Late 2015 iMac 17,1 having pausing issues

[twr7cx2]

Have a Late 2015 iMac 17,1 Retina (fitted with 4 x 4GB RAM and OWC Mercury Electra 6G 500GB SSD < Mercury Electra 6G - The Gold Standard SSD for Your Mac >) that is having some lagging/freezing/pausing issues. When conducting simple tasks there is often, but at random, a delay of 20 seconds or a bit longer, in the result. Often the ‘spinning beachball’ accompanies this but not always. For example:

Click to open Safari and nothing happens for 20 seconds, then suddenly appears.

Click to open the Applications window and it opens without the icons having loaded but after 15 seconds they appear.



So far to in attempt to resolve I’ve tried the following:

Check for any Software Updates (none available – macOS Big Sur latest version)

Check for any updates in App Store

Reset SMC

Reset PRAM/NVRAM

Formatted hard drive and fresh installation of macOS Big Sur from Internet Recovery – even with a clean installation with no additional programs or apps it continues to happen.

Conducted Apple Diagnostics over the Internet (Option + D on start up) – no errors found

Run Memtest86 off bootable drive – no errors found



Any ideas on what I could try next?

 

[Raz0rEdge]

Looks like you've covered all the basics and a fresh install on a formatted drive shouldn't exhibit the issue.

Can you try booting into Safe Mode and see if the behavior changes?

 

[ferrarr]

Click to open the Applications window and it opens without the icons having loaded but after 15 seconds they appear.

What Applications window? Is this the Applications folder icon in the Dock or a Finder window?

Did you startup in Recovery and run Disk Utility > First Aid?

After your fresh install, it could be due to macOS indexing the drive. Also, how much free spaces is on your 500GB SSD?

 

[pigoo3]

Do the issues happen mostly while you're browsing the internet...or when you're working with locally installed applications? Remember if you're working with "Cloud" based apps...this is at least a partially internet based activity.

The reason why I ask is...if most of this happens mostly while on the internet...next question is...what internet browser are you using (Safari, Chrome, or other)?

If using Safari (for example)...try Chrome instead & see if this makes any difference.

Also...if the internet is involved...is your internet connection stable (any possibility your internet connection is getting disrupted or occasional slowdowns)?

Nick

 

[twr7cx2]

What Applications window? Is this the Applications folder icon in the Dock or a Finder window?

Yep, the one on the bottom right of the dock near Documents etc.

Did you startup in Recovery and run Disk Utility > First Aid?

Yep, no issues.

After your fresh install, it could be due to macOS indexing the drive. Also, how much free spaces is on your 500GB SSD?

444.31 GB free space according to Disk Utility.

Do the issues happen mostly while you're browsing the internet...or when you're working with locally installed applications?

Seems to be locally based application issues as continues when disconnected from the internet and occurs when using programs installed on the computer.
No other computers on this network/internet connection are experiencing it, including the MacBook Pro laptop being as an alternative machine until this issue is sorted.


Based on another sites recommendation I ran EtreCheck Pro which has come back with:

Runtime: 5:02
Performance: Poor

Performance:
System Load: 1.05 (1 min ago) 1.23 (5 min ago) 1.04 (15 min ago)
Nominal I/O speed: 0.76 MB/s
File system: 39.26 seconds
Write speed: 11 MB/s
Read speed: 396 MB/s

Failing hard drive. The computer has a hard drive that appears to be failing.


Time for me to engage OWC in a conversation about testing their SSD and potential warranty claim.


Full report:

EtreCheckPro version: 6.5.1 (6F003)

Report generated: 2021-07-31 09:32:31

Download EtreCheckPro from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime: 5:02

Performance: Poor



Problem: Beachballing

Description:

Random delays (10 - 45 seconds approximately) sometimes when conductin

g simple tasks (e.g. opening Safari or a Finder Folder), often accompa

nied by the Beachball.

Reset SMC and PRAM/NVRAM.

Tested RAM using Memtest86 and Apple Diagnostics.

Erased and formatted hard disc drive before installing a fresh install

ation of macOS Big Sur from Apple Internet Recovery.

Issue continues on the fresh installation.



Major Issues:

Anything that appears on this list needs immediate attention.

No Time Machine backup - Time Machine backup not found.

Failing hard drive - This computer has a hard drive that appears to be failing.



Minor Issues:

These issues do not need immediate attention but they may indicate future problems or opportunities for improvement.

Unsigned files - There are unsigned software files installed. Apple has said that unsigned software will not run by default in a future version of the operating system.

x86-only Apps - This computer has x86-only apps might not work on future versions of the operating system.

Kernel extensions present - This computer has kernel extensions that may not work in the future.



Hardware Information:

iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015)

iMac Model: iMac17,1

3.2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5 (i5-6500) CPU: 4-core

16 GB RAM - Upgradeable

BANK 0/DIMM0 - 4 GB DDR3 1867

BANK 0/DIMM1 - 4 GB DDR3 1867

BANK 1/DIMM0 - 4 GB DDR3 1867

BANK 1/DIMM1 - 4 GB DDR3 1867



Video Information:

AMD Radeon R9 M380 - VRAM: 2 GB

iMac (built-in) 5120 x 2880



Drives:

disk0 - Mercury Electra 6G SSD 500.11 GB (Solid State - TRIM: No)

Internal SATA 6 Gigabit Serial ATA

disk0s1 - EFI (MS-DOS FAT32) [EFI] 210 MB

disk0s2 [APFS Container] 499.90 GB

disk1 [APFS Virtual drive] 499.90 GB (Shared by 7 volumes)

disk1s1 - M*****************a (APFS) [APFS Virtual drive] (Shared - 37.04 GB used)

disk1s2 - Preboot (APFS) [APFS Preboot] (Shared - 284 MB used)

disk1s3 - Recovery (APFS) [Recovery] (Shared - 623 MB used)

disk1s4 - VM (APFS) [APFS VM] (Shared - 2.15 GB used)

disk1s5 - M*****************a (APFS) (Shared - 737 KB used)

disk1s6 - Update (APFS) (Shared - 3 MB used)

disk1s7 (APFS) [APFS Container] (Shared - 15.31 GB used)

disk1s7s1 - Macintosh HD (APFS) [APFS Snapshot] (Shared - 15.31 GB used)



disk2 - SanDisk Ultra 15.38 GB

External USB 5 Gbit/s USB

disk2s1 - N*****E (MS-DOS (FAT16)) 261 MB (9 MB used)

disk2s2 - N*****E (MS-DOS (FAT16)) 261 MB



Mounted Volumes:

disk1s1 - M*****************a [APFS Virtual drive]

499.90 GB (Shared - 37.04 GB used, 454.23 GB available, 444.33 GB free)

APFS

Mount point: /System/Volumes/Data



disk1s2 - Preboot [APFS Preboot]

499.90 GB (Shared - 284 MB used, 444.33 GB free)

APFS

Mount point: /System/Volumes/Preboot



disk1s4 - VM [APFS VM]

499.90 GB (Shared - 2.15 GB used, 444.33 GB free)

APFS

Mount point: /System/Volumes/VM



disk1s5 - M*****************a

499.90 GB (Shared - 737 KB used, 444.33 GB free)

APFS

Mount point: /Volumes/M*****************a



disk1s6 - Update

499.90 GB (Shared - 3 MB used, 444.33 GB free)

APFS

Mount point: /System/Volumes/Update



disk1s7s1 - Macintosh HD [APFS Snapshot]

499.90 GB (Shared - 15.31 GB used, 454.23 GB available, 444.33 GB free)

APFS

Mount point: /

Read-only: Yes



disk2s1 - N*****E

261 MB (9 MB used, 255 MB available, 252 MB free)

MS-DOS (FAT16)

Mount point: /Volumes/N*****E



Network:

Interface en0: Ethernet

Interface en1: Wi-Fi

802.11 a/b/g/n/ac

Interface en4: Bluetooth PAN

Interface bridge0: Thunderbolt Bridge

iCloud Quota: 1.78 TB available



System Software:

macOS Big Sur 11.4 (20F71)

Time since boot: About 3 days



Notifications:

1Password 7.app

one notification



Security:

Gatekeeper: App Store and identified developers

System Integrity Protection: Enabled



Antivirus software: Apple



Unsigned Files:

Apps: 1



Old Applications:

9 x86-only apps



Kernel Extensions:

/Applications/Parallels Desktop.app

[Not Loaded] prl_hypervisor.kext - com.parallels.kext.hypervisor (15.1.5 47309 - SDK 10.9)

[Not Loaded] prl_netbridge.kext - com.parallels.kext.netbridge (15.1.5 47309 - SDK 10.9)

[Not Loaded] prl_usb_connect.kext - com.parallels.kext.usbconnect (15.1.5 47309 - SDK 10.9)

[Not Loaded] prl_vnic.kext - com.parallels.kext.vnic (15.1.5 47309 - SDK 10.9)



System Launch Daemons:

[Not Loaded] 36 Apple tasks

[Loaded] 177 Apple tasks

[Running] 148 Apple tasks

[Other] One Apple task



System Launch Agents:

[Not Loaded] 17 Apple tasks

[Loaded] 162 Apple tasks

[Running] 155 Apple tasks



User Launch Agents:

[Loaded] com.dropbox.DropboxMacUpdate.agent.plist (Dropbox, Inc. - installed 2021-07-27)



User Login Items:

[Running] 1Password Extension Helper (AgileBits Inc. - installed 2021-07-27)

Modern Login Item

/Applications/1Password 7.app/Contents/Library/LoginItems/1Password Extension Helper.app



[Loaded] 1Password Launcher (AgileBits Inc. - installed 2021-07-27)

Modern Login Item

/Applications/1Password 7.app/Contents/Library/LoginItems/1Password Launcher.app



[Running] Dropbox (Dropbox, Inc. - installed 2021-07-27)

Application

/Applications/Dropbox.app



[Not Loaded] Launcher Disabler (App Store - installed 2021-07-27)

Modern Login Item

/Applications/OneDrive.app/Contents/Library/LoginItems/Launcher Disabler.app



[Not Loaded] OneDrive Launcher (App Store - installed 2021-07-27)

Modern Login Item

/Applications/OneDrive.app/Contents/Library/LoginItems/OneDrive Launcher.app



Safari Extensions:

"Open In" button for Internet Explorer (Parallels International GmbH - installed 2020-09-26)

1Password (AgileBits Inc. - installed 2021-07-27)

Zoom for Safari Extension (App Store - installed 2021-07-29)



Backup:

Time Machine Not Configured!



Performance:

System Load: 1.05 (1 min ago) 1.23 (5 min ago) 1.04 (15 min ago)

Nominal I/O speed: 0.76 MB/s

File system: 39.26 seconds

Write speed: 11 MB/s

Read speed: 396 MB/s



CPU Usage Snapshot:

Type Overall

System: 8 %

User: 11 %

Idle: 81 %



Top Processes Snapshot by CPU:

Process (count) CPU (Source - Location)

WindowServer 23.62 % (Apple)

Finder 17.90 % (Apple)

EtreCheckPro 12.62 % (Etresoft, Inc.)

SecurityAgent 8.60 % (Apple)

kernel_task 3.72 % (Apple)



Top Processes Snapshot by Memory:

Process (count) RAM usage (Source - Location)

EtreCheckPro 600 MB (Etresoft, Inc.)

Dropbox (3) 376 MB (Dropbox, Inc.)

Dropbox Web Helper (3) 242 MB (Dropbox, Inc.)

WindowServer 107 MB (Apple)

suggestd 102 MB (Apple)



Top Processes Snapshot by Network Use:

Process (count) Input / Output (Source - Location)

mDNSResponder 18 MB / 2 MB (Apple)

Dropbox 915 KB / 827 KB (Dropbox, Inc.)

apsd 507 KB / 936 KB (Apple)

netbiosd 195 KB / 57 KB (Apple)

rapportd 56 KB / 8 KB (Apple)



Top Processes Snapshot by Energy Use:

Process (count) Energy (0-100) (Source - Location)

WindowServer 4 (Apple)

Dropbox Web Helper (3) 1 (Dropbox, Inc.)

bluetoothd 0 (Apple)

Dropbox (3) 0 (Dropbox, Inc.)

cfprefsd (3) 0 (Apple)



Virtual Memory Information:

Physical RAM: 16 GB



Free RAM: 352 MB

Used RAM: 7.01 GB

Cached files: 8.65 GB



Available RAM: 8.99 GB

Swap Used: 0 B



Software Installs (past 60 days):

Install Date Name (Version)

2021-07-20 macOS 11.4 (11.4)

2021-07-20 XProtectPlistConfigData (2149)

2021-07-20 MRTConfigData (1.81)

2021-07-27 1Password 7 (7.8.6)

2021-07-27 OneDrive (21.129.0627)

2021-07-29 Zoom for Safari (2.7.0)



Diagnostics Information (past 7-30 days):

2021-07-30 10:19:17 Microsoft Word.app Hang

Executable: /Applications/Microsoft Word.app





End of report

 

[twr7cx2]

Set SuperDuper up to clone the hard drive onto an external USB hard drive. Three days it sat there for and achieved nothing. Currently have a fresh Big Sur installation going onto the external hard drive from Internet Recovery.

 

[chscag]

Sounds like that SSD is dying. Disk Utility for the most part is useless when it comes to checking a SSD. Looks like you've tried most trouble shooting tactics.

Backup what you can if possible. Let us know how the internet recovery goes.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

...having some lagging/freezing/pausing issues. When conducting simple tasks there is often, but at random, a delay of 20 seconds or a bit longer, in the result. Often the ‘spinning beachball’ accompanies this but not always.

First, I would fully uninstall any fully interactive anti-virus software that you have installed. Don't just drag the app icon to the trash, you need to either use the developer's uninstaller program or a general search program such as EasyFind (free)

DEVONtechnologies | Needful Things

A little collection of free utilities for the Mac to make your life easier.

www.devontechnologies.com

to find and uninstall all the little components deeply installed in your system and delete them. Once your AV software is completely uninstalled, restart your Mac and see if it is all better.

Not the problem? Based on the report that you posted, I'd do the exact same thing with Microsoft Word. This will also require an uninstaller program to do fully/correctly.

If that doesn't fix things, next I would check the health of your SSD using:

DriveDX (free demo)

DriveDx - the most advanced drive health diagnostics and monitoring utility

DriveDx - the most advanced drive health (S.M.A.R.T.) diagnostics and monitoring utility. Save yourself the data loss and downtime that is associated with unexpected SSD and HDD failures. Don't worry about losing your important data, music, and photographs.

binaryfruit.com

If none of the above help, I have two Web sites that I created to help you track the problem down:

Macintosh Slowdown Solutions

Macintosh OS X Beachballs!

Please let us know how things go. Good luck!

 

[twr7cx2]

First, I would fully uninstall any fully interactive anti-virus software that you have installed.

Don't have any anti-virus software installed and never had on this machine (thought that was the Mac advantage not needing such?). It's also a completely fresh OS installation following a hard drive format.

Not the problem? Based on the report that you posted, I'd do the exact same thing with Microsoft Word. This will also require an uninstaller program to do fully/correctly.

The only apps installed are Microsoft Word, Excel, OneDrive and PowerPoint, Dropbox, 1Password and Parallels with a fresh Windows 10 installation. All of these were installed fresh post the hard drive reformat and fresh MacOS installation. Will try removing all of them though and retesting.

If that doesn't fix things, next I would check the health of your SSD using:

DriveDX (free demo)

DriveDx - the most advanced drive health diagnostics and monitoring utility

DriveDx - the most advanced drive health (S.M.A.R.T.) diagnostics and monitoring utility. Save yourself the data loss and downtime that is associated with unexpected SSD and HDD failures. Don't worry about losing your important data, music, and photographs.

binaryfruit.com

DriveDX report:

d80120a8-9abb-4690-8656-ace3981ba8fe
7534dd92-8aaa-43cd-9a82-e99ea0f933cb

 

[twr7cx2]

If none of the above help, I have two Web sites that I created to help you track the problem down:

Macintosh Slowdown Solutions

Macintosh OS X Beachballs!

Thanks, will have a read of.

 

[chscag]

Failing hard drive. The computer has a hard drive that appears to be failing.

Time for me to engage OWC in a conversation about testing their SSD and potential warranty claim.

Etrecheck is usually right. Have you given OWC a call and spoken with their support?

What's surprising is that DriveDX appeared to give your SSD a good bill of health.

Let us know what you find out.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

Etrecheck is usually right. Have you given OWC a call and spoken with their support?

What's surprising is that DriveDX appeared to give your SSD a good bill of health.

Etrecheck is not a comprehensive diagnostic tool for hard drives. It reported that the "hard drive appeared to be failing" based on its performance. I'd come to the same conclusion, for the same reason. But that's only a guess...in both cases.

DriveDX is based on "Smartmontools" which is the gold standard of drive diagnostic tools. If it says that your hard drive is in good shape, then it is.

What the disparity between the results of the two programs tells me is that the OP's hard drive is performing terribly, but not because it is failing. It's very likely that the performance hit is due to software that is choking his Macintosh. But it's also possible that his Mac is having a bad interaction with an attached peripheral or other hardware component.

 

[twr7cx2]

Etrecheck is usually right. Have you given OWC a call and spoken with their support?

I have not, being in Australia makes it difficult to do so with the time difference.

Etrecheck is not a comprehensive diagnostic tool for hard drives.

Correct, hence why we followed up with DriveDx.

What the disparity between the results of the two programs tells me is that the OP's hard drive is performing terribly, but not because it is failing. It's very likely that the performance hit is due to software that is choking his Macintosh. But it's also possible that his Mac is having a bad interaction with an attached peripheral or other hardware component.

I think I've solved it. OWC claim their SSD's are so fancy that TRIM does not need to be enabled as it provides no advantage over what their hardware does. However, by enabling TRIM (with Trimforce following the steps outlined at How to Execute ‘Trimforce’ Command with Your SSD ) the problem seems to have instantly gone away on the following boot up - perhaps the OWC SSD smarts are actually not so smart... Anyway, need to give it some more time and use just to be sure before I claim this solved!

 

[chscag]

Anyway, need to give it some more time and use just to be sure before I claim this solved!

Please keep us updated. I'm not sure that TRIM would have anything to do with the problem you were experiencing.

 

[twr7cx2]

Please keep us updated. I'm not sure that TRIM would have anything to do with the problem you were experiencing.

It's been a few months now but I've come back to confirm that the problem was resolved by enabling TRIM, contrary to OWC's instructions for their hard drives. For a full run down on how/why, check out:

Late 2015 iMac 17,1 having pausing issues - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com