Ok, well that means that the AMD theory is probably incorrect. It seemed unlikely to me to begin with, but I thought I'd ask. I'm still hopeful that maybe there's something in the code that can be optimized.
Rick Goettsche:Ok, so I had another thought about a possible commonality, though it still seems unlikely to me. Could there be some sort of issue with AMD processors?
Sarcasm is my love language. Obviously I love you.
Rick Goettsche: Ok, well that means that the AMD theory is probably incorrect. It seemed unlikely to me to begin with, but I thought I'd ask. I'm still hopeful that maybe there's something in the code that can be optimized.
Heh, Guess I should have read all the posts before responding. Now that you know it's not AMD....
Guys, do any of you have Spybot Search and Destroy running?
I've been fighting with this slow Logos4 thing for days. I just disabled SD and... Logos is smooth and fast. ??????
Don't know if it will last, but for now things are great. Could it be that simple?
I stopped the SD and the teatimer processes in Task manager.
i'm running Vista. What is the exact name of the process that you stopped?
QLinks, Bibl2, LLR, MacrosDell Insp 17-5748, i5, 1.7 GHz, 8G RAM, win 8.1
Bruce, I have Spybot installed, but I only use it to apply immunizations--I don't have SD or tea-timer running. I checked the processes running on my computer, and it doesn't appear that anything related to Spybot is running. Mine's still slow.
steveclark: i'm running Vista. What is the exact name of the process that you stopped?
Steve,
For one "teatimer" (this is a process used by search and destroy.)
The other I think is just "spybotSD.exe" I'm not certain... In Task manager -> processes, order by "Description" and stop anything that is associated with Spybot
Rick Goettsche: Bruce, I have Spybot installed, but I only use it to apply immunizations--I don't have SD or tea-timer running. I checked the processes running on my computer, and it doesn't appear that anything related to Spybot is running. Mine's still slow.
Rick, Ok. For me L4 is still humming along. You might look in your processes for something similar???
Thanks Rick,
But i don't have those in my process list. Wasn't sure what all was on Vista. I am running AVG antivirus SW and i don't think its the problem.
We are trying to read all the forum posts -- there's just so many it's hard to keep up while also trying to do the things we're inspired to do after reading the earlier forum posts. :-)
I'm sorry Logos 4 is slow for many of you.
There's some small hope in optimization, which we continue to work on. Sometimes we find a big win. (Merging indexes will take almost half the time in an upcoming release!)
We've also gotten some reports of interference from third-party applications, which we'll continue to observe and hopefully identify.
We made a conscious choice to design for the future, not the past. We know that not everyone is computing in the future yet, :-), but we expect you all will eventually. My 1986 Bible search software, written for MS-DOS, still runs. And it's blazing fast. But it doesn't generate a Passage Guide, or do other cool things.
Everyone has a different opinion about where to make the trade-off; if it runs slow for you, we jumped ahead too soon. If it runs fast for you, then what were we waiting for?
The big decision we made that's hard to undo is choosing .NET with WPF. This is Microsoft's brand new platform for the future, and it basically involves loading a system within a system on your computer. The program is compiled to a special assembly language that's then re-compiled to your chip at runtime, there is a whole set of system-level libraries running on top of Windows, and there's a whole display system running on top of the Win32 framework on your system. It's all a bit bulky, but it's the future. And it has lots of side benefits, ranging from easier porting of code to Mac, the web, etc. to easier coding of complicated features. The big negative is memory use -- you're essentially loading a second operating system/platform into memory.
We chose this four years ago, and it's a decision we can't go back on. The good news is, Microsoft's not going back on it either: they're using it in more and more of their own core systems. And the core platform even has buy-in from the open source community, with things like the Mono Project.
I know that not everyone can afford to stay on the latest-and-greatest hardware. That's why we made a conscious choice to keep Logos 3.0 running side-by-side. But we decided long ago that there are plenty of Bible software applications that stick with old code and run great on old machines; we're going to keep blazing the trail to the future.
In 1995 we had a lot of complaints about our decision to release on CD-ROM's, when many people still had only floppy drives. We took a lot of complaints about Libroinx DLS performance in 2001 when it first shipped. (It was worse, for more people, than Logos 4.) But those complaints went away as people upgraded, and then they seemed pretty happy about the functionality we were able to deliver.
Computers are cheaper than ever, and even at $400 you can find more than enough power for Logos 4. (More memory can be a huge help, too, and it costs even less.) I know everyone can't afford to upgrade now, and I'm sensitive to that. But our holding Logos 4 another six months wouldn't make it any faster. If you continue to use Logos 3, and then switch to Logos 4 when you next upgrade your system, you won't have any worse an experience. And I think you'll appreciate then all the cool functionality in Logos 4 -- most of which can only be delivered because we made the choices we did.
-- Bob
Bob Pritchett:most of which can only be delivered because we made the choices we did.
And I sincerely thank you for making those decisions.
Bob Pritchett:We are trying to read all the forum posts -- there's just so many it's hard to keep up while also trying to do the things we're inspired to do after reading the earlier forum posts. :-)
Speaking seriously, are our off topic, joking posts slowing down or hampering your ability to get to genuine posts? I do not want to hamper your ability to read/address the genuine concerns of your customers.
Bob,
There is no doubt that Logos 4 is running much faster on my computer than it did in even the middle stages of the Beta. You and the software team have done a good job trying to address the concerns. I can use Logos 4 right now without feeling like I've turned a Ferrari in for a VW Beetle. I'm sure greater optimization will occur. I do have 3.0 to fall back on when I feel I am going to need it.
I have more interest in features being added than speed at this point.
Thank you for the very complete explanation.
Pastor, North Park Baptist Church
Bridgeport, CT USA
Bob, thanks for taking the time to respond. I'll admit that I don't fully understand the intricacies of the architecture you described, but I understood was that it is complex, power intensive, but very powerful and flexible. I understand your desire to plan for the future--it makes good business sense (particularly if you hope to have long product cycles as you have in the past). My concern is in the fact that several of us have computers that, on paper, seem to meet the specs, yet we have found the performance of Logos 4 to be sluggish. Maybe our expectations are set too high (e.g. expecting a modern program to run as fast as a decade-old program). It doesn't sound like we'll see great gains in optimization, but maybe there is a conflict with other programs running on our computers which will unlock some speed. Either way, I'll give it a couple more weeks.
Related to this, will we continue to be able to get new resources for Logos 3 for a while? Since the church replaced my computer last year, I would expect that it will be another 3+ years before I get another one. If my computer is never able to run v4 at a decent speed, I just wondered if v3 will still actually be usable for me. If not, I suppose I'll have money to put towards other things.
Bob Pritchett:The program is compiled to a special assembly language that's then re-compiled to your chip at runtime, there is a whole set of system-level libraries running on top of Windows, and there's a whole display system running on top of the Win32 framework on your system.
I think I almost understood that. Hmm...almost scary. Could it be that certain chip sets, or chip set combinations don't handle this way of doing things as well as others? I'd be surprised if most users knew what chip sets were on their motherboards, but some computer companies mix and match chip sets in a less than optimal way. Anyway, just thinking out loud--uh, on keyboard--here. Makes me wonder though. What if you got a couple of dozen reports from some program that would run system wide hardware scans (SIW.exe comes to mind), half on systems on which L4 runs fast, and half on systems where it lagged. Might that be enough to get to the bottom of this, or would that be overkill?
No need to respond. If it's a good idea run with it, if not, well, I know enough to know I'd never be able to run a software company.
Thanks for this post, though. I found it both interesting and helpful. And I'm glad you're programming for future hardware, and not the past. Here's hoping L4 will live longer than L3. And as a pastor, I know that leading change always invites complaints. I trust you're not surprised. In fact, your responses show the patience of someone who isn't.
Help links: WIKI; Logos 6 FAQ. (Phil. 2:14, NIV)
Bob, thanks for replying - it helps us understand that there is a performance issue, and what it is.
I'm sure that as people upgrade their systems over time, this issue will diminish rapidly.
In the meantime, I think that there's not a lot that I can do to speed things up, as I'm using 32bit XP Pro so I'm using the max 3GB RAM that this allows (even though I upgraded to more than that before finding out that there was an operating system limitation). I'm reluctant to spend more and move to Windows 7 at the minute to allow me to use more memory, and upgrading my laptop is not scheduled for a few years. And laptops cost much more than $400 to upgrade. Like a lot of users who prefer laptops to be mobile, I'm not keen on switching everything over to a desktop just to run Logos 4 better. Although i've found a slight improvement by going to System Properties > Advanced > Performance 'Settings' > Visual effects, and deselecting most of the visual display options that hog resources or cause delays.
But, knowing what the issue is certainly puts the question to rest for a lot of people, even if there's not a lot that can be done about it short of upgrading hardware.
John Duffy:System Properties > Advanced > Performance 'Settings' > Visual effects, and deselecting most of the visual display options that hog resources or cause delays.
Another good tip...that's a must on any Win machine
Robert Pavich
For help go to the Wiki: http://wiki.logos.com/Table_of_Contents__
I personally think there is more going on here than Logos4 being more resource hungry. I believe this for three reasons:
1. I use other .net apps that do not act the way V4 does.
2. There are parts of the program that display information quickly, and other parts that don't. For example if I do a basic search for "God" limited to the New testament the display of verses is very slow. If I get the same information from a "bible word study" it displays very nicely (almost instant). That tells me V4 is capable but there are some issues to be worked out.
3. There are many times on my system that there is no hd activity and no cpu spikes and V4 just takes a 10 -15 second breather and if I click anywhere on the program I get the not responding message - then it suddenly wakes up and all is well.
I started a thread here as a way to gauge some of the problems we are facing:
http://community.logos.com/forums/t/4562.aspx
I would love to see some responses from people having problems and also those that are not having slow down issues. Currently all we have is subjective talk, but no real numbers - some say its working great some say slow, but without some objective tests we are all in the dark.
Thanks for your responses. I am encouraged to find that Logos is working so hard to resolve the problems a lot of L4 users are having. I am a pastor and the Dean of a Bible College and seem to always be pressed for time, therefore, when the program doesn't work properly it is a bit frustrating.
I have been a Logos Bible Software user for a long time. I started back when I had a box full of floppies (what's that?) to install the program. Each upgrade has presented it's challenges. Even with all the challenges of V3, I was completely overwhelmed with all that it could do. Likewise, with L4, I'm am totally amazed at it's ability to enhance my research and study. I am using L4 for Mac and also running L4 for Windows in a virtual environment with VM Fusion 3. I must admit that I was a bit aggravated with the install process and initial performance but I have notice some improvement from a week ago. Looks like you guys are working hard to resolve the issues. While L4 for Mac is a little unstable, the big issues I'm having are with L4 for Windows. I have had several students have ask about upgrading their current program or switching to Logos. Although, I am confident that the current issues with L4 will be worked out, for the immediate, however, I'm suggesting that they hold off on upgrading or switching. Since we are nearing the completion of the semester they wouldn't need any added pressures. By the new semester the smoke will have cleared and then we can recommend they upgrade. I am excited about L4 and am sure that in time these problems will be ironed out.
Thanks again,
Dave
Bob Pritchett: The big decision we made that's hard to undo is choosing .NET with WPF. This is Microsoft's brand new platform for the future, and it basically involves loading a system within a system on your computer. The program is compiled to a special assembly language that's then re-compiled to your chip at runtime, there is a whole set of system-level libraries running on top of Windows, and there's a whole display system running on top of the Win32 framework on your system. It's all a bit bulky, but it's the future. And it has lots of side benefits, ranging from easier porting of code to Mac, the web, etc. to easier coding of complicated features. The big negative is memory use -- you're essentially loading a second operating system/platform into memory.
My BIOS has something called "Virtualization" in it. The defalut setting is "disabled." Should I turn it on?