Air cold boot: some 15 secs ... some 30 secs?

[OSMac]

Did you guys (that are experiencing slow booting) check that you have a startup disk selected in System Preferences? It seems it's sometimes not selected at the default installation, or gets "unselected" for whatever reason. This makes the mac search for bootable devices at power on, which can take everything from 0-30 seconds it seems. Probably not the cause, but worth checking.

Did appear to be unselected but after selecting it still took about 30 seconds?

Noticed it takes about 2 seconds until the dong,
then after 11 secs the spinning icon shows
and desktop at 30 or so.

The video with a 15 sec boot only shows the spinning icon for a couple seconds.

Not a big deal but am curious as to why,
have to see if hachre's multiple reboot suggestion changes things.

 

[soldierblue]

I've tried that. The multiple boots. Unless it needs to stay up for a little to cache (which I didn't give it), it didn't do anything.

 

[soldierblue]

Back to 15.

 

[Stingray454]

I've tried that. The multiple boots. Unless it needs to stay up for a little to cache (which I didn't give it), it didn't do anything.

That change should take affect immediately, so probably something else is the cause. Might be that you have some USB device connected and the Mac is trying to boot from that device instead?

 

[OSMac]

First boot this morning was 15 seconds,
had been 30 sec out of the box for the 11.6 base model.

 

[ProPedderKustom]

I've got my 13"/4GB/2.13GHz/256GB loaded with all of my software, files, media, etc. and it still looks in 15 seconds or maybe a hair less.

 

[jeznav]

I know for a fact that a lot that happens during the boot process. The most time consuming is loading kexts and launching core services. After many reboots later, OSX determines the efficient way to access files via journaling, caching and prebinding. Usually after some software installs, the system needs to figure out what new files are being accessed during boot and will rebuild the boot cache.

Try rebooting a couple of times.

Reboot it 10 times in a row. Mac OS uses aggressive caching to speed up boot time. Things like system updates invalidate all caches and they need to be rebuilt. Each reboot trains the cache a bit more. After a few it should be back at full speed.

This.

 

[OSMac]

Thanks jeznav and hachre ,
looks like they all will boot in 15 sec or so once OSX does it's magic.

 

[elvineet]

My 13" with 4GB ram went from booting up in under 15 seconds out of the box, to now taking 43 seconds. Takes about 33 seconds for the Apple logo to show up.

I've restarted this machine 7 times and no change. All I've installed is the latest updates and a few plugins and apps.

 

[elvineet]

My 13" with 4GB ram went from booting up in under 15 seconds out of the box, to now taking 43 seconds. Takes about 33 seconds for the Apple logo to show up.

I've restarted this machine 7 times and no change. All I've installed is the latest updates and a few plugins and apps.

So I was messing around in System Preferences, and saw that under Startup Disk, the Macintosh HD volume was NOT selected. I selected it, restarted it, and boom - boot time down from 43 seconds to 14 seconds. I can only guess that OSX was wasting about 30 seconds trying to startup using Network Startup.

The Macintosh HD volume had probably been unselected because I use the USB restore disk to attempt a fresh install, but then backed out before pressing Install.

 

[nidserz]

So I was messing around in System Preferences, and saw that under Startup Disk, the Macintosh HD volume was NOT selected. I selected it, restarted it, and boom - boot time down from 43 seconds to 14 seconds. I can only guess that OSX was wasting about 30 seconds trying to startup using Network Startup.

The Macintosh HD volume had probably been unselected because I use the USB restore disk to attempt a fresh install, but then backed out before pressing Install.

Wow, thanks. Mine was at like 30 seconds or so... and I just checked and none of them were selected. Chose Macintosh HD and locked it... and now restared and 16 seconds. Pretty good! Thanks again

 

[Corax]

My new MBA 13" boots in 12-14 seconds! From pushing the button to fully loaded desktop.

 

[naujoks]

Ahhhh I'm very unhappy!
My 11" was on 15 secs startup, and now after a few installs and updates it's at 35 secs.
It affects shutdown as well: it was one second, now it's 8 or 9, with the wheel spinning (which previously it didn't do).
Not a big deal really, but it makes me think twice before I do a reboot now, when before it was just 16 secs.

 

[rickhorn]

my mba 13 never experiences slow boot...normally between 12-15 sec.

 

[Slava]

After 3-4 days mine went from 30 to 15, not really sure why, but I'm not complaining

 

[Corax]

Ahhhh I'm very unhappy!
My 11" was on 15 secs startup, and now after a few installs and updates it's at 35 secs.
It affects shutdown as well: it was one second, now it's 8 or 9, with the wheel spinning (which previously it didn't do).
Not a big deal really, but it makes me think twice before I do a reboot now, when before it was just 16 secs.

- Plug the install stick in a usb-port
- reboot your MBA
- push C at startup
- Choose language and look for 'Disk Utility' in the upper menubar under the item 'Utilities'.
- In Disk Utility select the SSD in the left space and in 'First Aid' click on 'Verify Disk Permissions'
- When done verifying click 'Repair Disk Permissions'.

The reason you should do it from the stick is otherwise it will not repair everything. Why?: From the installer you have admin rights and your system isn't loaded (some parts cannot change when booted).
Why in this topic? Some wrong 'Disk Permissions' slow down boot-time.

 

[naujoks]

- Plug the install stick in a usb-port
- reboot your MBA
- push C at startup
- Choose language and look for 'Disk Utility' in the upper menubar under the item 'Utilities'.
- In Disk Utility select the SSD in the left space and in 'First Aid' click on 'Verify Disk Permissions'
- When done verifying click 'Repair Disk Permissions'.

The reason you should do it from the stick is otherwise it will not repair everything. Why?: From the installer you have admin rights and your system isn't loaded (some parts cannot change when booted).
Why in this topic? Some wrong 'Disk Permissions' slow down boot-time.

Hmm still no improvement. Strange thing is that when I tried the above again, the same permissions (seemingly) as before needed repairing again, so I wonder if indeed they got repaired in the first place, or what messed them up again afterwards...

 

[Corax]

Hmm still no improvement. Strange thing is that when I tried the above again, the same permissions (seemingly) as before needed repairing again, so I wonder if indeed they got repaired in the first place, or what messed them up again afterwards...

That only happens when you run Disk Utility from your "HD". You have to run it from the USB-installstick.

 

[citizenal]

I've got my 13"/4GB/2.13GHz/256GB loaded with all of my software, files, media, etc. and it still looks in 15 seconds or maybe a hair less.

Same here, about 15 seconds and exact same specs.

 

[T4R06]

mine is 12secs as soon as i see the apple logo ill start counting. so maybe total 15secs

11.6 2GB ram 1.4 and 128ssd here

 

[naujoks]

That only happens when you run Disk Utility from your "HD". You have to run it from the USB-installstick.

No, I did run it from the stick.

 

[Corax]

No, I did run it from the stick.

Ok, in that case, repeat it a couple of times.
Sorry, I don't mean this funny, but as a service provider I have to ask, are you certain you first clicked 'Verify....' and, when ready, below 'Repair permissions'?
I've worked in an Apple Premium Reseller, and in my experience I have to verify these things when something isn't working, cause it really happens a lot people missed something or didn't apply the correct order of doing things.

When applying the correct order, repeat it 2 or 3 times. I had to do it 2 times before every disk permission was corrected.

Edit: Yesterday they were gone, but today they're back, but I checked them and they can be ignored.

 

[GodlessGeek]

I also have a fully loaded 256GB 13" that takes 24 seconds. I tried selecting the startup disk but it didn't make a difference. My 11" 128GB 1.6 4GB only takes 14 seconds. Not a huge deal but it would be nice if it fixed itself at some point as others have reported.

 

[naujoks]

Ok, in that case, repeat it a couple of times.
Sorry, I don't mean this funny, but as a service provider I have to ask, are you certain you first clicked 'Verify....' and, when ready, below 'Repair permissions'?
I've worked in an Apple Premium Reseller, and in my experience I have to verify these things when something isn't working, cause it really happens a lot people missed something or didn't apply the correct order of doing things.

When applying the correct order, repeat it 2 or 3 times. I had to do it 2 times before every disk permission was corrected.

Edit: Yesterday they were gone, but today they're back, but I checked them and they can be ignored.

No worries, I appreciate the help!
I did it a couple of times now, and they all disappear. However, once I boot the system normally and run Disk Utility (both from the SSD and the stick) the whole bunch is back again!

 

[Corax]

No worries, I appreciate the help!
I did it a couple of times now, and they all disappear. However, once I boot the system normally and run Disk Utility (both from the SSD and the stick) the whole bunch is back again!

Yeah as with mine. But you can google the permissions, when they can be ignored, do so.
So I'm afraid there is no real apparent reason your boot is taking "so long".
Did you import an account from another Mac, or TimeMachine backup and choose to import everything?

Considering the heavy duty software you installed, how many free disk space have you got left?