Help Troubleshooting Slow Shutdown

My MBP has always shut down very quickly. Last night when I got home from work the shut down time has gone from 15 seconds or so to 2.5 minutes. I have not added any new software other than an update to Firefox with in Windows 7 in Parallels. So I'm not sure how that could impact the shut down of the machine.

Can someone give me some pointers on how to troubleshoot this. You can see my system in my sig etc. Early 2011 MBP running Lion with 8 GB ram. 13 inch. I have MS Office, Picasa and a couple of other programs that were all compatible with Lion and have been on the machine since the upgrade. Not had a problem with start up or shut down since the upgrade on the day Lion was released.

Any help would be appreciated. I have ONYX on my machine and repaired the permissions and reset the PRAM. This has made no difference.

What else should I try or look for?

Any help would be much appreciated. My browser is Safari.

Regards,

Pat

PatM said:

My MBP has always shut down very quickly. Last night when I got home from work the shut down time has gone from 15 seconds or so to 2.5 minutes. I have not added any new software other than an update to Firefox with in Windows 7 in Parallels. So I'm not sure how that could impact the shut down of the machine.

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I have this happen from time to time (in fact it happened last night). It usually happens to me if:

- I've had my computer on for a long time...lots of apps. open...and the ram is almost or fully utilized.
- Haven't rebooted my computer for a while (just put it to "Sleep")
- After I've done a bunch of online gaming.

The most likely reason is #1.

Basically I think that the extended time it takes to do the shutdown is Mac OS X doing some "extra" housekeeping" before shutting down or sleeping. And the time it takes for the computer to "shutdown" or go to "sleep" depends on what the computer was doing recently.

I wouldn't be too concerned unless it becomes a frequent occurrence.

- Nick

Did you use OnyX recently to erase the boot cache and other caches? That will slow the shutdown and startup in Lion until the caches are built up again. Other than that, I can't pinpoint a reason causing Lion to shut down slowly. It does it with me occasionally but then returns to normal on the next shutdown. But even on a slow shutdown it's no more than 30 seconds or so.

Also make sure you remove the check from "Restore windows when quitting...." located in System Preferences, General.

chscag said:

It does it with me occasionally but then returns to normal on the next shutdown.

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I was going to mention the same thing!

- Nick

If parallels had Windows booted up, would it have had to shut down the windows virtual machine before it could close? That could take some time.

I always ensure that all programs are closed. I check the little light under each dock program to ensure it is out. I never shut down the computer with Parallels open. I guess I'll just go a few days and see if it improves. I just downloaded the "new" updated ONYX program and replaced the Beta.

I also deleted Firefox for Mac just to try to eliminate any possible causes. The shut down time has not improved. I guess I"ll just go a few days and see if by chance it may just solve itself. (Not sure how but stranger things have happened.)

Regards,

Pat

I am in the habit of quitting programs I'm not using, so I never have this problem. Shutdown and sleep are virtually instant.

It sounds to me like the OS is having to spend some time writing a "saved RAM state" which would indicate lots of programs open. Are you sure you're quitting stuff and not just closing it? Also, if the Windows virtualisation is still open when trying to shut down, well that's the entire problem right there, most likely.

PS. Who shuts down their Macs anymore??

PS. Who shuts down their Macs anymore??

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Those of us who live in Texas and Florida where thunderstorms sound like the start of WW III and lightning abounds.... I thought you lived in Florida for awhile?

chas_m said:

I am in the habit of quitting programs I'm not using, so I never have this problem. Shutdown and sleep are virtually instant.

It sounds to me like the OS is having to spend some time writing a "saved RAM state" which would indicate lots of programs open. Are you sure you're quitting stuff and not just closing it? Also, if the Windows virtualisation is still open when trying to shut down, well that's the entire problem right there, most likely.

PS. Who shuts down their Macs anymore??

Click to expand...

Believe it or not I do pay attention to what I have learned on this forum. I actually try to use the advice and hundreds of posts that I have read here. So as you will see in my previous post I do understand how to quit a program versus just closing it. I also stated that the Parallels program was not open and not trying to shut down.

As for turning the computer off I guess it's just an old windows habit that I have not quite given up. But frankly it makes the system easier to start up in the morning because i use an extended monitor and printer etc at work. It just makes firing up he whole system a lot quicker. I also use a wireless mouse and keyboard. So when the computer tries to configure all these things right from the get go it can sometimes take some time.

Sorry for the distraction but here is the latest. At the end of the day today I quit all of my programs as I normally do. Parallels was not open so that was not an issue. I shut the notebook down and had my watch ready and it took about 19 seconds to shut off. Hummm. Just about where it was before this problem. Why it did so correctly now I have no idea. But I'm not going to complain just enjoy it.

But I am going to shut down the notebook after sending this post and see if it works again. Post back in a sec.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I DO appreciate them.

Regards,

Pat

I'm back. It took exactly 8 seconds for the notebook to close from the time I clicked the button. Thinking back to earlier today I did download and install the new ONYX program to replace the beta. I then ran the program to correct permissions. I never read the results just closed the program. So?? I don't know. (Not sure that I would understand what it all means anyway.) I do know that the system is back to normal. I also think i had the incorrect shut down time above. It's always shut down in 10 seconds or less.

Thank You!

chscag said:

Those of us who live in Texas and Florida where thunderstorms sound like the start of WW III and lightning abounds.... I thought you lived in Florida for awhile?

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Sure did ... and owned a UPS, as I do here (where I have to say the electricity is FAAAAR more reliable ... and I'm on an island!!).

chas_m said:

PS. Who shuts down their Macs anymore??

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You will be surprised; I guess a lot of switchers getting used to the OS and restart/shutdown way too many times.

I know this kid in the neighborhood who had issues with his new MBP and restarted 3 times in front of me to replicate the issue (after I did a simple rebuild) he was seeing and it totally bummed me out... took me a while to explain and also used the sticky here to explain the switch... I wish he reads this