spinning wheel every week with no usage of cpu, memory, and storage

I got my Mac mini M2 a month ago and since then, around every week, for no reason the cursor will turn to spinning wheel and the whole system just stops responding.


I checked

  1. No process is taking a lot of cpu. usage is around 1%.
  2. tons of RAM left
  3. 130GB space left
  4. no application is not responding
  5. I quit almost all the application and it is still the same.

every time I had to restart (force) the Mac to make it work. Since it happens all the time. there must be something wrong. But I dont know what. It would be great if you could point me some directions. I am worried it could be hardware issue. Thanks!

Mac mini, macOS 13.3

Posted on May 1, 2023 10:14 PM

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7 replies

May 2, 2023 03:16 AM in response to yubin240

Suggest the User start with Points 1 to 4 and then Test


Still having issues, move onto Steps 5 and 6 and Test Again


Still no resolve - move onto Step 7 and follow instructions therein 


1 - Restart in Safe Mode. This will perform a Disk Repair, clear cache files and only load Apple Software, extensions and fonts. The boot up will be slow and can take some time - Normal.


2 - Safe Mode will also eliminate Third Party Software, extensions and drivers from loading. It will only load the Minimum amount of Core Apple Processes to allow the the computer to function at a reduced Level of Performance 


3 - Does the issue present in this mode ?


4 - Sometimes a Safe Boot followed by a Normal Boot will just put things right.


5 - If not - there could be something in the main User Account playing up. To further isolate this - Set up users, guests, and groups on Mac. Then log out of the Main User account and log into the dummy account and test again if the issue persists.


6 - If the issue is present in the dummy account - then, this appears to be a System Wide issue on the computer.


7 - Download the Application Etrecheck directly from the Developer.


This is a Diagnostic Tool that makes no changes to the computer.


It makes a coherent and readable inventory of both the Hardware and Software used on the computer 


The application is free or paid from added features. 


The Report will Not Reveal Any Personal Information. 


Post back the Full Report - copy and paste - >>>> using the Additional Text Icon ( 3rd Icon to last ) <<<<


May 3, 2023 03:22 AM in response to yubin240

Thanks again for the Report.


Unfortunately, the Application " CleanMyMac4 " has been installed and used on this computer


All the other issues in the report become very secondary to the importance of the damages CMM4 has been inflicted on this computer


User Launch Agents:


Q -   [Loaded] com.macpaw.CleanMyMac4.Updater.plist (MacPaw Inc. - installed 2023-05-02)


    Executable: ~/Library/Application Support/CleanMyMac X/CleanMyMac X Updater.app/Contents/MacOS/CleanMyMac X Updater


 Q -   [Running] CleanMyMac X HealthMonitor (MacPaw Inc. - installed 2023-04-03)


    Modern Login Item


    /Applications/CleanMyMac X.app/Contents/Library/LoginItems/CleanMyMac X HealthMonitor.app


Q - [Running] CleanMyMac X Menu (MacPaw Inc. - installed 2023-04-03)


    Modern Login Item


    /Applications/CleanMyMac X.app/Contents/Library/LoginItems/CleanMyMac X Menu.app


Q -   [Not Loaded] Autoupdate (MacPaw Inc. - installed 2023-04-03)


    Modern Login Item


    /Applications/CleanMyMac X.app/Contents/Library/LoginItems/CleanMyMac X Menu.app/Contents/Frameworks/DevMateKit.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Autoupdate.app


A - Any Third Party Applications that will interfere with the normal operation of the OS,  is an invitation for disaster.


Certain Applications maybe available on the Apple Apps Store - this only means the Developer is prepared to pay Apple a portion on each sale. What the Application may do to the computer is up to the User to check this out before purchase


Any of the below should be removed as per Developers Instructions


1 - Disk Cleaner 


This will include CleanMyMac , aka “ BrickMyMac


Read some of the posting and arrive at your own conclusions.


A - Specific to CleanMyMac aka “ BrickMyMac “


The steps in #1 below is predicated on the Offending  Application has been Removed as per the Developers Specific Instruction 


#1 - Some Contributors suggest restarting in Recovery Mode and choosing to Reinstall the Operating System over  the existing installation. 


This may or may not replace elements of the Entire Operating System including the Home Folder ( User Account )  and replace any corrupted or removed elements of the Operating System and make thing right.


#2 - Then there are Other Contributors ( like myself ) would suggest  from this link Use Disk Utility to erase a Mac with Apple silicon.


In process #2 above, the Operating System remains untouched , so Ventura 13.3.1(a) will still be installed.


Thereafter to start from scratch and install all Required Application directly from the Apple Apps Store or Directly from the Developer.


If going this route - I suggest Not using Startup Assist to migrate things back as this will probably Re-Introduce the existing  issue that existed when the TM Back was made.


May 2, 2023 02:24 AM in response to yubin240

Hi yubin240,



The beach ball indicates that your system is having trouble doing a certain task.


Download an antivirus/malware removal tool to check if that is the case, my recommendation is to run Malwarebytes and to remove it after the scan is complete (if you want to)


If the antivirus scan returns without any malicious apps found, your best bet will be to contact Apple Support as faulty hardware could be what causes it.



I hope this helped.


May 2, 2023 10:12 AM in response to yubin240

additional info:

=== START OF SMART DATA SECTION ===

SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED

SMART/Health Information (NVMe Log 0x02)

Critical Warning: 0x00

Temperature: 33 Celsius

Available Spare: 100%

Available Spare Threshold: 99%

Percentage Used: 0%

Data Units Read: 13,440,858 [6.88 TB]

Data Units Written: 8,276,759 [4.23 TB]

Host Read Commands: 376,620,127

Host Write Commands: 140,837,525

Controller Busy Time: 0

Power Cycles: 80

Power On Hours: 157

Unsafe Shutdowns: 10

Media and Data Integrity Errors: 0

Error Information Log Entries: 0

Read 1 entries from Error Information Log failed: GetLogPage failed: system=0x38, sub=0x0, code=745

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spinning wheel every week with no usage of cpu, memory, and storage

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