BTW 3GB of RAM by todays standards is not a lot of RAM.
However I do not think that is the issue.
Did you by any chance do any maintenance on your Mac in say the last two or three years?
The reason I ask is that there are other users here who run a G5 with the same system as you and they do not have those problems with Photoshop and the Bridge.
So I am thinking from the way you wrote the posting that you might not be the type that regularly does maintenance.
I still advocate Repairing Permissions (with Apple's Disk Utility) before AND after any system update or upgrade, as well as before AND after installing any software that requires an installer that asks for your password.
I have seen software installations go sour because the installer did not find everything as and where it should be.
I have also seen software installations go bad because the installer did not clean up after itself properly and did not leave everything as and where it should be.
This is just my own personal opinion and practice based on my own observations. Others may disagree and that's OK. I can only base my routines and my advice to others on my own experience and conclusion. I don't pretend to know why others believe otherwise.
Repairing Permissions after the fact (i. e. not immediately before and after an install) seldom helps.; Try it anyway, though.
====
Additionally, if your machine does not run 24/7 so that it runs the daily, weekly and monthly Cron Scripts in the middle of the night as intended by Apple, run Cocktail (shareware) as well.
Cron Scripts are maintenance routines designed by Apple to run on a daily, weekly and monthly basis in the middle of the night.
If you don't run them, you WILL run into trouble, sooner rather than later.
Here's an excerpt from the Apple tech doc <http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107388>
Mac OS X performs background maintenance tasks at certain times if the computer is not in sleep mode. If your computer is shut down or in sleep at the designated times, the maintenance does not occur. In that case, you may want or need to run these manually.
Mac OS X periodically runs background tasks that, in part, remove system files that are no longer needed. This includes purging older information from log files or deleting certain temporary items. These tasks do not run if the computer is shut down or in sleep mode. If the tasks do not run, it is possible that certain log files (such as system.log) may become very large.
Also, from: <http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106978>
The disk activity generated by find is a normal part of file system maintenance, used for tasks such as removing invisible temporary files that are used by the system. It is scheduled to occur early in the morning at 03:15 everyday, 04:30 on Saturdays, and 05:30 on the first day of each month.
NOTE: There have been comments to the effect that Apple "fixed" this in 10.4.2 and later versions of the OS, but I have not been able to verify this to my satisfaction. The reference in the 10.4.2 release notes are far from explicit on this subject.
= = =
If you have DiskWarrior, run it regularly too.
Dual bootable, DP MDD 1.25GHz G4 (2004), maxed out at 2GB of RAM, Tiger 10.4.11, both Spotlight and Dashboard disabled, FontAgent Pro manages fonts, Photoshop primary scratch disk on dedicated 160GB internal drive, at least 100GB available on each of the four internal drives, up to 300GB on some. Counting external FW drives just over 1.5 TB of drive space available. nVidia GeForce 7800 GS 425MHz 256 MB graphics display card w/support for Shader Model 3.0 and OpenGL 2.0. Processor napping enabled through CHUD 3.5.2.
BTW 3GB of RAM by todays standards is not a lot of RAM.
Insufficient RAM is not likely the issue in regard to SFW. While this is not as much RAM as one could have, 3 GB is at least 3 times more than is needed for the minimum system requirements for the OS and the application. As Robin is working with web graphics, we are probably not discussing huge files that would tax the system.
Repairing Permissions after the fact (i. e. not immediately before and
after an install) seldom helps.; Try it anyway, though.
What is 'after the fact' if it is not 'after an install'? Take the previous advice with a heavy dose of the common sense that it lacks. Ramon's comment contradicts Apple's instruction. Repairing permissions is done after an installation as a troubleshooting step. Apple never recommends this process prior to an installation as it is infinitely pointless to do so prior to an admin-only function like an installation.
Since credibility is likely to soon be an issue of this discussion, don't trust anything I have typed. Look up the details. If you are not familiar with permissions, learn about them from Apple, not from nonsensical discussion pasted incessantly in a Photoshop forum.
"BTW 3GB of RAM by todays standards is not a lot of RAM. "
I'm getting tired of reading this, because in so many cases people trot it out without thinking. 3 GB of RAM is PERFECTLY adequate for that hardware and OS, and will cover all but the most demanding of workflows.
the Spinning Ball usually means that the system is paging (writing SWAP) If the system drive is full you will have problems.
I'll chime in here as well -- for what you do, 3 GB RAM should be more than sufficient. If you work on huge or complex files, video, or several demanding applications simultaneously, we could revisit that. Your G5 1.6 GHz computer, as you know, is not the fastest, but it should work saving for Web.
If yours is not a disk free-space issue, it sounds like a maintenance issue. Disk Utility (repair permissions, and boot from Mac OS X disk to repair disk), Disk Warrior (again, boot from disk and run repairs) or Photoshop preferences may need to be reset. I run these maintenance procedures anytime I sense my computer is not working "quite right" (understand, this is quite infrequent), and these fixes plus the occasional running of Cocktail (or Onyx) do work.
Here's a bit more on permissions repair: <http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=DiskUtility/10.5/en/duh17.html>
Neil
I would definitely run DiskWarrior if performance is that slow (13 minutes?!!) on your equipment.
One other thought: check that you have disabled Version Cue.
You should check for this in the Prefs of both Photoshop and Bridge.
On the other hand, I would never run any machine with that little available space on the boot drive. I'm assuming you do have an external drive for your Photoshop scratch disk擁f you don't, then you're just pushing that poor boot drive to the limits.
My Photoshop scratch disk is on a dedicated 160 GB, physically separate, internal drive, and I never let any drive get more than 65% full. I save all my image files to an external FireWire drive first, before backing them up on yet another drive.
I have seen software installations go sour because the installer did not find everything as and where it should be.
I have also seen software installations go bad because the installer did not clean up after itself properly and did not leave everything as and where it should be.
This is just my own personal opinion and practice based on my own observations. Others may disagree and that's OK. I can only base my routines and my advice to others on my own experience and conclusion. I don't pretend to know why others believe otherwise. Note that this suggestion begins with "I advocate", not "Apple recommends…".
Repairing Permissions after the fact (i. e. not immediately before and after an install) may NOT help. Try it anyway, though.
====
Additionally, if your machine does not run 24/7 so that it runs the daily, weekly and monthly Cron Scripts in the middle of the night as intended by Apple, run Cocktail (shareware) as well.
Cron Scripts are maintenance routines designed by Apple to run on a daily, weekly and monthly basis in the middle of the night.
If you don't run them, you WILL run into trouble, sooner rather than later.
Here's an excerpt from the Apple tech doc <http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107388>
Mac OS X performs background maintenance tasks at certain times if the computer is not in sleep mode. If your computer is shut down or in sleep at the designated times, the maintenance does not occur. In that case, you may want or need to run these manually.
Mac OS X periodically runs background tasks that, in part, remove system files that are no longer needed. This includes purging older information from log files or deleting certain temporary items. These tasks do not run if the computer is shut down or in sleep mode. If the tasks do not run, it is possible that certain log files (such as system.log) may become very large.
Also, from: <http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106978>
The disk activity generated by find is a normal part of file system maintenance, used for tasks such as removing invisible temporary files that are used by the system. It is scheduled to occur early in the morning at 03:15 everyday, 04:30 on Saturdays, and 05:30 on the first day of each month.
NOTE: There have been comments to the effect that Apple "fixed" this in 10.4.2 and later versions of the OS, but I have not been able to verify this to my satisfaction. The reference in the 10.4.2 release notes are far from explicit on this subject.
Other, more reliable reports indicate that this seems to have been fixed in the current version of Leopard.
In any event, Repairing Permissions and/or running the Cron Scripts cannot hurt.
"If you have DiskWarrior, run it regularly too."
Not to be gratuitously confrontational, but...
Could you back that up with some solid reasons?
I have DiskWarrior, but I haven't had to use it since a bad HD problem close to 10 years ago, in OS 9.2.2.
Just launch DiskWarrior and have it Graph your hard disk's directory. It won't touch the information on your disk, it will just show you a graphic representation of your directory items.
I haven't had to run it recently either, but I do notice a small improvement in stability and performance when I do.
DW can repair that damage and replace the Directory with a new one.
Anyone who wants to know more about the capabilities of a recommended utility, and if they should use it, can always Google it for themselves and read the manufacturer's web site.
I run DiskWarrior 4.1 whenever things seem to be running less than optimally; and always after installing large software packages such as the CS4 Suite and find that performance improves dramatically after I have run it.
Running DW's Graph test will indicate the state of your HDs very clearly.
Incidentally, the version that you had for Mac OS 9.2.2 is no use for either Tiger or Leopard however.
"Incidentally, the version that you had for Mac OS 9.2.2 is no use for
either Tiger or Leopard however."
Puh-leeeeeze, Ann. If you're not patronizing me, then I'm not sure what you're trying to convey with that matter-of-fact statement.
Have you paid NO attention at all to my years of demonstrated geek cred?
8/ 8|
So you do have the current version — even if you have never opened it?!
:)
But, you better not try the demo, since it's not DiskWarrior.
XD
Trying Drive Genius could prompt your short hairs to go into heebie-jeebie mode.
;) :)
Obviously I can't recommend a product that I have never used but you, and others, assure us that Onyx works well too.
"Obviously I can't recommend a product that I have never used but you,
and others, assure us that Onyx works well too."
I understand that, and agree.
But my feeling is that, if a developer wants to put something like Onyx together, and it's free (as in: Send the guy some money, if you can), and it works really well, and does just about everything as a similar commercial application, why NOT try the free thing first?
That's why, when I see Cocktail recommended for the functions it's good for, and I'm feeling motivated, I'll take the time to educate people who are looking to us for help about an extremely capable, comparable and less expensive alternative.
why NOT try the free thing first?
It is not a matter of 'trying'. We know some of us have already paid for Cocktail. It is a matter of 'recommending'. We all know that Onyx does what Cocktail does so the idea of recommending a paid app for a problem of which we are uncertain seems odd. Why would anyone suggest that Robin pay for something that may or may not work to correct this particular issue? ...especially when MacJanitor is already being used and the machine is left on during normal cron tasks. We're here to help fellow users, not sell software.
In any event, Repairing Permissions and/or running the Cron Scripts cannot
hurt.
No it won't. But continually auto-pasting permission repair nonsense throughout the forum can hurt by misinforming others. Ramon did well to post links to tech docs on apple.com regarding maintenance that typically runs at night. Why doesn't he also add an apple.com link to the first part of his auto-paste to clarify his misunderstanding of permission repair?
The entire debate over system maintenance seems very odd for the regulars here. Don't we know better? It has been long known that SFW can be unusually slow on either platform (just google for 'slow photoshop save for web'). This is not likely a Mac-specific issue that can be resolved with Mac maintenance. I don't recall any Adobe representative ever explaining the reason why it happens to some. While system maintenance is certainly a first step to troubleshooting, those of us that want to invest in a heavy discussion on this topic would do well to look deeper into this phenomenon than to dwell on the first basic step of maintenance. It looks like Robin already has the computer operating as it should.
Tried changing preferences.
Robin, does this mean that they were reset? If not, try resetting them entirely.
It has been long known that SFW can be unusually slow on either platform
>
Really?
It's instantaneous here the way that I do it:
Duplicate Image/Resize Image/Convert to 8-bit sRGB/SFW.
Just make an Action and CLICK…
Revisit this thread <http://www.adobeforums.com/webx?128@@.3c05db47> or search the forum for other threads about how slow SFW can be. You've likely participated in them as much as I have so you cannot find this thread as a surprise. There is something wrong with SFW that it does not behave consistently.
It does what is needed — and it is lightning-fast,
If others are having problems, it has to be related to their hardware and operating methods.
See my post in that other thread:
Ann Shelbourne, "Very Slow Save for Web in CS3 Mac" #37, 26 Feb 2008 11:09 am </webx?14@@.3c05db47/36>
Look at the initial post from the thread I just linked. Jonathan tried saving files 'regardless of file size or dimension'. Your resize step has apparently already been considered by at least one of the folks with SFW trouble. Both Robin and Jonathan report sluggishness when clicking the save button. This is clearly not a fluke if at least 2 people report the same problem. Google to find others in the same boat (but never an explanation).
If others are having problems, it has to be related to their hardware
and operating methods.
If this were true, Robin would not be having better success with a previous version of Photoshop.
To me it looks like a Hardware/OSX/PEBKAC combination problem because it does NOT happen to ALL users of CS4.
I have already suggested a method for those that are experiencing this problem to fix it for themselves.
Now it is up to them to try some of the suggestions that have been made and let us know if the proffered ideas have helped to ameliorate the situation.
Saving for Web Devices now has no problems.
:)
That would indicate that you have more problems with your HD than Disk utility could solve and you may well have a damaged Directory.
Your best chance of fixing that is to run DiskWarrior — as we recommended a long time ago.
It's not as if you're punishing Adobe—much less us fellow users—by reverting to an earlier version of Photoshop. By all means do whatever suits you. It makes zero difference to us at this stage.