[en] The Advanced Light Source (ALS) storage ring, a synchrotron light source of the third generation, is specified to maintain its electron orbit stable within one tenth of the rms beam size. In the absence of a dedicated orbit feed-back system, several orbit-distorting effects were investigated, aided by a new interactive simulation tool, the code TRACY V. The effort has led to a better understanding of the behavior of a variety of accelerator subsystems and in consequence produced a substantial improvement in day-to-day orbit stability