Speeding up Mac OS X

[Phil St. Romain]

There are many good hints on this web site. Maybe this thread can be a summary of some of the most effective.

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Make sure you're using the most recent OS X upgrade. OS 10.1.2 IS faster than 10.0.4--gross understatement!

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System Preference tweaks:

- if you're not sharing files, turn off File Sharing in the Sharing Preference.

- use Thousands instead of Millions of colors in the Diplay preferences.

- if you're the only user, set Log in preferences to log-in automatically at startup.

- in Dock preferences, set minimize to Scale effect, and uncheck magnification.

- in General Preferences, turn off Font smoothing for fonts 12 points and under.

- in Screen Saver Activation, slide to never (won't speed up the OS, but will speed up wake from sleep time and reduce CPU usage).

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That's a start; there are many more. Please add, including enhancements from Terminal.

[Komainu]

Another dock thing is turning off bouncing icons. In the dock system preferences, turn of animate opening application.

[hschickel]

Add memory. The money point seems to be somewhere between 256MB and 384MB. (Call it 320MB.) Tip the scale low if you don't use Classic and tip it high if you have Classic in the background all of the time. If you have less than this you're not having much fun with OSX.

If you run a decent number of apps (I usually have a dozen or more running at any time) you will want much more. Getting your memory up in the 320 - 512MB range is probably the single biggest thing you can do to speed up OSX.

Hugh

[mervTormel]

enable window buffer compression

http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20011008024501793

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i am compelled to supplement Hugh's memory post. more memory is good, but...

more memory will not make your CPU faster. memory will not make your calculator launch faster or divide by zero faster.

more memory will diminish the activation of virtual memory (pageouts in particular) to compensate for a real memory shortage. it is this virtual memory activity that will slow down the overall thruput of a system.

-Dr. Didactic

[Phil St. Romain]

If you turn your computer off or put it to sleep at night, use Macjanitor (http://personalpages.tds.net/~brian_hill/macjanitor.html)
Info on this must-have utility follows:

Freeware utility to run the system's daily, weekly, and monthly maintenance scripts. Execellent for laptop users and others who shut their Macs off at night.

These scripts are normally run between 3am and 5am, and will not be run if you shut off your Mac at night. This will allow log files to grow very large, and prevent system databases from getting backed up.

With MacJanitor, you can run these scripts 'by hand' periodically without having to use the Terminal to keep your Mac OS X machine in top racing form.

(description from versiontracker.com)

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After you install a few apps, it's good to run Xoptimize (http://versiontracker.com/moreinfo.fcgi?id=10451&db=mac).

Xoptimize uses an Apple provided command line tool (i.e. a command you would use in a Terminal Window-- the "Matrix" interface, as some have labeled it) to optimize the loading time of applications. It will also make applications execute faster immediately after startup as the application will spend less time dynamically looking up and binding with various libraries and frameworks.

(description from versiontracker.com)

[Phil St. Romain]

- mentioned on another thread, but repeated here as an option to possibly enhance the speed and performance of OS X. -


Swap Cop (http://homepage.mac.com/jschrier/index.html) is a program for for moving the OS X swap file to a different partition; you might want to do this if you have multiple hard drives for a (small) performance gain, or if you are low on space on your main OS X volume. This program makes it easy to do.

[marcv]

Give ShadowKiller a try. It disables the dropshadow of windows and menu's. The app. itself is not very stable, but only has to be started once each login.
Looks more ugly, but found it usable with changing the Theme to Silverfox, because you loose some visibility of the Window-edges.
Anyway, I ran the Let1kWindowsBloom benchmark on my RevA 400Mhz iBook; results:

Millions of colors:
without Shadowkiller: 142 secs
with Shadowkiller: 107 secs

thousands of colors:
without Shadowkiller:116
with Shadowkiller 88

That's 25%! Milions with SK is even faster than thousands without.
It's at http://www.unsanity.com

[The Tweaker]

Originally posted by Phil St. Romain
- mentioned on another thread, but repeated here as an option to possibly enhance the speed and performance of OS X. -

Swap Cop (http://homepage.mac.com/jschrier/index.html) is a program for for moving the OS X swap file to a different partition; you might want to do this if you have multiple hard drives for a (small) performance gain, or if you are low on space on your main OS X volume. This program makes it easy to do. What actually is a "Swap File"? And do you happen to have a link to the thread mentioned? Thanks.

- T.T.

[Marcwic]

A swap file is the virtual memory file, the place on the disk where memory is dumped when not needed (so the real RAM can be used for more urgent stuff)

Putting it on a different partition won't make much difference (could it even slow it down?), putting it on a different drive will however.

[The Tweaker]

Originally posted by Marcwic
A swap file is the virtual memory file, the place on the disk where memory is dumped when not needed (so the real RAM can be used for more urgent stuff)

Putting it on a different partition won't make much difference (could it even slow it down?), putting it on a different drive will however. Another mystery solved. Thanks.

- T.T.

[zs]

This tip at MacOS X Hints (http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20020221092653868) is the most comprehensive I have found. It mentions a few things that this thread hasn't.

[delerium521]

Dunno if anyone's still following this thread but i'll reply anyway...

I have an iBook 500, and while i use X exclusively i do wish it to be faster (don't we all, especially us lowly g3 users). the two biggies i did to my system, and subsequently to any other X install i do, are:

Enable window buffer compression

Change the mach_init self priority.

The second one is a bit scary, as if you set it too low your system won't boot, you'll need to use another started up disk and edit the file manually. but it's a great tweak, i haven't had any problems on several machines (ibook, imac, tibook). i don't see anyone bring this one up, but i have never had a single problem with it.

to change the mach_init self priority:

open Terminal

sudo pico bootstrap.conf

you'll see at the bottom:

self priority=16;

change that to

self priority=0;

ctrl-o to save, ctrl-x to exit

Reboot and see what happens. You can do any whole number between 0 and 16. Don't try a negative number (ie, self priority=-10) cuz she won't boot.

hope this works for ya'll :D

[vonleigh]

I'd never seen mention of changing mach-init self priority. I'm interested in opinions on this before I try it out.

P.D: is there a way to suscribe to a thread without posting a "me too" like this?



Vonleigh

[xchanyazy]

vonleigh -
Look beneath the last post, in the little blue box. Show Printable Version, Email This Thread, and Subscribe to this thread (I think those are right). I just noticed this a few days ago, so I've never tested it, but I'm sure it works just fine..

[durandal64]

Where is the bootstrap.conf file located?

[xchanyazy]

[10:52][brandg ~] %locate bootstrap.conf
/private/etc/bootstrap.conf

On my computer, at least.

[AKcrab]

Thumbs up, because it didn't hose my system...
Now, what exactly *might* be faster? Things overall? The finder? What should I look for to see if the speed is better?

[iroot]

I found my OSX seems speedier if I opt-cmd click on the app in the dock that I want to use. This hides the rest of the open apps including the finder. This may speed things even more than turning off transparency.

[djn1]

>mach_init self priority tweak

I'm always willing to jump in and try something that will increase the performance of my machine, but i) what is "mach_init", and ii) what does tweaking it do? Is changing it's priority the same as renicing it?

[Craig R. Arko]

Well, 'init' is basically the parent process which spawns all the others. I'm assuming that by changing it's priority delerium's trying to make other kernel operations (like memory and process management) go faster.

I've just set this to '0' as he suggests and re-booted. Everything comes up OK. It'll probably take some time in normal usage to see if there's a real benefit. I'd think it's a 'robbing Peter to pay Paul' kind of thing, but we'll see.

Renice is a way to adjust priority of an already running task. I'd be willing to believe you wouldn't want to do that with a kernel process while the system is up so that's why it's done in the bootstrap file.

AKcrab, have you noticed any changes yet?

[djn1]

Craig,

I must be missing something here. Top reports the following:

2 mach_init 0.0% 0:03.68 1 352 12 80K 320K 168K 1.27M

My machine has been up for around 25hrs. If I'm reading top correctly mach_init has used 3.68 seconds of CPU time during this period. How does changing its priority affect anything?

[AKcrab]

Originally posted by Craig R. Arko

AKcrab, have you noticed any changes yet?

I can't say I have. Part of the problem is that I never considered any part of the system really slow. G4 867, 896MB. Window resizing is still 'not quite live'. All in all my system seems no faster, and no less stable. I've only seen one kernel panic ever, and that was while running a beta version of an OS X game port. (And prior to this "adjustment".

If we had any idea what this is supposed to effect, I would be more than happy to run benchmarks, change it back, and run benchmarks again.

[edit]spelling..

[Craig R. Arko]

Dave: I guess we don't know that it has affected anything. Hopefully delerium521 (or maybe Merv??) can help us out here.


Edit: Here (http://developer.apple.com/techpubs/macosx/Essentials/SystemOverview/BootingLogin/The_Boot_Sequence.html) are the down and dirty details of the boot sequence. The area "Kernel Initialization" talks about mach_init. It would seem the question is what, if anything, inherits a priority bump from this.

[delerium521]

Originally posted by Craig R. Arko
Well, 'init' is basically the parent process which spawns all the others. I'm assuming that by changing it's priority delerium's trying to make other kernel operations (like memory and process management) go faster.


From what I gather, the mach_init sets the priority of the kernel tasks as well as any spawned tasks (ie applications). Normal applications who do not specify their priority would spawn at nice 16 (very cooperative). Now they would spawn at nice 0 (more hungry). I think it mostly affects system-level applications and such, though. Like, the Dock responds quicker after doing this (if you have magnification turned on).

I've tried the tweak on a TiBook and really didn't notice much difference. If you already have a nice rig, right now all that you can do for performance is wait for 10.2. My tweaks and most others aren't going to make a difference if you're on a dual 1GHz G4 (and I hate you for it :p ). This is mostly noticable to those of us stuck with a G3 machine (iBook 500 in my case).

~D

[mervTormel]

for someone who has tweaked the mach_init self priority, how about let's see your first 10 process priorities?

# vanilla mach_init self prio 16

$ ps cax -o uid,pid,ppid,pri,ni,rss,stat,command | head

UID PID PPID PRI NI RSS STAT COMMAND
0 1 0 31 0 248 SLs init
0 2 0 31 0 148 SL mach_init
0 41 1 31 0 1652 Ss kextd
501 66 1 31 0 3588 Ss ATSServer
501 68 1 63 0 49212 Ss Window Manager
0 70 1 31 0 96 Ss update
0 73 1 63 0 104 Ss dynamic_pager
0 151 1 31 0 384 Ss autodiskmount
0 174 1 31 0 1508 Ss configd

and then, only if it's interesting.

if we look at the scheduling priority scale we have access to, it goes from -20 to +20, 0 (zero) being benign.

bootstrap.conf says, "# Run mach_init at priority 16 to match that of running applications.

so, i would surmise that mach_init has a prioirity scheme that scales from 0 (zero) to 31, 16 being benign (note that the scale is skewed, nice has a +/- weight of 20, mach_init weight is 16). on VMS, the scale is 0 to 31, 32 being 'real-time', that is, taking over the system, thwarting all processes, even scheduling, until its tasks are complete.

at this time, setting mach_init prio to zero is akin to playing in traffic blindfolded. we really don't know what it's affecting.

what is the direction of the prio in mach_init? is 0 a higher or lower prio? if it's lower, you're now playing russian roulette. there will come a condition that the scheduler needs to bump a job to run, but can't because some other codependent job has a higher prio. a race condition.

prolly best to leave the damn scheduling prios to the gawds. but we shall see.

[djn1]

>prolly best to leave the damn scheduling prios to the gawds. but we shall see.

That's convinced me to leave well alone ;)

[Craig R. Arko]

Merv, my list looks pretty much the same as yours did. So I don't think there has really been much change. It doesn't really 'feel' any different, either. I think I'll change the boostrap.conf back to normal.

[mervTormel]

thanks, Craig. putting it back to stock is prolly best, for who knows what ugliness awaits.

[sway]

Originally posted by AKcrab


I can't say I have. Part of the problem is that I never considered any part of the system really slow. G4 867, 896MB. Window resizing is still 'not quite live'. All in all my system seems no faster, and no less stable. I've only seen one kernel panic ever, and that was while running a beta version of an OS X game port. (And prior to this "adjustment".

If we had any idea what this is supposed to effect, I would be more than happy to run benchmarks, change it back, and run benchmarks again.

[edit]spelling..

I'm a baby to the Apple world, and am having a hell of a good time reading your posts, all of you.
Something leaped ouit at me reading yours AKcrab. "Kernal panic." I'm running 10.0.4 on my G3 450 DV+. I purchased and installed the OS 3 weeks before the release of 10.1 (oucvh:mad: ). Apple care walked me through the installation from OS 09.0.4 to 9.1 then up to 10.0.4. Somewhere in the middle the tech then suggested I download 9.2 for " a smoother operation." It seems excessive to have that my OS's on my systems, but I'm straying from my point. As I was advised not to put my Indigo baby to sleep at night any longer, I have been shutting him down all together. This past several weeks when I boot back up, while at the initial grey screen (mac smiling in the center) I have some kind of script writen in black text that reads like sandscript for the most part, with the exception of one spooky phrase that begins the verty first line and repeats itself every 4th or 5th lined : UNRESOLVED KERNEL. I plan on dumping my blue beauty as soon as Jaguar is released and buying the new Imac complete with the new OS..
Am I in deep ***** with this issue, or is there a simple explanation (that doesn't say simply "you're in deep Ca-Ca) ? I'm counting on a couple hundred dollars (fair market value on a trade up) to help with the new purchase.
I love my inac, but it's been a constant source of aggrevation. My hardwarewas corrupting my software and it took 11 months and many, many trips to my Mac dealer for them to figure it out ( and was billed EVERY timefor "software issues"that the applecare protection plan doesn't cover ).
Thanks for the ear(s) ... :D

[AKcrab]

Originally posted by sway

I'm running 10.0.4 on my G3 450 DV+. I purchased and installed the OS 3 weeks before the release of 10.1 (oucvh:mad: ). Apple care walked me through the installation from OS 09.0.4 to 9.1 then up to 10.0.4. Somewhere in the middle the tech then suggested I download 9.2 for " a smoother operation." It seems excessive to have that my OS's on my systems, but I'm straying from my point.

Interesting. I suggest you upgrade to X.1.* ASAP.
As I was advised not to put my Indigo baby to sleep at night any longer, I have been shutting him down all together.
I'm terribly suprised that you were given those instructions from Apple, because that means your automated "cleanup" tasks are never running. I suggest you go get MacJanitor (http://www.versiontracker.com/moreinfo.fcgi?id=10491&db=mac) , which will allow you to manually run the "cleanups".
This past several weeks when I boot back up, while at the initial grey screen (mac smiling in the center) I have some kind of script writen in black text that reads like sandscript for the most part, with the exception of one spooky phrase that begins the verty first line and repeats itself every 4th or 5th lined : UNRESOLVED KERNEL.
You actually see text during boot? That is odd. I've never seen that, perhaps someone else will be able to give more info.

I plan on dumping my blue beauty as soon as Jaguar is released and buying the new Imac complete with the new OS..
Am I in deep ***** with this issue, or is there a simple explanation (that doesn't say simply "you're in deep Ca-Ca) ? I'm counting on a couple hundred dollars (fair market value on a trade up) to help with the new purchase.
I love my inac, but it's been a constant source of aggrevation. My hardwarewas corrupting my software and it took 11 months and many, many trips to my Mac dealer for them to figure it out ( and was billed EVERY timefor "software issues"that the applecare protection plan doesn't cover ).
Thanks for the ear(s) ... :D
A final comment.. Make sure you have as much RAM as you can afford stuffed in your computer. Go get a 10.1 upgrade!

[AKcrab]

Originally posted by mervTormel
thanks, Craig. putting it back to stock is prolly best, for who knows what ugliness awaits.

Since I like to live on the edge, I have left my priority changed. Even through the 10.1.5 upgrade, I see no signs of adverse effects. However, I see no signs of positive effects. Who knows.

[geodon005]

I entered the command in the Terminal to change this setting, but did not see "self priority=16" at the bottom or anywhere else!

Any ideas what I might be doing wrong?

[mervTormel]

it isn't clear in the hint, but you'll need to edit a certain file...

% sudo pico /etc/bootstrap.conf

i suppose you tried % sudo pico bootstrap.conf and that would only work if you had cd'd to /etc first. grok?