Is this an OS or hardware problem?

[Randy B. Singer]

Rebooting does seem to help for a while but within a half hour or hour it starts again.

Do all of the routine maintenance on my Web site, and see if that helps. If nothing else, that will rule out several problems.

You also didn't tell us how big your hard drive is, and how full it is.

 

[pigoo3]

You also didn't tell us how big your hard drive is, and how full it is.

OP mentioned this back in post #1 (500gig with 95gig free).

- Nick

 

[Serena]

I have two thoughts on this.
1) Have you verified the disk (Disk Utilities) to see if it is corrupted? If so you may need to reinstall, with methodical attention to each Software update, in the process. Check and recheck at each step of the way.

2)re. the material on your disk
You could check out GrandPerspective or similar on this page:
https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/19515/grandperspective

to give you a visual 'layout' of your computer. For instance a rogue file can get out of hand and take up a lot of space. The patterns are pretty too!
Serena

 

[Checco]

XP has a known issue with Windows Update "hanging", showing high CPU usage, which will be noticeable on an older machine. When your issue occurs, check in Windows Task Manager, showing processes from all users. It does tend to work itself out eventually, but if it is the cause of your problem and becomes too disruptive, just disable Automatic Updates altogether.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

I have a 500 gig hard disk with 98 gigs free.

You're not going to believe this, because 98GB seems like a lot of free space on a hard drive, but your drive may, for all intents and purposes, be full. You have less than 20% of your drive space free. OS X needs about 20% of your hard drive free to run reliably. And it likes that space to be contiguous, rather than fragmented. The free space left on your hard drive is likely quite fragmented and spread out as tiny chunks all over your hard drive. It's time for you to consider getting a new external hard drive and offloading a bunch of stuff to it and then defragmenting your internal hard drive.

See:

Mac OS X Routine Maintenance
OS X Maintenance And Troubleshooting
Item #5 and note #1

 

[badshoehabit]

I've recently upgrade the RAM on my MacBook Pro from 4GB to 16GB and the difference is amazing. Previously it was particularly slow with iPhoto running - took minutes to upload - whereas now it is slick and fast. This may be worth investigating.

 

[Mark F]

Well, I turned off the iMac overnight and rebooted this morning. The same symptom with the hard disk trundling for no apparent reason but also with no apparent effect on speed. I still had use of the cursor and could change windows without problem. Also, the hard disk activity lasted for a much shorter time. So cleaning out the swap file etc did the trick. Thank you very much.

BTW, I had used Disk Utilities to do a repair permissions and to check out the drive. Both seemed ok. Since MS has discontinued support for XP I do not have to worry about future updates. That's another problem since I have some legacy sofware that does not run under Windows 8.

Doesn't OS X automatically defragment the disk as part of the operating system? When I switched from Windows to Mac I looked to buy a defragmenter and was told that it wasn't necessary and was done internally by the OS.

Finally, I'm still wondering what the heck is going on when the hard drive keeps trundling. I think I've figured out how to attach a screen shot of the activity monitor so if anyone knows how to read this thing and figure it out that would be great.

THanks to all.

Mark

View attachment Screen shot 2014-04-05 at 12.59.46 PM.zip

 

[bsb]

Be prepared for a hard drive failure. You have been blessed with 3 years bonus use !

Having got 2 early 2008 iMacs both of which had HD failures at 3 years I seen the problem (as well as a macbook Pro HD failure at about the same age).

Even if the HD fails to boot, don't pannick, it is easy to recover all the data and programmes so long as you can fnd another Mac.

This site tells you all you need to know : Data Recovery From a Dead Mac Hard Drive | eHow.

I replaced my Western Digital 500mb drives with Seagate 2tb Barracuda drives and upgraded the RAM to 1x2mb + 1x4mb on a 24" (and 4mb on my 21").

Having had a bad experience with an approved Apple repair shop I did the work myself.

There are various sites with full explanatons with video or photos to guide you. Total cost for 24" machine; 2TB HD + 6mb RAM + new keyboard + Snow Leopard upgrade approx 250 Euros (the 4mb RAM card was x3 / mb the cost of a 2mb card due to low demand). Note that Apple will state that 4mb is the max but a 2mb + 4mb installation works well.

If I get 3 more years out of these machines I shall consider a total of 500 Euros to be good value for money !

 

[pigoo3]

Doesn't OS X automatically defragment the disk as part of the operating system? When I switched from Windows to Mac I looked to buy a defragmenter and was told that it wasn't necessary and was done internally by the OS.

I don't have the reference material handy...OS X does this...but only for files larger than 20meg. For files smaller than 20meg...you can still use this:

Coriolis Systems :: Products :: iDefrag

Finally, I'm still wondering what the heck is going on when the hard drive keeps trundling. I think I've figured out how to attach a screen shot of the activity monitor so if anyone knows how to read this thing and figure it out that would be great.

Just an idea. There's an OS X program called 'Spotlight" (the little magnifying glass in the upper right corner of the desktop/display)...that indexes the HD to find things faster when searching. Spotlight can kind of do the HD trundling as you describe (but it shouldn't do it too often).

Also take note that a couple of us have mentioned that your HD is 80%+ full...which can lead to this issue too.

- Nick

 

[pigoo3]

Not sure if it was mentioned in this thread yet...but you can also download & install a free maintenance app called "Onyx":

Titanium's Software • Index page

Just download, install, launch, then click on the "Automation" button...and let it do its thing.

- Nick

 

[kathik]

Turn off Faces

I'm not an expert but I was having this problem and realized that Faces wanted me to identify all 9000 photos i had in iPhoto. Although most Mac stuff says you can't turn off Faces, you can. Search the forums for "Turn off Faces + Lopezio". It solved my problem, mostly. I also have an old (2007) MacBook that won't/can't upgrade to Mavericks. My problem started when I upgraded to snow Leopard and got progressively worse.

 

[Mark F]

Yes, I did note the posts re my hard drive being >80% full, and also that it is close to 6 years old. I will off load some stuff to an external drive this next week. And when the drive does fail, at least I have several backups. THen I'll have to decide if its worth changing or upgrading to a faster CPU with a lot more RAM. Photoshop eats RAM.

Mark

 

[pigoo3]

Yes, I did note the posts re my hard drive being >80% full, and also that it is close to 6 years old. I will off load some stuff to an external drive this next week. And when the drive does fail, at least I have several backups. THen I'll have to decide if its worth changing or upgrading to a faster CPU with a lot more RAM. Photoshop eats RAM.

Installing a new or larger HD is not very hard at all. If the current computer is getting the job done from a cpu, graphics, ram, etc. perspective...I would never consider a new computer. It's basically a less than $100 (new HD) or new computer ($1000-$1500) decision.

Of course if you've been "itching" for a new computer regardless...that's a different story.

- Nick

 

[dameatball]

had the exact same issue

I had the same exact issue with my iMac at work (which is fairly new still). I'm not familiar with what you're running, but I found that the 4gigs of ram wasn't nearly sufficient. Once I doubled it to 8, the issue was resolved. As a general rule (again, it depends on what you're doing) 4 gigs of ram running modern applications tends to lead to issues with freezing, stalling and general headaches. Mine would freeze constantly or I'd get the dreaded circle spinning. I would recommend using 8 regardless if your iMac was made in the last couple years. It can handle it. Also it's easy to do yourself and quite a bit cheaper.

 

[pigoo3]

I had the same exact issue with my iMac at work (which is fairly new still). I'm not familiar with what you're running, but I found that the 4gigs of ram wasn't nearly sufficient. Once I doubled it to 8, the issue was resolved. As a general rule (again, it depends on what you're doing) 4 gigs of ram running modern applications tends to lead to issues with freezing, stalling and general headaches. Mine would freeze constantly or I'd get the dreaded circle spinning. I would recommend using 8 regardless if your iMac was made in the last couple years. It can handle it. Also it's easy to do yourself and quite a bit cheaper.

OP mentioned in first thread post that this computer is maxed out at 4gig of ram.

But I agree with you...in many situations...8gig can be better than 4gig. it's mostly a budget or upgrade hassle thing for many folks.

- Nick

 

[dameatball]

OP mentioned in first thread post that this computer is maxed out at 4gig of ram.

But I agree with you...in many situations...8gig can be better than 4gig. it's mostly a budget or upgrade hassle thing for many folks.

- Nick

You could be right. I may of misunderstood his meaning of 'maxed out'. I thought he may of been under the impression that 4g was the max for whatever reason. But your interpretation may be correct.

 

[Mark F]

According to Apple my iMac can only handle 4 gig of RAM but i'v learned here that it can actually take more, maybe 6 or even 8 gigs. It's not the hassle, I'm sure I could change the RAM myself and even the hard disk. If not, I know people who could. The real problem is that I do a lot of Lightroom and Photoshop work and over the years each update has become more computationally demanding. The time it takes to render previews or to zoom in on enlarged portions of an image has grown to the point that it is sometimes riduculous. I think this is also a CPU issue as well as a RAM issue.

I am not swimming in money but I think I may have to bite the bullet. But not before the Fall.

 

[pigoo3]

According to Apple my iMac can only handle 4 gig of RAM but i'v learned here that it can actually take more, maybe 6 or even 8 gigs.

I was relying on your original statement that the computer's ram was maxed out. Depending on the iMac model...many times it can be upgraded beyond the official Apple max. for ram.

I don't think that we were ever told the exact model iMac this is. If you tell us...we can verify its max. ram, and how easy/hard the upgrade process is (older iMac's easier, newer iMac's can be harder).

It's not the hassle, I'm sure I could change the RAM myself and even the hard disk. If not, I know people who could.

I was talking in generalities (many/most people). If someone else needs to do it...technically that is a more of a hassle...since the whole thing is more complex than doing it yourself (coordinating with other folks). And many folks may not know folks that can do it...so things can get expensive if the computer needs to be upgraded by someone else professionally. And this "professional upgrading" can be a hassle & expensive.

So folks procrastinate...and delay the upgrade. But again...if the computer is mostly meeting a users needs in other ways (cpu, gnu, etc.)...then a ram and/or HD upgrade can only improve things. And a ram and/or HD upgrade is way less expensive than a new computer. But if a faster computer is needed...then a ram & HD upgrade won't fill that need.

The real problem is that I do a lot of Lightroom and Photoshop work and over the years each update has become more computationally demanding. The time it takes to render previews or to zoom in on enlarged portions of an image has grown to the point that it is sometimes riduculous. I think this is also a CPU issue as well as a RAM issue.

I hear ya! All great reasons for getting a newer & faster computer. If you do this professionally...sometimes the time saved with a faster computer allows you to do more projects in the same amount of time.

More projects = more money = even more projects = even more money...etc., etc.!

So the cost of a newer computer can definitely be justified in a business situation.

- Nick

 

[Mark F]

Wel, for the record its a model 8.1 with an Intel Core Duo 3.06 GHz processor. 4GB of memory. Oh yes, a 24" screen.

Mark

 

[pigoo3]

Wel, for the record its a model 8.1 with an Intel Core Duo 3.06 GHz processor. 4GB of memory. Oh yes, a 24" screen.

You can add this info to your Mac-Forums profile (if you want to)...then we will always know the specs for any questions in the future.

Yes...this computer can be upgraded to 6gig of ram (max)...like you mentioned earlier. Using 2 gig + 4 gig sticks of ram. Since you already have 4gig of ram (2gig + 2gig)...you would just need a single 4gig stick of ram to max. things out.

Since this a 2008 model iMac...ram upgrading is extremely easy. Hard drive upgrade is fairly easy as well (compared to newer iMac's).

Finally. I can see why Photoshop performance may not be what you like. This iMac is on the older side (with relatively weak graphics hardware)...a good setup for 2008...but not so great for 2014. But still a very good computer with a nice sized display for many things.

- Nick