[rag on a muffin]

for all of you who have incredibly bad frame-rates in games, the culprit is most likely the bad drivers in 10.3.4.

if you are running 10.3.4 and have bad frame-rates, and you would like to fix this problem, follow these steps to revert to 10.3.3:

[list=1][*]restart with your system install disc in your drive, while holding down the "c" key.[*]follow the steps on the screen until you reach the step that has a button that says "options". once you reach that, click it.[*]click the option that says "archive and install" and make sure the box that says "preserve user settings" or something like that is checked. after you have done that, click the "ok" button[*]continue the install, and when your computer has finished installing, DO NOT install the 10.3.4 combined update, but instead install the 10.3.2 update, and 10.3.3 update in that order. i have provided links at the bottom for these updates.[/list=1]

10.3.2 and 10.3.3 update links

NOTE: the reason i have said 10.3.2, then 10.3.3 is because the combined update is corrupted, for me at least, you may have better luck. for those of you who want to try, it is here: 10.3.3 combined

i hope you get better performance

[wuzup101]

Very useful thread... we need more threads like this!

[pat++]

Originally posted by wuzup101:
Very useful thread... we need more threads like this!

Or fixed drivers from Apple

[urrl78]

What makes you think the 10.3.4 update effects just the 12" machines?

Are you sure it is the version of OSX or is it simply the archive and install you did? Do you have Xbench numbers or some other test to prove there was a speed increase after downgrading to 10.3.3? I wonder what your Xbench difference would be in the graphics section if you upgraded again to 10.3.4 now that you archived and installed.

Just seems like everyone takes it for granted slowdown is from 10.3.4.

Is there a thread somewhere of folks complaining after they upgrade to 10.3.4? Maybe I missed it.

[iomatic]

I'd also like verification before I do this kind of stuff; it's probably not Apple-supported, and what will happen with future upgrades?


Thanks.

[cSurfr]

Being a WoW beta tester, I can confirm that there is a problem with the latest nvidia drivers in 10.3.4. Blizzard recently enabled pixel shaders, and made 10.3.4 a requirement. However this caused MANY problems. Screen flashing, low frame rates, etc. They have since disabled the pixel shaders and the performace (while not great) has improved some. You can read about all of this on the WoW forums if you are so inclined (www.worldofwarcraft.com) It's in the support forum. I have the rev.c 12" and was hoping to get at least as good of performace as my Radeon 9000, and lucky me, apple messed up the drivers when they released 10.3.4. His method would / will in fact increase performace across the board for games, but I guess it's too bad that Blizzard made 10.3.4 a requirement for phase 3

cs

[cSurfr]

Originally posted by iomatic:
I'd also like verification before I do this kind of stuff; it's probably not Apple-supported, and what will happen with future upgrades?


Thanks.

He's not asking you to do anything that isn't apple supported. Apple can't mandate that you MUST install the newest OS point release. Having just 10.3.3 on your machine is just fine. Especially if you want to play the occasional game. He simply made it easy for you to obtain the updates without having to go through software update. Good show!

cs

[Saramin]

I'll have to try that, I'm getting tired of being in limbo with Call of Duty and unable to finish the damn thing due to lag. Just to clarify: this isn't going to erase files or screw up settings or anything, right?

[Saramin]

Hey, it worked! Awesome.

Games are acually playable now. Thanks muffin.

[Phanguye]

why only 12" owners?

[iREZ]

Because 15" and 17" owners have Radeons whereas the 12" has Nvidia.

[kafoochy]

Originally posted by iREZ:
Because 15" and 17" owners have Radeons whereas the 12" has Nvidia.

The 1Ghz 17" had a NVidia chipset in case anyone's wondering. GeForce4 440 Go if I remember.

[rag on a muffin]

im glad i helped the people out who tried it!

im afraid i have no way to prove that this update helps, but please trust me on this one, if you play games, you wont regret this up/downgrade depending on how you put it.

kafoochy you are right, i shall make that change.

EDIT: the title of the thread wont change.

[Satellite]

And for iMacs with the nvida card in them? Anyone heard of this effecting those cards?

TIA

[rag on a muffin]

i havent heard of any problems, but i will browse the games forums for more people suffering.

i will also send apple a little email about this issue, considering it has not been even thought about yet by them.

[cSurfr]

Originally posted by rag on a muffin:
i havent heard of any problems, but i will browse the games forums for more people suffering.

i will also send apple a little email about this issue, considering it has not been even thought about yet by them.

Actually, apple does indeed know about this problem. In fact, it was Blizzatrd that brought it to their attention.

[Arolte]

I have the same problem on my 1GHz 12-inch PowerBook. I can safely say there are in fact issues with the 12" PowerBook and OS X 10.3.4. However, it only occurs if you put your computer to sleep. If you do a fresh restart before playing games your performance should be fine.

I'm going to hold off on doing an Archive and Install and wait for the next update to see if the problem is resolved. According to MacRumors.com, OS X 10.3.5 has been seeded to developers and it is currently installed on all the new G5s. So it should be out very soon.

IMO Apple needs to do some serious tweaking to the nVidia drivers in OS X. Ever since I bought this PowerBook, the texture quality of all my games have appeared "stepped" and grainy. It's as if the GPU refuses to render any textures at 32-bit quality. There are also issues with fog rendering (or lack thereof) in OpenGL, as evidenced by Halo.

I've continuously submitted bug reports via the online OS X feedback form and posted about it on the Apple discussion boards, yet nothing has been done to fix thee issues regardless of the various OpenGL and ATI/nVidia updates offered by OS X updates since 10.2.7. Sometimes I get the feeling that they simply change version numbers and do nothing else. Running timedemos and FPS tests with each update has shown no improvement.

[rag on a muffin]

i didnt know that a fresh restart fixed the problem, very good observation.

i think apple should at least send out a temporary fix, for those who are not willing to downgrade, as i sent to apple.