iMac Retina 5K, 27-inch Stalling At Startup

[Peter Natscher]

Could you please explain what you mean by "this is part of the Unix core of the OS"? So, there is something beneficial to the OS going on over night?

I'm going to see if these scripts are still being run though I think that they are. The methodology has changed a bit over the years. I think that beginning with OS X 10.5 if a script did not run at its scheduled time it ran the next time the Mac was running.

As far as why one would leave a computer running all night when not in use, this is part of the Unix core of the OS.

 

[harryb2448]

There are a number of apps that run maintenance scripts automatically. I have used Macaroni for of ten years or so. Scripts run at various times of the day, usually daily an hour after waking each morning.

 

[MacInWin]

I think what Sly was trying to say was that because macOS is based on a Unix variant, it inherited the basic stability of a system that was designed to run and run and run without being shut down. Therefore, it has some built in maintenance that is done "on the fly" during otherwise idle times. If you power down your system and don't let it run during those normally idle times, that maintenance doesn't get run, which can lead eventually to some slowdown in operations. Generally, it's better to keep it running than to boot it every day and the shut down every night. That is easier on the hardware and gives the OS a chance to do that housekeeping.

 

[IWT]

May I just endorse what Jake has said. There are many of us who run our iMacs 24/7; only rebooting in respect of updates as required, or perhaps every 3-4 weeks just to clear out any scruff that has accumulated. And only shut down when away for a few days, say.

This minimise the "pressure" on the Hard Disk Drive - most especially spinning platter drives which are most "stressed" during the sudden power surges that awaken them from sleep or a shut down. This may be less critical with an SSD, I guess.

Of course, there are many who take a different view, sleeping the Mac every time they leave it and shutting down each day. Personal preference, although there is more science in favour of the first rather than the second option.

Ian

 

[Slydude]

I think what Sly was trying to say was that because macOS is based on a Unix variant, it inherited the basic stability of a system that was designed to run and run and run without being shut down. Therefore, it has some built in maintenance that is done "on the fly" during otherwise idle times. If you power down your system and don't let it run during those normally idle times, that maintenance doesn't get run, which can lead eventually to some slowdown in operations. Generally, it's better to keep it running than to boot it every day and the shut down every night. That is easier on the hardware and gives the OS a chance to do that housekeeping.

Thanks Jake. You said it much better than I did.

 

[pm-r]

I have used Macaroni for of ten years or so.

I also used to run Macaroni and it's scripts some years ago but got rid of it after SL 10.6 was released I believe when Apple changed how things and the old crown jobs and scripts worked.

It seems that Macaroni may still run it's "maintenance" cron scripts but the later macOS will just ignore what it does it seems, or maybe not according to this:
https://ole.michelsen.dk/blog/schedule-jobs-with-crontab-on-mac-osx.html

Hard to find if the macOS actually still supports any such stuff.







- Patrick
==========

 

[pigoo3]

Ha! I've been a Mac user since the beginning in 1982!

Maybe an Apple user since 1982...but not a Mac user. First Mac wasn't until 1984.

- Nick

 

[pigoo3]

Note: I made the decision to uninstall the ESET AV and haven't had any startup issues since.

Good deal. Many AV apps come with a lot of overhead.

- Nick

 

[MacInWin]

Thanks Jake. You said it much better than I did.

Nah, I just used more words...

 

[Peter Natscher]

Thanks for all of your help, everyone! I'm going to do all of these things ASAP.

 

[pm-r]

Thanks for all of your help, everyone! I'm going to do all of these things ASAP.

Great, but please post back with your results which can help benefit other users.



- Patrick
==========

 

[Peter Natscher]

First over night activity seen: I left my iMac running over night, with the energy saver set, and this morning saw an OS notification on the display that the latest system security update was installed. Cool!

 

[pm-r]

… this morning saw an OS notification on the display that the latest system security update was installed.

Hmmm… OK, but I think you may want to check the settings of your System Preferences -> App Store.

The last and latest Apple security updates that I'm aware of were released 13 Dec 2016, and that's over a month ago I'd say.

Or was it just an old notification that you just noticed?
I know I've done that a number of times sand the date stamp is sometimes tiny and hard to read.







- Patrick
==========

 

[MacInWin]

Patrick, it's probably an older one. This was the first time he's left it on overnight.

 

[pm-r]

Patrick, it's probably an older one. This was the first time he's left it on overnight.

Thanks Jake and I realize his situation and what he did, but I find it odd that any Apple security updates would only work overnight and why the notification would only show up now.

Or as you say, it's an older one that only just got noticed or announced.






- Patrick
=======

 

[MacInWin]

Well, I get those notifications when I come into the office in the morning sometimes, so I just assumed that Apple pushes out the security updates overnight. And given that he hasn't let his machine run overnight, the update process didn't get a chance to run. So, now that he let it run overnight, it saw the older update and installed it. That's what I had assumed it had done, anyway.

 

[Peter Natscher]

Attached is what I saw as a notification on my display first thing this am. I think this is a new update because the Apple Store wants to download this same Update on my 17" MBP today.

 

[pm-r]

OK, this update makes sense to me now and I just did a check with my MBPro running El Capitan that I only occasionally use.

Apple just released el capitan security update 2016-003 supplemental Update 10.11.6 on 17 January 2017 and there's also one for Yosemite users as well it seems.

Bottom line:
If you applied Security Update 2016-003 before 17 January 2017, Security Update 2016-003 Supplemental will appear in Software Update.

https://9to5mac.com/2017/01/17/apple-os-x-10-11-6-el-capitan-2016-003-supplemental-update/
http://tidbits.com/article/16999
https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1908?locale=en_CA






- Patrick
==========

 

[harryb2448]

Are you sure Patrick about 2016-003? Unless Apple got the year wrong?

And he is running Sierra. Must have been a long, long time since any updating was done eh.

 

[pm-r]

Are you sure Patrick about 2016-003? Unless Apple got the year wrong?

And he is running Sierra. Must have been a long, long time since any updating was done eh.

That's part of the name the latest "security" update is being given and it doesn't appear that Peter is running Sierra when the screen shot he posted shows "FREE UPGRADE"

And as mentioned, the most recent update was just released Jan 17th, 2016, so not exactly a long time ago I'd say, eh??? :Blushing:

As they say:
OS X El Capitan Security Update 2016-003 Supplemental Update
The 2016-003 Security Update for OS X El Capitan was originally released on December 13 alongside macOS Sierra 10.12.2, but was today reissued with the fix.
http://www.macrumors.com/2017/01/17/os-x-el-capitan-supplemental-security-update/

Actually it appears to be more of an OS X fix for crashing and freezing than any real OS X "security" fix. But it sounds like a good fix regardless from what little Apple has said so far about it.


EDIT:
Strange, still no word or even mention about the latest Apple security update at their site as of:
Published Date: Jan 18, 2017
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201222








- Patrick
==========