L8 slow graphics on PPC solved - on my rig, anyway.

Wanting to speed up my graphics, I did some googling and learned that system-wide OpenGL is apparently shut off by default in both Tiger and Leopard. Open Terminal. insert this line of code, enter your password and restart:

 

sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.windowserver \QuartzGLEnabled -boolean YES

 

The difference, for me anyway, was big in 10.4.11- usable scrollingin L8.01. Basically, before doing this my scrolling would be "lag-jump-lag-jump" (unless I throttled down my mighty mouse scroll speed by 50% , then I got something that "resembled" scrolling, though not as smooth as Logic 7.2.3).

 

Now this gets better. I figured, what the hell, I heard there were graphics improvements in Leopard, so I did the upgrade. (I downloaded the combo update to get to 10.5.2, same with the Leopard Graphics Update1.0). Then used software update to get whatever Leopard stuff was remaining. Then I entered that line of code into Terminal, restarted, opened a Logic project with a bunch of regions, etc, and holy crap - absolutely perfect scrolling! No lags, glitches, nothing. Matter of fact, all my applications have smoother graphics.

 

CPU usage with VI's, plugins, etc. seems the same to me as it was on Tiger.

 

Something to keep in mind - your graphics card must support core image hardware acceleration. I have an ATI Radeon 9600 XT which was stock in my G5 dual 2.5. The info on my graphics card in "About This Mac/More Info" says:

 

Core Image: Hardware Accelerated

Quartz Extreme: Supported

QuartzGL: Supported (this was not listed until I upgraded to Leopard)

 

Apparently, some older InVida GForce cards won't support Core Image graphics acceleration. If you want to find out more about this, just google "OpenGLEnabled" and you'll get a ton of info.

 

My current system is PPC G5 dual 2.5, 8 gig ram, OS 10.5.2

 

I hope this works for others. I couldn't be happier!

That's seams to be good news. I'll give it a try, but before that i need to know:

 

If I want to revert it back I only need to put a "NO" in the end of the command line ?

That's what I would do.

Wow.. just tried on my ol' G5 Dual 2 and it definitely smoothed things a lot, but still not as snappy as my new 8 core pooter

I'm running a sluggish G4 powerbook with ATI Mobility Radeon 9700.

 

Quartz extreme: Supported

Core Image: Supported

 

NO mention of quartz GL

 

Would be keep to give it a crack as the lagging graphics drive me fuckin' batty, but I ain't to savvy with all that jazz, and would hate to mess things up and not be able to fix them.

 

out.

Wow. I don't know if it's my imagination, but so far, I swear it has helped!

 

Thanks!

 

w

I guess my only question would be why isn't the computer already set this way as the default? Are there "dangers?"

 

w

The only "dangers" I recall reading about were that PPC programs using Rosetta on Intel Macs could perform worse, which may be why OpenGL is disabled by default.

Wow. Interesting. I've been working all day and BOY does Logic run better. Thanks for the info!

 

w

One more thing... I'm running Tiger on my 2.0 G5 that I tried this on. It has the nVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 in it, which does support Core Image. "QuartzGL" was not mentioned, but it worked just fine...

 

Thanks again!

 

w

QuartzGL is only mentioned in Leopard, as I pointed out in the original post. Glad it's working for you!

OK... here's my latest!

 

I have applied this to my ol' Dual 2 G5... Wow, amazing!

It was also very successful on my MacbookPro 2.2.

However, when I applied it to my Jan 2008 8 Core, it had the opposite effect. I changed it back using 'NO' not 'YES' and it was back to normal (which btw, is very fast anyway).

Wanting to speed up my graphics, I did some googling and learned that system-wide OpenGL is apparently shut off by default in both Tiger and Leopard. Open Terminal. insert this line of code, enter your password and restart:

 

sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.windowserver \QuartzGLEnabled -boolean YES

 

The difference, for me anyway, was big in 10.4.11- usable scrollingin L8.01. Basically, before doing this my scrolling would be "lag-jump-lag-jump" (unless I throttled down my mighty mouse scroll speed by 50% , then I got something that "resembled" scrolling, though not as smooth as Logic 7.2.3).

 

 

 

Something to keep in mind - your graphics card must support core image hardware acceleration. I have an ATI Radeon 9600 XT which was stock in my G5 dual 2.5. The info on my graphics card in "About This Mac/More Info" says:

 

Core Image: Hardware Accelerated

Quartz Extreme: Supported

QuartzGL: Supported (this was not listed until I upgraded to Leopard)

 

 

My current system is PPC G5 dual 2.5, 8 gig ram, OS 10.5.2

 

I hope this works for others. I couldn't be happier!

 

John,

 

Just wondering if this would add any graphic speed to my imac 2.16ghtz, which is not bad btw. When I checked about this mac I see "Core Image: Supported" not "Hardware Accelerated." I also have "Quartz Extreme: Supported" listed. Do you know anything about this?

 

Glad it's working for you and others.

 

adavis

Now that you mention it, I don't think Core Image said "hardware accelerated" until I upgraded to Leopard, but there was significant improvement under Tiger. I would say just plug in that line of code into Terminal and if you see an improvement, keep it. If not, change YES to NO, reboot your mac and go back to where you were. If you're happy with your graphic performance, by all means, don't mess with it.

I enter terminal. C&P'd the link of script, pressed return and got this like of text.

 

"WARNING: Improper use of the sudo command could lead to data loss

or the deletion of important system files. Please double-check your

typing when using sudo. Type "man sudo" for more information."

 

I'm not too savvy with this sort or thing, so typed "man sudo" and got the description of sudo. It doesn't mean much to me, but I interpret it as "don't f*&k with me or I'll delete s#!+ you need and kick you in the nuts".

 

I'm not looking for guarantees, but did everyone get this? How much damage would I do if it doesn't work out? Can I reverse the effects of I not diggin it?

 

Otherwise, big props for sharing the love!!!

Stevo - I got the same warning. It's just letting you know that "sudo" commands change things at the system level, so be careful. It may not be worth it to you to do this hack on a G4 anyway, as your video card may not support graphic acceleration. Open System Profiler and highlight "Graphics/Displays" and see what is says about "Core Image" and "Quartz Extreme". If one or both of these say "unsupported", then this hack probably won't help you.

See about 10 posts up

 

I'll give it a run in the morning and see how it runs. Truth be told things couldn't be running much slower than they are at present, so I don't think I've go that much to lose.

It seems to work for me. Good post, but maybe I should have waited for FDA approval.

It seems to work for me. Good post, but maybe I should have waited for FDA approval.

 

By which time we'd all be worm food.

.. holy schnitzel! that´s working indeed ..

 

thanks so much for this tip.

 

putte

See about 10 posts up

I'll give it a run in the morning and see how it runs. Truth be told things couldn't be running much slower than they are at present, so I don't think I've go that much to lose.

 

So what's the word on L8 on a G4 Powerbook with this fix??

 

In same siuation; have 1.25ghz G4 Powerbook. w/2GB ram and want to upgrade to L8 but have waited b/c am not sure how it'll run on my machine. Hope to be upgrading later this year to an 8core and still use the PB, so why not start now!

 

Thanks for the tip about this Blatboy!

I did it, I *think* it helped a very minor amount, but I'll take it.....I'm still very unhappy with the vid performance in L8 though....a little bit in this case doesn't get me back to even decent...

Wow, dude. Amazing tip. It's dope. I'm running a MBP 2.4 w/ 4GB RAM and GeForce8600 M GT. It is working really f$@%ing well. It made Logic wake up and it is snappier. It just responds much more quickly to every click.

 

What used to require holding down a click of the mouse now only requires a click and release. Excellent tip.

Hey Mr. Maestro_NYC don't thank me, thank John Butler! I've just spread the word a little *ahem*

 

To answer your question about the Powerbook, I hand it to Mr. Butler to explain...

 

 

Stevo - I got the same warning. It's just letting you know that "sudo" commands change things at the system level, so be careful. It may not be worth it to you to do this hack on a G4 anyway, as your video card may not support graphic acceleration. Open System Profiler and highlight "Graphics/Displays" and see what is says about "Core Image" and "Quartz Extreme". If one or both of these say "unsupported", then this hack probably won't help you.

 

So, check the settings on the Powerbook, and that should tell you if it will work.

Looks like I might be ok... checked System Profiler and both Core-Image and Quartz Extreme are supported. I have a 15in G4 Powerbook 1.5GHZ w/an ATI Mobility Radeon 9600.

-bash: Library/Preferences/com.apple.windowserver: No such file or directory

djangos-imac-g5:~ django$

 

is the response that i get from the terminal?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PPC G5 Imac, 2ghz, 2g RAM, OSX 10.4.11