How do I diagnose a slow login?

macos login

After logging in (typing the passwort) my MacBook Air will display a white screen for about 10 seconds before the desktop appears.

How can I find out what is going on and fix it?

So far I've tried:

  • deleted the ~/Library/Caches and /Library/Caches folder
  • checked that there are no login items
  • logging in without 'reopening windows'
  • disabled the network (in case it's waiting for a timeout)
  • repaired the disk permissions
  • verified the keychain
  • looked at the output from Console (there is a large gap where apparently nothing is happening)

but none of this made any difference whatsoever.

I've also created a new user account and I can login to that in about 2 seconds - so I assume that the problem has to be with my account.

The system is Lion (with the latest updates). I've installed Vbox, KeyRemap4MacBook and Xcode.

EDIT: As suggested, here is the console output for the account that takes about 15 seconds to login:

2011-09-22 11:54:33.748 PM SecurityAgent: User info context values set for chris
2011-09-22 11:54:33.748 PM SecurityAgent: User info context values set for chris
2011-09-22 11:54:33.830 PM SecurityAgent: Login Window login proceeding
2011-09-22 11:54:33.830 PM SecurityAgent: Login Window login proceeding
2011-09-22 11:54:34.074 PM loginwindow: Login Window - Returned from Security Agent
2011-09-22 11:54:34.113 PM airportd: _doAutoJoin: Already associated to “wifi1”. Bailing on auto-join.
2011-09-22 11:54:34.158 PM loginwindow: USER_PROCESS: 2849 console
2011-09-22 11:54:34.203 PM com.apple.launchd.peruser.503: (com.apple.quicklook.32bit) Unknown key for boolean: DisallowDataExecute
2011-09-22 11:54:34.203 PM com.apple.launchd.peruser.503: (com.apple.ReportCrash) Falling back to default Mach exception handler. Could not find: com.apple.ReportCrash.Self
2011-09-22 11:54:34.821 PM UserEventAgent: CaptiveNetworkSupport:CNSServerRegisterUserAgent:187 new user agent port: 32703
2011-09-22 11:54:35.501 PM KeyRemap4MacBook: observer_IONotification
2011-09-22 11:54:36.907 PM KeyRemap4MacBook: skip checkForUpdates
2011-09-22 11:54:37.000 PM kernel: KeyRemap4MacBook --Info-- RemapClass::allocation_count_ 167849/2097152 (capacity 8%)
2011-09-22 11:54:37.564 PM com.apple.dock.extra: Could not connect the action buttonPressed: to target of class NSApplication
2011-09-22 11:54:37.565 PM com.apple.dock.extra: 2011-09-22 23:54:37.563 com.apple.dock.extra[2902:1707] Could not connect the action buttonPressed: to target of class NSApplication
2011-09-22 11:54:37.565 PM com.apple.dock.extra: Could not connect the action buttonPressed: to target of class NSApplication
2011-09-22 11:54:37.565 PM com.apple.dock.extra: 2011-09-22 23:54:37.564 com.apple.dock.extra[2902:1707] Could not connect the action buttonPressed: to target of class NSApplication
2011-09-22 11:54:37.566 PM com.apple.dock.extra: Could not connect the action buttonPressed: to target of class NSApplication
2011-09-22 11:54:37.566 PM com.apple.dock.extra: 2011-09-22 23:54:37.565 com.apple.dock.extra[2902:1707] Could not connect the action buttonPressed: to target of class NSApplication
2011-09-22 11:54:37.566 PM com.apple.dock.extra: Could not connect the action buttonPressed: to target of class NSApplication
2011-09-22 11:54:37.566 PM com.apple.dock.extra: 2011-09-22 23:54:37.565 com.apple.dock.extra[2902:1707] Could not connect the action buttonPressed: to target of class NSApplication
2011-09-22 11:54:45.344 PM com.apple.loginwindow: chris-pc

Can anyone spot the problem?

And here is the output from a new account that takes only 1-2 seconds to logon:

9/22/11 11:33:39.404 PM loginwindow: Login Window - Returned from Security Agent
9/22/11 11:33:39.452 PM airportd: _doAutoJoin: Already associated to “wifi1”. Bailing on auto-join.
9/22/11 11:33:39.501 PM loginwindow: USER_PROCESS: 2278 console
9/22/11 11:33:39.597 PM com.apple.launchd.peruser.501: (com.apple.quicklook.32bit) Unknown key for boolean: DisallowDataExecute
9/22/11 11:33:39.597 PM com.apple.launchd.peruser.501: (com.apple.ReportCrash) Falling back to default Mach exception handler. Could not find: com.apple.ReportCrash.Self
9/22/11 11:33:40.096 PM UserEventAgent: CaptiveNetworkSupport:CNSServerRegisterUserAgent:187 new user agent port: 27435
9/22/11 11:33:40.472 PM KeyRemap4MacBook: observer_IONotification
9/22/11 11:33:40.772 PM com.apple.dock.extra: Could not connect the action buttonPressed: to target of class NSApplication
9/22/11 11:33:40.772 PM com.apple.dock.extra: 2011-09-22 23:33:40.770 com.apple.dock.extra[2332:1707] Could not connect the action buttonPressed: to target of class NSApplication
9/22/11 11:33:40.773 PM com.apple.dock.extra: Could not connect the action buttonPressed: to target of class NSApplication
9/22/11 11:33:40.774 PM com.apple.dock.extra: 2011-09-22 23:33:40.772 com.apple.dock.extra[2332:1707] Could not connect the action buttonPressed: to target of class NSApplication
9/22/11 11:33:40.774 PM com.apple.dock.extra: Could not connect the action buttonPressed: to target of class NSApplication
9/22/11 11:33:40.775 PM com.apple.dock.extra: 2011-09-22 23:33:40.773 com.apple.dock.extra[2332:1707] Could not connect the action buttonPressed: to target of class NSApplication
9/22/11 11:33:40.775 PM com.apple.dock.extra: Could not connect the action buttonPressed: to target of class NSApplication
9/22/11 11:33:40.776 PM com.apple.dock.extra: 2011-09-22 23:33:40.774 com.apple.dock.extra[2332:1707] Could not connect the action buttonPressed: to target of class NSApplication
9/22/11 11:33:42.094 PM KeyRemap4MacBook: checkForUpdates http://pqrs.org/macosx/keyremap4macbook/files/appcast.xml
9/22/11 11:33:42.000 PM kernel: KeyRemap4MacBook --Info-- RemapClass::allocation_count_ 166656/2097152 (capacity 7%)

It is clear that you are having USER file permission issues. What you need to do is run repair permissions on your user folder which you cannot do with Disk Utility's "Repair Permissions" option. Using Disk Utility only repairs system files.

To repair user file permissions you would need to boot into Lion's built Repair Utilities.

  1. Power off your computer
  2. Power on your computer and press and hold Command + R until you see the Apple Logo. This may take little longer than usual to load.
  3. Once the Repair Utilities loads, click on Utilities on the menu bar and select Terminal
  4. Within Terminal, type resetpassword and hit Return. This will open up a password reset utility
  5. In this window, select your hard drive (Macintosh HD) and then select your user account from the drop down menu located just underneath your hard drive's icon
  6. With your username selected, click on the Reset button at the bottom right of the window. This process may take a couple of minutes to complete. This will repair all file and folder permissions for all files and folders located within your User Folder.
  7. Once completed, quit the Reset Password application then the Terminal application, and finally, the Utilities application which will reboot your computer.

Source: Repair User Permissions in Mac OS X Lion

If your disk is encrypted you have to unlock it first:

  • diskutil coreStorage list will give you the UUID.
  • diskutil coreStorage unlockVolume YOUR_UUID will unlock the disk (the passphrase is the password for your user account)

Related

What programs exist to find and delete "orphan files" left after deleting an Application?
How to force a Time Machine deep traversal?
How do I delete a BootCamp partition using Terminal's diskutil?
Safari is using too much RAM. How can I reduce its memory footprint?
Disable File System Cache for USB Devices?
Adobe Illustrator CS6 with Java 8?
How to get OSX Yosemite outside the Mac App Store
Are there headset adapters usable for MacBook Pros?
Minecraft ArmorStand Teleportation
Is there a way to put spaces in a scoreboard player name?
Do game cards and digital copies have separate saves?
How do I get a dead bulky PS3 to work again (momentarily at least)