Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

Switched2Mac · 03:09 PM

Surprised that no one is talking about this yet.

I have seen lots of posts here and other sites claiming that GarageBand does not run properly on PowerBooks.

Lots of users getting "disk too slow" error messages when they try to even play the demo songs.

No point in having Garageband if you can only use like 2 tracks or so.

Can we get some reports from folks running Garageband on a stock powerbook and those with increased memory, etc.

Thanks.

Daracle · Jan 18, 2004, 02:47 PM

I didnt know there was an issue with this...

Switched2Mac · Jan 18, 2004, 03:10 PM

http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.p...06#post1792663

Can anyone confirm that Garageband runs as advertised on their PowerBook?

MikeD · Jan 18, 2004, 03:20 PM

Originally posted by Switched2Mac:
http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.p...06#post1792663

Can anyone confirm that Garageband runs as advertised on their PowerBook?

What about if you had a PB with a faster external HD? Not sure if you can run Garageband off of that though but possibly a solution if it worked?

Mike

Tomster · Jan 18, 2004, 03:57 PM

Runs fine here. Have the 80gig 5400 drive though.

ruttopia · Jan 18, 2004, 04:16 PM

Ditto - 80GB 5400rpm drive has no issues that I can see... runs wonderfully.

Switched2Mac · Jan 18, 2004, 04:18 PM

Good to hear!

I just called the local Apple Store and they are going to install iLife 2004 on the PB 15" today after closing.

I will come by tomorrow and test it. If it works, I will make the purchase right there on the spot.

Question though. HEAT.

How hot does the PB 15" get? The 12" is the FireBook model, but I figure the 15" has more room inside for better heat dissipation.

I have a Compaq Presario X1010 that is a PowerBook clone, if you will.

He runs so cool all the time. When the fan comes on, which is rare (like in intense games), it is nearly silent as well.

I just sold my iMac and have been missing it ever since. I read all the horror stories of people and their powerbooks (heat, lcd issues, case warping, feet falling off, etc.)

I realize that most users don't come to the forums to say good things, so I take it with a grain of salt, their comments and complaints.

euchomai · Jan 18, 2004, 04:22 PM

I got the disk warning the first time I tried to play 3 of the large GB Demo files. I waited about 20 seconds and pushed play again, and every time it worked great. I think it could just be a bug. Again, it always worked great after the initial mess-up, never showed the disk slow warning again.

mdc · Jan 18, 2004, 05:14 PM

i got a 12" with the standard harddrive, but with 768mb ram, and have not gotten any of the harddrive errors when i tried to play the demos yesterday.

i was actually lying in bed this morning playing around with the loops and making a song, and neither heat nor any errors were a problem, it all works perfectly.

typoon · Jan 18, 2004, 05:49 PM

Originally posted by mdc:
i got a 12" with the standard harddrive, but with 768mb ram, and have not gotten any of the harddrive errors when i tried to play the demos yesterday.

i was actually lying in bed this morning playing around with the loops and making a song, and neither heat nor any errors were a problem, it all works perfectly.

Same. Except that that I onl;y have 512 Megs of RAM

Switched2Mac · Jan 18, 2004, 05:52 PM

Great news.

I will probably purchase the 15" PB tomorrow then.

Any other comments are welcome!

Minty Fresh · 07:30 PM

I have a 15" TiBook 1 GHZ, with 512 MB...and it runs fine! Played around with it for about 4 hours last night...and didn't see a problem.

I just can't wait until my M-Audio Oxygen8, and Mobilepre USB get here...so I can really take advantage of Garage Band!

adamberti · Jan 19, 2004, 04:22 AM

Standard 1 GHz 15" TiBook here. 512 RAM, and the 4500 HD. I've played around a bit so far, and I got the disk error a couple of times and a processer to slow error (mind you I had a bunch of other things going with the processor error) with about 5 loops playing - thats with GB at 'full screen'. If I dont have the windows scrolling along and have it much smaller, I didnt get the errors, so before I play a song, I just click the green button and it shrinks down nice and small.

Just a small tip to add here too, the playhead at the top of the window has an arrow on it. It goes from grey to yellow to orange to red as your processor gets taxed. Kinda neat, so you can see the limits of your system.

EDIT: processer too slow error is actually "System Overload" Error.

ruttopia · Jan 19, 2004, 08:38 AM

To clarify, I have the 1.25ghz model with the 5400rpm drive. In any event, heat is not a problem at all for me with the laptop and it actually seems to run nice and cool for almost everything I do (wed surfing, coding, and now of course GarageBand). The only time I ever felt it really get HOT was when I was playing the Unreal Tournament 2003 demo. But I was impressed at how well it played at 1024x768 with most of the settings on high. Then again, I'm not a gamer so pretty much anything impresses me.

It was the first time I heard the fan kick in. It cooled down real quick though once I stopped playing...

I've said it in other messages, but the 15" PB is the greatest piece of computer hardware I have ever used. It just FEELS amazing ... I've had it nearly a month and ever day it impresses me more and more.

M.A.S. · Jan 19, 2004, 03:55 PM

I would think you'd hav no problem with gb on a pb.

Im runnin logic 6 on my 17" rev a with 1Gb ram (and for a couple of months with the stock 512mb) without a problem ever. And i would assume that logic is a more intensive ap than gb anyway.

Although this is prob too late to be of any help!

waffffffle · Jan 19, 2004, 07:30 PM

On my 15" I would get some errors about performance but not about the disk. I quit all my other apps and they stopped. The performance isn't great when using a lot of effects and tracks but it still works. It works better on my 12".

WOPR · Jan 20, 2004, 10:18 AM

On my 12" 867 PB with 384mb RAM the G4/G5 demo files played fine. I did get the message on my 400mhz G4 desktop (though I wasn't surprised).

WOPR · Jan 20, 2004, 02:18 PM

Now I've had the too slow message on my PB, though it did say it was because I was set to 'less performance' due to running on battery. When I changed this it ran OK again. GB is sure one resource hog though.

Minty Fresh · Jan 20, 2004, 02:41 PM

I got my M-Audio Oxygen8 from FedEx today! Wow...this thing took Garage Band to the next level! Being able to manually control the sounds with the keys, as well as distort them with the pitch bend...changing octives on the fly...it's great! It plugged right in, drivers loaded....and worked within seconds! I'm still playing around with a lot of it's features...but it's awesome...and I recommend it fully!

I also got a chance to hook up my guitar to my Powerbook, through the Audio In. With a few settings tweaks...it was playing in Garage Band just fine. Able to take advantage of all the vintage guitar amp filters, as well as some of the sound effects.

All the while...my little Powerbook just kept on chugging. No errors, no real slow down...it's working just great!