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[This is a past news page, the current news page is at www.xlr8yourmac.com/]
Quicktime 4.12 Update: Bob Friede sent word there is a v4.12 update today available via the QT updater (or a full download of the installer). He said the following items were updated:
- QuickTime
- QuickTime PowerPlug
- QuickTime Capture
- QuickTime Web Helper
He said the sample movie seemed to play smoother after the update on his Wallstreet.
David Klaus sent a link to an Apple TIL on QuickTime 4.1.2: What's New
Today Apple also posted an English International version of the iMovie 1.02 update.
Performance Comparison: Apple Drivers vs HDT 4.0 I've posted a page with the results of a reader's test of the latest Hard Disk Toolkit 4.0 vs Apple's OS 9.04 Drive Setup drivers. His system is a B&W G3/450 with Atlas 10K (10,000 RPM) SCSI drive. Other systems and/or drives might perform differently, but in this case the results might surpise you. Often 3rd party drivers provide capability (RAID for instance) or other device support not provided by Apple's drivers. But for most users of Apple's later drivers, there's usually little reason to pay for 3rd party drivers performance-wise.
= 11:4 AM Update Follows =
VirtualPC 3.03 w/Altivec Support Feedback: Connectix's VPC 3.03 update adds some Altivec support as well as general bug fixes. Initial comments in the G4/Upgrades Forum indicates the difference in performance is not dramatic in most cases, but Altivec support is great news.
"WHAT'S NEW IN v. 3.0.3
Updated components include:
- Virtual PC application to version 3.0.3
- Virtual PC Hard Drive Expander to version 3.0.1.
- Virtual PC Setup Assistant to version 3.0.1
Changes from Version 3.0
- Changes for compatibility with Microsoft Windows 2000 and RedHat Linux 6.1.
- Fixed an issue with Apple iMac DV systems.
- Added Velocity Engine (AltiVec) optimizations for even greater speed on Power Mac G4's.
- Changes to allow a small number of task-specific USB devices to work.
- Updated folder sharing code and drag-and-drop for even greater stability.
- Updated Configuration Manager code for greater ease of use.
- Addressed various Windows application-specific bugs.
*Virtual PC version 3.0.3 requires at least 130K more memory than version 3.0...
"
I welcome your comments on improvements you see in VPC 3.03 with a G4 CPU.
FWB Replies to Only Native Driver Claim: I've updated my native PowerPC drivers page with FWB's comments that
they had the only native PowerPC code driver was incorrect. Also included is
SoftRaid's comments on how to test for native drivers and a reply from the
original founder and former VP of Engineering of FWB. (The original intent of the page
was to verify if FWB had the only native drivers, but has digressed into a who was first debate.)
HDT 4.0 Performance Feedback: The first feedback from owners of the latest HDT upgrade:
"Hi Mike
I have a B&W 450 with a Quantum Atlas 10k drive (kinda loud, but fast!)
hooked to an Adaptec OEM 2940U2B. It was originally formatted with Apple's
driver from 9.04 and benchmarked (first screen shot). I then installed HDT
4.0 and benchmarked that (2nd shot). Both had the page modes "optimized" by
HDT. Both were tested booted from an 8.6 CD.
As an HDT user since day 1 I'm really disappointed since this kinda shoots
down the "fastest" driver claim of FWB's. I paid only $25 less for the HDT
4 upgrade than I did for the Apple driver--and it came with an operating
system! Wonder if FWB has a satisfaction guarantee....
Rick Zeman"
In the past I think there was some sort of limited MBG, but I'm not sure
what their policies are now. I'll try to have Rick's images of performance comparisons
posted later this afternoon.
Freeware Mac CD Audio Extraction Util: A reader sent a note on Track Thief:
"Hi Mike,
In your Velo CDRW report on the site today (Tuesday), the writer
Todd Eddie asks about other audio extraction software for the Mac.
The only one I've found that extracts accurately for me (I haven't
tried CD-Copy yet) is Track Thief. It's freeware from
http://www.student.nada.kth.se/~d88-bli/misc/.
The only problem I've had is that it doesn't work properly on multi-
session CDs (e.g. "Enhanced CD" or "CD Extra"). On my system at least,
it fails on the first and last track or two.
Toast Audio Extractor never gives me any errors, but it has a
"feature" that adds tiny fades to the start and end of each track
that are usually not noticed but make it unacceptable for my use
with predominantly live recordings (which flow continuously).
Otherwise, it seems pretty good. Just a word of warning though.
-- Mike"
Intech CD Driver Notes: A reader replied to the post in yesterday's news
regarding Intech's CD drivers loading with a VeloCD CDRW drive:
"On reader said that he tried the TDK Velo CD-RW with the Intech drivers
and was having trouble loading the Intech driver. Just FYI, the Intech
driver should load on booting, and the "Search & Load Driver" button are
for External drives which were not present at bootup... The Intech icon
at bootup should say the status of loading drivers at boot time (ie, the
bottom of the Intech icon during bootup will say IDE, SCSI, or NONE)...
so it sounds like the Intech drivers work fine.
More often than not, the Apple CD/DVD driver does need to be disabled to
use Intech's drivers... and for Audio playback, you need to make sure
you have the audio cable plugged in, not just the IDE cable (the little
3 or 4 wire connector).
Just a small note, I don't have a TDK drive, but I am familiar with the
Intech drivers, and it sounds like they are working fine.
-bb
"
Intech also replied to the post:
"Regarding the TDK [VeloCD CDRW] demo customer, the "Search and Load" button is for
devices which don't already have a driver loaded at boot time. A good
example of this would be a CD-R which is normally powered off. If the
customer wants to load a driver for this device without rebooting,
he/she can do so by powering on the device and then hitting that
button. This is all clearly documented in our User's Guide which comes
with the demo software.
I have found that the quickest way to see how many CD devices the Intech
driver is controlling is to run the "Cache Monitor" program. Every
device controlled by the Intech driver will be listed by bus type and
ID.
Best regards,
Christopher P. Karr
V.P. Engineering
Intech Software Corporation
"
PCI Timing Update Solves 6500 USB Card Problems? Although the feedback on the PCI Timing Update being a fix for PCI video cards in 64/6500 Macs doesn't seem to be a cure, this reader said the patch did solve his PCI USB Card problems:
"
I just wanted to send a thank you for your PCI Timing Update article. I
recently purchased a PowerMac 6500/300 and was having an absolute
nightmare trying to get a USB Zip Drive 100 and Lexmark E310 printer to
work with a ADS USB card given to me by a co-worker. After installing
Apple's USB software the computer would freeze approximately 80-90% of the
time after the OS 8.6 splash screen appeared. The freezing occurred even
when I held down the shift key to turn the extensions off. The very few
times I got to the desktop the Zip drive and printer were not recognized
even though Apple System Profiler stated I had a USB card in one of the PCI
slots and the proper software was installed for each device.
I thought the ADS card might be the problem so I tried other cards. I wound up trying
cards from ADS, Keyspan and Belkin. The same problem was encountered each
time. I tried Apple's USB Card Support software v1.4.1, 1.3.5 and 1.2. I
reinstalled OS 8.6 a few times and then tried OS 9. I called Apple tech
support and they couldn't help.
Then, on Monday night I read your article
and even though it talks about graphic card problems I figured I had
nothing to lose trying the PCI Timing Update extension. Well, I haven't
had a single problem since. I've even restarted the computer about a dozen
times to see if it would freeze. The Zip drive and Lexmark printer work
perfectly.
Thanks again.
Gabriel
"
Ratings Databases Updated: The searchable Rate Your CPU Upgrade, Mac Game Ratings and Mac Game/Video card Performance databases were updated with new entries. The updates to the CPU database included several more reports from Beige G3 owners with the OWC G3/450 upgrade.
Software Updates/Other Net News:
Hardware Releated News:
General News
The recent features page also lists articles posted (most recent first) as does the sidebar links here. The site topics pages (systems, cpu upgrades, etc. - see top and sidebar links on this page) also are places to check as well as the FAQ.
Tuesday's News Summary
- Prosoft's Drivers also Native PowerPC
- SoftRaid Disputes FWB Driver Claim
- Intech Comments on Native PowerPC Code Disk Drivers
- Radeon Previews Listing: ATI To Become a Power Player Again?
- ATI Product Manager comments on Radeon on Mac
- Hard Disk Toolkit 4.0 released
- ADS Firewire Case + TrueX 72X CDROM Report
- Velo CDRW in a Mac/Is the Velo a Plextor Drive?
- Another PowerCenter Pro/1MB L3 Cache Benefit Report
- OWC Out of G3/450s
- Rate Your CPU Upgrade, and Mac Game Framerates databases updated.
- Software Updates/Other Net News
Monday's News Summary
- QT based Chat
- Rebel Macs at ILM
- MS Stock Takes a beating/Apple eyes FishPC
- Musikmesse Audio Show Report
- Airport Card Install Tip
- Cache Cooling Heatsink Project
- Tip for 64/6500 Owners w/PCI Video Cards (not a cure)
- G4 vs G3 CPU Details
- More Voodoo4/Voodoo 5 Previews
- ClubMac Firewire Case Performance (Beige G3/PowerBook Wallstreet)
- Comments on Wired4DVD Benefits
- Rate Your CPU Upgrade, Mac Game Reviews and Mac Game Framerates databases updated.
- Software Updates/Other Net News
Saturday's News Summary
- Beige G3 Upgrade Troubleshooting Tip
- Beige G3 owner upgrade disaster
- Voodoo5 vs GeForce DDR Tests
- TrueX SCSI CDROM Feedback
- More Wired4DVD/Surround Sound Speaker Reports
- MaxPowr PDS/OS 9.04 Feedback
- Printer Rated Speed vs Reality
- Games 4 Mac has started a campaign for Earth 2150.
- Owner's CPU Upgrade Ratings and Mac Game Framerates databases updated.
- Software Updates/Other Net News
For links to older news pages see the Archives page. The recent features page has a lists reviews/articles you may have missed.
For a guide to finding answers to questions - see my Site Guide page.
Considering a CPU Upgrade? Search the CPU Upgrade Owner's Survey results and search for owner reports by Mac model and/or card brand. The current database has more than 3,700+ reports and growing.
Make a Difference: Be the Difference
Randy Mita, Brad Lau and I came up with a new slogan and theme for Mac advocacy - "Make a Difference: Be the Difference". We're asking that all Mac owners take advantage of every opportunity to let others know the Mac advantage. It's a grass-roots approach that will surely help. You might save someone from a lifetime of Windows in the bargain.
Thanks to my wife Kay, the ultimate computer widow
for putting up with all the time I spend with the site work, tests and email.= Top of Page =
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