kilamanjaro
Registered
Hi: I have tried submitting this question via the Help App but am not sure it worked properly. Thanks for your help!
Problem
Hello! Please forgive the length of this post - I thought and hoped it might be more useful to provide my Xbench test data up front and waste even less of your time than dribbling the data out. Please Heeeeeelp! I've a system that is as slow as treacle and then some.
I've a 2 year old Alum G4 1.25 GHz, 768 MB Ram, 80GB Hard disk PowerBook running Tiger 10.4.2. Ever since I upgraded from Panther to Tiger I'm having the following experience: When I use (or try to) the PowerBook booted from itself (10.4.2) I get the beach ball between EVERY move - select a menu item <bounce>, try to move cursor in menu <bounce>, wait for application to open <bounce> etc. It's like trying to hurry through honey. When I reboot the PowerBook using the Apple iPod (10.4.2 also installed) as my boot disk, man! it's like the Panther days - fast, sleek, responsive - even though I'm using the same applications off the PowerBook with the same data stored on the PowerBook. Please HELP! I'm at my wits ends!
Background
I have 13GB of free space on partition 1 (Mac OS X) and 1.5 GB free on parttion 2 (named "Virtual PC" 'cause that's where I store my Virtual PC. I have 2 startupitems (AdobeVersionCue and VirtualPCOSServices), 1 Login item (Little Snitch v 1.2), usually 3 to 4 icons on the desktop (having cleaned it up), usually around 10 icons in the dock.
I have run disk utility and no problems.
I have run Tech Tools every which way and no problems.
I have run Disk Warrior and rebuilt the directory structures and no problems.
I have wiped the disk down to its nubbins, done a disk sector check, and then partitioned the disk (with disk utility) and re-installed 10.4 and thence upgraded to 10.4.2.
I first upgraded to 10.4.3 but that was EVEN SLOWER (I later thought that might have been because Spotlight was 'ON'). I did an archive and install and eventually wiped the 'Previous System' (for disk space, just to make sure that wasn't an issue). I now boot and run with Spotlight off (no indexing at all) and all indexes scrubbed and deleted <used utility called 'Spotless>. I have also looked at the invisible files to ensure Spotlight is not 'secretly on and building stuff. It isn't.
I have also used (last few moves so far) MOX optimizer and Pacifist (separately!) to do a complete systems prebinding.
I have also run Onyx several times to clean EVERYTHING (almost) and to do all* the usual systems maintenance tasks.
I even found the solution for why nmbd keeps crazy calling Little Snitch trying to get out to all those strange destinations and fixed that. In desperation I installed 10.4.2 on my iPod and booted my PowerBook from there. WOW! It ran like a screaming Panther! I don't know what to make of this.
Xbench
Finally, I have run Xbench on my system in 2 different configurations.
I booted the PowerBook from the iPod (both running 10.4.2) and ran Xbench choosing, successively, the disks: iPod; MacOS X primary partition; and Mac OS X second partition (called "Virtual PC"). I then rebooted the system without the iPod, i.e. standalone, and ran Xbench on the Mac OS X partition and then on the "Virtual PC" partition.
I've omitted all the other tests other than the CPU and Disk tests from here because the results, like the CPU tests below, were all pretty similar. HOWEVER I don't understand the meaning of the disk tests results. ANY insights/tips/help ANY light at all would be tremendously appreciated. I have re-organized the Xbench data so you can see the comparative results a little more clearly.
Note: System has 3 partitions called "Mac OS X" (50Gb), "Virtual PC" (15.32 GB - with VPC6 and VPC7 installed), and "Linux" (8.22 Gb - with absolutely nothing installed - a bare partition - thought I better get a stable, usable system first).
System Info
Xbench Version 1.2
System Version 10.4.2 (8C46)
Physical RAM 768 MB
Model PowerBook5,2
Processor PowerPC G4 @ 1.25 GHz
L1 Cache 32K (instruction), 32K (data)
L2 Cache 512K @ 1.25 GHz
Bus Frequency 167 MHz
Video Card ATY,RV350M10
OVERALL SCORES
Apple iPod
Results 39.57 <overall results score>
Drive Type Apple iPod [40GB]
Disk Test 11.78
PowerBook Mac OS X disk [from iPod]
Results 41.48 <overall results score>
Drive Type HTS548080M9AT00 [Hitachi TravelStar 5400 rpm 80GB]
Disk Test 33.33
PowerBook Virtual PC disk [from iPod]
Results 2.29 <overall results score>
Drive Type HTS548080M9AT00 [Hitachi TravelStar 5400 rpm 80GB]
Disk Test 2.25
PowerBook Standalone Mac OS X disk
Results 8.67 <overall results score>
Drive Type HTS548080M9AT00 [Hitachi TravelStar 5400 rpm 80GB]
Disk Test 10.59
PowerBook Standalone "Virtual PC" disk [booted without using iPod]
Results 14.52 <overall results score>
Drive Type HTS548080M9AT00 [Hitachi TravelStar 5400 rpm 80GB]
Disk Test 8.61
CPU TESTS
CPU Test 48.97 -Apple iPod;
CPU Test 44.34 - Mac OS X from Apple iPod;
CPU Test 46.21 - Mac OS X Standalone boot -
>GCD Loop 72.06 3.80 Mops/sec - Apple iPod;
>GCD Loop 63.78 3.36 Mops/sec - MacOS X disk from Apple iPod;
>GCD Loop 90.77 4.78 Mops/sec - Mac OS X disk Standalone
/Floating Point Basic 34.83 827.50 Mflop/sec - Apple iPod;
/Floating Point Basic 28.28 671.85 Mflop/sec - Mac OS X disk from Apple iPod
/Floating Point Basic 28.75 683.00 Mflop/sec - Mac OS X disk standalone
>vecLib FFT 72.99 2.41 Gflop/sec - Apple iPod
>vecLib FFT 72.58 2.39 Gflop/sec - Mac OS X disk from Apple iPod
>vecLib FFT 71.65 2.36 Gflop/sec - Mac OS X disk standalone
/Floating Point Library 39.38 6.86 Mops/sec - Apple iPod
/Floating Point Library 39.40 6.86 Mops/sec - Mac OS X disk from Apple iPod
/Floating Point Library 37.33 6.50 Mops/secThread Test Mac OS X disk standalone
DISK TESTS
Apple iPod
Results 39.57 <overall results score>
Drive Type Apple iPod
Disk Test 11.78
Sequential 9.52
Uncached Write 4.22 2.59 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 29.69 16.80 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 8.43 2.47 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 32.85 16.51 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 15.43
Uncached Write 5.77 0.61 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 24.23 7.76 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 42.94 0.30 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 46.97 8.72 MB/sec [256K blocks]
PowerBook Mac OS X disk from Apple iPod
Results 41.48 <overall results score>
Drive Type HTS548080M9AT00
Disk Test 33.33
Sequential 64.68
Uncached Write 64.15 39.39 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 67.16 38.00 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 56.49 16.53 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 73.17 36.78 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 22.45
Uncached Write 7.52 0.80 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 58.19 18.63 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 59.68 0.42 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 88.80 16.48 MB/sec [256K blocks]
PowerBook "Virtual PC" disk from Apple iPod
Results 2.29 <overall results score>
Drive Type HTS548080M9AT00
Disk Test 2.25
Sequential 33.31
Uncached Write 32.95 20.23 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 27.93 15.80 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 33.38 9.77 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 41.73 20.97 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 1.17
Uncached Write 0.32 0.03 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 4.10 1.31 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 24.89 0.18 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 30.53 5.66 MB/sec [256K blocks]
PowerBook Standalone Mac OS X disk [booted without using iPod]
Results 17.22 <overall results score>
Drive Type HTS548080M9AT00
Disk Test 10.59
Sequential 41.64
Uncached Write 30.91 18.98 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 36.66 20.74 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 54.90 16.07 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 54.89 27.59 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 6.07
Uncached Write 1.83 0.19 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 16.44 5.26 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 39.06 0.28 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 37.43 6.95 MB/sec [256K blocks]
PowerBook Standalone "Virtual PC" disk [booted without using iPod]
Results 14.52 <overall results score>
Disk Test 8.61
Sequential 46.59
Uncached Write 72.05 44.24 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 28.99 16.40 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 52.80 15.45 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 53.96 27.12 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 4.74
Uncached Write 1.36 0.14 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 17.83 5.71 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 41.31 0.29 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 38.46 7.14 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Problem
Hello! Please forgive the length of this post - I thought and hoped it might be more useful to provide my Xbench test data up front and waste even less of your time than dribbling the data out. Please Heeeeeelp! I've a system that is as slow as treacle and then some.
I've a 2 year old Alum G4 1.25 GHz, 768 MB Ram, 80GB Hard disk PowerBook running Tiger 10.4.2. Ever since I upgraded from Panther to Tiger I'm having the following experience: When I use (or try to) the PowerBook booted from itself (10.4.2) I get the beach ball between EVERY move - select a menu item <bounce>, try to move cursor in menu <bounce>, wait for application to open <bounce> etc. It's like trying to hurry through honey. When I reboot the PowerBook using the Apple iPod (10.4.2 also installed) as my boot disk, man! it's like the Panther days - fast, sleek, responsive - even though I'm using the same applications off the PowerBook with the same data stored on the PowerBook. Please HELP! I'm at my wits ends!
Background
I have 13GB of free space on partition 1 (Mac OS X) and 1.5 GB free on parttion 2 (named "Virtual PC" 'cause that's where I store my Virtual PC. I have 2 startupitems (AdobeVersionCue and VirtualPCOSServices), 1 Login item (Little Snitch v 1.2), usually 3 to 4 icons on the desktop (having cleaned it up), usually around 10 icons in the dock.
I have run disk utility and no problems.
I have run Tech Tools every which way and no problems.
I have run Disk Warrior and rebuilt the directory structures and no problems.
I have wiped the disk down to its nubbins, done a disk sector check, and then partitioned the disk (with disk utility) and re-installed 10.4 and thence upgraded to 10.4.2.
I first upgraded to 10.4.3 but that was EVEN SLOWER (I later thought that might have been because Spotlight was 'ON'). I did an archive and install and eventually wiped the 'Previous System' (for disk space, just to make sure that wasn't an issue). I now boot and run with Spotlight off (no indexing at all) and all indexes scrubbed and deleted <used utility called 'Spotless>. I have also looked at the invisible files to ensure Spotlight is not 'secretly on and building stuff. It isn't.
I have also used (last few moves so far) MOX optimizer and Pacifist (separately!) to do a complete systems prebinding.
I have also run Onyx several times to clean EVERYTHING (almost) and to do all* the usual systems maintenance tasks.
I even found the solution for why nmbd keeps crazy calling Little Snitch trying to get out to all those strange destinations and fixed that. In desperation I installed 10.4.2 on my iPod and booted my PowerBook from there. WOW! It ran like a screaming Panther! I don't know what to make of this.
Xbench
Finally, I have run Xbench on my system in 2 different configurations.
I booted the PowerBook from the iPod (both running 10.4.2) and ran Xbench choosing, successively, the disks: iPod; MacOS X primary partition; and Mac OS X second partition (called "Virtual PC"). I then rebooted the system without the iPod, i.e. standalone, and ran Xbench on the Mac OS X partition and then on the "Virtual PC" partition.
I've omitted all the other tests other than the CPU and Disk tests from here because the results, like the CPU tests below, were all pretty similar. HOWEVER I don't understand the meaning of the disk tests results. ANY insights/tips/help ANY light at all would be tremendously appreciated. I have re-organized the Xbench data so you can see the comparative results a little more clearly.
Note: System has 3 partitions called "Mac OS X" (50Gb), "Virtual PC" (15.32 GB - with VPC6 and VPC7 installed), and "Linux" (8.22 Gb - with absolutely nothing installed - a bare partition - thought I better get a stable, usable system first).
System Info
Xbench Version 1.2
System Version 10.4.2 (8C46)
Physical RAM 768 MB
Model PowerBook5,2
Processor PowerPC G4 @ 1.25 GHz
L1 Cache 32K (instruction), 32K (data)
L2 Cache 512K @ 1.25 GHz
Bus Frequency 167 MHz
Video Card ATY,RV350M10
OVERALL SCORES
Apple iPod
Results 39.57 <overall results score>
Drive Type Apple iPod [40GB]
Disk Test 11.78
PowerBook Mac OS X disk [from iPod]
Results 41.48 <overall results score>
Drive Type HTS548080M9AT00 [Hitachi TravelStar 5400 rpm 80GB]
Disk Test 33.33
PowerBook Virtual PC disk [from iPod]
Results 2.29 <overall results score>
Drive Type HTS548080M9AT00 [Hitachi TravelStar 5400 rpm 80GB]
Disk Test 2.25
PowerBook Standalone Mac OS X disk
Results 8.67 <overall results score>
Drive Type HTS548080M9AT00 [Hitachi TravelStar 5400 rpm 80GB]
Disk Test 10.59
PowerBook Standalone "Virtual PC" disk [booted without using iPod]
Results 14.52 <overall results score>
Drive Type HTS548080M9AT00 [Hitachi TravelStar 5400 rpm 80GB]
Disk Test 8.61
CPU TESTS
CPU Test 48.97 -Apple iPod;
CPU Test 44.34 - Mac OS X from Apple iPod;
CPU Test 46.21 - Mac OS X Standalone boot -
>GCD Loop 72.06 3.80 Mops/sec - Apple iPod;
>GCD Loop 63.78 3.36 Mops/sec - MacOS X disk from Apple iPod;
>GCD Loop 90.77 4.78 Mops/sec - Mac OS X disk Standalone
/Floating Point Basic 34.83 827.50 Mflop/sec - Apple iPod;
/Floating Point Basic 28.28 671.85 Mflop/sec - Mac OS X disk from Apple iPod
/Floating Point Basic 28.75 683.00 Mflop/sec - Mac OS X disk standalone
>vecLib FFT 72.99 2.41 Gflop/sec - Apple iPod
>vecLib FFT 72.58 2.39 Gflop/sec - Mac OS X disk from Apple iPod
>vecLib FFT 71.65 2.36 Gflop/sec - Mac OS X disk standalone
/Floating Point Library 39.38 6.86 Mops/sec - Apple iPod
/Floating Point Library 39.40 6.86 Mops/sec - Mac OS X disk from Apple iPod
/Floating Point Library 37.33 6.50 Mops/secThread Test Mac OS X disk standalone
DISK TESTS
Apple iPod
Results 39.57 <overall results score>
Drive Type Apple iPod
Disk Test 11.78
Sequential 9.52
Uncached Write 4.22 2.59 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 29.69 16.80 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 8.43 2.47 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 32.85 16.51 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 15.43
Uncached Write 5.77 0.61 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 24.23 7.76 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 42.94 0.30 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 46.97 8.72 MB/sec [256K blocks]
PowerBook Mac OS X disk from Apple iPod
Results 41.48 <overall results score>
Drive Type HTS548080M9AT00
Disk Test 33.33
Sequential 64.68
Uncached Write 64.15 39.39 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 67.16 38.00 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 56.49 16.53 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 73.17 36.78 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 22.45
Uncached Write 7.52 0.80 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 58.19 18.63 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 59.68 0.42 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 88.80 16.48 MB/sec [256K blocks]
PowerBook "Virtual PC" disk from Apple iPod
Results 2.29 <overall results score>
Drive Type HTS548080M9AT00
Disk Test 2.25
Sequential 33.31
Uncached Write 32.95 20.23 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 27.93 15.80 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 33.38 9.77 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 41.73 20.97 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 1.17
Uncached Write 0.32 0.03 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 4.10 1.31 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 24.89 0.18 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 30.53 5.66 MB/sec [256K blocks]
PowerBook Standalone Mac OS X disk [booted without using iPod]
Results 17.22 <overall results score>
Drive Type HTS548080M9AT00
Disk Test 10.59
Sequential 41.64
Uncached Write 30.91 18.98 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 36.66 20.74 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 54.90 16.07 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 54.89 27.59 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 6.07
Uncached Write 1.83 0.19 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 16.44 5.26 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 39.06 0.28 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 37.43 6.95 MB/sec [256K blocks]
PowerBook Standalone "Virtual PC" disk [booted without using iPod]
Results 14.52 <overall results score>
Disk Test 8.61
Sequential 46.59
Uncached Write 72.05 44.24 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 28.99 16.40 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 52.80 15.45 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 53.96 27.12 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 4.74
Uncached Write 1.36 0.14 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 17.83 5.71 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 41.31 0.29 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 38.46 7.14 MB/sec [256K blocks]
