Get rid of the Apple and get a real PC. (Stated for the benefit of those Apple users that always visit the PC threads and suggest dumping the PC for an Apple.)
Use Dogpile dot com and the ampersand (&) with the query “mac lightroom & spinning ball” and you’ll get more specific posts and entries from other Mac specific sites and “users” with the same issue.
The reply that included “ram” as a possible answer might be right on target. Lightroom is ram hungry and with a Mac being used for graphics there’s no such thing as too much ram. I have 32GB installed in my 8 core and there’s times I wish I had gone to 64gb.
The spinning ball (unlike the blue screen of death) does not mean your hard drive has problems. It means your Mac is stuck trying to open the program or open the image. Ram could be the reason in both cases. Repairing permissions is among the first things to do to eliminate that possibility as the culprit.
BTW: Dealmac dot com has a nice “user’s forum” that covers the gamut. Talking with a group of Mac users will be beneficial. Look for the forum link on the right side of the page under “helpful links”.
I use Macs, and hadn’t heard of Lightroom. Is this a program that came on your Apple computer, or is it something you purchased and installed yourself? A search shows Lightroom is an Adobe Photoshop program. You might want to contact them if you can’t find an answer to the beachball problem. Anytime the beachball comes up, it means the computer is thinking, or working. If it’s lasting a long time, you may need more RAM, especially if you run several programs at the same time.
What you have described is IMPOSSIBLE as MACS are literally perfect.
Mac advice
Are you using Safari? If so, on occasion, I get the spinning wheel when Adblocker stops and ad from popping up and “fights with it.” Sort of a hiccup/stumble. Then it clears up. However, it doesn’t seem to be doing this after an update several months ago.
Thanks for the suggestions - I do think it has something to do with ram - it worked great in the beginning but as the available ram began to shrink the system worked slower and slower. My husband took a photography workhshop in Idaho last fall, and the teacher had a mac and let the students work on it and then my husband had to have one when we got home. It’s been quite a challenge.
Get a PC - a really big one!
Make sure the audio is turned off!
Mine did that w/ the audio on. Started saying
‘You are getting sleepy’ over and over.
Fortunately my wife cam home early and caught it just before my eyes closed.
No telling how long I would have been hypnotized.
Couldn’t resist. Have 3 Macs and love them.
They require moving un-accessed images to referenced files They are extremely resource intense. I agree with others: monthly maintenance In addition monthly I use Disk Warrior iFreeMem is also worthwhile I prepare on a regular basis, I use a four engine MacPro with Soon I will be upgrading my video card and Hope this helpsLightroom is a DAM(digital asset manager)
similar to Aperture.
i.e. the require large amounts of RAM and disk space.
of repairing file permissions.
to repair inodes.
for reclaiming leaked memory..
photo files of 500 meg
for my print shop.
and do not get spinning balls.
8 gig of memory and 3 Terabytes of disk
with an advanced video card.
doubling my CPU to eight engines.
What are the specifications of your Mac? (what model, how much memory, etc.) We would assume you are running OS X 10.7 (Lion) - but regardless, is the operating system updated to the latest (in the case of Lion - 10.7.3 would be the latest).
Not knowing what model you have, or how much memory is installed leaves us sort of hanging on that regard - Any computer with 4GB or less is asking for lags, hangs, and general frustration when doing anything beyond reading emails. That is the game regardless of operating system.
Also - be certain that you have the latest version of Lightroom.