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TheIceMan · 06:17 PM

It takes 75 secs. from the time I first power on my computer to display my desktop. I had 10.2.2 & now 10.2.3 and it's been like that. I recently saw a software/shareware program that allows you to tweak/turn off some of the startup files without using Unix. It's not BootConfig or Diablotin and it's very similar to Startup Item Manager 1.0. The Mac OS seems to load things that may be unnecessary. This is probably why it takes so long. Any ideas?

Emotionally Fragile Luke · Dec 24, 2002, 05:16 AM

Yes, why turn your Mac off in the first place?

Also, it it worth hacking your boot files to save a few seconds on bootup?

TheIceMan · Dec 24, 2002, 07:02 AM

Originally posted by Emotionally Fragile Luke:Yes, why turn your Mac off in the first place? Also, it it worth hacking your boot files to save a few seconds on bootup?

Luke: I have a PowerBook, so I do like to turn it off. Also, I was referring to softwares so that I would not have to hack into my boot files.

JLL · Dec 24, 2002, 07:53 AM

Originally posted by TheIceMan:

Luke: I have a PowerBook, so I do like to turn it off. Also, I was referring to softwares so that I would not have to hack into my boot files.

I have been using iBooks since Mac OS X was released, and I never turn them off.

Regarding your boot, Mac OS X shouldn't start services that you haven't started yourself.

TheIceMan · Dec 24, 2002, 08:17 AM

Originally posted by JLL:
I have been using iBooks since Mac OS X was released, and I never turn them off.

Regarding your boot, Mac OS X shouldn't start services that you haven't started yourself.

JLL: Yes, some folks like to leave their computers on. I'm not one of them. If I'm not using it, then I turn it off. I'm just wondering about this program that I saw. The OS system isn't starting anything "new", it runs the same list of files every time I turn it on. I'm trying to see if anyone knows of a program to change or disable some of the files at startup which may not apply to my setup.

JLL · Dec 24, 2002, 08:24 AM

Originally posted by TheIceMan:
JLL: Yes, some folks like to leave their computers on. I'm not one of them. If I'm not using it, then I turn it off.

It's not 'On' when closed.

Originally posted by TheIceMan:
]The OS system isn't starting anything "new", it runs the same list of files every time I turn it on. I'm trying to see if anyone knows of a program to change or disable some of the files at startup which may not apply to my setup.

Again, you should be able to turn things of in System Preferences - I can't think of things that would run at startup, that you either didn't turn on or is needed by the system.

kovacs · Dec 24, 2002, 09:11 AM

You can use "diablotin" to turn some statup items off. Search for it on versiontracker. I use it to turn fonts on and off.

OwlBoy · Dec 24, 2002, 09:32 AM

The main problem is during the grey apple screen, when the system is doing something...

-Owl

Appleman · Dec 24, 2002, 10:02 AM

When you do a Utilities -> Disk Utility -> Repair Disk it says:

quote:

"Disk First Aid cannot verify or repair a write-protected disk, a CD-ROM, or a disk with open files. The startup disk was verified, and repaired if necessary, at boot time..."

If you have a iBook or TiBook, this means that with their relatively slow harddisks of 4200 rpm, the boot time will take some time.
I bought a d2 from La Cie (7200 rpm) and booting from that sweety goes way faster, even though it's a 120 GB-monster.

I have, however, no idea if and how you can stop this checking of the harddisk, and actually think it is not such a good idea to do so.

But aren't we talking about the time it takes to get a cup of coffee, light a cigaret, or simply have breakfast while powering the Mac?

Sharky K. · Dec 24, 2002, 10:51 AM

how bigger your hard drive how faster it is btw

how to speed up OS X startup without hacks

:
- repair permissions 3 times on a row once in a while
- disable all netwerk connections you are not using. For example I always use Airport so I turn Ethernet off this really helps(!)

Meteo · Dec 24, 2002, 11:21 AM

I feel the same as Ice MAn...
take forever to boot on 10.2.x (maybe as long as 10.1.x) BUT the apple logo stays too long for me
When the boot panel appears, I'm already sleeping...
I grant you that the time the boot panel is on is very shorter on 10.2.x than it was in 10.1.x
but how to speed up the boot before boot panel (sic...)?

I already disconnect all the network port i don t use.

Appleman · Dec 24, 2002, 12:06 PM

Originally posted by Sharky K.:
how bigger your hard drive how faster it is btw

Can you explain on what this is based?
I would think that a bigger hardrive has more sectors, so given by the same rpm it would normally take longer?

TheIceMan · Dec 24, 2002, 06:15 PM

Originally posted by Meteo:
I feel the same as Ice MAn...take forever to boot on 10.2.x (maybe as long as 10.1.x) BUT the apple logo stays too long for me. When the boot panel appears, I'm already sleeping...I grant you that the time the boot panel is on is shorter on 10.2.x than it was in 10.1.x but how to speed up the boot before boot panel?

Meteo: Yes, thank you. This is what I've been saying. I really don't think that it should take this long. I have to edit my earlier time of 90 secs. It's 75 seconds everytime.

Appleman: yes, it is as short as getting a cup of coffee. But I still think that the system is checking for or loading something which I either don't use or don't need.

kovacs: Thnx for the tip about diablotin. Btw, your signature is SWEET! I don't know anything about making something like that. I guess that's why I love this customization forum. I can learn from the creativity/skills/talents of others. Question- how do I make a sig like yours, except it would say "Iceman"? Hehehe.

FunandBlindness · Dec 24, 2002, 06:42 PM

Boot into single user mode and watch what it loads. My B+W G3 450 seems to take a little to long also, but I have come to the conclusion that is just the way it is. I am with others here and rarely turn it off.

skyman · Dec 24, 2002, 07:25 PM

Originally posted by TheIceMan:
It takes 75 secs. from the time I first power on my computer to display my desktop. I had 10.2.2 & now 10.2.3 and it's been like that. I recently saw a software/shareware program that allows you to tweak/turn off some of the startup files without using Unix. It's not BootConfig or Diablotin and it's very similar to Startup Item Manager 1.0. The Mac OS seems to load things that may be unnecessary. This is probably why it takes so long. Any ideas?

Why waste your time rebooting and re-launching applications. Just put your computer to sleep when you are done using it.

I bought my wife an iBook several weeks ago and she never shuts it down. She just closes the lid when she is done. Simple and she loves it.

Ghoser777 · Dec 24, 2002, 09:22 PM

StartupItems aren't loaded when the gray apple screen is displayed - they are loaded (very quickly at that, a new feature in 10.2) after that screen. Therefore, tinkering with StartupItems won't effect how long you're waiting at the gray apple screen.

If you hold down Apple-S while your laptop boots up, you can see what is taking forever in the boot process... perhaps there is something screwy with your config. It also may take awhile to fsck and mount multiple partitions, I would suppose.

Matt

RMXO · Dec 24, 2002, 09:27 PM

try turning off services that you dont need in Directory Acess. service i have checked is SMB......

plus, i never turn off my laptop. sLeeP is a good thing....

JNI · Dec 25, 2002, 05:39 AM

You don't need to go into single-user mode to diagnose this. Just go into verbose mode (command-v at boot). That will tell you what is happening and then continue on to normal GUI operation. I do this a lot because I like to watch the boot sequence, especially when I add new hardware.

When the screen is fully gray, it is in ROM, grabbing stuff out of NVRAM (PRAM) and doing some initial hardware diagnostics.

When the Apple shows up it at first is mostly still in ROM and is looking for extra installed hardware, like PCI cards, USB devices, FireWire devices, Ethernet etc. to build the IORegistry and figure out what hardware it can actually use to start disk based system loading. For instance it may boot from FW or NetBoot or go into a remote controllable debugging mode via Ethernet. At the end of the Apple screen it normally starts disk access and loads the kernel.

When it is in the progress bar screen is when you are now fully running from disk based (or NetBoot) code loaded into RAM and doing things like network initialization, daemon startups etc.

On my DP500 I get the gray screen for about 2 seconds, the Apple screen for about 15 seconds and the progress bar screen for about 15 seconds. I'm running 10.2.3.

If you are in the Apple screen for a long time it sounds to me like a USB or Ethernet problem hanging it up.