The Site T-Shirts arrived and they are being shipped starting tomorrow to the 50 winners. For a picture of Kay with one on, click here.
Check tomorrow's news for an interesting solution one reader had for the
disk accessing problem, Issue #3 of our Bring in the Noise! (Mac Audio) Column, more Diablo/G3 lag feedack,Rhapsody tips, Elvis update and more...
[7:30 PM Update]
Jeremy Burden sent a link to a URL with info on Netscape v5.
http://www.ruleweb.com/dhtml/html/netscape5.html
[5:00 PM Update]
NewTek's Inspire 3D arrived today, and a quick browse through the manual and features impressed me. I'm be using it of all future video card reviews as part of the standard tests. I'll install it later tonight (I'm still having to do all the work here since Kay is still not able to get around very well). Lightwave 3D is being sent soon for testing as well they say. It will be nice to have some heavy duty 3D apps to see exactly how well the new Mac graphics cards perform. [5:00 PM Update]
Tim Catlin sends an update on the problem of rythmic disk accessing
with the shared library manager extension active reported here recently.
"
Mike,
I seem to have solved my problems with the disk accessing. It seems to
be related to FreePPP. I did a clean install of OS 8.1 and noticed that
the disk accessing was absent Until I installed FreePPP 2.6.2.
I then decided to try OT PPP as an alternative. After I configured OT
PPP to work with my dial up script, I noticed after my first access with
it that the disk accessing disappeared. And this was with FreePPP still
present on the system. This is odd since I tried removing ALL vestiges
of FreePPP before and a clean install of it before I tried using OT PPP.
But as odd as all this seems, configuring and using OT PPP seems to have
remedied the problem. I have now removed FreePPP entirely and have been
running for days without any disk accessing problem. I even tried
reselecting FreePPP in the TCP/IP control panel and using FreePPP when
both were present and the problem did not come back.
Hope this makes sense. It is sort of hard for me to describe these steps
on paper.
Have not checked for Autoworm yet, but I'll download that tomorrow and
check it out. And as for as I can tell, my problem does not seem to be
related to Photoshop 4.
Thanks,
Tim"
Not sure all those reporting the disk accessing problem were using FreePPP, but
I never have and do not see the problem here on any Mac I have.
[5:00 PM Update]
I've gotten quite a few confirmations on yesterday's post regarding Diablo Net play lag with G3 (CPU card and Apple System) CPU based machines. Here's the latest feedback:
"
I have the same problem with my PowerCenter 132 (w/PowerForce G3 CPU card) when I play Diablo.
Every time I log on as "Jimbo" folks will sometimes leave due to the lag
problem.
-Jim Walker
"
"
I don't have Diablo (YET!), but I have had problems playing Quake over an
ethernet connection between my 266DT G3 and a PowerBook 2400c (using a hub).
The PowerBook HAS to be the server in order for the game to be playable.
If the G3 is the server the powerbook gets the broken connection quake icon
on the screen. I wonder if the two problems are related...?
Jeremy Burden"
Although I received reports of slowdowns from Apple G3 system and G3 CPU card owners,
Harry Teng says his PowerForce G3 upgraded 9500 does not have the problem:
"
Mike,
I have a PowerForce G3 220/110 card on my 9500, and run Diablo on
battle.net without a single problem. Therefore, I suspect that it might
be a single case of the card itself or that certain model of the G3
upgrade card.
Harry Teng"
Not sure what is different about Harry's system, he may be running a different OS version, etc. Since the Apple G3 systems are also affected, it's not a bus speed issue.
If you have a fix or comment on this problem, please contact me.
Scott Brinkley wrote in with a tale of outstanding Apple service on a refurbished Mac:
"
Mike, Hope your wife is feeling better, can be a stressful time.
I just thought I would put in my 2 cents worth on refurbished macs. I
got a 6300/100 in Sep 97. Right after I got it the hard drive went out
and Apple came out the next day and replaced it. Then the monitor went
out (Applevision 15") and they Fed-Ex me one overnight at their expense. Then the logic board
went out and they replaced it in two days.
The next day that one had a "known defect" and had to be replaced. They
fixed it the next day. All at no expense to me.
I can't complain about Apples former service. Things must have changed
out there. I got a new machine for a little bit of trouble at a
refurbished price. I sold it and now I have a 8500/233. No problems with
it yet.
Keep up the good work( I don't know how you do it),
Scott Brinkley"
Officially I was told that no onsite service is now provided on refurbished machines and that
they could not send me a replacement side cover, however at least two 8600 refurb. owners reported
that they were mailed replacement items like keyboards and mice.
George Cole of Bottom Line writes with a stock status update on the PowerForce 220 and Railgun CPU card upgrades: "
Hey Mike,
Just wanted to let you know that we have 100 of the PowerLogix 220Mgz/512k
G3 cards in stock and ready to ship. Also we shipped 40 more RailGun G3
250/167Mhz cards today and expect another 75-125 on Thursday. I would like
to thank everyone who waited with us for this great card. Your readers can
check our main page for daily updates on the status of the RailGun cards,
and other issues.
Cheers,
George"
I lot of readers have written expressing frustration at the lack of stock on RailGun cards.
Macgurus also reports that all PowerForce G3 cards are in stock and ready for immediate delivery
(from the 220/100 to the 300/300).
Jose Ma. J. Lopez-Vito III replied to yesterday's post regarding the shared library extension causing
rebuilds of color conversion tables in Photoshop:
"
Have a similar experience w/ Photoshop 4.01: building "color conversion
tables" takes a few seconds. Found that disabling AppleTalk ( the
machine is connected to an Ethernet) brings back launch times to normal.
BTW, I also experience a slight delay in "enhancing image" with Extensis
Intellihance 3.0. Again, disabling AppleTalk solved the problem.
"
I received a large number of responses from readers (Thanks!) to yesterday's Reader Request (no video at Rhapsody startup on PowerTower Pro), - too many to list here so I've created a permanent page with the responses. This page will be listed on the Tips page as well.
Shared Lib Extension/SCSI disk accesses: Stefan P. Marraccini wrote with a possible solution for the constant rythmic disk accesses users reported when the shared library extension was active. (see yesterday's news for more on the problem):
"
Hi Mike,
Both the shared library manager and the shared library manager PPC extensions
are part of Open Transport. Networking and PPP/dial-up networking won't work
without these installed.
Here is a possible fix for the hard drive rhythmic access problem: Make sure
the "load only when needed" option is checked in the TCP/IP control panel.
This is accessible via the options button in TCP/IP. The "make TCP/IP..."
active button must be depressed. This is only a hunch and I can't test it
since my machine has never exhibited that problem.
Regards,
Stefan P. Marraccini
"
If you've got the bandwidth or time, a reader writes with a URL to a peek at the future:
"
If you want to see a cool demo of OS 8.5, download "Mac OS in 1998" from
http://applewwdc98.isocket.com/theater.html
It's 10 or 15 MB and you'll need QuickTime 3 and its plug-in.
Steve"
Macgurus has an excellent Ram Guide Page for Power Computing system owners. The bootom of the page lists many other useful links as well. They also have a general Ram FAQ.
Net News:
More news later in the day...
3D Column Logo Contest: I've gotten about 7 offers so far, but I'm still asking for all 3D artists out there to submit their creations for our new 3D Column Logo/Banner.
The winner (and any other interesting entries) is also invited to write an article
(complete w/screen captures if poss.) showing how it was done. I'd like to have all entries by June 15. Resolution should be
200H x 500W (Maximum size - smaller is fine). GIF (animated OK, but try to keep file sizes small) or JPEG format for the final image.
If you'd like to submit a 3D Logo design (full credit given of course), please contact me.
If you missed this yesterday's news here's a summary:
Tuesday's News:
- #9 Announces new Ticket2Ride Chip w/3X performance increase
- Diablo Net play Lag with G3 CPUs
- Firewire problems with Apple G3
- MacsOnly FunnelWeb review
- Rhapsody DR2 Feedback
- 64MB Simms for 6100's
- Shared Lib/Disk Accessing Feedback
- Shared Lib/Color table rebuilding issues
- Rhapsody Open Firmware reader question
Please check your bookmarks - make sure you are using www.xlr8yourmac.com.
We need your G3 info! Reader "Oz" has offered to help with collecting data on Apple G3 system compatibility issues (hardware and software) of all types. Please send him any Apple G3 system compatibility info/issues you have
or are aware of at: oz@bbdoperu.com
Search Tip! For searches on product names with mixed capitalization, use keywords like PowerBoost Pro (not Powerboost Pro or powerboost pro) and MaxPowr (vs maxpowr or Maxpowr). It seems that capitalization within the word on the site pages is throwing off the engine. Keep that in mind when searching for some of the odd product names.
Need Help? Before you send email for tech support, please check the Troubleshooting page or try searching the site (use quotes for exact matches! i.e. "mach 5" vs mach 5 which will match machine, 5, etc.) and to check the FAQ, Performance Basics, Links, and Forums for solutions to your problems or answers to tech support questions. They have a lot of good info and are a great source of help.
Yesterday's News
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