Computer Stalls - Internet Stalls - Applications Stall - Podcasts Hang

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Computer Stalls - Internet Stalls - Applications Stall - Podcasts Hang

I recently upgraded to panther including running all the latest software updates to 10.3.9. I also repaired my disk permissions afterwords.
My computer constantly stalls now. I ran cocktail (updated prebinding) and cleared all my caches. I also deleted my finder preferences. Still no change in my performance. This has been very frustrating. I originally did a clean install of Tiger along with installing all my graphic design (adobe, quark) apps. But when I saw how the system stalled and was unable to fix it I decided to do a clean install of Panther and not to upgrade to Tiger. But I seem to be back where I started now. My apps stall. My finder windows stall and my downloaded podcast stall.
Note everything doesn't alway stall but it does happen very very often, so much that my macs practically unusable. I also run Panther at work on several work macs and don't have any stalling problems. Perhaps I should do a reinstall of Tiger without running the software updates? This will my my fourth clean install.. So I'd love to find a simpler solution. Any help would be very much appreciated.

Power Mac G4 933 mhz Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Power Mac G4 933 mhz

Power Mac G4 933 mhz

Posted on Dec 21, 2005 9:02 PM

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Answer 1

daron Author

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Dec 21, 2005 9:53 PM in response to daron

Please note that after my initial installs the computer was fine then after about a day or two the stalls started again.

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Answer 2

ali brown

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Dec 22, 2005 7:36 AM in response to daron

Hi daron, and Welcome to Discussions!

It would help those, that may try to assist you, if you could post more information about your Mac.

For example,
What size is your Hard Drive, and how much space is available?
How much RAM is installed, and is it original or added?
What OS were you using before upgrading?
What programs/applications are running when the Mac stalls?
Have you added any fonts?

By a clean install, you you mean an Erase & Install?

And anything else you can think of!

Good Luck!

ali b

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Answer 3

daron Author

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Dec 22, 2005 10:32 PM in response to ali brown

I have a Power Mac G4 933 mhz witha 57 gig hard drive (50 gigs available) with 1 gig of memory that came installed when purchased. No I don't even have my font library installed yet. Just the OSX defaults.. This computer flew and ran great when I had the dual install of the first verion of OSX and OS 9. Previously I mostly used OS 9. All my reinstalls were clean (wiped drive clean) installs in hope of fixing this problem.
It seems to just stall in general with any app. It stalls when you try to pull down a menu (menu fonts do look fine) and also stalls when typing in a text box like when you type this discussion to post or when you doing you description on ebay when selling an item. It doesn't stall every time you do everything but it does very often. I've also ran disk warrior and norton system work on it. Both of which fixed some problem but didn't help my stalling problem.

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Answer 4

Dec 23, 2005 1:00 AM in response to daron

NORTON NORTON NORTON,
Do another erase and Install, Unplug evrything you have plugged in.
Go to Norton's site and UnInstall anything you have of Norton on your machine.
Norton has shown to be very problematic, causing freezes, and application stalls and in some cases makes your machine completly inoperable.
After you do the UnInstall of Norton then I would wipe her clean and go again and leave Norton Off and my bet is your problem will go away.. Don

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Answer 5

ali brown

Level 7

26,493 points

Dec 23, 2005 2:04 AM in response to daron

Hi Again daron!

Uninstallers & Instructions.

Uninstall Norton
Norton Complete Uninstall

Good Luck!

ali b

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Answer 6

daron Author

Level 1

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Dec 27, 2005 7:06 PM in response to ali brown

Thanks, for the suggestions. I've never installed Norton on my system I've always just ran it off of the CD (the same goes for Tech tools, DiskWarrior)
One thing I'm wondering about is an PCI Adaptec SCSI 7850 card that I have inatalled connected to a scanner that I was using in OS 9. My system profiler see's it no problem but there's doesn't seem to be any OSX software for the old Umax Astra 600s. I wonder if that could cause a problem if the cards not supported?, my guess is not likely but I thought I mention it... It defintiely seems like some conflict or corrupt preference file. The only utility I've installedd is "Cocktail" and that was after the problem started. The thing that boggles me the most is that I have done 3 other mac setups like this with no problems.

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Answer 7

Dec 27, 2005 8:58 PM in response to daron

Hello! 99% of the time the problem can be traced to the last thing that happened. You upgraded to Tiger and Panther both of which are very ram picky. Corrupt ram causes a lot of problems and some don't show up in hardware tests. I'd remove all but one stick of ram and try it and then after a few days add back one at a time. I'd also use Diskwarrior to make sure the directories are ok. A corrupt directory and a finiky hard drive also will cause such symtoms. If you get back into Panther check the S.M.A.R.T. status of the drives in disk utility to make sure they are verified meaning no apparent physical problems with the mechanism. Tom

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Answer 8

daron Author

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Dec 28, 2005 8:18 AM in response to Thomas Bryant

Thanks Tom, I'll try your suggestions. I hadn't heard about any of the "Ram Issues" as of yet, . I'm also wondering if I should try to install my Tiger Upgrade (upgrade from Panther to Tiger) so maybe after the ram test I'll do that. I figure it can't get any worse and it seems like eventually I may be doing another clean install anyways.
So I'll test the ram and the S.M.A.RT. status.

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Answer 9

Dec 28, 2005 9:58 AM in response to daron

Hi Daron:

I'd also try unplugging the scanner and removing the SCSI host card. If your computer stops stalling, then look for a Panther- or Tiger-compatible driver for the host card before reinstalling it.

Andrew

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Answer 10

daron Author

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Dec 28, 2005 7:35 PM in response to Andrew Penner

I shut down my computer, disconnected power, removed the PCI Adaptec SCSI card. Checked that my ram was seated solidly and restarted.
Wallah!!! I'm up and running. Nothing is stalling. Podcast playing smooth. I hope I'm not jumping the gun here but I believe the SCSI card was the problem. Whew, what a relief. So my SCSI card was OK in the the first/early version of OSX but not in Panther or Tiger.... Lesson learned... Thanks Andrew.

Power Mac G4 933 mhz Mac OS X (10.3.9)

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Answer 11

Dec 28, 2005 8:32 PM in response to daron

Hello Again! Sometimes just moving the card from one slot to another will solve a problem. If you still need the scsi I'd try another slot. Tom

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Answer 12

Dec 30, 2005 3:56 PM in response to daron

Hi Daron:
Glad to hear you're up and running again.
Have you looked for updated drivers for the SCSI card? If it's not too old, the manufacturer may have posted Panther-compatible drivers.

Andrew

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