Jerky iMac

[Mark-Mac-Attack]

Ok, not sure on this one, but its pissing me off!! :mad:

Everything i do on the Mac is jerky, from the dock, to moving windows, to typing... checked the CPU usage, seems fine... like somethings throttling it... also had problems booting recently, gets stuck on the white screen..:confused:

ideas fellas?

[aross99]

First some questions...

Which iMac to you have (G3, G4, G5, Intel?)?

Which OS are you running (10.3 Panther, 10.4 Tiger, 10.5 Leopard)?

How much Memory do you have?

[IgnatiusTheKing]

Don't know about the booting problem, but the rest of it sounds like you need more RAM.

[Mark-Mac-Attack]

doh, yes some details would help!!!!

Alu iMac, 2GB RAM,

Leopard.


Anyway, should probably have restarted first, as this has cured the jerkyness...

BUT

this doesnt get past the fact that it sometimes fails to boot... PLUS during video/audio playback its been stuttering.... almost like a hard drive fault?

[aross99]

If you are having hard drive issues, sometimes you can hear "odd" sounds from your drive - scraping sounds, slow repeating clicking, etc. These would be bad signs.

You can also check the "SMART" status of your drive in Disk Utility. Launch Disk Utility and click on your hard drive. Look at the bottom of the window for: "S.M.A.R.T. Status". It should say "verified".

Not sure that is your problem though. Disk issues usually come with significant error messages also...

[Mark-Mac-Attack]

Hello again...

Well the problem hasn't gone anywhere.

I've removed the second memory module and the problem remains, playback etc. stutters every 5-10 minutes.. although its the whole system, playback of media is just what you notice...

Really stuck...

[Muncher]

Couple of general fixes, which may or may not do anything:

1. Reset PRAM, google that, you should find how to do it pretty easily.
2. Repair Permissions. Can't see how this would help, but it can't hurt.
3. Maybe your computer is overheating? Download smcFanControl, and turn up your fans to about 2000-2500 rpm each. Your computer will get a lot noisier, and that is considerably higher than default, so it should take care of overheating. (My fans are always set to 1500 rpm ODD, 1685 HDD, 1515 CPU)

And, if you haven't already, download istat pro (widget). It will tell you important stuff concerning your computer.

[ewilson6]

download latest leopard update, this will fix your video problem.

ram is not the issue here.


--Eric

[bluedoggiant]

doh, yes some details would help!!!!

Alu iMac, 2GB RAM,

Leopard.


Anyway, should probably have restarted first, as this has cured the jerkyness...

BUT

this doesnt get past the fact that it sometimes fails to boot... PLUS during video/audio playback its been stuttering.... almost like a hard drive fault?

was it after the updates yesterday? My 2.8 was very unstable and unacceptable, jerky i guess, i restarted and its snappy again.

[Mark-Mac-Attack]

No no, its been doing it for months,

i've added the new updates last night, but havent been back on there today, will do so later and report back if the issue has gone.

Cheers.

[GradientMac]

The problem with your video stuttering is something that has to do with iStat. Do you have it on? Turn it off and see if it still happens. I heard about this in a podcast but I can't remember which on it was.

[Mark-Mac-Attack]

what is iStat?:confused:

[GradientMac]

what is iStat?:confused:

It's an application that I figured you might have since it's been known to cause the problems.

It goes in your menu bar and tells you stuff like processor usage and such.

[Mark-Mac-Attack]

No, i don't have that, have very little on here that it didn't come with.

I'm thinking of ringing applecare, as ive got it, (bargained it into the deal, for the sum of -40 quid!)