Sierra causing beach ball on simple tasks? Late 2013 iMac

[kbutler84]

I updated recently and now performing simple tasks causes my iMac to bog down and become basically unusable. I can't even drag a small file to the trash without this happening. I have a late 2013 iMac i7, 24gb ram and 512 SSD. SSD is maybe half way full. I've tried resetting PRAM, and Disk Utility First Aide, but nothing works. Some apps open fine, but others take a very long time to open (if they do at all on the first try).

Is there something else I can try?

 

[Weaselboy]

It may be that you have an app or utility that is incompatible with Sierra. Just as a test, reboot and hold the shift key at startup to boot to safe mode. That will stop any launch or startup items from running. Is it better in safe mode?

 

[kbutler84]

It may be that you have an app or utility that is incompatible with Sierra. Just as a test, reboot and hold the shift key at startup to boot to safe mode. That will stop any launch or startup items from running. Is it better in safe mode?

No, it seems to be doing the same thing in safe mode.

 

[Weaselboy]

No, it seems to be doing the same thing in safe mode.

Hmm... that rules out any third party apps then.

What you are describing sounds a bit like a failing drive with the slow to launch issue. If you command-r boot to recovery does Disk Utility First Aid show any errors?

Try selecting the disk like in my screenshot then click info to see the SMART status.

 

[kbutler84]

Hmm... that rules out any third party apps then.

What you are describing sounds a bit like a failing drive with the slow to launch issue. If you command-r boot to recovery does Disk Utility First Aid show any errors?

Try selecting the disk like in my screenshot then click info to see the SMART status.

View attachment 664067

No errors when I command-r and run disk utility first aid. SMART status says verified.

I also removed two apps that were no longer supported by the OS, but still no change.

 

[MacOG728893]

No errors when I command-r and run disk utility first aid. SMART status says verified.

I also removed two apps that were no longer supported by the OS, but still no change.

Personally I would try installing macOS Seira to an external hard drive. Even though SMART status may be indicating everything is fine, that dosen't guaranteed there isn't an issue with the internal storage.

Just buy 16GB flash drive and install the OS to that. Just keep it lying around then you will be able troubleshoot it like this anytime you like.

 

[Weaselboy]

No errors when I command-r and run disk utility first aid. SMART status says verified.

I also removed two apps that were no longer supported by the OS, but still no change.

See how it runs in safe mode. Reboot and hold the shift key at startup. That will start in safe mode which will stop any launch or startup items from running. How does it work then? If that fixes it, it tells us you have some app or utility launching that is causing this.

Like MacOG728893 mentioned, drives do fail without showing those error messages.

 

[xgman]

are you using total finder?

 

[kbutler84]

are you using total finder?

No, haven't ever heard of it.

 

[kbutler84]

Just updating this in case someone else stumbles upon this thread with the same issue. After sending data in to apple engineers and recording a video of the issues, it turns out the fix was simply signing out of iCloud and back in but only checking the Find My Mac option. Then I was able to reselect the options I wanted except for iCloud Drive (which I didn't use anyway). For some reason they believe there was something going on with iCloud Drive that was causing my issues. Once I did that, all was well again.

Thanks again to those in this thread that offered help, I appreciate it!

 

[GadgetGeek407]

Just updating this in case someone else stumbles upon this thread with the same issue. After sending data in to apple engineers and recording a video of the issues, it turns out the fix was simply signing out of iCloud and back in but only checking the Find My Mac option. Then I was able to reselect the options I wanted except for iCloud Drive (which I didn't use anyway). For some reason they believe there was something going on with iCloud Drive that was causing my issues. Once I did that, all was well again.

Thanks again to those in this thread that offered help, I appreciate it!

I dont have an SSD drive but I have a thread here https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...super-slow-please-help.2007481/#post-23757224
and have this slow issue even after I formatted my whole drive and did a clean install thinking my drive is bad, so what you are saying is icloud drive is causing this? Can you elaborate