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Spinning Beach Ball

T

tibas92013

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 2, 2013
486
87
Costa Rica
Recently when opening some applications on my Mac Mini Late 2012 i5 with a 500 GB Hard drive the dreaded "Spinning Beach Ball" has appeared and then quickly disappeared.

Last month I upgraded my RAM from 4GB to 16 GB so this should not be a RAM issue. My Mac Mini is now about a year and half old in use,so, maybe this is a sign of a failing HD??
 
What does the Smart Status say and/or have you checked the drive for errors in the Disk Utility?
 
OP wrote above:
[[ Last month I upgraded my RAM from 4GB to 16 GB so this should not be a RAM issue. My Mac Mini is now about a year and half old in use,so, maybe this is a sign of a failing HD?? ]]

I doubt your internal drive is failing.

You didn't tell us what OS you're using.
Is it Mavericks or Yosemite?

If so, your internal platter-based HDD is what's causing the problem.
The beachballs you're seeing are the result of a drive that "can't keep up" with the demand of the OS. RAM is less important than the speed of the drive.

Add an SSD, and I predict the problems will disappear and you will be VERY HAPPY with the results....
 
tibas92013 said:
Recently when opening some applications on my Mac Mini Late 2012 i5 with a 500 GB Hard drive the dreaded "Spinning Beach Ball" has appeared and then quickly disappeared.

Last month I upgraded my RAM from 4GB to 16 GB so this should not be a RAM issue. My Mac Mini is now about a year and half old in use,so, maybe this is a sign of a failing HD??
Click to expand...

When you say "some applications", is it only Safari? Because Safari does that a on all the machines I've tried with Yosemite.
Since you've recently upgraded RAM, what RAM did you get? I find it unlikely, but if it's excruciatingly high CAS latency RAM, with a low clock frequency, you may be affected by that.
Have you tried an OS reinstall?
 
The SBB appears mostly in "Safari" and I am still on OSX "Mountain Lion". Thanx to all for your replies.

I plan on upgrading when Yosemite 10.10.3 comes out in the very near future and this is why I upgraded my RAM from 4GB to 16GB last month. I bought two (2) "Lifetime Brand" 8GB RAM sticks from a Apple Authorized dealer here in Costa Rica at a cost of $245.00 installed.

I have no external drives connected to my Mac Mini, however, I am using Carbon Copy Cloner and a WD Passport 500 GB portable drive in which I "clone" my Mac Mini HD once-a-month as a backup.

No, I have not tried a OS Reinstall as yet.

My Applecare coverage on my Mac Mini expires in August, 2016, so, if this continues I will take it to one of the Apple Authorized Dealers here in Costa Rica for a check-up. That's the great thing about the Mac Mini in which you unhook a couple of cables, put in your backpack anda then off to the races for a needed Apple Repair.

Sorry to say there are NO Apple Stores as yet here in Costa Rica or even in any of the other Central America Countries. I understand that they have recently opened an Apple Store in Mexico, however, this country is not part of Central America.

Another thought, I am accessing my ISP via a Apple Express Router(2nd Generation) which is located in an adjacent bedroom and could this be the source of the problem?
 
Last edited:
tibas92013 said:
The SBB appears mostly in "Safari" and I am still on OSX 8.5 "Moutain Lion". Thanx to all for your replies.

I plan on upgrading when 10.3 comes out in the very near future and this is why I upgraded my RAM from 4GB to 16GB last month. I bought two (2) "Lifetime Brand" 8GB RAM sticks from a Apple Authorzed dealer here in Costa Rica at a cost of $245.00 installed.
Click to expand...

10.3 "Panther" came out in 2003. I think you mean 10.10.3, which I don't see any reason to wait for as the 10.10.2 update fixed many of the issues.

An SSD upgrade would have done a lot more good than RAM, and frankly you probably don't need more than 8 GB to see any benefit.
 
redheeler said:
10.3 "Panther" came out in 2003. I think you mean 10.10.3, which I don't see any reason to wait for as the 10.10.2 update fixed many of the issues.

An SSD upgrade would have done a lot more good than RAM, and frankly you probably don't need more than 8 GB to see any benefit.
Click to expand...

Thanx for the imput and I have corrected this error on my most recent post. I do plan sometime this year to add a USB connected External SSD to my Mac Mini.

As most of you can tell by now I am Mac Mini and OSX Novice!
 
tibas92013 said:
Thanx for the imput and I have corrected this error on my most recent post. I do plan sometime this year to add a USB connected External SSD to my Mac Mini.

As most of you can tell by now I am Mac Mini and OSX Novice!
Click to expand...

Fair enough, although when you do connect an SSD I'm sure you'll see a noticeable difference in speed. A clean install may also help.

tibas92013 said:
Another thought, I am accessing my ISP via a Apple Express Router(2nd Generation) which is located in an adjacent bedroom and could this be the source of the problem?
Click to expand...

A slow network/internet connection shouldn't cause beachballs in Safari, only prolonged loading time.
 
maflynn said:
What does the Smart Status say and/or have you checked the drive for errors in the Disk Utility?
Click to expand...

S.M.A.R.T Status states VERIFIED.

Using Disk Utility to Verify Disk it states "that the Partition Map appears to be OK".

Now, what does the above mean in "plain english"?
 
Last edited:
redheeler said:
An SSD upgrade would have done a lot more good than RAM, and frankly you probably don't need more than 8 GB to see any benefit.
Click to expand...

The Costa Rica Apple Authorized Dealer quoted me a price of $170.00 for two(2) 4GB "Lifetime Brand" Ram sticks,so, for $75.00 more I opted to go for the "Whole Enchilada" two(2) 8GB Ramsticks.

Down here in Costa Rica you are talking Big-Time dollars for an installed SSD! I will be visiting my brother in Texas in a couple of months in which I plan to purchase an External SSD and Case along with a Refurbished Apple Time Capsule from the Apple Store. Import taxes and shipping costs are very high here in Costa Rica.
 
Last edited:
tibas92013 said:
The Costa Rica Apple Authorized Dealer quoted me a price of $170.00 for two(2) 4GB "Lifetime Brand" Ram sticks,so, for $75.00 more I opted to go for the "Whole Enchilada" two(2) 8GB Ramsticks.
Click to expand...

You overpaid. You could have bought that Ram from Crucial.com for $130 or so and installed it yourself. Installing RAM in a 2012 takes less than a minute and is really, really easy to do. Just take off the bottom. Take out the installed RAM. Pop in the new RAM and you're done. No tools or experience required.
 
fa8362 said:
You overpaid. You could have bought that Ram from Crucial.com for $130 or so and installed it yourself. Installing RAM in a 2012 takes less than a minute and is really, really easy to do. Just take off the bottom. Take out the installed RAM. Pop in the new RAM and you're done. No tools or experience required.
Click to expand...

Thanx for the imput and I considered this before I bought the "Lifetime Brand" Ram Sticks,however, it would have cost me another $70.00 for Costa Rica Import Taxes and Courier mail Service. As I recall, the price for two(2) Crucial 8GB Ram Sticks quoted on the Crucial Website was around the $150.00 plus State Tax mark last month. I do have a one(1) year garantee with this purchase and instant knowledge that I have bought the right Ram Sticks for my Mac Mini.

The price that the Costa Rica Apple Authorized Dealer quoted me for $245.00 was soley for the Ram Sticks and the Intallation was FREE:)
 
Last edited:
fa8362 said:
You overpaid. You could have bought that Ram from Crucial.com for $130 or so and installed it yourself. Installing RAM in a 2012 takes less than a minute and is really, really easy to do. Just take off the bottom. Take out the installed RAM. Pop in the new RAM and you're done. No tools or experience required.
Click to expand...

When Crucial is cheap - Hell has frozen and pigs can fly. HELP!

----------
tibas92013 said:
Thanx for the imput and I considered this before I bought the "Lifetime Brand" Ram Sticks,however, it would have cost me another $70.00 for Costa Rica Import Taxes and Courier mail Service. I do have a one(1) year garantee with this purchase and instant knowledge that I have bought the right Ram Sticks for my Mac Mini.

The price that the Costa Rica Apple Authorized Dealer quoted me for $245.00 was soley for the Ram Sticks and the Intallation was FREE!
Click to expand...

Well, regarding fixing the Beach Balling issue, I suggest you reinstall the OS and if you want it fixed before getting a new drive, perhaps revert to an older one
 
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