Resolved Slow Boot in Mac Pro 2013- Need help

[Riwam]

Lately I have the feeling that my MacPro 6-core 3.5, 1 TB, D500, 64 GB, boots toooo long.
I don't remenber having checked that when I received and installed it but do not believe it took so long.
I hear the chime about 5 sec. after pressing the ON button but then it takes about 35 sec. or more until I finally see the white apple. Alltogether about 45 sec.
Is that normal???

I changed the start up to verbose and the text took exactly the same long time to appear on the screen only shortly before the white apple. Before that, during about 35 sec. the screen was just black.

The MP is about 1 1/2 year old. About 300-320 GHz are used out of the 1 TB hard disk.
No hardware changes done besides adding third part Apple type RAM short time after buying it.
All externals connected to the USB 3 ports for lack of money to buy Thunderbolts.
Only the screen connected through an adapter to DVI.

The usual advises like checking the HD, repairing permissions, checking integrity of the Volume, resetting the NVRAM and the SMC...all performed without noticeable effect.
I tried my best to get rid of Autostart items, Launch Daemons etc.
No particular important software installed lately as far as I remember.

True, I imported my Applications and data from my previous cMP instead of performing a clean install, but that was at the time I bought it and at that time booting time was reasonable.

I don't want to be forced to undertake the enormous task of erasing the HD, do a clean install of the OS, install and register again countless Applications, import all my mail data and so on...
I understand that cloning back from an external USB HD my whole HD's contents after erasing it, or restoring it from Time Machine, would create again the same system as it is now and therefore bring nothing.
Am I wrong???

Since the MP 2013 has only one internal HD, I cannot check boot time with a fresh OS install without erasing it.

Any help to find out what is causing the delay to boot the machine will be greatly appreciated...before I ask advice from Apple who will (most probably?) told me to erase entirely the HD, do a clean install of the OS and of each of the large quantity of Applications, something which would be for me much worse than waiting 45 sec. until I see the white apple...
Thank you very much in advance.
Ed

 

[markrf]

Lately I have the feeling that my MacPro 6-core 3.5, 1 TB, D500, 64 GB, boots toooo long.
I don't remenber having checked that when I received and installed it but do not believe it took so long.
I hear the chime about 5 sec. after pressing the ON button but then it takes about 35 sec. or more until I finally see the white apple. Alltogether about 45 sec.
Is that normal???

I changed the start up to verbose and the text took exactly the same long time to appear on the screen only shortly before the white apple. Before that, during about 35 sec. the screen was just black.

The MP is about 1 1/2 year old. About 300-320 GHz are used out of the 1 TB hard disk.
No hardware changes done besides adding third part Apple type RAM short time after buying it.
All externals connected to the USB 3 ports for lack of money to buy Thunderbolts.
Only the screen connected through an adapter to DVI.

The usual advises like checking the HD, repairing permissions, checking integrity of the Volume, resetting the NVRAM and the SMC...all performed without noticeable effect.
I tried my best to get rid of Autostart items, Launch Daemons etc.
No particular important software installed lately as far as I remember.

True, I imported my Applications and data from my previous cMP instead of performing a clean install, but that was at the time I bought it and at that time booting time was reasonable.

I don't want to be forced to undertake the enormous task of erasing the HD, do a clean install of the OS, install and register again countless Applications, import all my mail data and so on...
I understand that cloning back from an external USB HD my whole HD's contents after erasing it, or restoring it from Time Machine, would create again the same system as it is now and therefore bring nothing.
Am I wrong???

Since the MP 2013 has only one internal HD, I cannot check boot time with a fresh OS install without erasing it.

Any help to find out what is causing the delay to boot the machine will be greatly appreciated...before I ask advice from Apple who will (most probably?) told me to erase entirely the HD, do a clean install of the OS and of each of the large quantity of Applications, something which would be for me much worse than waiting 45 sec. until I see the white apple...
Thank you very much in advance.
Ed

Ed,
Here are some things you can look at:
Have you booted using an external flash/jump drive and repaired your disk? Repaired permissions?
Do you have a copy of DiskWarrior you can run from that external boot drive?

My experience is your problem might be resolved by one or a combination of those - especially the latter.

The next thing to look at: Get a copy of LaunchControl and see what's really happening when you boot. Understand what's being kicked off and why - things might have been installed you don't want or need.

Finally - get and keep as much off the desktop as possible. Put it in a subfolder.
Also - you can do a reinstall os OS X without erasing your disk by holding down the Option key and selecting your emergency disk when you boot (it's a hidden partition that should have been installed for you).

Let me know what happens

 

[filmak]

a. check in system preferences that your startup disk (SSD) is selected or select it again.
b. disconnect all usb cables/peripherals and network cables.

 

[Riwam]

Ed,
Here are some things you can look at:
Have you booted using an external flash/jump drive and repaired your disk? Repaired permissions?
Do you have a copy of DiskWarrior you can run from that external boot drive?

My experience is your problem might be resolved by one or a combination of those - especially the latter.

The next thing to look at: Get a copy of LaunchControl and see what's really happening when you boot. Understand what's being kicked off and why - things might have been installed you don't want or need.

Finally - get and keep as much off the desktop as possible. Put it in a subfolder.
Also - you can do a reinstall os OS X without erasing your disk by holding down the Option key and selecting your emergency disk when you boot (it's a hidden partition that should have been installed for you).

Let me know what happens

"................................
Thank you very very much for your pieces of advise.
I will follow your indication and try Disk Warrior.

Permissions have been repaired several times also by starting in the Commanf-R way and doing it from outside. However somehow after each supposedly succesful repair, after checking again, the same long list of permissions are repaired again. I do not understand how to be sure that some repair did took place and that it remained repaired.

So, if I understand you right, reinstalling OS X 10.10 from the Recovery partition will NOT erase all the Applications, Mails and Data.
In such a case I might do it if Disk Warrior does not solve it.

I will try to get LaunchControl, a tool unknown to me until you mentioned it.

I will let you know if Disk Warrior changed something in the right direction.
Again thank you very much!
Ed

 

[Riwam]

a. check in system preferences that your startup disk (SSD) is selected or select it again.
b. disconnect all usb cables/peripherals and network cables.

..............
I thank you for trying to help me.
The internal SSD is selected and I have selected it again without any difference.

Your second suggestion has not been done yet.
All my peripherals with the sole exception of the display are connected to the USB ports either directly or through active hubs.

I will see if disconnecting everything besides the display makes a difference.

However if it does I will have a probleme since only the operation system and the Applications are in the internal hard drive.
All the rest is in the external USB drives which are only powered ON when needed, but maybe even without being electrically ON they might affect something...
Anyhow why not try it...

Thank you again.
Ed

 

[filmak]

Welcome. Also what brand of third party ram do you have installed?
Perhaps the system counts/cheks again and again the ram because of a problem?
Try to remove/swap position of most of the sticks or even better install one by one and boot each time.
Of course it's normal up to a point: more memory = longer time to boot.

 

[Riwam]

..............
I thank you for trying to help me.
The internal SSD is selected and I have selected it again without any difference.

Your second suggestion has not been done yet.
All my peripherals with the sole exception of the display are connected to the USB ports either directly or through active hubs.

I will see if disconnecting everything besides the display makes a difference.

However if it does I will have a probleme since only the operation system and the Applications are in the internal hard drive.
All the rest is in the external USB drives which are only powered ON when needed, but maybe even without being electrically ON they might affect something...
Anyhow why not try it...

Thank you again.
Ed

 

[Riwam]

a. check in system preferences that your startup disk (SSD) is selected or select it again.
b. disconnect all usb cables/peripherals and network cables.

a. check in system preferences that your startup disk (SSD) is selected or select it again.
b. disconnect all usb cables/peripherals and network cables.

..............
I thank you for trying to help me.
The internal SSD is selected and I have selected it again without any difference.

Your second suggestion has not been done yet.
All my peripherals with the sole exception of the display are connected to the USB ports either directly or through active hubs.

I will see if disconnecting everything besides the display makes a difference.

However if it does I will have a probleme since only the operation system and the Applications are in the internal hard drive.
All the rest is in the external USB drives which are only powered ON when needed, but maybe even without being electrically ON they might affect something...
Anyhow why not try it...

Thank you again.
Ed

-
------------------------------------------------
I followed your (b) second advice and to my great suprise... disconnecting an active Belkin 4-port USB-3 hub (I obtained directly from Apple) returned the booting time to normal.
Even just unplugging the power supply of that hub and keeping the hub connected with all the 3 external Data Hard Drives and the Time Machine HD still connected and usable as always, kept the boot time normal.
A second powered hub, a combined USB-2/Firewire 400 is also connected to a USB-3 port of the nMP but this one does not seem to affect the boot process.
I do not understand it at all!!!
I have Apple Care and can ask them since the Belkin powered hub came from them.
However it did not affect anything until lately...
Any hint how to explain this mistery?
Thank you again
Ed

 

[Riwam]

Ed,
Here are some things you can look at:
Have you booted using an external flash/jump drive and repaired your disk? Repaired permissions?
Do you have a copy of DiskWarrior you can run from that external boot drive?

My experience is your problem might be resolved by one or a combination of those - especially the latter.

The next thing to look at: Get a copy of LaunchControl and see what's really happening when you boot. Understand what's being kicked off and why - things might have been installed you don't want or need.

Finally - get and keep as much off the desktop as possible. Put it in a subfolder.
Also - you can do a reinstall os OS X without erasing your disk by holding down the Option key and selecting your emergency disk when you boot (it's a hidden partition that should have been installed for you).

Let me know what happens

-----------------------------
As I answered to the User "filmak", something very strange happened.
Maybe you have some kind of explanation to it since I don't.
I followed filmak's (b) second advice and to my great suprise... disconnecting an active Belkin 4-port USB-3 hub (I obtained directly from Apple) returned the booting time to normal.
Even just unplugging the power supply of that hub and keeping the hub connected with all the 3 external Data Hard Drives and the Time Machine HD still connected and usable as always, kept the boot time normal.
A second powered hub, a combined USB-2/Firewire 400 is also connected to a USB-3 port of the nMP but this one does not seem to affect the boot process.
I do not understand it at all !!!
I have Apple Care and can ask Apple since the Belkin powered hub came from them.
However it did not affect the boot process I could notice until lately...
Maybe you have a hint how to explain this mistery?
Thank you again for your goodwill.
Ed

 

[filmak]

-
------------------------------------------------
I followed your (b) second advice and to my great suprise... disconnecting an active Belkin 4-port USB-3 hub (I obtained directly from Apple) returned the booting time to normal.
Even just unplugging the power supply of that hub and keeping the hub connected with all the 3 external Data Hard Drives and the Time Machine HD still connected and usable as always, kept the boot time normal.
A second powered hub, a combined USB-2/Firewire 400 is also connected to a USB-3 port of the nMP but this one does not seem to affect the boot process.
I do not understand it at all!!!
I have Apple Care and can ask them since the Belkin powered hub came from them.
However it did not affect anything until lately...
Any hint how to explain this mistery?
Thank you again
Ed

It 's probably an incompatibility issue well known with usb 3.0 hubs, try one with the VIA VL812 b2 or later chipset for better compatibility.

If your hub was functioning as it should in the past with this mac pro perhaps it's broken now.

 

[Riwam]

It 's probably an incompatibility issue well known with usb 3.0 hubs, try one with the VIA VL812 b2 or later chipset for better compatibility.

If your hub was functioning as it should in the past with this mac pro perhaps it's broken now.

-------------------------------------------------------------
Thank you very much for your advice.
I replaced the original power adaptor of the Belkin hub with a different 5V power adaptor i found, which seems to have the right plug size, and -assuming that through this new plug the 5V still enter the hub- the boot process was again normally short.
So I am forced to believe that either the original supplied power adaptor for some reason does not work well now, although it did in the past...or the new plug, although it fits into the socket, does not deliver any voltage and the hub works passively, which apparently causes no problem to the computer.
Still how this external hub power supply matter might affect the computer boot process, remains for my modest computer knowledge a total mistery without the slightest idea how and why it could happen!!!

Anyhow my problem seems to be solved so thank you and thanks to all other helpers in this forum for your very kind goodwill.
It's better to solve a problem wihout understanding how... that understand things while realizing they still don't work...
Einstein already said it long ago with his great, great wisdom much better I could ever do.
Ed

Albert Einstein:
"Practice is when everything works but we don't know why.
Theory is when we know everything but nothing works.
In our lab we managed to join practice to theory.
Nothing works and nobody knows why."

 

[Raddock]

-------------------------------------------------------------
Thank you very much for your advice.
I replaced the original power adaptor of the Belkin hub with a different 5V power adaptor i found, which seems to have the right plug size, and -assuming that through this new plug the 5V still enter the hub- the boot process was again normally short.
So I am forced to believe that either the original supplied power adaptor for some reason does not work well now, although it did in the past...or the new plug, although it fits into the socket, does not deliver any voltage and the hub works passively, which apparently causes no problem to the computer.
Still how this external hub power supply matter might affect the computer boot process, remains for my modest computer knowledge a total mistery without the slightest idea how and why it could happen!!!

Anyhow my problem seems to be solved so thank you and thanks to all other helpers in this forum for your very kind goodwill.
It's better to solve a problem wihout understanding how... that understand things while realizing they still don't work...
Einstein already said it long ago with his great, great wisdom much better I could ever do.
Ed

Albert Einstein:
"Practice is when everything works but we don't know why.
Theory is when we know everything but nothing works.
In our lab we managed to join practice to theory.
Nothing works and nobody knows why."

This is good to know. I have the same exact issue, and I too have a Belkin USB3 hub hooked up. I'll have to try disconnecting it this evening and see if that solves my issues as well. I was about ready to reinstall everything.