MacBook/MacBook Pro setup ?

[barrows]

We seem to have a lot of setup information spread about in threads all over this site, so sorry to start a new thread. Chris, maybe we should have a forum topic devoted specifically to computer set up/tweaks?

Anyway, here is my question. I have heard some claim it is best to disable all energy saver preferences for better computer performance in playback, I am not so sure about this when using a laptop. I am now doing the following: set sleep to "never", but set display to shut off asap. I figure having the display off has got to be better for sound (less power consumption, less RF, etc) right? Mac experts, please let me know what you think.

For reference my set up is below, and I run off battery power for critical listening.

 

[ted_b]

I never let it sleep, but have screen blank out after 1 minute. I also disable spotlight, bluetooth and wireless, and make sure disk journaling is off. I often listen in battery mode, but also often to forget to plug the damn thing back in after listening sessions, so now I have a note I keep near my remote recharging station (which I always remember to use).

 

[Encore]

Ted, have you compared sound with and without the charger connected to your Macbook? With a PC, myself and others have noted that, contrary to expectations (so no placebo here), it actually sounded better with the charger connected.

 

[bixby]

weird but true for me as well. Better with charger

 

[ted_b]

placebo, but so often I forget whether I unplugged it or not..and more than once have noticed some of my best listening sessions were on battery only! is that a good double blind test?? Nope, but it's all i know. I can't imagine why charger would sound better but maybe some Windows laptops are starved for power in battery mode??

 

 

[barrows]

Can you share the exact procedure for shutting down Spotlight?

I have unchecked all the boxes, but his does not really shut it down, which has to be done via the terminal. I am a little nervous about terminal commands, but am totally willing to give it a go with complete instructions. I am on 10.6.4.

 

[ted_b]

1) Shut off Spotlight indexing by removing the check in the box from every category that Spotlight can index (this is in System Preferences, the Spotlight options). This prevents Spotlight from running in the background.

2) Disable spotlight in terminal by typing (not the quotes)

"mdutil -a -i off"

3) Turn off dashboard by entering in terminal (not quotes, but the caps are required)

"defaults write com.apple.dashboard mcx-disabled -boolean YES"

Hit your enter key, then type (caps included)

"killall Dock"

Hit your enter key

 

 

 

 

[wgscott]

The performance takes a hit by default to conserve energy with the battery. You might be able to get it to behave better by going to the "Energy Saver" system preferences and changing the default settings.

 

Also, I am pretty sure you need a sudo to turn off the mdfind stuff, i.e.,

 

sudo mdutil -a -i off

 

[barrows]

Ted and WG.

 

so to turn off Spotlight type:

 

mdutil -a -i off

 

or

 

sudo mdutil -a -i off

 

Is there any consensus which is correct? And, please excuse my ignorance on terminal command usage, but do I hit the enter key after typing the command and then just quit terminal?

 

Thanks.

 

[wgscott]

Do it without sudo first. If that works, then fine. If not you will get feedback that looks like this:

 

 

zsh-% mdutil -a -i off

/:

Error: unable to perform operation. Try as root. (-1)

Indexing enabled.

zsh-% sudo mdutil -a -i off

/:

Indexing disabled.

 

 

(Your prompt won't look like mine unless you are a bigger geek than i am.)

 

Yes, you hit enter or return. Then you can type exit or just quit the Terminal.

 

If you would like to learn more about the unix underpinnings of OS X, I assembled a few unix links.

 

 

 

[barrows]

wg, that is very helpful. I'll give it a go.

 

[barrows]

sudo was neccessary on my MacBook:

 

sudo mdutil -a -i off

 

Worked, and Spotlight is now disabled

 

Thanks, Ted and WG.

 

[barrows]

Sorry to bother you again. In the interest of getting this info in one thread: I tried to quite Finder by typing:

 

defaults write com.apple.finder QuitMenuItem 1

 

killall Finder

 

then hit "enter" key

 

and this did not work. disregard message. Then tried:

 

defaults write com.apple.finder QuitMenuItem 1

 

hit "enter" key

 

killall Finder

 

hit "enter" key

 

and nothing happened.

What am I doing wrong? (OSX 10.6.4)

 

[wgscott]

I'm not sure, but this works for me:

 

defaults write com.apple.finder QuitMenuItem 1

 

At the end of the line, in this or any example, you want to hit the return key.

 

Then you can check to see if it is there:

 

defaults read com.apple.finder QuitMenuItem

 

and hit the return key. You should see a value of 1 returned if it worked.

 

The change won't take effect until you kill finder and restart it, so you can do this:

 

osascript -e 'tell app "Finder" to quit'

 

hit the return key.

 

Then

 

open -a Finder

 

Will restart it.

 

killall Finder Should also kill the Finder process.

 

 

If command-line stuff isn't your cup of tea, there are some other options, like the very nice and free TinkerTool. Also, TinkerToolSystem2 can be run five times for free, and does many system tweaks we discuss here, as well as a huge number that never even occurred to me.