02/24/98 - Tuesday's News:
- Best of the Web Poster Contest: Sitelink is having a "Best of the Web" Poster Contest, and is taking votes on the 50 best web sites, whose logos will appear on the Poster. One vote only allowed per person. Details are at their contest page.
- Zip Drive Problems: PCworld has an article saying that Pressure Mounts on Iomega to Fix
Flaky Zip Drives . Check out the Unofficial Iomega Click Death Home Page as well.
- MCI requires Internet Explorer Browser? A Mac Evangelist sent the following mail:
"
MCI internet service was recently ranked in the top 5 ISPs. I went to
join up and guess what they don't support macintosh. I was even more
annoyed when I found out that they have a special for $9.99 for first
three months and then 14.95 a month, if you have a long distance plan
with them. Major savings!
The real kicker is when you try to sign up for their service through the
web you get:
Sorry,
Microsoft Internet Explorer software is currently required to register
for MCI Internet Service. Keep checking back for updates.
This is the url http://www.mci2000.com/server-java/HandleAd?url=/net52
"
- VST ZIP drive update: Here are some issues I've had with my new VST ZIP drive in the first day:
- My drive clicks and accesses the disk every so often regardless of what you're doing. This is annoying and causes pauses in many operations.
- Their extension update did not help this noticably - although they said it was
designed to. As a matter of fact with their extension active and no disk in the drive
the access light flashes *every second*. I can't believe that's a reduction in polling.
I know about the trick to keep a disk in the drive (the MacOS polls removable drives for
the presence of disks and keeping a drive inserted is an old trick to help improve things
like video capture rates.
Even with a disk inserted, every time I do a file open and start
to scroll a list of files the list freezes for a second, the drive clicks/is accessed, and then
the list shows the remaining files (this is a file list of a folder on the HD, not the zip drive). I find this a real negative point, and it seriously affects the responsiveness of the
PowerBook G3. Two other owners wrote to say they did not notice these delays.
- Attempting to format a HFS+ ZIP disk that was prepared in a external SCSI zip drive resulted
in a destroyed disk. It cannot be formatted (even long format fails) and the disk also hangs a
Win95 machine on insertion (tried to use the trick of formatting it in Win95 to allow it to be
reformatted on the Mac). With their new extension I was able to format a new PC zip disk fine
and boot from it (HFS+), but the previously destroyed disk cannot be fixed or formatted.
- The only way to stop the every-second drive polling was to disable their extension (no ZIP
extensions active). Iomega's 5.51 update extension would not load on boot with a VST formatted disk in the drive. Even without their extension I could boot from a VST formatted ZIP disk.
- VST's driver is a IDE one only, so you can't boot with a VST formatted zip disk in a SCSI zip drive (but it will read/write to the drive fine they say). They are working on a combo SCSI/IDE driver they told me to address this issue.
- Two other VST owners state my drive clicking is not normal. One reported his first VST drive
destroyed several ZIP disks, but that with the replacement drive he was able to reformat them.
I wish I had such luck. I'm not sure if I want to try another drive or not - as I lost hours of
work time yesterday with the formatting problem and other issues with the drive. I may just return it to CompUSA (another 120 mile round trip unfortunately). Possibly a replacement from
VST would help - but I don't look forward to having to pay to ship the drive back.
- Their tech support was busy when I called, but they did call back within an hour or so (they do not have a toll free support number). They were also quick to email me a new extension. The
tech support person denied knowing of the formatting (destroying disks) problems that a user told me about. She evidently was not aware of the issue. I have sent several mails to her on this problem with clips of other users comments included in the message.
- Even without the extension, the pauses still occur, but with a disk inserted the frequency of
the drive clicking on its own seems reduced in the short period I tried it.
- Their installed Tools application would not run (installed twice) on my OS 8.1 PB G3.
I got repeated "missing Applescriptgluelib" errors. The Tools application from Iomega's 5.51 update worked fine.
- A HFS+ ZIP disk failed their diagnosis test with the original extension installed. It did seem to work fine otherwise (until I tried to reformat it). Trying to format the HFS+ disk with the Tools app resulted in a system hang (drive clicking constantly). Stop button had no effect,
and I had to reset the powerbook to recover. This happened repeatedly and resulted in a permanently unusable ZIP disk.
The VST is a nice hardware design, but even in the first few hours I've seen evidence of the Iomega ZIP disk legacy of problems (recorded at sites all over the net). I'm still hopeful these
issues can be addressed and other owners seem happy with them. It's a great idea and time saver when it works well, but so far I've lost a lot of time trying to get it to work properly.
Here's some sample mail I received yesterday:
"
They took mine back, and the new one works
fine...for now. It also was able to initialize all those trashed disks that
the old drive ruined and couildn't recover. But in the long run there has
to be an alternative...
The drive they sent was not new, but refurbished. It looks identical to the
old one, but of course it's been really checked out and any problems
presumably fixed. It doesn't click at all. They're not supposed to, you
know.
[I asked about his Iomega software version-Mike]
Right now, 5.51. Until a few days ago, 5.01; before that, 4.3. Frankly, I think the clicking is caused by a electro-mechanical defect. The new drive,
without any change in software, was able to reinitialize, format, and use
the "ruined" disks. No clicking. I suggest you return that drive and keep
returning them until you get one that works perfectly. This Iomega has a
lot of nerve making its customers pay just to talk to them. Sure, you can
return the drive and then wait for its replacement.
Another provision of the settlement was the establishment of a free tech
service number. Actually, I was able to get an advance replacement by
calling one of the non-tech service numbers.
"
Another reader replies:
"
I don't think I experience the slowdown in file access you mentioned on
your web page.
I ran a HDT 2.0.6 bench test, selecting only access time and get a 45.4 ms
average access time on a zip disk with a bunch of files on it (the only one
I had at the time to do this test)...
Also, I do not experience anything remotely like a "clicking" sound when I
use my drive. The only thing I do get is a high-pitched hum when the drive
is running. (I think that's normal [?]) Anyhow, my guess would be that
your drive is damaged/faulty, since I don't experience what you have
described.
"
So it sounds like my clicking drive is not normal - and VST claims there is only one hardware revision of the drive. I wish I had a 2nd drive to try without having to ship mine back or spend two hours on the road (I'm taking my PowerBook with me this time if I do - the check the drive before I leave the store.).
- Adaptec 2940 V3.0 Drivers Posted: Kenneth H Rasnick informed me that version 3.0 of the 2940 Bios/PowerDomain control panel is posted at Adaptec's FTP site, but their Mac 2940 Drivers page still lists only v2.5 as of this morning.
Their FTP Site could not be checked
this morning as I can't connect - too many users logged in. Performance of v3.0 vs. v2.5 has been a mixed bag for me. Some tests showed improvements with v3.0, others were faster with v2.5.
For comparisons see my SCSI Card comparison tests and Raid Comparison. I'm almost ready to post the single card Raid test results as well.
- Apple not supporting external drives with ATTO bundled card: According to this
"
Apple doesn't support external drives with the Atto SCSI card that ships
with some current G3 models, even though the card includes an external
port. Tech Info Library Article 24330 explains the issue.
http://til.info.apple.com/techinfo.nsf/artnum/n24330
"
When running Ultra SCSI drives it's possible to have problems with cable length when adding external drives (Ultra SCSI chain length recommended max is 1.8 meters).
- Macs Only! provides the first online review of the Mac Picasso 540 3D Overdrive combination graphics accelerator by Village Tronic (US distributor is SoftHut).
- Toshiba 32X CDROM driver: So far only a beta driver from for the Toshiba 32X cdrom I bought this weekend has come close to delivering the MacBench CDrom scores it should. All others tried so far gave overall test scores (std CDROM tests) just 10% at best over the stock NEC 8X.
The beta driver did 50% better, and delivered 3.3MB/sec rates on some sequential tests.
Kent Kanja wrote to tell me that support for the drive has now been added to FWB's CDRom ToolKit 3.01. (I check their site Sat. night and did not see the drive in their "supported" list). He writes:
"
According to FWB, the latest version of CD-ROM drive "personality files"
includes the Toshiba 32x drive. Refer to page:
http://www.fwb.com/ts/cdt/cdt_support.html
A link for the file itself is:
ftp://ftp.fwb.com/pub/users/fwb/software/mac/cdt/personality/Toshiba_XM-6201B-S.hqx
"
That's good news, however I own the OEM 2.03 CDT, so that's another upgrade cost.
I'll try to loan the drive to a friend who has CDT 3.01 before spending money on the upgrade,
as many drivers that "supported" the drive delivered poor overall performance in my tests here so far.
- CadVision G3 Audio MyVidCap Update: On Friday I posted a note of a possible fix using a shareware application called MyVidCap from
CadVision. Here's the latest news on the
shareware product:
"
Just for your info (and your readers - if you want to pass this along),
I'm about as close as I'm going to get with having MyVidCap to play audio
properly on G3's with 3rd party AV Cards. If it works for people, great,
if it doesn't, were just going to have to wait until Apple addresses it.
I've uploaded version 2.05 of MyVidcap to hopefully solve the problem of
closing the video window and re-opening it with the sound inputs still
sticking.
Q: Does it work on the builtin G3 AV (the MiniTower's AV card)?
A: That I don't know as I don't have access to a minitower AV equipped mac
to test it. However it does work with 8500/8600 mac's, including ones
using G3's Upgrade cards installed, so I'd expect it would.
Thanks for your help and if you remember that "James Stanislaw" guys
E-Mail address, I'd be gratefull for it. [James - please contact me.]
"
James Stanislaw reported in Sunday's news it did not fix his G3 audio input problem, but I'm not sure he's tried the latest version.
- More HDT 2.5 Feeback: Here's the latest from the HDT 2.5 mail:
Ben Palmer wrote:
"
I returned my HDT 2.5 upgrade today. There is a 1-year money-back
guarantee on FWB products. The phone rep cheerfully promised me a full
refund when my parcel arrives. Hope to see a credit.
"
Mike McConnell writes:
"
Regarding the panic concerning HDT 2.5, I don't get it. It works fine for
me. I've been using it since it was released. My Mac is a 8500/NewerTech G3
250/125 running OS 8.1.
Kudos on a fine, useful site.
"
Geoff Chapman writes:
" I wasn't going to add to the HDT fray, but since it continues to be an
issue, I'll toss in my 2 cents as well. I have an Atlas 1 gig Fast-Wide
on the internal bus of a 7500 (ie. SCSI-2). I had been running it for
some time as an external on a 7200 and got Macbench scores in the 250
range. The drive seemed zippy. Never benched it on the 7500 before
running into problems.
When I updated from HDT 2.0.6 to 2.5, all Hell broke loose. The driver
got corrupted and my Mac wouldn't even start up (CD or floppy either)
when the drive was connected and powered on at startup. Downgrading the
driver to 2.0.6 allowed me to use the drive but it seemed awfully slow.
Macbench backed up my feelings (Disk Mix 120!). I tried a full low
level reformat with HDT 2.5 with no change in my results at all.
The final solution? Reformatting with Drive Setup 1.4. Brought my
Disk Mix back up over 280 and everything is fine. I'm sticking with
Apple on this one!
"
I was a big fan of HDT 2.0.x, but have avoided using my 2.5 upgrade due to some users reporting serious problems. I'm sure FWB will address these issues in a future update. Please inform them of any problems you are having to ensure they are aware of them. This will be my last post on this - I just wanted to warn readers of the potential for problems in some users experiences.
- Apple Info Updates: The latest InfoAlley has a note on Drive Setup 1.3.1 & At Ease Security. It includes a warning about updating drivers when At Ease Security is active - and lists recovery steps if you have and can't boot from the drive. Basically you boot from the CDROM drive and then update your
disk drivers again. This is said to fix the problem.
- Drive Setup Patching Feedback:
Wayne Johnnie wrote that the trick of using ResEdit to patch Drive Setup (as reported in Sunday's News) worked in his case:
"
I just wanted to thank you for providing the information about patching
Drive Setup to be able to support more drives than it initially does.
I have a drive that isn't really marked but when I purchased it 3 years
ago I was pretty sure it was an IBM drive. All software "probes"
identify the drive as having no manufacturer and being model DFRSS4F.
Well, I used to just use FWB with it but recently I decided to switch to
only Apple drivers since they have been providing better performance as
of late. So I launched Drive Setup 1.4 (I'm running 8.1) and it says it
can't modify it. Then through interactions with Mike at
www.xlr8yourmac.com I learned of your site. It still took some playing
around with different fSCR's but by choosing "IBM OEM,*" and copying it
to " ,DFRSS4F" Drive Setup allowed me to iniatilize the drive and
install the Apple driver.
Once again, thanks for the help!
"
Always make backup copies of applications before using ResEdit on them - as ResEdit
can do more damage than good if you're not careful.
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