G4 PowerBook playback

Hope this isn't OT
I have to show work on a borrowed 15" G4 PB - not sure if it's 1.5 or 1.67 GHz.
Will use a portable FW 400 drive.
I'll export 720p from FCP timeline, the material is in DVCProHD.
Will that PB play back DVCProHD @ 720p or is using HDV 720/ 30p a safer choice ?
(I could do H.264 but takes forever to encode even on my quad and disk space is not an issue...)
Thanks
Sam Wells

If the original footage is DVCPRO HD, by god keep it at DVCPRO HD! Going to HDV is a serious downgrade...horrid codec compared to DVCPRO HD.
As Thrill says, the powerbook and drive will be fine. You'll only get 1 stream (one video layer) with this setup. Get a G-Raid or CalDigit FW800 drive with two drives raided internally, and you will get 3 streams.
Shane

Similar Messages

DVD Quicktime movie won't playback properly on G4 Powerbook

After authoring a movie in imovie hd and saving it as a dv Quicktime file and burning it to a dvd on my G4 Powerbook, the dvd freezes on the first couple of frames and just stutters forward. However, when I play the same dvd on my desktop imac G5 with identical software, the dvd plays back just fine. Any suggestions? I've tried discussions with Quicktime people with no results. The dvd drives on both computers are virtually identical, softwares identical...the only real difference is one is a G4 and one is a G5. Could that make that big a difference?

Tried reinstalling Quicktime and it didn't make a difference. maybe the problem isn't with Quicktime at all. I tried burning a dvd with the same Quicktime DV files on my imac, thinking it might be the superdrive in my laptop. the dvd plays back fine on the imac, but stutters and stops on the laptop. I can't believe it's just the difference between the G4 and G5 or the difference between the Matshita DVD-R UJ-816 in the powerbook or the Matshita DVD-R UJ 825 in the imac.
Anyone out there have any other suggestions? Some articles I've been reading lately suggest that it may be the media and that the two dvd drives respond differently to the type of DVDs I've been using (Maxell DVD-R 8x). Maybe I should try TDK or Apple?

Flash / iPlayer playback on 1.67ghz Powerbook?

Hi,
I have the chance to purchase one of the last Powerbook G4's, a 17" 1.67ghz with 128mb video.
My question is: will it play flash video content wirelessly such as BBC iPlayer, you tube etc. I've heard people say that you need flash player 9 rather than 10 or something. If i need a Macbook they are out of my price range at the moment?
thanks.

Almost all G4 Macs and even some G5s are struggling with web-based video. The current video technologies seem to have left PowerPC processors behind. The other problem is that uploaded video as on YouTube can be encoded by whatever methods the submitter wants, so you will see some vids that are OK on a G4 and other that play like a slide show.
The PowerBook G4 is still a very capable computer for most tasks--I use my older 1G PowerBook for running Office 2008, web browsing and other traditional tasks-- but the video issue is pretty glaring. The extra speed and VRAM of the one you are considering will help but not completely overcome the video issues.
If your need for a computer is primarily for watching video, you're going to need something with an Intel processor.

My Apps wont open, and the computer (Powerbook G4) starts super slowly.

Every time I boot up, my Powerbook boots very slowly, sometime taking up to five minutes. In addition to that, I can't open any apps, except for Finder, Firefox, Internet Explorer, and the basic functional things like settings. By they won't open, I mean the icons will bounce for a while, then a box pops up that says, for example;
The application Microsoft Office Setup Assistant Quit unexpectedly.
Mac OS X and other applications are not affected.
Click Relaunch to launch the applicationagain. Click Report to see more details, or send a report to Apple.
I really need to be able to use Microsoft word and stuff for school, and I can't afford a new computer. I'm running OS X 10.5.8
I've browsed several sites, and I tried all of the following things:
Restarting in SafeBoot mode,
Making a new admin account to see if it launched quicker/ let me open apps (It didnt),
Pressing Control + Option + P + R (it worked once, but it hasnt worked since)
Used OnyX, (which now won't open either)
I checked to see what login items I had, and there weren't any.
Please help!
Thanks,
Avery
Also, I don't have any disks for this computer on hand, as it used to be a family friends. /:
Message was edited by: Avery.Apple.Green

Hello Avery,
I received an email notification about this topic even though I have this forum set to not send them so I think perhaps you sent it to me deliberately hoping I might have some ideas?
First of all I think we should concentrate on your not being able run your essential apps and the crashes. The disk repaired buttons being greyed out is usually because the account trying to do it doesn't have admin privileges. It's a good idea to create a spare account that has admin privileges incase anything should ever go wrong with your default account. From your post I think you know how to create a spare account via System Prefs.
I'm not sure whether we can fix the problem but we can try to identify it at least. If you have any irreplacable data on your PowerBook I think you should back it up as a priority and if you don't have a backup drive or can't afford one at the moment then beg or borrow one.
I don't want to alarm you but if it turns out that your PowerBook is finally giving up the ghost your precious data will have at least have been backed up and ready to restore to a replacement machine. Not long ago and in good condition a 12" aluminium PB G4, which I believe was 1.33GHz, sold on eBay for £45 ($72). Early white MacBooks still pop up too and are inexpensive and faster and more RAM than PB G4 so all is not lost. If we end up having to go down that route it might come in useful to make a note of this link:
http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/powerbook_g4/index-powerbook-g4.html
Paste it into Stickies or Text Edit as they don't require a lot of system resourses so should be stable when launched. If it turns out you need to replace any components the site will have links to suppliers. Using that link you'll also be able to check the detailed specs of any second-hand Mac being sold on eBay before purchasing.
It would be useful to know exactly which PowerBook you have and how much RAM is installed. Click the Apple logo top right of screen\About this Mac\More info.
My first inclination is that it sounds like a possible RAM problem, either faulty or not enough. You have 10.5.8 installed which might be the most recent OSX that you can upgrade to which we won't know until you let me know the exact model. That the case was with my PB G4 874GHz on which I had 1Gb of RAM installed (512MB is the official maximum but 1Gb worked fine and has been stable). I should say at this point that with 1Gb of RAM it was quite spritely running OSX10.4s but started to struggle when I upgraded to 10.5s. Did you upgrade only to 10.5 only recently I wonder?
Let's try this: go to Applications\Utilities\Activity Monitor\Memory and launch a couple of an app and see how if Activity Monitor is spiking. Start with light app like Stickies. While still monitoring open and use another app, perhaps text edit. Keep them open and playback soundfile perhaps, through a little player rather than iTunes if possible. Is it overloading? Once you've checked the memory do the same for the processor and the harddrive.
I've enabled this thread to receive emails so take some notes, set to with the various things I suggested if you think they might help, and get back to me when you have something. I'm working this afternoon (it's 09.58 here in the UK) but will be around this morning, later this evening and for some of Saturday. I may of course have already given it my best shot but I'm happy to help if I can. If we don't make any progress it might be worth compiling your posts from this forum and posting in the MacBook Pro forum as there are plenty of experts in there that might be able to help more than I can.
Good luck,
K

Choppy iPhone video playback after upgrading to 10.5 + QuickTime 7.6.9

Hi,
I recently upgraded from 10.4 to 10.5 on my Powerbook G4. I used the "Archive and Install" option. After updating all software to the latest (10.5.8 OSX + 7.6.9 QuickTime), I noticed that the playback of the videos shot with my iPhone 3GS becomes extremely choppy (jumps combined with slow-mo). Based on the what's in "Previous System", I was using QT 7.6.4 with OS 10.4, which didn't have this playback issue.
I found several posts related to similar issues in the forum, and tried the following suggestions without success:
(1) removing all third party plug-ins from /Library/QuickTime;
(2) repair permissions with Disk Utility;
(3) installing Perian;
None of the above made a difference. Just for the heck of it, I tried "su" in Terminal and moved "QuickTimeH264.component" to "QuickTimeH264.component.bkp". Surprisingly this made the playback a lot better (all the iPhone clips are H264+ACC). So I'm guessing somehow the QT H264 component is not working properly for me, but what is QT using instead to play those videos after I renamed the component? It shouldn't be any of the third-party plug-ins since I tried removing all the third-party stuff at the same time, and the videos still played fine. I'd like to get to the bottom of this as I'm a little uneasy about re-naming the H264 component.
I hope someone more QT savvy can diagnose the problem based on what I've tried and make new suggestions. Granted my machine is a bit long in the tooth but it's still decently powered (1.67 GHz, 1.5 GB RAM, 320GB HDD) and the videos played fine before the "upgrade".
Is it worth doing a clean re-install of 10.5 as opposed to the "archive and install"? It's a pain obviously to have to re-install all the apps but I'm willing to try it if it could reasonably make a difference.
Thanks in advance!

The problem is that you moved your Mail application to a sub-folder in your Applications folder, and you are running an older copy of Mail.
From your crash report it shows your path is to a different folder then the default folder:
Path: /Applications/Mail Apps/Mail.app/Contents/MacOS/Mail
It also shows that you are not running the correct version of Mail (should be version 3.5 (930.3):
Version: 3.5 (929.4)
Check out this article:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2486
The short of it is that you may have two copies of Mail on your system. When 10.5.6 installed, it may not have updated Mail correctly. Look to see if you have another copy of Mail in your Applications folder, and if so run it and check it's version from the 'About Mail' menu option, it should be 3.5 (930.0). My recommendation is to remove any copy of mail that is not in /Applications (if there is no version of Mail in Applications, move the one you have in Mail Apps back) and run the Mail Update referenced in the article above.

Importing video from Sony Hard Drive Camcorder to Powerbook G4 17"

After some work, I have found that I must use both QuickTime and MPegStreamclip to import both video and sound. However, once the transfer is complete I notice in playback that when the suject moves quickly the edges appear jagged and unclear around the body movement. How can I correct this?
The camcorder does not use firewire only USB transfer or AV. The video is beautiful except for this.
Camcorder: Sony DCR-SR100 30gb Hard drive
Powerbook: G4 17" 1.5GHz, 1gb ddr sddram
Someone please help.
Powerbook G4 17" Mac OS X (10.4.7)

The only thing that I can think of is purchasing a video capture box such as a Formac Studio DV and plugging the camcorder into the Formac using AV output cables and then importing through the Formac's firewire port. Does that make sense?
Stu

MPEG-2 playback audio syncing issue (works in Vista but not in OS X)

My setup:
- Mac Mini CoreDuo 1.83GHz, 1 GB RAM
- Elgato EyeTV 410 DVB-T
- Sony KDL-46W2000 FullHD LCD-TV (1920x1080p)
I have a rather complicated problem with audio-video synchronization at MPEG-2 playback. I've spent a lot of hours on troubleshooting in the last weeks without coming up with a solution.
I've installed Vista using Bootcamp on my Mac Mini, and in Vista everything works fine, so it's definitely a problem in OS X and not a hardware issue.
I have a Mac Mini CoreDuo 1.83GHz 1GB RAM. I have done a reinstall of OS X and updated it in Software Update until Software update says my "computer is up to date". So it's completely fresh without any third party software.
As display I'm using my brand new Sony KDL-46W2000 FullHD LCD-TV connected via a DVI-HDMI cable. I don't have to do any custom settings for this display. OS X outputs 1920x1080 progressive without me having to do any additional settings.
The issue is that when I watch DVDs the picture is delayed on the screen about 200 millisec compared to the audio. This isn't the case on all DVDs, but on several DVDs that I've tested. I don't know the differences between the DVDs. It's the same problem if I use VLC to playback so it's not just Apple DVD Player. And it doesn't matter if I use the S/PDIF output to let my receiver decode the audio or if I use the internal speaker in my Mac Mini.
Now to the most interesting part...
In addition to DVD playback problem, I experience the exact same problem with Elgato's EyeTV. But ONLY when using their deinterlace method "Progressive scan". If I use "Always" or "Motion-adaptive" the audio and video syncs just fine.
If I playback other media-files (in Quicktime or VLC) like mov, H264/x264 or XviD everything works just fine and as expected.
As far as I can see the problem only seems to affect MPEG-2 playback. And judging on the troubleshooting with EyeTV deinterlacing and/or progressive scan seems to be involved in some way.
I also tested EyeTV on a PowerBook G4 connected to my TV, and it shows the exakt same problem.

I don't know what causing the problem, but if you play the files with VLC you can adjust the audio synchronization in its "Audio" preferences if you check the "Advanced" box at the bottom-left.

External monitor frozen during playback

I am having trouble with my monitor not PLAYING during playback. I get an image when I scroll through the timeline but when I play - the image is frozen.. As soon as playback stops, the monitor refreshes to the correct frame - but it doesn't show during playback.
We have tried all these steps already:
1) Make sure that the camera/deck is connected and powered on BEFORE you open FCP.
2) In the Final Cut Pro menu select AUDIO/VIDEO Preferences and make sure your signal is being sent out thru Firewire DV.
3) Go to the menu and select VIEW>EXTERNAL>ALL FRAMES.
4) Click in the % box above the image and select FIT TO WINDOW.
5) Go to VIEW->refresh A/V devices
6) Make sure the Log & Capture window is closed
7 ) If you want it to play in both the canvas and the external monitor you need to go to the FINAL CUT PRO menu and select AUDIO/VIDIO settings and make sure MIRROR ON DESKTOP is selected under the PLAYBACK OUTPUT section.
What is really mindboggling is that the monitor is working in terms of giving us the correct image - just not during playback.
PLease help - thanks.
G4 Powerbook Mac OS X (10.4.4) Final Cut Pro 5

I think you may be onto something with the graphics card concept. The problem I am having only exists when I am working on an HD project. When I switched back to DV-NTSC then the monitor is fine during playback.
Yes, I am routing my external monitor through my DV deck, which is not an HD deck - so again, that could be another weak link in the chain.
This is the first HD project that I am editing, so obviously a few kinks still need to be worked out. My internal hard drive has 1.5 gigs of ram but I am not sure what the specs are on the graphics card.

Trying to view playback on an external monitor

I need help understanding why I can't view my playback correctly.
I've tried what I think is all troubleshooting possibilities.
I am running FW out into an XL2 to a NTSC monitor.
View/External Monitor/All Frames is selected and I have tried an array of different preference settings.
I have tried all things in this thread:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=1410167&#1410167
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Jason
g5 Mac OS X (10.4.7) FCP 4.5

I to am having trouble viewing playback on an external monitor.
I just upgrade from FCP 4 to FCP 5. When I was using FCP 4 I had it set up that all I need was to click on the clip and it would be displayed on the external montior.
In FCP 5 the only setting I can find for external monitor all through firewire.
On my powerbook G4, I want to use the svideo out to an external monitor.
I have gone through at there setting with no luck. Is there any setting that I am missing to get a signal to my external monitor?
What do I need to do to get this fixed?
JEFF

Can't see HDV playback on external HDTV

I'm using my PowerBook 12" to edit an HDV project. My laptop is connected to my Sharp Aquos via a DVI-HMDI cable. My Video Playback is set to Digital Cinema Desktop Preview, and External Video is set to All Frames. When I place the playhead on a frame, the frame appears on the tv. But when I play the video, it stays stuck on that frame on the tv.
Is there a way to see it play on my tv? Or do I just need a better computer?
Thanks for your replies.

With HDV you cannot see a realtime preview on an external TV/Camera monitor. This is only for SD DV. The reason for this is because Final cut needs a realtime card to playback projects on external TVs, and these can only be put into desktops such as Powermacs/Macpros. A workaround- connect a standard XGA or above monitor, open frinal cut, drag your canvas window onto it, expand it to full screen, and away you go.

Still more Dropped Frames during playback

i imported an iMovie project into FCE HD. I rendered several minutes of video, including several edits from the iMovie project. none of the windows overlap. i have Safe RT, low quality, 2 audio tracks, etc. etc. i.e. all the lowest, least demanding settings i can think of for my system. still, i get only a few seconds of playback before stuttering to a halt.
in the warning screen, it says something about lowering my "compression data rate". i don't see anywhere to change that.
i've maxed out the ram on my machine (1GB).
any other ideas?
PowerBook G4 Mac OS X (10.3.9) 667 Mhz

how to convert a .dv file to a Final Cut friendly
one
Let me quote from Simons i5m site the instructions
for doing what you need, using QuickTime Pro:
- Open your iMovie .dv file in Quicktime Pro.
- Extract the audio track
- Export the audio track as a Quicktime Movie, Linear
PCM format, Channels Stereo (L R), 48kHz, 16bit
sample size
- Delete the audio track from the .dv file
- Open the exported audio file, select all and copy.
- Select All in the .dv file
- Add the exported Audio file using Add to Movie
- Export/Save As the .dv file as a self contained
Quicktime Movie
- Import this movie in FCE
I already used this procedure and works well. The
main point is to create a separate PCM audio track in
the file, as expected by FCE. This avoids the audio
rendering. Video is already in the FCE native form
(DV) and does not need any processing.
If you do not have QuickTime Pro (strongly
recommended though) another possibility is to first
import the .dv file in FCE, then render audio at item
level, then export/QuickTime Movie - Self-contained,
and finally import the new file into FCE for
editing.
Piero
I've done my own version of these instructions which take advantage of QT Pro 7's ability to directly export an AIFF soundtrack. If anyone has any issues with these, let me know.
One other thing is the instructions seem to imply the output file will still be a .dv file, but it is .mov, which made me think I was doing something wrong at first.
Exporting an iMovie file to a Quicktime .mov file for Final Cut:
1. Right click (or control click) on your iMovie project, chose "Show Package Contents," open the Media folder then open the .dv file enclosed in the Media folder.
2. Choose File > Export from the pulldown menu and chose "Sound to AIFF." Click the Options button, then the following options Format: Linear PCM, Channels: Stereo (L R) (or Mono, depending on your project), Rate 44.100 kHz, Quality: Normal, Sample size: 16 bits.
3. Choose Window > Show Movie Properties, select the Sound Track, then click on the Delete button.
4. Open the exported soundtrack .aif file. Choose Edit > Select All, then choose Edit > Copy.
5. Click on the .dv file's quicktime window to make it active. Make sure the play head is at the very beginning of the track. Choose Edit > Select All, then choose Edit > Add to Movie.
6. Choose File > Save As. Click on the Save as a self-contained movie button. This will save as a .mov file, not a .dv file. This file can then be imported into Final Cut.

Video Playback Fine On iPhone - Horrible On Computer

Seen others with this issue. But think this is NOT talked about enough, therefore NOT addressed. Hopefully someone can help me ?
Summary: Record video on iPhone, plays back great on iPhone ( A PHONE !!). Get raw footage to a computer, video plays back horribly choppy and audio out of sync (on a COMPUTER !!). Results for me are the same on ALL players on my computer. Others seem to have it play fine with VLC, but not me.
Here's my stats:
iPhone 4, lastest O.S., latest update.
Computer - PowerBook (laptop) G4 17", 1.67Ghz Aluminum Last PPC Edition (Higher Res model), 2 GB Ram, ALL up to date, latest possible O.S., etc..
Players tested with SAME horrible results - Quicktime PRO (default .mov file), VLC, iTunes, WMV, Flip For Mac. ALL latest versions for above computer at least, etc..
I shoot some video (any length) with my iPhone 4 (which has no video camera settings, sooooo...IDK). Video plays back flawless on iPhone.
Plug iPhone into computer, download RAW uncompressed footage to desktop via "Image Capture". From that moment on (if viewing on computer), the raw footage's movie file) video playback acts like computer can't handle its quality, (choppy, skipping lots of frames, timing horribly off, etc..). Reacts same way with ANY player I use. Actually VLC is the worse, it just completely chokes. Quicktime PRO will at least play it, just horribly choppy. ALL players are up to date.
BUT if I burn a video DVD of it using Toast Pro, etc... then play it on convential DVD player and TV, it plays back awesome ! ALSO, if I "export for web" in Quicktime PRO and wait a amazing amount of time, I get a new file (MP4 or something), and that file will play fine on any player in my computer. BUT it is of a low quality, in which is BS that I have to go so low to view it cause I've played other videos downloaded from the net, or various places and they playback fine via QT or ANY player for that matter. Full screen, high res videos too !!
So I ask, what is the issue ? And why has this not been extensively discussed here and why has Apple not at least publically acknowledged this issue and gave its official word ? Is there something I can do ? Why can't the iPhone have camera settings on it to allow me to lower its video quality ? Or more importantly, why can't my computer seem to handle a simple video file that is really NOT true HD (which is 1920x1080) ? Its honestly not even much above TV resolution (720 x something). My computers screen resolution is 1680 x 1050 dpi, and my video card is a ATI Mobility Radeon 9700, AGP 128.
I could be mistaken, but I am almost sure I've downloaded and viewed movies (in file format) via QT that are of a highe res, better quality even and they playback fine. So can I get some clarification on this please ? Whats going on with the iPhones video capture ? Is it out of frame rate ? Or what ?
Thanks for anyones time --

mcsound wrote:
Given the specs of your computer, I would not expect smooth playback of HD video. You definitely lack the processor power and are fairly low on the amount of RAM need to do so.
Hi mcsound, thanks for chiming in to help.
I don't know if I agree with this. Mathematic reasoning just don't support this. I agree consumerism does though - lol.
Playing HD don't take much resources, as my old xBox 360 plays HD movies just fine. But the real point is, 1280 x 720 is not HD, sure its a higher res than standard TV, but not by some overwhelming amount that causes issues like this. I can play other high res videos on this computer just fine, from DVD (which actually should be more taxing on the computer), and also from file (which is literally the same).
The xBox 360 has less processing power and less ram than my old "out of spec" computer, and it plays HD movies just fine. Point to all this is, it just aint adding up. The first inclination I agree, is to go buy a new computer. But, if you do the math, there is no reason why a 1.67Ghz processor can't play HD movies. Cause actually, it can, my computer plays them fine in iMovie, and edits HD video and renders HD video and burns HD video, and real 1920 x 1080 HD video, not this faux HD of 1280 x 720. So see how this is not adding up ?
RAM has nothing to do with this either. Playing movies from file or disc uses almost no ram. But editing film does for sure, and at that, these 2GB of ram I got has edited, rendered and made plenty of HD movies.
Look at the screenshots I supplied, the before and during screens of the "System Memory" (RAM) shows that while playing the faux HD iPhone clip, it used only 100mb of Ram.
So again, no reason to think it is the specs of the computer. I agree it could be the video card, or processor MAYBE, but again, why does other HD clips/movies play on this computer smoothly, while anyone taken from the iPhone doesn't ?
If it is the case that the iPhone is just taking a amazingly high quality of 1280 x 720 (higher than other 1280 x 720 cameras for some other reason), then why in the world would Apple not give the iPhone a camera setting to allow us to pick "capture" setting optimized for the end result application we plan on using ?
Either way, this is not ok, and either way, its funny how it gets most people buying into the whole "consumerism" thing. Which is the last thing we need. Don't get me wrong, I buy things like crazy, and will be buying a couple new computers soon, BUT there is no need for it to play HD or several other things people think. HD is not rocket science, and again, HD is old and was supported even when my computer came out. My screen resolution exceeds the iPhones video clips resolution !
There is some framerate controversy I think, or something that the iPhone is doing that other sources are not. But I just can't find it out, and I find it strange there is not more talk about this.

DVD playback: screen goes black in full-screen mode

Hi. Having problems with DVD playback on 1 Ghz Powerbook G4 12 ". When trying to view in full-screen (or even sometimes in maximum) mode, screen simply goes black. Sound still works, but no visuals. As soon as I revert back to Normal size, visuals play fine.
Any ideas ? This is a problem which has developed rather than being with the machine since I bought it. Just for the record, I have 1.25 GB RAM installed and am running 10.4.5.

OK, if you see words, it's not your graphics card. Follow this knowledge base article. The BlackBerry desktop message suggests a corrupted device os. NOTE THIS WILL ERASR ALL DATA SI BACK UP AS POSSIBLE!
How to to recover a BlackBerry® smartphone after all other possible means of recovery have been exhausted.
Remove the battery from the BlackBerry smartphone.
Open a web browser and navigage to the following link.
Click Check for Updates.
Wait for the Device Connection dialog box to appear with no result for pin.
Connect the BlackBerry smartphone to the computer with the battery removed.
Press Ok when the PIN field is populated with the BlackBerry smartphones PIN number or PIN-Unknown is displayed.
Note: Some BlackBerry smartphones may be in a reset loop, which will cause the field to populate and depopulate. This is not an issue; pressing OK when the PIN field is populated will allow the process to move forward.
Select the appropriate version of BlackBerry Device Software and applications for the BlackBerry smartphone, click Next.
At the Review the following options before you begin dialog, insert the battery without unplugging the USB cable.
Press Install update.
1. If a post has helped you, show your appreciation by clicking Like at the bottom of the message box.
2. If a post has solved your question, please click ''accept as solution'' to verify your question has been solved.

G4 PowerBook 1.3 and GB 08?

Anyone using GB08 on a older 17 in G4 Powerbook 1.3 / 1 gig of ram / OSX 10.4.11 / FireBox
I can get it to run, but there is a lot of latency.
Any ideas how I can try to optimize this setup, short of buying him a new computer.
He is running a single guitar and 1 mic into a FireBox interface.
I also have an external FW/800 drive, how do I set this as the scratch drive for GB?
Is it more efficient also run the guitar and mic to an amp/PA and not monitor thru GB and just use it to record and playback?
Very new to GB any info will be most helpful.
If I have to buy him a new machine will an iBook run GB well?
Thanks
Bob

Im going to give it a try here in a min.
I have been editing a wedding for the last 12 plus hours... iBook, I was trying to say MacBook..
Oh well.
How does it run on the new MacBooks?
Bob

Powerbook G4 1.67GHz 2GB ram ... HUGE performance issues

Hardware:
17" Powerbook G4 1.67GHz with 2GB ram
System:
10.5.4 Leopard
*Ever since i upgraded to Leopard, i have noticed tremendous latency / pinwheel issues in many areas such as:*
1. Switching between running applications hangs up sometimes as long as 15 seconds
2. Video playback in quicktime is choppy
3. Various programs take a tremendous amount of time to open
4. Opening relatively small illustrator and or photoshop files pinwheels for unusually long time
5. Opening finder windows unusually slow
One of the MOST frustrating of all issues:
6. Powerbook heats up rather quickly... gets very hot and the fans have NEVER come on... VERY frustrating, since i would have no problem with noise if it meant better performance...
_*Overall, the entire computer feels VERY sluggish*_
i have tried clean installs, as well as regular maintenance... and upgraded my RAM to the max of 2GB
Is there anything else i can do? Anyone else having similar problems and or know the best way to repair?
DESPERATE for a solution here... while i realize the G4 can only handle so much, i just feel like it cant possibly be this slow under leopard... or can it?!
*ANY HELP AT ALL greatly appreciated...*
Best,
Mike
+Mac user since 1989+

Hi,
Just to chime in, I am running a PB G4 1.67, and I am running Leopard (10.5.4) on it just fine. In fact, I am *more than* pleased with the fantastic performance. I am a very very heavy user (enterprise software developer permanently running 101 things simultaneously on his machine) and I have no problems.
First of all, try to figure out what is chomping performance. Is it CPU? Fire up activity monitor, go to the CPU tab, list "all processes" and order by CPU usage. See if a process is swamping your CPU. Until I let it run overnight to index my 250Gb drive, the Spotlight indexing engine (mds) was eating all my CPU. Thereafter, it's fine. Or you can disable it.
So yeah - let's first figure out what is causing your CPU to over-work (and hence, your machine in general to heat up, they do get hot, especially in hot climates) and work from there. No reason to suspect hardware failure yet...

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