Incident: Time Machine and Spotlight Slowdown Issue After OS X Update

Published Date: 2012-10-02

Postmortem Analysis
Timeline 1. The software failure incident of slow Time Machine backups and Spotlight indexing occurred after the release of the OS X 10.7.5 update for Lion, as reported in Article 15285 published on 2012-10-02.
System 1. OS X 10.7.5 update for Lion [15285]
Responsible Organization 1. OS X 10.7.5 update for Lion [15285]
Impacted Organization 1. Users who updated to OS X 10.7.5 and experienced slow Time Machine backups and Spotlight indexing [15285].
Software Causes 1. The software causes of the failure incident were related to the OS X 10.7.5 update for Lion, specifically affecting Time Machine backups and Spotlight indexing [15285].
Non-software Causes 1. Hardware compatibility issues with the OS X 10.7.5 update for Lion affecting Time Machine backups and Spotlight indexing [15285].
Impacts 1. Time Machine backups were taking an exceptionally long time to complete, running at only a few kilobytes per hour, with estimates of backups taking days to weeks to finish [15285]. 2. Spotlight indexing was also significantly delayed, affecting the overall performance of the system [15285]. 3. Users had to resort to reverting to the previous OS version (OS X 10.7.4) to restore normal functionality of Time Machine and Spotlight [15285]. 4. To mitigate the issue, users had to disable Spotlight indexing on the drive, impacting the search functionality of the system [15285].
Preventions 1. Conducting thorough testing and quality assurance before releasing the OS X 10.7.5 update to ensure compatibility with Time Machine and Spotlight [15285]. 2. Implementing a more robust and comprehensive monitoring system to quickly identify performance issues like slow Time Machine backups and Spotlight indexing after a software update [15285].
Fixes 1. Removing the Spotlight index by running the command "sudo rm -rf /.Spotlight-V100" in Terminal [15285]. 2. Using the Spotlight privacy list to prevent a specific drive or folder from being indexed and included in search results [15285]. 3. Disabling Spotlight indexing on a per-drive basis by running the command "sudo mdutil -i off" followed by dragging the hard drive to the Terminal window and pressing enter [15285]. 4. Unloading the Spotlight daemon responsible for maintaining the Spotlight index by running the command "sudo launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.metadata.mds.plist" in Terminal [15285].
References 1. Users experiencing the issue with Time Machine backups and Spotlight indexing [15285]

Software Taxonomy of Faults

Category Option Rationale
Recurring one_organization (a) The software failure incident related to slow Time Machine backups and Spotlight indexing after the OS X 10.7.5 update for Lion seems to be specific to Apple's products and services. Users reported experiencing the issue with a variety of Mac models and backup setups, including backing up to local drives and Apple's Time Capsule devices [15285]. (b) There is no specific mention in the article of this software failure incident happening at other organizations or with their products and services.
Phase (Design/Operation) design (a) The software failure incident described in the article is related to the design phase. The issue with Time Machine backups running slowly and Spotlight taking forever to update its index is attributed to the OS X 10.7.5 update for Lion. Users have reported that reverting to OS X 10.7.4 resolved the problem, indicating that the issue lies with the update itself. Additionally, the workaround of disabling Spotlight indexing to improve Time Machine performance suggests a design flaw in how these services interact with each other after the update [15285].
Boundary (Internal/External) within_system The software failure incident related to the slow Time Machine backups and Spotlight indexing after the OS X 10.7.5 update can be categorized as within_system. The issue seems to be specific to the update itself, as users noticed that reverting to the previous OS version resolved the problem and that disabling Spotlight indexing helped improve Time Machine performance [15285].
Nature (Human/Non-human) non-human_actions (a) The software failure incident occurring due to non-human actions: The software failure incident described in the article is related to the slow performance of Time Machine backups and Spotlight indexing after users installed the OS X 10.7.5 update for Lion. Users have reported that the backups are taking an unusually long time to complete, with some estimating that it could take days to weeks. The issue seems to be specific to the OS X 10.7.5 update, as reverting to the previous version, OS X 10.7.4, resulted in Time Machine and Spotlight working at expected speeds. Users have also found that disabling Spotlight indexing of the drive can temporarily resolve the slow Time Machine backups, indicating that the problem is related to the indexing service rather than Time Machine itself [15285]. (b) The software failure incident occurring due to human actions: There is no indication in the article that the software failure incident was caused by contributing factors introduced by human actions. The issue seems to be primarily related to the OS X 10.7.5 update and its impact on Time Machine backups and Spotlight indexing. Users have resorted to various troubleshooting steps to address the slow performance, such as disabling Spotlight indexing or reverting to the previous OS version, suggesting that the root cause lies within the software update itself rather than human actions [15285].
Dimension (Hardware/Software) software (a) The software failure incident occurring due to hardware: - The article does not mention any hardware-related issues contributing to the slow Time Machine backups or Spotlight indexing after the OS X 10.7.5 update. The problem seems to be specifically related to the software update and its impact on the functionality of Time Machine and Spotlight. Therefore, there is no indication of hardware contributing factors in this incident [15285]. (b) The software failure incident occurring due to software: - The software failure incident is primarily attributed to the OS X 10.7.5 update for Lion. Users have reported that after installing this update, Time Machine backups are running extremely slowly, and Spotlight indexing is also affected. Reverting to the previous OS X version resolved the issue, indicating that the problem lies within the software update itself. Additionally, users have found workarounds to improve Time Machine performance by disabling Spotlight indexing, further emphasizing the software-related nature of the problem [15285].
Objective (Malicious/Non-malicious) non-malicious (a) The software failure incident described in the article does not indicate any malicious intent. The issue with Time Machine backups and Spotlight indexing slowness seems to be a result of a fault introduced in the OS X 10.7.5 update for Lion. Users have reported that reverting to the previous OS version, 10.7.4, resolves the problem, indicating that the issue is likely a non-malicious software bug rather than a deliberate act of harm [15285].
Intent (Poor/Accidental Decisions) poor_decisions (a) The software failure incident related to the slow Time Machine backups and Spotlight indexing after the OS X 10.7.5 update for Lion could be attributed to poor_decisions. Users reported that reverting to OS X 10.7.4 resolved the issue, indicating that the problem was introduced with the OS X 10.7.5 update [15285]. Additionally, users found that disabling Spotlight indexing allowed Time Machine backups to work properly, suggesting a flaw in the update's interaction with Spotlight indexing [15285].
Capability (Incompetence/Accidental) accidental (a) The software failure incident related to development incompetence is not explicitly mentioned in the provided article. Therefore, it is unknown whether the failure was due to contributing factors introduced due to lack of professional competence by humans or the development organization. (b) The software failure incident related to accidental factors is evident in the article. The slow Time Machine backups and Spotlight indexing issues were reported by users after installing the OS X 10.7.5 update for Lion. This suggests that the failure was accidental, possibly due to unintended consequences of the update rather than intentional actions by individuals or organizations [15285].
Duration temporary The software failure incident described in Article 15285 seems to be temporary rather than permanent. Users reported that after reverting to the previous OS version (OS X 10.7.4), Time Machine and Spotlight immediately started working at expected speeds, suggesting that the issue was specific to the OS X 10.7.5 update. Additionally, users found that disabling Spotlight indexing allowed Time Machine backups to work, indicating that the problem was related to the interaction between Spotlight indexing and Time Machine backups. These findings suggest that the software failure incident was temporary and could be mitigated by specific actions taken by users [15285].
Behaviour other (a) crash: The software failure incident described in the article does not involve a crash where the system loses state and does not perform any of its intended functions. Instead, the issue reported is related to the slow performance of Time Machine backups and Spotlight indexing after users installed the OS X 10.7.5 update for Lion [15285]. (b) omission: The incident does not involve the system omitting to perform its intended functions at an instance(s). Instead, the issue is related to the slow performance of Time Machine backups and Spotlight indexing after the OS X 10.7.5 update, rather than a complete omission of these functions [15285]. (c) timing: The software failure incident is not related to the system performing its intended functions correctly but too late or too early. Instead, the issue reported is about the slow performance of Time Machine backups and Spotlight indexing after the OS X 10.7.5 update, without a specific mention of timing issues [15285]. (d) value: The incident does not involve the system performing its intended functions incorrectly. Instead, the issue reported is about the slow performance of Time Machine backups and Spotlight indexing after the OS X 10.7.5 update, rather than incorrect functioning [15285]. (e) byzantine: The software failure incident does not exhibit behavior indicative of a byzantine failure where the system behaves erroneously with inconsistent responses and interactions. Instead, the issue reported is about the slow performance of Time Machine backups and Spotlight indexing after the OS X 10.7.5 update, without mention of inconsistent behavior [15285]. (f) other: The behavior of the software failure incident is related to the slow performance of Time Machine backups and Spotlight indexing after users installed the OS X 10.7.5 update for Lion. Users have found workarounds such as disabling Spotlight indexing to improve Time Machine performance, suggesting the issue is specific to the update's impact on these services [15285].

IoT System Layer

Layer Option Rationale
Perception None None
Communication None None
Application None None

Other Details

Category Option Rationale
Consequence property, delay (d) property: People's material goods, money, or data was impacted due to the software failure The software failure incident described in the article resulted in Time Machine backups running extremely slowly for users who had installed the OS X 10.7.5 update for Lion. This issue affected a number of users with various Mac models and backup setups, causing backups to take days to weeks to complete at a few kilobytes per hour. Users reported that reverting to OS X 10.7.4 resolved the slow backup issue, indicating that the problem was specifically related to the OS X 10.7.5 update [15285].
Domain information (a) The software failure incident reported in Article 15285 is related to the information industry. The issue occurred after users installed the latest OS X 10.7.5 update for Lion, causing problems with Time Machine backups and Spotlight indexing on Mac systems [15285].

Sources

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