Need for Speed ... Tiger too slow

spardacusspardacus
Posted:
in macOS edited January 2014
Hardware Overview:



Machine NametPower Mac G4

Machine ModeltPowerMac3,5

CPU TypetPowerPC G4 (2.1)

Number Of CPUst2

CPU Speedt1 GHz

L2 Cache (per CPU)t256 KB

L3 Cache (per CPU)t2 MB

Memoryt1 GB

Bus Speedt133 MHz

Boot ROM Versiont4.3.3f2

Serial NumbertXB21401PM8H

Sales Order NumbertM8667LL/A







It seems to me that with each operating system upgrade my computer gets slower and slower.

Yes, I run multiple applications ? who doesn?t? I usually run InDesign and Photoshop, InDesign and Word, Photoshop and Freehand ? and perhaps Entourage all day.



I have seen a DRAMATIC increase in the appearance of the ?beachball? since moving to Tiger ? and for the simplest of moves. Going from one open app to another. Trying to quit an app sometimes takes minutes on end. A moment ago I merely highlighted an input field on Safari and the beachball appeared for one full minute!



The ram configuration I currently have has in the past been more than adequate to run the software and the multi tasking I use on a typical workday ? the ONLY difference I can see as the cause for these incessant delays is the operating system.



I want a more streamlined working environment. Other than my iPod interface, I don?t use my computer for entertainment. I don?t need all the catchy icons, animated dock, and fanciful interactions with dashboards, etc, etc ? I just want a fast operating system to run my applications efficiently and to stay out of the way.



Any suggestions? Linux?



Would my software be compatible with such an environment?



Need for Speed.



i AM spardacus
«13

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 47
    chuckerchucker Posts: 5,089member
    When was the last time you did a complete clean reinstall?
  • Reply 2 of 47
    spardacusspardacus Posts: 10member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Chucker

    When was the last time you did a complete clean reinstall?





    Hmmm .... been a while.



    But do I want to reinstall Tiger ... or is Linux (or other) a more streamlined option?



    Thanks Chucker
  • Reply 3 of 47
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    Well, those apps you mentioned aren't going to run on Linux, so... yeah, it'd be *lightning* quick, since it wouldn't be doing anything.



    How often do you reboot? Logout? Quit the apps?



    Have you ever cleaned your caches?



    See, I've had exactly the opposite experience from you - every major upgrade has made my machine quite a bit faster.



    10.4.7 introduced a new caching scheme for Dashboard that seems to be beachballing more in general, which is annoying, but thankfully it can be shut off completely.
  • Reply 4 of 47
    chuckerchucker Posts: 5,089member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Kickaha

    See, I've had exactly the opposite experience from you - every major upgrade has made my machine quite a bit faster.



    Same here.
  • Reply 5 of 47
    chuckerchucker Posts: 5,089member
    [QUOTE]Originally posted by spardacus

    But do I want to reinstall Tiger[/QUOTE



    Do an "Archive and Install" (that's an option in the Installer). This will put aside your current stuff and install a clean system. You can then manually move stuff that you need back into place.



    Or, assuming you have a decent backup scheme, which you should , do an "Erase and Install", then copy stuff that you need back into place from your backups.



    I'm almost positive you'll see a huge speed boost.



    Quote:

    ... or is Linux (or other) a more streamlined option?



    Bluntly, no, Linux is not an option for the kind of work you do.
  • Reply 6 of 47
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,495moderator
    Sounds like a cache problem to me as mentioned above. Beachballing and switching apps was painful when my caches were messed up. So much so I noticed the problem straight away and sorted it by first swearing never to install System optimizer X again, fixing the Library permissions it screwed up and cleaning the caches using Cocktail.



    Mostly my system updates have improved in speed greatly and Tiger has been the fastest OS so far.
  • Reply 7 of 47
    thininethinine Posts: 71member
    Backup your files and any apps you don't have an installer for and do a clean install. That should clean out any stickiness._
  • Reply 8 of 47
    machoneflmachonefl Posts: 52member
    I ditto the sentiments here, each OS upgrade had run faster on any machine I've upgraded. Looks like time for a clean install.
  • Reply 9 of 47
    spardacusspardacus Posts: 10member
    Well ... I guess it's time for a clean install.



    \



    Thank you all for your replies.
  • Reply 10 of 47
    jlljll Posts: 2,713member
    Also, check how much vm you're using. Beacballing when moving from app to app can also mean that the memory is paging out and in.



    1GB for PS, InDesign and Freehand isn't exaclty too much.
  • Reply 11 of 47
    bwhalerbwhaler Posts: 260member
    Tiger, overall, sucks.



    I paid the 199 for the family pack, and I really don't think I got much value.



    But I am not mad at Apple. I suspect they sand bagged a bit because they didn't want Microsoft to copy their next generation OS ideas.



    So Tiger was a minor upgrade, with most of the changes under the hood, and just enough to get revenue for the upgrade.



    So Microsoft, as predicted copied OS X (and Sun's Glass.)



    Now that Microsoft is in a place where they can't reasonably add features, Apple can safely leap-frog Microsoft again with Leopard.
  • Reply 12 of 47
    spardacusspardacus Posts: 10member
    I do have another important question about archiving.



    In the past I would burn multiple CD's, and then as technology evolved DVD's for archiving. Burning DVD's for archiving consumes huuuuge amounts of time.



    How does everyone feel about long term (permanent) archiving to an external drive? I have had one drive go bad on me in the past. Are they now reliable enough across the board to move data to for long periods of time? Should I only consider moving data to an external until such time as I am able to burn DVD's ... as I have before?



    Also, what brands of drives are most reliable?



    Thank you all!



  • Reply 13 of 47
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,495moderator
    Quote:

    Originally posted by spardacus

    How does everyone feel about long term (permanent) archiving to an external drive?



    No, no, no. They are ok for temporary backups but they are not reliable. What I do is use an external drive with a clone of my system and make regular, almost daily backups of stuff I need. Then I burn maybe a DVD or two a week.



    Even if a DVD gets scratched, you can often still get a lot of data back. I used to use CDs and I decided to re-burn them to DVD. I discovered that two discs out of about 150 were slightly damaged. I lost about 300-400MB of stuff, which is less than 1 CD.



    If I'd had all that stuff on a HD and it blew, I'd lose it all in a fraction of a second. That's not a risk I'd ever be comfortable with.
  • Reply 14 of 47
    meelashmeelash Posts: 1,045member
    Just to add my $.02...



    A clean install is hardly ever necessary. You guys are talking like a bunch of winblows users although it is certainly less painful to clean install os x anyway.



    anywho, just get Onyx (<<--great app) or similar and run all the maintenance and cache clearing junk. Just had a similar problem that started rather abruptly with my bro's 17" Powerbook and about 1/2 hr. later everything was back to normal.
  • Reply 15 of 47
    lundylundy Posts: 4,466member
    No matter which medium you use, it seems to me that the more irreplaceable the data is, the more you



    - make more than one backup

    - store at least one of the backups off-site





    None of my stuff is really irreplaceable, so I am satisfied with one separate hard drive backup daily and one sent to dot-mac via Apple Backup.



    If I had irreplaceable stuff, I would make DVDs in addition to the above - make 2 of each, check them for ability to restore, and then take at least one offsite.



    It's true hard drives crash, but DriveSavers can usually get your data if you have $1200 or so.
  • Reply 16 of 47
    spardacusspardacus Posts: 10member
    I have my computer's primary on board hard drive ~ 75 gig drive

    I also have a secondary internal 250 gig hard drive installed.



    My system is running on the primary and I use the secondary for working files storage. I should be able to simply move everything off my primary onto my secondary for temporary storage, and clean install Tiger onto my primary without affecting the secondary - right?



    I went out and bought an external drive not thinking about this option. I have plenty of room on my secondary internal drive to archive the primary, and a clean install should allow me to choose which drive, leaving the other alone ... isn't that correct?



    Thanks.
  • Reply 17 of 47
    machoneflmachonefl Posts: 52member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by spardacus

    I have my computer's primary on board hard drive ~ 75 gig drive

    I also have a secondary internal 250 gig hard drive installed.



    My system is running on the primary and I use the secondary for working files storage. I should be able to simply move everything off my primary onto my secondary for temporary storage, and clean install Tiger onto my primary without affecting the secondary - right?



    I went out and bought an external drive not thinking about this option. I have plenty of room on my secondary internal drive to archive the primary, and a clean install should allow me to choose which drive, leaving the other alone ... isn't that correct?



    Thanks.



    Correct
  • Reply 18 of 47
    spardacusspardacus Posts: 10member
    Thank you.
  • Reply 19 of 47
    pbpb Posts: 4,255member
    Well, how things are going? Have you tried to restore the system? Do you see any difference?
  • Reply 20 of 47
    spardacusspardacus Posts: 10member
    Actually, I am currently browsing through all my folders trying to figure out what I need to copy over before wiping everything out.



    Thus makes me very nervous.



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