May 12, 2005 8:22 AM PDT

Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) #15: Spotlight processor usage; Another DHCP solution; more

by CNET staff

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Spotlight processor usage We've received a growing number of reports from readers who have seen processes related to Spotlight consuming inordinate amounts of processing time, even after initial indexing has taken place.

MacFixIt reader RL Cooley, for instance, writes:

"I am running Mac OS X 10.4 on a Powermac Dual 2.5 GHz system. Since installing Mac OS X 10.4 I have noticed in Activity Monitor that the CPU usage has gone way up. Generally the bars are half full all of the time. 10.4 was installed 3 full days ago and this has not changed. Reviewing the processes involve I find two that are at the top. Process 16389 ; mds running at root. It usually uses 25 to 65 % of the processor. 24785; mdimport ; running under my user name using 10 to 30 % of the processor time. Together these two process seem to use an excess amount of processor. When other activity is started the processes seem to continue to hog processor.

"Reviewing the Apple Web site indicates that mds is part of spotlight. It is not fully clear what mdimport is, but I believe it too is part of spotlight. I am concerned that so much processor time is used. There is no indication that spotlight is indexing. The program indexed for more than 60 minutes when first installed. There has not been significant changes in the disks to require this much re-indexing.

"Also of note I attempted to find a number of files known to be on my disks and Spotlight had a 100% failure rate. So if these are spotlight files it would seem to be less than successful."

If you are experiencing a similar issue, please let us know.

Another DHCP solution We previously reported that shortening the Computer Name (to less than 6 characters) in the Sharing pane of System Preferences can resolve a number of DHCP related issues, including problems with D-Link routers, as well as with AirPort access.

Now, MacFixIt reader Nico Oberbanscheidt reports that entering valid DNS server addresses (which can be obtained from your ISP) in the TCP/IP section of the Network pane of System Preferences resolves similar issues where the name-shortening workaround does not work.

In Nico's case, a PowerBook upgraded to Mac OS X 10.4 was not able to access the Internet via a previously functional AirPort connection, also breaking access for other machines.

Nico writes:

"I talked to an Apple-Care tech and he immediately suggested to fill in dedicated DNS-Addresses into the field 'DNS-Server (optional)' of Network-Preference-Pane / Environment Name / Show Airport (or Ethernet or others) / TCP/IP of the OS 10.4 Powerbook. After I had filled in two DNS-Addresses (in this german case 194.77.8.1 and 194.25.2.129) and connected to the airport-network, both the powerbook and the iBook where able to regain normal internet-access."

Safari 2.0

Some banking Web sites confirm incompatibility Several banks are now confirming incompatibility with Safari 2.0.

One reader received a note from Citibank's customer support department stating:

"Thank you for your message regarding accessing MyCiti with the latest versions of Safari and the Macintosh operating systems (2.0 and 10.4 respectively).

"We have been able to duplicate the problem on our systems. We have reported the problem to our system developers. We currently do not have an estimated time to resolution and regret any inconvenience you may have encountered. Please use an alternate browser (e.g. Internet Explorer 5.2, Netscape 7.2, Mozilla Firefox) in the interim.

"Sincerely, Citibank Online Customer Service

Previous Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) Coverage: