Backing up on SanDisk card - was extremely fast the first time - but now it takes an hour to back up 4 GB of data


I am using an 8GB Sandisk card and a Sandisk reader for type SDHC Class 4.

The first time I used it, was fast for writing, and erasing the trash was immediate, but after that, whenever I backed up my data onto it, would take hours... <1 MB/sec speeds.

Meanwhile, on my year-2006 2GB flash drive, it's 5x faster.

I just tried reformatting the Sandisk card (again), and it's still not fast.

What's going on?



-

P.S. Has anyone else had weird problems pop up with 10.6 only a month after installing it, like:

• browser plug-ins suddenly not working,
• one-minute slow start-up speeds,
• one-minute shutdown times (maybe 20% of the time),
• monitor refusing to stay on second lowest brightness setting after reboot (this did not happen the first time I tried 10.6),
• and now a kernel panic?

I've been using iceClean and repairing permissions on a regular basis. Why is my operating system just breaking down like this?

[mduell]

Rewriting to slow flash cards is... slow.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by Andrej 

I've been using iceClean and repairing permissions on a regular basis. Why is my operating system just breaking down like this?

If you're using iceClean to remove caches (not sure if it does this), that's one factor.

Cache files are kept to speed up things by not having to recalculate them over every time.

Remove them only if you're seeing problems, as deleting them means they have to be created all over again.

[indigoimac]

Did you do a clean install to upgrade to 10.6 or an upgrade? Something is messed up and it sounds like it's been there since install.

Other than that, try onyx and have it run (under automation) the various scripts and see if it helps.

[Big Mac]

Originally Posted by Andrej 

I've been using iceClean and repairing permissions on a regular basis.

I've never heard of iceClean, but I've never had a need to delete caches, and repairing permissions is almost entirely a waste of time. Mac OS X does not require that kind of maintenance. You are the cause of at least some of the problems you're experiencing.

[AKcrab]

A classic from CharlesS.

[anthology123]

Which SanDisk card are you using? Compact Flash or SD Cards? Ultra II, Extreme III, or Extreme IV? Have you re-written to these cards very often? Although flash memory cards will slow down with age, it would take quite a few read and writes for such degradation to appear.
Also, can you try this on another computer and see if the speed problem is there?

I have been reading for the past few years on many forums that you should regularly repair your permissions (i.e. before and after installing anything that requires your password), and I remember people getting their advice from MacAddict and one article said to flush your system cache every week or two as maintenance (along with other routines). Now you folks are telling me to not flush my cache or repair permissions unless I really need to do so. Exactly how often am I supposed to do what maintenance routines? Seems like every time I want an answer to this question, I get inconsistent and contradictory advice.



Second, as for the SANDISK CARD... I have only one computer. The card is a Class 4 SDHC card. I don't see any "Ultra" on it.

[CharlesS]

Originally Posted by Andrej 

I have been reading for the past few years on many forums that you should regularly repair your permissions (i.e. before and after installing anything that requires your password), and I remember people getting their advice from MacAddict and one article said to flush your system cache every week or two as maintenance (along with other routines). Now you folks are telling me to not flush my cache or repair permissions unless I really need to do so. Exactly how often am I supposed to do what maintenance routines? Seems like every time I want an answer to this question, I get inconsistent and contradictory advice.

You don't need to do any of that on a regular basis. Those things are only needed if your setup is having problems that you are trying to fix.

Second, as for the SANDISK CARD... I have only one computer. The card is a Class 4 SDHC card. I don't see any "Ultra" on it.

Rewriting to flash is slow. This is why things like TRIM are nice to have with SSDs — it reverts the blocks on the drive back to their inital unwritten state. Unfortunately, OS X doesn't support TRIM, and even if it did, I don't think SD cards, USB flash drives, and the like support TRIM anyway, so you just have to deal with these things slowing down after a while.

[AKcrab]

Originally Posted by Andrej 

IExactly how often am I supposed to do what maintenance routines? Seems like every time I want an answer to this question, I get inconsistent and contradictory advice.

Only repair permissions or empty your cache if you're having PROBLEMS. Those two things are in no way "maintenance routines".