Luminous Landscape Forum

Equipment & Techniques => Computers & Peripherals => Topic started by: phila on August 28, 2009, 07:15:57 am

Title: Snow Leopard observations
Post by: phila on August 28, 2009, 07:15:57 am
Firstly it is FAST!!!!    Well at least on my 2008 MacPro (16GB RAM). The way windows, scrolling and other general Finder behaviour operate is noticeably quicker.

No obvious problems with Photoshop CS3 or Lightroom 2.2.

Canon Pro9000 - OK

Epson V700 - OK

Canon FS4000 (via VueScan) - OK

Firmtek 4-bay enclosure (via Sertek PCI eSATA cards) - OK

Canon iPF5100 - No go. New drivers required. Full 64bit driver for *000 & *100 printers (and Photoshop Plug-in) due around Oct 9th it appears.

Needed to reselect my monitor profile.

I have a SuperDuper backup (which is why I was happy to install SL so soon) I can boot into for iPF5100 printing, or if anything else rears its ugly head, but it will be a hardship to do so, the improvement is so noticeable!

By the way I did a Customised (removed non-English languages, X-11 etc) standard Install over the top of 10.5.8. I've always done Archive&Install before but was curious to see see how the default Install worked. Rosetta was installed via Software Update after the OS install. I don't know how much is due to the smaller OS and how much was the removal of incompatible software (you're told some has been removed, but not what) but I recovered 38GB of space! Note that SL has changed how space is shown. The OS now uses 1000MB = 1GB, not 1024. Also the Mac default gamma has changed from 1.8 to 2.2. It's like loosing the dogcow!  
Title: Snow Leopard observations
Post by: Josh-H on August 28, 2009, 08:31:48 am
Quote from: phila
Firstly it is FAST!!!!    Well at least on my 2008 MacPro (16GB RAM). The way windows, scrolling and other general Finder behaviour operate is noticeably quicker.

No obvious problems with Photoshop CS3 or Lightroom 2.2.

Canon Pro9000 - OK

Epson V700 - OK

Canon FS4000 (via VueScan) - OK

Firmtek 4-bay enclosure (via Sertek PCI eSATA cards) - OK

Canon iPF5100 - No go. New drivers required. Full 64bit driver for *000 & *100 printers (and Photoshop Plug-in) due around Oct 9th it appears.

Needed to reselect my monitor profile.

I have a SuperDuper backup (which is why I was happy to install SL so soon) I can boot into for iPF5100 printing, or if anything else rears its ugly head, but it will be a hardship to do so, the improvement is so noticeable!

By the way I did a Customised (removed non-English languages, X-11 etc) standard Install over the top of 10.5.8. I've always done Archive&Install before but was curious to see see how the default Install worked. Rosetta was installed via Software Update after the OS install. I don't know how much is due to the smaller OS and how much was the removal of incompatible software (you're told some has been removed, but not what) but I recovered 38GB of space! Note that SL has changed how space is shown. The OS now uses 1000MB = 1GB, not 1024. Also the Mac default gamma has changed from 1.8 to 2.2. It's like loosing the dogcow!  


Likewise have installed Snow Leopard on my Mac Pro w/ 32gig ram - and its uber FAST.

I have not yet tried printing to my IPF5100 - but sounds like a new driver is required.

I also Super Duper'd my mac before the upgrade just in case.

Edit - Confirmed - 5100 no go under Snow Leopard. Tried to print from Lightroom, but the driver is clearly inoperable as only half the needed settings show up in the print settings dialogue.

I hear the rumour is October 9th for 64 bit X100 series Canon drivers for Snow Leopard. Lets hope its before then - I have stuff to print!
Title: Snow Leopard observations
Post by: mmurph on August 28, 2009, 12:39:20 pm
Quote from: phila
I don't know how much is due to the smaller OS and how much was the removal of incompatible software (you're told some has been removed, but not what)

Adobe has said they can reduce their code by more than 50% just by eliminating Power PC support.  I would assume that also accounts for a good portion of the space recovery?

Obviously a lot of other cahnges invoolved, but that may account for most of the space.

Michael
Title: Snow Leopard observations
Post by: francois on August 29, 2009, 03:55:54 am
Quote from: mmurph
Adobe has said they can reduce their code by more than 50% just by eliminating Power PC support.  I would assume that also accounts for a good portion of the space recovery?

Correct, most of the space saving comes from the removal of PPC code. Some "old" technologies have also been eliminated (ex: AppleTalk).
Title: Snow Leopard observations
Post by: ashley on August 31, 2009, 04:48:15 pm
Quote from: francois
Correct, most of the space saving comes from the removal of PPC code. Some "old" technologies have also been eliminated (ex: AppleTalk).

I should be getting snow leopard delivered some time next week and I am looking forward to it. My gut feeling tells me that most things should still work pretty well and hopefully there will be a notable lift in speed, though I am sad it can't be installed on my still very usable G5. The key areas I suspect there may be troubles relate to the printer driver for my Epson R1800, so I shall certainly keep a copy of 10.5.8 backed up via SuperDuper! in the short term.
Title: Snow Leopard observations
Post by: Tgrain on August 31, 2009, 05:11:05 pm
If you're still running Tiger no need to pay $169 for the "pack".  The $29 Snow leopard install disk worked perfectly on my intel imac previously running  Tiger 10.4.8
Title: Snow Leopard observations
Post by: francois on September 01, 2009, 02:57:07 am
Quote from: Tgrain
If you're still running Tiger no need to pay $169 for the "pack".  The $29 Snow leopard install disk worked perfectly on my intel imac previously running  Tiger 10.4.8
Snow Leopard will even install on a freshly erased drive  
Title: Snow Leopard observations
Post by: John.Murray on September 02, 2009, 12:46:33 pm
A bit of a train wreck for me so far ......

A few things I absolutely depend on are broken:

Cisco VPN Client
HP Z3100 Printing
HP B9180 Colors are wrong
Apple's Server Admin Tools no longer work (!)

Obviously, things will get sorted soon, this *is* a new O/S, kinda reminds me of my experience with Vista.....
Title: Snow Leopard observations
Post by: knweiss on September 02, 2009, 03:02:09 pm
Quote from: Joh.Murray
Cisco VPN Client
I'm not using Cisco VPN Client by myself but SL now includes native support for Cisco IPsec VPN connections
(the VPN Type is called "Cisco IPsec" in the Network Preferences). So you should not need the Cisco VPN client anymore.
Title: Snow Leopard observations
Post by: BernardLanguillier on September 02, 2009, 05:26:05 pm
More info here:

http://luminous-landscape.com/forum/index....rt=#entry305846 (http://luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=37162&pid=305846&mode=threaded&start=#entry305846)

As of now:

- DxO, Autopano Pro 2.0, Capture NX2 all have issues,
- Apps like Photomatix, Bento, Scrivener,... all need available updates to be fully usable,
- It seems that Atto now has SL compatible drivers and flash update utility for their SCSI cards.

I am currently delaying installing SL on my prod machine, works fine on the family iMac.

Cheers,
Bernard
Title: Snow Leopard observations
Post by: John.Murray on September 02, 2009, 06:08:40 pm
Quote from: knweiss
I'm not using Cisco VPN Client by myself but SL now includes native support for Cisco IPsec VPN connections
(the VPN Type is called "Cisco IPsec" in the Network Preferences). So you should not need the Cisco VPN client anymore.
One of my clients uses an RSA "thumbdrive" keygen, this access type is not support by any "generic" VPN client, including Windows.  FWIW, I had the same issue when Vista was released...
Title: Snow Leopard observations
Post by: Colorwave on September 03, 2009, 01:39:45 am
Quote from: Joh.Murray
A few things I absolutely depend on are broken:
HP Z3100 Printing
HP B9180 Colors are wrong
I haven't upgraded yet myself, but I'm curious if you have downloaded the new drivers from Software Update (not the HP site).  Others have reported that working for them, although I haven't heard much about the B9180.  I have both printers, so I'm following this with interest.
Title: Snow Leopard observations
Post by: francois on September 03, 2009, 02:24:55 am
Apple has updated the Server software tools: http://support.apple.com/downloads/Server_Admin_Tools_10_6 (http://support.apple.com/downloads/Server_Admin_Tools_10_6)
Title: Snow Leopard observations
Post by: BernardLanguillier on September 03, 2009, 07:52:03 pm
Open/Save issues found with PS CS4...

http://blogs.adobe.com/jnack/ (http://blogs.adobe.com/jnack/)

Crash at save is the worst possible bug, it should make migration to SL an absolute NO GO for now.

Cheers,
Bernard
Title: Snow Leopard observations
Post by: Dave Dunham on September 04, 2009, 10:01:58 pm
Quote from: BernardLanguillier
Open/Save issues found with PS CS4...

http://blogs.adobe.com/jnack/ (http://blogs.adobe.com/jnack/)

Crash at save is the worst possible bug, it should make migration to SL an absolute NO GO for now.

Cheers,
Bernard
Title: Snow Leopard observations
Post by: BernardLanguillier on September 08, 2009, 09:02:51 pm
Yes, I am totally amazed that Apple doesn't stress this issue more.

Mac World is also totally silent about it... great to see independant press at its best.  

According to Adobe, the problem is widespread and not limited to Adobe applications.

Having issues is understandable, but not communicating openly about an issue of this importance makes me deeply question my commitment to OSX as a platform. This is totally irresponsible and would make the first page of the New York Times if MS did half of that.

Cheers,
Bernard
Title: Snow Leopard observations
Post by: digitaldog on September 08, 2009, 09:24:09 pm
Quote from: BernardLanguillier
Open/Save issues found with PS CS4...
Crash at save is the worst possible bug, it should make migration to SL an absolute NO GO for now.

Not crashing for me. And yes, as posted, SL is really fast!
Title: Snow Leopard observations
Post by: Josh-H on September 08, 2009, 09:40:49 pm
Quote from: digitaldog
Not crashing for me. And yes, as posted, SL is really fast!

Not crashing for me either. No problems saving files in CS4 *touch-wood*
Title: Snow Leopard observations
Post by: BernardLanguillier on September 08, 2009, 11:23:17 pm
Quote from: Josh-H
Not crashing for me either. No problems saving files in CS4 *touch-wood*

It is probably a combination of factors.

Cheers,
Bernard
Title: Snow Leopard observations
Post by: ashley on September 09, 2009, 01:42:30 am
On the whole Snow Leopard is working out pretty well for me since I first installed it on Monday. Most of it seems very much the same before, however certain Apple optimised applications are now greasy fast. This bodes well for CS5 when it's eventually released.

A few 3rd party options I had have mysteriously been deleted such as one that was used to cancel the start up sound. Very strangely and rather annoyingly it also removed my canned Epson printing profiles which were bang on the money for colour accuracy with my R1800 and better than some custom profiles I had made. I looked in Time Machine but anything done before the upgrade to snow leopard has disappeared. Epson had some profiles on their site, but the names have changed and for whatever reason there appears to be a small difference in the results I am seeing which are now a little darker. I also had to recalibrate my monitor following the upgrade.

For the space saving, installing Snow Leopard reclaimed a whopping 58 gigs of hard drive. I shall have to give it all more time but on the whole it's looking good and dare I say it, what Leopard should have been like when it was released. I have experienced crashes though while exporting PDF files from Pages and when importing messages from Entourage into Mail.
Title: Snow Leopard observations
Post by: tho_mas on September 11, 2009, 05:33:04 pm
The DTP94 doesn't work properly on Snow Leopard, at least not on my machine with Color Navigator (5.2.2) and BasICColor Display (4.1.15).
It works but the measurement period per color patch is quite long and in dark tonalvalues the results are off.
I rebootet my machine in Leopard and the DTP94 worked accurate and flawless with both softwares as usual.
Will there be an update for the DTP94? Probably not - a real pitty.
Title: Snow Leopard observations
Post by: BernardLanguillier on September 11, 2009, 09:44:39 pm
Still crashes at save on some configs even after 1.6.1 upgrade.

http://blogs.adobe.com/jnack/2009/09/snow_...d.html#comments (http://blogs.adobe.com/jnack/2009/09/snow_leopard_1061_update_released.html#comments)

Cheers,
Bernard
Title: Snow Leopard observations
Post by: digitaldog on September 12, 2009, 12:40:18 pm
Quote from: tho_mas
The DTP94 doesn't work properly on Snow Leopard, at least not on my machine with Color Navigator (5.2.2) and BasICColor Display (4.1.15).

Has to be the software as this hardware ran fine on my NEC 3090 with SpectraView II 1.1.03.
Title: Snow Leopard observations
Post by: BlasR on September 12, 2009, 01:48:09 pm
Quote from: BernardLanguillier
Still crashes at save on some configs even after 1.6.1 upgrade.

http://blogs.adobe.com/jnack/2009/09/snow_...d.html#comments (http://blogs.adobe.com/jnack/2009/09/snow_leopard_1061_update_released.html#comments)

Cheers,
Bernard


My crash if I do more then two layers.

Blas
Title: Snow Leopard observations
Post by: ashley on September 18, 2009, 10:47:37 am
I have had a nightmare since upgrading to snow leopard and originally I was convinced that this was down to the upgrade. It turned out to be a failing hard drive but the signs were far from clear and it looked more like software issues at the start. I have written a more complete blog post at:

http://www.nudephotopro.com/blog/2009/09/c...aches/#more-402 (http://www.nudephotopro.com/blog/2009/09/computer-headaches/#more-402)
Title: Snow Leopard observations
Post by: kers on September 18, 2009, 07:04:39 pm
DXO does not install
NX2.20 works 2.2.2 does not
I have problems of software that cannot find to find the ICC profiles they just produced...?
PTLens says it will not work-

so I wait a half year...

Have not found anything usefull worth upgrading

It will come but not now...

Apple is ahead of the future again..
Title: Snow Leopard observations
Post by: tho_mas on September 19, 2009, 09:42:26 am
Quote from: digitaldog
Has to be the software as this hardware ran fine on my NEC 3090 with SpectraView II 1.1.03.
yes, maybe. With "Argyll" the DTP94 seems to run okay.
Title: Snow Leopard observations
Post by: Jack Flesher on September 25, 2009, 11:57:41 am
Quote from: kers
PTLens says it will not work-

so I wait a half year...

Hmmm....  I need to tag Thomas -- PTLens is running fine in stand-alone or CS plug-in mode.  Maybe doesn't work in LR, I don't know because I use C1.

I did the install finally last night, and it went surprisingly smoothly.  I would not "endorse" it yet, but so far, so good.  I am not having any prominent issues, can save layers, can save jpegs.  I did update all of my key software before the SL install and I did install Rosetta from the options on the SL disk.  I did have to uninstall and reinstall my 3800, but that was about it.  Ditto my MPB install -- went smooth.  As for performance, the only thing notable so far is that launches are faster and C1 seems to run a lot faster.


Title: Snow Leopard observations
Post by: NikosR on September 28, 2009, 03:17:01 am
Quote from: kers
NX2.20 works 2.2.2 does not


According to this http://www.diglloyd.com/diglloyd/2009-09-b...NikonCaptureNX2 (http://www.diglloyd.com/diglloyd/2009-09-blog.html#_20090901NikonCaptureNX2) it seems the problem is in the installer not the program per se. If you can find an installation of 2.2.2 on Leopard it's worth it to try what Lloyd is suggesting.
Title: Snow Leopard observations
Post by: Baxter on September 29, 2009, 03:31:22 pm
I got fed up of waiting for the NX2 update, so uninstalled NX2 v2.2.2 and downloaded the NX2 2.2.0 updater from the Nikon Europe website. Works fine, opening files which it previously wouldn't. Have to say I find it v frustrating that they haven't moved quicker on this.

Title: Snow Leopard observations
Post by: NikosR on September 30, 2009, 01:20:20 am
Quote from: Baxter
I got fed up of waiting for the NX2 update, so uninstalled NX2 v2.2.2 and downloaded the NX2 2.2.0 updater from the Nikon Europe website. Works fine, opening files which it previously wouldn't. Have to say I find it v frustrating that they haven't moved quicker on this.


NX 2.2.2 works FINE on Snow Leopard, if you get it to install correctly. For the people who have not upgraded to Snow yet the easiest way is to upgrade to NX 2.2.2 on Leopard first and then upgrade to Snow. No problem then. Other way is as Lloyd suggest in link I have provided earlier. In any case, the problem lies with the installer not the program itself. That doesn't mean Nikon shouldn't fix it though...
Title: Snow Leopard observations
Post by: kers on September 30, 2009, 06:03:24 am
Quote from: NikosR
NX 2.2.2 works FINE on Snow Leopard, if you get it to install correctly. For the people who have not upgraded to Snow yet the easiest way is to upgrade to NX 2.2.2 on Leopard first and then upgrade to Snow. No problem then. Other way is as Lloyd suggest in link I have provided earlier. In any case, the problem lies with the installer not the program itself. That doesn't mean Nikon shouldn't fix it though...


It woulld be a good thing if Nikon produced their software as good as the cameras.

NX2:  a very slow program with an unlogical interface and slow render speed-

But still produces the finest detail out of my d3x nefs so i have to stick by it...for the serious photography

They should have a talk with the man behind Raw Developer- maker of a small very fast working program with a logical interface.
Title: Snow Leopard observations
Post by: schrodingerscat on October 11, 2009, 02:20:39 pm
Just picked up a refurb Mini that came with the SL installed and the Drop In disc. I did an erase and install of a full backup of my old machine from an external drive, reinstalling SL afterwards. Performed usual voodoo before and after backup install and SL upgrade, and the 10.6.1 update.

Everything seemed fine, but had some strange Airport behavior so called Tech Support. Seemes there was indeed a problem somewhere, so reverted the Mini back to 10.5.8. Just for grins I also installed SL on an Air running 10.5.8 and had the same Airport problem, could only access the base station with one certain configuration that was different from 10.5. Don't use the laptop that much, or for heavy lifting, so haven't explored SL further on it.

In the meantime I did a bit of research and found lots of folks having Photoshop and printing problems with SL along with the usual teething situations, mostly involving haxies and drivers. During a call about another matter, an Adobe tech support person recommended that waiting 'till 10.6.2 "would be a good idea". This was also echoed by some of the more knowledgeable folks posting on various forums.

Always a good idea to check for compatibility with necessary apps and equipment before making major OS upgrades and make sure to bring everything else up to current standards afterwards.

BTW - incompatible components found by SL are moved to a folder on your hard drive labeled "Incompatible Software"
Title: Snow Leopard observations
Post by: ashley on October 11, 2009, 02:26:05 pm
I actually found airport much improved on my iMac after installing snow leopard. I agree though that there are a few issues with Photoshop and I am hoping they will be resolved in a week or two when 10.6.2 is released.
Title: Snow Leopard observations
Post by: schrodingerscat on October 11, 2009, 03:41:33 pm
Quote from: ashley
I actually found airport much improved on my iMac after installing snow leopard. I agree though that there are a few issues with Photoshop and I am hoping they will be resolved in a week or two when 10.6.2 is released.

The problem wasn't reception, but that I couldn't turn it off/on either from the menu bar or preferences. No problem with 10.5. Maybe not much of a problem, but could indicate other surprises waiting in the wings as it was a glitch involving current Mac hardware and software.

Will try 10.6.2 on the Air when it's available.
Title: Snow Leopard observations
Post by: ashley on October 11, 2009, 03:45:14 pm
Sounds like it may be affecting various computers in different ways. I've had no problems at all on the iMac with 10.6 but it was always a pain even trying to get a connection on 10.5 and I was convinced the built in antenna was useless because the old G5 was always perfect.