Re: Problem with iMac G3
- From: J.J. O'Shea <try.not.to@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 21 Oct 2007 05:59:29 -0400
On Sun, 21 Oct 2007 01:50:30 -0400, edwardyu236 wrote
(in article <1192945830.977207.254290@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>):
On Oct 20, 11:42 pm, J.J. O'Shea <try.not...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Sat, 20 Oct 2007 09:56:30 -0400, edwardyu236 wrote
(in article <1192888590.473691.256...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>):
On Oct 19, 5:52 am, Melodious Thunk <thunk.melodi...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Oct 18, 7:55 am, J.J. O'Shea <try.not...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Thu, 18 Oct 2007 09:31:15 -0400, edwardyu236 wrote
(in article <1192714275.239304.231...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>):
On Oct 18, 9:16 pm, J.J. O'Shea <try.not...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Thu, 18 Oct 2007 08:33:41 -0400, edwardyu236 wrote
(in article <1192710821.059770.272...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>):
I have an iMac G3 that I don't use a lot. A few weeks ago, the system
(I don't know the system version, but its definately not Mac Os X)
Look under the Apple menu for 'About this Computer'. This should tell
you
what version of the OS is installed.
Its Mac Os 8.5
You might think about using the free updaters at
<http://download.info.apple.com/Apple_Support_Area/Apple_Software_Upda...
to move to 8.6. There were a number of bug fixes.
The iMac couldn't connect to the internet. Would it work if I download
it from another computer and move it to the iMac?
that'll work fine. OS 8.x days were also dial-up days for me. I downloaded
updates for the company network and stuck 'em on a CD or a SyPest disk or
both for distribution.
starts lagging every time I close a window. This sometimes takes up to
five minutes.
About this computer should also tell you how much RAM you have. I
suspect
that you don't have much. If it's an old iMac G3, you might have as
little
as
32 MB, which is laughably insufficient.
RAM is 128 MB
The 'About this computer' doesn't really display the information Apple
says it would display. I only remembered the RAM, not from reading
'About this computer'
If that's so, you've got a problem, as 'About This Computer' not only should
show the total RAM, it should show if VM is turned on and if so how much
disk
space has been allocated to VM, and it should show how RAM is being used. Do
you have Simple Finder turned on?
The 'About This Computer' only displays the following:
(Picture of earth; Mac Os computer)
(Mac Os Happy face)
8.5
system enabler
XXX X.X
Built-in Memory 128 MB
That's your RAM
(but when i check in in finder, says 1 GB
available)
That's what's available on the hard drive.
VM 997 MB used ...
There's your problem. You're using a gig of hard drive space for VM! Hard
drives are 1000 times slower than RAM. Cut back on your VM. The default is 1
MB more than your RAM, so you _should_ have 129 MB used. Go to the Memory
control panel and reset VM to something lower than 1 GB.
Largest unused block
it doesn't display the RAM
Yes it did.
The only thing I have is Disk First Aid and it can't find any
128 MB RM should do for 8.x. More RAM would be nice, but more RAM would
probably cost more than what the machines are worth. IIRC the max for old
Bondi Blue iMacs was either 384 or 512 MB, anyway.
When using another iMac G3, that lag never happens. Both
iMac G3s are exactly the same in specifications (both don't have
FireWire Ports and both are dark green).
Sounds as though they are original iMac G3s. One might have more RAM
than
the
other, or one might have different virtual memory settings.
Both RAMs and settings are the same except the iMac without the lag is
connected to a network, but wouldn't being connected to a computer
drag it slower not helping it go faster?
There's something else set differently on the other Mac.
Is the lag specific to certain apps, or is it general? If it happens when
opening files in Photoshop, for instance, you need more RAM.
It happens every single time I close a window.
That's system-level. Something's screwed up on your system at a fairly low
level. Time to run Disk First Aid. And, even if DFA can't find any problems,
either Tech Tool Pro or Disk Warrior. Finding a copy of TTP or DW that'll
run
in OS 8.5 at this late date might be interesting. The DW 3 CD shipped with
DW
2, which was a OS 8.x/9.x app (and the disc could boot in OS 9) while TTP 3
was a System 7.5.x/OS 7.6/8.x/9.x app and shipped on a CD with 7.5.5, 7.6.1,
8.1, and 9.0.4 System Folders; the disc would boot off the System which best
suited the machine being fixed. The thing is, those tools are seven years
old
and finding 'em now might be... difficult. I'd use TTP if I were you, DW is
a
one-trick pony. It does that one trick very, very, VERY well, but it only
does the one trick. TTP isn't as good at what DW does. Especially TTP 3
isn't
as good. (Speed is not its thing. And given that DW 2 ain't renowned for its
speed, the fact that TTP 3 is even slower speaks volumes.) However, TTP
_does_ do things that DW can't. Including hardware testing and defragging.
Actually, TTP does a _lot_ of things that DW doesn't do, it's just not
particularly fast at doing them.
problems.
DFA ships with the OS. The other two you'd have to buy. You don't need them,
because it seems that your problem was that you have your VM set too high.
This is all good advice; I would only add, are there any sounds
associated with this lag? I had a hard drive in a G4 fail in a similar
manner (multiple attempts needed to close files, & the symptom being
frozen windows), and its death stretched out over several weeks.
No sounds are associated with this lag, except when a CD is playing
music, then there is a weird noise the sounds like a note in the music
repeating until the lag stops.
It's probably not hardware. I'd say that you're low on RAM, your hard drive
is heavily fragged, and you may have directory problems. In other words, DW
and especially TTP should be able to fix the problem in a few hours.
(Warning: defragging should be done only _after_ all other problems have
been
fixed, or you _will_ screw up your directory beyond economic repair. Second
warning: defragging, especially using TTP, requires that you boot from
something other then the volume being defragged and will take a Very Long
Time.)
How much free disk space is on each machine? In particular, how badly is
the
free space fragmented? OS 8.x and OS 9.x weren't as VM-happy as OS X is,
but
severely fragmented drives could slow them down significantly.
Bondi blue iMacs shipped with 4 GB hard drives. I _think_ that they were
ATA66, 3600 or 4000 rpm drives, which means that they're not fast. If you
have low disk space (less than 5% free) and the drive's fragmented,
you're
going to have _serious_ VM issues. Turning VM off and rebooting might
help.
Defragging the drive would probably help more. Replacing the drive with a
larger, faster one would probably help more still... if you can find a
drive
which will work with an ATA66 bus, and runs cool enough to not fry the
iMac's
motherboard, and is cheap enough to be worth the bother. Bondi blue iMacs
are
_nine years old_. Time to seriously think about getting a new machine.
Both were using 1 GB hard drives.
1 GB is absolutely pitiful. You need more disk space.
I know G3s are kind of old,
but I still need to use it know and then when my main computer breaks
down, could anyone help?
Your main problem is going to be the age of the machine. Fixing it will
probably cost more than it's worth. If I were you I'd just get a
replacement
machine, say a newer iMac G3 or a iMac G4. They'd probably cost about
what
a
new hard drive would cost and would give much better performance.
I was thinking of buying the newest iMac, I wonder which one should I
choose. Size of monitor doesn't really matter. I mostly work with
music and photos only and I don't need a whole lot of hard disk, but I
need to store a lot of files (>200GB). I will put a lot applications
on it. I can only buy one more hard disk for backup. Please help.
If you get a brand new Intel iMac you should know that _all_ of your current
apps _will not work anymore_. OS 8.x/9.x apps work under OS X in one of two
ways:
1 they were written using the proper API and can launch natively in both OS
8.x/9.x and OS X
2 they can use Classic.
Intel machines don't do Classic. Period. You can get Sheepshaver or Basilisk
and try 'em, but some apps don't do Sheepshaver or Basilisk.
If you want to continue to be able to use your old stuff, you'd best get
hold
of a G3, G4, or G5 machine of some type. If you want a machine with 200+ GB
of internal storage, you've just pretty much limited yourself to a 20" or
24"
G5 iMac. Good luck getting hold of one of those, people who have 'em tend to
want to keep 'em. Certainly the only way anyone is getting _my_ 20" iMac G5
would be by prying it out of my cold dead fingers.
The old Applications doesn't matter, only storage matters as some
files from another computer would be moved there.
Once you reset your VM you should not have problems with this iMac.
Your applications may matter, depending on what file formats you use, as if
your applications use proprietary formats other applications may not be able
to read them. Examples include QuarkXpress, Pagemaker, and CAD systems.
--
email to oshea dot j dot j at gmail dot com.
--
email to oshea dot j dot j at gmail dot com.
.
- References:
- Problem with iMac G3
- From: edwardyu236
- Re: Problem with iMac G3
- From: J . J . O'Shea
- Re: Problem with iMac G3
- From: edwardyu236
- Re: Problem with iMac G3
- From: J . J . O'Shea
- Re: Problem with iMac G3
- From: Melodious Thunk
- Re: Problem with iMac G3
- From: edwardyu236
- Re: Problem with iMac G3
- From: J . J . O'Shea
- Re: Problem with iMac G3
- From: edwardyu236
- Problem with iMac G3
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