Mac OS X 10.5.2: poor performance; AirPort, device issues; more

[Thursday, February 14th]

Slow startups can be caused by external devices As noted yesterday, the first restart after installing Mac OS X 10.5.2 may be inordinately long -- this is normal behavior. If subsequent restarts are longer than normal, check for problematic external devices. Note that we recommend disconnecting all external devices during the update process then connecting them one-by-one after completion to check for potential issues.

Leave a group of devices disconnected during startup and determine whether boot time is normal. Re-attach one or more for the next startup, attempting to isolate the offending device.

One MacFixIt reader writes:

"(I followed MacFixIt's advice and disconnected all devices during the update) First reboot after that to check time took less than 45 seconds.  Second reboot after attaching peripherals (firewire drives attached to a firewire hub, bluetooth wireless keyboard and mouse, and USB 2.0 7-port hub) had the blue screen for 5 minutes, so by usual process of elimination I determined it was my 17 month old Belkin USB 2.0 Model No. F5U237v1 causing the problem.  It was the last thing I expected to cause the problem as I suspected the 4 year old FireWire hub which is still working just fine on 10.5.2.  All my USB peripherals directly connected to my late 2006 iMac including my HP PSC 1610 All-In-One also worked fine as do my BlueTooth wireless keyboard and mouse.  Actually, all USB peripherals worked when attached to the USB hub after the long delay bootup.  The hub had caused no problems with any versions of Tiger I ran it on, or OS 10.5 or 10.5.1.  Attached it to a friend's iMac running OS X 10.5.1, and it caused no startup delay."

If devices aren't involved in your problem, see this tutorial.

General slowness right after update is to be expected Note that slow general system responsiveness immediately after installing the update is to be expected as Spotlight re-indexes drives. One this process is done, normal speed should resume.

If it doesn't see our tutorial "Avoiding unresponsiveness/slow-downs in Mac OS X."

Mail.app slow with Exchange Several readers have reported that Mail.app interacts slowly with Exchange servers after the update. One reader writes:

"Verified on iMac, MacBook, and PowerBook G4 running 10.5.2. We're seeing terrible performance with the university's exchange server host. Mail.app cannot keep accounts on line consistently."

Adobe Flash slowness Users are also seeing slowness in the Adobe Flash plug-in when viewing embdedded Web content.

"Just thought I'd add this to the growing list of 10.5.2 problems. After upgrading my 15" PB G4 1.25 to 10.5.2 I started getting a message when trying to load pages in Safari that have flash video. I'm including a screenshot of the error message. ("A script in this movie is causing Adobe Flash Player 9 to run slowly. It it continues to run, your computer may become unresponsive.")

If you're having similar issues, go to this page and make sure your Flash player isn't out of date. Even if it isn't, try reinstalling the plug-in.

AirPort slowness/disconnects AirPort continues to be functionally lacking for a number of users after the Mac OS X 10.5.2 update, exhibiting poor throughput or inability to connect to certain routers. Several users have found success with suggestions listed in our wireless troubleshooting tutorial. The latest report indicates success with switching the channel.

"Installed 10.5.2 update - wireless continues to work, but download seems a bit slower (2.5 to 3 Mbps) and could not connect to a router. Changed wireless router from channel 9 to channel 4 - wireless speed returns to normal (4.5 Mbps). Changed router back to channel 9 and problem returned.  Back to channel 4 and connectivity restored.  Channel 10 - connection lost. Back to channel 4 and connection returned.  At this point I'm staying on channel 4."

Firmware, firmware, firmware! At the risk of being Ballmer-esque: Firmware, firmware, firmware! (clap hands). Out-of-date firmware can spell disaster for external devices under new iterations of Mac OS X, and 10.5.2 is no exception. One reader was having issues with wireless connectivity that were instantly resolved by updating his Verizon DSL modem's firmware:

"Being quick to blame Apple for my newly defunct wireless connection after the 10.5.2 update, I called AppleCare, but found that all machines on my wireless network were no longer working. I suggested to the AppleCare tech that I would call Verizon and find out what I did to my modem, which had been working fine before the upgrade. (It wasn't working for my Windows connections either, by this point.) Verizon had me update the firmware on my Westell modem, and Voilá, everything now works fine in both platforms. For the do-it-yourselfers out there with Verizon DSL, the address is http://verizon.net/versalinkupdate. Make sure you have the correct model and subtype, then download the update, and update it via the maintenance tab of the router's homepage. "

Override automatic disk shutdown mechanism Yesterday we noted that there is a new mechanism in Mac OS X 10.5.2 in which the computer will shut down if an automatic disk repair does not succeed during startup.

The override consists of booting into Single User Mode (hold Command and S during startup), manually run fsck (without the -p option).

Problems with printers connected to AirPort Base stations Problems with printers connected to AirPort base stations -- particularly Samsung printers -- are resurfacing under Mac OS X 10.5.2. Reports:

• "After the upgrade to 10.5.2 not only my Samsung CLP-510, but also the laser printer HP Laserjet 1300 has issues if connected to Airport Extreme: the drivers (both) say 'device busy' and the printer go in timeout after a time delay."
• "After the upgrade of Leopard to 10.5.2, my printer Samsung CLP-510 (connected with Airport) doesn't print more both with my MacBook Pro and PowerBook: or the printer goes in timeout or it gives the message 'device already in use.' I tried to reinstall the drivers (they are *only* for Tiger), but no luck. The printer works if connected directly to usb, *not* if connected to Airport (Extreme) via Bonjour."

Here are some fixes:

• Downgrade firmware on Base station (For AirPort Extreme 802.11n Base Stations) In AirPort Utility, select your Base Station, then select "Base Station" from the menubar, and choose "Upload Firmware." From the "Upload Firmware" menu, select "7.1.1" then press "OK." Some users have experienced success with this older iteration.
• Restart Base Station In some cases, powering of then back on the Base Station can result in disks appearing.
• Power issues In some cases, the problem is a lack of power delivery. This case is typified by printers that only print portions of pages or disks that routinely drop from access. The solution is generally to connect an externally powered USB hub to the AirPort Extreme.

Time Machine coming in handy Time Machine is coming in handy for a number of users who lost data during the update to Mac OS X 10.5.2. MacFixIt reader Jim Weber, for instance, writes:

"I too had issues with the update. Thus far it has only been with AddressBook - all contacts were gone. I was able to restore easily by using Time Machine."

Fix for problems with iPhone syncing under Mac OS X 10.5.2 A number of users are reporting problems with synchronizing their iPhones after applying the recently release Mac OS X 10.5.2 update. Issues include iTunes not recognizing the iPhone, error messages during sync, or incomplete syncs. See this article for potential fixes.

Feedback? Late-breakers@macfixit.com.

Previous coverage:

• Mac OS X 10.5.2: Problems starting up; ACL messages in Disk Utility; more
• Mac OS X 10.5.2 troubles: AirPort Problems, device issues; more
• Mac OS X 10.5.2 released

Resources

More from Late-Breakers