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TICKET ARCHIVE -> Slow Performance On My 12" G4 Powerbook
jessehawaii - May 3, 2005 - 1:29 pm
i am running os 10.3.x and am having horrible performance lately. the machine is really slow with long waits for even simple tasks - ie opening the hard drive, opening safari etc - i get the rotating hard disk-colored icon all the time. i have max ram in the maching (640mb) and there are 13 gigs of empy hardrive space. i tried to start up from my system cd but it crashes everytime i try. what can i do? help.
Saxphile - May 3, 2005 - 7:43 pm
Hi Jesse,
Did you notice any unusual noises from your hard drive? Before we try any software solutions I'd like to make sure you didn't have a hardware issue. Go to Disk Utility in Applications -> Utilities and click on your hard drive. Make sure that "S.M.A.R.T. Status" is Verified. If not then you have a failing hard drive.
If you hard drive is okay, then you should try to repair permission on your hard drive. Just click on Repair Disk Permissions while you're in Disk Utilities. Also, make sure you have the lastest OS update installed on your computer (it should be 10.3.9).
Lastly, try to repair the file structures in your hard drive. Follow the instructions here:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214
Since you said that your system crashes when you boot from CD (which is an alarming sign suggesting hardware problems), you might want to skip to the part about running fsck directly.
On an unrelated note, that rotating hard disk-colored icon is usually refered to as the spinning beach ball of death.
Let me know if this solved your problem.
Charlie
--------
Computers are useless. They can only give you answers. -- Pablo Picasso
Did you notice any unusual noises from your hard drive? Before we try any software solutions I'd like to make sure you didn't have a hardware issue. Go to Disk Utility in Applications -> Utilities and click on your hard drive. Make sure that "S.M.A.R.T. Status" is Verified. If not then you have a failing hard drive.
If you hard drive is okay, then you should try to repair permission on your hard drive. Just click on Repair Disk Permissions while you're in Disk Utilities. Also, make sure you have the lastest OS update installed on your computer (it should be 10.3.9).
Lastly, try to repair the file structures in your hard drive. Follow the instructions here:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214
Since you said that your system crashes when you boot from CD (which is an alarming sign suggesting hardware problems), you might want to skip to the part about running fsck directly.
On an unrelated note, that rotating hard disk-colored icon is usually refered to as the spinning beach ball of death.
Let me know if this solved your problem.
Charlie
--------
Computers are useless. They can only give you answers. -- Pablo Picasso
Saxphile - May 5, 2005 - 9:21 pm
Hi Jesse,
Just want to check if your problems have been resolved.
Cheers,
Charlie
--------
Computers are useless. They can only give you answers. -- Pablo Picasso
Just want to check if your problems have been resolved.
Cheers,
Charlie
--------
Computers are useless. They can only give you answers. -- Pablo Picasso
jessehawaii - May 5, 2005 - 9:56 pm
hi charlie, thanks for the help. i tried the safe start up option last night (it took an hour to start up) - and only tried using the machine this am- it did seem faster but i need to use it a little more to know for sure. the hard drive checked out okay with disk utilities. i did notice in retrospect that the machine was slowest the first 20 minutes or so after starting up and seemed to "warm up" the longer it was on. maybe this is my imagination?
will keep you posted.
thanks again
jesse
will keep you posted.
thanks again
jesse
jessehawaii - May 7, 2005 - 2:04 pm
hey, thanks again for the help.
the machine is very slow, very frustrating.
i do hear some acitvity inside the machine which i thought was the processor but i guess it may be the hard drive? it is pretty constant, increases with doing just about any task.
man, i'm desperate!
does this sound like the hard drive?
jesse
the machine is very slow, very frustrating.
i do hear some acitvity inside the machine which i thought was the processor but i guess it may be the hard drive? it is pretty constant, increases with doing just about any task.
man, i'm desperate!
does this sound like the hard drive?
jesse
Saxphile - May 7, 2005 - 4:45 pm
Hi Jesse,
Yes, that is the sound of the hard drive. Sounds like either your directory data is seriously damaged or there's a hardware issue. I suggest you do a through back up first (like you're going to lose the computer tomorrow - back up everything that's valuable to you!), then try to get your hands on a copy of good diagnosis software (Disk Warrior, TechTools Pro, Drive 10, etc) and run a quick check. If there's an Apple store nearby, you should let the geniuses there have a look at it (remember to make a reservation first). There are subtle signs of problems that are hard to describe in email.
Good luck and please let me know how it turned out.
Charlie
--------
Computers are useless. They can only give you answers. -- Pablo Picasso
Yes, that is the sound of the hard drive. Sounds like either your directory data is seriously damaged or there's a hardware issue. I suggest you do a through back up first (like you're going to lose the computer tomorrow - back up everything that's valuable to you!), then try to get your hands on a copy of good diagnosis software (Disk Warrior, TechTools Pro, Drive 10, etc) and run a quick check. If there's an Apple store nearby, you should let the geniuses there have a look at it (remember to make a reservation first). There are subtle signs of problems that are hard to describe in email.
Good luck and please let me know how it turned out.
Charlie
--------
Computers are useless. They can only give you answers. -- Pablo Picasso
jessehawaii - May 10, 2005 - 7:38 pm
hey charlie,
well, i gave up. sometimes it runs good, other times it's terrible. i decided to get a hard drive and wanted to see if you had any advice on the following:
1. where can i buy one online and how do i know if
it will work on my machine?
2. can i install it myself? if so, how do i install system software on it?
3. or would you recommend i have someone do it - have you heard of macservice.com?
thanks for the help again!
jesse
well, i gave up. sometimes it runs good, other times it's terrible. i decided to get a hard drive and wanted to see if you had any advice on the following:
1. where can i buy one online and how do i know if
it will work on my machine?
2. can i install it myself? if so, how do i install system software on it?
3. or would you recommend i have someone do it - have you heard of macservice.com?
thanks for the help again!
jesse
Saxphile - May 10, 2005 - 9:04 pm
Hi Jesse,
Before you do anything else, you really should take your Powerbook to an Apple store and let the genius have a look at it. It's a free service even if your computer has gone out of warranty. Installing a hard drive in Powerbook is a complicated process, so the labor cost for that could be quick significant. You don't want to replace the hard drive and find out something else was causing the problem. Lastly, if you're willing to go down the route of replacing the hard drive, you should probably do an "erase and install" of Mac OS X on your computer first and see if that solves the problem (since you're going to do a reinstall anyway). Again, don't forget to backup.
The following instructions are for if you want to replace your hard drive. But PLEASE consider what I said above before proceeding.
Hard drives for Powerbook is the same as those for PC laptops (2.5"), but you need to make sure it's 9.5mm high and not 12.5mm. Although nowadays almost all drives are 9.5mm tall. Since the hard drives are the same as those for PCs, you can get them from lots of places. There are, however, a few Mac-centric retailers (non-affiliated links):
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/hard-.../2.5-Notebook/
http://www.pbfixit.com/cart/catalog/...es_page_1.html
http://www.newegg.com/ProductSort/Su...ubCategory=380
PB Fix It has an excellent guide on how to install hard drive by yourself:
http://www.pbfixit.com/Guide/53.10.0.html As I said before, opening a Powerbook is a very complicated process, and even a skilled technician can have trouble at times. So unless you're very patient and willing to take some riskes, I'd recommend that you let someone else do it.
Once you have the new hard drive in there, you just put in your Mac OS X installation CD or the Restore disk that came with your computer. The on-screen instructions should walk you through it. Just remember to partition your hard drive first. If you have questions then, you can post another question or email me at charles.lee@gmail.com
I have never used www.macservice.com, so I can't really comment on them. But keep in mind that you can get a brand new iBook G4 that's faster than your exist computer for less than $1200, so if the repair cost is very high you might want to sell the Powerbook (since it's still working) and get a new one instead.
Good luck!
Charlie
--------
Computers are useless. They can only give you answers. -- Pablo Picasso
Before you do anything else, you really should take your Powerbook to an Apple store and let the genius have a look at it. It's a free service even if your computer has gone out of warranty. Installing a hard drive in Powerbook is a complicated process, so the labor cost for that could be quick significant. You don't want to replace the hard drive and find out something else was causing the problem. Lastly, if you're willing to go down the route of replacing the hard drive, you should probably do an "erase and install" of Mac OS X on your computer first and see if that solves the problem (since you're going to do a reinstall anyway). Again, don't forget to backup.
The following instructions are for if you want to replace your hard drive. But PLEASE consider what I said above before proceeding.
Hard drives for Powerbook is the same as those for PC laptops (2.5"), but you need to make sure it's 9.5mm high and not 12.5mm. Although nowadays almost all drives are 9.5mm tall. Since the hard drives are the same as those for PCs, you can get them from lots of places. There are, however, a few Mac-centric retailers (non-affiliated links):
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/hard-.../2.5-Notebook/
http://www.pbfixit.com/cart/catalog/...es_page_1.html
http://www.newegg.com/ProductSort/Su...ubCategory=380
PB Fix It has an excellent guide on how to install hard drive by yourself:
http://www.pbfixit.com/Guide/53.10.0.html As I said before, opening a Powerbook is a very complicated process, and even a skilled technician can have trouble at times. So unless you're very patient and willing to take some riskes, I'd recommend that you let someone else do it.
Once you have the new hard drive in there, you just put in your Mac OS X installation CD or the Restore disk that came with your computer. The on-screen instructions should walk you through it. Just remember to partition your hard drive first. If you have questions then, you can post another question or email me at charles.lee@gmail.com
I have never used www.macservice.com, so I can't really comment on them. But keep in mind that you can get a brand new iBook G4 that's faster than your exist computer for less than $1200, so if the repair cost is very high you might want to sell the Powerbook (since it's still working) and get a new one instead.
Good luck!
Charlie
--------
Computers are useless. They can only give you answers. -- Pablo Picasso
Saxphile - May 14, 2005 - 5:49 am
Hi Jesse,
Just want to check if you've got things sorted. Let me know if you need more information.
Cheers,
Charlie
--------
Computers are useless. They can only give you answers. -- Pablo Picasso
Just want to check if you've got things sorted. Let me know if you need more information.
Cheers,
Charlie
--------
Computers are useless. They can only give you answers. -- Pablo Picasso
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