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OSX boot time
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It could have to do with obtaining timeservice -- try turning off the auto time update feature in Sys Prefs -> Date & Time.
But more importantly...is there a reason you can't just put it to sleep and wake it up? That's a *lot* faster.
But more importantly...is there a reason you can't just put it to sleep and wake it up? That's a *lot* faster.
mkrishnan said:It could have to do with obtaining timeservice -- try turning off the auto time update feature in Sys Prefs -> Date & Time.
But more importantly...is there a reason you can't just put it to sleep and wake it up? That's a *lot* faster.
yes sleep is faster. but I come from windows so I'm used to shutting it down because it frees up the memory. I'm not sure what sleep does. Is it ok to just put it to sleep as oppose shutting it down?
Basically, the only time you need to shut down is if you want to move or upgrade the computer. Otherwise just use Sleep, OS X doesn't gradually slow down like Windows sometimes does.
scan said:
Sleep works pretty similarly in principle on Macs and in Windows. The difference is that it is completely reliable on Macs.
In both cases, the system shuts down the CPU, hard disk, screen, etc, but keeps the memory powered, which is what you're getting at, I think. It does drain the battery very slowly, if you do it while not plugged in. For me, it seems to be on the order of 1% of total battery power every three hours, which is pretty negligible.
So I guess the answer depends on what you want. Most Mac users here seem to use sleep, though.
Hope that helps?
EDIT: I understand what you mean about memory now. As Nermal said, it really isn't a huge issue for OS X, although if you are concerned about it, it is sufficient to just shut down all open applications. The only thing like this to which OS X is really very sensitive is free disk space. It likes to have a pretty big buffer -- my iBook with a 40GB HD slows down a lot if the HD has <5GB free.
mkrishnan said:Sleep works pretty similarly in principle on Macs and in Windows. The difference is that it is completely reliable on Macs.
In both cases, the system shuts down the CPU, hard disk, screen, etc, but keeps the memory powered, which is what you're getting at, I think. It does drain the battery very slowly, if you do it while not plugged in. For me, it seems to be on the order of 1% of total battery power every three hours, which is pretty negligible.
So I guess the answer depends on what you want. Most Mac users here seem to use sleep, though.
Hope that helps?
EDIT: I understand what you mean about memory now. As Nermal said, it really isn't a huge issue for OS X, although if you are concerned about it, it is sufficient to just shut down all open applications. The only thing like this to which OS X is really very sensitive is free disk space. It likes to have a pretty big buffer -- my iBook with a 40GB HD slows down a lot if the HD has <5GB free.
sorry, not sure what you mean about teh HDD free space
At first when a switched a couple of months ago, I wasn't so sure about just sleeping my powerbook instead of doing the off/on thing. Now though, I never turn it off or reboot it. I just put it to sleep. Sometimes when I take it to work, I will sleep it, drive 20 minutes, then not even open it until 3 or 4 in the afternoon. As soon as the lid opens, it's ready to go. I don't even close my apps. Just close the lid, that's it. OS X's memory mangement is so far beyond Windows, you shouldn't need to worry about memory not being freed, etc. The memory management on most all *nix systems works a lot differently than Windows and works a lot better as well.
My PowerBook has not been turned off or rebooted in over 2 weeks now. Just sleeeeeeep, yes.
My PowerBook has not been turned off or rebooted in over 2 weeks now. Just sleeeeeeep, yes.
There are legitimate reasons for shutting down your computer on a regular basis, but they're pretty much limited to power saving, and on a modern computer only then if you turn it off at the power strip (sleep takes almost the same amount of juice as off).
Turning off to free memory, though, is a waste of time if you have enough to start with. Perhaps once in a rare while is a good idea as a "just in case", but I'm talking on the order of every couple of weeks at the most.
To give an example, I just restarted a co-worker's computer today after an update, and its uptime was 65 days. Was running just fine, and that's on 512MB RAM.
I once ran my own work computer (also 512MB) for six months without a restart just to see if I could, and I didn't notice any major slowdown over that period.
But anyway, to answer the original question: What kind of Mac do you have, and what have you done recently that might've slowed startup? Network issues are the most common cause, if for example your cable or DSL modem takes a bit to connect and the OS waits for it on startup. Or maybe your times are normal--after the RAM check at the Apple, my computer takes maybe 20 seconds to boot--is that a lot faster than yours?
Turning off to free memory, though, is a waste of time if you have enough to start with. Perhaps once in a rare while is a good idea as a "just in case", but I'm talking on the order of every couple of weeks at the most.
To give an example, I just restarted a co-worker's computer today after an update, and its uptime was 65 days. Was running just fine, and that's on 512MB RAM.
I once ran my own work computer (also 512MB) for six months without a restart just to see if I could, and I didn't notice any major slowdown over that period.
But anyway, to answer the original question: What kind of Mac do you have, and what have you done recently that might've slowed startup? Network issues are the most common cause, if for example your cable or DSL modem takes a bit to connect and the OS waits for it on startup. Or maybe your times are normal--after the RAM check at the Apple, my computer takes maybe 20 seconds to boot--is that a lot faster than yours?
Makosuke said:
I have a 2week old 12" PB with 768mb ram. I haven't done much to it in terms of taking up HDD space. I have mostly used it for pictures, doing work and presentation. I networked it with my PC at home. I use a wireless connection at home and at school. Sometimes the boot up is quite fast, sometimes slow.
Well, the computer isn't the issue, and the fact that it's inconsistent pretty much points to a network issue, as that's the only thing that would change between boots if you haven't installed anything. My best advice is to experiment a bit with various network configurations and see what seems to slow it down.
Also, remember that the first reboot after installing any system-level update takes much longer, as the OS caches stuff the first time through but can't use the cache if anything has changed.
You might also scan your disk for any problems (boot from the OS installation CD and run Disk Utility, or look up how to run fsck in single user mode here), but I don't think those would be inconsistent.
Also, remember that the first reboot after installing any system-level update takes much longer, as the OS caches stuff the first time through but can't use the cache if anything has changed.
You might also scan your disk for any problems (boot from the OS installation CD and run Disk Utility, or look up how to run fsck in single user mode here), but I don't think those would be inconsistent.
