01-06-2008, 05:25 PM

Allrighty. I got a powerbook G4 that was running 10.4, 1.33ghz processer, and 512 ram. I just recently dropped a gig of extra ram into it, and upgraded the OS to 10.5. Now the machine lags. Things that used to open instantaneously now take a few seconds to appear. Programs that used to immediately launch now wait for the spinning rainbow. Does my machine simply not have enough power to properly run Leopard? If such is the case, is it possible to un-install the OS? I don't have the software for 10.4. I mean, is there an undo to a restore point or some such? Also, are there benefits to 10.5 that make the lag worth it? Cause i'm all about instant gratification. It's my number one peeve. And all of that is to say nothing of the start up time which is now forever. Also, when you scroll down thru windows, it sometimes locks and then jumps. Could this be the ram card?

01-06-2008, 05:56 PM

Well 10.5 does have higher system requirements than 10.4 did, but with your extra RAM, I'd think that you would have compensated for that some. My first concern is that your new RAM isn't playing well with the old RAM. If I read you right, you added a 1 Gb module to run alongside a 512 Mb module. IIRC, both modules ideally should have the same amount of RAM on each. Additionally, ideally you should have exact matching pairs of modules (same maker, same model). Mixing and matching from different vendors is a well-known cause of problems for many people.

I would try removing the newer RAM module and see how things work, then remove the older one and leave in the new one. Make a mental note of how things "seem" to be working with the different configurations. If you see an actual improvement by removing either module, then clearly the problem is with that combo of modules.

01-06-2008, 06:34 PM

Also many users on here have had issues with a straight upgrade

did you upgrade or archive your old system and do a clean install

But try lifeisabeach's suggestion first

01-07-2008, 07:39 AM

Yes erase and install is always best in my opinion.

And have you checked that the software you are having problems with fully supports Leopard.

I've had a few issues with some of the Adobe Creative Suite 3 and I'm sure they wouldn't occur if I was running Tiger which is the OS most of these current apps were wrote for.

01-07-2008, 01:42 PM

The Ram came from the apple store for this exact model computer, so I think it's probably the same in respects to make and model. I'm gonna try taking it out and seeing what happens. I don't quite know how to get to the old module. The new one popped into a slot under the keyboard and I think the original is built in.

As for the upgrade, I did an upgrade, not a clean install which I would have preferred. However, i'm still new to the mac verse and when I tried an upgrade with my vaio and windows, none of the laptop functions were supported by the new OS and I didn't know if I would encounter the same problems.

As for the software, i'm talking about the stuff built right into the OS. I haven't gotten around to installing any of my own cause I forsaw a fresh OS install in the near future.

01-07-2008, 05:17 PM

If you want to see if a clean install will work out better before messing with the existing one, make a new partition and install clean to that one (don't migrate users). Then log into that install by holding down the OPTION key while booting. If things seems snappier, then you have yer answer.

01-07-2008, 07:06 PM

I would second the ram being the issue. Mismatched ram can cause some real headaches. Dual channel ram will run better because it's matched for speed and timing.

01-07-2008, 09:41 PM

Originally Posted by flowrider

I would second the ram being the issue. Mismatched ram can cause some real headaches. Dual channel ram will run better because it's matched for speed and timing.

Not on a G4 it won't. G4s had no support for dual-channel memory.

01-07-2008, 10:29 PM

Clean install seems to be the optimum method for most folk. Firewire external HDD are becoming more and more popular for use as backing up your system.

01-07-2008, 10:56 PM

Originally Posted by louishen

Also many users on here have had issues with a straight upgrade

did you upgrade or archive your old system and do a clean install

But try lifeisabeach's suggestion first

I did all 4 as Archive and Install vice upgrade (3 PPC, 1 Intel). All 4 work fine.

There is simply little to no reason to erase and install unless you just like making things harder than they need to be. This isn't Windows, don't treat it as such.

01-08-2008, 01:00 AM

Originally Posted by lifeisabeach

Well 10.5 does have higher system requirements than 10.4 did, but with your extra RAM, I'd think that you would have compensated for that some. My first concern is that your new RAM isn't playing well with the old RAM. If I read you right, you added a 1 Gb module to run alongside a 512 Mb module. IIRC, both modules ideally should have the same amount of RAM on each. Additionally, ideally you should have exact matching pairs of modules (same maker, same model). Mixing and matching from different vendors is a well-known cause of problems for many people.

I would try removing the newer RAM module and see how things work, then remove the older one and leave in the new one. Make a mental note of how things "seem" to be working with the different configurations. If you see an actual improvement by removing either module, then clearly the problem is with that combo of modules.

i don't think the G4's support dual channel..., so having the same size sticks is irrelevant (correct me if i am wrong on the dual channel part)

mixing ram can cause problems, but what does happen is even if you have different ram, speed, timings, it will simply run at the slowest rams speeds, mixing ram used to cause allot of problems in the past but is less of an issues these days on newer chipsets, but i am not overly familiar with the G4 line at all.

01-09-2008, 11:30 AM

I popped out the ram and she ran better. I popped it back in and this time it made this terrible snapping sound, but it ran just as smooth, so perhaps it wasn't quite in place before. So it doesn't glitch now, but the machine is still lag heavy. And it doesn't seem overly more capable, but I haven't made it do any heavy lifting yet. I don't know how to partition the drive and install the OS separate, but I'd like to try to see if it's an upgrade / clean instal issue or not. So if you could drop the line on how to set that up i'd be most appreciative. Been fooling around with Leopard for a bit and I find it pretty superior in several ways, despite the annoying translucent menu bit which I can't find an option how to change. So despite the lag, i'll be sticking around, but i'd just assume lose it.