Mac OS X Update 10.5.7

[Pitch Black]

I don't believe so. I'm afraid I don't know much about cron scripts.

I understand there are other apps for that such as Cocktail and quite a few others. What can you do using cron scripts? Anyone got a pointer for a cron noob to a good description of why I should be running them? cheers.

[oblique strategies]

have you repaired disk permissions yet?

No! I knew there were something I was forgetting. Will give that a go and see if it happens again... cheers...

Good luck

[oblique strategies]

I don't believe so. I'm afraid I don't know much about cron scripts.

I understand there are other apps for that such as Cocktail and quite a few others. What can you do using cron scripts? Anyone got a pointer for a cron noob to a good description of why I should be running them? cheers.

Mac OS X is a UNIX-based system, built in part on both BSD and FreeBSD. UNIX systems run scheduled maintenance routines — known as maintenance scripts — to clean up a variety of System logs and temporary files. By default, these are executed between 03:15 and 05:30 hours local time, depending on the script. That's 24-hour time = 3:15-5:30 AM.

If your Mac is shut down or in sleep mode during these hours, the maintenance scripts will not run. This results in log files that will grow over time, consuming free space on your Mac OS X startup disk.

If your Mac is shut down or left in sleep mode overnight, the maintenance scripts should be run manually on a regular basis… unless you plan on devoting a large portion of your hard drive to the files cleaned-up by these routines!

Manually running the maintenance scripts: Two Methods:

The Easy Way

Download and install a third-party utility, such as Cocktail or Yasu, that provides a function for running the maintenance scripts. You may find additional solutions by searching MacUpdate or VersionTracker. Employ the version of the utility that is compatible with to the version of Mac OS X you are using.

These utilities permit running any individual maintenance script — daily, weekly, or monthly — or all of them. For example, running all three scripts weekly is a good habit if your Mac is frequently shutdown or in sleep mode overnight.

While we have not tested it, we have read positive reports from users of the freeware application Anacron. It runs the maintenance scripts automatically if the computer is awake and the scripts have not run when scheduled. As with other utilities, employ the version of Anacron that is compatible with the version of Mac OS X you are using..


The Terminal Way

Using your Admin account, you can run all three maintenance scripts at once:

1. Open Terminal, located in the Macintosh HD > Applications > Utilities folder.
2. At the Terminal prompt, type the following, exactly as written:
sudo periodic daily weekly monthly
3. Press Return.
4. Type your Admin password when prompted, then press Return.

All three scripts will run in sequence. There is no visual feedback while the scripts execute. You will know they are completed when the Terminal prompt returns.

You can also run the scripts individually. For example, to run just the daily script, you would type the the following command in step 2:

sudo periodic daily

NOTE: Be very careful when in Terminal; go slowly & take it step-by-step.

[fishmonkey]

I don't believe so. I'm afraid I don't know much about cron scripts.

I understand there are other apps for that such as Cocktail and quite a few others. What can you do using cron scripts? Anyone got a pointer for a cron noob to a good description of why I should be running them? cheers.

the Unix cron jobs tidy up various system files... because Unix is used mainly on computers that are on 24/7, the cron jobs were generally scheduled to run in the wee small hours... and so it used to be that when your Mac wasn't on in the wee small hours, the cron jobs wouldn't get a chance to do their thing...

i'm pretty sure that a while back Apple changed the way it works in Mac OS X so that the cron jobs still happen, even if your computer doesn't stay up late... in other words, you don't have to worry about it...

[oblique strategies]

i'm pretty sure that a while back Apple changed the way it works in Mac OS X so that the cron jobs still happen, even if your computer doesn't stay up late... in other words, you don't have to worry about it...

It seems the jury is still out on whether cron job reliability has been fixed in Leopard. Because of this it is still advisable to run them if your computer is off during their default run times.

See this for more info:
http://lowendmac.com/misc/08mr/mb0910.html

[Pitch Black]

Thanks Mr Oblique!


So say if I want to run cron scripts manually, but not scheduled, I should use Cocktail?

Do I have any reason to be scared of an automated cron process tying up precious system rescouces or CPU if they automaically start to run while I'm playing a gig at (e.g.) 3am?

If I understand it correctly, it sounds like should do all three processes, manually, once a week.
Or am I just being an ignorant scaredy-pants ninny?


PS i'm still on 10.4 because i'm professionally paranoid about changing my gigging system - if it ain't broke etc...

[oblique strategies]

Thanks Mr Oblique!

So say if I want to run cron scripts manually, but not scheduled, I should use Cocktail?

Do I have any reason to be scared of an automated cron process tying up precious system rescouces or CPU if they automaically start to run while I'm playing a gig at (e.g.) 3am?

If I understand it correctly, it sounds like should do all three processes, manually, once a week.
Or am I just being an ignorant scaredy-pants ninny?


PS i'm still on 10.4 because i'm professionally paranoid about changing my gigging system - if it ain't broke etc...

Of course you are!

Sorry, couldn't resist. I'm a scardey-pants ninny myself.

Good questions.

Cocktail is fine. There are free apps that only run the cron scripts if you want to make sure you're not doing anything else by mistake. Once a week is probably a good schedule. They don't take too long to run (the weekly one does take the longest).

I have always wondered about the cron scripts running while I'm gigging. Naturally I'd rather they don't run at such a critical time. I'm pretty sure you could re-schedule their default time in Terminal. I recall reading about that somewhere once upon a time.

There is a free app called CLIX that is one mighty mutha -it is a command line interface for OS X -basically all the Terminal command lines organized in a (semi) legible manner. It will take a bit of searching, but you can probably accomplish this goal with it. Learn more about CLIX here:
http://rixstep.com/4/0/clix/

You might also do a search online, some kind soul has probably documented the Terminal command line.

[8O]

have you repaired disk permissions yet?

No! I knew there were something I was forgetting. Will give that a go and see if it happens again... cheers...

Good luck

No luck, I'm afraid, still happens. After shutting the MBP lid for a few minutes, it kind of wakes up itself, the fans go into overdrive, and it gets really hot, all with the lid still closed. At this point it'll no longer wake up when opening the lid. Time to head over to the Apple forums... <yawn>...

[oblique strategies]

have you repaired disk permissions yet?

No! I knew there were something I was forgetting. Will give that a go and see if it happens again... cheers...

Good luck

No luck, I'm afraid, still happens. After shutting the MBP lid for a few minutes, it kind of wakes up itself, the fans go into overdrive, and it gets really hot, all with the lid still closed. At this point it'll no longer wake up when opening the lid. Time to head over to the Apple forums... <yawn>...

Sorry to hear this. Maybe zap the PRAM, or some of the other more esoteric fixes?

[oblique strategies]

PS i'm still on 10.4 because i'm professionally paranoid about changing my gigging system - if it ain't broke etc...

For 10.4 I use ultimatetask (its free) to run my cron jobs etc...

http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/20529


Nothing to worry yourself about but if i were in your shoes I would clone your drive as a backup anyhow - I use superduper (it's free too).Hit me up of you need more info

Here's another solid freebie app:
Onyx
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/11582/onyx

[8O]

Sorry to hear this. Maybe zap the PRAM, or some of the other more esoteric fixes?

Here's pretty much the same problem on the apple forums - http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jsp ... &tstart=50 - looks like it doesn't affect all machines, but mine's one of them... Have tried all the workarounds suggested in that forum, but nothing works... sleep functionality is basically broken for some MBPs. At least the update hasn't killed Live for me...

[continuous]

MainMenu has worked well for me.

http://www.santasw.com/

Menu Bar icon allows you to runs scripts, repair permissions, show invisible files etc very quickly.

[dru]

Zap P-RAM, zap NVRAM and repair permissions usually fixes the odd problem for me.

[continuous]

How do you zap NVRam?

cheers

[steko]

In most cases there is not much gained with running the scripts (tons of blabla out there in the net...)

Apple - Support - Discussions - When does /etc/daily.local run? ...

Real easy way to run the scripts: http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboar ... idget.html


steko