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Panther — Why?!
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Oct 31, 2003, 03:37 PM
 
Before I got Panther I had 10.2.8 (G5); things were incredibly fast! Extremely fast loading, logging in/out, opening apps, etc. as you would expect.
But now I have panther (Very slick interface, I might add), it's been driving me nuts. Loading the Mac from startup takes 2, 3 times longer; and it has some weird bugs.
And there are strange things a'happenin: the dock freezes sometimes, apps takes more bounces to open, and when I have a contextual menu, sometimes the blue line doesn't appear to show that I have something rolled-over, and when I open windows/apps they appear behind the current window I have open. And It's just overall... slow. [Probably not as slow as some configurations, maybe] Also some Apps don't open, but I'm figuring since it's not optimized for G5 and/or 10.3 yet. I'm just taken aback as to why this is so. Jaguar was fast, Panther is slower [compared to 10.2].
I repaired permissions, fsck -y (-f), and all that; But I do admit I have 512 RAM...
This is really crazy. I love the design, everything is so much easier and user-centric, but it has it's quirks. Anybody else have this problem?
     
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Oct 31, 2003, 03:44 PM
 
Have you run DiskWarrior on it? I know that after the OS install with 10.3 I ran DiskWarrior and it seemd to take care of issues I may have had.
"Evil is Powerless If the Good are Unafraid." -Ronald Reagan

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Oct 31, 2003, 03:45 PM
 
512mb is certainly enough. I run it with 192mb on a Pismo, which is a low-end test Mac for software I write.
Try creating a new user account and see if the same problems continue there before looking to the OS as a source of the problem.
If it functions correctly with a new user account, look to something you have installed and then delete it.
     
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Oct 31, 2003, 03:48 PM
 
Yes, there are loads of posts in this forum about bugs. Most of them seem to go back to doing an upgrade install, as opposed to an archive and install or a clean install. The problems and slowdowns you mention shouldn't be there. Which one did you do?

I wiped my hard drive and installed it fresh. I do this with every major upgrade (once a year). And I have never regretted it. It's always given me a virtually bug free, painless transition. I ALWAYS recommend doing this to those who ask. It's by far the best way to do it. There are those who will say it isn't necessary, but most of those same people come back and post about the problems they are experiencing.

I have had zero..yes zero...problems with Panther. My suggestion would be to back up your important data, get your software installers ready to reinstall everything, and wipe your drive and reinstall Panther.
     
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Oct 31, 2003, 03:53 PM
 
I had huge speed issues, and Unexpected Quit errors when I upgraded from Jaguar to Panther. I backed up my data and did a fresh erase and install. It made a huge difference.
     
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Oct 31, 2003, 04:33 PM
 
I've had some of the issues you talk about, including several other problems. Do you use Fast User Switching? I noticed that the problem where: "the blue line doesn't appear to show that I have something rolled-over" does not show up unless I have Fast User Switching activated. Do you use a 3rd party mouse or the Apple mouse? If 3rd party: are there custom drivers installed for it?

Try turning off Fast User Switching if yours is activated.

Try deleting some of the preference files in: /Users/You/Library/Preferences to see if it's just a corrupted preference file.
My Computer: MacBook Pro 2GHz, Mac OS X 10.4.5
     
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Oct 31, 2003, 05:43 PM
 
smogscythe:
The one line you didn't include was one saying, "and I don't have any 'Haxies' installed."

Of course if you don't know what haxies are, you prob didn't install any. But that seems to be the most commonly mentioned source of general system glitchies. (sorry, I've forgotten which ones have been mentioned in particular; check some other threads on "software not working under Panther".
TOMBSTONE: "He's trashed his last preferences"
     
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Oct 31, 2003, 06:15 PM
 
Simple upgrades for me. No Haxies. :-)

All is well.

Panther - Why?

Why Not!
     
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Oct 31, 2003, 06:17 PM
 
Many times, I've noticed here, that most of my problems can be tied back to permission problems in my home folder. (Particularly to the Library, Application Support, and Preferences folders)
     
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Oct 31, 2003, 07:25 PM
 
No, no haxies for me...
I did an archive and install.

I do have a 3rd party mouse... should I install the drivers?

I keep on doing repair permissions and I do cocktail as well; no workie.

I also do have three other seperate accounts, all admin (for my family) who are experiencing the same problems too. (I use fast user switching).

No, no diskwarrior. I emptied some of my prefs, will let you know if that works in a few days.

You're right-- the solution may be to do a clean install. The only reason I didn't do it was because I ust got my G5 and didn't want to do everything all over again.

Everything aside — Panther rocks, and I don't regret getting it!
Thanks guys for your help.
     
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Oct 31, 2003, 08:09 PM
 
definitely do the format-install. Just be sure to back up before doing that, and b/c of the firewire 800 bug, you should burn to cd or dvd or to another mac. my external firewire drive isn't the particular problem chipset, and I haven't experienced any data loss with it.

I backed up everything--my whole life, really--onto that drive before I formatted and installed panther. I can certainly imagine how I would have felt if it had all been wiped out by 10.3. those poor people.
     
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Oct 31, 2003, 08:21 PM
 
clean install might not fix all your problems. Try this first:

-Disable fast user switching.. It totally makes my system unstable, for some reason it gets screwy when you use some 3rd party mice. That'll fix a few of your system problems.

-Did you ever install drivers for your mouse in the past? If so, you must find those preference files and remove them. Which mouse brand is it?
My Computer: MacBook Pro 2GHz, Mac OS X 10.4.5
     
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Oct 31, 2003, 09:33 PM
 
I did an Archive and Install with plenty of haxies present...no problemo
     
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Oct 31, 2003, 10:43 PM
 
Personally, i wouldn't cripple a G5 with 512Mb RAM.

And i really don't believe you when you say that 10.3 is slow on a G5. It flies on my dual g4/800.
Dual 800 - GF3 - 1.5GB
     
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Oct 31, 2003, 11:50 PM
 
i did archive and installs on my dp800 (1.1gb ram) and tibook 867 (768mb ram)...no issues with either. just be careful when you are moving any older stuff back into your new clean system. i use a logitech mx500 with the dp800 and use usb overdrive for the driver - works perfectly.
Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity...
     
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Nov 1, 2003, 03:45 AM
 
Yeah Panther IS fast, but not as fast as the optimized 10.2.8 (G5). When I first turned on my PowerMac it blew my socks off. I had an iMac before this one, and... woah.
But I don't believe myself either when I say that Panther is kinda slower than Jaguar. Seriously; on my G5. I'm sure it's hella fast on anything else. Or maybe I'm just having some bugs

No I didn't install any drivers for my mouse: just plug-n-play. It's a crappy Belkin, I was just using it temporarily. They don't have any drivers for Mac anyway.

The disabling fast-switching seems to work. Whatever happened; that and deleting some prefs from the home and base directories...
Panther still takes long to start up and log-in, though.

I guess Panther was made for older machines to be zippier. I like it anyway for the features. I'm guessing Apple will have an update for G5 owners; or is .3 already optimized for it?
     
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Nov 2, 2003, 01:20 AM
 
wow — excellent!
it was a bad pref because, WOAH man---! as soon as let go of the iPhoto icon: it's OPEN! 2 seconds--- photoshop is OPEN.

WOAH
     
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Nov 2, 2003, 02:40 PM
 
Panther is faster for me than 10.2.7 or 10.2.8 was on my Dual G5. No complaints here. And I did an upgrade install
(Last edited by Cadaver; Nov 2, 2003 at 02:48 PM. )
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