Has anyone got ArchiCAD 9 to run on OSX 10.3.4/5?

[Anonymous]

Hi,

We have been trying to get ArchCAD 9 (and Plotmaker) to run on our 2Ghz and 1.8Ghz Dual G5s 1Gb RAM for 3 days without success.

Launching ArchiCAD 9 give a bouncing dock icon, CPU useage goes to 100% in the activity monitor, fans speed up, no Archicad menu or windows show.

Sometimes, after about 10 seconds, the "ArchiCAD 9" listing in the activity monitor turns red and the word "(hung)" appears.

A force quit is required to return CPU and fan useage to normal.

Very consistant on the the Macs we have tried, both with 10.3.4 and 10.3.5

Usual tricks tried - permissions, new admin account, clear caches etc. ArchiCAD 8 and 7 run fine. No problems with other apps. Have sent bug report/logs to graphisoft via reseller.

Any ideas?

Regards,

Nick

[__archiben]

stefan wrote:
I'm not a Mac user, so I could be completely wrong, but this is very much dependent on the combination of Hardware & drivers...

you are completely right - the graphics cards and drivers on all the mac machines vary quite considerably when using archiCAD.

there was a time (8.0v2 ish) when you needed the graphics card optimisation in order to actually get any work done efficiently. but the work GS has done since then to improve mac speed issues means that actually they are getting more speed out of the CPU than the graphics processors anyway. don't use it for 2D!

~/archiben

[Anonymous]

Dwight wrote:
Interesting - please compare the number of pixels and what color resolution you were using in each situation...

You must be driving fewer pixels now...

Dwight

Yeah the 17 inch flat screen is drawing 1152 x 864 pixels while the 2No 21 inch Apple CRTS were set at 1280 x 1024.

I assumed the TFT was drawing lesss power?! at least my problems are now solved.

mmmmm just wondering what driving 2 No 30 inch Apple displays would look like!

[Eduardo Rolon]

My experience with AC08 and 09 was that if you enable the opengl option you get a slowdown in OSX vs using the basic AC display engine. Text does not render correctly on 2D views and there is a delay on zoom and pan operations.

The video card is the standard ATI Radeon with 64mb that comes with all Powerbooks.

[Dwight]

RE: 30" display.

Have just ordered ONE 30" display as a reult of a windfall assignment.

After making cardboard mockups of two displays, have decided that a pair of them are TOO BIG.

I fear ruining my neck muscles.

If sidebyeach, 58" wide! Bouncing doggyhead in back window syndrome - bad enough with 2/21" - 46" wide.

If overunder 44" high - you need a floating keyboard and look down at your knees to make this config work!

The plan now is to take one of the failing 21" displays and put it down on the side. This way I'll be able to write letters while watching a DVD.

They finally made one big enough!

Ooo, baby!

[Aaron Bourgoin]

Dwight,

Just how big was your windfall?

Given you have sufficient readies and a chiropractor on 24hr call, I think you might be ready for this baby:

Exhibit A: The 92" Grand Canyon.

You were also asking about supercharged computers. These guys say that they make those too. I've heard a lot of bad things about the company, but their website sure is impressive: http://www.go-l.com

[Dwight]

Don't think Mac can drive four displays but I have given up on "wide," due to eye glass variable focal length and bobbing doggy head issue.

Prefer 30" already ordered. Too late.

[Anonymous]

I installed ver. 9 on my G5 today, no problems - runs great.

BTW - Great upgrade! new program layout is better, quick rendering and zoom/pan is faster. OpenGL butter smooth.

Of course much of this new speed might be due to the switch from a Dell 2MHz Windows to the Dual 2MHz Mac.

Now it is time to migrate all my files, librarys and textures to the new platform of choice. And yes, I will keep looking for excuses to purchase a 30" display.

Never look back!

[Anonymous]

Best part about the new software is the greatly improved OpenGL. Allows simulated daylight, dawn or dusk.

Spinning this model around is quite dramatic.

Screenshot attached

[Anonymous]

Burginger wrote:

Of course much of this new speed might be due to the switch from a Dell 2MHz Windows to the Dual 2MHz Mac.

Now there's a switch from a year ago, when everyone agreed that AC on a mac was slower. Has the hardware caught up or is AC9 written better to use the mac hardware?

[Anonymous]

Millard wrote:

Burginger wrote:

Of course much of this new speed might be due to the switch from a Dell 2MHz Windows to the Dual 2MHz Mac.

Now there's a switch from a year ago, when everyone agreed that AC on a mac was slower. Has the hardware caught up or is AC9 written better to use the mac hardware?

I think it's both.