"Vimage G3/300mhz w/512k Cache PCI - $275 (OWC P/N VPG300)
Vimage G3/233mhz w/512k PowerBook 1400 - $329 (OWC P/N VPB233)
Vimage G3/240mhz w/512k for PowerMac 4400/StarMax - $259
Vimage G3/240mhz w/512k 6360/6400/6500 Series,UmaxC500 -$325
Vimage G3/320mhz w/1024k 6360/6400/6500/20th Anniv/Umax C500 - $475

Additionally, we have dropped the price on our remaining G3/300mhz ZIFs to $225. Free freight for orders placed online.
Best Regards,
Larry
Other World Computing 800-275-4576 "

G3 Networking Fix?:

"Mike,
From all I've read on the topic, it's the Spanning Tree protocol in the hubs and switches that may be the source of the network disconnects. Here's a Don Crabb piece covering the issue.

BTW, we use an Allied Telesyn 8116 switch here and the spanning tree protocol is "off" by default. So far, no problems with a B&W FileMaker Pro server.
-=Steve Kayner=-"

A beige G3 owner also said Apple tech support told him to turn off Spanning Tree protocol as a fix. however he later replied it did not solve the problem [edited for clarity]:

" No I could not solve it [even after turning off s.tree..]. I installed the PCI ethernet [Asante] 10/100 instead of using the built-in one which caused so many problems. I also found that transfering files between G3 and G3 was also slow if using the built-in ethernet.
Thanks,
Bui "

(A 10/100 card would be faster than the onboard 10base-T of the Beige G3s of course.) He reported he was running the latest Apple Ethernet extensions. In reply to my request for hub/switch brands that work well, 0Brennan Pang wrote that their B&W G3's work fine with Cisco FastHub 300's and Catalyst 2926 Switches.

PC DVD Drives in B&W G3? Has anyone tried a PC/OEM DVD drive in a B&W G3 with the Apple Rage128 Mpeg card option? (Replacing the stock DVD drive with a OEM DVD drive.) If so please contact me.

OWC Cheetah Sale: Site sponsor Other World Computing sent word of a sale on 9GB Cheetah Ultra2 Drives:

" We have brand new, distribution with 5yr Seagate Warranty, ST39102LW Drives In stock for $499.
9.1gb 10000rpm 1024k Cache Ultra2
Free freight ordered online.
Best Regards,
Larry
Other World Computing
800-275-4576 "

PPC Checker v1.1: Author Michiro Isobe notes the changes in v1.1:

"I have received some valuable information about recent G3 processors from your readers. Using their reports, I have updated my PVR database. The changes are:

(1) PPC Checker now recognizes more variations of PowerPC 750 (Arthur).

(2) The "Close" menu and command-W shortcuts are enabled. "

PowerLogix Online Store Sale:

To celebrate the maiden race of the new PowerLogix Sports Toyota race car, PowerLogix has dropped the prices of many of their PowerForce G3 cards exclusively through their online store (http://www4.viaweb.com/powerlogix).
Prices are as follows and are available only while quantities last:

PowerForce G3 daughter card upgrades:
300/150/1mb $479
333/166/1mb $539
366/183/1mb $579

PowerForce G3 ZIF upgrades:
333/222/1mb $529
366/186/1mb $579
400/200/1mb $639
400/266/1mb $749
466/233/1mb $799

MacsOnly has a review of the PowerLogix PowerForce G3 ZIF 400/200 in a Blue & G3/300, now specially priced at $639 (at PL's online store). The 466/311 and 366/182 ZIFs were reviewed here (see the CPU Cards page or sidebar for links).

Connectix has posted Virtual PC 2.1.3. See the update instructions there - the download file varies depending on your current version of VPC.

My 3Dfx forums has a comment from Bob Archer of Microconversions on the continuing discussion of PC 3Dfx cards in Macs. (Scroll down to the 'PC Voodoo2 in a Mac' thread.) Try to support Mac vendors, without them we'd have no products like the iMac Voodoo2 card. It may cost you a bit more (about $100 more than the cheapest Voodoo2 PC cards), but that's the cost of a few games and in the long run we all benefit.

Networking Hubs/Switches for B&W G3: Reader feedback from the continuing thread in yesterday's news:

" We just got a new G3/400, and have had no problem with it connecting to our 3COM 10/100 24 port SuperStack II Baseline switch.
Noah B. "

I'm still asking for reader feedback on specific brands/models of auto sensing hubs that work reliably with mixed networks and the B&W G3.

Cut in B&W G3 CDROM Cable: A reader sent detailed info on the reasons for the cut conductor in the B&W G3 CDrom cable (thread from the recent news)

ATI RagePro VR Capture/B&W G3:

" I got video capture to work after I downgraded my ATI Video Digitizer extension from the current to version 2.0.1
It works fine now.
Brett T Gross
Emerging Technology Specialist
Penn State College of Arts & Architecture "

He used the ATI 3.3 RagePro installer for all but the Video Digitizer extension, which he said he used from the original CD that came with the card.

B&W G3 USB Oddities: I've asked him to verify the USB extender cable is not a factor (as noted here early on - many were suspect and mine only works in port 2, not port 1):

" Time to speak up! I have been seeing a weird problem and have resolved it by what USB port I have my USB devices plugged into.

My configuration:

350 Mhz B&W G3 w/dvd
Standard keyboard w/Contour 3 button Unimouse
Macally iHub 4 port USB hub
Imation USB SuperDisk
Umax Astra 1200u

I have found that having the keyboard (with mouse plugged into the keyboard) in USB port 1 and the iHub (SuperDisk and Astra connected to it) in port 2, the system would freeze periodically. The only way out is the reset button (ouch!). Also, my SuperDisk would not mount disks. No lights or anything -- just like the driver was not working. But my Astra scanned fine.

When I swapped the USB cables between port 1 and 2, those problems went away. I still get freezes which I am working on.

The other freezes seem to deal with networking (home 10BASET with cable modem) and running Netscape Communicator v4.5.1 (with @Home plugins and additions). Once I find the cause, I will be a happy camper ;)
God Bless,
Tim Malloroy "

I still wonder why Port 2 works with my Apple USB extender cable and not Port 1. The cable/connectors appear fine. The keyboard and mouse work fine on Port 1, but not if the extender cable is used.

More on Quicktime 4: A reader sent verification that MP3 files do play (MP3 is Mpeg audio). He also sent a screenshot of the new player, showing the music file ID feature.

" Yes, Quicktime 4 plays mp3 audio files. I'm running beta 18, it works what else can I say. it also plays the file clearly when fast forwarding and rewinding. No skipping etc, just faster, it's cool. But it skips and studders when opining windows, programs, etc. Even under OS 8.6b6, it's a beta, can't complain it's much less crash happy than MacAmp so far *bonus*!

Wish I had a DVD-ROM to see if it plays back DVD movies... know where I could find some downloadable MPEG II video tracks? :)

AHHH and Something I just noticed, the "get info" window displays the ID3 (I think that's what they are called) tags that tell ya the name of the artist, song name, album, creation date, and comments. I'm attaching a screen shot of the player in action with all the controls showing and the "get info" window. (rest assured this isn't from another site, I captured it my self)
-S
PS, QT4 is very slick looking, I like it alot! "

More on Removing OS X partition: A reader replies to a post in yesterdays news:

" Hi Mike,
I read the post by Zach on removing an OSX Server partition. I tried the same thing as he, with the same exact specs, that is 6GB/Yosemite, 1GB partition for OSXS. I just wanted to inform you and other readers that there was a more environment friendly solution ;-)

What I used was MultiFormatter, a component of DOS Mounter 98 (remember, that was what seemed to have been conflicting with GrapplerSCSI for me? A good software suite, all the more reason I didn't want to remove it..). Although MultiFormatter did not recognize the UFS as UFS, reformatting the partition (actually, OSXS cuts the partition into 4 partitions) back to HFS was a simple matter.

There is a little trick, though. You cannot edit a partition while an application is running on that drive, including finder and MultiFormatter, even though the part you want to edit is on a different partition(s). So what I did was, I booted from my OS8.5 CD-ROM, copied MultiFormatter onto an MO disc and ran it from there. Editing the partition was easy as dragging a flag to make the 4 partitions into one, select HFS, and press the format button. All 6GBs of disk is working just as happily as its owner.
Sincerely,
Satoru Murata "

Peter Sorum sent a note on a new high-tech appearance theme that looks interesting - check it out at: http://www.dsgroupinc.com/dsgtheme.html

More Autosensing Networking Comments:

" Don't blame (too much) Apple for autosensing problems, any Ethernet adapter can suffer from these issues ; for instance, I couldn't directly connect a 3Com and a Xircom PC Cards (the two leading brands on this market) in notebooks with a crossed cable, they didn't even manage to communicate, and I had to set one of the interfaces to a fixed value or place another equipment between them. I also couldn't connect at the most efficient speed the Xircom PC card with a Xylan switch (also one of the leading brands on this market, that's not a cheap Taiwanese product but a leading industrial strength box) ; I'd never get full duplex without disabling autosensing on the card or the switch port.

But do blame Apple for not providing this kind of utility in the box, at least in an "Unsupported" folder on the Mac OS CD-ROM ! (I think there's a small utility designed to force iMacs to 10 Mbit/s, but I didn't try it on B&W G3s ; and you still can't force 100 Mbit/s...).I'd bet many of your readers' problems are related to autosensing. "

As noted in the posts here, many cases of 'losing the network' on a B&W G3 is believed to be due to specific types/brands of autosensing hubs (which is why I've been asking for reports of which models are proven to work).

Dan Kuraisa reported his MB 5 disk score improved from 800 to 1057 after reverting to Adaptec 2940 firmware v3 (from v4) in his 9600/350. As noted here a few months back, I don't suggest anyone but B&W G3 owners run v4 firmware, as you lose the "set target" options in the PowerDomain control as well. See the Adaptec 2940 v3 vs v4 ROM Test report for other test results in non-B&W G3s.

The PowerBook Zone has a detailed article on Lombard, Apple's next gen PowerBook.

Wired is reporting that Microsoft is pursuing a German Web site for using the popular Linux call to arms "Where do you want to go tomorrow?", claiming the slogan violates its trademark. Guess I'd better stop saying 'Which disk do you want to hose today?'...

If you missed any recent daily news a summary is below (details on the past 2 days, and links to the last week). For a blast from the past, read what was on the news page here exactly a year ago.

Other Net Computer News:

• How Apple-Rumor Sites Hurt Macintosh Sales (theiMac.com)
• Cable & Wireless' High-Bandwidth Gambit (Wired)
• Cheaper PCs Ahead? Compaq's warning of an earnings shortfall could also drag PC prices even lower. (Wired)
• PC Mag's First Look at Office 2000 (ZD/Net)
• Privacy holes signal need for standards (News.com)
• Will Pentium III ease the low-cost PC war? (News.com)
• Thinkpad 570 due Monday 4 lbs/1" thick, PII/366 6GB/64MB/13.3 TFT to sell for just over $4000 (News.com)

Tuesday's News Summary

• More comments on Networking Hubs
• Removing OS X on Partitioned Install
• Updated MacAudio column on new cards/software
• 3D Gaming News page updated
• Vimage Lowers prices
• PC Excel 97 huge Easter Egg
• Review of Fujitsu 10K RPM drives
• More info on OpenGL/3dfx support
• More comments on B&W G3 IDE cable hole
• Working RagePro VR Capture in B&W G3 report
• Sony fails in court to stop PC Playstation Emulator
• More Slow G3 Networking reports
• VideoShop 4.5/B&W G3 Video Capture incompat.
• Other Computer news

Monday's News Summary

• Hole in B&:W G3 CDrom cable
• Reader Tips for Slow Networking
• 10,000 RPM Fujitsu drives for $350.42
• Yamaha releases SX1000XG Mac Drivers!
• 3D Game News page updated
• Grappler/Magicscan G3 Update report
• RamDoubler/Speeddblr lowers G3 temp?
• More on OS X/G3 CPU Cards:
• OS X/8.5.1 Dual Boot B&W G3
• Request for RagePro VR/B&W G3 capture info
• $99 (after rebate) 8.4 GB IDE drive
• iMac Overclocking reports
• Nubus SCSI/G3 Upgrade Issues
• MacTell ZIF Upgrades for C600
• Scrolling Wheel USB Mice
• FAQ Updated with Nubus G3/SCSI issues
• G3 CPU Upgrade Ratings database updated
• Other Net News

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

If you 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.

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).

Note: Before sending tech support related questions please check the Answers to Common Questions, Site Contents, CPU Card reviews/articles, SCSI reviews articles, Graphics card reviews, Tips/Misc, Message Boards and Help pages - in many cases the answers to your questions are there and they have far more detail than I can list in an email. For Apple G3 system info - see the G3-ZONE. For links on recent articles, see the Recent Features page. Please try the Men in Mac Help page as an alternative on requests for tech support to help me be able to spend more time on reviews and getting caught up in mail. Thanks.