Dan Kuraisa wrote indicating that he read elsewhere that the CDW Initio SCSI card sale posted earlier today was a site specific sale. Since it was sent to dozens of webmasters, it is obviously not specific to any one site.

More on OEM U2 2940U2B Firmware update/Disk Corruption The latest in the report from a reader that had an unreadable external drive after the flash update of apple's OEM U2 firmware update for the B&W G3:

"Hi Mike,
To answer you question, the external drive is an U2, yesterday I completed a low level format, and zero all data initialization from my 6400. I Then hooked it up to my G3 and it worked, I then reinitiazied it on my G3, just to make sure it would read the drive properly. It worked fine the whole time i had my G3 on. This morning I powered up my G3 and after startup I got the message, <<drive unreadable, do you want to initialize?>> $%#$!!!! What is going on, my 6400 has no problems reading it but my G3 just can't. I really am at loss here, I am using apples drive setup 1.7, with latest drivers. If you have any ideas let me know.
Thank you for your time
Andrea "

I told him to make sure he was using Drive Setup v1.7.2, as one of the post-1.7.0 updates addressed a mode page problem with some SCSI drives according to the Drive Setup history TIL. Drive Setup v1.7.0 shipped with my B&W G3 and I've not had any problem with DS1.6-1.7 with a 2940U2W (retail) or the 3950U2B SCSI cards and U2 Cheetah and U2 Atlas III drives. I also asked he verify his U2 external terminator is good, etc. and suggested a reflash of the update perhaps. There is no going back as the old version of the rom is not available that I know of. Only two problem reports like this, so I'm not sure what the real issue is.

To those that write please verify your email address is correct, I can't help you otherwise (many recent mails are bouncing). First however always check the Frequently Asked Questions for an answer. There are over 200 answers to common questions on upgrades, memory, troubleshooting, video cards, 3dfx, games, displays and much more, including links and sources for older Mac upgrades. Please take the time to check there first, Thanks. (Louis Letienne, since your mail address bounces please see the FAQ for links to vendors like Sonnet and Vimage for Starmax upgrades. I'm pretty sure the Starmax models had IDE hard drives, but to check your interface type if you can't read the disk label and do not have a manual, simply count the pins in the drive cable or connector - IDE has a 40 pin connector, SCSI (std narrow) has 50 pins.

Speaking of email addresses, several people are still omitting an email address (often entering their last name) in the Rate Your G3 Card survey form. Without a valid email address for verification I cannot approve your entry. (Email addresses are never displayed during Database Searches).

QT 4.0 Issues Page: I've created a QT 4 Beta page to offload the main news. The latest reader feedback, including a note on disabled PB G3 DVD, MP850 issues (and a tip on using the previous QT player) is listed there. (More Reports being added as they come in.) I've sectioned the QT 4 Beta Feedback page into 3 areas - Problems/Bugs, Fixes/Things QT 4 Fixed and Wish Lists.

X-Plane OpenGL/MP850 (3dfx Banshee) Feedback:

"Hi Mike!
I tested the new version of X-Plane with the Mesa3DLibraryXPlane and my MP850. It works very well, but in my Umax Pulsar with 604e/200 I can not use the highest quality settings because it would be too slow. The graphics quality is very good.
Carsten"

More on 300MHz IBM Copper CPUs: As suspected from the many recent reports here, Michiro Isobe (author of PPC Checker) wrote with proof that IBM's 300Mhz G3 is also copper based now:

" I read today's [prev news post-Mike] article about "300MHz G3s - Now Copper?". Just in time, I found IBM updated their data sheet of PPC750(300-466MHz) pdf file [1MB]. It seems that all currently shipping G3s (300MHz and up) from IBM are the "Lonestar" design.

This data sheet also includes some comments about a new revision of the PPC750L. I will update PPC Checker using this datum.

Recently I noticed another interesting thing about PPC750's code name at Motorola. As you know, the 1st PPC750 is called "Arthur". And Moto's low voltage PPC750 is called "Conan". According to this document [20K PDF file], the latest Moto PPC750 is called "Doyle". "Arthur" "Conan" "Doyle".... I believe there is a fan of Sherlock Holmes in their group of PowerPC designers. What do you think?
Michiro Isobe "

I have to agree - interesting! And did you hear the rumored future Wintel chip code names? - Larry, Curly, Moe, ;-) [sorry - couldn't resist]

Although Mac owners may have to wait until summer or fall (last I heard), Gamecenter.com has a rave review of 3dfx's latest 2d/3d combo graphics card, the Voodoo3. As noted here since the V3 was announced, the lack of 32-bit color, 4X AGP and Direct Memory Texture support and (still) 256x256 texture size limits make it less advanced than the soon to be released nVidia TNT2, which offers all these things and very little performance hit at 32-bit color mode (like the Rage128 and soon to be released Rage128 Pro). Image quality of the Voodoo3 is improved over the Voodoo2 however and their tests noted faster than dual Voodoo2 card SLI mode performance in Quake 2. For under about $180 and using one slot, that's a pretty good value. More info on the Voodoo3 can also be found at my Mac 3Dfx SLI editoral.

CDW SCSI Card Sale: Initio Miles SCSI cards on sale today - some deep cuts (ie Miles2):

"Initio Blue Note Ultra scsi card was $114.97 now $68.43
Initio Miles Ultra wide scsi card was $199 now $139!
Initio Miles Ultra2 Wide scsi card was $329 now $189.94
All certified with the New Blue and White G3's!!
call for more info
Bruce Modell
CDW, Inc.
800-400-4239 ext 8219 "

Related link: See my review of the Adaptec 2940U2W, Miles Ultra2 and ATTO Ultra2 SCSI cards. Note that my early Miles U2 card had a 10% faster clock oscillator (44Mhz) on the card.

XLR8 G3/400Z Review: I've posted a review of the XLR8 MAChspeed G3/400Z ZIF CPU upgrade for Beige/AIO/B&W G3s which includes compatibility and performance test results. The XLR8 ZIF was the first G3 ZIF I've seen that would enabled the cache *without* any added software control or extension. Other ZIFs I've tested require a control panel or extension to enable the cache.

CDW Contest: Bruce Modell sent word of a I Love Dreamweaver Contest, with first prize shown as a B&W G3 and monitor.

XLR8 wrote to say that they have an updated beta version 1.3.1 of their XLR8 G3 Cache Control [I removed the link since currently their D/L registration page seems to loop back to their main page after filling out the form]. The new version features XLR8's Safe Cache Settings and improved user feedback through informative instructing dialogs and progress bar during cache testing they said. It also includes key commands for boot-up cache tests and the ability to disable testing. The noted this version also has full OS X server compatibility.

Orange Micro SCSI Firmware Update: Several readers and Orange Micro sent a note that there is an update to the Grappler 930U Firmware at http://www.orangemicro.com/updatescsi.html. The update fixes more scanner issues and gives boot capability to B&W G3 users. If this solves these issues, the price is very attractive on that card. Orange Micro sent the following description of the update:

" This beta firmware B2U1.16 includes support for scanners that are not Apple SCSI Manager 4.3 compliant and "Blue G3" BOOT CAPABILITY. DO NOT attempt to install this beta firmware on the Grappler SCSI 940UW or the Grappler SCSI 906F.
Ed Garcia
OrangeMicro Tech Support "

A reader notes that the firmware update did fix the booting issue, but he's still having problems with Burning CDRs:

" Hi, Mike
And to add to the info, the upgrade worked for me. I was able to successfully boot from an external MO disk. One curious thing though....when I booted, it didn't mount my two partitions of the internal IDE disc...strange, I wonder if anybody else had that problem, although this may be due to the fact that I only installed the absolute minimum of OS8.5 onto the MO. Also, contrary to my wishful thinking, the flash update DID NOT cure the Adaptec TOAST burining CD-ROM XA problems..still the same ol' 'SCSI connection not stable' message. Well, take care!
Satoru"

Eugene Chan wrote to say that in celebration of the Quicktime 4 public beta (noted in yesterday's news), Apple has posted a 640x288, 44 KHz sound version of the Star Wars: The Phantom Menace trailer 'B' at the Apple website. (Beware - it's a 25 MB download). I also noticed that Apple has Final Cut Pro ($999). (I've been so busy I must have missed it before).

QT 4.0 Feedback: A rare report - dozens of other readers say their control strip works fine after the install:

"Just to let readers know, I tried the QUICKTIME 4 Beta and my Control Strip would not work. I tried juggling around the Control Strip Panel and Extension by adding characters to make it load before and after QuickTime. Nothing worked. I then went through each component of QT 4 and restarted. The problem is with "QuickTime Power Plug" Extension. The Control Strip will not work when this is turned on. I tried the QT 3.02 version of this extension and then QT 4 would not work. The only solution was to reinstall QuickTime Pro 3.02.

This BETA software needs more work. I hope Apple is not shipping OS 8.6 anytime soon.
Gordon Moat "

More on Apple OEM 2940U2B Firmware Problem Report: And update from one of the readers that reported an unreadable disk after updating the firmware sent more information:

" Hi again,
I just wrote to you about the noisy 10K drives in my G3/400. I also wrote a while back about problems I was getting when I updated the firmware of the 2940U2B, when Apple had released the update. Regarding that problem I explained that I had two U2 9GB Cheetah's internally, and an U2 Atlas III 9GB, externally. On installing the firmware for the U2 card, my external drive was unreadable. I wasn't able to mount it or repair it.

I hooked the External drive to my other computer 6400/200, which has the 2940U2W card in it, and the Atlas drive was readable. I backed up my files and updated the drivers and coninitializenected it back to my G3. I started up and the Atlas appeared on the desktop with no problem. I then copied a file from it to another drive and I got a warning message saying that the file is unreadable, and then another saying that the drive has problems. I tried to initialize it, but it wouldn't work and the drive was automatically unmounted. Restarting the G3, and choosing to Initialize it again failed, the system told me that it was unreadable. I disconnected it and hooked it up to the 6400 again and it worked! I initialized it there with no problem, and tried it again on the G3 but with no avail.

I now have it connected to my 6400, and I'm doing a low-level, and zero all data initialization. I'll let you know how it goes. Just wanted to inform you on this bizarre event!! Best regards
Andrea "

I posted a warning after this report and one other similar report the day after the update was released. Possibly a reflash of the update would help. At first I suspect it may have had something to do with the drives being UW SCSI, not U2 but the second report involved a U2 drive.

If you don't check the news daily, you're sure to miss something useful/interesting. Check the summary list below.

Other Net News:

• Apple's Road Ahead Part 9: Is Apple Doing UNIX Right? (MacOpinion)
• Linux hits the desktop Caldera and Red Hat bundles make the open-source OS a little more mainstream (PCworld)
• Plantronics announces trio of PC headsets Ranging from $30 to $80, these headsets can handle quality tunes or noisy games (PCWorld)
• Windows NT Supremecy or Good PR? Research finds Windows NT coexists, doesn't dominate yet (PCWorld)
• Imation ships high-speed CDR/CDRW drives Company focuses on providing speed and reliability (PCWorld)
• IBM Transforms Thinkpads Shazam! Latest notebooks can turn from ultraportable to ultrapowered (PCWorld)
• Do Compaq's woes reflect the PC Market? (PCWorld)

Below is a recent news summary (details on the past 2 days, and links to the last week). This weekend's news had a lot of interesting/useful posts. For a blast from the past, read what was on the news page here exactly a year ago.

Monday's News Summary

• Quicktime 4.0 released
• More on Advansys Firmware Update
• XLR8 466 ZIFs cache speed note
• OS X Server cache speed tip
• 3D Game News updated
• More on Game Wizard Driver Update
• QT 4.0 portions to be open source
• More on New B&W G3 Drive Tray (3 piece)
• 3950U2B page updated
• OWC supplying ATTO OEMs w/latest ROM
• OpenGL/ATI RagePro VR Driver Tip
• iMac OS X Bluebox MB scores
• X-Plane OpenGL/Game Wizard
• Mixed reports of Copper 300MHz G3s
• Rio MP3 Player/Virtual PC info
• More OS 8.6 Feedback
• Myth Sale/$50 64MB B&W G3 DIMMs
• G3 CPU Upgrade Ratings database updated
• Other Net News

Weekend News Summary

• OS X support note on reflashed SCSI card
• OS X SCSI card updater
• ATTO OEM SCSI Card - Reflashing in PC note
• Game Wizard updated driver report
• Reader report on new Maxtor 5120 HD in B&W G3
• Reader report of Static Electricity motherboard damage
• Some 300MHz G3 Reports indicate copper based CPUs
• Diamond Rio special edition has mac-like plastics
• Bottom Line MacTell G3 card sale
• Exclusive first look at 3950U2B 64Bit SCSI card
• UltraATA Cable tests
• OS 8.6 status/comments
• OS X articles coming soon
• My experience w/Apple LCD Display
• OpenGL update/Lightwave notes
• Lightwave 6.0 due to show at NAB
• Timbuktu/B&W G3 modem problem and fix
• OWC ZIF trade-in pricing
• Advansys SCSI ROM Update
• DV Capture/Disk Tips
• IBM HD's shipped w/cache disabled?
• More sources of Mpeg video web files
• Reader design for low-cost Mac portable

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).

-Show All Topics-

B&W G3 Related:

-MagicScan G3 Updater
(912K G3/Scanner Fix)
OpenGl Drivers
FireWire 2.0
[File Download]
OEM B&W Ultra2 SCSI
[File Download]
Miles/MilesU2 Updates
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]

Other G3 Models:
-Umax MagicScan v4 (912K)
(G3/Scanner Fix)
OrangeMicro 930U Beta
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:
Fuse 1.8.1
Virtual PC 2.1.3
OrangeMicro 930U Beta
MP850 v1.01 update (2.8MB)
ATI OpenGl Drvrs
Office98 GUID Patch
NAV 5.03
April 99 NAV Defs
Java Runtime 2.1.1
Drive Setup 1.7.2
USB Overdrive
Mac Mesa OpenGL
USB Drivers
Blue Label Update 1
Mouseworks 5.20 (1.5M)
Inspire 3D 1.0C (7.2MB)
NavCom Cache Cntl 1.3
Logitech MouseWare USB
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)
Stuffit Expander 5.1

Games Related:
Joyport Update
(InputSprocket fix)
Myth Updates
Unreal Updates
MacMame(emulator)
3Dfx Checker Util
Descent 3Dfx
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