usb hub can it slow down my computer?

I

iguy1

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Hi flat Panel iMac g4 10.4.10

since I plugged in a self powered usb hub (for photo printer, webcam) I am running very slowly- did all the basic maintenance stuff. Can the hub or the peripherals attached to it be causing the problem? Can software associated with the webcam (icecam by macally) be the culprit?

Thanks as always

Mike
 
I'd open up a terminal (Applications/Utilities), make the window nice and big so you can see all the details, and then type top. This will show you all running processes (yes, yes, I know Activity Monitor does the same thing). See if you can spot something that is hogging resources or causing a slowdown. If in doubt, copy paste the text from Terminal into the thread and we'll take a look.

You can also check the logs using Console.app (also in Applications/Utilities) to see if there is a recurring error that might explain the problem you're having.
 
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Why not just disconnect the hub and see if speeds return to normal? If they do, then you've got a likely culprit. What happens if you only run the hub connected to the computer, without any peripherals connected to the hub? If speeds return to being slow, it's likely the hub that's doing it... if not, then what happens if you run one peripheral connected?

You can use this "process of elimination" to find the likely USB culprit, if any at all.

Some people report in prior versions of OS X that some hp printer software ran "out of control" on their systems. Use symphonix's suggestion and see if anything is taxing the processor abnormally.
 
well, that icecam-driver is a pretty bad, cpu-hogging piece of schijt.
but it shouldn't be active if you're not using the camera..


(macam driver uses about 10 times less cpu, but that only produces lsd-halucinations...)
 
A bad hub or peripheral can absolutely cause problems! I've seen them cause Macs not to be able to boot at all until unplugged.

As mentioned above - trial and error is the best way to find out if any one of them - or a combination - is causing your problem.
 
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