PowerBook - Frequent color wheel

iStunt · iStunt #1 (**permalink**)

02-18-2008, 12:42 AM

Hello I am new to the forum. I come looking for answers on my 15" G4 Powerbook 1.25 gighrts. I used the search and didn't find much that helped. The thinking "color wheel" comes up quite freguently now. The harddrive has almost 30 gig free space and I'm normally using it to surf the web. Any ideas why it does this?

Weird Fish · Weird Fish #2 (**permalink**)

02-18-2008, 01:40 AM

How much RAM do you have?

Free space doesn't have too much to do with it, I don't believe, unless you're really low.

Raxious · Raxious #3 (**permalink**)

02-18-2008, 10:09 AM

Could be a number of things. Depending on the amount of RAM you have, and the speed of your processor, it may not be able to handle complex websites/programs. Another thing is: how hot is your battery when this happens? When a battery overheats, the color wheel could also show up.

rman · rman #4 (**permalink**)

02-18-2008, 12:39 PM

Also how often you system puts your hard disk drives to sleep.

iStunt · iStunt #5 (**permalink**)

02-18-2008, 10:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Raxious

Could be a number of things. Depending on the amount of RAM you have, and the speed of your processor, it may not be able to handle complex websites/programs. Another thing is: how hot is your battery when this happens? When a battery overheats, the color wheel could also show up.

I have a 1.25 ghz processor and 512 mb ddr sdram. I'm only running 2 to 4 programs most of the time(safari, quicktime, itunes, and aim). I don't notice a relation between the battery heat and color wheel but I'll look for it now. I think my battery is on it's way out cuz it does get hot but also it wants to go to sleep when it has 80% battery life.

iStunt · iStunt #6 (**permalink**)

02-18-2008, 10:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rman

Also how often you system puts your hard disk drives to sleep.

I don't know. I should know where to adjust that but remind me once again?

rman · rman #7 (**permalink**)

02-18-2008, 11:10 PM

System Preferences -> Engery Saver

mephron · mephron #8 (**permalink**)

02-19-2008, 05:57 PM

Also, clean your desktop if you haven't already. A lot of stuff on the desktop can cause a lot of slowdown.

stroked · stroked #9 (**permalink**)

02-19-2008, 09:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mephron

Also, clean your desktop if you haven't already. A lot of stuff on the desktop can cause a lot of slowdown.

Can someone verify this?

MacHeadCase · MacHeadCase #10 (**permalink**)

02-20-2008, 06:03 AM

Verify this ? It's true : each and every file or folder on the desktop is a Finder window ready to be opened so the system stores it in some kind of virtual memory or cache for quick access. One of the ways to help a slow Mac is to keep your desktop very clean.

And the OP should add a lot more RAM, IMO. 512 MB of RAM nowadays is simply not enough.

The problem could be the OS X version with clogged up cache. Or user cache that's full. Depending on the OS X version, repairing disk permissions might help or not. Could be a few things.

stroked · stroked #11 (**permalink**)

02-20-2008, 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MacHeadCase

Verify this ? It's true : each and every file or folder on the desktop is a Finder window ready to be opened so the system stores it in some kind of virtual memory or cache for quick access. One of the ways to help a slow Mac is to keep your desktop very clean.

And the OP should add a lot more RAM, IMO. 512 MB of RAM nowadays is simply not enough.

The problem could be the OS X version with clogged up cache. Or user cache that's full. Depending on the OS X version, repairing disk permissions might help or not. Could be a few things.

Thanks for the explanation. My desktop is very cluttered.

iStunt · iStunt #12 (**permalink**)

02-21-2008, 09:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MacHeadCase

Verify this ? It's true : each and every file or folder on the desktop is a Finder window ready to be opened so the system stores it in some kind of virtual memory or cache for quick access. One of the ways to help a slow Mac is to keep your desktop very clean.

And the OP should add a lot more RAM, IMO. 512 MB of RAM nowadays is simply not enough.

The problem could be the OS X version with clogged up cache. Or user cache that's full. Depending on the OS X version, repairing disk permissions might help or not. Could be a few things.

How do you clear the user cashe?

rman #4 (permalink)
Inactive Staff Member Since: Dec 24, 2002 Location: Los Angeles, California Posts: 12,591 Mac Specs: 2 x 3.0GHz Quad-Core, 6GB OS X 10.6.8 \| 15in MacBook Pro 2.2GHz OS X 10.6.8 \| 64GB iPad 2 WiFi	02-18-2008, 12:39 PM Also how often you system puts your hard disk drives to sleep. Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, It's about learning to dance in the rain!
	QUOTE Thanks

rman #7 (permalink)
Inactive Staff Member Since: Dec 24, 2002 Location: Los Angeles, California Posts: 12,591 Mac Specs: 2 x 3.0GHz Quad-Core, 6GB OS X 10.6.8 \| 15in MacBook Pro 2.2GHz OS X 10.6.8 \| 64GB iPad 2 WiFi	02-18-2008, 11:10 PM System Preferences -> Engery Saver Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, It's about learning to dance in the rain!
	QUOTE Thanks

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iStunt #1 (permalink)
Member Since: Feb 18, 2008 Posts: 13	02-18-2008, 12:42 AM Hello I am new to the forum. I come looking for answers on my 15" G4 Powerbook 1.25 gighrts. I used the search and didn't find much that helped. The thinking "color wheel" comes up quite freguently now. The harddrive has almost 30 gig free space and I'm normally using it to surf the web. Any ideas why it does this?
	QUOTE Thanks

Weird Fish #2 (permalink)
Member Since: Nov 17, 2007 Location: Greenville, SC Posts: 267 Mac Specs: MacBook Pro 15" Matte 2.33 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 2 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM	02-18-2008, 01:40 AM How much RAM do you have? Free space doesn't have too much to do with it, I don't believe, unless you're really low.
	QUOTE Thanks

mephron #8 (permalink)
Member Since: Sep 28, 2007 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 43 Mac Specs: MacBook Pro 17" Hi-Def/2GB RAM/250GB HD // iPhone 3Gs 16GB // iPod Classic 80GB	02-19-2008, 05:57 PM Also, clean your desktop if you haven't already. A lot of stuff on the desktop can cause a lot of slowdown.
	QUOTE Thanks

MacHeadCase #10 (permalink)
Guest Posts: n/a	02-20-2008, 06:03 AM Verify this ? It's true : each and every file or folder on the desktop is a Finder window ready to be opened so the system stores it in some kind of virtual memory or cache for quick access. One of the ways to help a slow Mac is to keep your desktop very clean. And the OP should add a lot more RAM, IMO. 512 MB of RAM nowadays is simply not enough. The problem could be the OS X version with clogged up cache. Or user cache that's full. Depending on the OS X version, repairing disk permissions might help or not. Could be a few things.
	QUOTE Thanks

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