Really BAD 3D Performance on Intel iMac

Hello all,
I have like 2 weeks with a new Intel iMac 20" (C2D 2.4Ghz / 256MB ATI Card / 1Gb RAM) had no problems so far, until today. I decided to install Vista thru Boot Camp (I know I should have installed XP, but Vista is all I got) for games, so I downloaded a few demos to check if it was any good with 3D gaming, installed GRAW2 and NFS Most Wanted, these are not cutting edge games and I tought they should run perfectly smooth as my iMac is superior than recomended specs for those games, well they didnt run well, not even playable at even low resolutions (640*400 / 800*600) the games looked all jerky and slow, really painfull performace, I tought, well, maybe the drivers didnt installed correcly, reinstalled drivers, nothing, erased and reinstalled Vista and drivers, still same problem, even tried games under OS X, HALO Universal and DOOM 3 Demo, again not cutting edge games, they run really bad even on low settings, and I mean painfully slow, so this is not only on Windows.
This is not acceptable for a computer with these specs, even my 2 year old PC (AMD Athlon 3400+ / 1Gig RAM) with Vista and integrated graphics runs DOOM3 and F.E.A.R. at playable levels on medium quality settings @ 1024*800, its not even fair.
My Mac OS version is 10.5.2 and all current updates have been installed, the problem seems to be only with 3D graphics in both Windows and OS X as it plays Quicktime 960p HD videos and all other graphic media as smooth as butter on a hot pan. Does someone else has this issue or knows what to do to solve it?... It is really frustrating.

You probably did not install the drivers for the video hardware (on the Windows side).
My Mac OS version is 10.5.2 and all current updates have been installed
That would have nothing to do with 3D performance when booted into Windows.
Here's the forum category for Boot Camp users. You should also ask your question there.
http://discussions.apple.com/category.jspa?categoryID=237

Similar Messages

Performance on intel imac - system almost unusable

I'm running iPhoto 6.04 on a 2GHz intel imac with 2GB of Ram.
When I launch iPhoto -- everything slows unbearably. Even the typing speed in other applications, the finder is unresponsive, applications quit, It takes forever to switch between applications, etc.
I run Menu Meters to monitor processor usage and they never show the processors maxed out during these spells. Often they're at about 1/4 full and the system has become completely unresponsive for 10-20 seconds or so.
When I load the library -- I'm only viewing a small subset of my photos (I have 32k photos) of 3k photos as I know that helps. Once I manage to switch over to iphoto and it has a chance to think for a bit, scrolling through the photos is quite speedy.
I've tried a full library rebuild (using all the options), repaired permissions, used disk repair utilities, etc. but to no avail.
Anyone else have any ideas on this? No Rosetta apps are running, menu meters currently says I have 700MB of free ram.
Any advice welcome, thanks,
Ben
Intel iMac 2ghz Mac OS X (10.4.7) 256mb vram

Hi
Thanks much for the reply.
I've deleted both
~/Library/Cache/iPhoto
and
~/Library/Cache/iPhoto Cache
(and restarted iPhoto of course)
In activity monitor I saw iPhoto spike as high as 124% while launching, but it was very momentary and went back down where it bounced between 40% and 4%. I didn't see anything else that looked unusual.
In the last few relaunches, it seems like the longer I keep iphoto open the faster it gets.
Real Memory is ~530MB for iPhoto, Virtual Memory is ~905MB
Switching between applications in the first few minutes a number of applications suddenly showed in Activity Monitor as (Not Responding), then 30-40 seconds later they would come back to life. I monitored these same applications when iPhoto was not running and they worked fine.
I had to force quit iPhoto once, usually it takes roughly 30 seconds to quit.
I did find some interesting stuff in the Console. I'll paste it here to see if it rings any bells:
2006-08-09 15:49:58.792 iPhoto[1109] * -[NSBundle load]: Error loading code /Library/InputManagers/SIMBL/SIMBL.bundle/Contents/MacOS/SIMBL for bundle /Library/InputManagers/SIMBL/SIMBL.bundle, error code 2 (link edit error code 0, error number 0 ())
2006-08-09 15:50:57.691 iPhoto[1109] CFLog (21): dyld returns 2 when trying to load /Users/parz/Library/Contextual Menu Items/NoteBookCMPlugIn.plugin/Contents/MacOS/NoteBookCMPlugIn
2006-08-09 15:50:57.703 iPhoto[1109] CFLog (22): Cannot find function pointer NoteBookCMPlugInFactory for factory E10A17EE-6ED1-11D7-B4CE-000393A34A42 in CFBundle/CFPlugIn 0x2f3890f0 </Users/parz/Library/Contextual Menu Items/NoteBookCMPlugIn.plugin> (bundle, not loaded)
2006-08-09 15:50:57.746 iPhoto[1109] CFLog (21): dyld returns 2 when trying to load /Users/parz/Library/Contextual Menu Items/Path Finder CM.plugin/Contents/MacOS/Path Finder CM
2006-08-09 15:50:57.747 iPhoto[1109] CFLog (22): Cannot find function pointer AbstractCMPluginFactory for factory 4D69CF21-A381-11D6-9544-003065DA3F94 in CFBundle/CFPlugIn 0x2f5738f0 </Users/parz/Library/Contextual Menu Items/Path Finder CM.plugin> (bundle, not loaded)
2006-08-09 15:50:58.039 iPhoto[1109] CFLog (21): Cannot recognize type of executable for CFBundle/CFPlugIn 0x2e3a81b0 </Library/Contextual Menu Items/MediaProCM.plugin> (not loaded)
2006-08-09 15:50:58.042 iPhoto[1109] CFLog (22): Cannot find function pointer MediaProCMFactory for factory F33A2227-57F1-11D9-9FF3-000D933C4E4C in CFBundle/CFPlugIn 0x2e3a81b0 </Library/Contextual Menu Items/MediaProCM.plugin> (not loaded)
2006-08-09 15:52:17.739 updater[1113] * -[NSBundle load]: Error loading code /Library/InputManagers/SIMBL/SIMBL.bundle/Contents/MacOS/SIMBL for bundle /Library/InputManagers/SIMBL/SIMBL.bundle, error code 2 (link edit error code 0, error number 0 ())
2006-08-09 15:55:33.284 iCal Helper[1119] * -[NSBundle load]: Error loading code /Library/InputManagers/SIMBL/SIMBL.bundle/Contents/MacOS/SIMBL for bundle /Library/InputManagers/SIMBL/SIMBL.bundle, error code 2 (link edit error code 0, error number 0 ())
2006-08-09 15:56:10.209 iPhoto[1120] * -[NSBundle load]: Error loading code /Library/InputManagers/SIMBL/SIMBL.bundle/Contents/MacOS/SIMBL for bundle /Library/InputManagers/SIMBL/SIMBL.bundle, error code 2 (link edit error code 0, error number 0 ())
2006-08-09 15:57:29.817 Console[1123] * -[NSBundle load]: Error loading code /Library/InputManagers/SIMBL/SIMBL.bundle/Contents/MacOS/SIMBL for bundle /Library/InputManagers/SIMBL/SIMBL.bundle, error code 2 (link edit error code 0, error number 0 ())
My guess is I have some iPhoto plugin trouble... what's the best way to troubleshoot that, and/or, how do you determine which plugins are standard Apple, and which I've gotten from somewhere?
Also - I used software update to apply 10.4.7, had problems, and went back later and applied the combo updater w/disk permissions.
Thanks again for your help,
Ben
Intel iMac 2ghz Mac OS X (10.4.7) 256mb vram
Intel iMac 2ghz Mac OS X (10.4.7) 256mb vram

Performance issue with brand new intel iMac extreme

I am at a loss to explain a problem I've been having and I thought I might put it out to you guys.
In September I purchased a macbook Pro (2.4 ghz, 4 GB RAM) to use in video editing with Final Cut Pro, and for the most part I've been thrilled. I use 1TB LaCie external drives connected via FW800, and perform Multiclip editing with 4-5 video streams at a time and only on occasion have dropped frames during the editing process.
In December I determined that I needed to have an additional system, and thought a 2.8Ghz Intel iMac extreme would be an excellent choice, since for the same price I could get a little more power in the processor, more hard drive space and a bigger screen to work on. When we picked up the new system in the store (The Grove Apple Store in LA), we had them upgrade the memory to 4GB.
Since day one we have had performance issues, including problems playing streaming and DVD video, severe delays mounting and unmounting drives (firewire and USB) and application images, and freezing while doing even simple tasks like printing or checking email. These problems occur even while there are no external drives are connected. I have none of these issues with the Macbook Pro, which has virtually an identical set of programs installed, and both running the same version of Leopard.
I already took the original iMac back to the store, and they exchanged it, but did not have 4GB sets of RAM in stock so they took the RAM from the original machine and put it in the new one. They said if I continued to have problems then it was most likely the RAM and I should come back when they got more in stock. I DID have the same problems with the new machine, and took it back to the Apple Store and they swapped the memory. It seemed to improve the issue, but now I'm seeing the same severe performance issues again.
All tech support can do is tell me to do a PRAM reset, which seems to improve things very temporarily (but that may be my imagination) or have me restart, which at least has the ability to make the printing of documents capable.
What I'm wondering is if it is likely that the RAM is the issue and I just got another bad batch, or if the iMac has some weird glitch that isn't present in the macbook Pro...?? Or could I have possibly gotten 2 bad systems in a row? It's extremely frustrating, and I KNOW it shouldn't be this way! It's so bad I get better performance out of my single-core G5 tower! How do I get a good working system that operates like it should? Am I better off getting another Macbook Pro? I'd rather not for several reasons...
I have xbench on both the MBP and the iMac and can provide test numbers if they'll help, as well as any other info.
Thank you so much for reading my novella of a post and also for any insight you have!
Best,
Travis

Hi!
I got the same problem with my MacBook when it still was new in may 2006. It was supposed to be one of the faster Laptops around but it was soooo slow it drove me nuts. I can only advise to have a look if there is something hugging up your RAM and run some tests using these programs on your machine:
Xbench:
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/10081
MenuMeters:
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/10451
If they show any unusual results you might have your problem...
As to my problem with the MacBook: I did a complete re-install (writing the harddisk over with zeroes) and suddenly everything was just fine. (But be sure to back all your files before that, I learned this one the hard way.) I know it is just a standard answer, but it worked out for me this time...
Hope this helps in some ways.
Cheers,
Rene

Will these intel iMacs still offer flawless performance?...

Or will there be problems like PC's have? I have a PC right now...and I'm fed up with the lousy performance of it.
I want to get an iMac...will the new intel iMac be a better choice than the standard iMac?

As Timon mentioned, the problems with Windows PCs are related to Windows, not the x86 architecture.
As for which iMac is the better buy... it really depends on what you need right now.
If you want access to the entire library of Macintosh software today and throughout the near future, then the iMac G5 is your choice. In the short term, you have a marginally wider selection of software available to you. And it's still viable in the long term; there's a huge installed base of PowerPC Macs, and we won't stop seeing new software for them for likely at least a couple years.
If you want the performance benefits of the iMac Core Duo, then you give up some compatibility in the short term. Some current applications won't run on the Intel processors, and pricing and target dates for updates are all over the map depending on what title you need. If, though, you never intend to stray beyond the apps that ship with the iMac and maybe Microsoft Office, then you'll probably never notice the difference between now and wider availability of Universal applications.

I just replaced the power supply in my Intel imac and now the screen is really really dark and I see the missing folder icon, what do I do?

The power supply in my Intel iMac went out (and smelled pretty burned) so I replced it and now when I start it up the display is so dark I can hardly see it and it shows the missing folder icon. Is it the inverter? Or if shine a flashlight on it and re-install the OS will changing the display settings maybe fix it?

Thanks for ur quick reply to my problem. I tried all of that with no results... I did notice tho that the lights next to and above my caps lock key and my num lk key are now flashing. They flash in unison three times then there is a two second pause then they flash three more times and this repeats. They may have been doing this before I tried this solution but I did not take notice until now... I was also wondering how I am supposed to know, after pressing f10 to enter bios, how I can tell if my new drive is being detected when my monitor will not function? Was pressing f10 supposed to possibly make the monitor turn on? In a last ditch effort to try and further identify the problem, I re installed my old drive. Before replacing it my computer would begin to boot then display a hard error that would not allow me to continue booting and run Windows. My display would still work but I could not run Windows. After re installing the drive the monitor will not turn on. I'm beginning to think that I have a bad monitor. Is there a way of testing this with out buying one? Where does the monitor connect to the mother board? I wonder if maybe its been jarred loose, although I highly doubt it, it may still be worth looking at. Thanks again for your advice.
Casey

20" intel iMac is having bad week, "Sleep" hiccup, now can't find system

Hi all,
I'm running a 20" intel iMac, purchased new in January 2008. It's been a trooper.
A handful of days ago, it developed an odd glitch. The fan would "power down" like what one hears when the computer would go to sleep -- but this would be in the middle of use. It would immediately come back up. No screen dimming. On most occasions, this would take down open and in-use programs (for example, Safari).
Today it again did this, and shortly thereafter, the system "froze" (cursor was movable but no reaction from any open program; no visible activity from anything running). I rebooted by holding the power key for 10 seconds, waited for some time (±15 minutes), then came back to power it on. It powers up, fan spins up, white screen with apple and the spinning wait icon (not the beachball, but the "clock lines" one normally sees at restart). It does not progress beyond this point.
In short, I see this as two troubles that I need help with.
1. The system was damaged/corrupted during the last startup, and the drive can no longer see it.
2. There is a problem with the fan, a possible overheating issue, or perhaps an issue with a power module/SMC. The fact that programs are crashing with this makes me somewhat skeptical of this being merely "dusty fan" or even common overheating.
I'd like an idea of what steps to take next, either to diagnose what is wrong with my iMac, or to bring her back to health.
Message was edited by: gwenners

HI,
Unfortunately, it sounds like the startup disk needs replacing.
Boot from your Mac install disk and run Disk Utility.
Insert your install disk and Restart, holding down the "C" key until grey Apple appears.
Go to Installer menu and launch Disk Utility.
Select your HDD (manufacturer ID) in the left panel.
Select First Aid in the Main panel.
*(Check S.M.A.R.T Status of HDD at the bottom of right panel. It should say: Verified)*
Click Repair Disk on the bottom right.
If DU reports disk does not need repairs quit DU and restart.
If DU reports errors Repair again and again until DU reports disk is repaired.
When you are finished with DU, from the Menu Bar, select Utilities/Startup Manager.
Select your start up disk and click Restart
While you have the Disk Utility window open, look at the bottom of the window. Where you see Capacity and Available. *Make sure there is always 10% to 15% free disk space*
If you cannot boot from your install disc, try booting in Safe Mode
What is Safe Mode
If the hard disk appears to be ok, you could try Resetting the SMC
Carolyn

Intel Imac with bad logic board.

The logic board on my 20" Intel Imac failed(according to the diagnosis form the tech at the Apple Store) and will require a $900+ dollar repair....a tad bit high considering it's age, the cost of the machine in late 2006 and the going prices of the new Imacs! Anyone know of a lower priced repair option or a way to salvage the machine, or is it now a very large paperweight?
I know that I apparently should've gotten Apple Care, but I've never had such a catastrophic Mac failure in the 12 years I've been dealing with the machines. Judging by the lines/wait for service at the Apple store maybe it's a good idea next time...although with all the problems the new machines seem to be having it seems a bit like extortion and maybe they should just raise the prices and include it.

I have a similar problem that I'll describe hoping that it will contribute to this discussion and I'll ask a couple of questions. In December 2007 I bought an iMac 24 inch maxed out for speed and RAM and with the 750 gig hard drive. I had no problems until about three weeks ago when on startup I got grey hash marks all over the screen. When I selected the entire screen the grey hash disappeared and the computer seemed to run normally. I thought the problem was software related and began the long process of trying to find the culprit. Then two days ago I connected a video camera to the iMac to test the camera for the first time. It's a loaner from my school and is five years old. It seemed to be working fine. I then turned off the camera but left it connected to the computer by the firewire cable and put the computer to sleep. THAT was probably a mistake. When I tried to wake the computer it would not respond. There was a DVD in the machine and when I pushed the power button I could hear the DVD player makes it startup sounds and could hear the CD spin. Also I could hear the fans come on but the startup BONG never sounded. I disconnected all cables, pulled out the power cord for various lengths of time from 30 seconds to ten hours but nothing changed. I called Apple this morning and was told it sounds like a blown logic board which is what I was thinking. They will pick up the iMac day after tomorrow. When I talked to the Apple person this morning it didn't occur to me to ask about my chances of getting this repair done for free since I'm still within the one-year warranty period. I'll call when they open tomorrow morning but what are my chances of getting the repair done free? I've been using Macs since the Mac Plus came out but have never had a failure within one year so have no experience with the warranty. I did not buy Apple Care for this computer and never have but I will the next time. Thanks in advance for any comments.

SLOT 1 on Intel iMac is bad?

Hi all,
When I use SLOT 1 on my 1st gen Intel iMac 20", my computer randomly reboots after running a few programs. Very highly annoying.
I've run MEMTEST with some interesting results that don't totally make sense but here they are:
This test is done in Single User Mode, OS X 10.5.2 with PC5300 DDR2 667MHz OWC RAM.
First Test Run for RAM stick A:
SLOT 0=Pass
SLOT 1=Fail but did not reboot on its own
Second Test Run for RAM stick A:
SLOT 0=Pass
SLOT 1=Pass
First Test Run for RAM stick B:
SLOT 0=Pass
SLOT 1=Fail with self-Reboot (computer restarted on its own)
Second Test Run for RAM stick B:
SLOT 0=Pass
SLOT 1=Fail with self-Reboot (computer restarted on its own)
It seems that with RAM A it doesn't reboot by itself in SLOT 1 but it will reboot if RAM B is in SLOT 0.
All signs point that SLOT 1 is faulty.
Is there a way to fix this by zapping the PRAM? or any other suggestions?
Thanks,
Paul

I couldn't tell you. You'd have to take it in to get it diagnosed in order to get an estimate. If it is indeed a motherboard, then it's fairly expensive.
You could run with just a single module, but understand that if the board is defective the resale value of the computer drops dramatically. A diagnosis and estimate will cost less than $100 (and applies to the repair if you choose to have it fixed.)

G5 versus Intel iMac

I have a rather complicated question, but here it is in it's easiest form:
Should I replace my 2.5DP G5 with a 20" Intel iMac?
I would never have contemplated asking this question until the Intel iMacs were launched - for serious pro work the PowerMacs have always been the de facto choice. Today though, that choice isn't as clear cut. I really need some help to see through the marketing speak and get some real-world opinion.
I have a 20" Cinema display with the G5 so there's no loss of screen estate if I do change. Related questions:
Does the iMac draw more or less (average) power than the G5? One of my considerations for replacement would be if the iMac used less power (bearing in mind I would have to add the power draw of both the G5 and the display). Electricity pricing is going through the roof in the UK so any cut in consumption is a bonus. I realise it depends on how intensive the processor usage is etc, but any kind of average figure is better than nothing.
I've heard that Rosetta runs Adobe apps really badly - and since I'm a creative and use mostly CS2, it really makes a difference to the decision. Is this true? How bad is bad? Can you live with it or is it so dire you just can't use the apps?
If I were to change I would obviously match RAM in the iMac with the amount in the G5 (3.5gig) and the hard drive as standard is bigger on the iMac and I suspect faster.
I would love to see some benchmark scores of the iMac vs the G5 in question. Done a google for it but no luck.
Any help or suggestions gratefully received.

Should I replace my 2.5DP G5 with a 20" Intel iMac?
Heck no, the DP 2.5 is about on par with the iMacTel processor wise, and far from it expandability and 3D performance wise. Basically you would be downgrading.
http://www.systemshootouts.org/processors.html
DP 2.5 smokes the iMacTels in X-Bench scores.
If you want the next upgrade, may I suggest you wait until the Quad Core Mac Pro (intel based) or the Dual Quad Core Mac Pro's with BlueRay DVD burners arrive.
That's a worthwhile upgrade path and you'll get OS X 10.5 with it free.
PS: Also Adobe will have a new universal version of CS3 too.
see this
http://appleintelfaq.com/
However if the reason why your asking about this is because your DP 2.5 is slow for some reason, we can give you some great tips how to maximize CS2 and Mac OS X performance.
1: More RAM 4-4.5 GB or more. No scratch disk needed.
2: A 10,000 RPM Western Digital 150 Raptor as a boot, app and bare bones home drive kept below 50% filled
3: All your space hogging user created files in NEW folders on another internal hard drive. Example: Movies2, Documents2, Pictures2, PhotoshopFiles2 etc to id them from the "home" ones, leave these alone, just don't fill them but don't delete or move them.
4: If you have paritioned your boot drive, undo it and slim it down with the smaller drive like mentioned. Partitions slow performance, seperate drives is better.
5: Clone your new boot drive to a external occassionally for emergencies, you can option boot from it, repair/recover or reverse clone back over the original. Visit Carbon Copy Cloner forums for free advice and software.
6: Always disk utility earse w/zero option all new drives one time before filling them with data, it greatly reduces troubles.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=532939&tstart=0

Migrating G5- Intel iMac: smoothing the transition, unusual setup....

I've had a new Intel iMac for literally two months now, to replace my aging revA G5 iMac, and have not yet found the time to get it set up. I'm hoping to get to it this Sunday.
One thing that's been holding me up is the desire to have the transition as smooth as possible and worry that it might not be. This is a production machine (maybe not in the traditional sense, but I run my life on it, so that makes it "production" for me) and I don't like the idea of rocky transitions, particularly in the area of data and app migration.
One of my primary questions, and the primary question of this post, is whether (and if yes, how best) to use Migration Assistant.
So on my current G5 machine, I have the internal HD divided into 2 partitions:
Partition 1 contains:
a) the OS (10.4.11);
b) my admin user account, which I only use for troubleshooting and the occasional admin tasks that are awkward under my standard user or in any event more convenient when running as admin; and
c) a couple of other infrequently-used user accounts (e.g., a couple of guests that very occasionally use the machine)
Partition 2 contains:
a) My primary user account
b) Some data that I prefer to keep outside my main user account, primarily to make my daily backups more manageable, and which I back up manually.
1. So, first question is whether Migration Assistant can handle that kind of setup. I seem to remember using it successfully when migrating from my G4 iMac to my G5. My G4 iMac had four partitions (this was in the early days of OS X when some were recommending putting OS 9 on a separate partition). I don't remember what I did but do seem to remember using Migration Assistant for most of it.
2. Second question: I assume I will have to repartition the HD on the Intel iMac and reinstall OS X from the DVDs if I want more than one partition on my HD. I'll probably do 2 partitions again and leave a bunch of free space (not included in any partition) for other uses later. So my first boot should be directly from the install DVD.
If I do that, can I still use the Migration Assistant? Again, I'm thinking I must have done this when I set up the G5 five years ago. What would my procedure be, if it's not going to be really obvious?
3. I have all my data backed up to multiple external HDs using Retrospect 6. My alternative would be to restore data from the backups. The main issues with this approach are: (a) it might not be quite as "put it back exactly as it was" as Migration Assistant would do things (although Retrospect is *supposed* to do it); and (b) I don't have Retrospect 8 yet, and there continue to be reports of problems with it (although 8.1 or 8.2 or whatever they are up to now) is supposed to have resolved a number of the very significant problems with the 8.0 release.
So the next question: Should Retrospect 6 run under Rosetta under 10.6? Would you trust it to do so when restoring your data? Would you trust the latest Retrospect 8 to do so? Which would you pick?
4. Finally: I have read scattered reports of problems with using Migration Assistant to migrate from a PPC to an Intel Mac. Some of them seem to just involve slow performance in web browsers, possibly caused by PPC plugins or other lurking PPC code that I guess would require Rosetta to run, slowing down performance. (I have the tricked-out i7 machine so I'm not that worried about sluggish performance, although it makes sense to ferret out unneeded PPC code of course.) There may have been other problems reported as well but I don't remember what they are at the moment -- I'll have to look some more.
So: Is the Collective Mind aware of problems with MA in migrating PPC -> Intel, and if so, thoughts on preventing/mitigating the issues?
Thanks so very much. I know this is a ton of questions. I'm grateful to you for helping smooth out this transition.

Joel Siegel wrote:
So Disk Utility in 10.6 lets you "hot"-resize partitions?
That came in with Leopard.
I had considered moving my primary user's home folder to the boot partition, based on advice in this forum (adaptive hot file clustering, etc). But it sounds like in some ways it may be simpler to make the initial setup more or less identical to my current one, and then change it later.
Probably. I haven't tested whether you can restore a second partition to the one you're running from; if not, it would take a couple of extra steps to get the home folders there without screwing up the permissions. And I always try to only make one big change at a time.
Since I have 1 TB to play with on the new machine, and only 250 GB +(edit: 150 GB)+ on the old one, I have plenty of room to create large partitions. My understanding from the links you posted is that I can enlarge a partition as well as shrink it (as long as the enlarged partition doesn't bump into an existing partition, and after backing everything up of course
Mostly. You can expand a partition "down" in the diagram DU shows, but not "up."
I wonder if I can create free space in between partitions in Disk Utility.
Yes, sort of, by making, then deleting a partition. But since you can't move or expand a partition "up," I can't think of a reason to do that. (I understand some other utilities can do that.)
You posted some reasons in this thread about why separate partitions are not recommended (seek times, adaptive hot file clustering), and I understand those. Are there others?
Those are the main ones I'm familiar with. Another (that you probably won't run into for a long time, if ever) is that if you guess wrong, you may either waste a lot of space on the OSX partition, or have too little there, with potentially nasty consequences.
One reason I've persisted in this partitioning scheme has to do with backups and restores, although I may be totally off base in this. I've envisioned some scenario where something on my boot volume gets so badly hosed that an Erase and Install is the best cure. But if my primary user data resides on a separate partition it would seem to make it much easier to get back in business -- I wouldn't have to worry about restoring my primary user data. The other user accounts on the boot volume would of course have to be restored.
There is no +Erase and Install+ anymore. No +Archive and Install,+ either. Just Install. It replaces OSX with a fresh version, without disturbing anything else. It even preserves configuration and settings in /Library, and files installed there by 3rd-party apps. Rather amazing!
Some folks do that, of course (perhaps out of old Windoze habits), but it's rarely required, or does any good on OSX. In some unusual situations, perhaps it would help. A couple of very experienced users here have not done a so-called "clean install" since 10.2!
I assume Setup Assistant will guide me through the steps of hooking up the old machine and booting it. I don't know if it needs to boot in Target Disk Mode for this to work, but I strongly suspect it does.
Yes. If you choose to transfer directly from it, which is probably best. You can also transfer from a clone (and, once you're on SL, a Time Machine backup). All documented in excruciating detail in [Setting up a new Mac from an old one or its backups|http://web.me.com/pondini/AppleTips/Setup.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of the +Snow Leopard > Installation and Setup+ forum).
Thanks again. I'll post back after the surgery.
Cool. Fingers crossed here.

An Intel iMac AND a MacBook Pro for Logic Pro?

I am torturing myself over this issue lately so any input you guys could offer would be welcome!
This is the situation:
After 3 months of serious debating whether to purchase a 20" Intel iMac or a MacBook Pro for Logic Pro, I went ahead about 3 weeks ago and got the iMac. My reasoning behind this was that even though I found the portability of the MBP very desirable, the iMac simply represented a better value with the big screen and bigger hard drive. Since getting it, I must say I love this machine and I have not had one single problem with it. Logic 7.2 runs like a dream on it. By the way, aside from maintaing my iTunes Library, occasional iLife stuff and web surfing with Safari, this iMac is for music production only.
But here's the problem:
Still, I can't seem to shake the desire for OCCASSIONAL portability. Keep in mind, I am only a "serious" music hobbyist; I create instrumental hip-hop, trip-hop, electronica style of music mainly with software instruments, loops and breakbeats. So needless to say, I don't tour or do a lot of travelling. But the prospect of being able to compose tracks or make beats in Logic anywhere is DESIRABLE to say the least. I could compose while sitting on the couch watching a game or laying in bed - even though I have no idea of how often I'd actually do that, just having the ability to do it is VERY APPEALING to me. Throw in the fact that the iMac currently shares deskspace with a PC that my wife uses - meaning that I often have to stop what I'm doing to let her use the space. With a laptop, I could move and still continue my flow. Lastly, I unfortunately have bad knees and a bad back so after a couple of hours (or 3 or 4) of sitting at the desk working on Logic, I am seriously hurting. Not comfortable at all. At least owning a MacBook would give me the option to move around to some place more comfortable if I desire.
So...
Even though I recently bought a wonderful iMac that works great, I'm seriously considering getting a 1.83 MBP with at least 1GB of RAM and the 100GB/7200 RPM drive to accompany it just for the portability factor. Sure, I could get a used G4 PowerBook or iBook, but all I own is the Universal Binary of Logic Pro; I would have a hard time accepting the decrease in speed I've gotten use to on the Core Duo. Besides, I inherently have a problem buying something (even used) that I know is old and out of date when the latest and greatest is available.
So here is the $25,000 question: Am I nuts for even considering this? Am I placing too much of a premium on the portability as I would use it?
This could easily be justified if I was a working musician on the road, but that ain't me. And you can believe that I'm definately not rich and thus don't have money lying around.
But I have obsessed over this so much lately, I feel that I almost have to get it just to put my mind at ease! I even briefly considered putting the iMac on eBay and just buying a MBP to replace it, but I love the screen real estate I get with the 20" iMac and I question if I'll be truly satisfied with a 15.4" screen FULL TIME. 17" might be better, but I doubt if I can wait until June for them to arrive. In addition, everything would connected via my wireless LAN and .Mac so file sharing should not be an issue.
Help!!!
What would you do? Sell the iMac or just get a MBP as cheap as I can?
Opinions, Please!
20" iMac Core Duo, 2GHz, 2 GB RAM, 250 GB HD, 128MB VRAM Mac OS X (10.4.4)

I love the portability my powerbook gives me. You can use a PB in your setup. You can run an external monitor for either PB or MBP. You can node. Universal Binary menas it is an application which has the components written for both PPC and Intel chips-so you don't need to do conversion. Nodes won't require you buy a nother license. so the answer is down to how much the 2 upgrades and 1 crossgrades will set you back vs how much use you'll get out of them. IMO the iMac is inexpensive (I mean that in a good way-worth hooding on to). Maybe just look at a refurb PB unless you really have the extra cash.

Intel iMac randomly relaunching Finder. RAM problem?

Several months ago I bought a new 3.06 GHz Intel iMac with 2GB of RAM. I also bought CS4 so I maxed out my RAM at 4GB with a 2x2GB RAM kit from Other World Computing.
I've noticed in the lately that everything will suddenly hang, the Dock won't appear when I cursor to the bottom, and then my desktop pic will change. I have my prefs set to choose a random one each day but this isn't happening at the right time, it's random. Not only that but if I open Dashboard after that it has to reload all of my widgets again. Plus any docked Finder or app windows pop back out to the desktop. It's like the Finder is being relaunched or something.
I'm wondering if this could be an issue with bad RAM or not having enough. With email, browser, FTP, time logger, and a few smaller apps going I can never really have more than a couple of the CS4 apps open without things getting sluggish. I try to avoid having more than 2 open at any one time. I've even dropped Photoshop's RAM usage settings from 70% to 60% to see if it makes any difference.
The problem is still happening and it seems to be happening more frequently. Things just relaunched and I went into Mail to minimize an email window. As soon as I clicked the yellow button things hanged again but not in the same way. No windows would minimize, the Dock wouldn't appear and I couldn't switch Spaces. When I went to restart, as soon as my cursor rolled over the Dock item in the Apple menu it stalled there for a short time before I was able to go down to restart. Then the restart sequence stalled and I had to force a shut down.
This is really frustrating as I was expecting a great new machine and software to replace my aging PowerMac G4 and older apps. Is there a way to test for bad RAM or does this sound like a known issue with CS4 or iMacs in general? I don't have the original 2x1GB RAM sticks any more, I sold them after installing my new RAM.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I've been trying a few things here and there when I've had time, giving time in between to see if the problem reoccurs. So far I've done the following:
1. Repaired Permissions. No effect.
2. Used Onyx to clean the System, User and Font cache options listed by default. It also told me that S.M.A.R.T., startup volume, Permissions and Prefs are all ok. No effect.
3. I removed the RAM, inspected the boards and the slots. Can't see any sort of damage to either. I replaced the boards but swapped slots. Both boards are firmly seated. Also no effect.
I'm going to try running 1 board at a time, swapping slots if the problem continues. If it does I'll try creating a 2nd admin account and go from there.
I've also noticed at times when the hang happens it seems to be when I click on an item in my Dock (usually a folder of items). There have also been times that after it happens I'll switch to another space and the windows for different apps will have disappeared. The apps are still open but if I try choosing the missing window under View or Window they still won't appear. Same goes with trying to use Show All under the Finder menu.

Intel iMac 20' users - any problems with noise on your firewire interfaces?

Someone please tell me that they have a quiet intel iMac 20'/Firewire interface set up, I'm having problems with a lot of digital noise from my Saffire LE & badly am hoping it's 'fixable' or just a faulty unit but more so, praying it's not noise from the iMacs Power supply that will interfere with any firewire interface I get???
I've read many posts about G5's suffering from noisy psu's which was one factor in my choosing an intel iMac & I chose the Saffire on it's great reviews for sound quality, there's no way I can work with the noise I'm getting & I'm pretty much panicking that if it IS the iMac & firewire thats the problem I'll be screwed as i only have 6 pin firewire as a useable option (really don't want to use usb2)
Incidentally, the 'budget' set up I had previously (PC & soundblaster audigy) didnt suffer from any noise like this (at least not that was even audible with the mixer levels at conversational level!) which i guess rules out any blame of this on 'mains hum/interference'?
The noise is there with the saffire's monitor output knob at any setting & with no inputs connected, it;s even worse if i power the saffire with it's external psu instead of off buss power. I'm not using a firewire hub & I've tried switching firewire leads & removing the firewire hard drive i have in the other port in case this was affecting it.
Would really appreciate hearing from anyone with similar troubles or even better anyone thats NOT having this problem with a 20' intel iMac & firewire interface so at least i know there's light (& quiet!) at the end of the tunnel
Adam
Intel iMac 20' Mac OS X (10.4.7)

funnily enough I'm going the other way, I have a rack of external modules/>sampler/fx etc & a crate of looms I've just unplugged as they've not been >turned on in so long!!!
I hear you there!
The noise is there without any inputs at all to the interface, its defiantely >digital though, its like a toned version of the sound of an old telephone >modem.
What I mean, is try disconnecting everything, drives and all. You might even disconnect the interface and crank up the iMacs volume to see if it is there. If it is, you can try the UPS and see if that takes care of it. Then add them in one at a time. All it takes is one cheap power brick in the mix to cause all kinds of trouble (if your using powered monitors, that brick too). Noisy components can actually send noise back into the source power.
I know it can be really frustrating, especially if you have noise coming from more that one source. The key is to strip everything until it is quiet and then add them back in to see where the worst is. Then come up with a plan to try to get rid of the noise.

Mail handles .Mac really badly-what's up?

Since I put my .Mac email account into my Mail application, it has worked really badly and I am considering just deleting off the .Mac account and not using it anymore as it is so annoying. Essentially, having the .Mac account in Mail slows everything else (my other email accounts) down to a ridiculous level. When I check "All", and sometimes when I send even one email, the Activity Viewer shows me that Mail is struggling to open .Mac mailboxes and stuff like that, and while it is struggling to do various things with .Mac, including synchronizing, the other email accounts are held up in the queue (ho hum... very boring). To prevent this, I went into the .Mac account and unchecked the "Include when automatically checking for new mail", but this has no effect whatsoever, probably because I usually check for new mail manually anyway.
I have two Macs at present, an older G4 flat panel iMac (1.25 Ghz), and a brand new dual core intel MacBook (2Ghz) and the problem is exactly the same on both Macs. Anyone having similar problems or knows a fix to this? Would love to hear!

There is a setting under the Advanced tab for the
account preferences to not keep all messages and
their attachments available for offline viewing but I
don't use this setting and don't experience the same
problems.
To clarify, do you mean that you "do not" keep all messages (etc.) available for offline viewing, or that you "do" keep all messages (etc.) available? At present, I have this option to "keep all messages and attachments available for off-line viewing" checked positive, by default I presume.
After first creating the account if there
are a number of server stored mailboxes and messages
available on the server, the mailbox and message
synchronization process takes longer than normal and
the time it takes for subsequent synchronization
should not be a real long process unless a number of
changes have been make with server stored mailboxes.
Odd thing is that I only have one saved message in the .Mac account, and that is a tiny weeny one (about 10K) with no attachments or anything! By the way, since I have just been going through everything all over again, I notice that what really seems to be holding things up (I've now changed synchronization to "manual" on both computers) is when I "Get Mail" and Mail is trying to open the .Mac mailbox - this goes on interminably (as I can see in Activity Viewer).
Try using the Rebuild Mailbox function on all server
stored mailboxes. All messages will disappear
temporarily and the mailbox will be resynchronized
with the server.
Sorry for being dense, but I've been all over my Mail application and all over my .Mac settings and I can't find this "Rebuild Mailbox" function. Could you please tell me exactly where I can find this Rebuild Mailbox function?
Mac OS X (10.4.9)

New intel iMac with reduction on Microsoft Office 2004

Hi.
I am seriously considering buying a new iMac Intel Core Duo. If i order before the end of january along with Microsoft office, i can get upto 50% off office.
I know that the current version of office will run fine on the new iMac Intel Core Duo using 'Rosetta' and that they are developing a new version to be released in march that will run native on the intel imac.
Therefore, if i buy office with my iMac now, I will not have the native version and I will have to buy the new version again?
I am quite confused and really unsure what to do?
Would it be worth me buying office now?
Will i be able to upgrade to the new version for free?
.... I dont understand why apple are selling a version of office with the new iMacs if it is not even the proper software.
Please help me as I am unsure of what to do.
Thanks a lot in advance...

I'm not positive on this but I think I remember, during the keynote speech, the woman that was from the MSBU saying the updates would be available for download at no charge. Might be worth looking at that part of the keynote to be sure. I don't remember the date she said they would be available though.
Eric
Mini 1.25, 512MB RAM, 80GB HD Mac OS X (10.4.4) G4 DA 533MHz DP w/Giga dual 1.8GHz upgrade, 1.25GB RAM, Radeon 9600 Pro
I was wrong. I just watched that part of the keynote again and there will be updates available for download for free but not the universal binaries. My bad.
Message was edited by: Eric S.

Really BAD 3D Performance on Intel iMac

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