My G4 Dual 500 takes like 5 minutes to boot.

I turn it on. The starting sound plays. Black Screen. 5 Minutes later the OS9.1 screen showing up.

Sometimes when I played with the "Extensions On/Off" it boots normal. But after 2 or 3 Reboots it's back to the old state...

Anyone knows this problem?

I think my Mac has a problem remembering stuff too. I always turn on the function "go to directory last used by program" and it always switches back to "go to directory prefered by the program" after i reboot.

Maybe someone knows all this :-)

first, are you running tons of ram? like say 512mb - 1gig? when you boot your mac... it will do a RAM check and the more RAM you have... the longer it takes. You can bypass this in the memory control panel but to see the option you must hold apple+option key when selecting memory control panel and then you will see extra click box for turning RAM check off during startup.

yes, I too have the same problem with the last used folders in 9.1 so don't think its your computer. Its aggrivating too and don't understand why it does it.

i got 712mb. already unclicked that option. but it still takes forever to boot.
the strange thing about it is that sometimes it boots fast. like after i changed something in the system. (turning usb off for my canon camera or other stuff). but all that doesn't work twice. so u cannot say it's because of this or that.

hmm, well the only other thing I can think of is your HD may be fragmented and need to be defraged... that can slow everything down a bit... and if that is not it... you may want to consider doing a system clean install especially if you are having other problems. Sorry don't really know what to tell you beyond that.

oh yeah... it could be an extension hanging it up too... you could aways use extension manager and turn off any that aren't needed and you can turn the non OS9 ones off one by one and see if they are the culprit.

sorry maybe it sounds a little stupid. but i'm really a mac newbie. How do i defrag my system? i know how to on a win pc but on a mac? is there any programm installed or do i have to get one?

For the boot :

- Try to zap the PRAM

holdcommand/option/P/R on start up; you hear the startup sound continue to hold, the screen stays black

Hold until your hear it 3 times then release, it'll continue the start up.

- In control pannels, open start up

select a different disk for strat up if you have one, if not, insert your start up CD. Close the pannel. Reopen it, reselect your normal start up disk. If you used the CD, eject it. Shut down. wait 10 seconds, restart.

- Check all connections outside and inside

shut down
disconnect main power !

unplug and replug every thing outside, if you use a USB or ethernet hub shut them down too

Inside, proceed carefully (if you're not sure find someone who did it even in a pc) unplug the ram, the cards, the different patches of cords fors HD etc. one at a time. replug everything. Go calmly, never use force, if you have something is wrong, check your position of insertion.

now restart.

if it's not ok still :

shut down, open the mac, locate the reset micro switch (somewhere near the lithium battery) if you have one. Press it on start up (don't touch anything else !) a fex seconds.

you can close the mac softly.

For defrag you need either Techtools or Norton utilities (speed disk)

thx a lot for the help. found it! i had 2x 256mb and 2x 128mb in the computer. i took both 128 out and it worked. now i'm running 512. tomorrow i'll try to hook up only 1 of the 128s to test which one is broken.

finally i can use my computer after i turned it on *g*

Go on the site of Newer technology (make a search here it was given last week in the French forums) to download Gauge Pro, it'll check your ram.

btw as ram is dirt cheap…

go the full monthy!

I don't know if Americans understand the full monty. I think its British (re.film)
= go all the way (in this case)

ohh yeah,,, that is the downside of turning off the RAM check in memory control panel... when its on... if you have bad RAM you will hear the glass breaking sound on startup. But if it is off... then its something you don't often think of when you have problems