Long Shutdown Time of MacBook Pro...

Hi guys!

I am having issues with the shutdown time of my MBP. Namely, until couple of days ago, everything was fine and the shutdown process lasted for about 5 seconds tops. The other day, when I was about to go to bed and shut it down, the shutdown took unusually long time to execute. From that day on, every shutdown is the same. It lasts for about 40 seconds. This is kinda not that funny, because from time to time, like every couple of months the shutdown would be long like this, but the next shutdown would be very short. I consider this to be normal, as far as I read the various forum posts. What bothers me is that since couple of days ago, every shutdown lasts for about 45 seconds and it is not a problem, since the computer works fine, but is kinda irritating. I also have to mention that no major changes (installation or removal of programs) have been performed prior to this issue, and that my login items list is empty.
I have tried the following:

* Zapping the PRAM
* Executing various Onyx scripts, and used Onyx it to clean various caches.
* Reading, verifying and repairing permission using Disk Utility.


None worked for me.

I am pretty sure there are numerous threads about this or similar subject, but I have not found the one that describes this issue that I have.

If anyone of you, guys had the similar problem, any help, advice or tip would be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,
Matt

Any ideas, please, anyone?

It seems you've already done what most would suggest. The only item I can pick up on is that you ran scripts from Onyx; but did you use it to repair permissions? If not, try that to see if things improve. There are numerous posts about Onyx fixing issues that DU didn't.

Next suggestion is to run a hardware check by booting from the Install disk > Disk Utility > Verify Disk. There may be some dodgy sectors on the hard drive. If so, DU should find them, and you can repair if necessary.

I will try and inform you.
Thanks for your quick feedback!
Cheers!

If you're leaving programs (and processes that run in the background) open as you shut down, the Mac will write the entire contents of RAM to a file for protection (or it could be having trouble shutting one of those processes down). This is usually the culprit for long shutdown times.

Get into the habit of closing all apps BEFORE shutting down. I'll bet the problem goes away on its own.

What OS are you using? If you are not using 10.6, upgrading to that will speed up your shutdown times a lot. It did for me.

It's been my observation and experience that letting the OS quit any open applications seldom causes delayed shutdown. Tomlija will soon enough let us know if in fact that is the cause of the delay.

In relation however to what Chas_M has suggested, I've found delayed shutdown does occur if something requiring heavy processor involvement has been happening. A recent example was a dvd containing hundreds of .mp4 files. The OS really struggled, having any applications open caused hang. I ejected the dvd, but the eMac wouldn't restart, I had to Force shutdown. After power button reboot, everything was tickety-boo. I attribute that problem to the Finder. I haven't (yet) tried to replicate the event.

Another factor I believe may cause delayed shutdown is heat. When this small room becomes warm (no air conditioning), and the eMac fan has been working overtime, shutdown can be delayed by as much as 3x the usual.