Kenneth Gan wrote that PowerLogix told him the Z-force (a press release was posted here on Jan 6th) is targeted to ship by the end of April. The Z-Force is a CPU card slot model with a ZIF socket, allowing use of Apple G3 ZIFs and potentially G4 CPU upgrades in the future. A lot of readers have asked for a status update recently. I've not heard the official word from PL but hopefully this date is accurate. More info as I receive it.

BlueNote ROM Update: James Rodriguez wrote to say that Initio has posted a beta update to the Bluenote (narrow Ultra SCSI) card that is said to address the issue of older, non-SCSI manager compliant devices. Get it at: http://www.initio.com/mac/mac_sd.htmHopefully this solves the Umax scanner issues. I welcome feedback from Umax scanner owners.

While on the subject, has anyone used a Syquest EZ230 drive with a B&W G3? If so let me know which SCSI card and drivers you used (or what didn't work).

A reader asked if the 466MHz ZIF CPU upgrades used a 450 or 466MHz rated chip. My PowerForce G3 466/311 ZIF review has part numbers on the CPU and Cache of the review sample and even a closeup shot of the CPU linked on the page - it's a 466MHz rated part.

The Rage128 Feedback page has another update with Virtual Game Station and GL Sample performance notes (ATI vs Mesa, etc.) using the OpenGL beta drivers. ATI's OpenGL was about twice as fast running the SDK demos Luke said. There is also another note on the DVD support problem.

I'm told that the Adaptec 160/m (160MB/sec SCSI) [press released noted here last month] 64-bit/66-Mhz (33mhz compatible) is planned to ship with both Mac and PC support. IBM (and others I assume) are to release drives to take advantage of the new interface, but the card will be fully backward compatible with Fast and Ultra/Ultra2 SCSI drives (the very old/rare Differential SCSI is one exception). However the 3950U2 *retail* (64-bit, dual channel Ultra2 SCSI) is rumored to only be available for the PC (it's on Adaptec's online store page now for Dos/Win/OS2 at $549). As noted here last week, I hear the OEM 3950U2B version has been shipping to Apple for several weeks. I assume this means it will be a BTO Apple Store option on the new G3s (the current store page notes 'single channel' on current options). The 3950U2 is also compatible with 32-bit PCI slots according to Adaptec's product page. Their Ultra 160m vs Ultra2 SCSI article is worth reading as well. More info on SCSI, including Mac specific info is available in my FAQ and SCSI Reviews page.

OpenGL Driver Feedback: The Rage128 Feedback page has many reader reports on the new drivers - including one noting that DVD playback was disabled. One RagePro owner reported dramatic improvements in VillageTronic's RaveBench using a combined set of old/new drivers. Some reports of disabled RAVE support as well. I'm hoping to be able to test them personally tonight (last night was an all-nighter rebuilding a friend's WinHozed system as favor.) Keep sending in those OpenGL driver reports - results with Lightwave, or Hash Animation (Opengl apps) especially welcome.

A reader reported in his Rate Your G3 Card database entry that he's using Robert Sixkiller's hacked extension to boost his 8100 Sonnet G3 card:

" 8100/100
Sonnet 225-233/112-116
I was pleased with Sonnet card as it was, but having used Robert Sixkiller's extension (unedited), my otherwise unmodified 8100/100 is running the card at 250mhz, at 43 degrees C."

To find these entries and links to Robert's page with the extension - go to the Ratings Database page and select 'Sonnet' as the card brand, and '61-71-8100' as the Mac model from the drop-down menus. Robert's report and URL link will be in the search results list (near the bottom, as newest entries are first).

Another unusual entry from yesterday was this report from an XLR8/400 card owner:

" [XLR8/400 in 9500/120 at 472/188.8]
True plug and play. Ran it for 24 hours at stock speed of 400/200. Major speed changes visible in startup, application launching, copying, trashing, menu drawing, and shutdown.

I had a PowerLogix PowerBoost Pro running 233 MHz 58.3 MHz/4:1 for the past year, so I thought I'd rev it up [The XLR8 G3 Card's Bus speed-Mike]. Switches are well located for changing settings while card is in place. (It booted at maximum settings 60.0 MHz/8:1 for a 480/190 clocking but it got a bit unstable primarily with synching with my monitor.) So I notched it down a bit. Been running it now for 12 hours at (get this) 59.0 MHz/8:1 for a 472 MHz screamer.

MacBench 5.0 - FPU: 1538, Processor : 1402; MacBench 4.0 FPU 1155 (did not recognize the the faster Cheetah and Atlas II drives I had installed [I think he means MacBench did not 'see' the drives to allow selecting them - something I'd seen in the past with MB 4 and some SCSI cards-Mike]), Processor: 1484. Begin major graphics project this week so I may report on its performance at later date.!
Mike Allen Vuksta "

He reported an odd '0 C' Temp reading. I don't believe any of the utilities are accurate (often indicating below ambient room temperatures - impossible). His results are not typical (472MHz) but it shows the *possible* bonus of getting an adjustable speed card.

More on 4th Partition/Finder Quits: Several readers replied to the post in yesterday's news that quitting the finder would corrupt the 4th partition on a drive:

" Mike,
I have had 4 partitions for quite a few years now and I have not seen this problem.I have had them running 7.53-7.55-7.6-8.0-8.1-8.5.1 and not had a problem. I now have the fourth partition set to 1 gig and have virtual pc on it only. ( I like to keep microsoft stuff separated)

I also quit the finder all the time running virtual pc and playing games ( unreal, Quake ect...) But I use a little control strip called terminator strip to quit the finder as this is the easiest way to do it. ( it also hides the control strip all the time till I put the mouse near the corner).

I have a 8600/300 with 129 megs ram and a 4.5 gig drive partition into 4 volumes and a 3.2 gig drive installed. Just thought you might want to hear about this, Keep up the good work as you have the best site around.
Scott Brinkley "

MacGurus reported they had seen the problem:

" M:
we noted this bug awhile back on our fileserver, which has a ton of drives and CD-ROM jukes stuffed in 5041 enclosures attached to it. All are running off an Adaptec 3940UW or onboard SCSI.

originally, we though it might be due to termination, or term power. Got good Granite stuff on all the buses, though. We tested the cables and terminators, both on hardware testers from Granite and on other machines. We swapped a million cables and terminators. It ain't that.

then we thought it was an OS8.1 issue. (We run ASIP6). Then we tried 8.5.1 w/ ASIP6.1. It blew, and stability sucked, and the issue wasn't fixed, so we reverted, with flames shooting out of our butts back to ASIP6/OS8.1.

the issue for us didn't really show up as data corruption. It was a failure to mount the last partition on boot. It would mount manually, in HDT3.01, but never, no matter what, on boot. Most weird.

we ultimately fixed it by backing up and reformatting into two partitions per drive.

we haven't looked back since, and we forget about our fileserver, as it just works. No crashes (fingers crossed now, in case I just jinxed us). We reboot it once a month, after running NUM4.03 and NAV5.03 with updates. All our FileMaker databases are on it, as are our network backups from the machines on our LAN. Retrospect runs nightly, backing up the server volumes to tape (multiple Seagate TapeStor 8ks in a 5041).
it works great.

no idea, whatsoever, about this bug. We tried both HFS and HFS+. We are now running HFS+ on all volumes (hence NUM4.03--otherwise, it would be NUM3.5.2). "

More Audio Apps/G3 Card Feedback: The latest in the recent thread:

" Mike
I had a Powerforce 220/110 G3 card in my 9500 running Cubase just fine although Steinberg only supports Newertech Cards. When I learned of this I switched to a Newertech 250/125 card and it has been extremely smooth. I know others have had no problems using Powerforce cards other than the usual 7500 problems but I'd stick with Newer to be safe
Kevan"

Thad Brown, author of my Mac Audio Column runs at PF G3 220/110 card with Cubase in his S900 with no problems, but there have been several readers that had problems (with Logic Audio as well).

GameCenter.com has a new '3D Graphics Chip Scorecard' that compares all the hot new 3D chipsets from ATI, nVidia, 3Dfx, S3, Matrox, 3DLabs and Videologic. Althought PC targeted it is a good summary of what's out there. They also have a Jargon Jungle page that explains some of the buzz-words (from API to OpenGL to SLI). My FAQ 3DFx topic area also has info on the various differences between the 4 models of 3dfx cards and more.

If you've missed the news this week and own a G3/300 or faster Mac, make you get our PPC Checker utility that will report if your CPU is copper or aluminum based.

Other Net Computer News:

• Apple's Road Ahead Part 8: Why Do UNIX Right? (MacOpinion)
• Tim checks in from a bunker somewhere in... (MacOpinion)
• Apple-Jackson: Not All Black and White (MacOpinion)
• Reality Check: The importance of being backed up (Arizona Central)
• More Support for PIII (serialized CPU) Complaint (News.com)
• User Friendly (RedHat Linux - thanks Greg)
• Free Java Knockoff Steers Clear of Sun (News.com)
• 550MHz XEON CPUs Ship with 1MB/2MB Cache Options (News.com)

If you don't check the news every day, you're likely to miss some valuable/useful information, so I'm now listing a summary of the past two days news instead of just the previous day (see below). The Archives page lists older page links.

Wednesday's News Summary

• First OpenGL driver feedback
• ATI OpenGL beta drivers released (For Rage128,Pro and II)
• MS plans another Dos based Windows
• Flat Panel prices may rise 10% soon
• 3D Game News page updated
• Using Stealth V2 Cooler as Hard drive cooler
• Reader reports problem Vimage G3/6400 incompat. w/ATI 3D Plus
• G3 CPU Upgrade Ratings database updated
• Reader report of Finder Quits/4th Partition Corruption
• Reader report on B&W G3 IDE Slave w/Western Digital ATA66 18GB drive
• Apple TIL may fix FaxSTF Problems w/new G3s
• More OS X/G3 Upgrade Reports (important backside cache info)
• Reader Report on TurboMax IDE Raid/Fuse Capture Card
• PowerForce G3/Logic Audio problem bus speed comment
• 3Dfx Forums FutureCop bug report
• PL Cache Control 1.5.1 released/fixes issues
• BestData USB external Modem report
• More on 2930/B&W G3/Scanners/Software fixes
• Guardbit/TurboTV problem report
• Cheetah U2 HDs run cool in 9600
• Other Net News
• Summary of previous day's news

Tuesday's News Summary

• ATI's Rage128 Pro Graphics Card Announcement
• OWC sale on Vimage's fastest G3 upgrade
• Reader report on OS X install on 7500 w/G3 CPU card
• Apple TIL on OEM U2 firmware compatibility
• B&W G3 Promotion (free modem or zip drive)
• theiMac.com report on 333MHz iMacs
• iMac overclocking results wanted for G3 CPU Ratings Database
• Rumors that future G3s will have higher CPU/Bus ratios
• 3D Gaming News page large update
• More B&W G3 Modem/FaxSTF feedback
• Reader report of external modem via USB/serial adapter
• More PL Cache Control 1.5 problem reports
• Reader report of Lasersoft's software as possible BW G3/SCSI/Scanner fix
• Note on PPC Checker and L2 Cache Slot G3 upgrade
• More comments on non-Copper Motorola CPUs, why they run hotter
• Reader report of VideoVision Nubus/G3 Upgrade incompatibility
• Reader report of B/W G3 300 at 420Mhz
• Comments on Force V90 script connect rates
• Bottom Line Railgun sales
• Other Computer news
• Summary of previous day's news

For other recent site news/features links, see the Sidebar to the right and the Recent Site Features page.

Considering a G3 Upgrade? Check the CPU Upgrade Owner's Survey results and search for owner reports by Mac model and/or card brand. The database is being updated daily for new reports. Also make sure you ask your dealer about any issues with current builds of some models (ie PF G3) as I have gotten several reports of issues with certain mac models in the last few months (Mach 5, PowerBase, 7300). I urge any owners that have had problems to report this via the Survey Form. Always give the most weight to recent owner reports (dated in the listing).

-Show All Topics-

B&W G3 Related:

OpenGl Drivers
FireWire 2.0
[File Download]
OEM B&W Ultra2 SCSI card
[File Download]
Initio SCSI Updates
(Bluenote/Miles/U2)
ATTO ExpressPCI 1.3.4
(U2 & UW cards)
Rage128 Update 1.0 (485K bin)
or Binhex (660K)
ATTO ExpressPro-Tools [2.1.1]
3940UW v4.1b1 ROM
(Get the 4.0 control below as well)
2940UW v4.1 ROM &
2940UW Control 4.0
Formac PowerRaid Updates
[get hqx version]
Jackammer v1.4 Update
VirtualGameStation 1.1
Plaintalk Enabler
[For B&W/iMac]
Fuse v1.8

Other G3 Models:
PPC Checker
Int. Modem Scripts
Apple Modem Update
[File Download]
PB G3 Modem 1.0.2
G3 Modem Update (V.90/56Flex)
See VersionTracker's G3 page for others...

G3 CPU Cards:
Vimage PB1400/2400
Vimage G3/240
(Vimage Update Info)
MacTell G3 Cntl
XLR8 Cache Cntl v1.3 [628KB]
PowerLogix SW
 -Cache Cntl 1.5.1
 -Speedmeter 1.3
 -GuardBit 1.0b2
  (Retrospect fix)
MAXpowr G3 1.3.7
XLR8 Cache Cntl 1.2

Misc/General:
ATI OpenGl Drvrs
Office98 GUID Patch
Fuse v1.8
Java Runtime 2.1.1
Drive Setup 1.7.2
USB Overdrive
Mac Mesa OpenGL
MP850 Glide 1.0
USB Drivers
Blue Label Update 1
Mouseworks 5.20 (1.5M)
Inspire 3D 1.0C (7.2MB)
NavCom Cache Cntl 1.2.1
Logitech MouseWare 3.0b7
Yamaha CRW4416 ROM v1.0f
(See Mac Update Utility page)
Apple Displays Software 1.7.1
GV V.90 Flex Preferred Script
IE 4.5 Plug-in Updater
Farallon NIC Update
Lightwave 5.6D GL Update
(7.9MB Download)
MacTell Vision3D Pro/Lite 5.4.0
(ROM update also)

Formac GA 5.4.0
(Graphics Card Driver)
Virtual PC 2.1.2
Stuffit Expander 5.1

Games Related:
Unreal 2.20 B3
MacMame(emulator)
3Dfx Checker Util
Descent 3Dfx 1.14
FutureCop 101A
MP850 Glide Drivers
CVGS v1.2
T.Raider2 Update

OS 8.5 Related
Check VersionTracker
for other updates.

See also Apple's Software Updates

Apple TIL Updates

Check here for cool Sherlock Plugins