Updates: Firmtek replied to the original post with information regarding the Flash ROM update problems some reported originally at versiontracker:

" Hello Mike,
The Versiontracker comments about the UltraTek/66 card were removed. It seems, Versiontracker posted the comments which where made regarding the 1.1.2 version to the 1.1.2w. The small "w" after the version is of a great significance.

There is no difference in the firmware between the 1.1.2 and 1.1.2w. However the OEM manufacturer (Promise Technologies) unexpectedly changed the EEPROM deom ATMEL to Winbond brand on one of their shipments. This caused a trouble because we were not informed about this change until our cutomers did not discover it. Because the ATMEL and Winbond EEPROMs do require different programming algorythms, the original 1.1.2 (posted before the discovery of Winbond) was not compatible with the cards which used Winbond chip.

Leaving the firmware part of the 1.1.2 untouched we had to change the part of 1.1.2 software which deals with the flashing the chip itself.

The version 1.1.2w can be used safely on both older (ATMEL) and new (Winbond) - based cards. The "w" stands for the Winbond compatibility.

Remark: Please do not apply any "beta" firmware yo got from us (FirmTek, LLC) to the cards which use "Winbond" chips. The earlier "beta"-s you may have are incompatible with the "Winbond" EEPROM.
Best Regards:
George Rath
FirmTek, LLC "

[Updated to include another VST card owner report noting no problem with VM.]

" Mike,
Recently I bought a Rev.2 B&W G3 for X'mas. Therefore, I have moved my VST ultratek striped array from my Beige g3 DT to the B&W. After reading about the virtue memory problem reported, I tried turning on the VM and selected either the stock Maxtor or the stripped Quantum in the memory control panel. In either case, there is no noticiable slow-down as reported. The striped array performance is a little bit better in my B&W than in my Beige G3 as I reported in your database.

Here is my B&W configuration :

-- Rev2. 400 Mhz without overclocking
-- 128 physical RAM
-- 128 VM turned on
-- Stock ATI Rage 128 video
-- VST Ultratek PCI IDE card
-- 2X Quantum Fireball plus 30GB striped by Softraid 2.2.1
-- Boot from stock Maxtor 9GB

Toyu Huang"

(The original reader comments reporting the VM issue follow)

This reader's email was sent several days ago, but with several thousand unread emails in my inbox I didn't get to see it until this morning. He also posted a Drive Database entry on the issue (noted in today's listings below). He describes a strange and massive slowdown using a VST IDE PCI card with an IBM 75GXP drive in his B&W G3 when Virtual Memory was enabled. Not sure what firmware version he's using, but I welcome other reader reports with similar configurations. I also asked him which drive he had selected for the Virtual Memory file (the Memory Control Panel has this option). That may make a difference perhaps.

" Hi Mike,
Know you are incredibly busy but this is such a major 'bug?' that I thought I should contact you directly.

After reading extensively on xlr8yourmac.com about the advantages of the combination of the VST UltraTek and IBM Deskstar 75GXP I took the plunge and just installed them. (Note - most database entries here are from Sonnet Tempo/Acard ATA/66 card owners. I've never had a VST card to test personally.-Mike)

My setup: OS 9.04 on a BW G3 rev. 1; 512MB RAM; VST UltraTek ATA/66 PCI card; IBM Deskstar 75GXP ATA/100, 30.7 GB; dual Sonys; lots of highend graphic/pub apps., etc., etc.

Normally I never use Virtual Memory (512MB RAM) so this new installation appeared a little snappier and copies files faster, but after hearing that ImageReady has problems working with ATA/66 hard drives unless VM is turned on I thought I would turn it on to see the difference.

Wow! I have never seen such a horrible affect on the OS where it actually would still function!

Desktop loads __incredibly__ slowly. (You can count the icons as they load -- maybe one second per icon.)

Reactions to cursor clicks take 10-15 seconds!

Everything is slowed down to a crawl (not just cursor clicks). (ImageReady takes many times longer to display all 4 boxes even though the images I tried this on were only around 100k).
I have never experienced anything even somewhat similar to this.

Have you ever heard of this happening before? Others should definitely be notified of this if they normally have to use VM for whatever reason and can not afford to buy more real RAM.

Hope this doesn*t indicate that my new VST UltraTek/IBM Deskstar is going to Žsurprise* me in other unexpected ways.
Thanks for your great site.
Regards,
Ron"

I've asked him what firmware version is in the card and what drive was set to hold the VM swap file. There was a firmware update noted recently (a week or so ago) at versiontracker, but after seeing the comments on it there I almost hesitate to suggest someone flash the card with it.

If any other readers can comment on this issue, please contact me with your system/card/drive specifics.