Originally Posted by joemikeb
Originally Posted by plantsower
Thanks, Joe. I believe you, but I thought you said that the memory amount wouldn't have anything to do with the speed. I admit my SSD works faster than my old Mac but so does my even older iMac. That's what is bothering me.

Your perceived speed difference is another reason for concern about the health of the software on your MacBook. I understand that nuke & pave can seem daunting, but at the very least I urge you to re-install your current version of MacOS. The Bare Minimum ProcessIt is very simple and straightforward, and the enhanced version only slightly more complicated but either is well within your demonstrated competence:

BARE MINIMUM PROCESS

  1. Connect your MacBook to the power supply
  2. Print out these instructions so you have them while the reinstall is in process.
  3. follow the instructions for an Intel Processor.

Depending on your download speed and other factors the entire process should somewhere between 30 minutes and an hour. You may be asked for your logon password about midway through the process.

ENHANCED PROCESS:

  1. Connect your MacBook to the power supply
  2. Print out these instructions so you have them while the reinstall is in process.
  3. Boot following the instructions for an Intel Processor.
  4. Once you are booted from the Recovery Drive run Disk Utility > First Aid to be sure the volume structure on your HD is healthy.
  5. If problems are found and not repaired re-run Disk Utility > First Aid
  6. When either no errors are found or errors were found by corrected Quit Disk Utility
  7. Launch Reinstall MocOS...
OK, so Rita erased the MBP's HDD from Recovery (so I couldn't experience the exact slowness she's been complaining about) and shipped it to me to see what I could make of it.

The saga:
  1. I booted into Recovery and partitioned the HDD and installed Catalina 10.15.7.
  2. I overwrote the clean Catalina installation with the clone I had saved, and cloned in my music/apps/etc. partition.
  3. Slow? Close to 20 minutes from chime to desktop and fully populated menu bar, and no less than 30 seconds to respond to any input. Whew!
  4. Since the machine had only 4 GB RAM, I ordered 8 GB. (My daughter's got the same MBP, and it runs 10.15.7 just fine with 8 GB.)
  5. Crucial linked me to a Newegg seller at a 33% lower price...turned out be, of all things, bait & switch..."They're the same specs as the ones you ordered. Try them and let us how it goes." Not the least bit likely!
  6. I returned the RAM and reordered from Crucial.
  7. Absolutely zero difference in boot or response times.
  8. Ran Repair Disk from Recovery...no issues reported.
  9. Ran Apple Hardware Test...no issues reported.
  10. Erased HDD and reinstalled 10.15.7 from Recovery, this time migrating data rather than cloning it in (except , of course, for my partition).
  11. No difference in either boot or response time.
  12. Much head scratching with no inspiration.
  13. INSPIRATION!
  14. I booted from the clone on my external, and both boot and response times were considerably faster, although still not up to par.
  15. That got me thinking that maybe having booted from the external somehow took some "load" off the internal, so I erased my 250 GB partition to see if I could perhaps duplicate my success.
  16. Yup! Booting into the internal and subsequent response times were about the same as with the external.
  17. Extrapolating, I ordered a 500 GB Seagate HDD for $19.99. Wow, cheap!
  18. I installed the new HDD, and VOILA! The MBP now functions as expected!!!


Now, here's the curious part: My plan was to install the new HDD and reinstall the 4GB RAM simultaneously in the hope that the machine would work as expected with that configuration and I could return the Crucial RAM for a refund, BUT...the MBP wouldn't "accept" the RAM...tormented me with 3 beeps each of the 3-4 times I tried to start up after unseating/reseating it.

So, it seems like both the RAM and HDD in Rita's MBP went wonky at the same time...one heck of a coincidence. I wonder if the problem would ever have been solved remotely.

The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire