[Gunbucker]

Hi all,

I've been using my MBP 17" for about 2 months now. I previously had a PowerBook G4 15", which was getting too sluggish for my needs.

When I setup my MBP, it gave me an option to migrate from my existing PowerBook. So I took that option.

What I noticed for this 2 months was, yes, the MBP was blazingly fast, as long as whatever you needed to access was already in the RAM. For some reason, launching programs was as slow as ever. For instance, launching Safari fresh from a boot, still took a number of bounces before it launches. The same with iPhoto, the same with Mail.

The best part is, when fresh from a boot, and I launch Dashboard, whoooooaaaaa... the bloody system becomes unresponsive for a good 10 seconds.

Is this normal? This is the default MBP 17" configuration, with 2GB RAM, and the 160GB 5400rpm hard disk. Was migrating directly from the PB 15" a bad idea? Should I reformat everything and start installation from scratch? Or is it some issue concerning the performance of the hard disk itself and I should contact Apple service center?

Also, for some weird reason, the preference pane seems to forget what I assigned for my wireless mighty mouse buttons. Once a while I need to repair permissions on the hard disk.

Guys, an otherwise dream machine is driving me nuts!!! Hope to get your help.

Thanks!
GB

[onlyone-jc]

I've never migrated a system before, only ever performed fresh formats. But, does migrating copy the Applications folder over as well?

If so, they may not be Universal Binary versions, and thus PPC-only versions. This would mean that your new Intel version of OS X would have to run these applications under Rosetta (OS X's PPC real-time emulator). This would greatly slow down any full-speed performance (when using those particular applications, that is).

Good luck,
onlyone-jc.

[toddtmw]

My 15 inch never bounces more than once, unless the app is runnning with Rosetta. Do a get info on your apps (Safari for example) and check the "Kind". You want them to be "Application (Universal)" If they are "Application (PowerPC)" look for an update. Also, make sure the "Open using Rosetta" option is not checked.

You may also want to check what you are running. I find that if I run more than 1 or 2 rosetta apps, the whole system seems to slow down some. I try to avoid Rosetta apps as much as possible. If you run Activity Monitor, you can turn on the "Kind" column and then click on that column to sort processes by Intel or PowerPC. Again, anything that is PowerPC you should try to find a replacement or update.

Let us know what you find! Hopefully this will help.

-Todd

[Gunbucker]

Thanks guys.

I've also read elsewhere that the migration assistant is not foolproof in porting over drivers/plug-ins that are not Universal Binary.

Looks like I need to backup my data and do a total clean install.

Any idea how I should proceed with a clean install? Appreciate your comments.

[toddtmw]

If you have an external drive, you could use Carbon Copy Cloner to copy your whole internal hard drive to an external. If you don't have an external, then you need to be more selective. I prefer to back EVERYTHING up and then be selective about what I restore. If you don't have enough space to backup everything then you'll have to be selective. In that case, I suggest backing up your entire home directory, the library directory on the root of your drive and the applications directory. If you have more than one account on your machine, you'll want to back the other home folders up too. Obviously, if you've stashed anything in a non-standard place (like the root of your hard drive) you'll want to back that up too.

Carbon Copy Cloner can help here too because there may be things in your home directory that have different permissions and a standard Finder copy may not be able to get them. Carbon Copy Cloner copies things with higher access so it should be able to get everything.

Once you have a backup, then you can re-install using the disks that came with your computer and then selectively copy back stuff from your backup. Most of the stuff in your home directory should be safe. I wouldn't restore anything from the Library (both the one in your home directory and the one at the root of your hard drive) unless you know what it is. There may be stuff in there you need, so you should back them up, but there are probably settings for apps that you may install new versions of, so it would be best to be much more selective on what you restore from the Library folders.

Now, look at the Apps you use and re-install those from the original CD's or look for updated versions that are Universal Apps. I really recommend installing as few PowerPC apps as you can.

If you don't have an external drive, you might want to consider getting one. It would be a good idea to back up your drive regularly anyway and an external drive is a good way to do it.

If any of this isn't clear, or if you have any other questions, just let me know.

-Todd

[tinkered]

My preferred migration method for PPC to CD/C2D, never had a problem yet:
1) Back up apps folder and User folder to external drive.
2) Clean install the OS and create user with same name and password as the old user.
3) When the initial setup is done I copy the folders in the old user folder into the new user folder.
4) I manually copy over the applications in the old folder, that are not already installed, into the new folder.
5) I use the get info window to check and see is an app is UB or PPC, if it is PPC I go online and get the UB update.
This method makes sure that the system base and all the drivers are Intel while the apps and data are brought over.

[SierraDragon]

Originally Posted by Gunbucker 

Was migrating directly from the PB 15" a bad idea?

Yes, migrating directly was a bad idea. IMO a new box should get fresh installations of everything, repairing Permissions immediately before and immediately after every installation, including drivers, etc.

No doubt many folks have migrated installations successfully many times. However in the long run - especially for folks challenging their Macs with heavy apps like graphics - the Archive & Install option is a much better choice as regards long term performance.

-Allen Wicks