592      iPhone_iPad_Mac_apple

Mac Slow and laggy (but not when indexing running)

Hi all, and thank you for help.

Some days ago I found my MacBook Pro 2011 (Sierra 10.12.6) extremely slow when:

- typing text,

- drag file and folder,

- open context menu (right click),

- open combobox,

- resize finder windows,

- show content folder

- show file preview with QuickLookup

- click on upper menu of each application

some of these are slow ONLY THE FIRST TIME I do the action.

I installed Sierra 3 months ago, so I don’t think it is related

I don’t remember if there was a specific app install or update that cause this slowdown

One day, I start the computer and I immediately felt that something was wrong

My system is almost clean

- SMART test is OK

- iCloud is disabled (never enabled)

- No crappy or scam apps at login

- No Google Drive or Dropbox Sync

- No Siri

- I don’t use Mail

- I don’t use iMessage

- I don’t sync iPad and iPhone

I have done all what I read to try to resolve

- System and apps updated

- deleted some cache file and plist preference (finder, spotlight, …)

- deleted history and cache of Safari, Chrome, Firefox

- I moved all elements from the desktop to the documents (I had a tons, but done nothing)

- Reset NVRAM (done nothing)

- Reset SMC (done nothing)

- Boot in safe mode (done nothing)

- Boot in recovery mode and ran S.O.S disk utility (done nothing)

- Disabled transparency in accessibility video (done a little)

- Disabled trackpad gesture (done nothing)

- Enabled Trim in my SDD (done nothing)

- Re-index spotlight (something strange)

I only miss re-install Sierra from the recovery mode.

But, with spotlight re-index, I have seen something strange (VERY STRANGE).

When re-index is running, system is fast and smooth (VERY FAST AND SMOOTH)

When re-index finished or stopped, system return slow.

I can run

“sudo mdutil -i on \” to start indexing and system goes fast

“sudo mdutil -i off \” to stop indexing and system goes slow

immediately

(before, I obviously run “sudo mdutil -E \” to erase metadata)

My brain smoke after 10 days of test.

I think is something related with the SSD… When re-index is running system is ready to response, instead, when all is quite there is a lag in response, as if the SSD (or something else) is slow to response.

This SSD has been working for a year and a half, and until a few days ago it went great.

The TRIM was only enabled yesterday.

Do you have any test or solution to suggest to me?

Here is EterCheck test, mdworker has high CPU because spotlight was indexing durung test

EtreCheck version: 3.4.4 (448)

Report generated 2017-08-27 14:42:31

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime: 1:43

Performance: Excellent

Click the [Lookup] links for more information from Apple Support Communities.

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

Problem: Beachballing

Description:

slow computer, finder and input response

Hardware Information: ⓘ

    MacBook Pro (13-inch, Early 2011)

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

    MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro8,1

    1 2,3 GHz Intel Core i5 (i5-2415M) CPU: 2-core

    8 GB RAM Upgradeable - [Instructions]

        BANK 0/DIMM0

            4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

        BANK 1/DIMM0

            4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

    Handoff/Airdrop2: not supported

    Wireless:  en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n

    Battery: Health = Normal - Cycle count = 280

Video Information: ⓘ

    Intel HD Graphics 3000 - VRAM: 512 MB

        Color LCD 1280 x 800

        B_101920 1280 x 1024 @ 75 Hz

Disk Information: ⓘ

    Samsung SSD 850 EVO 500GB disk0: (500,11 GB) (Solid State - TRIM: Yes)

    [Show SMART report]

        EFI (disk0s1 - MS-DOS FAT32) <not mounted>  [EFI]: 210 MB

        (disk0s2) <not mounted>  [CoreStorage Container]: 499.25 GB

        Recovery HD (disk0s3 - Journaled HFS+) <not mounted>  [Recovery]: 650 MB

    MATSHITADVD-R   UJ-8A8  ()

USB Information: ⓘ

     USB20Bus

        Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

         hub_device

            Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

            Dell Dell USB Optical Mouse

            Apple Inc. BRCM2070 Hub

                Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

     USB20Bus

         hub_device

            Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Thunderbolt Information: ⓘ

    Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

Virtual disks: ⓘ

    Macintosh HD (disk1 - Journaled HFS+) /  [Startup]: 498.88 GB (171.97 GB free)

        Physical disk: disk0s2 499.25 GB Online

System Software: ⓘ

    macOS Sierra  10.12.6 (16G29) - Time since boot: less than an hour

Configuration files: ⓘ

    /etc/hosts - Count: 16

Gatekeeper: ⓘ

    Mac App Store and identified developers

Kernel Extensions: ⓘ

        /Library/Extensions

    [loaded]    com.Cycling74.driver.Soundflower (2.0b2 - SDK 10.10) [Lookup]

    [loaded]    com.intel.kext.intelhaxm (6.0.5 - SDK 10.9) [Lookup]

System Launch Agents: ⓘ

    [not loaded]    8 Apple tasks

    [loaded]    187 Apple tasks

    [running]    87 Apple tasks

System Launch Daemons: ⓘ

    [not loaded]    42 Apple tasks

    [loaded]    183 Apple tasks

    [running]    93 Apple tasks

Launch Agents: ⓘ

    [loaded]    com.adobe.ARMDCHelper.cc24aef4a1b90ed56a725c38014c95072f92651fb65e1bf9c8e43c37a 23d420d.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2017-08-25) [Lookup]

    [loaded]    com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist (? bb51ca7a 741d4107 - installed 2016-04-28) [Lookup]

Launch Daemons: ⓘ

    [loaded]    com.adobe.ARMDC.Communicator.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2017-02-28) [Lookup]

    [loaded]    com.adobe.ARMDC.SMJobBlessHelper.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2017-02-28) [Lookup]

    [loaded]    com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist (? 856489a3 0 - installed 2016-04-26) [Lookup]

    [not loaded]    com.apple.installer.cleanupinstaller.plist (? ? ? - installed 2017-05-16)

    [loaded]    com.barebones.authd.plist (Bare Bones Software, Inc. - installed 2017-08-25) [Lookup]

    [loaded]    com.intel.haxm.plist (Shell Script 42f307e7 - installed 2016-11-17) [Lookup]

    [loaded]    com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist (Shell Script e3fefdd2 - installed 2016-04-28) [Lookup]

User Launch Agents: ⓘ

    [loaded]    com.google.keystone.agent.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2017-07-10) [Lookup]

User Login Items: ⓘ

    iTunesHelper    Applicazione (Apple, Inc. - installed 2017-08-23)

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

    com.adobe.SwitchBoard.monitor.plist    MachInit - Hidden

        (/etc/mach_init_per_user.d/com.adobe.SwitchBoard.monitor.plist)

    Mach Init items are deprecated

Internet Plug-ins: ⓘ

    QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (installed 2017-08-23)

    JavaAppletPlugin: Java 7 Update 80 (installed 2016-04-28) Check version

3rd Party Preference Panes: ⓘ

    Java (installed 2015-04-10) [Lookup]

Time Machine: ⓘ

    Skip System Files: NO

    Mobile backups: OFF

    Auto backup: NO - Auto backup turned off

    Volumes being backed up:

        Macintosh HD: Disk size: 498.88 GB Disk used: 326.91 GB

    Destinations:

        Bakcup [Local]

        Total size: 199.63 GB

        Total number of backups: 1

        Oldest backup: 16/05/17, 19:41

        Last backup: 16/05/17, 19:41

        Size of backup disk: Too small

            Backup size 199.63 GB < (Disk used 326.91 GB X 3)

Top Processes by CPU: ⓘ

        72%       mdworker

         5%       WindowServer

         4%       kernel_task

         0%       fontd

         0%       lsd

Top Processes by Memory: ⓘ

    680 MB        kernel_task

    99 MB         mds_stores

    87 MB         mds

    85 MB         WindowServer

    69 MB         Finder

Top Processes by Network Use: ⓘ

    Input         Output        Process name

    12 KB         8 KB          mDNSResponder

    9 KB          6 KB          apsd

    912 B         912 B         ntpd

    714 B         490 B         netbiosd

Top Processes by Energy Use: ⓘ

     78.32    mdworker

      5.08    WindowServer

      0.10    lsd

      0.00    kernel_task

Virtual Memory Information: ⓘ

    5.27 GB       Available RAM

    3.30 GB       Free RAM

    2.73 GB       Used RAM

    1.97 GB       Cached files

    0 B           Swap Used

Software installs: ⓘ

    Adobe Flash Player:  (installed 2017-08-07)

    Adobe Acrobat Reader DC (17.012.20093):  (installed 2017-08-09)

    Adobe Acrobat Reader DC (17.012.20095):  (installed 2017-08-13)

    Adobe Flash Player:  (installed 2017-08-25)

    Install information may not be complete.

Diagnostics Information: ⓘ

    2017-08-27 14:30:56    System Information.app High CPU use [Open] [Details]

    2017-08-27 13:57:28    Adobe Illustrator.app Crash [Open]

    2017-08-27 01:03:05    mdworker High CPU use [Open] [Details]

    2017-08-25 22:37:19    System Information High CPU use [Open] [Details]

    2017-08-25 16:44:22    installd High CPU use [Open] [Details]

    2017-08-25 16:31:41    storedownloadd High CPU use [Open] [Details]

    2017-08-25 15:44:59    Finder.app High CPU use [Open] [Details]

    2017-08-25 13:37:53    Spotlight.app Crash [Open]

    2017-08-24 15:30:52    Firefox.app High CPU use [Open] [Details]

Here is SMART Report

smartctl 6.5 2016-05-07 r4318 [Darwin 16.7.0 x86_64] (local build)

Copyright (C) 2002-16, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===

Model Family:     Samsung based SSDs

Device Model:     Samsung SSD 850 EVO 500GB

Serial Number:    S21JNXAG561262L

LU WWN Device Id: 5 002538 d40137ad2

Firmware Version: EMT01B6Q

User Capacity:    500,107,862,016 bytes [500 GB]

Sector Size:      512 bytes logical/physical

Rotation Rate:    Solid State Device

Device is:        In smartctl database [for details use: -P show]

ATA Version is:   ACS-2, ATA8-ACS T13/1699-D revision 4c

SATA Version is:  SATA 3.1, 6.0 Gb/s (current: 6.0 Gb/s)

Local Time is:    Sun Aug 27 14:50:33 2017 CEST

SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.

SMART support is: Enabled

=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===

SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED

General SMART Values:

Offline data collection status:  (0x00)    Offline data collection activity

                    was never started.

                    Auto Offline Data Collection: Disabled.

Self-test execution status:      (   0)    The previous self-test routine completed

                    without error or no self-test has ever

                    been run.

Total time to complete Offline

data collection:         (    0) seconds.

Offline data collection

capabilities:              (0x53) SMART execute Offline immediate.

                    Auto Offline data collection on/off support.

                    Suspend Offline collection upon new

                    command.

                    No Offline surface scan supported.

                    Self-test supported.

                    No Conveyance Self-test supported.

                    Selective Self-test supported.

SMART capabilities:            (0x0003)    Saves SMART data before entering

                    power-saving mode.

                    Supports SMART auto save timer.

Error logging capability:        (0x01)    Error logging supported.

                    General Purpose Logging supported.

Short self-test routine

recommended polling time:      (   2) minutes.

Extended self-test routine

recommended polling time:      ( 265) minutes.

SCT capabilities:            (0x003d)    SCT Status supported.

                    SCT Error Recovery Control supported.

                    SCT Feature Control supported.

                    SCT Data Table supported.

SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 1

Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds:

ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME          FLAG     VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE      UPDATED  WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE

  5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct   0x0033   100   100   010    Pre-fail  Always       -       0

  9 Power_On_Hours          0x0032   099   099   000    Old_age   Always       -       4139

12 Power_Cycle_Count       0x0032   097   097   000    Old_age   Always       -       2621

177 Wear_Leveling_Count     0x0013   096   096   000    Pre-fail  Always       -       80

179 Used_Rsvd_Blk_Cnt_Tot   0x0013   100   100   010    Pre-fail  Always       -       0

181 Program_Fail_Cnt_Total  0x0032   100   100   010    Old_age   Always       -       0

182 Erase_Fail_Count_Total  0x0032   100   100   010    Old_age   Always       -       0

183 Runtime_Bad_Block       0x0013   100   100   010    Pre-fail  Always       -       0

187 Uncorrectable_Error_Cnt 0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       0

190 Airflow_Temperature_Cel 0x0032   056   050   000    Old_age   Always       -       44

195 ECC_Error_Rate          0x001a   200   200   000    Old_age   Always       -       0

199 CRC_Error_Count         0x003e   097   097   000    Old_age   Always       -       2055

235 POR_Recovery_Count      0x0012   099   099   000    Old_age   Always       -       13

241 Total_LBAs_Written      0x0032   099   099   000    Old_age   Always       -       28404333130

SMART Error Log Version: 1

No Errors Logged

SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1

No self-tests have been logged.  [To run self-tests, use: smartctl -t]

Warning! SMART Selective Self-Test Log Structure error: invalid SMART checksum.

SMART Selective self-test log data structure revision number 1

SPAN  MIN_LBA  MAX_LBA  CURRENT_TEST_STATUS

    1        0        0  Not_testing

    2        0        0  Not_testing

    3        0        0  Not_testing

    4        0        0  Not_testing

    5        0        0  Not_testing

  255        0    65535  Read_scanning was never started

Selective self-test flags (0x0):

  After scanning selected spans, do NOT read-scan remainder of disk.

If Selective self-test is pending on power-up, resume after 0 minute delay.

Run another test when Spotlight indexing is finished, post it here again.

Reboot the computer before running it.

Even before determining the SSD model I suspected it was the cause. "SMART Utilities" is of dubious value, since I have seen several cases in which it reports nothing wrong given a hard disk drive or SSD exhibiting obvious problems. HDD / SSD failures are more accurately diagnosed anecdotally (read the Apple link below).

    Samsung SSD 850 EVO 500GB disk0: (500,11 GB) (Solid State - TRIM: Yes)

Those SSDs have a particularly poor reputation among Mac users. They work well for a while, until their performance suddenly craters.

This SSD has been working for a year and a half, and until a few days ago it went great.

That describes Samsung's characteristic failure mode.

Replace it with something else. The only SSDs I use and can recommend are those manufactured and sold by OWC / MacSales, the oldest of which are now well beyond their five year warranty. They are still working as well as they did when they were new. With them, you don't have to concern yourself with minutia like TRIM.