seconds without SSD.

 

[Airboy98]

It's normal for the booting to take about 20-30 seconds without SSD.

By that I meant it stays on the blue screen ALONE for 20-30 seconds. Add to that an additional 30 seconds or so initially starting up pre-Apple logo screen for a total minute of booting up. Without SSD I've heard people getting boot times of around 25-30 seconds.

 

[Si7777]

Do you have a lot of programs loading at startup? (System Preferences -> Accounts -> Login Items). Also, do you have many periperials connected (external Hard Drives for example)?

 

[Airboy98]

Do you have a lot of programs loading at startup? (System Preferences -> Accounts -> Login Items). Also, do you have many periperials connected (external Hard Drives for example)?

Nope, no peripherals attached. Also, check my OP, I already tried restarting without any login items.

 

[Airboy98]

Seriously no one else is having slow bootup times on their 2011 MBP? Wow. this really must be a specific problem for my MBP.

 

[Si7777]

It is certainly not normal to hang for 20 - 30 seconds on a blue screen consistently.

Have you tried the following? (Sourced from http://www.cultofmac.com/how-to-fix-common-mac-startup-problems-macrx/50685):

Blue Screen or Blank Desktop

After the Operating System has finished loading the loginwindow process manager takes over and deposits you at your desktop. A hang at a blue screen, at the login window, or at the image of your blank desktop often indicates a Problem with a User Account. Corrupt Fonts or bad Preference Files (.plist) are common culprits.

Setting up a second, emergency admin account on your Mac is helpful for troubleshooting account problems. Safe Boot may help too, as that bypasses non-essential fonts and user startup items which you can then remove from your User Library folder

 

[Airboy98]

It is certainly not normal to hang for 20 - 30 seconds on a blue screen consistently.

Have you tried the following? (Sourced from http://www.cultofmac.com/how-to-fix-common-mac-startup-problems-macrx/50685):

Blue Screen or Blank Desktop

After the Operating System has finished loading the loginwindow process manager takes over and deposits you at your desktop. A hang at a blue screen, at the login window, or at the image of your blank desktop often indicates a Problem with a User Account. Corrupt Fonts or bad Preference Files (.plist) are common culprits.

Setting up a second, emergency admin account on your Mac is helpful for troubleshooting account problems. Safe Boot may help too, as that bypasses non-essential fonts and user startup items which you can then remove from your User Library folder

Thanks for that link. I'll try that now. Any more suggestions are still welcome though .

 

[Airboy98]

Wow, and I thought it was slow before... booting into safe mode took possibly over twice as long, and it ran like crap. Things were jerky and the dock had some lag to it, even after it finishing loading up. I don't know what to do. How long is the Apple logo screen supposed to stay on for anyway?

 

[daneoni]

Do you have any peripheral connected to the machine whilst booting up?
Did you migrate your stuff over or start afresh out the box?
Did you transplant HDDs from an older machine to this one?

You might just have a bad install and will really need to do a reinstall but first try installing the 10.6.7 Combo Update. Finally it may be a wonky hard drive.

 

[imaginex20]

Stock Boot times on my 2011 13" i5 MBP were about 30 secs with the 5400 RPM drive.

With Apple SSD its now 15-17 secs.

 

[Airboy98]

Do you have any peripheral connected to the machine whilst booting up?
Did you migrate your stuff over or start afresh out the box?
Did you transplant HDDs from an older machine to this one?

You might just have a bad install and will really need to do a reinstall but first try installing the 10.6.7 Combo Update. Finally it may be a wonky hard drive.

Really hope the HDD is fine cause I don't feel like opening this computer up... at least not yet. Plus, the ONLY thing weird about this MBP is the start time seems to be slower. I have yet bootup with any peripherals attached besides the magsafe adapter.

As for the 2nd question, I kinda did something in between. I started with the copy of OS X right out of the box and transferred files from my PC over the network, so I'd consider that migrating.

Using the stock 320gb 5400 RPM drive still. Also already installed the newest update, but didn't do the combo update option. The only thing I can think that may be weird is that originally I created the first account with a home folder name i didn't like and changed that manually. Later I found this could cause problems so I just deleted that user account and started over on a new account, without reinstalling.

Stock Boot times on my 2011 13" i5 MBP were about 30 secs with the 5400 RPM drive.

With Apple SSD its now 15-17 secs.

Thanks a ton for the comparison. Now I know my bootup is definitely not normal.

 

[DudeMartin]

I can confirm that there are NO SLOW BOOT TIMES on the 13". I bought one recently and the thing restarts (from the moment you press 'Restart' to the moment the computer is ready to use) in like 30 seconds.

It does take noticeably longer to boot Windows 7 via Boot Camp, but I use Mac OS X way more anyways.

 

[squeakr]

When you created this account, was it a network account by chance, as i had the same sort or issue with network accounts before (and it is a known issue relating to network accounts at boot time, when the network isn;t accessible)??

 

[Airboy98]

I can confirm that there are NO SLOW BOOT TIMES on the 13". I bought one recently and the thing restarts (from the moment you press 'Restart' to the moment the computer is ready to use) in like 30 seconds.

It does take noticeably longer to boot Windows 7 via Boot Camp, but I use Mac OS X way more anyways.

Thanks this helps. Mine definitely isn't that fast though it does shutdown almost instantly.

When you created this account, was it a network account by chance, as i had the same sort or issue with network accounts before (and it is a known issue relating to network accounts at boot time, when the network isn;t accessible)??

Network account? I just set up the MBP using a regular administrator account. Any more suggestions before I start from scratch ?

 

[dsquared81]

Base 2011 13 here. No SSD. Mines about 26 seconds from the time I press the power button until the blue screen (Apple logo with processing symbol) and 3 seconds for the blue screen until login screen. Total boot up about 30 seconds.

 

[Airboy98]

Base 2011 13 here. No SSD. Mines about 26 seconds from the time I press the power button until the blue screen (Apple logo with processing symbol) and 3 seconds for the blue screen until login screen. Total boot up about 30 seconds.

Wow that's fast. REALLY hope that reinstalling will work, cause I don't wanna reinstall and still be in the same situation, minus all the crap I've moved over from my PC. I'm guessing you are using the copy of Snow Leopard that came preinstalled when you first got your MBP like I am? I've heard quite a few people start with a fresh install whenever they get a new computer, I just regret doing that now that I already have stuff on here.

 

[TheFarmer]

By that I meant it stays on the blue screen ALONE for 20-30 seconds. Add to that an additional 30 seconds or so initially starting up pre-Apple logo screen for a total minute of booting up. Without SSD I've heard people getting boot times of around 25-30 seconds.

Dood...ur chit is seriously broken. If you're within your exchange period I would do that ASAP.

20-30 seconds on a blue screen? My Macs don't show a blue screen during bootup...

 

[squeakr]

I would try reinstalling the OS over the current installation. It repairs what might be wrong/ corrupted and doesn't destroy anything in the process. You say you changed settings originally and then deleted the account. How did you go about that, and also exactly what files did you bring over from your PC?

 

[Rhyalus]

Out of curiosity, how does the system work once it gets past this full minute of boot time...

Sorry, as a new Mac user, I can hardly get past the concept of 30 seconds being a major problem.

R

 

[dsquared81]

Wow that's fast. REALLY hope that reinstalling will work, cause I don't wanna reinstall and still be in the same situation, minus all the crap I've moved over from my PC. I'm guessing you are using the copy of Snow Leopard that came preinstalled when you first got your MBP like I am? I've heard quite a few people start with a fresh install whenever they get a new computer, I just regret doing that now that I already have stuff on here.

I actually came from a late 08 unibody base 15 and I migrated only my music and movies. Maybe a fresh install is your only recourse.

 

[Airboy98]

Dood...ur chit is seriously broken. If you're within your exchange period I would do that ASAP.

20-30 seconds on a blue screen? My Macs don't show a blue screen during bootup...

I wouldn't call that "seriously broken" if the only problem with it so far is the slow bootup time. Everything else runs great. That's it but its driving me crazy because I got this MBP to take to college and I shut it down before bringing it so I always have to wait for this annoyingly long bootup.

I would try reinstalling the OS over the current installation. It repairs what might be wrong/ corrupted and doesn't destroy anything in the process. You say you changed settings originally and then deleted the account. How did you go about that, and also exactly what files did you bring over from your PC?

Yeah I guess I'll try this now that I can't find any other solutions. I may have made it more complicated than it had to be but I created a temporary user account, deleted the account with the home folder name I didn't like, recreated the same account with the preferred home folder name, and then deleted the temporary user account I used to mess with all these accounts. From my PC I just transferred all my music, videos, and documents by putting the files in a shared folder to see on my network.

Out of curiosity, how does the system work once it gets past this full minute of boot time...

Sorry, as a new Mac user, I can hardly get past the concept of 30 seconds being a major problem.

R

I can see how it doesn't sound that bad. However, since I shut down quite a bit (every little bit of battery life helps instead of sleeping), taking a full minute for the computer to come up is getting frustrating.

 

[squeakr]

Is there anything else on or running when you try to start up (such as Wifi, BT, etc) as these could be causing a problem (especially if it is trying to connect)? On your network are you trying to automount anything. The reinstall takes about 45 min (I had to do it when I swapped drives between 2008 and 2011, due to driver issues). Just put disk 1 in the drive (came with system) and hold c while booting. Then just follow the install prompts and let it install (will repair the install and all accounts and data on drive will still be intact when done (no need to retransfer, although might want backups handy just in case).

Also sleep works so well, I never shut down and only restart when software upgrades call for it. Have done it this way for years and the resume for sleep is fast, so makes things bearable.

 

[Airboy98]

Is there anything else on or running when you try to start up (such as Wifi, BT, etc) as these could be causing a problem (especially if it is trying to connect)? On your network are you trying to automount anything. The reinstall takes about 45 min (I had to do it when I swapped drives between 2008 and 2011, due to driver issues). Just put disk 1 in the drive (came with system) and hold c while booting. Then just follow the install prompts and let it install (will repair the install and all accounts and data on drive will still be intact when done (no need to retransfer, although might want backups handy just in case).

While that's definitely not a bad idea, I think I would feel better if I did a completely fresh install, erasing everything on the HDD right now, even though it will be more painful. As for your questions, none of those things should cause a problem as my dad's 2009 MBP boots up quite fast, almost completely bypassing this blue screen altogether. Now, its reinstalling time .