Mac OS X 10.3.7: Slow network application activity

Many users have experienced a problem under Mac OS X 10.3.7 where network throughput seems normal, but individual Internet-enabled applications suffer a severe lag when starting up or when performing routine processes.

MacFixIt reader Jonathan writes "Did the 10.3.7 update (via Software update), and then repaired permissions. Restarted, but now Mail takes two minutes to load - was fine before.

"I've restarted a couple of times but still the same problem. Not sure what it is since there appears to be no hard disk activity during that time - so it's not obvious what it's doing."

Another reader named John adds "I have also updated and now, Ichat , omniweb, apple mail , seem to take on the average of 35 to 45 sec, to open!"

Tony McLean corroborates "Took all the usual precautions, downloaded the update and found that apple's mail application takes about 30 seconds to load. Ditched the preference files but no improvement."

Potential workarounds

Clearing caches Some users have been able to resolve this issue by running either the "medium" or "deep" cache cleaning routines offered by shareware utilities like Panther Cache Cleaner.

Re-install the application In other cases, simply re-installing an application from its original download source, CD/DVD, or another location can resolve the problem.

In the case of some Apple applications, however, you may need to use the shareware utility Pacifist to extract the files from your original Mac OS X installation disc.

Launch Pacifist and insert your Mac OS X Installer Disk 1. Click "Open Mac OS X Install Packages" and you'll be prompted to insert the other install disks in order. Navigate to: OSInstall/EssentialSystemSoftware/Essentials/Applications then control-click on your desired application (Mail.app, etc.) to install to its default location. "

Entering anything (or real numbers) in the DNS field Some users have found that putting anything in the DNS field of the Network pane in System Preferences resolves the issue. Marcin Kotas "If you have DHCP chosen as method of TCP/IP config, you have to put anything in field Search Domains,virtually anything - in my case mistakingly putting DNS server helped, and when i corrected that all failed again. So i put something like 'aaaaaaa' and it works flawlessly right now."

Others have been able resolve the issue by entering real DNS numbers (as previously noted, a fix that also worked for many readers experiencing the Safari "multiple-try" bug we covered a few weeks ago).

Paul Hathcoat writes "After installing Mac OS X 10.3.7 on my G5 Tower, Mail was taking up to 2 minutes to launch. As Ray Landsiedel reported 12/18/04 that he fixed this issue by manually entering DNS server addresses in the Network prefs, I tried this after several other fix tries didn't help. Manually entering the DNS server addresses solved it for me. Mail now opens almost instantly."

Deleting DNS numbers For some readers, previously specified DNS numbers had to be deleted before normal network operation could take place. This is likely a result of Apple's attempt to fix significant DNS resolution issues that occurred under Mac OS X 10.3.6.

One reader writes

"After installing OS X 10.3.7 on one of my machines, I experienced extreme slow-down of network applications.

"Then I turned off the built-in internet (from the Network System Preference panel) and instantly all speeds were back to normal. Turning the built-in internet back on made the problem recur. Then I had the bright idea to delete the IP addresses of the two DNS servers I had put into the Network Pref panel to deal with the Safari problems of old. With no DNS servers named, Eudora works normally. Once again, putting explicit DNS server addresses in causes the mammoth slowdown. (My machine is one of three sitting behind an Airport Extreme router to the outside world, getting its IP address by DHCP.)

"So I now just let the system figure out DNS lookup however it wants to, and I am happy again (now that I have a usable mail client)."

Several permissions repairs For some users, performing not one, but several permissions repair routines, significantly speeds up launch times for network applications ,including Mail.app, Safari, and others.

MacFixIt reader Jerry writes: "I had the same slow startups on Mail and Safari and very slow shut downs on my iMac G5 20" after the initial update to Mac OS X 10.3.7 via software update. What brought it all back to normal was multiple rebuilding of permissions. The first rebuild took about 12 minutes to complete and the problems still existed. Two more rebuilds were much faster."

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