Frequent 10s beach balls! -- terminal, firefox, FCP, ....

Since a clean install of Leopard on a dual 2.0 Ghz G5,
I've been experiencing frequent beach balls of 10-15 seconds.
It happens when running Final Cut (pressing play on a clip),
when searching in Firefox (Command - F), and when doing tab
completion in a terminal window.
A 100% repro:
- open terminal window
- type cd D <TAB>
In normal bash behaviour, this would immediately ring the bell, because there are two directories ~/Documents and ~/Desktop.
In Leopard, this freezes the terminal, giving me a beach ball after 5 seconds that lasts for about 10 seconds. Then I get the bell.
Anyone else getting this? It's very annoying.

holy crap i removed all the windows truetype and font fork (eh?) files from my system and fontbook now loads.
i had a feeling it was font related, but things are looking up...
will post more findings...

Similar Messages

Frequent Spinning Beach Ball after SSD Upgrade

I have several original MacPro's (2.66GHz quad core) each with 10GB of memory and all running Mac OS X Leopard (10.5.8) - please no comments that I need to upgrade to Snow Leopard or Lion. I have replaced the original hard drive in two of them with a brand new 120GB solid state hard drive (cloning the information from the original hard drive to the SSD using Disk Utility) and all is well.
This morning, I repeated the same upgrade process on a 3rd MacPro. Since the upgrade, I am getting frequent spinning beach ball cursors sometimes when performing the most simplest of tasks:
1. Opening System Preferences
2. Clicking the Apple menu.
3. Opening an application.
4. Pressing Command-Shift-A to access the Applications folder.
I have ran Disk Utility and it finds nothing wrong. I thought it might be something to do with Spotlight indexing the drive so I let it completely index the drive. Still having frequent spinning beach ball cursors.
What am I missing? I have 7 MacPro's all bought at the same time, all configured exactly the same (hardware, software, everything!).
Please help!
TIA,
Jon

In brief, there are threads with pros and cons of cloning the OS to an SSD vs clean install.
There is always the issue of what make/controller/firmware SSD you used.
Are all of them the very same? hard to do with all the changes going on and with OWC issuing firmware update for their controller firmware (SandForce 2200 series I think).
3G? 6G?
http://macperformanceguide.com/index_topics.html#SSD_OWC_6G
I think one reason for OS X is it may handle an SSD different (or not).
I used Dec 2010 Corsair 3Gs in my 1,1 model just fine: 2 x 40GB and 1 x 120GB with no issue for months.
What's different? the model and firmware of your latest SSD. And always a chance it is a dud. Or Disk Utility isn't always best for cloning, even with hdd it isn't and many use CCC or better perhaps SuperSuper.
So there are threads, trouble cloning an SSD, and the recommendations to just clean install and use Setup Assistant. And of course move your home media and data to standard type drive.
Something else worth considering:
SoftRAID 4.3

My 2011 MBP has begun running slow with frequent 'spinning beach ball' events. I'm running Yosemite and wondered if I should of use the original install disk for maintenance.

My 2011 MBP has begun running slow with frequent 'spinning beach ball' events. I'm running Yosemite and wondered if I should of use the original install disk for a maintenance reinstall. I presume I'd have to download Yosemite again, though I'd be happy just using Snow Leopard again too.
Thanks for the help.

When you see a beachball cursor or the slowness is especially bad, note the exact time: hour, minute, second.
These instructions must be carried out as an administrator. If you have only one user account, you are the administrator.
Launch the Console application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad and start typing the name.
The title of the Console window should be All Messages. If it isn't, select
          SYSTEM LOG QUERIES ▹ All Messages
from the log list on the left. If you don't see that list, select
          View ▹ Show Log List
from the menu bar at the top of the screen.
Each message in the log begins with the date and time when it was entered. Scroll back to the time you noted above.
Select the messages entered from then until the end of the episode, or until they start to repeat, whichever comes first.
Copy the messages to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. Paste into a reply to this message by pressing command-V.
The log contains a vast amount of information, almost all of it useless for solving any particular problem. When posting a log extract, be selective. A few dozen lines are almost always more than enough.
Please don't indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.
Please don't post screenshots of log messages—post the text.
Some private information, such as your name, may appear in the log. Anonymize before posting.

HT203176 my computer hangs frequently - rolling beach ball - apparently some endless loops - I have repaired the permissions countless times but the problem continues - the faulty permissions include java virtual machine and language libraries

I get the rolling beach ball frequently when using a browser -I have repaired the permissions a number of times - each time I do this - the same issues show up- language libraries, java virtual machine etc - after a restart the btowser works for awhile and then hangs again - i trashed both Chrome and Firefox and am now using Safari and Opera - neither of which work very fast and I still get a frozen screen - rolling beach ball - have to force quit.On the activity monitor it shows that the browser I am using has several hangs.
Aside from reinstalling everything - is there a fix for this?

Those Permissions errrors will keep appearing. They are not errors; ignore them. Your problem has nothing to do with Permissions repair. Many possible causes, one of which may be A-V. Do you have any A-V installed?
What does Disk Utility show for SMART Status for the drive? Verify the Disk.
Open Activity Monitor>CPU tab. Anything hogging the CPU when the slowdowns occur? Switch to the Memory tab. What does it show for free and inactive? Also, Page ins, Page outs and Swap used?'
How many applications open concurrently when this happens?
How much drive free space? You should maintain at least around 20-30GB.

Frequent spinning beach ball

Hello community,
I've had my iBook for almost two years now. Some months into owning it, a couple of days after update 10.4.3 came out, I started to see the spinning beach ball. Usually it would happen at random times, but certain activities guaranteed it (going over an icon in the dock w/ magnifying effect on, opening system preferences, and when checking for available software updates).
Well, I got sick of it after about a year, so I did a clean reformat a few weeks ago. At first, wow! super fast, just like the first months of ownership. Well, the spinning ball has returned now, about 2-3 weeks after the reformat. It's kind of annoying how Apple is running those ads on TV where the Mac is confused that the PC keeps on getting stuck, because I have 2 PC's and the 1 Mac, and the PC's never get stuck, as opposed to the Mac.
As before, it sometimes happens at random times when I'm just surfing the internet, always happens when I open system preferences, and usually when I open a .pdf file. This time, however, the dock's magnifying effect doesn't bother it. Sometimes I can use the computer for an hour or so before it happens, but sometimes it occurs very quickly. On average, it happens about once every 30 minutes and lasts for about a minute or two. Also, while it is happening, I can hear the HD making a very quiet repetitive click-click-click-clack sound until the ball disappears. All of my software is updated.
I'm inclined to think that it's a software issue since it runs fine after a reformat.
Despite this issue, I still like the computer, but would love to get this solved. Thanks in advance for the help.
HD: 60 GB total, about 45 free.
iBook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Hi,
Welcome to Apple discussions,
Along with the other good help you received
Did you run disk permissions before & after the attempt to reapply the Mac OS X 10.4.8 Combo PPC
** See this Updating Faq Mac OS X updating FAQ which should come
in handy for the newly released 10.4.9 just out today.
See this concise article on running disk permissions repair &more.Travis A.'s Regular Maintenance/General Troubleshooting
Do you run any maintenance to clean the Internet clutter you collect whilst
browsing? If not see this freeware tool OnyX and this article, Clearing caches with OnyX
Did you check your HD for the S.M.A.R.T status as Allan recommended?
In System preferences->Energy Saver do you have "put the hard disk to sleep when possible" selected if yes deselect that.
There are many aspects that will make for the spinning curser, look at the Macmaps & subsequent links it provides for more info.
Good luck & keep us posted.
Eme'~[)

10.8.5 slow log-in times from lock screen, slow to load lock screen when opening mac, frequent spinning beach ball (especially on task bar), often generally slow performance

Hi folks,
All the information about my problem is contained in the post title. I ran etrecheck as I had seen recommended in a few other posts.
Here are the results, any help would be apppreciated.
Hardware Information:
          MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2012)
          MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro9,1
          1 2.3 GHz Intel Core i7 CPU: 4 cores
          4 GB RAM
Video Information:
          Intel HD Graphics 4000 - VRAM: 384 MB
          NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M - VRAM: 512 MB
Audio Plug-ins:
          AirPlay: Version: 1.7 - SDK 10.8
          iSightAudio: Version: 7.7.1 - SDK 10.8
Startup Items:
          VirtualBox: Path: /Library/StartupItems/VirtualBox
System Software:
          OS X 10.8.5 (12F45) - Uptime: 39 days 14:44:3
Disk Information:
          APPLE HDD ST500LM012 disk0 : (500.11 GB)
                    disk0s1 (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB
                    Macintosh HD (disk0s2) /: 499.25 GB (201.68 GB free)
                    Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted>: 650 MB
          HL-DT-ST DVDRW GS31N
USB Information:
          Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)
          Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad
          Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub
                    Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller
          Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver
FireWire Information:
Thunderbolt Information:
          Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus
Kernel Extensions:
          org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxDrv          (4.2.6)
          org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxUSB          (4.2.6)
          org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetFlt          (4.2.6)
          org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetAdp          (4.2.6)
Problem System Launch Daemons:
          [failed] com.apple.coresymbolicationd.plist
Problem System Launch Agents:
          [failed] com.apple.accountsd.plist
          [failed] com.apple.CalendarAgent.plist
          [failed] com.apple.coreservices.appleid.authentication.plist
          [failed] com.apple.printtool.agent.plist
          [failed] com.apple.rcd.plist
          [failed] com.apple.scopedbookmarkagent.xpc.plist
Launch Daemons:
          [loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist
          [loaded] com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist
          [loaded] com.google.keystone.daemon.plist
          [failed] com.macinapps.appdefender.plist
          [loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist
          [invalid] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist
          [loaded] org.macosforge.xquartz.privileged_startx.plist
Launch Agents:
          [not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist
          [loaded] com.adobe.CS5ServiceManager.plist
          [loaded] com.divx.dms.agent.plist
          [loaded] com.divx.update.agent.plist
          [loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist
          [invalid] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist
          [loaded] org.macosforge.xquartz.startx.plist
User Launch Agents:
          [loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist
          [loaded] com.akamai.client.plist
          [loaded] com.akamai.single-user-client.plist
          [loaded] com.spotify.webhelper.plist
          [loaded] com.valvesoftware.steamclean.plist
          [not loaded] org.virtualbox.vboxwebsrv.plist
User Login Items:
          Citations
          iTunesHelper
          Google Notifier
          ScreenCapture
          Octoshape
          AdobeResourceSynchronizer
          Google Chrome
          Fantastical
          AdobeResourceSynchronizer
          AirDisplayStatusItem
          Android File Transfer Agent
          Caffeine
3rd Party Preference Panes:
          Air Display Preferences
          Akamai NetSession Preferences
          Flash Player
          Growl
          YAMAHA-USBMIDIPatch
Internet Plug-ins::
          NPDjVu: Version: 6.1.2 - SDK 10.6
          o1dbrowserplugin: Version: 4.9.1.16010
          OVSHelper: Version: 1.1
          PrintDialogExt: Version: 6.1.1
          AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: Version: 11.0.04 - SDK 10.6
          FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 11.9.900.117 - SDK 10.6
          DivX Web Player: Version: 3.0.1.5 - SDK 10.5
          Silverlight: Version: 5.1.10411.0 - SDK 10.6
          Flash Player: Version: 11.9.900.117 - SDK 10.6 Outdated! Update
          iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0 - SDK 10.8
          googletalkbrowserplugin: Version: 4.9.1.16010
          npgtpo3dautoplugin: Version: 0.1.44.29 - SDK 10.5
          AdobePDFViewer: Version: 11.0.04 - SDK 10.6
          QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.1
          SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.0.0
          JavaAppletPlugin: Version: 14.9.0 - SDK 10.7 Outdated! Update
User Internet Plug-ins::
          OctoshapeWeb: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.8
          Unity Web Player: Version: UnityPlayer version 2.6.1f3
Bad Fonts:
          None
Old applications:
          SoundCloud:          Version: 1.1.0 - SDK 10.0
                    /Applications/SoundCloud.app
          Uninstall Yamaha USB-MIDI Driver:          Version: 1.1.0 - SDK 10.4
                    /Users/alexanderaddiego/Documents/YAMAHA DGX 640/um132mx/Uninstall Yamaha USB-MIDI Driver.app
Time Machine:
          Auto backup: YES
          Volumes being backed up:
                    Macintosh HD: Disk size: 499.25 GB Disk used: 297.57 GB
          Destinations:
                    FreeAgent GoFlex Drive [Local] (Last used)
                    Total size: 999.86 GB
                    Total number of backups: 2
                    Oldest backup: 2013-10-15 01:17:04 +0000
                    Last backup: 2013-10-15 01:31:10 +0000
                    Size of backup disk: Adequate
                              Backup size 999.86 GB > (Disk used 297.57 GB X 3)
          Time Machine details may not be accurate.
          All volumes being backed up may not be listed.
Top Processes by CPU:
              24%          Google Chrome
               7%          WindowServer
               1%          EtreCheck
               1%          hidd
               1%          mds
Top Processes by Memory:
          201 MB             Google Chrome
          111 MB             SystemUIServer
          97 MB              Google Chrome Helper
          86 MB              mds
          85 MB              WindowServer
Virtual Memory Statistics:
          28 MB              Free RAM
          1.40 GB            Active RAM
          1.39 GB            Inactive RAM
          1.17 GB            Wired RAM
          261.34 GB          Page-ins
          81.91 GB           Page-outs

Satis has good recommendations. If the don't do the trick...
You may be able to improve the speed with some software work but it could also be your disk is corrupt or failing.
Try an SMC Reset:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964
Is it faster now? If not, proceed.
Backup your data immediately:
Before proceeding you should make sure you have a current backup. If it has been getting slower over time your disk could be a failing slowly. SATA drives have two retry modes: short and long. They can continue operating as read errors are increasing. The long retry cycle is very long and can cause significant performance degradation. If it has started long retries then it is likely to get worse and eventually fail. SSDs also have a failure mode where the fail slowly.
Time Machine Basics: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1427
Most commonly used backup methods:
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3045
Methodology to protect your data. Backups vs. Archives. Long-term data protection:
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-6031
Try the remedies at http://www.macworld.com/article/2026650/mac-troubleshooting-what-to-do-when-your -computer-is-too-slow.html
and
Mac Performance Guide: http://www.thesafemac.com/mpg/
Safe Mode:
- Reboot the system in Safe Boot mode.
- Power on the Mac and when you hear the bong, hold down the shift key until it is booted.
- Be patient, this will take some time while it checks the filesystem.
If it runs faster in Safe Boot mode then it is probably third-party software compatibility issues.
- Restart.
- Does it run faster after the restart?
Run Disk Utility (found in the Applications folder):
-In Disk Utility look at the S.M.A.R.T. Status.
If it says the disk has a hardware problem that can't be repaired then stop.
Your system could be in danger of failing at any time and you need to replace the disk soon.
Back your system up twice.
(You will need a second external disk for the second backup.)
Consider using Carbon Copy Cloner or Super Duper! for the second backup to clone the disk.
Jump to the Hardware replacement section and seek expert help.
Repair Disk Permissions and Verify Disk. If Disk Permissions reports errors, don’t worry. That is normal. If Verify Disk reports errors then they need to be repaired. Otherwise skip to the reinstall OS X section.
Repairing your system disk:
- Boot in recovery mode.
(Boot and when you hear the bong hold down the
Command and R keys simultaneously until you see the recovery screen.)
- Select disk utility.
- Select your system drive.
- Repair Disk.
- Did it complete without errors?
If not you may need a new disk. Seek expert help.
If it completed normally then reboot.
-Did it run faster and is it more responsive?
Reinstall OS X:
If it is still slow you should reinstall OS X.
- Boot in Recovery Mode again.
- Follow the instructions to reinstall OS X.
- Now does it run faster?
Hardware replacement or upgrade?
Hopefully by now your Mac is back to its normal speed. If a hardware repair is indicated take it to an Genius bar at an Apple store for a free diagnosis and estimate of repairs. You can compare their estimate with DIY repairs.
Genius reservation http://www.apple.com/retail/geniusbar/ .
or find an Apple Authorized Service Provider https://locate.apple.com/country
You can speed it up further by upgrading some hardware. For memory, disk or SSD replacements and upgrades check out OWC http://eshop.macsales.com/, Crucial: http://www.crucial.com/ and Kingston http://www.kingston.com/us/.
Consider an upgrade to 8 GB or RAM ($100).
If your Mac has a disk and it won’t repair properly, is low on disk space, or you just want a considerably faster disk,, check out an upgrade to an SSD-Hybrid disk. Google "Seagate XT".
Good luck. May the software fixes do the trick.

FREQUENT "Beach Ball" on my brand new MBP

Hi there. I'm a longtime PC user. As a graphic designer and web developer, I felt it was inevitable that I learn to use a Mac, so I bought a 17" Macbook Pro 2.8 Ghz a few weeks ago. Much of the time, the user experience is fantastic. HOWEVER...
I get the "beach ball of death" VERY frequently. Everything from launching Firefox to OPENING THE FILE MENU in a program will cause the system to hang for 20-30 sec with the beach ball. I was afraid that I might have done something / installed something that "broke" my computer somehow, but I really haven't installed much: CS4 and a few odds and ends.
I also thought that maybe this is just how Macs can be...but I had a friend over (a huge Mac user who himself just got a MBP) and was shocked at how much beach ball I get. It has done this pretty much since day 1.
Please help me. I spent $2000+ on this computer to AVOID these kinds of problems. I have to say that, right now, my Win 7 desktop is much more reliable.

rtln wrote:
I used SuperDuper to make a complete bootablt clone of my drive on an external FireWire hard drive.
I used Onyx to run all the maintenance tasks including repair permissions.
I am not an experienced mac user (5 years) but I have a mac mini since 3 years now with 1 gig ram and never installed 3rd party app to manage my OS... I NEVER had issues like you are talking about... I just bought an MBP 13" 4 Gig Ram an it is super fast... no beachball... For the permission repairs and other "maintenance" task, I had only to deal with these 2-3 time in 5 years, I won't bother to install an app to do these...
I used iDefrag to defrag the hard drive.
I thought the MAC OS EXTENDED partition did not required defragmentation as it is done every time a file is written on the disk... in fact, I recall Steve Job (or was it is VP) that made fun of Microsoft in one of is keynote that they still require the user to defragment their drive...
Anyhow, I think you should bring you machine to the apple store.
BTW, did your MBP came with Snow Leopard pre installed? Because me and my friend bought MBP 13 and 15" and I had to install SL on both of them. (Disc was included in the box). Suggest Clean install..
Good Luck!
Message was edited by: ZorrowQuebec
Message was edited by: ZorrowQuebec

My MacBook (late 2009 Mac OS X Lion 10.7.5 (11G63) often runs VERY slow...beach ball of death frequently. My page ins (5.29GB), page outs (5.64BG), and swap files (10GB) seem extremely high in comparison to most other discussions in here. HELP!!??

My MacBook (late 2009 Mac OS X Lion 10.7.5 (11G63) often runs VERY slow...beach ball of death frequently. My page ins (3.29GB), page outs (5.64BG), and swap files (10GB) seem extremely high in comparison to most other discussions in here. I don't know how to copy the pie chart so it shows on here but here's what it says right now:
Free - 176 MB
Wired - 592MB
Active - 843MB
Inactive - 432MB
Used - 1.82 GB
VM size - 198GB
The page ins and page outs have 0 bytes/sec in the parenthesis even though the numbers are so high.
Any help anyone could provide would be greatly appreciated!!!

You difinately need more ram. 2gb is the bare minimum to run just the Lion OS, anything extra will slow your Mac to a crawl. Upgrade to 8gb from either Crucial http://www.crucial.com/ or OWC http://eshop.macsales.com/
And you will be a happy camper!

Spinning Beach Ball FCP 10.1.1

Ever since I have upgraded to 10.1.1 I can't speed through my clip by pressing the "L" button - It will beach ball for about 5 min and then then I can view the clips - This happens every time.
I have done a fresh new install from OS 10.9 to final cut. I did not have this issue with FCP 10.0.9.

Attached is the settings of the file i'm using. I'm captureing the footage on a Blackmagic HyperDeck Studio. The footage is about 1hr 30.

Firefox always hangs. Spinning Beach Ball appears. Must Force Quit repeatedly. Have re-installed and refreshed with no change. How to fix?

Every time firefox is launched, the spinning beach ball appears, sometimes immediately, sometimes within a minute or two, every time. Must force quit. I have re-installed Firefox and also have refreshed with no change. Unless this is fixed, Firefox is unusable. I am running OSX 10.9.5 on a 17" MacBook Pro.
I cannot access any information through Firefox, because t always hangs.

Could you test in Firefox's Safe Mode? That's a standard diagnostic tool to deactivate extensions and some advanced features of Firefox. More info: [[Troubleshoot Firefox issues using Safe Mode]].
''If Firefox is not running:'' Hold down the option key when starting Firefox.
''If Firefox is running:'' You can restart Firefox in Safe Mode using either:
* "3-bar" menu button > "?" button > Restart with Add-ons Disabled
* Help menu > Restart with Add-ons Disabled
and OK the restart.
''Both scenarios:'' A small dialog should appear. Click "Start in Safe Mode" (''not'' Refresh).
Any less crashy?

I've noticed my browser in FCP causes "Spinning Beach Ball of Death?!"

Ok, here's the thing, ever since I purchased my system, I have always had this problem, I ignore it for the most part, but its really annoying. When you have an Open FCP project and when you scroll through the browser window in order to view certain statistical data like Video Rate, Frame Rate, etc. Sometimes it will take upwards of 5 or ten minutes to respond. It always stops and shows me the spinning beach ball of death, can anyone explain this to me.
Thanks
J.

And what kind of footage are you working with and how large is your project file?
rh

Potential fix for frequent freezes - spinning beach ball - in all apps

I've had escalating difficulties over the past few weeks with frequent crashes. It started out that iTunes would pause suddenly in the middle of a song, and give me the spinning beach ball for 5-10 seconds before starting to play again; it then progressed to Safari doing the same thing when I tried to load process-heavy pages (I noticed it especially on pages with large animated ads). It got progressively worse, to the point where yesterday I had to force restart about fifteen times, and a couple of those were so bad that I'd have to re-restart five seconds after logging in.
Anyway, the upshot of all of this is that I tried various solutions I've seen around the boards - seems a bunch of folks are having similar difficulties - and so I tried a couple of the suggestions: repairing permissions; using Macaroni to do routine maintenance such as clearing logs & caches; running Disk Utility. I found that using a newly-created account got rid of the problem, so I figured there was some problem with my user account.
Well, I saw someone suggest in another thread dragging the Fonts folder to the desktop and restart; the next step in the process was to do the same with Preferences. I got into my library folder and found I had not one but two Fonts folders - seemingly identical in their contents (encodings.dir, fonts.dir, fonts.list, fonts.scale) and then a third folder with all the actual font files in it. Not sure how it happened that I had two Fonts folders, but I dragged both of them to the desktop and let the computer replace it upon restart.
And miracle of miracles, that seems to have solved the problem. Not sure if the computer was trying to look in the Library for fonts and getting confused by finding two identical files, or what, but hey, I can't complain.
So I thought I'd post this here in case it's helpful for anyone else!
~t.

I've had escalating difficulties over the past few weeks with frequent crashes. It started out that iTunes would pause suddenly in the middle of a song, and give me the spinning beach ball for 5-10 seconds before starting to play again; it then progressed to Safari doing the same thing when I tried to load process-heavy pages (I noticed it especially on pages with large animated ads). It got progressively worse, to the point where yesterday I had to force restart about fifteen times, and a couple of those were so bad that I'd have to re-restart five seconds after logging in.
Anyway, the upshot of all of this is that I tried various solutions I've seen around the boards - seems a bunch of folks are having similar difficulties - and so I tried a couple of the suggestions: repairing permissions; using Macaroni to do routine maintenance such as clearing logs & caches; running Disk Utility. I found that using a newly-created account got rid of the problem, so I figured there was some problem with my user account.
Well, I saw someone suggest in another thread dragging the Fonts folder to the desktop and restart; the next step in the process was to do the same with Preferences. I got into my library folder and found I had not one but two Fonts folders - seemingly identical in their contents (encodings.dir, fonts.dir, fonts.list, fonts.scale) and then a third folder with all the actual font files in it. Not sure how it happened that I had two Fonts folders, but I dragged both of them to the desktop and let the computer replace it upon restart.
And miracle of miracles, that seems to have solved the problem. Not sure if the computer was trying to look in the Library for fonts and getting confused by finding two identical files, or what, but hey, I can't complain.
So I thought I'd post this here in case it's helpful for anyone else!
~t.

When I launch firefox all I get is a tab that says "about session restore" and a spinning beach ball. l

I have been using Firefox for the Mac for years. My operating system is Snow Leopard. I have always updated Firefox as new versions became available. Two days ago when I attempted to launch Firefox I started getting the message "about session restore" and the spinning beach ball. The only thing I can do at this point is do a forced quit. How do I fix Firefox?

Hi rp4035,
The [about:sessionrestore] tab will show up when Firefox crashed or did not shut down properly. In the about:support page there is a section with a crash list. This report can help identify what the issue may have been caused by.
However since you are seeing it hang when the page tries to load, the sessionrestore.js file could also be corrupted. You may want to reset firefox to resolve this issue.
The Reset Firefox feature can fix many issues by restoring Firefox to its factory default state while saving your essential information. <br>
'''Note''': ''This will cause you to lose any Extensions and some Preferences.''
*Open websites will not be saved in Firefox versions lower than 25.
To Reset Firefox do the following:
'''For Firefox versions previous to 29.0:'''
#Go to Firefox > Help > Troubleshooting Information.
#Click the "Reset Firefox"[[Image:Button reset]] button.
#Firefox will close and reset. After Firefox is done, it will show a window with the information that is imported. Click Finish.
#Firefox will open with all factory defaults applied.
'''For Firefox 29.0 and above:'''
#Click the menu button [[Image:New Fx Menu]], click help [[Image:Help-29]] and select ''Troubleshooting Information''.
Now, a new tab containing your troubleshooting information should open.
#At the top right corner of the page, you should see a button that says "Reset Firefox"[[Image:Button reset]]. Click on it.
#Firefox will close and reset. After Firefox is done, it will show a window with the information that is imported. Click Finish.
#Firefox will open with all factory defaults applied.
Further information can be found in the [[Reset Firefox – easily fix most problems]] article.
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Mavericks is slow frequent beach ball

Problem description:
I have a Macbook Pro 2011 with 4Gb of ram running Mavericks and i have a lot of lagging response and frequent appearance of the beach ball. I have run etrecheck.
EtreCheck version: 2.1.6 (109)
Report generated January 26, 2015 at 12:58:13 PM CST
Download EtreCheck from http://etresoft.com/etrecheck
Click the [Support] links for help with non-Apple products.
Click the [Details] links for more information about that line.
Click the [Adware] links for help removing adware.
Hardware Information: ℹ️
MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2011) (Technical Specifications)
MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro8,1
1 2.8 GHz Intel Core i7 CPU: 2-core
4 GB RAM Upgradeable
BANK 0/DIMM0
2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok
BANK 1/DIMM0
2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok
Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported
Wireless: en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n
Battery Health: Normal - Cycle count 282
Video Information: ℹ️
Intel HD Graphics 3000 - VRAM: 384 MB
Color LCD 1280 x 800
System Software: ℹ️
OS X 10.9.5 (13F34) - Time since boot: one day 18:40:58
Disk Information: ℹ️
APPLE HDD HTS547575A9E384 disk0 : (750.16 GB)
EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB
Macintosh 750 Gb HD (disk0s2) / : 749.30 GB (295.49 GB free)
Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB
OPTIARC DVD RW AD-5970H
USB Information: ℹ️
Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)
Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad
Apple Inc. BRCM2070 Hub
Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller
Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver
Thunderbolt Information: ℹ️
Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus
Gatekeeper: ℹ️
Mac App Store and identified developers
Kernel Extensions: ℹ️
/Library/Extensions
[not loaded] com.caiaq.driver.NIUSBMaschineControllerDriver (2.6.0 - SDK 10.8) [Support]
[loaded] com.sophos.kext.sav (9.2.50 - SDK 10.8) [Support]
[loaded] com.sophos.nke.swi (9.2.50 - SDK 10.8) [Support]
/System/Library/Extensions
[not loaded] com.motu.driver.FireWireAudio (1.6 59644 - SDK 10.4) [Support]
[not loaded] com.motu.driver.MicroBookAudio (1.6 59644 - SDK 10.4) [Support]
[not loaded] com.motu.driver.PCIAudio (1.6 59644 - SDK 10.4) [Support]
[not loaded] com.motu.driver.USBMidiKext (1.6 59644 - SDK 10.4) [Support]
Launch Agents: ℹ️
[not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist [Support]
[running] com.motu.MOTULauncher.plist [Support]
[loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist [Support]
[running] com.sophos.uiserver.plist [Support]
Launch Daemons: ℹ️
[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist [Support]
[loaded] com.bombich.ccc.plist [Support]
[loaded] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist [Support]
[loaded] com.oracle.java.JavaUpdateHelper.plist [Support]
[running] com.sophos.common.servicemanager.plist [Support]
User Launch Agents: ℹ️
[loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist [Support]
[loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist [Support]
[loaded] com.divx.agent.postinstall.plist [Support]
[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist [Support]
User Login Items: ℹ️
None
Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️
LogitechHarmony: Version: Unknown
OVSHelper: Version: 1.1 [Support]
Default Browser: Version: 537 - SDK 10.9
Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: Version: Unknown
OfficeLiveBrowserPlugin: Version: 12.3.3 [Support]
AdobeAAMDetect: Version: AdobeAAMDetect 1.0.0.0 - SDK 10.6 [Support]
FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 16.0.0.296 - SDK 10.6 [Support]
AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: Version: 11.0.10 - SDK 10.6 [Support]
DivXBrowserPlugin: Version: 2.2 [Support]
Flash Player: Version: 16.0.0.296 - SDK 10.6 Mismatch! Adobe recommends 16.0.0.287
iPhotoPhotocast: Version: Unknown
QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3
Silverlight: Version: 5.1.30514.0 - SDK 10.6 [Support]
AdobePDFViewer: Version: 11.0.10 - SDK 10.6 [Support]
JavaAppletPlugin: Version: Java 7 Update 71 Check version
Safari Extensions: ℹ️
DivX Plus Web Player HTML5 <video> [Installed]
3rd Party Preference Panes: ℹ️
DivX [Support]
Flash Player [Support]
Java [Support]
Native Instruments USB Audio [Support]
Perian [Support]
Time Machine: ℹ️
Skip System Files: NO
Mobile backups: ON
Auto backup: YES
Destinations:
Macbook Pro BU 122613 [Local]
Total size: 500.10 GB
Total number of backups: 9
Oldest backup: 2014-04-01 22:47:45 +0000
Last backup: 2014-10-01 17:35:40 +0000
Size of backup disk: Excellent
Backup size 500.10 GB > (Disk size 0 B X 3)
Top Processes by CPU: ℹ️
      21% Mail
      7% syslogd
      4% WindowServer
      0% AppleSpell
      0% sysmond
Top Processes by Memory: ℹ️
503 MB Mail
86 MB InterCheck
64 MB Finder
64 MB SophosScanD
56 MB Safari
Virtual Memory Information: ℹ️
87 MB Free RAM
1.22 GB Active RAM
1.34 GB Inactive RAM
1.02 GB Wired RAM
1.48 GB Page-ins
23 MB Page-outs
Diagnostics Information: ℹ️
Jan 24, 2015, 06:17:55 PM Self test - passed

Remove Sophos. This antivirus application is unnecessary.
http://www.sophos.com/en-us/support/knowledgebase/120838.aspx

I cannot use FCP X because as soon as I launch it it stops responding. I can see the interface and a continuous beach ball.

I cannot use FCP X because as soon as I launch it it stops responding. I can see the interface and a continuous beach ball. Its been more than 3 months now since I have been using FCP X and it has never done this before. The problem is that I have some projects to finish and I do not know what to do. How can I solve this problem?

As mishmumken said, you can try deleting your preference files . . .
If that fails, you probably have corrupt or incompatible media somewhere. Use finder to create new (temporary) folders and move your projects and events there before launching the application so that the events and projects are not found.
If FCP X loads OK, bring back the events one by one, relaunching FCP X each time, to try to isolate the offending material.
Andy

Frequent 10s beach balls! -- terminal, firefox, FCP, ....

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