Question Mac Mini 2014 Problems

MotionMan

Lifer
Jan 11, 2006
17,312
12
81
I have a Late 2014 Mac Mini running Mojave (8 GB RAM). It has been running really, really slow - like all beachball, practically all the time. It takes forever for things to open, if they ever open.

I took it to the Apple Store and they found nothing wrong hardware-wise.

I am trying running it without any of my external drives and on only one monitor (I usually have 2), and it seems marginally better, but certainly not normal. It is basically unusable as my main unit (I have most of my files on the external drives).

I have an Early 2014 MacBook Air running on the same network without any of the same issues.

Clearly there is something sucking cycles - what is the best way to find out what is slowing it down?

I'd rather not have to reformat and reinstall just to test a theory.

Thanks.

MotionMan
 

TheStu

Moderator<br>Mobile Devices & Gadgets
Moderator
Sep 15, 2004
12,089
45
91
Activity Monitor will tell you what's using the resources.
Do you have an SSD in it, or the spinner that it shipped with?
How long has this problem been going on?
 

MotionMan

Lifer
Jan 11, 2006
17,312
12
81
Activity Monitor will tell you what's using the resources.
Do you have an SSD in it, or the spinner that it shipped with?
How long has this problem been going on?

The problem with Activity Monitor is, if I can get a reading from it, I am no longer having the issue I need a reading on;

Original SATA drive;

It has been REALLY bad for the past couple weeks; It started periodically for months.

Thanks.

MotionMan
 

TheStu

Moderator<br>Mobile Devices & Gadgets
Moderator
Sep 15, 2004
12,089
45
91
Have you tried setting up a 2nd user account and seeing if the problems persist?
What about a clean install?

Once the issue is isolated and solved, I'd recommend getting an SSD for the system.
 

MotionMan

Lifer
Jan 11, 2006
17,312
12
81
Have you tried setting up a 2nd user account and seeing if the problems persist?
What about a clean install?

Once the issue is isolated and solved, I'd recommend getting an SSD for the system.

I did set up a second account to bring it to the Apple Store and I still had some problems, though, I guess, not as bad.

I want to try to avoid a clean install.

I have been saving up for an SSD.

Thanks.

MotionMan
 

TheStu

Moderator<br>Mobile Devices & Gadgets
Moderator
Sep 15, 2004
12,089
45
91
If the problems persisted with a second account, then it's deep whatever the issue is and a clean install may be the way to go.
 

MotionMan

Lifer
Jan 11, 2006
17,312
12
81
The new SSD arrived, I put it in an enclosure, installed Mojave and set it as the startup disk.

Seems snappier!

How do I change/fix the permissions so that I can access the data on the internal drive (the former boot disk)?

Thanks.

MotionMan
 

Zaap

Diamond Member
Jun 12, 2008
7,162
424
126
Wait.. seriously. You're gonna run an ssd as a boot drive in an external enclosure? I'm assuming USB?

Crack that sucker open and install the SSD internally. iFixit and others make a toolkit for the mini that makes it fairly easy.

Then put the slow harddrive in the enclosure.


I don't know of any reason you shouldn't be able to access either drive while booted from the other. Tick the option in finder to show all mounted hard drives.

If for some reason the old drive doesn't mount try using disk utility to repair it.
 

MotionMan

Lifer
Jan 11, 2006
17,312
12
81
Wait.. seriously. You're gonna run an ssd as a boot drive in an external enclosure? I'm assuming USB?

Crack that sucker open and install the SSD internally. iFixit and others make a toolkit for the mini that makes it fairly easy.

Then put the slow harddrive in the enclosure.


I don't know of any reason you shouldn't be able to access either drive while booted from the other. Tick the option in finder to show all mounted hard drives.

If for some reason the old drive doesn't mount try using disk utility to repair it.


Don't be ridiculous. I put it in the external enclosure while I set it up and make sure the problem does not persist. Once the new drive is set up and I am confident the issue has been resolved, then I will put it in the unit, replacing the old drive.

The new drive does mount, it just does not give me permission to access any of the data on it.

MotionMan
 

Zaap

Diamond Member
Jun 12, 2008
7,162
424
126
Gotcha. Somehow the way you said it "seems snappier" despite how an external USB would actually have an SSD pretty choked- made me think you were happy leaving it like that.

I'm wondering if a permissions problem with your original drive caused it to be crawling in the first place. I've heard about this happening with Apple's System Integrity Protection since Sierra, where the permissions get wonky, even the system can't make needed changes to itself, and things just grind to a slow crawl.
 

MotionMan

Lifer
Jan 11, 2006
17,312
12
81
I booted to the internal drive and am copying everything I need over to the SSD.

When booted to the internal drive and I open the SSD, it indicates that I do not have permissions for many folders on that drive (SSD).

MotionMan
 

Verndewdimus

Member
Nov 18, 2016
60
21
81
www.reverbnation.com
should have used super duper to clone the drive as boot then you wouldnt have permissions issues, THAT takes a whole bunch of reading and some admin terminal tricks to get past. im guessing your hdd was a 5400 , those are painfully tedious on a new mac.
 

UsandThem

Elite Member
May 4, 2000
16,068
7,380
146
I often have my new MacBook lagging, I can't understand why it began to work so badly, maybe someone knows how to solve this problem. For I gave too much money, but alas, there is no result.
Create your own thread asking for help instead of necroing someone else's post would be the first step.
 

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
48,388
5,255
136
FWIW:

* The Late 2014 Mac Mini (1.4ghz dual-core i5) is the oldest Mini that can run the latest Mac OS (Monterey). FYI, older Macs can use OpenCore to bypass Apple's restrictions & get Monterey on them
* I just upgraded one to the latest version of OSX (12.1). Performance is limited by the CPU (even with a 1TB SSD & 16GB RAM), but it's decent for like a mom or grandma computer
* The reinstallation process is so easy! WinKey+R at boot to get into the pre-boot utilities, format the drive with Disk Utility, then reinstall Monterey from the utilities console

I threw Chrome & Office 2021 & a few other goodies on it, works just fine! I've also been working on some M1 Macs lately & they are really phenomenal! RIP Hackintosh I guess, haha!
 

Oyeve

Lifer
Oct 18, 1999
21,899
819
126
FWIW:

* The Late 2014 Mac Mini (1.4ghz dual-core i5) is the oldest Mini that can run the latest Mac OS (Monterey). FYI, older Macs can use OpenCore to bypass Apple's restrictions & get Monterey on them
* I just upgraded one to the latest version of OSX (12.1). Performance is limited by the CPU (even with a 1TB SSD & 16GB RAM), but it's decent for like a mom or grandma computer
* The reinstallation process is so easy! WinKey+R at boot to get into the pre-boot utilities, format the drive with Disk Utility, then reinstall Monterey from the utilities console

I threw Chrome & Office 2021 & a few other goodies on it, works just fine! I've also been working on some M1 Macs lately & they are really phenomenal! RIP Hackintosh I guess, haha!
Phenomenal? HA! They run like crap unless its only apple SW. Chrome chokes, o365 choke as does adobe suite. I regret getting these at work. The 11 year old imacs they replaced run much more stable. Don;t even get me started on the whole fuzzy font fiasco.
 

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
48,388
5,255
136
Phenomenal? HA! They run like crap unless its only apple SW. Chrome chokes, o365 choke as does adobe suite. I regret getting these at work. The 11 year old imacs they replaced run much more stable. Don;t even get me started on the whole fuzzy font fiasco.

Wow, that sounds like a real bummer! I've only used them on a personal level for basic stuff (mostly just for setting up for other people) & they are great...crazy battery life, runs fairly cool & quiet, etc. Sounds like they're not quite ready for prime-time in the business environment quite yet!

I do like those older iMacs! I've done a number of suction-cup upgrades haha. The new 24" M1 model looks pretty neat as well, but based on what you're saying, non-Apple productivity & creativity apps aren't quite up to snuff just yet?