I've been experiencing a really weird (and frustrating!) problem:
usually os 9 runs great.. however, after some usage, I notice a slight (1-10sec) pause, after which the computer is unusable due to the very large amount of time between keystrokes... anything I type goes like: t (half second pause) h (half second pause) i (half second pause) s (half second pause). The only way I've got it to go away is to restart until it inevitably comes up again. Peek-a-boo does not show any processes that shouldn't be running. I notice this occurs most often after a cpu-intensive task such as a long game of Unreal Tournament... however, before the most recent restart all I did was insert a CD, causing a 35 second pause, after which all keyboard input was slow again.
I made a Keyquencer macro to type the phrase "this is a test 1234567890". Under normal conditions, it took under a second. Under my "molasses" conditions, it took 20 seconds. Oddly, live scrolling is silky smooth, just like normal. Also, typing in applications that (I'm assuming) do not use the main system buffer works just fine. For instance, I can boot up Unreal Tournament, play normally, quit, find that I can't even write an email because there's a half second pause between keystrokes, then boot up Unreal again and type and play at normal speeds. When I quit again, I get the half second pause again.
I've tried using 9.2.1, 9.2.2, and I believe 9.1 as well, with the system folder on 2 different hard drives. This problem happened with both my Geforce 2 MX and my ATI Radeon 8500, so I can't attribute it to a bad video card. My specs are: G4/733 (AGP, not quicksilver) 1 GB RAM, 80 GB & 60 GB IDE drives, nothing currently in the PCI slots. I'd appreciate any and all suggestions, as I'm at the end of my rope here.
Thanks,
Rabid Duck