June 18, 1998

From: "Mark Glossop" <glossop@earwax.pd.uwa.edu.au>
Subject: Stability and Speed Tips

Hi,
I enjoyed your column on "Speed Secrets". Many of the tips I
already use, and find them extremely useful - I imagine that those
readers not aware of some of them may find the same thing. However, some
of those tips may also contribe to overall system instability. If I may,
I'd like to address some of the points raised. Some of them I totally
agree with, so I won't worry about them too much. In the following, I'm
quoting very liberally from a document I found on a Hotline server called
"Major's Happy OS8 Rules". If anyone can shed any light on where this
originated, I'd be only too happy to acknowledge the author. It's proved
to be very useful to me, and I thought I'd share the points therein:

Addressing each of your tips by number:
1. Absolutely important, especially for slower models

2. Disk cache is quite often a source of contention as to what is most
effective. I used to set mine to 1536K also (that was with 16M + RD2! - I
didn't know too much about caches then). However, I found a number of
references on the WWW that indicated that the optimal cache setting for a
PowerMac (including PowerBooks in my estimation, as it has worked for me)
is between 512K and 1024K. Below 512K, the cache can be up to an order of
magnitude slower (depending on the model and hard drive speed). Above
1024K, the law of diminishing returns begins to apply rapidly. This can
simply be attributed to the nature of a cache - once a part of file is in
the cache (remember, only part of a file is generally cached, no matter
what the cache size is), it can only be transferred to the system RAM at
the same speed as the cache RAM. So extra cache isn't going to speed
things up significantly more. If further info is required, see the pages
http://macspeedzone.netgate.net/Comparison/Disk_Cache.html
for a detailed timing analysis of different cache settings (with and
w/out SD8 also), and
http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/tech/98/03/20/drmac.html
for Bob Levitus' comments on cache settings.

3. Generally a "good thing", but there are some issues that might be
overlooked. For most people that are familiar with their Macs, there are
a number of things that can be done to "pare down" their system folders:
* Remove all the printer definitions that aren't ever used (in the
Extensions:Printer Descriptions folder. I only ever use a Laserwriter
16/600, so that's the only thing that's in there. If you're worried about
ever needing something you delete - the OS8.1 CD has the most recent
files available for installation.
* Remove any of the Photoshop extensions lying LOOSE in your System
folder (if you have them). They're useful if you have a $40,000
imagesetter, but that generally isn't the case - and then they're just
taking up memory (don't know if this applies to PS 5).
* Disable things that aren't ever/infrequently used - this is a common
sense thing eg. Apple Guide? Text-to-Speech? Infrared networking?
ColorSync? Quickdraw GX? This could also apply to things like Desktop
printing - if you don't print often, get rid of it - but keep
Printmonitor, PrintingLib and Laserwriter 8. If you do use some of these
things very occasionally, it's worth using the extensions manager and
just enabling them while they're needed.
* The following extensions are no longer needed (under OS8) - Macintosh(NOT
Mac OS) Easy Open, Apple Events Manager, Object Support Lib, StdClib,
Sound Manager, Threads Manager, [ Memory Manager (unless OpenDoc is
installed, in this case only, leave it there) ]. These can not only take
up memory, but they can increase the potential for crashes - since
they're trying to do the same thing as the new system, which has them
built in.
* Direct quote from "Major": "If you have a Scripting Additions folder in
extensions folder, merge the contents into the one in the system folder,
keeping the ones in the System folder:Scripting Extensions in preference."
* Keep your fonts to an absolute minimum - or use a font manager. Fonts
can quickly build up in RAM demands, and the more fonts the system has to
sort through, the slower your system gets. Note that Office 98 and IE
install a stack of fonts - watch out for this. Even though some of them
are nice, they'll slow you down to a snail's (Pentium) speed. However,
some are needed for Web pages to display properly, be it might be best to
leave the Web fonts installed. Personally, I find Suitcase to be the best
solution to sorting through my fonts (I use a lot for when I do casual
DTP), but other peoples' mileage may differ.
* Third-party extensions and control panels can be a headache at times.
Make sure that you have a well-tuned vanilla system folder after a new
system install, then put each one in INDIVIDUALLY, with reboots and
possibly a trial run with some applications before adding new extensions
and control panels. It might seem obvious or unnecessary, but, when
installing new software - ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS REBOOT WITH EXTENSIONS
OFF! (unless the installer won't let you install without them on - but
this is rare. I think RealPC needs this.) Note also that this is a good
use for the Label function. Those extensions/control panels that work
well can be labelled as "Working" or something like that, so that new
files can easily be found and eliminated if necessary when searching
manually for an extension conflict. You may also consider doing custom
installs if you're familiar with that sort of thing - some installers
will overwrite new versions with older version of system software, and a
custom install can let you compare versions to get the newest one, as
well as ensuring that unneeded items aren't installed. Still, some
control panels and extensions, although RAM hungry, are well worth the
increase in productivity (isn't that a speed boost in itself?)
* Keep your ADDs to a minimum - opening with Internet Config is generally
the best solution, so it's worth just using those options where possible.
* Keep your CMMs to a minimum - too many will slow down the speed at which
the menu comes up. Be aware that some CMMs can also be a source of system
instability. Some CMMs are worth the speed hit, due to the productivity
increase though.
* Keep your CSMs to a minimum - especially on a PowerBook. eg. since you can
use Cmd-Shift-0 to put the computer to sleep/use the power key/use the
finder menu, why do you need a "Sleep Now" module? How often do you
change your networking settings such that it's faster to go to the CS
than getting out the control panels from the Apple menu? Playing Audio
CDs? - just put an alias to the AudioCD player in the Apple menu, save
some memory and be done with it? Changing power settings - just as fast
to go the the control panel menu! How many people have multiple printers
that ALWAYS need to be accessable continually? Video mirroring - say no
more (besides, the powerbooks generally can pick this up automatically if
it's an option). And Battery Monitor? Just use the Date & Time control
panel - it gives a battery icon and the date and time too!
Finally, remove any Dataviz converters that you'll never use (How often
do you convert a Clarisworks 2.0 document?)
If you want to know whether an extension/control panel is useful and/or
removable, I'd recommend "The Informinit 8.1" - I've compared it with
other documents of a similar nature, and it simply is the most useful
system management tool I've ever found. You can get it from
http://cafe.AmbrosiaSW.com/DEF/InformINIT.html
It also can advise on possible software conflicts, and tell how much
memory extra software takes up. It's $10 shareware, and well worth the
investment (free plug!).

4. I'd totally differ on Speed Doubler 8.1 - I've used SD since I bought
my PowerBook (it came in the box), and since dropping it with OS8, I've not
noticed an appreciable difference in speed, but a definite improvement in
stability (used to crash every couple of days, but now my MTBF is over a
week). I have to reboot more often to change my external CD-ROM and Zip
drive 10 times more often than I crash. Besides, the key shortcuts just
slow the system down (since SD needs to keep scanning for them on
keyboard events), and the Faster Disk performance isn't needed under
OS8.1 - it's been superceded by better system code. It's also becoming
less useful, as Speed Emulator is only for 68K code emulation - not
needed for native applications. (This may be due to my use of
"Speed603.lib" - see the end of the mail). On top of all this, it
increases the disk cache settings - already seen to be less than
effective. In the words of "Major" - "Don't use Speed Doubler. It is
buggy. It has always been buggy, and will probably always be buggy. Use
Motorola's LibMotoSh rather than Macuser's MathLibMoto (and never have
them both installed)". Expect to see it becoming almost redundant as the
Mac OS evolves. See point 17 on LibMotoSh also.

5. Keep VM off if possible. If it is an absolute necessity (why?), then
use Apple VM, and not RD2 - sorry, but Connectix has done a great
marketing job for a less-than-perfect product (like SD). I think
VirtualPC is probably the best thing that they've come up with in all
this time, despite the sales of RD and SD. (Same goes for SurfExp, but
you already found that out).

6. I like Desktop Pictures too (but I prefer Moraine Lake :-) ). If you
are really pushing for speed (eg on a non-PowerPC machine, then Desktop
Patterns may be the best (only?) solution.

7. Generally a good idea, but if you want a more stable solution that's
only a bit slower:
* Create a 5mb read/writeable disk image with DiskCopy. Set diskcopy's
prefs to NOT verify checksum.
* Name it "Browser Caches" or something like that, and put it in your
Startup Items.
* Make two folders within this disk: Netscape and Explorer (if you only
use one, then don't make the other one).
* Set your browsers to use those folders as caches.
* As a second layer of protection, delete your old cache folder and replace
it (keeping the same name, of course) with an alias to the browser cache
folder on the image in question. That way if one of the apps loses it's
prefs for some reason, it won't just start using your disk again.
Now you don't have IE and Netscape messing with your hard drive B-Tree,
just the files on the disk image. If it ever starts playing up, just
reformat the disk image. This solution is stable, only very slightly
slower, uses less system resources and less processor time than using a
RAM disk.

8. Good idea, but generally cost-ineffective for most people, unless you
have a company paying for it.

9. No problem there - could cause headaches for older models with smaller
drives though (I don't think they'll ever make a hard drive too big to
fill...)

10. Very good idea - however, note that along those ideas, if you're
ever tempted to do a low-level format while getting your disk optimised
(after backing up of course!), Apple recommends against doing it on
Powerbooks for some reason (it's in the tech info library somewhere...)

11. Usually gets done when new system software is installed.

12. Absolutely true - can't wait for 8.5! However, I do think that 7.6.1
rather than 7.5.5 is a better solution for those 680x0 Macs that can't
run OS8, but can run 7.6.1.

13. Totally agree - but when setting the memory values, ensure that you
set the size of the memory partitions it wants and needs to a multiple of
512K for optimum memory allocation.

14. Good idea - but then again, I've got 8-bit colour, so I wouldn't
know...

15. Like you say, not really an option for us with PowerBooks (don't know
if the G3's have that option though - it may stand to reason, since
they're made with the same motherboard as the desktop systems).

16. Can also be done using PowerPeek from MacUser - this will tell you
which extensions, control panels applications have non-native code in
them, or have 68K patches while you run them. Can you believe that some
programs patch native routines with non-native patches?

17. As is said, very useful for floating point operations. The Motorola
site indicates the MathLib routines that are patched - may not be too
effective if these math routines are not used very often. Mainly integer
calculations won't notice any improvement.

18. Generally a good idea - sometimes useful in the system folder to help
you realise just how many files are in the different directories, and
whether the size might mean that a bit of spring cleaning is in order.

19, 20, 21. No problems.

22. Absolutely agreed upon - one of the greatest things about Mac OS is
the ability to find a file like "RunMe68KLib", know that you don't need
it, and can trash it immediately. How would you fare in telling if you
need to keep "RD546TFF.DLL" under Windows?

23. Amen - one of the biggest timesavers available. I constantly get
frustrated when using Windows when this feature isn't available
automatically from the Start Menu (you need to set everything up
manually...gee, that's a timesaver).

24. I have to question this one - it seems like an extra control panel,
when what it does can easily be accomplished by the Apple Menu. Since so
much effort has been put into keeping the system folder as lean as
possible while not compromising functionality, it seems illogical to add
an extra control panel, when the job can be done elsewhere. In addition,
every control panel has the potential to cause an extension conflict, so
I try to use as few third-party extensions as possible, while still
allowing me to do everything I want.

25. Will totally agree on the use of the "Process Manager" CSM; I find
it indispensible (I still use Program Switcher, as they complement each
other in program management). I also use the "Control Panel Module" - it
is very useful. I'd debate the use of "HandyMan", as it's extra clutter
in the CS - I find that the CS gets in the way if it's too big. Besides,
the Apple Menu once again could fulfil this job. The "OneClick" CP sounds
interesting - I'll have to look into it (it sounds similar to the another
control panel that emulates the Windows 95 Start Menu and Task Bar).

As you can see, the majority of the tips that you have given I
wholeheartedly agree with. My intention in writing however, is to suggest
that not all speed tips are worthwhile, given the increased probability
of system instability as a result. Until the Mac OS gets proper protected
memory, this is going to be an issue for all Mac users. The following
points not raised above may assist in reducing system crashes and/or
improve speed:
* (This one's not for the faint-hearted!) Open up copies of Finder and the
System
suitcase in Resedit. In the SIZE resource of the Finder, set the finder
to the preferred amount (the top one) to 1.5M (1572864 bytes) and leave
the bottom one at 128k. The system file has both values set to 70,000.
Increase this to 96K (98304 bytes). Move the original files to the trash,
and remove the "copy" suffix from the copies. Reboot, and then the MacOS
uses the new files. Now the originals can be trashed. I would recommend
keeping copies of the originals though, so instead of trashing the
originals, you might keep them in a backup folder in your utilites
directory (don't leave them anywhere in the system folder - this might
cause problems).
* Turn off "Recent Items" in Apple Menu Options/BeHierarchic etc - this is
widely recognised as a source of potential crashes, plus it means that
recent items don't need to be tracked, thus saving processor time.
* Make sure you rebuild your desktop every so often (once every 3 weeks
should be fine, unless you're having problems with lost icons - then it
should be one option to try first to fix the problem.)
* Use CPU Doubler - don't ask me where to get it from though (I just found
it on a Hotline server, and it doesn't have any info' in the panel itself
on how to get it). If you can get it, it can help in certain situations
by giving a slight speed boost from allocating the program timeshares
differently, despite being an extra control panel.
* Use Default Folder - this has to be the singularly most useful control
panel that I have ever used. I couldn't do it justice by describing it
here. Suffice it to say that it allows a plethora of options in save/open
dialogs that Apple should have included long ago because of the amount of
time it saves AND the ease of doing things from those dialogs (like Get
Info and Trash) that can't normally be done. You can get it from
http://www.stclairsoft.com/, and it's shareware too.
* (This point might be a bit dodgy...) I have an extension called
Speed603.lib - it claims to assist in processor emulation of heritage
code on 603/603e processors. I can't find any other information on it -
it's not even mentioned in Informinit (although it calls a the shared
library "Speed601.lib" a hoax). I keep it in my system, as it doesn't
seem to harm the system, and if it does give me a slight speed boost,
well, I'm happy. I think it may do the same thing as the Faster Emulation
option in SD, but without the overhead.
* Turn off processor cycling in the PowerBook control panel if you don't go
on the road very often. Cycling actually drops the processor down to
about 3MHz (or so I'm told) in order to save on power consumption, but it
means that it constantly has to check whether the processor is wanted for
anything (If anyone can shed any more light on this for me, I'd
appreciate it).

I'm sure that there are other tips that you may receive from your
readers, but I felt that it was necessary to point out that not all speed
boosting tips are worth the cost (what's a 10% speed boost worth, if it
means that you crash and lose your work twice as often?) My apologies for
such an extended email; I hope that it is of some use to you. I'd welcome
any comments or refutations of the arguments that I've put forward - I'd
say that somewhere in all this I'm likely to have overlooked something;
or more importantly, if I'm simply doing something stupid, I'd really
like to know about it!

Once again, thanks for a useful column,


Mark Glossop
-------------------------------------------------------
The box said "Windows 95 or better", so I bought a Mac.
Mark Glossop <glossop@earwax.pd.uwa.edu.au>