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Syslogd Overwhelming Your Computer?

If your Leopard (Mac OS X 10.5) system is unexpectedly sluggish, logging might be the culprit. Run Activity Monitor (Applications/Utilities/ folder), and click the CPU column twice to get it to show most to least activity. If syslogd is at the top of the list, there's a fix. Syslogd tracks informational messages produced by software and writes them to the asl.db, a file in your Unix /var/log/ directory. It's a known problem that syslogd can run amok. There's a fix: deleting the asl.db file.

Launch Terminal (from the same Utilities folder), and enter these commands exactly as written, entering your administrative password when prompted:

sudo launchctl stop com.apple.syslogd

sudo rm /var/log/asl.db

sudo launchctl start com.apple.syslogd

Your system should settle down to normal. For more information, follow the link.

Visit Discussion of syslogd problem at Smarticus

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Published in TidBITS 832.
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05 Jun 2006 | Print Printer-Friendly Version of This Article

Hot Topics in TidBITS Talk/05-Jun-06

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The first link for each thread description points to the traditional TidBITS Talk interface; the second link points to the same discussion on our Web Crossing server, which provides a different look and which may be faster.

Security Update causing Mail to crash? Readers detail a few problems following the latest Mac OS X security update, though the issues don't appear to be widespread. (8 messages)

<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=3012>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/844/>

QuickTake to iPhoto -- An owner of one of Apple's early digital cameras wants to bring those photos into iPhoto, but what's the best way to convert the old PICT format into JPEG files that iPhoto can read? Apparently it takes more than just a graphics conversion program to do the trick. (8 messages)

<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=3013>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/845/>

SE/30 in Ethernet LAN -- Where else are you going to find expert advice on connecting a Macintosh SE/30 to a modern Ethernet network? And where else will you find people willing to send the hardware required? You get one guess. (14 messages)

<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=3014>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/846/>

Mac OS X Font Mistakes -- Sharon Zardetto Aker's article on avoiding the most common Mac OS X font mistake prompts discussion of font management tools. (2 messages)

<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=3016>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/848/>

Sudden Motion Sensor Hacks -- Following Adam's article on recent software that takes advantage of the Sudden Motion Sensor in Apple's recent laptops, readers discuss the sensor's accelerometer and whether a MacBook can double as a very expensive carpenter's level (yes!). (9 messages)

<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=3019>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/851/>

 

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