Good Mac habits - things I have always wanted to know but have been afraid to ask:

[Makosuke]

What BlueRevolution said is how to check which system the app will run under, but as far as "making sure", the simple answer is "do nothing and it will run under the fastest system it can". Knowing that an app is PowerPC only, and therefore running under Rosetta, doesn't really tell you anything other than that it might run a little (~10%) slower than an equivalent Universal (or Intel-only) app, and will use somewhat more RAM. In practice, if you're running the latest version of your tools, there's nothing to think about--chances are any difference you notice outside of application launch times is psychological.

Note that, via that same Get Info panel, it is possible to FORCE a Universal app to run under Rosetta instead of natively (there's a checkbox), but this exists pretty much exclusively for dealing with non-universal legacy plug-ins. This box will never be checked by default unless you manually change it, and there's no reason to even know it exists for most people. Certainly don't bother going and looking at it to make sure--it's a waste of time since it will never be checked.

 

[Queenredspecial]

Cool.

I have installed click to flash, and... Still the same problem. Trying to upload something right now, and my connection is super fast, Safari is using about 30%CPU max, and there is plenty of memory -- yet it somehow stalls, normal pages will take way too long to load, secure pages are basically useless, and it's driving me bananas.

 

[Makosuke]

Ok, so we're actually talking about network performance here, not computer overall. Sounds like that end of things is ok, unless it's Safari that's specifically hanging despite not using much CPU.

First, what kind of upload are we talking about here? FTP? Bittorrent? File upload through a web interface using Safari?

When you say "it stalls", do you mean the upload hangs for a period of time? If so, is this the same time that all other network traffic hangs? That would be a straightforward network glitch. Or do you mean the entire computer (including non-networked applications, say, Word or iPhoto) stalls?

If, alternately, you mean that everything in Safari hangs when doing an upload, that's a common symptom of maxing out your outgoing bandwidth. When that happens, even incoming connections don't work correctly because the requests for information can't get out through the "clogged" outgoing connection. This happens all the time when people set their bittorrent upload rate too high, and is easily remedied by capping outgoing bandwidth somewhat lower than the actual max upload of your internet connection, to allow headroom for other requests.

If you're doing something like a large FTP upload capping the rate can be a little more complicated.

Now, if loading web pages glitches out at random intervals whether you're uploading/downloading something large or not, AND a large upload or download progresses normally through these glitches, then you've probably got a DNS problem. If the network stalls only happen during a big operation, see above.

 

[macbook yes]

When you have random folders where should you keep them? Like Work, School, etc.

I just put them in the Macintosh HD folder, but someone told me that i have to put them in my "NAME" folder.

 

[Makosuke]

When you have random folders where should you keep them? Like Work, School, etc.

You can put them anywhere you want. That said, the suggestion to put them in your user's home folder is a good one--the system is set up to have your documents stored there, and backup/migrate them properly from that location, among other things.

When you click the little house icon in the Finder sidebar, that's your home folder--it will be labeled with the "shortname" you set up when you set up the account (by default, just the full name of the account, all lower case and with spaces removed).

More specifically, if you put them in the Documents folder, that's theoretically the way Apple imagines everyone does it (and photos in the Pictures folder, videos in the Movies folder, etc). Apart from not messing with the Library folder, though, anywhere in your home folder is fair game.

 

[Queenredspecial]

Now, if loading web pages glitches out at random intervals whether you're uploading/downloading something large or not, AND a large upload or download progresses normally through these glitches, then you've probably got a DNS problem. If the network stalls only happen during a big operation, see above.

Yeah, it's pretty random. At first I thought it was my connection, because it was behaving as a spotty connection. Called the company, reset my modem a thousand times, etc -- all speed tests, (including when the performance is horrible,) are faster than the norm. In the case I wrote about, I was uploading something onto youtube -- normally no problem. In fact, I had just uploaded one without issue. Then, it stalled -- meaning, it completely stopped and after about 1.5 hrs I had to abort. So this brings me to the question:

What IS DNS?

I downloaded something called "DNS flusher" a long time ago, and periodically use it. Each time, it says "DNS flushed successfully." However, beyond that -- I have no clue what that means and how it affects things.

Also, what IS 'network' exactly? Is it the part of the computer that deals with the internet, or is it something outside my computer? Oh by the way -- the 'problem' happens in Firefox as well.

 

[Queenredspecial]

More specifically, what happens is that everything loads ok for a while, and then it stops entirely. I restart my modem, run network diagnostic, and everything is fine -- until a bit later, when everything slows to a stop again. That has only been happening for the last week or so. What IS that?!

 

[Makosuke]

1) What's your network setup? Modem directly plugged into computer via cable, modem has built-in wireless, or modem-->wireless router? Also, for reference, what brand(s) are the component(s)?
2) Does just restarting the modem fix the problem? That is, does it ONLY recover when you've run a network diagnostic, or will it start working on its own if you wait a little longer?
3) Do these dropouts happen at some particular time (like when you've got a torrent running), or completely at random, whether you're doing anything or not?
4) Does your modem (or, if you have a router, it) respond when it's cut out? The modem (or router) will have a default IP address either printed on the bottom or in the manual (usually something like 192.168.0.1). Type that number into a web browser and hit return--when the device is working properly, you should get either a status page or a prompt asking you for a password. Does this still happen when the internet isn't working?
5) Do you have access to another computer to test and see if the entire network is malfunctioning, or just your computer?


It sounds, offhandedly, like either your modem or router is crashing. Could be because it's starting to die--does happen--or because of something you're doing (heavy bittorrent traffic is known to choke some routers, for example). Answering as many of the questions above will help pin it down, though, since that basic symptom can be caused by a lot of different things.

 

[Queenredspecial]

1) What's your network setup? Modem directly plugged into computer via cable, modem has built-in wireless, or modem-->wireless router? Also, for reference, what brand(s) are the component(s)?

Modem directly into the computer via cable; It is an RCA modem, and I've had it for about three years or so.

2) Does just restarting the modem fix the problem? That is, does it ONLY recover when you've run a network diagnostic, or will it start working on its own if you wait a little longer?

Only network diagnostic seems to fix it. And in the last day, it has been completely insane. It's so frustrating... Every 10 minutes or so...

3) Do these dropouts happen at some particular time (like when you've got a torrent running), or completely at random, whether you're doing anything or not?

It's hard to tell. I would say completely random, or rather -- on a regular basis. But in the last few hours, it has happened while downloading torrents. But then again, it happened also when I wasn't.

4) Does your modem (or, if you have a router, it) respond when it's cut out? The modem (or router) will have a default IP address either printed on the bottom or in the manual (usually something like 192.168.0.1). Type that number into a web browser and hit return--when the device is working properly, you should get either a status page or a prompt asking you for a password. Does this still happen when the internet isn't working?

Hmmm... I see nothing like that on the modem, and there is no manual. There is a serial number and some other number that has no dots in it.

5) Do you have access to another computer to test and see if the entire network is malfunctioning, or just your computer?

I have no other computer I could try right now. However, I have called the cable company several times, and they claim everything is fine on their end, and it must be my computer. But they might not know if there is something wrong with the modem if they keep having me restart it -- it works perfectly well for about 10 min. after the restart.

It sounds, offhandedly, like either your modem or router is crashing. Could be because it's starting to die--does happen--or because of something you're doing (heavy bittorrent traffic is known to choke some routers, for example). Answering as many of the questions above will help pin it down, though, since that basic symptom can be caused by a lot of different things.

It's possible that the modem is crashing -- it's a bit old. The thing about the torrent traffic is that when I look at my activity monitor and the 'network' widget thing, it doesn't look at all like it's pushing the boundaries in any way. It all looks perectly within parameters.

/One more thing I should mention, and I don't know if this is in any way relevant. I have been doing this speed test lately (my cable company's test page,) and while the download speed is coming in perfectly, the upload speed test never happens anymore./

Makosuke, thank you so so much for helping me...

 

[Queenredspecial]

P.S. What does it mean when Safari is using over 100% of CPU? That doesn't seem right to me? (While playing a youtube video, or surfing ebay, or a news site???)

 

[Queenredspecial]

UPDATE: I have been experimenting, and indeed -- it seems to happen more when I download torrents.

Why is that??

 

[Makosuke]

P.S. What does it mean when Safari is using over 100% of CPU? That doesn't seem right to me? (While playing a youtube video, or surfing ebay, or a news site???)

99% chance the reason is Flash, as I explained before. YouTube of course uses Flash for the videos, eBay frequently has Flash widgets on auctions, and just about any site with advertising will have Flash ads (and remember, if you have more than one window/tab open, it'll still have the same effect even if the Flash isn't in the active one). If it's not running slowly in terms of feel there's no harm, although ClickToFlash will stop this from happening.

I missed your earlier comment for some reason, so:

...all speed tests, (including when the performance is horrible,) are faster than the norm.

This I assume is different from the complete dropouts, otherwise you wouldn't be able to run a speed test via SpeedTest.net or wherever, because you can't get to anything. And if a speed test checks out fine while everything else is taking a long time to load, that sounds exactly like a DNS problem...

...I was uploading something onto youtube -- normally no problem. In fact, I had just uploaded one without issue. Then, it stalled -- meaning, it completely stopped and after about 1.5 hrs I had to abort.

This, however, does not--DNS issues affect new connections, but shouldn't have any effect once the download/upload actually starts.

What IS DNS?

In simple terms it's the phone book of the Internet. Every time you (or, rather, your computer) asks for "macrumors.com", what it actually does is talk to a DNS server and say "what is the actual address of macrumors.com?" Said DNS server will then respond with an IP address like "74.86.132.180". Your computer then (invisibly) talks to the server at that IP address, tells said server it's looking for macrumors.com (since a single IP address can host hundreds of domain names), and the server then gives it the website.

If everything is working properly, this process is transparent and takes a fraction of a second. If it's not, your internet connection simply doesn't work. If the DNS isn't responding at all, your computer will sit there waiting and never load anything. If it's slow, there will be a long delay before it loads anything, and probably more delays every time it gets a part of a page (like an ad) that's coming from a different server.

Now, I don't know what your DNS flusher is doing, but I'd be skeptical it's anything useful in this situation--either your ISP's DNS servers are working or they're not. It's easy enough to test, fortunately; try using the DNS servers offered by OpenDNS.com. Go to the Use OpenDNS tab on that site, click "computer", select the MacOS version you're using and follow the directions.

If one or more of your problems clear up, then that was due to flaky DNS servers from your ISP. If not, that wasn't the issue, and you can either switch back or leave the settings as-is.

Also, what IS 'network' exactly? Is it the part of the computer that deals with the internet, or is it something outside my computer?

In this context, it is the connection between your modem and your computer, both the wire itself and the system the two use to talk to each other. In a broader context, it includes everything between the network jack on your computer and the Internet. Your internal "network" is about as simple as possible--a single cable. Other home networks can be considerably more complex, depending on how many computers you have and how they connect to it (wire or wireless).


Now, all that said, based on your answers to my questions, try this when it IS working: Open up the Network system preference pane, and select Ethernet. Select the TCP/IP tab--look for the number by "IPv4 Address" and note what that is (also, if the address starts with 192.168. or 10.0, then your computer is on an "internal" network; if not, it's directly connected to the internet--I expect the latter, but either is normal)

Now, the next time it goes out, do NOT restart the modem. Instead, go and check that same number--see if it is different. If it says "self-assigned IP address" or something similar underneath, also note that. Now, click the "Renew DHCP Lease" button. See if the "Good" IP address reappears and/or if the network suddenly starts working again.

If not, restart the modem and try the same thing, see if that works.


It is sounding more and more like your modem is just crashing, but this should narrow it down pretty well.

 

[Makosuke]

UPDATE: I have been experimenting, and indeed -- it seems to happen more when I download torrents.

Why is that??

Whup, you posted this while I was typing that long response. It's almost certainly because the heavier traffic is making your modem crash faster. It's not that old, but it's probably starting to die.

 

[BlueRevolution]

P.S. What does it mean when Safari is using over 100% of CPU? That doesn't seem right to me? (While playing a youtube video, or surfing ebay, or a news site???)

I can't comment on the problem as I've never had the trouble Makosuke is describing, but all Macs these days have at least a dual-core processor, which means the maximum CPU load is actually measured to 200% when each processor core is running at 100% capacity.

 

[Queenredspecial]

\

 

[Queenredspecial]

Ok, this will probably have several replies.

First step -- I opened an account with OpenDNS and followed all the directions. What did I just do? Am I supposed to be *doing something* with it, or was adding the address into my network settings (under DNS servers) enough? Am I supposed to 'add a network?'



By the way -- it now seems slower than before...

 

[Queenredspecial]

99% chance the reason is Flash, as I explained before. YouTube of course uses Flash for the videos, eBay frequently has Flash widgets on auctions, and just about any site with advertising will have Flash ads (and remember, if you have more than one window/tab open, it'll still have the same effect even if the Flash isn't in the active one). If it's not running slowly in terms of feel there's no harm, although ClickToFlash will stop this from happening.

Now, all that said, based on your answers to my questions, try this when it IS working: Open up the Network system preference pane, and select Ethernet. Select the TCP/IP tab--look for the number by "IPv4 Address" and note what that is (also, if the address starts with 192.168. or 10.0, then your computer is on an "internal" network; if not, it's directly connected to the internet--I expect the latter, but either is normal)

Now, the next time it goes out, do NOT restart the modem. Instead, go and check that same number--see if it is different. If it says "self-assigned IP address" or something similar underneath, also note that. Now, click the "Renew DHCP Lease" button. See if the "Good" IP address reappears and/or if the network suddenly starts working again.

It appears that it is directly connected to the internet, as the address does not start with any of those numbers. I will check this next time it crashes -- should be any minute now.

Under the 'configure IPv4' there are three things: IP address, Subnet Mask, and Router. Does 'router' mean something else in this context?

 

[Queenredspecial]

Could Safari be going bad on me? It has been crashing a lot lately -- I assumed it was because of all these problems I've been having. But if not -- is it possible for Safari to deteriorate for some reason? And if so -- what do people do? Reinstall it?

 

[Makosuke]

First step -- I opened an account with OpenDNS and followed all the directions. What did I just do? Am I supposed to be *doing something* with it, or was adding the address into my network settings (under DNS servers) enough?

Setting up an OpenDNS account is actually completely unnecessary; all you really need to do is follow the directions and add those two OpenDNS IP addresses to the DNS Servers section of your Ethernet network settings. That will override whatever your ISP was providing as soon as you click "Apply Now".

Under the 'configure IPv4' there are three things: IP address, Subnet Mask, and Router. Does 'router' mean something else in this context?

IP address is the address of your computer, subnet mask is basically what section of the network is considered to be "local", and "router" is whatever is directing traffic to the internet--in this case it's probably the IP address of your modem.


As for the Safari question, I'm assuming you've run all software updates so you're running version 4.0.3. There isn't really a way to reinstall Safari easily, but it shouldn't be necessary--if Safari is actually having problems then it's most likely either a plug-in (yet again, Flash is a common cuprit, yet another reason to use ClickToFlash) or corrupt preferences causing it. It's easy enough to wipe the slate clean on Safari (either via the "Reset Safari..." menu item, or by deleting its preference files) and start fresh, but you do need to be careful not to delete all your bookmarks in the process.

Since the network stalls are affecting Firefox, too, that much is a network issue, so it'd be better to stick to one issue at a time.

I can't comment on the problem as I've never had the trouble Makosuke is describing, but all Macs these days have at least a dual-core processor, which means the maximum CPU load is actually measured to 200% when each processor core is running at 100% capacity.

Yep, which is why when Flash (which isn't multi-threaded) is doing something it's going to push Safari to about 100%, maybe a bit over.

 

[Queenredspecial]

If this were 'real life,' I'd be buying you guys drinks by now. I really cannot tell you how very grateful I am for your taking time to share your knowledge. It is incredibly kind -- and very much appreciated.

Well, the cable company is coming next week with a new modem -- it took about 5 or 6 calls, but here in NYC we have to deal with a monopoly, and therefore not stellar service.

I do frequently reset safari, carefully avoiding deleting bookmarks, and it seems that's the best I can do.

I did install ClickToFlash, and for the most part, I liked it. However, it kind of annoyed me in 'youtube,' because although I selected youtube as a 'whitelisted' site, it didn't apply to any youtube page I'd go to -- I think it expects you to 'whitelist' every page specifically. So I got rid of it for now, because it didn't seem to dramatically reduce loading speed (which is probably because of the other problem,) but I definitely will keep it in mind for the future when all of this is fixed.

In other news, the strange problem I've had with a certain site since the latest Safari update, (Embedded divx players didn't work but rather there was a message (no video), seemed to work with Firefox -- which didn't use to work with that site at all before! (in case you're wondering -- www.ninjavideo.net) So I don't know. These things seem to change with each update.

I do prefer Safari to Firefox, probably in no small part because I am used to it. Is either browser better than the other, in your opinions?

So... Don't know if there is much more left to do.

You guys are the BEST.

 

[Queenredspecial]

But wait -- one more!



This is more in keeping with the original spirit of the thread.

I use spotlight when I am looking for something, but I wonder -- is there an easy and convenient way to see the exact location of something, or rather directions to it? I remember from back in the day when I had a PC that there was some way to see everything about a file -- what folder and what drive it was in, etc -- so that you could not only get to it, but would be able to move it if necessary, etc.. Spotlight seems to only show the thing itself, and gives you the (lovely) option of opening it. But is there another way?

 

[Makosuke]

...is there an easy and convenient way to see the exact location of something, or rather directions to it? I remember from back in the day when I had a PC that there was some way to see everything about a file -- what folder and what drive it was in, etc -- so that you could not only get to it, but would be able to move it if necessary, etc.

If you use Spotlight via a Finder window (that is, command-F in the Finder, as opposed to via the top right corner menu item) then clicking once on any item in the results list will show you the path to it at the bottom of the window. You can double-click on any of the folders in the path to open it.

You can also right-click on the item itself and select "open enclosing folder" to get to the folder that contains it.

Alternately, if you have a document open, command-clicking (right-clicking won't work) on the document's title in its title bar (the bar with the red-yellow-green buttons, not the menu bar) will show a drop-down list of the path of folders the file is in, and selecting one will open it in the Finder. Not every program supports this, but many do, and it's incredibly handy. This also works in the Finder itself for seeing the path.

As a completely alternate option, doing a Get Info in the Finder will give you the path as well; in the General section there's a "Where" item with the full path to it (you can even select and copy the path from there).

I'll give a bit more on your other questions after dinner, if nobody else answers.

 

[Queenredspecial]

That's fantastic! Who knew?! The click thing is beautiful. Had no idea.

So... why do people ever use PC's anyway?!

 

[Queenredspecial]

One more thing. (Hope you are enjoying your dinner...)

I'm trying to delete all the unnecessary stuff in iLife -- all of iWeb and iPhoto, as well as some of the iDVD (themes and all that garbage.) What I saw in the Library did not take up that much space. Where is the really big useless stuff located?