Re: G5 slowing down

[Jon Davison]

Thanks to everyone for their help in offering suggestions to the above 
problem. I have downloaded Yasu, with very  good results, I will also 
get

the latest version of DiskWarrior.

Thanks again, it really is good to know this great resource is close at 
hand and so responsive.

Jon

Getting to grips with digital photography
Photoshop workshops
Jon Davison has been a photographer
and designer for 25 years.
He has produced over 50 books.
+ 61 8 93806508
0403 235938
www.eyeinthesky.com.au/photoshop.html

Periodic tasks [was: Re: G5 slowing down]

[James Devenish]

In message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
on Tue, Nov 08, 2005 at 12:59:21PM +0800, Craig Ringer wrote:
> Mac OS X is at its fourth major revision, and Apple still haven't put
> a tool like anacron in place to run scripts after the machine next
> starts up if it misses a timed job.

I have no idea why Apple has not been using anacron! However, in Tiger,
cron's functionality has been supposedly subsumed by Tiger's launchd.
From the launchd manual:

...Unlike cron which skips job invocations when the computer is
asleep, launchd will start the job the next time the computer wakes
up. If multiple intervals transpire before the computer is woken,
those events will be coalesced into one event upon wake from sleep.

Unfortunately, I think anacron is still required if the computer is shut
down instead of put to sleep. Conceptually, I think the reason for this
is that system launchd "unloads" its jobs at shutdown, and thus does not
understand that cron-type jobs should be run retrospectively at the next
startup. I guess launchd should (or already does) include some kind of
flag to express this requirement. However, I'm not sure if launchd yet
includes a persistence mechanism for storing its state between reboots.

Re: G5 slowing down

[Craig Ringer]

Rob Findlay wrote:


General automatic
maintenance is carried out by the various scripts which are controlled by
Cron and if your mac is left turned on 24/7 it all gets done at the right
times.

I simply don't get this. Mac OS X is at its fourth major revision, and 
Apple still haven't put a tool like anacron in place to run scripts 
after the machine next starts up if it misses a timed job. This is 
_really_ not difficult, and it's also not hard to make it wait until the 
system load is low if they want to avoid disrupting the user.


Does Mac OS X actually do this now, with the "cron isn't getting run" 
stuff being a holdover from older versions, or does it still not know 
how to run a missed cron job? If the latter, it's time for lots of Mac 
users to start filing bugs in Apple's reqest system for "use anacron or 
a similar tool to manage missed cron jobs".


--
Craig Ringer

Re: G5 slowing down

[Rob Findlay]

On 7/11/05 12:48 AM, "Rob Davies" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> 
> On 06/11/2005, at 9:50 PM, Rob Findlay wrote:
> 
>> Dowloand YASU http://www.jimmitchelldesigns.com/yasu.html
>> Check everything, run, restart.
>> General slowdown can be caused by a buildup of cache files or log
>> files,
>> this program does a good basic spring clean of these things.
> 
> 
> Which if the machine has been left on, as has been hinted at. Apple
> and the GNU originators of programs has various cronjobs doing just
> this in the wee hours of the morning and at 4 in the afternoon.
> 
> If you happen to be doing video production or maybe high capacity
> media files I would suggest running Diskwarrior over cache,  capture
> drive or all drives at least once a month of course this depends on
> frequency of media being captured or manipulated.

 Disk Warrior is great if you have it. Always first port of call.

> With 10.4, I would be very careful deleting or cleaning cache files.
> As these are extremely important to smooth operation of various
> systems within Tiger. Which if moved or cleaned will slow system down
> considerably and even cause some weird happenings and malfunctions.

This has not been my experience, I troubleshoot Macs for a living. I read
through the site you suggested and about the worst thing that happens from
cleaning system caches (according to them) is a slow restart the first time
and a reset of the list of trusted applications. My experience is that it is
not generally the system caches which cause the problems anyway. It's the
user caches created by all the apps like Photoshop and iPhoto which generate
100's of tiny cache files. It only takes one of these cache files to get
corrupt and the app associated with it will slow down or quit unexpectedly.
Font Cache files also cause some really weird problems. As is pointed out on
the xlab site, cache cleaning is not maintenance. General automatic
maintenance is carried out by the various scripts which are controlled by
Cron and if your mac is left turned on 24/7 it all gets done at the right
times. Other things like repairing permissions or running disk utility from
the CD (it can be run from the startup disk with 10.4.3) are maintenance.
Cache cleaning is troubleshooting and if your Mac is doing things it
shouldn't be doing or running slow then you need to troubleshoot it.

My personal most used favourite free thing is Applejack which is a script
which you run from single user mode and it sequentially runs fsck, repair
permissions, verify preference files, cache clean and, swap file removal. I
run it after Disk Warrior has done it's thing and this 2 step program fixes
most common problems.

Another simple troubleshooting technique is to create a new user and switch
to that user. If the problem goes away then the problem is definitely within
your home folder somewhere. Probably a preference file, or a log-in item but
it narrows it down big time.

> As Shay has suggested activity monitor to see if something is using
> excess machine or memory.

Also a good plan.
Cheers
Rob
> 
> Worthwhile investigating this site.
> http://www.thexlab.com/
> 

Re: G5 slowing down

[Rob Davies]

On 06/11/2005, at 9:50 PM, Rob Findlay wrote:


Dowloand YASU http://www.jimmitchelldesigns.com/yasu.html
Check everything, run, restart.
General slowdown can be caused by a buildup of cache files or log  
files,

this program does a good basic spring clean of these things.



Which if the machine has been left on, as has been hinted at. Apple  
and the GNU originators of programs has various cronjobs doing just  
this in the wee hours of the morning and at 4 in the afternoon.


If you happen to be doing video production or maybe high capacity  
media files I would suggest running Diskwarrior over cache,  capture  
drive or all drives at least once a month of course this depends on  
frequency of media being captured or manipulated.


With 10.4, I would be very careful deleting or cleaning cache files.  
As these are extremely important to smooth operation of various  
systems within Tiger. Which if moved or cleaned will slow system down  
considerably and even cause some weird happenings and malfunctions.


As Shay has suggested activity monitor to see if something is using  
excess machine or memory.


Worthwhile investigating this site.
http://www.thexlab.com/

Cheers!
`Rob...

Re: G5 slowing down

[Rob Findlay]

Dowloand YASU http://www.jimmitchelldesigns.com/yasu.html
Check everything, run, restart.
General slowdown can be caused by a buildup of cache files or log files,
this program does a good basic spring clean of these things.
HTH
Rob


On 6/11/05 7:16 PM, "Jon Davison" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> Thanks Bill. Yes I do this but it does not take long before it slows
> again. Is there a pref or something that needs
> replacing? Nobody else has responded, so I guess there is no answer to
> it, or that no one has had the same problem.
> Cheers and thanks again
> Jon
> 
> 
> Begin forwarded message:
> 
>> From: Denise & Bill <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>> Date: 6 November 2005 6:40:05 PM
>> To: "WAMUG Mailing List" 
>> Subject: Re: G5 slowing down
>> 
>> My G5 did the same thing.  Fixed it by turning it off and re-booting.
>> Now I
>> turn it off about once per week.  Keeps it sweet.
>> Bill Currie
>> 
>> 
>> On 4/11/05 6:51 PM, "Jon Davison" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>> 
>>> Hi everyone. I think this has been dealt with before so excuse me if
>>> it
>>> has. My G5/1.6/768RAM/OS.X.3.9 is slowing down by the day. What is the
>>> best way to deal with this. I regularly close all apps I am not using,
>>> but use Photoshop CS2 and Dreamweaver MX daily. I have an eDrive
>>> partition that I use with TechTools Pro V4, and Optimize every now and
>>> then.
>>> 
>>> I hardly use Classic, my kids sometimes download MSM which I delete if
>>> I find it. They have an eMac for this. so no 3rd part apps. As this is
>>> my work machine I would like it to get back to how it performed a year
>>> ago. I have two HD's (47GB and 37GB left, so space is okay). Could it
>>> be RAM?  Should I trash
>>> Finder prefs?
>>> 
>>> Any ideas on why it is going so slow. Normal simple Photoshop actions
>>> are a pain as they take so long. My iBook 1.6 is like lightning by
>>> comparison.
>>> 
>>> Thanks
>>> Jon
>>> 
>>> Beneath Southern Seas
>>> A new coffee-table book celebrating the Australian Submariner
>>> Published by UWA Press
>>> and developed by
>>> Eye in the Sky Productions
>>> Western Australia & Queensland
>>> Email Jon Davison, WA (photog & production): <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>>> Email Tom Allibone, Qld (Interviews & marketing):
>>> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>>> Email: Michael Adeane, WA (Design & print management):
>>> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>>> W: <http://www.eyeinthesky.com.au/runsilent/chapters.html>
>>> 
>>> -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List --
>>> Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml>
>>> Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml>
>>> Unsubscribe - <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>>> 
>>> WAMUG is powered by Stalker CommuniGatePro
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List --
>> Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml>
>> Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml>
>> Unsubscribe - <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>> 
>> WAMUG is powered by Stalker CommuniGatePro
>> 
>> 
> Upon Southern Seas (BSS4)
> A new coffee-table book celebrating the Australian Warship
> Publisher TBA
> Developed by
> Eye in the Sky Productions
> Western Australia & Queensland
> Email Jon Davison, WA (photog & production): <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Email Tom Allibone, Qld (Interviews & marketing):
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Email: Michael Adeane, WA (Design & print management):
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> W: <http://www.eyeinthesky.com.au/bss3_frigates.html>
> 
> -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List --
> Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml>
> Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml>
> Unsubscribe - <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> 
> WAMUG is powered by Stalker CommuniGatePro
> 

Re: Fwd: G5 slowing down

[Shay Telfer]

Thanks Bill. Yes I do this but it does not take long before it slows 
again. Is there a pref or something that needs
replacing? Nobody else has responded, so I guess there is no answer 
to it, or that no one has had the same problem.

Cheers and thanks again
Jon


Run Activity Monitor from your Applications/Utilities folder and see 
if there's anything taking up lots of CPU time or disk space.


Have fun,
Shay
--
=== Shay  Telfer 
 Perth, Western Australia   Technomancer  The love of liberty is the love
 Opinions for hire  [POQ] of others; the love of power is
 http://public.xdi.org/=Shayfnord the love of ourselves - Hazlitt

Fwd: G5 slowing down

[Jon Davison]

Thanks Bill. Yes I do this but it does not take long before it slows 
again. Is there a pref or something that needs
replacing? Nobody else has responded, so I guess there is no answer to 
it, or that no one has had the same problem.

Cheers and thanks again
Jon


Begin forwarded message:


From: Denise & Bill <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: 6 November 2005 6:40:05 PM
To: "WAMUG Mailing List" 
Subject: Re: G5 slowing down

My G5 did the same thing.  Fixed it by turning it off and re-booting.  
Now I

turn it off about once per week.  Keeps it sweet.
Bill Currie


On 4/11/05 6:51 PM, "Jon Davison" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

Hi everyone. I think this has been dealt with before so excuse me if 
it

has. My G5/1.6/768RAM/OS.X.3.9 is slowing down by the day. What is the
best way to deal with this. I regularly close all apps I am not using,
but use Photoshop CS2 and Dreamweaver MX daily. I have an eDrive
partition that I use with TechTools Pro V4, and Optimize every now and
then.

I hardly use Classic, my kids sometimes download MSM which I delete if
I find it. They have an eMac for this. so no 3rd part apps. As this is
my work machine I would like it to get back to how it performed a year
ago. I have two HD's (47GB and 37GB left, so space is okay). Could it
be RAM?  Should I trash
Finder prefs?

Any ideas on why it is going so slow. Normal simple Photoshop actions
are a pain as they take so long. My iBook 1.6 is like lightning by
comparison.

Thanks
Jon

Beneath Southern Seas
A new coffee-table book celebrating the Australian Submariner
Published by UWA Press
and developed by
Eye in the Sky Productions
Western Australia & Queensland
Email Jon Davison, WA (photog & production): <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Email Tom Allibone, Qld (Interviews & marketing):
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Email: Michael Adeane, WA (Design & print management):
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
W: <http://www.eyeinthesky.com.au/runsilent/chapters.html>

-- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List --
Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml>
Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml>
Unsubscribe - <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>

WAMUG is powered by Stalker CommuniGatePro




-- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List --
Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml>
Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml>
Unsubscribe - <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>

WAMUG is powered by Stalker CommuniGatePro



Upon Southern Seas (BSS4)
A new coffee-table book celebrating the Australian Warship
Publisher TBA
Developed by
Eye in the Sky Productions
Western Australia & Queensland
Email Jon Davison, WA (photog & production): <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Email Tom Allibone, Qld (Interviews & marketing): 
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Email: Michael Adeane, WA (Design & print management): 
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>

W: <http://www.eyeinthesky.com.au/bss3_frigates.html>

Re: G5 slowing down

[Denise & Bill]

My G5 did the same thing.  Fixed it by turning it off and re-booting.  Now I
turn it off about once per week.  Keeps it sweet.
Bill Currie


On 4/11/05 6:51 PM, "Jon Davison" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> Hi everyone. I think this has been dealt with before so excuse me if it
> has. My G5/1.6/768RAM/OS.X.3.9 is slowing down by the day. What is the
> best way to deal with this. I regularly close all apps I am not using,
> but use Photoshop CS2 and Dreamweaver MX daily. I have an eDrive
> partition that I use with TechTools Pro V4, and Optimize every now and
> then.
> 
> I hardly use Classic, my kids sometimes download MSM which I delete if
> I find it. They have an eMac for this. so no 3rd part apps. As this is
> my work machine I would like it to get back to how it performed a year
> ago. I have two HD's (47GB and 37GB left, so space is okay). Could it
> be RAM?  Should I trash
> Finder prefs?
> 
> Any ideas on why it is going so slow. Normal simple Photoshop actions
> are a pain as they take so long. My iBook 1.6 is like lightning by
> comparison.
> 
> Thanks
> Jon
> 
> Beneath Southern Seas
> A new coffee-table book celebrating the Australian Submariner
> Published by UWA Press
> and developed by
> Eye in the Sky Productions
> Western Australia & Queensland
> Email Jon Davison, WA (photog & production): <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Email Tom Allibone, Qld (Interviews & marketing):
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Email: Michael Adeane, WA (Design & print management):
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> W: 
> 
> -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List --
> Archives - 
> Guidelines - 
> Unsubscribe - 
> 
> WAMUG is powered by Stalker CommuniGatePro

Re: G5 slowing down

[Paul]

Jon Davison wrote:

Hi everyone. I think this has been dealt with before so excuse me if 
it has. My G5/1.6/768RAM/OS.X.3.9 is slowing down by the day. What is 
the best way to deal with this. I regularly close all apps I am not 
using, but use Photoshop CS2 and Dreamweaver MX daily. I have an 
eDrive partition that I use with TechTools Pro V4, and Optimize every 
now and then.


I hardly use Classic, my kids sometimes download MSM which I delete if 
I find it. They have an eMac for this. so no 3rd part apps. As this is 
my work machine I would like it to get back to how it performed a year 
ago. I have two HD's (47GB and 37GB left, so space is okay). Could it 
be RAM?  Should I trash

Finder prefs?

Any ideas on why it is going so slow. Normal simple Photoshop actions 
are a pain as they take so long. My iBook 1.6 is like lightning by 
comparison.


If nothing in particular was suspect I guess I would use XBench to see 
if any one area was showing low results.


Good luck
Paul

Re: G5 slowing down

[Jon Davison]

Hi everyone. I think this has been dealt with before so excuse me if it 
has. My G5/1.6/768RAM/OS.X.3.9 is slowing down by the day. What is the 
best way to deal with this. I regularly close all apps I am not using, 
but use Photoshop CS2 and Dreamweaver MX daily. I have an eDrive 
partition that I use with TechTools Pro V4, and Optimize every now and 
then.


I hardly use Classic, my kids sometimes download MSM which I delete if 
I find it. They have an eMac for this. so no 3rd part apps. As this is 
my work machine I would like it to get back to how it performed a year 
ago. I have two HD's (47GB and 37GB left, so space is okay). Could it 
be RAM?  Should I trash

Finder prefs?

Any ideas on why it is going so slow. Normal simple Photoshop actions 
are a pain as they take so long. My iBook 1.6 is like lightning by 
comparison.


Thanks
Jon

Beneath Southern Seas
A new coffee-table book celebrating the Australian Submariner
Published by UWA Press
and developed by
Eye in the Sky Productions
Western Australia & Queensland
Email Jon Davison, WA (photog & production): <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Email Tom Allibone, Qld (Interviews & marketing): 
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Email: Michael Adeane, WA (Design & print management): 
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>

W: