Mac Pro - Slow boot, Slow performance

Hello,
I have a mac pro quad 2.66 running 10.4.11 , 1GB ram . I have a pro tools pciE core card in the computer, 2 20" cinema displays, 1 glyph external firewire 400 drive, and 1 western digital usb hard drive connected to the computer.
Recently the computer started booting really slow, like 5 minutes slow. then the computer started to run extremely slow as well, like un-usable slow. my macbook 1.83 is like a super machine in comparison. If I double click an icon (like finder or cd drive) it takes about 5 - 10 seconds to show the icon is highlighted then another 10 - 20 seconds to open the finder window.
As of now, the computer can sometimes take up to 10 - 15 minutes to boot up, there is no more "startup" noise, and i cant seem to get the computer to boot off of the osx disk. I hold down C from the moment i turn on the computer and i hold it down for about 15 minutes and the computer still starts from the hard drive. the super drive is still working because it can read the disk fine once it boots up.
i dont know what to do, i opened up the computer, it looks somewhat dirty inside. i thought about trying to clean it and see if that helps, dont know what to clean it with though. computer duster? (if thats even the problem). I was thinking some sort of ram error or something, but i dont know if that explains why i cant boot from the install disk to try and repair the startup HD.
please help, thanks in advance,
br

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Western%20Digital/WD6400AAKS/
http://www.barefeats.com/harper14.html
Great replacement - and worth every penny of $82 to avoid and fix this, and because your system will run better.
Resetting PRAM/NVRAM
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=2238
SMC - System Management Controller
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1806
Most articles are easily found at Mac Pro Support
http://www.apple.com/support/macpro/
It is a good idea to insure new memory works by itself; to run Apple Hardware Test (OEM DVD boot with "D" to run Extended Test) once, too. And yes, 4 x 2GB would be better and loss of 1GB won't help enough. Still have room to add 4 x 1GB or more down the road.
You keep the four keys held down through 3 complete restart cycles before you release the keys.
If the system forgets where to boot from, which this will trigger, hold the OPTION key. Also, it should still boot but have to scan for a valid boot drive system.... which is what your problem, in part, sounds like (except for some other issues).
Yes, great on UPS and backups. But it is also "wise" for you or your department, to have some emergency boot drives (FireWire 800 is great) for repairs, maintenance and to make changes - and to rule out the drive is functioning. A bad block sector can ruin everything and cause days of fixing, when having a backup or alternate would be... your own personal "UPS" - redundancy. Some servers have redundant PSU and other components, a "spare tire" if you will.
Finder: Go to Folder (under one of the menus or just use "Command + Shift + G" and type "var/vm" will show you the location of swap files, which is normally a hidden folder. Nice to get to know a couple places where some things are stored. Also, look at Activity Monitor. Leopard seems to have more information on pageouts, VM, and swap files being used.
SmcFanControl is a little background utility that most of us use, that helps especially in summer or with some upgrade cards to keep everything run cooler, like FBDIMM RAM. The default fan rpm is 499-599 while setting it even to 799 will make enough difference to drop the temperature or keep temps below threshold.
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/23049/smcfancontrol
Which brings up another - monitoring the temperature of cpu, memory, etc. I use Hardware Monitor, many use iStatPro or Temperature Monitor. All easy to find on MacUpdate while there. All of them don't have any negative side effect - lean and mean and the "less is more" philosophy keeps a system running its smoothest and error free, so normally I avoid installing what I don't need, and avoid the potential for conflicts, but these are fine, been using for 2 yrs, since I got Mac Pro.
http://www.bresink.com/osx/HardwareMonitor.html - he knows his stuff and has contributed to discussions on system memory temps.
System Startup key commands:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303124
Long startup times:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86639
Repairing your startup drive (rather than use DVD though, much better to have TechTool Pro http://www.micromat.com )
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.5/en/8492.html

Similar Messages

  • HT1338 hi what antivirus is best in macbook pro???and may mac pro is go slow?

    hi what antivirus is best in macbook pro???and may mac pro is go slow?

    Forget about viruses, and don't install Sophos, which is worthless.
    First, back up all data immediately, as your boot drive might be failing.
    One possible cause of a slow user interface is a large number of image or video files on the Desktop with preview icons. If you have more than a dozen or so such files, move them to another folder.
    Otherwise, take these steps when you notice the problem.
    Step 1
    Launch the Activity Monitor 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 Activity Monitor in the icon grid.
    Select the CPU tab of the Activity Monitor window.
    Select All Processes from the menu in the toolbar, if not already selected.
    Click the heading of the % CPU column in the process table to sort the entries by CPU usage. You may have to click it twice to get the highest value at the top. What is it, and what is the process? Also post the values for % User, % System, and % Idle at the bottom of the window.
    Select the System Memory tab. What values are shown in the bottom part of the window for Page outs and Swap used?
    Next, select the Disk Activity tab. Post the approximate values shown for Reads in/sec and Writes out/sec (not Reads in and Writes out.)
    Step 2
    You must be logged in as an administrator to carry out this step.
    Launch the Console application in the same way as above. Make sure the title of the Console window is All Messages. If it isn't, select All Messages from the SYSTEM LOG QUERIES menu on the left.
    Post the 50 or so most recent messages in the log — the text, please, not a screenshot.
    When posting a log extract, be selective. Don't post more than is requested.
    Please do not indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into a message.
    Important: Some personal information, such as your name, may appear in the log. Edit it out before posting.

  • Mac Pro 2006 boots into OS fine but graphics freezes on grey apple logo

    When I boot my Mac Pro it boots into Mac OS X fine. I can access it remotely and all seems fine however the monitor only displays the grey apple with the whit background. I know the graphics card isnt over heating because I have removed any dirt/dust and had additional fans blowing the card and it is running cool.
    does this mean the graphics card is dead? if so what can i replace it with as the machine is now 5 years old?
    the current graphics card is a GeForce 8800 GT.

    That last one is not a good sign. Kernel panic when starting from an installer DVD either mean you are using an installer version that cannot boot your model or there's a hardware problem.
    I'm thinking your original thought may be valid. It would be provable if you had another GPU to try, but if you don't then I suppose you should replace the one you have. Of those available the ATI 5770 is an excellent replacement choice for both performance and cost unless you want to look for a different replacement card on eBay.

  • Mac pro cannot boot after upgrade to 10.8.3

    My Mac Pro cannot boot after upgrade to 10.8.3. Anything firmware I can reset or how should I do.
    I am using a early 2008 Mac Pro

    Can you boot into safe mode? http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1455
    If not, how about Recovery? http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4718
    If you can, run Disk Utlity and repair the disk. You can try rebooting normally, but I would just reinstall after quitting Disk Utility.

  • HT4818 Boot from laptop's Windows Hard Drive in Mac Pro via Boot Camp

    I have a work laptop that is on Windows 7.  It's a work hard drive so I don't want to mess with it (particularly as it's encrypted).  I basically want to use it on my Mac Pro rather than my piece of junk standard issue laptop when I'm working from home.
    What I would like to do is pull the drive out, put it in my Mac Pro and boot from it using Boot Camp.  Guidance I've seen so far talks about not being able to use an external drive but having to partition an internal drive.  However, if I've got everything on a separate drive (i.e. my laptop's drive), will this work?
    Thanks!

    Thanks for the quick (and no nonsense) response!

  • I have put Windows 8 on my Mac pro, in boot camp, no I am unable to load drivers

    I have put Windows 8 on my Mac pro, in boot camp, no I am unable to load drivers to get it working as it should. I have tryed Winows 7 Con, in setup.

    Did you download the drivers to a FAT32 formatted USB drive per the instructions?

  • Mac pro wont boot or chime

    Mac pro wont boot or chime

    you don't know how to provide more details or what you have tried or are you just lost?
    What OS is on it? and this is a 4-drive 65 lb workstation and not a MacBook Pro notebook.
    Safe Boot
    Lion or ML Recovery Mode
    Reset SMC
    Kernel Panic
    Resolving Kernal Panics
    http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/kernelpanics.html
    http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-10344626-263.html
    http://macs.about.com/od/usingyourmac/qt/Troubleshooting-Os-X-Kernel-Panics.htm
    http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3742
    Mac OS X Help 
    Isolating Issues in Mac OS
    http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1388
    https://www.apple.com/support/osx/
    https://www.apple.com/support/quickassist/
    http://www.apple.com/support/mac101/help/
    http://www.apple.com/support/mac101/tour/
    Get Help with your Product
    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304725
    TimeMachine 101
    https://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427
    Mac OS X & Mountain Lion Community
    https://discussions.apple.com/community/mac_os
    https://discussions.apple.com/community/mac_os/os_x_mountain_lion?view=discussio ns
    Recovery Mode
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718 
    ExpressLane
    https://expresslane.apple.com/
    Startup Manager: How to select a startup volume
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1310 
    Troubleshooting: My computer won't turn on
    https://support.apple.com/kb/TS1367
    And just in case....
    MacBook Pro
    https://discussions.apple.com/community/notebooks/macbook_pro
    https://discussions.apple.com/community/mac_os?view=discussions 
    http://www.apple.com/support/macbookpro

  • Mac Pro / Cinema Display slow boot time

    Hi there,
    I have a late 2008 Mac Pro, running OSX 10.6.8 and it is connected to a 23" Apple Cinema Display.
    A couple of days ago I noticed that when I switched the Mac on, the display would not turn on.
    I forced it to shut down by holding the power button, and tried again, but nothing.
    Today I switched it on, and again the display did not turn on, but I left it like that, and after about 25 minutes it turned on.
    I shut it down from finder, and switched it back on and it worked instantly.
    I used Disk Utility to clean up my disk, but I can't run a Disk Utility or Hardware Test from the CD, as the optical drive has not been working well for a few years.
    I am guessing that it may be the display needing a while to "warm up" so it is dying, or that it might be a RAM issue that after the first long boot resolves itself.
    Any thoughts as to how I should look into this more?
    Thanks!!

    I used Disk Utility to clean up my disk, but I can't run a Disk Utility or Hardware Test from the CD, as the optical drive has not been working well for a few years.
    Never use DVDs myself, definitely not for repairs.
    Install OS X or clone the drive and have a 2nd bootable backup.
    CCC can check files with checkum for integrity during copy (have to go into advanced options for copy operation).
    Always have even a small boot drive handy. Even a flash drive can serve your purposes.
    DU checks the directory. You don't clean up, not with DU and not with 3rd party "cleaner" apps.
    You can do a Safe Boot, or try, and even run fsck -fy in Single User Mode in a pinch - the Safe Boot though you should try.
    I would suspect the GPU. Beyond that, just 2008-itis that affects these 3,1 models more than any other. And yes SMC and NVRAM reset and remove all devices. Even slide out the disk drives and anything else. And press the power on button for 10 seconds while unplugged, to fully reset. NRAM is done from cold boot and the old 4-finger salute of P+R+CMD+OPT keys.

  • The mac pro run very slow

    Mac pro run very slow

    First, back up all data immediately, as your boot drive might be failing.
    There are a few other possible causes of generalized slow performance that you can rule out easily.
    Reset the System Management Controller.
    If you have many image or video files on the Desktop with preview icons, move them to another folder.
    If applicable, uncheck all boxes in the iCloud preference pane.
    Disconnect all non-essential wired peripherals and remove aftermarket expansion cards, if any.
    Check your keychains in Keychain Access for excessively duplicated items.
    Otherwise, take the steps below when you notice the slowdown.
    Step 1
    Launch the Activity Monitor 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 Activity Monitor in the icon grid.
    Select the CPU tab of the Activity Monitor window.
    Select All Processes from the menu in the toolbar, if not already selected.
    Click the heading of the % CPU column in the process table to sort the entries by CPU usage. You may have to click it twice to get the highest value at the top. What is it, and what is the process? Also post the values for % User, % System, and % Idle at the bottom of the window.
    Select the System Memory tab. What values are shown in the bottom part of the window for Page outs and Swap used?
    Next, select the Disk Activity tab. Post the approximate values shown for Reads in/sec and Writes out/sec (not Reads in and Writes out.)
    Step 2
    If you have more than one user account, you must be logged in as an administrator to carry out this step.
    Launch the Console application in the same way you launched Activity Monitor. Make sure the title of the Console window is All Messages. If it isn't, select All Messages from the SYSTEM LOG QUERIES menu on the left. If you don't see that menu, select
    View ▹ Show Log List
    from the menu bar.
    Select the 50 or so most recent entries in the log. Copy them to the Clipboard (command-C). Paste into a reply to this message (command-V). You're looking for entries at the end of the log, not at the beginning.
    When posting a log extract, be selective. Don't post more than is requested.
    Please do not indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.
    Important: Some personal information, such as your name, may appear in the log. Anonymize before posting. That should be easy to do if your extract is not too long.

  • Mac Pro 8-Core - Slow, spinning ball, more...

    I have a new Mac Pro 8-Core. Equipped with 2x500GB drives, 4GB RAM, X1990 Video Card, Airport/Bluetooth, etc...
    I use many apps, CS3, mail, safari, FTP, Coda, and more, all day, everyday. The problem I am having is about performance. I replaced a dual core G5 with 8GB RAM with this one, and my G5 hardly ever gave me the spinning 'wait-for-it' ball, yet this one seems plaqued with it. Simply put, this machine is wicked slow, clumsy, and not at all what I expected. I have done the usual fix-its, including reinstalling the OS and even wiping the drive completely and installing the OS. Is it me, or is it this 8-Core?
    I'd like to know if any other owners of the 8-Core have similar issues, or issues at all.
    Thank you in advance for any responses to this post. Before taking this up with AppleCare I'd like to have some others experiences so I don't look like a fool when I do call.
    Mac Pro 8-Core - MBP 17"   Mac OS X (10.4.9)  

    Thank you, some very helpful hints as to what might be causing this. Here are some responses you might be interested in. Letters respond to each of your suggestions.
    A. - Probably. I'm watching RAM prices every day. I just don't have $400 to spend on RAM with the iPhone coming next month.
    B. - I never use this, so that can't be the problem.
    C. - Will look into this some more....Thanks, never heard this before now.
    D. - Agreed. I wish there were an easy way to list everything running in Rosetta.
    E. - The issues do remain when NOT running any CS3 apps, as for dedicated scratch drive, I've been thinking about this. But even more, I've been hearing a LOT about those fast 75GB 10k SATA drives (forget the name though)... seems a lot of people are using these as their boot drive. Any thoughts?
    F. - See above
    G. - Will do, thanks!
    H. - Done that... no issues found, so far.
    I. - Not sure how to access this... however, here are some numbers from Activity Monitor. Do these make sense to you?
    VM SIZE: 13.47GB (this seems to grow as more apps are opened)
    Page In/Outs: 54378/0
    Of course, right this second I'm only typing in Safari, everything else is idle.
    What concerns me, and I don't know if it should, is the size of the VM. Thinking years back I thought that if you had enough RAM you wouldn't use any Virtual Memory. Is this still the case? Would more RAM decrease the VM size in a new Mac?
    Also, I have 2 1TB OWC FW800 hard drives hooked up to my Mac. These are 2 disks each, 500GB each drive, set up in RAID 1. Each drive (WD) has 16MB of cache, so accessing these drives "should" be fast. However, any time, and I mean any time, I try to access one of these drives my computer takes at least 10 full seconds to display the contents of the drives, I get the spinning ball and I cannot do anything else while the computer tries to list the contents and open the drive. Is this to be expected?
    Thanks for the help, I truly appreciate it.

  • My mac pro is to slow

    One month ago, my macpro start to work to slow, some apps it not working well. I already use the test hardware and software of apple. the results is the mac pro don´t have any problem. But still working slow and when i open a program or app the mac start to think and think and didn´t work well.
    Can you help me? thanks a lot

    Could be many things, a full boot drive, a corrupted, damaged or failing one, software issues/malware/anti-malware etc.
    Why is my computer slow?
    ..Step by Step to fix your Mac
    If your not savvy with computers yet, seek the services of a local PC/Mac tech, they can speed your machine up.

  • My mac pro became very slow

    suddenly my mac pro and the imac started to get very slow. it take's up to 10 seconds to show what is inside a folder
    can anyone please give me some help?
    thx

    A system disk drive needs 10GB or more of free space, at least 10% free (20% minimum recommended). You can end up losing files, a corrupt directory (or even no directory at all if it were to try to update or write to the directory and can't)
    Your 8GB of RAM (memory) is separate, the system will page out to disk if it thinks it needs more memory or to free some memory pages - and it can't.
    I try to keep the system boot drive to 50% free and use a fast drive.
    Try cloning the system to a new drive for one.
    Don't use the system as it is.
    Using Cloning as a Backup Strategy
    http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/7032/carbon-copy-cloner 
    http://www.bombich.com/software/updates/ccc-3.5.html
    OS X Lion Install to Different Drive
    How to create an OS X Lion installation disc MacFixIt
    Migration Assistant Update for Mac OS X Snow Leopard
    http://www.apple.com/support/lion/installrecovery/
    Create an OS X Lion Install disc
    http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-20080989-263/how-to-create-an-os-x-lion-ins tallation-disc
    How to clone your system:
    http://macperformanceguide.com/Mac-HowToClone-backup.html
    http://macperformanceguide.com/Mac-HowToClone.html
    http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/7032/carbon-copy-cloner
    http://www.macperformanceguide.com/blog/2012/20120711_2-MacPro-internal-clone-ba ckup.html

  • New Mac Pro 6.1 slow for some tasks, any ideas?

    May new Mac Pro 6.1 (6 core, 64 GB RAM, D700's) is running very slow for 2 specific tasks.
    OS X 10.9.3  PS CC 14.2.1
    Open Canon 5D3 Camera Raw files takes 30 seconds.
    Smart Sharpen 5D3 file takes 75 seconds.
    That is WAY slower than my 6 year old Mac Pro 3.1!
    Everything else runs quickly and efficiently on the 6.1, but it almost freezes during these 2 tasks.  Not good!  As a photographer who processes hundreds of 5D3 RAW files at a time this is a big problem for me.
    I found this article explaing issues with the graphics;
    http://macperformanceguide.com/blog/2014/20140308_1-Photoshop-sharpening-speed.html
    However my performance is way worse than reported here.
    I hope to find a solution...

    Thanks for your input Noel.
    I have unchecked Use Graphics Processor and the time for opening a RAW file remains around 30 seconds and to smart sharpen is now 100 seconds (up from 75).
    In the activity monitor, I get between 500 and 600% use of the processors when opening RAW and 800% during sharpening.
    A few seconds after clicking open in ACR, I get a dialogue box with the blue bar almost complete for a fraction of a second, then it disappears and another box appears (half the hight of the first one) and starts with only a small part completed, then takes it 30 seconds to finish.  It's like it tried to open in a normal way and failed, then another very slow backup process took over.
    In the top righ corner of the Smart Sharpen dialogue box, I tried selecting "Use Legacy", then it sharpens in about 3 seconds!
    Also of note, when opening a RAW file or smart sharpening, the computer becomes very slow and unresponsive, even to get mail or surf the internet.  Even streaming radio in iTunes cuts in and out or cuts out completely.  As if the entire system is overwhelmed.  Despite having 2 or 3 cores unused and at least 40 GB of unused RAM.
    Not what I was expecting from a very expensive upgrade in the hopes of cutting down the amount of computer time per image file!

  • My Mac Pro is getting slower and slower

    I have an Mac Pro early 2009 version which is getting slower and slower. Startup time is about 3 minutes. How can I fix this?
    Thank you.

    If you have more than one user account, these instructions must be carried out as an 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. Click Utilities, then Console in the icon grid.
    Step 1
    Make sure the title of the Console window is All Messages. If it isn't, select All Messages from the SYSTEM LOG QUERIES menu on the left. If you don't see that menu, select
    View ▹ Show Log List
    from the menu bar.
    Enter "BOOT_TIME" (without the quotes) in the search box. Note the timestamps of those log messages, which refer to the times when the system was booted. Now clear the search box and scroll back in the log to the last boot time when you had the problem. Select the messages logged after the boot, during the time something abnormal was happening. Copy them to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. Paste into a reply to this message (command-V).
    For example, if the problem is a slow startup taking three minutes, post the messages timestamped within three minutesafter the boot time, not before. Please include the BOOT_TIME message at the beginning of the log extract.
    If there are runs of repeated messages, post only one example of each. Don’t post many repetitions of the same message.
    When posting a log extract, be selective. In most cases, a few dozen lines are more than enough.
    Please do not indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.
    Important: Some private information, such as your name, may appear in the log. Anonymize before posting.
    Step 2
    Still in Console, look under System Diagnostic Reports for crash or panic logs, and post the entire contents of the most recent one, if any. In the interest of privacy, I suggest you edit out the “Anonymous UUID,” a long string of letters, numbers, and dashes in the header of the report, if present (it may not be.) Please don’t post any other kind of diagnostic report, such as hang logs — they're very long and not helpful.

  • HELP - Mac Pro Running Very Slow (After Additional RAM Installed)

    I have recently upgraded my Mac Pro (2007) and increased the original memory up to 10 GB 667 MHz DDR2-F8-DIMM.
    I also added an optical disk drive as the original would not play some of the newer DVDs/DVRs. Believe me, I'm not much of a do-it-your-selfer, but was encouraged by How-To DVDs on the net on how to install memory and the optical drive.
    I am using Mac OS 10.5.8 and the original processor is 2 x 3 GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon.
    Just when I thought all was well, over the last few weeks my MAC has been getting slower and slower. Now, whenever I re-start or shut down, the Mac can take upwards of 5 minutes to come up. It hangs on the blue screen for what seems to be an eternity. Now whenever I use Safari or Firefox, the rainbow wheel spins and spins and this did not happen much before my "upgrade".
    If someone would be kind enough to walk me through or educate me on how/why this is happening, I would be very grateful!
    Sincerely,
    Don

    Did you try with just the new RAM? what was it, and you added.... 4 x2GB?
    Riser A: 2-2-512-512
    Riser B: 2-2-512-512
    The ideal balance is symmetrical sets of four.
    Clone your system and run Disk Warrior, reformat your fastest drive for system, and restore with SuperDuper. Or try starting over with clean install, would be useful as an emergency and backup, especially as it seems possibly overdue for some maintenance.
    Make sure you have 30-40% free on disk drive, and add more if you haven't to separate scratch and data from system.
    Run AHT and something like Memtest or Rember. Memtest you can run 40 concurrently each in its own Terminal window makes it go fast for even 5 cycles.

Maybe you are looking for