Beachballing while opening little things like SysPref and About this Mac

[di1in]

My system is beachballing while opening little things like SysPref and About this Mac.

I did a full reinstall of the OS to 10.10.5 without restoring from a Time Machine backup, but the problem is still there. I also tried verifying and repairing permissions via disk utility.

It's a MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2012) with 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 and 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3. There's about 50GB of free space out of the total 120GB in the system as well.

Any idea what could be wrong? The local Apple Care is saying that I have too many apps installed but that is not the issue.

 

[Weaselboy]

I'm going to assume here you did not make and hardware of software changes that brought this on?

If that is the case, seeing that beachball when trying to open things like that is often the sign of a dying drive. Less common, but it can also be a bad drive cable.

Just as a test, try making a new (temp) admin account and login to that account and see if the issue persists. This will rule out any particular setting or software installed in your personal account.

 

[di1in]

Thanks. I checked with a new account and it wasn't there. Back at my old account, it shows up after I've been working for some time. It's not initially there.

I'm going to assume here you did not make and hardware of software changes that brought this on?

If that is the case, seeing that beachball when trying to open things like that is often the sign of a dying drive. Less common, but it can also be a bad drive cable.

Just as a test, try making a new (temp) admin account and login to that account and see if the issue persists. This will rule out any particular setting or software installed in your personal account.

 

[Taz Mangus]

Thanks. I checked with a new account and it wasn't there. Back at my old account, it shows up after I've been working for some time. It's not initially there.

Try removing any items that you have in your Login Items in System Preferences->Users & Groups, reboot, log back in. Might be related to something that you are running.

 

[Partron22]

Ran across this the other day:
Fix for slow folder opening on OS X 10.10.3
It might be relevant here.

 

[Weaselboy]

Thanks. I checked with a new account and it wasn't there. Back at my old account, it shows up after I've been working for some time. It's not initially there.

Okay... that points towards some kind of login or launch item you have running under the existing account. Run the app Etrecheck and it will create a report showing all login or startup items. You can post the report here for us to look at if you like. The report is anonymized.

 

[di1in]

Okay... that points towards some kind of login or launch item you have running under the existing account. Run the app Etrecheck and it will create a report showing all login or startup items. You can post the report here for us to look at if you like. The report is anonymized.

Thanks for offering to help. Here's the report:


EtreCheck version: 2.4.1 (137)

Report generated 8/25/15, 12:41 PM

Hardware Information: (What does this mean?)

MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2012) (Technical Specifications)

MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro10,2

1 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 2-core

8 GB RAM Not upgradeable

BANK 0/DIMM0

4 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

4 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

Bluetooth: Good - Handoff/Airdrop2 supported

Wireless: en0: 802.11 a/b/g/n

Battery: Health = Normal - Cycle count = 37 - SN = D864252W0DNF955AB



Video Information: (What does this mean?)

Intel HD Graphics 4000

Color LCD 2560 x 1600

DELL S2240L 1920 x 1080



System Software: (What does this mean?)

OS X 10.10.5 (14F27) - Time since boot: about 16 hours



Disk Information: (What does this mean?)

APPLE SSD SM128E disk0 : (121.33 GB) (Solid State - TRIM: Yes)

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB

Macintosh HD (disk1) / : 120.10 GB (47.61 GB free)

Core Storage: disk0s2 120.47 GB Online



USB Information: (What does this mean?)

Apple Inc. iPhone

Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

Logitech Gaming Mouse G600

Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad



Thunderbolt Information: (What does this mean?)

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus



Gatekeeper: (What does this mean?)

Mac App Store and identified developers



Kernel Extensions: (What does this mean?)

/Applications/VMware Fusion.app

[not loaded] com.vmware.kext.vmci (90.6.3) [Click for support]

[not loaded] com.vmware.kext.vmioplug.14.1.3 (14.1.3) [Click for support]

[not loaded] com.vmware.kext.vmnet (0249.89.30) [Click for support]

[not loaded] com.vmware.kext.vmx86 (0249.89.30) [Click for support]

[not loaded] com.vmware.kext.vsockets (90.6.0) [Click for support]



/Library/Extensions

[loaded] com.driver.LogJoystick (2.0 - SDK 10.9) [Click for support]

[loaded] com.karios.driver.DuetDisplay (1 - SDK 10.10) [Click for support]

[loaded] com.logitech.driver.LogiGamingMouseFilter (1 - SDK 10.8) [Click for support]



Launch Daemons: (What does this mean?)

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist [Click for support]



User Launch Agents: (What does this mean?)

[loaded] com.bittorrent.uTorrent.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist [Click for support]

[running] com.spigot.ApplicationManager.plist [Click for support]



User Login Items: (What does this mean?)

duet Application (/Applications/duet.app)

iTunesHelper Application (/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)

BetterTouchTool UNKNOWN (missing value)

Alfred 2 Application (/Applications/Alfred 2.app)

Google Drive Application (/Applications/Google Drive.app)

Messages Application (/Applications/Messages.app)

VMware Fusion Start Menu Application (/Applications/VMware Fusion.app/Contents/Library/VMware Fusion Start Menu.app)

BetterTouchTool Application (/Applications/BetterTouchTool.app)

iTunes Application (/Applications/iTunes.app)

Logitech Gaming Software Application Hidden (/Applications/Logitech/Logitech Gaming Software.app)

Wunderlist Application (/Applications/Wunderlist.app)



Internet Plug-ins: (What does this mean?)

SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.5.3 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 18.0.0.232 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

Flash Player: Version: 18.0.0.232 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

Default Browser: Version: 600 - SDK 10.10



3rd Party Preference Panes: (What does this mean?)

Flash Player [Click for support]



Time Machine: (What does this mean?)

Skip System Files: NO

Mobile backups: ON

Auto backup: YES

Volumes being backed up:

Macintosh HD: Disk size: 120.10 GB Disk used: 72.50 GB

Destinations:

Backup [Local]

Total size: 400.11 GB

Total number of backups: 52

Oldest backup: 2014-11-04 02:29:32 +0000

Last backup: 2015-08-21 16:03:08 +0000

Size of backup disk: Excellent

Backup size 400.11 GB > (Disk size 120.10 GB X 3)



Top Processes by CPU: (What does this mean?)

6% com.apple.WebKit.WebContent(4)

5% WindowServer

3% com.apple.WebKit.Plugin.64

2% fontd

1% duet



Top Processes by Memory: (What does this mean?)

789 MB kernel_task

598 MB AppSana

500 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent(4)

352 MB firefox

344 MB Sunrise Calendar



Virtual Memory Information: (What does this mean?)

172 MB Free RAM

7.83 GB Used RAM (1.27 GB Cached)

52 MB Swap Used



Diagnostics Information: (What does this mean?)

Aug 24, 2015, 07:43:55 PM Self test - passed

Aug 24, 2015, 06:39:30 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/coreaudiod_2015-08-24-183930_[redacted].crash

Aug 24, 2015, 05:52:40 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/coreaudiod_2015-08-24-175240_[redacted].crash

Aug 24, 2015, 02:59:08 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/blued_2015-08-24-145908_[redacted].crash

Aug 24, 2015, 01:37:26 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/blued_2015-08-24-133726_[redacted].crash

Aug 24, 2015, 06:44:21 AM ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/AppSana_2015-08-24-064421_[redacted].crash

Aug 23, 2015, 06:25:45 AM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/blued_2015-08-23-062545_[redacted].crash

Aug 22, 2015, 06:59:51 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/blued_2015-08-22-185951_[redacted].crash

Aug 20, 2015, 12:44:46 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Kernel_2015-08-20-124446_[redacted].panic [Click for details]

 

[Taz Mangus]

Kernel Extensions: (What does this mean?)

/Applications/VMware Fusion.app

[not loaded] com.vmware.kext.vmci (90.6.3) [Click for support]

[not loaded] com.vmware.kext.vmioplug.14.1.3 (14.1.3) [Click for support]

[not loaded] com.vmware.kext.vmnet (0249.89.30) [Click for support]

[not loaded] com.vmware.kext.vmx86 (0249.89.30) [Click for support]

[not loaded] com.vmware.kext.vsockets (90.6.0) [Click for support]

/Library/Extensions

[loaded] com.driver.LogJoystick (2.0 - SDK 10.9) [Click for support]

[loaded] com.karios.driver.DuetDisplay (1 - SDK 10.10) [Click for support]

[loaded] com.logitech.driver.LogiGamingMouseFilter (1 - SDK 10.8) [Click for support]

Launch Daemons: (What does this mean?)

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist [Click for support]

User Launch Agents: (What does this mean?)

[loaded] com.bittorrent.uTorrent.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist [Click for support]

[running] com.spigot.ApplicationManager.plist [Click for support]

User Login Items: (What does this mean?)

duet Application (/Applications/duet.app)

iTunesHelper Application (/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)

Alfred 2 Application (/Applications/Alfred 2.app)

Google Drive Application (/Applications/Google Drive.app)

Messages Application (/Applications/Messages.app)

VMware Fusion Start Menu Application (/Applications/VMware Fusion.app/Contents/Library/VMware Fusion Start Menu.app)

BetterTouchTool Application (/Applications/BetterTouchTool.app)

iTunes Application (/Applications/iTunes.app)

Logitech Gaming Software Application Hidden (/Applications/Logitech/Logitech Gaming Software.app)

Wunderlist Application (/Applications/Wunderlist.app)

Internet Plug-ins: (What does this mean?)

SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.5.3 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 18.0.0.232 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

Flash Player: Version: 18.0.0.232 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

Default Browser: Version: 600 - SDK 10.10

3rd Party Preference Panes: (What does this mean?)

Flash Player [Click for support]

I suggest you uninstall everything listed above. Use the system and see what the responsiveness of the system is. If the issue goes away then install back one item at a time and see which one is causing the issue.

 

[Weaselboy]

User Launch Agents: (What does this mean?)

[loaded] com.bittorrent.uTorrent.plist [Click for support] <<< get rid of this one

[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist [Click for support]

[running] com.spigot.ApplicationManager.plist [Click for support] <<< this is adware



User Login Items: (What does this mean?)

duet Application (/Applications/duet.app) <<<

iTunesHelper Application (/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)

BetterTouchTool UNKNOWN (missing value) <<<

Alfred 2 Application (/Applications/Alfred 2.app)

Google Drive Application (/Applications/Google Drive.app) <<<

Messages Application (/Applications/Messages.app)

VMware Fusion Start Menu Application (/Applications/VMware Fusion.app/Contents/Library/VMware Fusion Start Menu.app) <<<

BetterTouchTool Application (/Applications/BetterTouchTool.app) <<<

iTunes Application (/Applications/iTunes.app)

Logitech Gaming Software Application Hidden (/Applications/Logitech/Logitech Gaming Software.app) <<<

Wunderlist Application (/Applications/Wunderlist.app) <<<

Okay... assuming you have tested thoroughly in the other test account, than means it is a startup or login item specific to your account. So that narrows it down to this list. The other items like the kext extensions and system launch daemons would run under either account, so I think we can ignore those.

Remove that UTorrent plist from the users ~/Library/LaunchAgents folder (option key click the Finder Go menu to get to the ~/Library folder then navigate to LaunchAgents).

You also have the adware Spigot running on there. Use the free tool MalwareBytes to remove Spigot.

Then start working your way through the user login items. I have marked <<< the ones I would start with.

There is no easy way to pin this down beyond just remove and test.