Problems with new emac

[DangerMan]

When it became time to get a new computer I finally listened to all the mac-lovers and decided to get a mac. In the store the assistant recommended the emac - which I bought. I've had it 3 months now and have had nothing but problems with it.

The problem is that it is just so slow. In fact it is so slow there must be a fault with it - I can't imagine anyone else putting up with it.

I only use it for two applications; dreamweaver and photoshop. When using DW I have to wait anywhere between 20-40 secs for the emac to react. Just now I attempted to open a page which took 22 secs. I then tried to insert a table which took 32 secs. It took a further 1 min 17 secs to add 4 images to a 9 cell table. That's 2 mins 11 secs just to open a page and add a table.

To connect to the internet [56k dial-up] takes over 3 mins. To open Photoshop CS takes almost 4 mins. I know that all these precise times sound obsessive but I'm at the end of my tether. Especially since my etower 510 PC [which I was attempting to replace with the mac] will operate both DW and PS in an instant.

What is wrong with my emac?

 

[trpnmonkey41]

Alright I have three things that you can try

1. Repair Permissions
----Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility - Select Macintosh HD (Or whatever you named it) and click repair permissions......Do this until it says No Repairs made

2. File System Check
----Restart the Computer and hold down Apple+S as soon as it turns on...Release the buttons when the Single User mode screen appears (you will know it when you see it)..........type in /sbin/fsck -f and hit enter...do this until it says HD is OK...Type restart to get back to OS X

3. Back-up and Reformat

 

[trpnmonkey41]

Let us know if there are any improvements after doing the first 2 and if not then we can guide you through the reformat

 

[DangerMan]

thanks I'll try that now

 

[rman]

What OS are you running and how much memory do you have? It maybe the case where you are running with the minimum amount of memory.

 

[trpnmonkey41]

What OS are you running and how much memory do you have? It maybe the case where you are running with the minimum amount of memory.

well he says he got it 3 months ago so im gonna take a guess this is his specs

1ghz G4
256 or 512 ram
80gb hd
10.3

 

[DangerMan]

Alright I have three things that you can try

1. Repair Permissions
----Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility - Select Macintosh HD (Or whatever you named it) and click repair permissions......Do this until it says No Repairs made

2. File System Check
----Restart the Computer and hold down Apple+S as soon as it turns on...Release the buttons when the Single User mode screen appears (you will know it when you see it)..........type in /sbin/fsck -f and hit enter...do this until it says HD is OK...Type restart to get back to OS X

3. Back-up and Reformat

when I type restart it says -sh: restart: command not found

 

[trpnmonkey41]

then its reboot

i always get the 2 of them mixed off

 

[DangerMan]

then its reboot

i always get the 2 of them mixed off

I tried steps 1 and 2 and there seems to be an improvement. I monitor it over a day or so and let you know. I really hope the problem is solved because I really want to like the emac. I would love to be as pleased with my emac as everyone else is with there's.

Thanks again.

 

[witeshark]

Also run crons if you're not using Mac Janitor:
Finder, Applications. Utilities Terminal type (switching to root - superuser) sudo sh /etc/daily > this needs to be done /weekly (instead of daily) and monthly. again with all apps closed

 

[Murlyn]

If you are going to be running memory hogs like dreamweaver and photoshop, you should definitely max out your ram.. you'll see an improvement there also.

 

[DangerMan]

If you are going to be running memory hogs like dreamweaver and photoshop, you should definitely max out your ram.. you'll see an improvement there also.

How do I add more ram? How expensive?

my emac is:

eMac
PowerPC G4 (3.3)
memory 128 mb

 

[trpnmonkey41]

well iI am going to take a guess that you have the 1ghz machine since the 700 and 800mhz was PPC 2.1

http://www.welovemacs.com/memory1ghz.html

You can get it through apple but it will be almost twice as much money
If you can afford it go for 2 512 sticks to get you to the eMacs maximum which will be an enormous improvement

The minimum I would recommend upgrading is getting a single 512 stick that way in the future you can just get another stick and pop it in (you can still use your 128 that you have now until then)

Be sure to get the PC133 and not the PC100 they listed

 

[Amen-Moses]

Yep, max out the Ram. The big speed killer on the eMac range is the HD speed so you have to minimise the amount of virtual ram usage (as it is really on the HD).

Amen-Moses

 

[Strider]

my emac is:

eMac
PowerPC G4 (3.3)
memory 128 mb

The performance you quote is the performance you will get with the amount of RAM u have. Try getting more RAM, it should solve ur problem. Good Luck.

 

[DangerMan]

The performance you quote is the performance you will get with the amount of RAM u have. Try getting more RAM, it should solve ur problem. Good Luck.

I bought 512mb more ram so + the 128mb I now have 640mb ram and things have vastly improved.

Thanks for the help

 

[trpnmonkey41]

I bought 512mb more ram so + the 128mb I now have 640mb ram and things have vastly improved.

Thanks for the help

Glad to hear its working better for you now