Mac Pro :: Improving -multi- I/O Performance In Mac Pro
Oct 29, 2008
I am sort of shocked how much low I/O performance mars overall responsiveness of my mp. Whenever I have some disk intensive app running the entire system begins to stall awfully up to the point when a simple task such as browsing becomes a painfully slow process. This situation is even aggravated when I concurrently access a flash drive. I have 4 Samsung 1 TB F1s and 8 GB RAM available. Would building a software raid 5 help to improve the situation? I reckon that transfer rates are part of a problem. Intels latest SSD Drives are also much faster than my F1s and also sport much better access times. Has anyone experimented with using such a drive as the system and application drive?
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Sep 6, 2010
I've come into possession of a 1.83 Core Duo MacBook and I am curious if you're able to clock the processors on these in anyway? I appreciate the implications of doing this on a laptop / notebook type device, but I want to know in theory if it is possible. I understand the maximum ram on a MA254LL/A is 2GB... is this correct? Will it not ready any more? In terms of the CD drive, is it possible to upgrade it to a superdrive? Is this easy or simply not possible? I've seen a few on ebay, and would be curious to know if they'd work. How far can you get with a MA254LL/A, whats the maximum HDD you could pop in?
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Sep 12, 2006
Is there any way to improve the video performance on my iBook G3 (600mhz, 640MB RAM, 16MB VRAM)? I find that besides not being able to play any of the HD trailers at Apple's website (even 480p), it can't even seem to play a standard trailer without stutterring. Is there anything I can do to improve the video performance?
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Apr 1, 2010
I'm running W7 ultimate on a Rev. A MBA. I'm looking for some tips on improving performance in Bootcamp.
Here is what I have done so far:
- Installed latest BC drivers (3.1)
- Defragged windows partition
- Disabled hibernate function (to save HDD space)
- Installed all updates from Windows Update
- Disabled (some) of the Aero eye candy
- Disabled unnecessary services (ala Blackviper's site)
- Disabled unnecessary startup programs
EDIT:
- Disabled Index Service
- Disabled Windows Search
My main reason for wanting to do this is that I'm having some issues when playing MP3s in WMP. They play fine until I say, launch Firefox. Doing so causes the playing MP3 to skip, or temporarily become garbled. I assume this is due to taxing the HDD, but since upgrading to an SSD is currently not an option, I'm trying to squeeze as much performance out of the system as I can.
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Sep 5, 2010
My home WiFi network is currently very unstable. I'm working to improve it and looking for a little advice. This is a little long but I'm trying to provide as much relevant info as possible. First, I have Comcast cable internet performance package (6mbps). My internet speeds vary from about 3-10mbps. I use the Comcast provided cable modem (rented). From the cable modem I run a cable directly into an Airport Express 802.11b/g to create my home wifi network. I have a usb printer attached to the Airport Express for network printing. I have a second Airport Express on the other side of the house used to expand the network and pump music into my home stereo via air tunes.
I use my network for general internet surfing, airtunes streaming to my home stereo, and itunes and bittorrent downloading. No gaming or other speed intensive applications especially within the home network. I have two problems - the internet drops out and requires a reset very often - at least once a day and the airtunes is very unstable. For the internet problem, I thought it was the Comcast internet but I've checked the quality of the cable signal and removed all unnecessary splitters, etc and it still happens. I think the problem is my Airport express. For the Airtunes problem, this clearly seems to be an Airport express problem. I'm thinking of going to a Linksys WRT54GL 802.11b/g as my primary wireless router and purchasing a cable modem (to save money in the long run over renting.)
Here are my questions:
1) Based on my usage and my current Comcast internet package, my understanding is that 802.11b/g is fine for me. Is this correct? I don't think I need or could benefit from the 300mbps speed of a N network.
2) Can I still use the airport express for airtunes and printing on the Linksys WRT54GL 802.11b/g network?
3) Regarding the cable modem, is there any advantage to getting a more expensive DOCSIS 3.0 modem such as Motorola SURFboard SB6120? I've read that some people see significant improvements in their speed even if they have a slower internet service.
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Apr 27, 2007
If I have an event, starting on Friday, going on Saturday and and finishing Sunday, is it not possible to get this to show in the month view? I know it shows up in the weekly view, but it would be more helpful for me to have it up show up like this so I can get an overview of the month's forthcoming events. Or if it, are there any mods/addons etc that can enable this?
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Oct 25, 2009
I'm thinking of making the jump and making my first Apple computer purchase. Time machine will be a welcome native backup solution, especially since I can do it over the network automatically. However, I've read that Time Machine naturally requires HFS+ formatted disks. But I will still have my Win7 laptop for gaming purposes, and of course that requires NTFS or FAT32 for writability. My question: Can I just take a TM compatible external drive, split it into two partitions, and then specify that each computer backup onto its own partition with its own file system?
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Aug 30, 2009
I thought after upgrade to Snow Leopard, older Macbook Pro can also have the newer multitouch gestures as those newer Macbook Pro?
I didn't see any options in the Trackpad in System Preferences.
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Nov 7, 2010
First time user of the forum. About a year or two ago, I acquired an older Mac G4 AGP from someone who said it was "broke" and was going to recycle it. Turns out the OS just needed to be re-installed, so she is up and running. I initially installed Leopard, but it didn't run as well as I would've liked, so I put Tiger on it (running much better). After that, I maxed out the memory @ 2GB(4 x 512MB PC133). Then I installed a 7200RPM HD to replace the slower drive. I also installed a DVD R/RW and maxed the processor to a 1.8GHz single core. Right now, I'm looking to bump up the video card. It's my understanding that the 9800 is best card for this system, but I'm not looking to spend that much. I will only be using this system to stream music from Grooveshark and Pandora, so it needs to run Flash content well. Currently, it has the ATI Rage 128 Pro with 16MB VRAM, which is next to nothing. Like I said, I don't need a crazy card, but I'm not sure the difference between one 64MB card and another, or should I go up to 128MB.
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Dec 15, 2008
I just moved into a new apartment today. Of course, I checked to see if there were any open wireless networks before signing up for high speed internet access.
There is one open linksys available, but I am having trouble with it. I get varying signal strengths between all and no bars. They vary as I sit at the table motionless with nothing moving around me. I get high speed streaming audio for a few minutes, then no internet at all for the next 5 minutes.
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Nov 8, 2010
I am running windows 7 on my new MacBook Air, this is a requirement for my work, so can't be changed. I bought the MBA because it's a beautiful laptop, thin and light, great screen, and great keyboard. My battery life, however seems to be terrible, especially compared to statistics I have seen on other reviews/threads. At the moment, when I am unplugged, I have brightness at 30%, I have the hard drive set to sleep when not in use. I have bluetooth turned off and WiFi on. I almost exclusively use the computer to work on google docs. So, turn on the computer, work for half an hour, in Chrome, either sending and receiving emails or writing in Google Docs. (I can't figure out if this qualifies as "light browsing", but based on my battery drain I would say it's not...) I have a plug-in to block flash, and haven't been running flash on any website since I started using the computer.
Here are my statistics:
Last night, typed (on the web) for half an hour and went from 100-80% battery.
Put the computer to sleep for 9 hours, and when I woke the computer it was at 74% battery.
Typed and checked email for forty minutes, went to 57%
Woke the computer two hours later and was at 49%
typed (on the web) for half an hour and was at 29%
put the computer into hybernate, turned it on ten minutes later at was at 27%
I've now been typing for about half an hour and I'm at 15%.
I'm losing, roughly, 20% of my battery for each half hour of typing in a browser, with flash disabled. That means 2.5 hours of browsing. I need to get 4 hours if I'm going to keep the computer.
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Dec 4, 2010
I am trying to send a wide format poster file to Staples and the error keeps reading that the quality is too low. I have tried formatting it to .jpeg, .tiff, .png, .bmp, but nothing works. I have determined that it must be the original export to .pdf that is the trouble. I have tried to create a .pdf file through the print option on iPages as well as through the Export option to formulate a .pdf file. The end result seems to be the same. Does anyone know how I can increase the quality of the .pdf file.
If there is a program out there that I can download to create a higher resolution conversion? Is there someway I can make the conversion to one of the files listed above higher? or am I right in thinking that the problem lies with the original .pdf conversion? I need to get a banner poster done by next weekend so I was hoping to get this issue resolved over this weekend. Most of the information on the file is just pure text and gradient fills. I even tried removing the three head shots to see if the photos were the problem...but nope.
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Jan 28, 2006
Is there any way to improve the wifi signal acquisition on my 12" g4 powerbook?
I'm noticing that the 14"Ibook I'm comparing my PB to get a better signal sitting side by side.
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Sep 27, 2009
my Mac Pro has a very weak wireless connectivity � 4-10% packet loss on average, so I want to try to upgrade it's Airport antennae (I've had the same issues on my PC before I bought Mac Pro, I fixed them by upgrading the antenna).
Does anyone have any experience with external antennae for the built-in Mac Pro Airport card?
What are the plugs in Airport called? (RP-SMA � is that right?)
Are there any converters to RP-TNC, so I could plug a normal external PC antenna? Will there be any problems?
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Nov 11, 2008
I have been looking at the videos showing the multi touch track pad and was wondering what program they are using to demo the multi touch as i cannot get the trackpad to rotate like in the video. i am opening the pics in iPhoto.
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Mar 10, 2009
I'm thinking of getting one of the WoW. It has 15 buttons, which is great for a MMO, but since it dosn't have Mac drivers I would be relying on the mouse drivers built into OSX when I'm not in Bootcamp. So how dose OSX cope with mice with more buttons than the Mighty Mouse?
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Apr 21, 2009
Where are the good IM clients? if I'm missing out on a great one. I'm willing to pay for one.
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Oct 2, 2010
All jokes aside, I read in Snow leopard (perhaps incorrectly) that two finger and four finger gestures on the trackpad can be used, is there any program on Leopard (10.5.8) that enables these? Specifically it would be great if I could go back in my internet browser by swiping with two fingers.
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Oct 26, 2010
I really need to upgrade my old 15" MBP and have been really impressed with what I have seen so far with the 13" MBA. After seeing the MBA I cannot imagine buying a new system with an internal HDD and Optical drive. Just does not make sense. On the other hand, I am a pretty serious at multi-tasking and wonder if the MBA will be able to keep up. I've been using higher end MPB class Macs for around 10 years now, and may be taking certain things for granted. First, here is my current system: 15" MBP Early 2008 2.5 GHz C2D 6 MB L2 8600M GT, 320 GB 7200 RPM
Now, here are the list of apps I almost always have open at work:
- Mail with one browser, 3-4 notes windows open and 4-5 messages open
- Adium
- MS/Entourage
- MS/PowerPoint with 5-10 slide sets open
- MS/Excel with 5-10 spreadsheets open
- MS/Word with a couple of docs
- Preview with 3-5 docs
- Camino with 3-5 windows open (Flash blocked)
- Firefox with 3-4 windows open (Flash blocked)
- Address Book
I quit usingFusion, so good so far? Then I go home where I start doing video editing with my 1080 HD AVCHD footage. I don't close any of my work stuff, because I often have late night and early morning calls. At home add the following apps.
- iMovie for video editing
- Toast for burning Blu-ray discs
- Voltaic (AVCHD video encoding)
While pulling in AVCHD footage via an SD card reader in my ExpressCard slot and writing to a Firewire 800 disk I am burning a Blu-ray movie from Toast via my FW400 port. At the same time I might be using Carbon Copy Cloner to update my system to a different 2.5" external Firewire 800 drive. Time Machine comes around once an hour and wants to backup to my Airport Extreme over ethernet.Will I be able to do all of this with a MBA? I am especially interested in knowing if I will have enough I/O bandwidth. I'll be going from a machine with FW800, FW400, 2 USB2 ports, and ethernet to a machine that just has 2 USB2 ports. I did do a little test with USB and it takes 2.5x the time to copy a file compared to FW800. I also verified that iMovie will let me scrub HD video in with data connected via USB2. The only problem was that I did all of this on a MBP. The biggest let down for me from the Air announcements was the absence of a FW800 port.
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Jan 11, 2011
Any cheap multi bay externals without the special redundancy stuff? Preferably with USB and FW800.
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Apr 28, 2008
I have a brand new MacBook Air which currently has a Superdrive attached to the USB port. I'd like to get a mac compatible digi camera and my wife wants an ipod. Can I simply disconnect the drive and connect the camera/ipod at will or do I have to buy a hub? On my old XP machine it seemed to me the ports were dedicated to their peripherals.
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Aug 18, 2008
I have a mini and a 23 cinema. Basically I want more real estate and want to run a second cinema. Can a power mac g5 handle it? I've seen him go for like 500 dollars on ebay. I use the computer for research and office.
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Oct 25, 2008
Like a keyboard with a laptop type trackpad that can handle 1,2,3, and 4 finger gestures?
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Nov 18, 2008
I am trying to find out if multi-session DVDs are possible in Leopard with Toast.
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Mar 24, 2009
i was just wondering i am planning on get a macbook but a refurbished one. Im planning on getting the lower end model but I am just getting started on web design. The question i have is it going to be sufficient enough with the task Im going to be doing. Meaning Multi-Tasking
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Aug 11, 2009
I can't do tap to click or right clicking...Is there a way to enable this in Windows 7? I don't see any Boot Camp Preferences...
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Sep 2, 2009
I have started using spaces quite a bit recently and I'm not a huge user of expos�. I was wondering if there was a way to change the 4 fingered swipe to switch between spaces? So swiping 4 fingers up would go to the space above and similar actions with left, right and down.
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Dec 6, 2009
Is there a multi-platform VNC feature in os x or a free app?
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Feb 4, 2010
I just bought a new Samsung USB DVD drive for $50 that is capable of writing & reading in every conceivable disk mode. However, Tiger's Disk Utility really doesn't support writing & reading multi-session (SAO) disks. Does anyone know any of any freeware DVD disk burning software that supports multi-session disk burning & reading?
I recently installed a current model DVD drive in my brother's Toshiba 2100 CDT (vintage 2000) running Windows 2000 Pro & got a program called CDBurnerXP that writes & reads multi-session disks & now I'm frustrated that I can't do it on my iMac or my wife's MacBook both running Tiger 10.4.11.
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Feb 21, 2010
What's the matter with Apple, don't they know there is such things as DVDs . I have quite a lot of DVDs from my day's with a PC, but now I have a iMac I don't seem to be able to use them except for 1 time recording. Say for accounting , if I use the disc utility I cannot use them more than once and the same with Roxio Toast. If the backup is only 39mb that is an awful waste of a DVD to only use it once. Alternatively am I wrong with my approach's to use more than once?
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