iMac slow boot - prohibited sign

[darkweather]

mac boot time is very slow with usb 3.0 external ssd. it was better months ago. here is etrecheck result:

EtreCheck version: 2.9.12 (265)

Report generated 2016-06-19 17:51:57

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime 2:06

Performance: Excellent



Click the [Support] links for help with non-Apple products.

Click the [Details] links for more information about that line.



Problem: Other problem

Description:

long boot time



Hardware Information: ⓘ

iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2012)

[Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty & Service]

iMac - model: iMac13,1

1 2,7 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 4-core

8 GB RAM Upgradeable - [Instructions]

BANK 0/DIMM0

4 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

4 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

Bluetooth: Good - Handoff/Airdrop2 supported

Wireless: en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n


Video Information: ⓘ

NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M - VRAM: 512 MB

iMac 1920 x 1080


System Software: ⓘ

OS X El Capitan 10.11.5 (15F34) - Time since boot: less than an hour


Disk Information: ⓘ

APPLE HDD ST1000LM024 disk0 : (1 TB) (Rotational)

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Macintosh HD (disk0s2) /Volumes/Macintosh HD : 300.00 GB (254.12 GB free)

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

HD2 (disk0s4) /Volumes/HD2 : 699.21 GB (356.78 GB free)


USB Information: ⓘ

Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

ASMedia AS2105 120,03 GB

EFI (disk1s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

SSD (disk1s2) / : 119.04 GB (54.79 GB free)

Recovery HD (disk1s3) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 784 MB


Thunderbolt Information: ⓘ

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus


Configuration files: ⓘ

/etc/hosts - Count: 20


Gatekeeper: ⓘ

Mac App Store and identified developers


Kernel Extensions: ⓘ

/Applications/SurfEasy VPN.app

[not loaded] com.surfeasy.tun (20111101 - 2015-07-15) [Support]



/Library/Application Support/VirtualBox

[loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxDrv (5.0.18 - 2016-04-24) [Support]

[loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetAdp (5.0.18 - 2016-04-24) [Support]

[loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetFlt (5.0.18 - 2016-04-24) [Support]

[loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxUSB (5.0.18 - 2016-04-24) [Support]



Startup Items: ⓘ

TuxeraNTFSUnmountHelper: Path: /Library/StartupItems/TuxeraNTFSUnmountHelper

Startup items are obsolete in OS X Yosemite


System Launch Agents: ⓘ

[not loaded] 8 Apple tasks

[loaded] 148 Apple tasks

[running] 82 Apple tasks


System Launch Daemons: ⓘ

[not loaded] 47 Apple tasks

[loaded] 158 Apple tasks

[running] 85 Apple tasks


Launch Agents: ⓘ

[not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist (2016-03-18) [Support]

[loaded] com.adobe.CS5ServiceManager.plist (2016-03-18) [Support]

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist (2015-05-10) [Support]

[running] org.chromium.chromoting.plist (2015-10-15) [Support]


Launch Daemons: ⓘ

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (2016-06-14) [Support]

[loaded] com.apple.installer.osmessagetracing.plist

[failed] com.edb.launchd.postgresql-9.5.plist (2016-04-03) [Support]

[running] com.iobit.AMCDaemon.plist (2014-10-29) [Support]

[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensingV2.helper.plist (2015-07-01) [Support]

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist (2015-05-10) [Support]

[loaded] com.surfeasy.ShieldService.plist (2015-09-15) [Support]

[not loaded] org.virtualbox.startup.plist (2016-04-24) [Support]


User Launch Agents: ⓘ

[running] com.iobit.MacBoosterMini.plist (2015-10-13) [Support]

[running] com.spotify.webhelper.plist (2016-02-29) [Support]


User Login Items: ⓘ

iTunesHelper Uygulama Hidden (/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)

Google Drive Uygulama Hidden (/Applications/Google Drive.app)

Caffeine Uygulama (/Applications/Caffeine.app)

Android File Transfer Agent Uygulama (~/Library/Application Support/Google/Android File Transfer/Android File Transfer Agent.app)


Other Apps: ⓘ

[running] QA2G25RMZ4.com.wunderkinder.wunderlist-helper

[running] com.google.GoogleDrive.9312

[running] com.google.android.mtpagent.158112

[running] com.lightheadsw.caffeine.344672

[running] com.microsoft.OneDrive-mac.222752

[loaded] com.microsoft.OneDriveLauncher

[running] com.operasoftware.Opera.337632

[loaded] 393 Apple tasks

[running] 201 Apple tasks


Internet Plug-ins: ⓘ

FlashPlayer-10.6: 22.0.0.192 - SDK 10.9 (2016-06-17) [Support]

QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (2016-05-27)

Flash Player: 22.0.0.192 - SDK 10.9 (2016-06-17) [Support]

NP_2020Player_WEB: 5.0.94.0 - SDK 10.6 (2011-10-26) [Support]

Default Browser: 601 - SDK 10.11 (2016-05-27)

SharePointBrowserPlugin: 14.0.0 (2010-08-25) [Support]

Google Earth Web Plug-in: 7.1 (2016-01-27) [Support]

nplastpass: 3.1.21 (2014-07-12) [Support]

PepperFlashPlayer: 21.0.0.242 - SDK 10.6 (2016-05-16) [Support]

Silverlight: 5.1.41212.0 - SDK 10.6 (2016-01-30) [Support]

JavaAppletPlugin: Java 8 Update 66 build 17 (2016-01-17) Check version



User internet Plug-ins: ⓘ

OctoshapeWeb: 1.0 - SDK 10.8 (2016-01-28) [Support]

Picasa: 1.0 - SDK 10.6 (2015-07-10) [Support]



Safari Extensions: ⓘ

AdBlock - BetaFish, Inc. - https://getadblock.com (2015-10-10)

LastPass - LastPass - https://lastpass.com (2015-09-04)


3rd Party Preference Panes: ⓘ

remoting_host_prefpane (2015-10-15) [Support]

Flash Player (2016-06-14) [Support]

FUSE for OS X (OSXFUSE) (2015-10-25) [Support]

Java (2016-01-17) [Support]

Tuxera NTFS (2015-10-31) [Support]


Time Machine: ⓘ

Skip System Files: NO

Mobile backups: OFF

Auto backup: NO - Auto backup turned off

Volumes being backed up:

SSD: Disk size: 119.04 GB Disk used: 64.25 GB

Destinations:

HD2 [Local]

Total size: 699.21 GB

Total number of backups: 1

Oldest backup: 17.06.2016 18:35

Last backup: 17.06.2016 18:35

Size of backup disk: Excellent

Backup size 699.21 GB > (Disk size 119.04 GB X 3)


Top Processes by CPU: ⓘ

37% Opera Helper(36)

12% Opera

9% WindowServer

4% launchd

3% kernel_task


Top Processes by Memory: ⓘ

3.72 GB Opera Helper(36)

786 MB kernel_task

524 MB helpd

352 MB mdworker(24)

270 MB Safari


Virtual Memory Information: ⓘ

28 MB Free RAM

7.97 GB Used RAM (862 MB Cached)

0 B Swap Used


Diagnostics Information: ⓘ

Jun 19, 2016, 05:44:27 PM Self test - passed

i add a video. :

edit: disks
/dev/disk0 (internal, physical):

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: GUID_partition_scheme *1.0 TB disk0

1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB disk0s1

2: Apple_HFS Macintosh HD 300.0 GB disk0s2

3: Apple_Boot Recovery HD 650.0 MB disk0s3

4: Apple_HFS HD2 699.2 GB disk0s4

/dev/disk1 (external, physical):

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: GUID_partition_scheme *120.0 GB disk1

1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB disk1s1

2: Apple_HFS SSD 119.0 GB disk1s2

3: Apple_Boot Recovery HD 784.2 MB disk1s3

 

[ZVH]

mac boot time is very slow with usb 3.0 external ssd. it was better months ago. here is etrecheck result:



i add a video. :

edit: disks
/dev/disk0 (internal, physical):

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: GUID_partition_scheme *1.0 TB disk0

1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB disk0s1

2: Apple_HFS Macintosh HD 300.0 GB disk0s2

3: Apple_Boot Recovery HD 650.0 MB disk0s3

4: Apple_HFS HD2 699.2 GB disk0s4

/dev/disk1 (external, physical):

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: GUID_partition_scheme *120.0 GB disk1

1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB disk1s1

2: Apple_HFS SSD 119.0 GB disk1s2

3: Apple_Boot Recovery HD 784.2 MB disk1s3

You shouldn't be seeing the prohibited sign during boot up. That means the system is unaware of what your boot drive is so it has to go to all the disks and figure out which one to boot from. That's adding about 20 seconds to your startup.

You should be able to correct that by reseting the NVRAM which should clear that up:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204063

If that doesn't help, try looking at reseting the SMC, but odds are it's the NVRAM. I've seen the exact same thing many times before after a drive swap and resetting the NVRAM did the trick. Here's a link for resetting the SMC if needed:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295

If non of that works, try this for more info on drive problems:

http://scsc-online.com/Bad Hard Drive Signs and Symptoms.html

I'd be willing to bet its nothing more than the needed NVRAM reset. Keep in mind if your USB port is version 2.0 instead of 3.0 it will be bottlenecked by the slower I/O interface and it will never be as fast as SATA II or III internal interface.

 

[darkweather]

You shouldn't be seeing the prohibited sign during boot up. That means the system is unaware of what your boot drive is so it has to go to all the disks and figure out which one to boot from. That's adding about 20 seconds to your startup.

You should be able to correct that by reseting the NVRAM which should clear that up:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204063

If that doesn't help, try looking at reseting the SMC, but odds are it's the NVRAM. I've seen the exact same thing many times before after a drive swap and resetting the NVRAM did the trick. Here's a link for resetting the SMC if needed:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295

If non of that works, try this for more info on drive problems:

http://scsc-online.com/Bad Hard Drive Signs and Symptoms.html

I'd be willing to bet its nothing more than the needed NVRAM reset. Keep in mind if your USB port is version 2.0 instead of 3.0 it will be bottlenecked by the slower I/O interface and it will never be as fast as SATA II or III internal interface.

i did nvram and smc reset but nothing changed.

 

[keysofanxiety]

i did nvram and smc reset but nothing changed.

Hold Alt on startup. Select the drive you want to boot to by using the arrow keys. Hold Ctrl and you will see the arrow icon change. Then press Enter. This will change your default boot disk.

Any better?

 

[Weaselboy]

i did nvram and smc reset but nothing changed.

I think what is happening is you don't have a startup disk identified, so when the system starts it has to hunt all around for all available drives before it finds the boot drive. To fix it, startup then go to System Preferences and in the Startup Disk pane select your external SSD as the boot drive.

 

[DeltaMac]

The NVRAM reset will also un-set the default startup disk. After the NVRAM reset, be sure to go in to System Preferences/Startup Disk, and make sure that your external drive is the one selected. Click the padlock on that pane to unlock the settings.

Finally, TRIM might be an issue that complicates your symptoms. Macs don't support TRIM over a USB connection - even if you think TRIM is enabled, it will be only for the internal storage bus, or SSDs connected through Thunderbolt.

 

[darkweather]

thank you all for the help. i think the problem was "The NVRAM reset will also un-set the default startup disk". that's ok now.

 

[darkweather]

I think what is happening is you don't have a startup disk identified, so when the system starts it has to hunt all around for all available drives before it finds the boot drive. To fix it, startup then go to System Preferences and in the Startup Disk pane select your external SSD as the boot drive.

i thought it was solved but today it happend again (the prohibited sign). i'm sure that the external SSD is set as the boot drive.

 

[Weaselboy]

I can't read your text there, but normally the selected boot drive is highlighted like this. Are you sure the SSD is selected?

 

[darkweather]

I can't read your text there, but normally the selected boot drive is highlighted like this. Are you sure the SSD is selected?

yes i'm sure, ssd is selected.

 

[redheeler]

I can't read your text there, but normally the selected boot drive is highlighted like this. Are you sure the SSD is selected?

The OP's screenshot shows the SSD is set as the default boot drive because otherwise the icon would be slightly transparent like the one next to it. The label only becomes highlighted once the pane is unlocked like in your screenshot.

 

[Weaselboy]

The OP's screenshot shows the SSD is set as the default boot drive because otherwise the icon would be slightly transparent like the one next to it. The label only becomes highlighted once the pane is unlocked like in your screenshot.

Ah... gotcha thanks. Never noticed the difference.

OP> I'm kinda out of ideas here short of either the SSD or enclosure being bad.

 

[MacRobert10]

Just a guess, but could it be possible that the USB device is port powered and starts off in low power mode and the system has to kick it into high power mode to start the unit up? If that's the case and the unit has a provision to be externally powered then supplying external power to the unit may stop that from happening.

This is a guess, but it might be worth checking out. Here's a link to USB power:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB#Power

Go down to the power section in that article if interested.

Good luck.

 

[grahamperrin]

Suspect a physical problem with the drive, or an HFS Plus file system inconsistency (which may be not detectable by Disk Utility).

 

[darkweather]

Ah... gotcha thanks. Never noticed the difference.

OP> I'm kinda out of ideas here short of either the SSD or enclosure being bad.

i don't not exactly remember but i think this problem has begun with early versions of yosemite (10.10.x). before there wasn't a problem like that.
and one more thing (that causes i mark the thread as resolved) when i (re)select ssd from system preferences (startup disk) and restart system, that sign doesn't appear.
so i don't think this is a physcal problem. there must be some setting to solve this.

 

[darkweather]

here is the screen capture of the verbose mode (cmd+V) during boot:

 

[JohnDS]

How old is the iMac? It may be that the PRAM battery is dying. (Oops, sorry, see yours is a 2012 and it doesn't have PRAM battery, so please ignore this post.)

 

[darkweather]

i made internet recovery but nothin changed.

 

[maflynn]

Did you try running off the internal drive and not the external SSD to see if the symptoms reappear?

 

[darkweather]

I formatted SSD via a Windows pc. Then download the El capitan and installed.

Nothing changed...
[doublepost=1466767717][/doublepost]

Did you try running off the internal drive and not the external SSD to see if the symptoms reappear?

Withour SSD there is no such a problem. Internal drive boots normally (if we don't consider the very very slowness of the hdd)

 

[maflynn]

Withour SSD there is no such a problem. Internal drive boots normally (if we don't consider the very very slowness of the hdd)

So I wonder then if the issue is related to the external drive, or USB port. Did you try a different port, and if possible, try the external drive on another mac?

It was asked above, but I didn't see an answer, did you try to boot the mac up with holding the option key and then selecting the external drive - does the issue occur when you try that?

 

[darkweather]

did you try to boot the mac up with holding the option key and then selecting the external drive - does the issue occur when you try that?

Now i'm loading time machine backup. After that I will try it and write again.
[doublepost=1466769669][/doublepost]

did you try to boot the mac up with holding the option key and then selecting the external drive - does the issue occur when you try that?

i tried it two times; answer is no. when i boot the mac up with holding the option key and then selecting the external drive the issue doesn't occur, apple logo is instantly seen and mac boots up speedly.

so, what could be the problem?

 

[hfg]

I formatted SSD via a Windows pc. Then download the El capitan and installed.

This could be a problem ... did you format it as a Windows FAT volume?

 

[JohnDS]

This could be a problem ... did you format it as a Windows FAT volume?

What hfg is getting at is that for a Mac volume to be bootable, it has to be formatted as Apple Extended Format (Journalled), not FAT, or ExFat or NTFS. Without special third party Windows software, like MacDrive for instance, you cannot format a drive as a Mac volume from Windows. You have to use a Mac to do that.

 

[hfg]

For a Mac volume to be bootable, it has to be formatted as Apple Extended Format (Journalled), not FAT, or ExFat or NTFS.

That was what I was getting at ... the OP couldn't have formatted it as OS X from a Windows PC, but he could download to a FAT volume not realizing there would be a problem later on. At some point he has to format the external drive for OS X before trying to use it as a boot volume.