Mac OS X (10.4.9) Stability - keen to see your input

[filmguy]

Hi All,

My specs:

• Mac Pro 3 GHz
• 2 GIG ram
• GeForce 7300
• External 650 GIG Maxtor OneTouch III with Firewire 800

I bought my Mac in Aug 2006. So I'm kind of a newbie, but a huge fan!! As my name indicates, I'm involved with film/video work. Mostly matte painting, compositing, sfx and editing. I use the following software: Final Cut Studio, After Effects, Photoshop and Shake. I work with HDV footage filmed on a Sony HDR-Z1P.

Now, down to business: I am VERY HAPPY with the performance and stability of my Mac overall. It allows me to complete my work mostly efficiently and effectively. HOWEVER: when I use my Mac for about 6 hours straight, some of the applications (QT, Drive Utility, Finder, etc.) burn and crash and a restart is required. Once restarted, it works fine for another 6 hours at which point I give my Mac a rest (approx. 12 hours of work a day ).

Is this restart (some days 2 - 3 restarts) expected and normal??? I know servers are required to run 24/7, but is it unrealistic to expect my Mac Pro to run 12-X hours straight a day, without stability issues??

Regards,


Filmguy

 

[darwen]

I have a Power Mac dual 2 GHz G5 and have done the same sort of stuff. In fact, I worked my iMac G4 more than 6 hours straight before. I have never seen this issue. To be quite honest, I dont see a huge problem with it. Save everything and restart the computer! After 6 hours of straight work you could probably use a coffee/bathroom break.

Unless you are doing really intense stuff - I do some complicated stuff - I mean REALLY INTENSE stuff I dont see why this would happen. You could be filling your RAM, the restart would flush that out and let you start again.

I cant offer a solution but I can put in my $0.02 that I do not have the same problem.

 

[netdog]

Since 10.4.9 and some security updates, I have had lots of beachballs and some apps crashing over time too. This is on two C2D machines, each with 2GB of RAM and more than 10% of the disk free. Yes, I have fixed the permissions via the install disks.

I know someone else with 2 similarly equipped CD Macs who is having the same issues.

 

[filmguy]

I have a Power Mac dual 2 GHz G5 and have done the same sort of stuff. In fact, I worked my iMac G4 more than 6 hours straight before. I have never seen this issue. To be quite honest, I dont see a huge problem with it. Save everything and restart the computer! After 6 hours of straight work you could probably use a coffee/bathroom break.

Unless you are doing really intense stuff - I do some complicated stuff - I mean REALLY INTENSE stuff I dont see why this would happen. You could be filling your RAM, the restart would flush that out and let you start again.

I cant offer a solution but I can put in my $0.02 that I do not have the same problem.

Mate, thanks for your reply . I was after opinions, so your $0.02 is fine (unless someone knows solutions). Yeah, I also don't really see a big problem with restarting either. But now that you mention the RAM, slightly related, I notice the green "free" part of my sys mem in the activity monitor slowly diminishes over the hours of constant usage, and when I do quit apps, not all of the lost sys mem comes back until I restart.

And in terms of intensity, at any one time, I would have AE 7 Pro running and rendering a complex comp, Final Cut Pro rendering my latest edits (HDV) and Photoshop also open ready for some cutting and pasting of a loaded file. So, I guess my activities could be considered intense compared to a "non-graphics/video average" user.

BTW, I do manage coffee/bathroom breaks and the odd walk around LOL .

 

[filmguy]

Since 10.4.9 and some security updates, I have had lots of beachballs and some apps crashing over time too. This is on two C2D machines, each with 2GB of RAM and more than 10% of the disk free. Yes, I have fixed the permissions via the install disks.

I know someone else with 2 similarly equipped CD Macs who is having the same issues.

Interesting...if the issue is related to 10.4.9, then hopefully a fix should be coming with Leopard.

 

[daneoni]

Interesting...if the issue is related to 10.4.9, then hopefully a fix should be coming with Leopard.

...or 10.4.10

 

[synth3tik]

I usually leave my MP (2.66 ver.) on for a few weeks at a time. I run a lot of apps, but one thing I do is leave the app running and just close the app window, [] + [W], instead of [] + Q. This is one of my main reasons I love macs.

The constant starting and quitting of programs will tax even the biggest computers. I don't now if this will help in your case, but I would like to think I helps spread the love.