I encounter the dreaded pinwheel of death very frequently.

Is there a good general clean-up I can perform in hopes of improving my older iMac's very poor performance?

What he said, and remember to back up. Always.
If this is hard drive related (as in, the internal drive is failing), you will know by usually going into your console and searching "I/O". Do this first before you attempt any sort of clean-up.

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I can't adjust any settings in iPhoto preferences because it always freezes and i get the spinning pinwheel of death! HELP!!!

i can't adjust any settings in iPhoto preferences because it always freezes and i get the spinning pinwheel of death! HELP!!!

Try the following:
1 - delete the iPhoto preference file, com.apple.iPhoto.plist, that resides in your
User/Home/Library/ Preferences folder.
2 - delete the contents the following folder: User/Library/Containers/com.apple.iPhoto
3 - reboot, launch iPhoto and try again.
NOTE: For Mavericks and Yosemite, go to your Home folder and use the View ➙ Show View Options menu to bring the this window:
where you can check the Show Library Folder checkbox.

Crazy, unfixable error... The dreaded icon of death.

Alright, so I'm listenin' to my iPod yesterday, and everything's goin' all jolly as I'm doin' a little jig in my chair to Low Rider.
Then, out of no where, the music stops playing.
Curiousity consuming me, I switch my attention to my iPod, and attempt to switch around to another song - which it does, but only after a minute or two of complete and utter lag. However, even though it selects the new song, the music never plays.
Then it came:
That blasted explanation point next to the folder icon.
Figuring that it was just a slight error, I reset my iPod, my slight concerns slowing growing into much larger ones. Upon the reset, the Apple icon continues to load... UNTIL
That same icon: the folder icon of death. Then it shuts off a few seconds later and resets itself, only to continue the cycle a couple times before shutting off. This nasty cycle has continued through an over-night recharge, not even allowing my computer to recognize its existence for more than a few seconds, before it just restarts and fades off.
This, of course, presents a problem, especially when you must format the bloody thing, but are incapable of doing so when everytime you load the latest updater it reads "Plug in an iPod to update it" when it's already plugged in. For a brief moment, it will detect the iPod, but then it'll pop up with the dreaded folder icon of death, and the updater will alert "Can't mount iPod."
Does anybody have any idea as to what's goin' on? I can't figure this thing out for the life of me, and I would really prefer not to send it in to be fixed.
With Love,
WayTooAwesome <3<br>
Windows XP Pro

Go and find a Mac computer, as you need it to format your iPod which previously formatted with a PC. Plug it with a Mac and it will get mount and allow you to do a Restore there, once it has ebing completed, replug with your PC (it will be mounted this time) and do a Restore back to PC version. If you can't find a Mac, go to the nearest Apple Shop and asking a favour to do it for you.

The streaming video freeze down very frequently,e.g youtube videos.

I can not watch a streaming video uninterruptedly. It freezes down very frequently for 10-20 seconds and then again starts working.

Try to disable hardware acceleration in Firefox.
*Tools > Options > Advanced > General > Browsing: "Use hardware acceleration when available"
*https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Troubleshooting+extensions+and+themes
You can check for problems with current Flash plugin versions and try these:
*disable a possible RealPlayer Browser Record Plugin extension for Firefox and update the RealPlayer if installed
*disable protected mode in the Flash plugin (Flash 11.3+ on Windows Vista and later)
*disable hardware acceleration in the Flash plugin
*http://kb.mozillazine.org/Flash#Troubleshooting

I just encountered the Blue screen of death - TWICE

I think it may have my my SD card that i inserted into my laptop, it did not crash immediately but it did crash shortly after. Plus when I restarted the laptop i left it inside, and then the laptop crashed again after starting up.
Here's the report that it gave me:
Problem signature:
Problem Event Name:   BlueScreen
OS Version:   6.1.7600.2.0.0.768.3
Locale ID:   1033
Additional information about the problem:
BCCode:   3b
BCP1:   00000000C000001D
BCP2:   FFFFF88000000000
BCP3:   FFFFF88002B25150
BCP4:   0000000000000000
OS Version:   6_1_7600
Service Pack:   0_0
Product:   768_1
Files that help describe the problem:
C:\Windows\Minidump\011010-35287-01.dmp
C:\Users\od568\AppData\Local\Temp\WER-42931-0.sysdata.xml
Read our privacy statement online:
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=104288&clcid=0x0409
If the online privacy statement is not available, please read our privacy statement offline:
C:\Windows\system32\en-US\erofflps.txt
I don't know what's the problem...also my laptop was recently upgraded from vista to w7 if that helps...
thanks

Oops. I was looking at the wrong specs.
Satellite L505-S6959
Try replacing the video driver.
   Intel Display Driver for Windows 7 (64)
Next time you see a blue screen, grab the STOP error and any file name on the screen.
-Jerry

13 in mackbook pro- system pref..rainbow pinwheel of 'death'. black screen

every time I even attempt System Preferences, I get the little pinwheel of 'death', I am up to date on all my stuff so I am confused on what it could possibly be? I had saved an image off the internet, went to upload it to FaceBook and then as I went to Syst Pref to change something with my wireless setting, this is what had popped up. (last night) and today, my whole entire screen turned black while online doing some homework. Does anyone have any clue what this could be?

in my case, the performance update seems to have taken care of the problem - it hasn't recurred since applying the patch.
however, corsair has stopped shipment on their x256 drives, because they apparently do have some kind of firmware problem which is causing some disks to disappear permanently from the sata bus. i think that all these 256GB MLC drives are based on the indilix chip, and its likely that they all run the same firmware. so your crucial disk may have the same problem.
i don't know if crucial has a support forum, but it's worth looking to see if there is one. corsair is being very aggressive in doing RMAs and even giving you back a samsung-based SSD if you ask nicely. they seem to be taking this very seriously.
have you tried the performance update? in my experience it's worth a try.

Nvidia drivers crashing in Adobe Bridge, spinning pinwheel of death

Twice so far in Adobe Bridge my system will randomly lock up with the spinning pinwheel of death. The console shows these lines at the time of the freeze:
8/12/12 9:47:44.000 PM kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel timeout!
8/12/12 9:47:45.000 PM kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! exception type = 0x20 = PBDMA Error
8/12/12 9:48:05.000 PM kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel timeout!
8/12/12 9:48:05.000 PM kernel[0]: IOVendorGLContext::ReportGPURestart
8/12/12 9:48:05.000 PM kernel[0]: 0000006e
8/12/12 9:48:05.000 PM kernel[0]: 00000001 0000902d 00000000 00000000
8/12/12 9:48:05.000 PM kernel[0]: 00000000 00000100 00000000 00000009
8/12/12 9:48:05.000 PM kernel[0]: 00000000 00000000 00000000
8/12/12 9:48:05.000 PM kernel[0]: 00000000 00000000
8/12/12 9:48:05.000 PM kernel[0]: 0000006e
8/12/12 9:48:05.000 PM kernel[0]: 00000001 0000902d 00000000 00000000
8/12/12 9:48:05.000 PM kernel[0]: 00000000 00000100 00000000 00000009
8/12/12 9:48:05.000 PM kernel[0]: 00000000 00000000 03000821
8/12/12 9:48:05.000 PM kernel[0]: 00000000 00000000
8/12/12 9:48:05.000 PM kernel[0]: 0000006e
8/12/12 9:48:05.000 PM kernel[0]: 00000001 0000902d 00000000 00000000
8/12/12 9:48:05.000 PM kernel[0]: 00000000 00000100 00000000 00000009
8/12/12 9:48:05.000 PM kernel[0]: 00000000 00000000 00000000
8/12/12 9:48:05.000 PM kernel[0]: 00000000 00000000
8/12/12 9:48:05.000 PM kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! exception type = 0x20 = PBDMA Error
This obviously points to the Nvidia drivers crashing, but why? I'm currently using an Nvidia GTX 460 768MB in my Mac Pro, and I've never had this problem with any other applications. It seems to only be Bridge.

And you are assuming that the 460 will be supported of course which is not a given. The 570 and 670 seems to be okay and some use GTX 4xx but they also realized it can be iffy for support.

Dreaded pinwheel out of control!

I seem to be getting the dreaded pinwheel more and more often these days. I'm not sure what this means, but it makes me think I need to clean up my system somehow - are things clogged up maybe? I use my iBook G4 for personal use (mainly Safari, email, Excel, and Quicken). It gets really frustrating when I'm not doing anything complicated and I get the pinwheel and delayed performance.
Are there some maintenance tricks out there? Anybody?
Thanks!

Hi John!
Here are some additional thoughts.
What size is the Hard Drive, and how much free space is available?
How much RAM is installed, and is it original or addded?
Insufficient available space, can cause performance issues, system corruption, and possible loss of data.
Depending on Mac system usage habits, it is a general recommendation, to keep 10% to as much as 20%, of the Total capacity, available at all times.
Review the suggestions, in the documents that I have linked to below.
Authored by Dr Smoke:
Problems From Insufficient RAM And Free Hard Disk Space
Freeing Space On Your Mac OS X Startup Disk
Have you ever run any routine Maintenance procedures, as suggested in the articles linked to below?
Mac OS X 10.3/10.4: System Maintenance, authored by Gulliver
Maintaining Mac OS X, authored by Dr Smoke
Is the iBook shutdown overnight, or does it run 24/7?
If you turn the Mac off nightly, the Background Maintenance Tasks, are never run.
These can also be run, using a Third-Party utility, or manually using Terminal, to run the CRON Commands.
I use MacJanitor, when necessary.
INSTRUCTIONS TO RUN CRON MANUAL COMMANDS
Quit all applications/programs.
Navigate to HD > Applications > Utilities.
Double click on Terminal, to open.
At the prompt, type:
sudo periodic daily
Press Return.
Enter your Admin password when prompted, then press Return.
This will execute the daily script that is sheduled to run every night.
When completed, repeat this procedure, but change the command to:
sudo periodic weekly
This one rebuilds a database or two, and usually takes somewhat longer to complete. It is scheduled to run once a week.
Repeat again, with command:
sudo periodic monthly
Or they can all be run in one pass, which is preferable, with this command:
sudo periodic daily weekly monthly
When the tasks complete, and return to the prompt, you may quit Terminal.
Restart the Mac, and run Repair Permissions.
TO REPAIR PERMISSIONS ON THE STARTUP DISK
1.Open Disk Utility, located in Applications/Utilities, and select the startup disk in the left column.
2.Click First Aid.
3.Click Verify Disk Permissions to test permissions or Repair Disk Permissions to test and repair permissions. (I never "Verify". Just run "Repair".)
Rerun RP, until the only messages reported, are listed here Spurious Permissions Errors Using: 10.3.x, authored by Michael Conniff.
When "Repair Permissions" is complete. Quit "Disk Utility".
ali b

Dreaded pinwheel

for sometime now, I've been getting the dreaded pinwheel and continuing to force shut down my macbook. it happens when I type in my wep password for my router to connect to the internet and all of a sudden that rainbow colored wheel comes and never goes away. What could be the problem?

for sometime now, I've been getting the dreaded pinwheel and continuing to force shut down my macbook. it happens when I type in my wep password for my router to connect to the internet and all of a sudden that rainbow colored wheel comes and never goes away. What could be the problem?

Bluetooth Audio Breaks / Drops, very frequently

I have a Iphone 3G (OS 3.0.1) with a Philps SHB9000/10 Bluetooth Stereo Headset, the Audio just breaks/drops very frequently, (about every 30 sec or so). is it just me or a general problem with the phone.
It is better when the phone is stationary, like on a desk.
Please suggest a solution
Kind Regards,
Natarajan.

paired S9 with iphone 3G successfully just now. Running 3.0 OS. hadn't tried before. One problem encountered. Listening to Pandora, phone rang through headphones, I answered phone manually, and audio switched to normal phone speaker. When call was over, re-opened Pandora and audio came through phone speaker. Turned headset off and back on, and music resumed streaming through headset. Is there and easier way to toggle between phone and headset? not even sure if S9 has a mic...but I know someone out there knows the answer!!
Thanks.

My MacBook Pro is running very slow when using the internet and sometimes gives the pinwheel of death, any suggestions on how to fix?

My MacBook Pro is running very slow when using the internet and sometimes gives the pinwheel of death, any suggestions on how to fix?

<http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/sbbod.html>

Safari crashed and the mac keeps getting the pinwheel of death, especially when streaming. whats going on???

I was streaming a baseball game and safari crashed on me, i have a macbook air osx7.1. it said it sent a message to apple about the situation. been having problems with then pinwheel of death! especially when I'm streaming the pinwheel will pop up for no reason. does anyone have any idea what the problem could be??

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. Click Utilities, then Console in the icon grid.
Step 1
For this step, 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.
In the top right corner of the Console window, there's a search box labeled Filter. Initially the words "String Matching" are shown in that box. Enter the name of the crashed application or process. For example, if iTunes crashed, you would enter "iTunes" (without the quotes.)
Each message in the log begins with the date and time when it was entered. Select the messages from the time of the last crash, if any. Copy them 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 which is irrelevant to 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.
Step 2
In the Console window, select
          DIAGNOSTIC AND USAGE INFORMATION ▹ User Diagnostic Reports
(not Diagnostic and Usage Messages) from the log list on the left. There is a disclosure triangle to the left of the list item. If the triangle is pointing to the right, click it so that it points down. You'll see a list of crash reports. The name of each report starts with the name of the process, and ends with ".crash". Select the most recent report related to the process in question. The contents of the report will appear on the right. Use copy and paste to post the entire contents—the text, not a screenshot.
I know the report is long, maybe several hundred lines. Please post all of it anyway.
If you don't see any reports listed, but you know there was a crash, you may have chosen Diagnostic and Usage Messages from the log list. Choose DIAGNOSTIC AND USAGE INFORMATION instead.
In the interest of privacy, I suggest that, before posting, you edit out the “Anonymous UUID,” a long string of letters, numbers, and dashes in the header of the report, if it’s present (it may not be.)
Please don’t post other kinds of diagnostic report—they're very long and rarely helpful.

Why is it that it would take a very long time [if ever] to change or adjust the tempo of a loop in the audio track when i set it to adjust regions to locators? Until now the spinning wheel of death is still very much spinning. thanks for any help. Is th

Why is it that it would take a very long time [if ever] to change or adjust the tempo of a loop in the audio track when i set it to adjust regions to locators? Until now the spinning wheel of death is still very much spinning. thanks for any help.
Is there another way to adjust tempo of loops the faster way, any other technique?

No clue why the final processes have suddenly started to take so long. Two things I'd try: a) capture from an older tape to see if some problem with the new tape is at fault. And b) check the health of your RAM and the hard drive.
The red frame sounds a bit like a glitch we used to have in OnLocation (actually in its predecessor HDV Rack) which was caused by a partial GOP. But that was a product of HDV Rack recording from the live video stream. It turned out that HDV cameras intentionally interrupt the data stream for an instant upon starting to record--specifically to avoid recording a partial GOP to tape. So my gut says that the tape has partial GOPs at the points where you stopped/started recording.

I just replaced the hard drive for my Mac Pro, and I am trying to restore what is on my Time Capsule, but it wont connect, and only is giving me the pinwheel of death. What do i do?

I just replaced the hard drive for my Mac Pro, and I am trying to restore what is on my Time Capsule, but it wont connect, and only is giving me the pinwheel of death. What do i do?

You will need to boot from some alternate boot device to accomplish this, if you did not initialize the drive before installing it.
If you have another Mac, you may be able to use FireWire target disk mode.
If your MacBook has a DVD reader and you have a Mac OS X Installer/Utilities DVD, such as the one that shipped with it, you can boot from that DVD, answer only the "what Language" question, and wait a quarter minute for the MenuBar to be drawn. Then examine the Utilities menu or the Installer menu and Find Disk Utility.

TS3276 when I Open my Mail, I get the pinwheel of death and nothing else

When I try to open my mail, I get the pinwheel of death. Nothing happens. I have to force quit

Sounds like you want the "classic layout" (as in, the way Mail looked before Lion). Go to Mail -> Preferences, click the Viewing icon and check "Use classic layout."

I encounter the dreaded pinwheel of death very frequently.

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