mid 2012 Macbook pro having big problems

[ratedgnar]

Processor 2.9 GHz Intel Core i7
Memory 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Graphics Intel HD Graphics 4000 1024 MB
Software OS X 10.9.5 (13F34)
750 GB SATA disk

About a week ago my mac slowed right down. I am not able to open anything or click on anything without getting the pinwheel for a minute or longer. I have tried everything that apple suggests to fix a slow mac: I have repaired my disk permissions and verified my disk, after verifying it said my disk was ok. I reinstalled OSX (this seemed to make it worse). After all of this I wiped my hardrive as I didn't have anything that I needed to save. This didn't work either.
Summary of Problems:
-Super slow, getting pinwheel all the time
-gets really hot when plugged in
-battery dies even when mac is closed (in sleep mode)

 

[oldscribe]

Hi and welcome,

battery dies even when mac is closed (in sleep mode)

Sounds like there is some application running

gets really hot when plugged in

Or you have a battery issue, please give year of Mac and model.

 

[ratedgnar]

Macbook pro, 13-inch, mid 2012
Built-in Display: 13-inch (1280 x 800), Intel HD Graphics 4000 1024 MB graphics
Model Name: MacBook Pro

Model Identifier: MacBookPro9,2

Processor Name: Intel Core i7

Processor Speed: 2.9 GHz

Number of Processors: 1

Total Number of Cores: 2

L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB

L3 Cache: 4 MB

Memory: 8 GB

Boot ROM Version: MBP91.00D3.B08

SMC Version (system): 2.2f44

Serial Number (system): C02J80QQDV31

Hardware UUID: 95BFC581-3436-557D-9735-376FD7F8595D

I have also realized that my fan runs 24/7

 

[honestone]

Based on your last comment, I suspect oldscribe is correct, that there is some program running. The one possible way to find out if that is the case is to launch the program called "Activity Monitor", which is contained in the Utilities folder within your Applications folder. Once you get that up and running, choose the CPU option first. That will list, in descending order, what processes are taking up whatever percentage of the CPU they are using. The Memory and Disk options would also be helpful.

Next, supposedly the battery inside your machine is non-swappable by the user (you). But, you can replace it yourself, in case you need to. But, the first thing you need to decipher is what is causing the battery to drain so quickly, and why the fan keeps running.

Just out of curiosity, please let us the know the exact steps you took when you wiped your hard drive. Did you use Disk Utility for this, and if you did, where did you run that from (running it from an external drive would be the best)? Also, when you wiped your drive, how "fast" of an erase process this you use? Maybe you should choose the Most Secure option to do that. Additionally, did you do a clean install of Mavericks (OS 10.9), and then applied the Como Updater 10.9.5? THe Combo Updater would be the best to use.

 

[ratedgnar]

I used disk utility and no outside sources beyond wifi. I clicked the erase button and it erased pretty quickly. I'm pretty sure it wasn't a clean instal, I didn't realize there was an option to instal it another way. My activity monitor didn't pick up anything unusual.

 

[honestone]

I used disk utility and no outside sources beyond wifi. I clicked the erase button and it erased pretty quickly. I'm pretty sure it wasn't a clean instal, I didn't realize there was an option to instal it another way. My activity monitor didn't pick up anything unusual.

First of all, where did you run Disk Utility from? If, for example, you run it off an external drive that has the Install OS X Mavericks Disk Image file (the best way), then clicking on that, and running Disk Utility from there, when you choose Erase for your hard drive, besides choosing the format (Mac OS Extended (Journaled), you would click on the Security Options, and then get a screen that has a slider for choosing Secure Erase Options. By default, the OS has that set to Fastest, but in your case, it would be best to slide the slider all the way to the right, where it says Most Secure. That will take it long time to erase the disk, but it will definitely do an excellent job and get rid of everything.

Next, you would then Install Mavericks OS 10.9 "as is", that is, just install everything, and from that external location. Once that's done, your MacBook Pro (hopefully) will boot up normally. Then, apply the Combo Updater 10.9.5. Assuming everything proceeds as normal, you could then install each of your applications one by one.

Next, you need to try and charge the battery. If it can be fully charged, and there is no excessive running of the fan, then all is good. If though battery either cannot be fully charged, or it loses its' charge rather quickly, then most likely you'll need to replace it. If the fan runs excessively without the machine doing much (or nothing at all), then unfortunately there could be an issue with a connection from the motherboard.

Regarding the excessive fan running, here are the results of a google search I just did for "Fan runs excessively on a MacBookPro9,2":

https://www.google.com/search?q=Fan...=sb&q=Fan+runs+excessively+on+a+MacBookPro9,2

Hopefully, if you have the fan issue, one of those links can help you.

As I stated above, you can replace the battery yourself. But, let's see what happens first when you go through what I recommended above.

About the only potential "caveat" is whether Disk Utility is "robust" enough to resolve issues with your disk. Even if it does a decent job, it would be good to check the disk out with a more powerful program, like Disk Warrior or Tech Tool Pro.

 

[ratedgnar]

Why exactly do I need to wipe my hard drive again? I was running disk utility from my computer, the way apple recommends: pressing command+r during boot up screen. I can fully charge my mac and it doesn't deplete overly quickly.
Thank you so much for taking the time to help me, you are awesome. I'm sorry I'm such a computer noob

 

[honestone]

Why exactly do I need to wipe my hard drive again? I was running disk utility from my computer, the way apple recommends: pressing command+r during boot up screen. I can fully charge my mac and it doesn't deplete overly quickly.
Thank you so much for taking the time to help me, you are awesome. I'm sorry I'm such a computer noob

You said that you erased your hard drive. I suspect that happened after you booted up your machine by pressing command+r? If so, what did you do next, step by step? I have never erased any of my drives via command+r, preferring to do it by running Disk Utility from an external drive.

Are you back to normal, or are you still having slowness issues, fan issues, any of the problems you have previously stated?

If you are not having any issues, fine. But, if you are, and especially with Activity Monitor not showing anything "strange" (and with the fan still running excessively, even in sleep mode), then there is still, most likely and hopefully, some process that is running in the background that Activity Monitor is not detecting. Did you look at any of the links that are contained in the link I provided above, regarding excessive fan noise?

 

[ratedgnar]

I wiped my computer before starting this thread and it didn't fix anything (it's in my first post). I did check out the links and I reset my SMC. My computer is currently pretty warm so I'll have to check back on it when my computer has been out of use for a bit. Here are the steps I took:

• Before you begin, you need to be connected to the Internet.

• Choose Apple menu > Restart, and then hold down the Command (⌘) and R keys while the computer restarts.

• Select “Disk Utility,” and then click Continue.

• Select your startup disk from the list on the left, and then click the Erase tab.

• From the Format pop-up menu, select Mac OS Extended (Journaled), type a name for your disk, and then click Erase.

• After the disk has been erased, choose Disk Utility > Quit Disk Utility.

• If you’re not connected to the Internet, choose a network from the Wi-Fi menu in the right corner of the menu bar (in the top-right corner of the screen).

• Select Reinstall Mac OS X, click Continue, and then follow the instructions.

when OS X is reinstalled it automatically reinstalls the latest version of it

 

[ratedgnar]

Activity monitor has found something. kernel_task is taking up most of the minimal usage. There are also spikes of almost 100% cpu usage that are popping up as well. All I am currently running is safari and activity monitor.

 

[ratedgnar]

Before starting this thread I searched problems with kernel_task and cam upon a thread that seemed to have a solution:

(Okay, I seem to have solved the kernel_task PCU drain using this method I stumbled across on the web.

1. Go to About this mac under the apple in the upper left and click on More info
2. Click on system report
3. make a note of what it says after Model Identifier
4. go to your master drive – System -Library – Extensions – IOPlatformPluginFamily.kext -Contents – Plugins – ACPI_SMC_PlatformPlugin.kext – Contents – Resources – find the name from step 3 and move it to a folder that you can find again if needed.
3. Restart and you’re done
I hope this helps.

Only problem now is the battery won't register, new or old and the fan is running 100% of the time.)

I went through these steps, but at the end my model wasn't in the list...........

 

[honestone]

That's great that most of your problems are resolved. But, with the fan running 100% of the time (and I assume you can hear it), that means there is some processing or processes that is/are "playing" with your hard drive.

For my MacBook Air, I am still going through my maintenance/cleanup/backup processing as I write this on my Mac Mini (doing the second back up right now to another external drive that I have), and I cannot hear the fan at all. During earlier maintenance processing for both of my machines (use Oynx and Tech Tool Pro for those tasks, and SuperDuper! for backing up), both machines got somewhat hot. But, now the Mac Mini is cooling down, as I am no longer doing any intensive disk-related processing. Also, I did not hear the fan at all on my MacBook Air during any of this processing.

Regarding the battery "not registering", so up on the top, about halfway between the center and right edge of the display, you don't see the "battery" symbol, along with a percentage next to it? On my MacBook Air, I do see it, and it says 100% (for the battery charge). Usually, and especially after a "clean" installation (Mavericks in your case), that battery-related symbol should appear in the approximate location I mentioned. You might want to try this to get it to appear:

http://support.apple.com/kb/PH13769

The fan issue, though, is still disturbing. From your post above, starting with the left parentheses, and to the right one, did you go through those steps? Seems like you did, but that the battery not registering and the fan running 100% of the time are the 2 remaining issues. Yet, in the end you say "I went through these steps, but at the end my model wasn't in the list...........". Please clarify.

So, for the fan running 100% of the time (and you can hear it), does that happen when you just have the desktop on your screen, with nothing running at all? How about when you put the machine to sleep? If the fan is still running for those steps, then something is "playing" with your disk.

By the way, after you went through the steps described in your previous post, what did Activity Monitor show?

 

[ratedgnar]

sorry for the confusion, everything in brackets was copied from a different thread, I copied it to show which steps I tried. So far nothing has been fixed. My fan is always running, but quietly, it is showing that something is running while my mac is asleep but beyond that I don't think it is that large of a problem. I can handle having it running all the time if my mac was running up to speed. How do you fix a background program that your computer isn't even picking up?

 

[honestone]

Now I'm confused by your statement "nothing has been fixed". So, does that mean you are having the following issues (besides the fan still running all the time):

-Super slow, getting pinwheel all the time
-gets really hot when plugged in
-battery dies even when mac is closed (in sleep mode)?

Also, is the battery still invisible?

There is another free program that can possibly help. It is called "EtreCheck", and here is a link to download it:

http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/48217/etrecheck

As you can see via the description, it can provide useful information about your machine and your system configuration. Not sure if it will "find" the offending process that seems to be the culprit, but it's worth a try.

Via the procedure you explained above about using Command + R (and being connected to the internet), when you ran Disk Utility to erase your hard drive, I suspect you just clicked Erase. As I mentioned above, the OS sets the Erase "option" to "Fastest". That is OK in quite a few instances, but you have something on the drive that cannot be detected, yet it continues to run, even when the machine is asleep. The fan continually running is actually serious, as is the machine continuing to run slow. In fact, there is the possibility that the "invisible" process (or processes) is causing the machine to run slow.

When you first selected Disk Utility, and then chose "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)", there is another step that you should have taken, given the type of issue you are having. Instead if clicking Erase right away, just to the left of the Erase "option", it says "Security Options....". If you click on that, as I said above, you'll get a screen that says "Secure Erase Options", along with a Slider. Faster is on the very left (most likely what it is set to), and "Most Secure" is on the right. Moving the slider to "Most Secure" does a much better job that "Faster" in terms of erasing everything on the disk. I truly suspect that if you do that, it should get rid of that program/process that apparently cannot be "seen".

Since you don't have a more advanced Disk diagnostic/repair program like Disk Warrior or Tech Tool Pro, you might need to start over again, doing the "Mose Secure" way of erasing the disk. As I stated before, that will take quite a while to run. In fact, you might want to start that right before you go to sleep for the night. It will be most likely be done by the time you wake up. When that process is complete, you should run the Verify Disk and Verify Permissions via Disk Utility first, before installing Mavericks. That might be overkill, but better to be safe than sorry.

 

[oldscribe]

Hi,

There are other items that can stop sleep, so double check the following.
1) Turn off file sharing if it's not being used.
2) Disconnect all external USB or FireWire devices.
3) Bluetooth can wake your computer if you set the "Allow Bluetooth devices to wake this computer" checkbox in Bluetooth System Preferences. (this drains the battery as well)
4) Energy Saver settings:

 

[honestone]

Excellent suggestions, oldscribe. For #1 and #3 on your list, since he did a re-install of Mavericks, I wonder what the OS has them set to initially? When I purchased my MacBook Air about a year ago, Mavericks was already installed, but I have not seen any strange behavior that would be attributed to those settings being set as you stated. They stayed the same even after applying each OS update that Apple has released. Just checked my Mac Book Air, and the Bluetooth setting is Off, but on my Mac Mini, it is set to On! That is the "initial" setting on that screen. Clicking on Advanced shows the subsequent 3 settings all checked (same way on my MacBook Air). I actually have never touched that setting, so not sure why the "initial" one is set to On for the Mac Mini, but Off on the MacBook Air. (When I replaced the slow 5400 1 TB drive inside the Mac Mini last November for a 256 gig SSD, I "prepared" the SSD, and that included a clean installation of Mavericks). Fortunately, I do not have any Bluetooth devices connected to my Mac Mini, and the ones I occasionally connect to my MacBook Air (external hard drives) are also not Bluetooth devices. And, both Logitech mice I use with each machine are also not Bluetooth devices.

Regarding #3, does the battery get drained with the Bluetooth setting as you stated, even without any Bluetooth devices connected to the machine? I suspect not, but I would appreciate it if you could let me know.

And, regarding "File Sharing", yes, there is the "direct" File Sharing setting by itself that can be set to On or Off (mine is Off). And, there are 8 other services that can be shared, via the settings in that preference. They are:

Screen Sharing
File Sharing
Printer Sharing
Remote Login
Remote Management
Remote Apple Events
Internet Sharing
Bluetooth Sharing

They are also all "off" (ie, not set) on both my Mac Mini and my Mac Book Air.

I still wonder, though, if there is some "invisible" process that is accessing his hard drive. Since the op stated that he has issues with too much fan noise (and constantly running, whether in active or sleep mode), the battery draining, and the machine running slow, if he takes up all of your suggestions and nothing changes, then I would lean towards something invisible on the drive. Using the "Most Secure" way of wiping the drive completely clean (like I suggested above) would hopefully "do the trick".

 

[honestone]

By the way, here is a link to download a free program that can be used to monitor and control almost any aspect of the fans inside a machine:

http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/47386/macs-fan-control

Might be worth a try!

 

[ratedgnar]

okay I'm going to try to clear up some confusion. My mac has super slowness problems, the fan appears to be running all the time, but slowly. The stuff in brackets was all copied from a different thread and was a different person. I started this thread after wiping my computer to the result of no problems being fixed. It does ok with flash player online, just heats up. The slowness is a real issue as when I was writing this it froze upwards of 5 times.

 

[honestone]

Well, it seems like it is one of the following issues:

1. A hardware "connection" on the motherboard/device connected to it is "problematic".

2. Your hard drive is going bad, in fact, real bad.

3. There is still something "invisible" running.

Since you do not have a more advanced Disk Repair program like Disk Warrior or Tech Tool Pro, you can only rely on Disk Utility to try any type of disk maintenance/repair.

If I were you, I'd take one more stab at wiping the hard drive COMPLETELY clean. When you launch Disk Utility via Command + R, and then chose "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)", there is another step that you need to take, given the type of issue you are having. Instead of clicking Erase right away, just to the left of the Erase "option", it says "Security Options....". If you click on that, you'll get a screen that says "Secure Erase Options", along with a Slider. Faster is on the very left (most likely what it is set to), and "Most Secure" is on the right. Moving the slider to "Most Secure" does a much better job than "Faster" in terms of erasing everything on the disk. I truly suspect that if you do that, it should get rid of that program/process that apparently cannot be "seen".

You should start this before you go to sleep, because it takes quite a long time. Once that is done, if necessary, partition the drive. Then, you'll need to re-install Mavericks. Just remember to make a copy of the file FIRST, as when you run it, the file will disappear.

Next, assuming your machine boots up fine, apply the Combo OS 10.9.5 updater, and then do the various settings like oldscribe described above.

By the way, did you try running the application to control your fan? Here is the link again to download it:

http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/47386/macs-fan-control

 

[ratedgnar]

Thank you again for all your help, you are an awesome and very helpful person . I'll try wiping it again and will post the result.