Cron Scripts Necessary for New Intel MacBook?

Amie

Amie

Mac Convert for Life
I have a 2004 iBook G4, and I run the cron scripts via MacJanitor and do mainteance/housekeeping via Disk Utility and OnyX to keep my HD in tip-top shape. My question is in regards to the new Intel MacBook, which my parents just bought. Should they use MacJanitor to manually execute the cron jobs like I do, or has Apple changed/improved the horrible timing of when the cron jobs automatically run (between 3 and 5 a.m., which is really stupid because most people do not have their computers up and running during this, therefore the cron scripts do not run--enter MacJanitor)?

Thanks for your input.
 
The cron jobs (daily, weekly, monthly) will be run whether or not your computer is on during the wee morning hours. They will get run at the soonest possible time after the missed schedule when the computer is awakened/turned on. You can verify this by examining the "daily", "weekly", and "monthly" logs with Console and see that "daily", if not run between 3 and 5am, was run when the computer was first awakened/turn on after the missed time.

I see no reason to run these scripts manually, as they're run automatically by the operating system when needed, whether or not the computer is on, off or asleep. They will get run when needed.
 
ElDiabloConCaca said:
The cron jobs (daily, weekly, monthly) will be run whether or not your computer is on during the wee morning hours. They will get run at the soonest possible time after the missed schedule when the computer is awakened/turned on. You can verify this by examining the "daily", "weekly", and "monthly" logs with Console and see that "daily", if not run between 3 and 5am, was run when the computer was first awakened/turn on after the missed time.

I see no reason to run these scripts manually, as they're run automatically by the operating system when needed, whether or not the computer is on, off or asleep. They will get run when needed.
Click to expand...

Whoa. Are you kidding me? Wow, I did NOT know that! So, I don't need to worry about running the cron scripts at all, then? If this is true, though, why are there so many apps. like MacJanitor to run the cron jobs manually? There is even a lot of literature about why it's "so important to run the scripts manually" because of the timing that I mentioned in my original post. That's why I downloaded/installed MacJanitor in the first place--I read in several instances where the scripts would not run if the computer wasn't up and running during the 3 to 5 a.m. window.

I'm glad you told me this. I had no idea...

I'd still like to know why said apps. even exist.
 
Yep, at least that's how it happens on my machine -- I don't get up Saturday mornings until about 8:30 or so, and flick on the computer... check the logs, and sure 'nuff, the "daily" cron script ran at 8:31. I can scan backward through the log files and confirm that this indeed does happen for the "daily", "weekly", and "monthly" cron scripts. I have not made any modifications to my system to cause this to happen -- everything is "out of the box" and should happen that way on other systems, too.

I might interject here that I don't use ANY "maintenance" software on my machine, and the only time I've ever had to reinstall the OS is when I decide to do it myself, like upgrading from 10.3 to 10.4 or something. It runs flawlessly without any "helper" software. Hell, I don't use anti-virus (those PC geeks can and should protect themselves), "maintenance" software, and I leave my damn hard drive alone (fragmentation? It's a fact of life and takes care of itself in 99% of cases).

I don't know why people would write such software -- perhaps because it's so damn easy (it's a simple GUI button connected to a simple UNIX command), and they want to instill people with a sense of fear of NOT using their program. I really have no idea. Maybe because UNIX is so damn complicated to those not experienced with it, and those programs offer some kind of "placebo" effect for them. While I'm not saying that the entire program is totally useless (as they include more features than just running the cron scripts), I will say that manually running the cron scripts is totally useless, at least on my machine.
 
You make a helluva lot o' sense! Thanks again for the useful information. Much appreciated.

While I have you here, allow me to pick your brain a bit more: You say you don't use any "helper" applications or do any maintenance. But what's your position on repairing permissions via Disk Utility before and after installing software and/or updates?

To me, maintenance on the computer is like maintenance on a car--if you do it and take care of it, it keeps the system running smoothly and gives it a longer life. Sort of like changing the oil in your car every 3,000 miles. I've always done a permissions repair via Disk Utility before and after installing software ... just because I've read in so many instances (computer books, Mac Web sites, etc.) that it should be done. I've read the reasoning behind it, too, and it just makes sense to me. What do you think?
 
Don't be so harsh on developers! It's not that they're fear-mongers, it's just that they are not the "general population". Most freeware authors write software for themselves, and then make it available to anyone else who might have the same needs. It's up to you to decide if you share those needs.

Maybe it's true that 99% of people should never defragment, for example. I certainly don't advocate it for the average Joe, but it takes a lot to ensure that fragmentation is not a problem for me.

I'm sure there are cases when running cron scripts manually is useful. The truth is, the geekiest geeks know how to take care of their machines better than any OS ever could. What makes sense for one person may not make sense for most people, and what makes sense for most people rarely makes sense for everyone.

There's an old saying: "It's better to know nothing than only a little." (Or something like that.) It often applies to computers. ;)

Having said that, I really don't know of any reasons to run cron scripts manually. I'm sure there are some, but I imagine they're not relevant to the general population.



As for repairing permission....well, it can't hurt. 99% of the time it won't make a difference, but do you want to fall under that other 1%? It's easy enough to do, so I play it safe (at least when I remember, which is rarely). Same thing with using "combo" updaters. (And the same reason I look both ways before crossing a street even when I have the "Walk" sign. :)) A 1% chance of disaster is enough to make me go a liiittle out of my way.
 
As the unusually terse g/re/p points out:

g/re/p said:
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/maintscripts.html#Anchor-How-35882
Click to expand...

Or, in somewhat clearer terms: The article says there's "some" chance that the scripts might never run. That's mathematically true, I suppose, but not too likely. Looking at my own logs, it seems like the daily task runs, on average, about every two or three days -- which, realistically, is good enough for me. The weekly and monthly scripts generally run within two or three days of when they "should"--again, close enough for me. There's some chance they might never run, sure ... but it's well off into the "hit by lightening" probability range.


That linked article advises you to get one of these helper utilities, to ensure that these scripts run in a more timely fashion. No harm in that. But if you prefer to ignore this possibility, you'll be fine, I'm sure (I used to use one of those, but haven't bothered to reinstall since I got my MacBook Pro).
 
I read it, and ain't no stinkin' link gonna make me change my ways. My computer obviously does not operate within the guidelines of that article, since it behaves completely differently from how they describe it should. :p
 
ElDiabloConCaca said:
I read it, and ain't no stinkin' link gonna make me change my ways. My computer obviously does not operate within the guidelines of that article, since it behaves completely differently from how they describe it should. :p
Click to expand...

Well maybe not a "Stinkin Link" but how about OS X own "Help"
a search for "maintenance" finds the following.

begin quote...
"Mac OS X performs background maintenance tasks at certain times if the computer is not in sleep mode. If your computer is shut down or in sleep at the designated times, the maintenance does not occur. In that case, you may want or need to run these manually."
end quote"...

jb.
 
jbarley said:
Well maybe not a "Stinkin Link" but how about OS X own "Help"
a search for "maintenance" finds the following.

begin quote...
"Mac OS X performs background maintenance tasks at certain times if the computer is not in sleep mode. If your computer is shut down or in sleep at the designated times, the maintenance does not occur. In that case, you may want or need to run these manually."
end quote"...

jb.
Click to expand...

A-ha! Again! I KNEW I was doing SOMEthing right. lol
 
The problem with the built-in help text is that word "may." So, OK, maybe you need to run them manually, maybe you don't. Which is it? That text doesn't help you decide.

What actually does happen seems to be pretty complicated and, for practical purposes, rather unpredictable. The externally linked article goes into more detail than the Help, but the easiest thing to "learn" from that article is "man, this is really complicated!" After several careful read-throughs, I think I understand what it's saying (I *think*!), and I think the several systems I have handy are all behaving as the article describes--but at least one other participant in this discussion thinks their system is *not*, so whatcha gonna do?

It's quite clear there's no harm in using one of these tools to ensure these scripts get run (well, of course, assuming they don't have some horrible bug, but all the ones mentioned here seem solid). It's quite clear that, if the scripts really don't ever run, then eventually you'll have problems (run out of disk space primarily). It's not so clear how wide is the gray area between those points, and a big part of that ambiguity is that the answer depends significantly on your individual habits, such as how often and how regularly you have your computer running.

Bottom line: there's no cause for wide-scale panic here, but there's reasonable cause to make one of these tools a part of your life.
 
jackr said:
Bottom line: there's no cause for wide-scale panic here, but there's reasonable cause to make one of these tools a part of your life.
Click to expand...
Of course, being the UNIX junkie I am and trusting that UNIX does what it says as well as having done research on my own machine that points to the fact that the scripts run cyclically even when my machine is asleep, I would amend that quote, producing the following:

"Bottom line: there's no cause for wide-scale panic here, but there may be reasonable cause to make one of these tools a part of your life."

;)

Hey, I mean, you can change your car's oil daily and it wouldn't hurt anything, but why would you want to go through the hassle? It'll get changed when it needs changing. No need to do it more often than necessary.
 
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