Mac os X Tiger video lagging issues

[Peskado]

Hi everybody!

Well, here we come...
I have a Power Mac G4 computer (Power Macintosh G4/1.25 mirrored Drive Doors 2003) with the following technical specifications;
- CPU: PowerPC G4 (3.3), 1.25 GHz, Mac Os X Tiger 10.4.11
- 1.25 GB RAM, 378 GB HDD
- ATI Radeon 9000 Pro, ATY RV250 Chipset, VRAM 64 MB
- External Screen running at 1280 x 768 @ 60 Hz

I know that the computer is quite old and therefore it is quite limited in terms of the progress of updates in the world of video and music (obviously the same if you want to work with that).
Anyway, first i tried the computer with Mac Os X Leopard but Tiger version works like a charm. Incredible.

The problem comes when i try to play videos on this machine mainly with VlC 0.9.10 (last version supported for Tiger) and Quicktime 7.6.4. (I have also tried several video players). All the kind of videos i tried to play get stuck and advance with so much lag that I would like to open the window and throw away the computer.

I have spent whole nights trying to find the solution over the internet at the same time that I have tried to apply different tips but the result is always the same; videos that play slowly out of sync with the audio and distorting the image.

Maybe it's a codec problem, I really don't know. If someone could help me I would be very grateful.



With all my respect,
Peskado.

[ultane]

Welcome to the forum!

I really don’t know squat about what I’m talking about, BUT.. have you considered running one of the Linux operating systems on you G4? Maybe some of the Linux techies have something that will work(?).

[Cornucopia]

Pretty sure it's a "hardware is too old" problem.

Scott

[ultane]

Probably so.

[Peskado]

Yeah, I´m starting at think the same, you know, the machine is from 2003 and the video card is an ATI Radeon 9000 Pro of just 64 MB so...

A lot of old videos edited on this machine works perfect but If I try to play a video that I edited on a macbook pro from 2012, there is no way, it gets imposible. It should be too much of a load for the computer I think.

Anyway, it is a machine that works excellent to work with the cs2 suite of photoshop, indesign, etc., also with final cut and logic express. A fairly faithful machine despite everything. What to say, it is 17 years old.

[orsetto]

What to say, it is 17 years old.

An oldie but a goodie: G4 mirrored drive doors was the last vestige of old skool Apple before Jobs finally got swallowed whole by his own ego. IIRC, they came with Jaguar or Panther but could still run OS9 natively (which we did on many towers in the textile firm whose Macs I was supporting). They're still mission critical CPUs as the brains behind some irreplaceable legacy software, scanners and other devices. Even the earlier grey-door G4s are quite task-capable as long as you keep software versions within their compatibility range. Unfortunately modern video and web standards are some of the things they don't cope with so well.

[Peskado]

What to say, it is 17 years old.

An oldie but a goodie: G4 mirrored drive doors was the last vestige of old skool Apple before Jobs finally got swallowed whole by his own ego. IIRC, they came with Jaguar or Panther but could still run OS9 natively (which we did on many towers in the textile firm whose Macs I was supporting). They're still mission critical CPUs as the brains behind some irreplaceable legacy software, scanners and other devices. Even the earlier grey-door G4s are quite task-capable as long as you keep software versions within their compatibility range. Unfortunately modern video and web standards are some of the things they don't cope with so well.

Nice to know. I use it most for graphics/audio/video production and some edition.
Do you know how can i "get the most out of this machine"?. I mean applications, operativ system, a good way to keep it in good condition and operativ, like it is.

[october262]

What to say, it is 17 years old.

An oldie but a goodie: G4 mirrored drive doors was the last vestige of old skool Apple before Jobs finally got swallowed whole by his own ego. IIRC, they came with Jaguar or Panther but could still run OS9 natively (which we did on many towers in the textile firm whose Macs I was supporting). They're still mission critical CPUs as the brains behind some irreplaceable legacy software, scanners and other devices. Even the earlier grey-door G4s are quite task-capable as long as you keep software versions within their compatibility range. Unfortunately modern video and web standards are some of the things they don't cope with so well.

Nice to know. I use it most for graphics/audio/video production and some edition.
Do you know how can i "get the most out of this machine"?. I mean applications, operativ system, a good way to keep it in good condition and operativ, like it is.

have you tried updating your graphics card drivers ??
how full i your HDD ?? and have tried defraging your HDD.
also try this for VLC stuttering - https://mattgadient.com/vlc-mac-stutter-the-fix/

[Peskado]

yes, i have installed the latest version of the driver for the ATI RADEON 9000 PRO (still have support on OS X Tiger) that I found in macintoshgarden (it is also the same latest version found in sites with old mac repositories).

It's 378 HDD - 2 partitions; Operativ system (78 GB) and Files&Stuff (300 GB). I'm playing videos from the operativ system HDD ( maybe that could be?)

i have used that alternative you mention with vlc player too


looks like it's about the files quality, resolution, kind...

i'm thinking (trying to resolve) in which way i can get the best performance for this model.
Now it's running on Tiger (last update) and only operativ system installed.
- all the following applications with their own respectiv last updates accord OS X Tiger;
Photoshop CS2, Indesign CS2, Ilustrator CS2, Logic pro 4 express, Final cut express, Vlc, Quicktime, Perian, Onyx, Audacity

[october262]

yes, i have installed the latest version of the driver for the ATI RADEON 9000 PRO (still have support on OS X Tiger) that I found in macintoshgarden (it is also the same latest version found in sites with old mac repositories).

It's 378 HDD - 2 partitions; Operativ system (78 GB) and Files&Stuff (300 GB). I'm playing videos from the operativ system HDD ( maybe that could be?)

i have used that alternative you mention with vlc player too


looks like it's about the files quality, resolution, kind...

i'm thinking (trying to resolve) in which way i can get the best performance for this model.
Now it's running on Tiger (last update) and only operativ system installed.
- all the following applications with their own respectiv last updates accord OS X Tiger;
Photoshop CS2, Indesign CS2, Ilustrator CS2, Logic pro 4 express, Final cut express, Vlc, Quicktime, Perian, Onyx, Audacity

you might consider replacing your HDD for a faster SSD.

[Peskado]

yes, i have installed the latest version of the driver for the ATI RADEON 9000 PRO (still have support on OS X Tiger) that I found in macintoshgarden (it is also the same latest version found in sites with old mac repositories).

It's 378 HDD - 2 partitions; Operativ system (78 GB) and Files&Stuff (300 GB). I'm playing videos from the operativ system HDD ( maybe that could be?)

i have used that alternative you mention with vlc player too


looks like it's about the files quality, resolution, kind...

i'm thinking (trying to resolve) in which way i can get the best performance for this model.
Now it's running on Tiger (last update) and only operativ system installed.
- all the following applications with their own respectiv last updates accord OS X Tiger;
Photoshop CS2, Indesign CS2, Ilustrator CS2, Logic pro 4 express, Final cut express, Vlc, Quicktime, Perian, Onyx, Audacity

you might consider replacing your HDD for a faster SSD.

That's true...

I've performed a test regarding memory usage betwen VLC and Quicktime (both of them last version for Tiger 10.4.11) with the same video file. Quicktime use 200 mb at most but VLC use double of memory, close to 400 mb.