IMac "Color Wheels" Despite Tons of Free CPU & Memory
Hello ASC,
That wretched spinning color wheel has been plaguing my iMac lately. I’ve keep an eye on the Activity Monitor and even when the wheel freezes up my Safari, Spotlight Search, Mail and Messages apps, my *free* CPU hardly dips below 97% and my available RAM is over 10GB (out of 16GB). A rudimentary knowledge of computers tells me that I shouldn’t be experiencing these lags in performance with numbers like these. (Note: I haven’t tested this much but it does seem that these lags are only happening with Apple apps; for example, it doesn’t happen with Spotify.)
I’ve ran an EtreCheck, which you can see below. It says my disk has "41 errors", though it doesn't get specific. I've "verified" my disk with the Disk Utility and couldn't find any errors. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
EtreCheck version: 2.1.8 (121)
Report generated March 30, 2015 at 11:55:41 AM MDT
Download EtreCheck from http://etresoft.com/etrecheck
Click the [Click for support] links for help with non-Apple products.
Click the [Click for details] links for more information about that line.
Hardware Information: ℹ️
iMac (27-inch, Late 2012) (Technical Specifications)
iMac - model: iMac13,2
1 3.4 GHz Intel Core i7 CPU: 4-core
16 GB RAM Upgradeable
BANK 0/DIMM0
8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok
BANK 1/DIMM0
8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok
BANK 0/DIMM1
Empty
BANK 1/DIMM1
Empty
Bluetooth: Good - Handoff/Airdrop2 supported
Wireless: en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n
Video Information: ℹ️
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX - VRAM: 2048 MB
iMac 2560 x 1440
System Software: ℹ️
OS X 10.10.2 (14C1514) - Time since boot: 0:39:19
Disk Information: ℹ️
APPLE HDD ST3000DM001 disk1 : (3 TB)
EFI (disk1s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB
Boot OS X (disk1s3) <not mounted> : 134 MB
Boot OS X (disk1s5) <not mounted> : 134 MB
Macintosh HD (disk2) / : 3.11 TB (3.00 TB free) - 41 errors
Core Storage: disk1s2 2.20 TB Online
Core Storage: disk1s4 801.44 GB Online
Core Storage: disk0s2 120.99 GB Online
Macintosh HD (disk2) / : 3.11 TB (3.00 TB free) - 41 errors
Core Storage: disk1s2 2.20 TB Online
Core Storage: disk1s4 801.44 GB Online
Core Storage: disk0s2 120.99 GB Online
APPLE SSD SM128E disk0 : (121.33 GB)
EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB
Boot OS X (disk0s3) <not mounted> : 134 MB
Macintosh HD (disk2) / : 3.11 TB (3.00 TB free) - 41 errors
Core Storage: disk1s2 2.20 TB Online
Core Storage: disk1s4 801.44 GB Online
Core Storage: disk0s2 120.99 GB Online
USB Information: ℹ️
Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)
Apple Inc. iPad
Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub
Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller
Thunderbolt Information: ℹ️
Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus
Gatekeeper: ℹ️
Mac App Store and identified developers
Launch Daemons: ℹ️
[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist [Click for support]
User Launch Agents: ℹ️
[loaded] com.bittorrent.uTorrent.plist [Click for support]
[running] com.spotify.webhelper.plist [Click for support]
User Login Items: ℹ️
Mail Application (/Applications/Mail.app)
uTorrent Application (/Applications/uTorrent.app)
BetterSnapTool Application (/Applications/BetterSnapTool.app)
Spotify Application Hidden (/Applications/Spotify.app)
Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️
FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 17.0.0.134 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]
Flash Player: Version: 17.0.0.134 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]
QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3
Default Browser: Version: 600 - SDK 10.10
3rd Party Preference Panes: ℹ️
Flash Player [Click for support]
Time Machine: ℹ️
Time Machine not configured!
Top Processes by CPU: ℹ️
3% WindowServer
2% Spotify
1% com.apple.WebKit.Networking
1% com.apple.WebKit.Plugin.64
1% Spotify Helper
Top Processes by Memory: ℹ️
309 MB mds_stores
275 MB Safari
155 MB com.apple.WebKit.Plugin.64
137 MB ocspd
86 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent
Virtual Memory Information: ℹ️
10.56 GB Free RAM
4.65 GB Active RAM
757 MB Inactive RAM
1.21 GB Wired RAM
1.34 GB Page-ins
0 B Page-outs
Diagnostics Information: ℹ️
Mar 30, 2015, 11:16:19 AM Self test - passed
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.
Similar Messages
-
My Mac is running very slowly. After reading other posts I have attempted to gather more info for an easier more accurate response but not being computer savy am unsure what is helpful/necessary. The utilized space is 231.6 GB with 88.13 GB free. Memory is 2.00 GB w/ 1.25 GB free and 771.8 MB used. The kernel_task root 1.1 63 205.3 MB intel. What can I do to increase the speed and stop the spinning wheel? Thanks for all your help.
See:
Mac Maintenance Quick Assist,
Mac OS X speed FAQ,
Speeding up Macs,
Macintosh OS X Routine Maintenance,
Essential Mac Maintenance: Get set up,
Essential Mac Maintenance: Rev up your routines,
Maintaining OS X,
Five Mac maintenance myths, and
Myths of required versus not required maintenance for Mac OS X for information. -
I have an iMac. , mid 2007. Frequently, when I take an action, the little color wheel starts spinning and goes on for quite awhile. Save a file, close a file, open a file, open a window, it's all random. Somtimes it stalls, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes long, sometims short. Why is this happening?
Consider adding more memory. Be sure you have adequate free space on the hard drive - 15 GBs or 10% of the drive's capacity, whichever is greater. Do not run too many applications concurrently. Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on resolving the SBBOD.
Do some maintenance:
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your Leopard Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
Kappy's Personal Suggestions for OS X Maintenance
For disk repairs use Disk Utility. For situations DU cannot handle the best third-party utilities are: Disk Warrior; DW only fixes problems with the disk directory, but most disk problems are caused by directory corruption; Disk Warrior 4.x is now Intel Mac compatible. Drive Genius provides additional tools not found in Disk Warrior. Versions 1.5.1 and later are Intel Mac compatible.
OS X performs certain maintenance functions that are scheduled to occur on a daily, weekly, or monthly period. The maintenance scripts run in the early AM only if the computer is turned on 24/7 (no sleep.) If this isn't the case, then an excellent solution is to download and install a shareware utility such as Macaroni, JAW PseudoAnacron, or Anacron that will automate the maintenance activity regardless of whether the computer is turned off or asleep. Dependence upon third-party utilities to run the periodic maintenance scripts was significantly reduced since Tiger. These utilities have limited or no functionality with Snow Leopard or Lion and should not be installed.
OS X automatically defragments files less than 20 MBs in size, so unless you have a disk full of very large files there's little need for defragmenting the hard drive. As for virus protection there are few if any such animals affecting OS X. You can protect the computer easily using the freeware Open Source virus protection software ClamXAV. Personally I would avoid most commercial anti-virus software because of their potential for causing problems. For more about malware see Macintosh Virus Guide.
I would also recommend downloading a utility such as TinkerTool System, OnyX 2.4.3, or Cocktail 5.1.1 that you can use for periodic maintenance such as removing old log files and archives, clearing caches, etc.
For emergency repairs install the freeware utility Applejack. If you cannot start up in OS X, you may be able to start in single-user mode from which you can run Applejack to do a whole set of repair and maintenance routines from the command line. Note that AppleJack 1.5 is required for Leopard. AppleJack 1.6 is compatible with Snow Leopard. There is no confirmation that this version also works with Lion.
When you install any new system software or updates be sure to repair the hard drive and permissions beforehand. I also recommend booting into safe mode before doing system software updates.
Get an external Firewire drive at least equal in size to the internal hard drive and make (and maintain) a bootable clone/backup. You can make a bootable clone using the Restore option of Disk Utility. You can also make and maintain clones with good backup software. My personal recommendations are (order is not significant):
Carbon Copy Cloner
Data Backup
Deja Vu
SuperDuper!
SyncTwoFolders
Synk Pro
Synk Standard
Tri-Backup
Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQs on maintenance, optimization, virus protection, and backup and restore.
Additional suggestions will be found in Mac Maintenance Quick Assist.
Referenced software can be found at CNet Downloads or MacUpdate.
Be sure you have an adequate amount of RAM installed for the number of applications you run concurrently. Be sure you leave a minimum of 10% of the hard drive's capacity as free space. -
When I am in e-mail, I sometimes get the spinning color wheel, which lock up everything. when it doesn't go away, I see on the activity monitor, that CPU usage is very high (99%), for a process calles " Safari web content'. When I click on the proccess and quite, the CPUusage goes way down. Problem is that I have to then log back in to e-mail. What can I do to eliminate this proble. thanks
How much FREE RAM do you have when this occurs. It's easy to tell, when it beach balls open Activity Monitor (Applications - Utilities - Activity Monitor) click the System Memory tab and note how much FREE RAM is listed. If it's 500MB or less it's time for a RAM upgrade.
-
I am new to Using Apple. I've had my Imac for about 5 months, Recently when I log on to my Yahoo mail, if I click on any of my email, or if I try to compose an email, the color wheel turns on and it just freezes up, I am not able to view my email. This only happens with my Yahoo mail. Someone please help? Any Suggestions?
Hi Lizzy..
If you are using web based email (accessing from Safari), from the Safari menu bar click Safari / Preferences then select the Security tab.
Click: Show Cookies
Delete all Yahoo cookies.
Now from the menu bar again click Safari / Empty Cache.
Restart your Mac, launch Safari. Try Yahoo.
If the problem persists, there's a better way to access your Yahoo mail without a browser.
Launch the Mail application. Either from your Dock or Applications folder.
From the Mail menu bar click Mail / Preferences then select the Accounts tab then the Account Information tab.
Click + under the Accounts window on the left.
Type in your name, Yahoo email address and password.
Click: Create
No more having to use Safari or any browser to access your Yahoo mail. Just click the Mail icon in the Dock. -
24" imac hanging with color wheel of dead using Lightroom 1.3 and Canon 10D
Trying to download for the first time my pictures from my Canon 10D using Adobe LightRoom 1.3 under Leopard 10.5.1 everytime after +/- 30 pictures the program and the finder hangs option command escape also does not do anything anymore only the color wheel spinning. Only solution a hard reboot.
Using Leopard 10.5.1 Lightroom 1.3 on my macbook pro (15" led display version) all the picutures from the camera get downloaded without any problems.
Under all other conditions the iMac so far has been without problems. Is this aproblem in the video driver?
Thanks,
RaimondTrying to download for the first time my pictures from my Canon 10D using Adobe LightRoom 1.3 under Leopard 10.5.1 everytime after +/- 30 pictures the program and the finder hangs option command escape also does not do anything anymore only the color wheel spinning. Only solution a hard reboot.
Using Leopard 10.5.1 Lightroom 1.3 on my macbook pro (15" led display version) all the picutures from the camera get downloaded without any problems.
Under all other conditions the iMac so far has been without problems. Is this aproblem in the video driver?
Thanks,
Raimond -
My imac keeps giving me a spinning color wheel when i open and close applications and also when I am typing in programs. It happens and spins and then releases. I have done the following: Run virus software and found no problems, I have reinstalled the operating system, I have reloaded Iworks software, I have checked system prefrerences and still the problem continues. What could the problem be and how can I correct the problem?
"the spinning wait cursor is displayed automatically by the window server when an application cannot handle all of the events it receives. If an application does not respond for about 2 to 4 seconds, the spinning wait cursor appears."
read how to troubleshoot: http://www.macworld.com/article/151583/2010/05/spinningbeachballofdeath.html -
Leopard 10.5.1 Lightroom 1.3 iMac 24" Canon 10D color wheel of death
Trying to download for the first time my pictures from my Canon 10D using Adobe LightRoom 1.3 under Leopard 10.5.1 everytime after +/- 30 pictures the program and the finder hangs option command escape also does not do anything anymore only the color wheel spinning. Only solution a hard reboot.
Using Leopard 10.5.1 Lightroom 1.3 on my macbook pro (15" led display version) all the picutures from the camera get downloaded without any problems.
Under all other conditions the iMac so far has been without problems. Is this aproblem in the video driver?
Thanks,
RaimondThanks for you answer. I repaired in the way as described above. There were some errors, some file index was wrong (don't remember exactly the phrase), now the DU reports the partition was successfully repaired / the volume appears to be ok.
The crashes in Safari are gone, but all other described problems still exist. Adobe CS3 is not really usable for me.
By the way, in iMacSoftwareUpdate 1.3, which was replaced by OSX 10.5.1 update, there is one extension called AppleVADriver.kext that does not exist in the OSX 10.5.1 update. Is it an important extension? -
IMac hangs on spinning color wheel when coming out of screen saver
Since updating to the latest version 10.5.5 my iMac hangs when coming out of screen saver mode with the spinning color wheel and I have to do a hard reboot.
I did some searching and it looks like this was also a problem back with and earlier version of 10.5
I use the pictures screen saver.
Anyone else have this problem since the last update??Medievalknight wrote:
I was so spoiled from not having to do anything with my iMac but enjoy it that it never occurred to me a little maintenance would be required.
Still compared to the Windows PC's I have around that I have to try and maintain once a day I think the Mac is a killer machine....
You should attend to your iMac. Even the best machines need periodic attention.
Like an iceberg, most of Leopard is "under the ocean" or as we say, "under the hood." There is an extremely powerful BSD OS down there and it is really that, not Leopard per se, that need an occasional "tweak."
Actually there are automatic routines that do much of the hidden maintenance but permissions repair is not one of them.
Again, you do not need to run permissions repair every day. Not even every month, but it's best to do it anytime you install new software - before and after installing the software.
Some, but not all of the issues you see here are the result of not maintaining the computer. -
I restarted my iMac and all I have is a gray screen and a color wheel .
I restarted my iMac about an hour ago and all I have is a gray screen and a rotating color wheel.
Follow the steps @ > Mac OS X: Gray screen appears during startup
-
I keep getting a spinning color wheel when I start safari or mail and it holds up my iMac for several minutes. At times I need to do a hard reset as it freezes e everything ... I'm stumped! Software is up to date ... Help!
den.thed wrote:
John has suggested rebuilding the Mail mailboxes. Once Mail is open, go to: Mailbox on the menu bar and select Rebuild.
As for Safari, is it opening and working if you open it before Mail and what if any Extensions are you using?
OK ... so I just restarted and opened Safari first ... no spinning ball. And I opened mail after hitting the rebuild, well, I'm missing messages from Dec. 24 - now, but it opened right away. Most messages are FB feeds, so it's not like I've lost anything important. So, initial thoughts ... John was a tremendous help, BUT, we shall see what happens when I try to open mail again ... and I'll try it first with the next restart or wake up ... so appreiciate the walk-thru on all of this! -
Everytime I open an app on my Imac the colored wheel spins and computer locks up without opening what I want. I can't get past my initial screen saver screen. Can't even go to Apple/AboutThis Mac... color wheel just starts and doesn't stop.
Care to share which OS you are using?
Check out: Troubleshoot the spinning beach ball/freezing & crashing and Troubleshoot the spinning beach ball -
IMac - Mac OS X Lion 10.7.5 (11G63b) - when in Safari freezes color wheel spins
when in Safari the screen freezes color wheel spins
Hello NWSunshine,
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
If an application on your computer becomes unresponsive, in this case it's Safari, you can force the application to quit by following the directions in the article linked to below.
OS X: How to quit an unresponsive application using Force Quit - Apple Support
Take care,
Alex H. -
Seems like suddenly Logic is giving me lots of color wheels. When I open a project, the first click on anything will produce a color wheel and a long delay. If I audition a drum loop, I get a color wheel. Recently lost my "open recent" menu as if someone had cleared it. Logic is the only program open when I'm using it. My machine has plenty of available memory (over 800 GB on the HD). Do I need to upgrade to 9.0.2? I'm always afraid of the upgrades. Thanks.
Yes, update, not to 9.0.2, but straight to 9.1.5. Being afraid to update makes no sense when you are on a x.0.0 version, which tend to be the buggiest versions anyway; you should be afraid to be stuck too long with a .0.0 version.
-
What is causing the little color wheel on my screen to appear more and more? Is there something I can do to "fix" the problem? Do I need to clear out something on my computer?
Dman3284 wrote:
Thanks, I'll give it a try.
BTW - I love the little bug crawling around!! Where can I get one?
From me! If you're adventurous, do a Google search.
Maybe you are looking for
-
try to open itunes and a error message pops un asking to reinstall that it did not complete. I re did it and same thing pops up. I tried to uninstall everything start from scratch, still same message pops up HELP
-
Scheduling Agreement-View Changes Made with a T-code
Dear All, I have a requirement wherein our client wants to view the changes or updation that has happened over a period of time in the scheduling agreement, ie changes in quantity and changes in dates. For example; we have MM04 wherein we can see the
-
Duplicate song listings on ipod classic
I can't figure this out. I have duplicate song listings (at least a doz.) on my ipod. Once I connect to iTunes on my computer and look at my music in the ipod section, there are no duplicates (and none in my library either). Also, when going thru the
-
Quicktime edited video 4x3 not 16/9
I edited a short video in FCP shot in HD. Sequence is set to ntsc anamorphic. When I go to export it as a Quick Time Movie. Once rendered. it's squeezed 4x3 not 16/9. I was hoping to make simple HD DVD in IDVD. I kind of wanted to avoid using compres
-
Storing a file in a BLOB field in the database through forms
Hi, I want to have a form that lets the user choose a file he has on his client side and load this file into a BLOB field in the database. I know how to use "GET_FILE_NAME" to get the file, the second part is what I'm having problems with. Do I use a