Learned New Tricks I'd like to share

[Sprocket]

Hello Everyone,
I don't often visit because I'm mainly a Linux user, but I do have several Macs (one desktop and two MacBook Pros that my wife and daughter use).
A little while back I was able to acquire a 2012 MacBook Pro for my daughter to use for school. I got it cheap and it was in great shape (i5, 16GB ram). The only issue was that the DVD drive no longer worked, which she would have never used anyway. After using it for a while she complained that it had gotten so slow she couldn't use it. In addition, there were times when the screen would just go black and it had to be restarted. I determined that the old spinning 5400rpm hard drive was probably the problem (I think it was overheating.). I knew the only way to make a noticeable difference in speed was to replace the drive with a new SSD. I did this and it did indeed speed up the laptop, but the startup screen locked up for a good 45 seconds before the Apple logo showed up.

Once booted, it was as fast as new machine. However she was still very annoyed at the slow screen at startup (she is a little impatient like that.) So, I learned that PRAM reset may help.

Well, PRAM reset not only did the trick, but the new drive did stop the black screen occurrence as well. I also removed the inoperable DVD drive and put the original drive in its place with a compatible cradle. Now, this ten year old MacBook Pro runs as fast and stable as my wife's 2021 model.

If this information is of any help to anyone else with this problem. the procedure for PRAM reset is easily found on the net. I don't know what this procedure actually does, but it worked wonders for me.

Bob

 

[TonyAguila]

Hello Everyone,
I don't often visit because I'm mainly a Linux user, but I do have several Macs (one desktop and two MacBook Pros that my wife and daughter use).
A little while back I was able to acquire a 2012 MacBook Pro for my daughter to use for school. I got it cheap and it was in great shape (i5, 16GB ram). The only issue was that the DVD drive no longer worked, which she would have never used anyway. After using it for a while she complained that it had gotten so slow she couldn't use it. In addition, there were times when the screen would just go black and it had to be restarted. I determined that the old spinning 5400rpm hard drive was probably the problem (I think it was overheating.). I knew the only way to make a noticeable difference in speed was to replace the drive with a new SSD. I did this and it did indeed speed up the laptop, but the startup screen locked up for a good 45 seconds before the Apple logo showed up.

Once booted, it was as fast as new machine. However she was still very annoyed at the slow screen at startup (she is a little impatient like that.) So, I learned that PRAM reset may help.

Well, PRAM reset not only did the trick, but the new drive did stop the black screen occurrence as well. I also removed the inoperable DVD drive and put the original drive in its place with a compatible cradle. Now, this ten year old MacBook Pro runs as fast and stable as my wife's 2021 model.

If this information is of any help to anyone else with this problem. the procedure for PRAM reset is easily found on the net. I don't know what this procedure actually does, but it worked wonders for me.

Bob

I loved my 2012 MacBook Pro. Mine came with the SSD but I needed a larger one. It’s one of the last ones that you can easily open up to replace the SSD. I must have done the same for three or four clients in the past. I can only add, in addition to resetting the parameter RAM, is to do an SMC reset. Also, keep in mind that whenever you reset the PRAM, you also disable TRIM, which can be detrimental to the SSD’s long-term health. To re-enable TRIM, enter this command in Terminal:

sudo trimforce enable

Press return, enter you admin password, and acknowledge the prompts to complete. It will require a reboot.

 

[Sprocket]

Thank you, Tony. It hadn't occurred to me that TRIM would be disabled. I have now re-enabled it. I wasn't even familiar with TRIM support until I studied replacing the drives and I came across TRIM. Even though they are both descendants of UNIX, the MacOS is very different to Linux (although some terminal commands are common to both.) I have a M1 Mac Mini as well, and nothing I have come across compares to that in the Mac ecosystem. I love it, but I predominately only use it for video editing with DaVinci Resolve. Linux is still my goto system.

Thanks again for your help.

Bob

 

[TonyAguila]

Regarding sharing tips, I just learned that if you are using Safari Technology Preview, updates come via System Settings (Ventura) or System Preferences -> Software Update. I was made aware of an update for Safari Technology Preview but it would not come up in System Settings, not even on multiple tries. To double-check, I opened Terminal and entered this command:

softwareupdate -l --include-config-data

and sure enough, it showed the available update. I didn’t use Terminal to do the update. Instead, I opened System Settings again to check for the update, and this time it showed up and I was able to do the update. This might also apply to other updates/upgrades. No harm in trying to get a “second opinion.”