The QT 4 Bugs/Fixes/Wish List page has been update to include a note on Office 98 animated assistants, PowerLogix Cache control and saved MP3 file issues.

Apple's recent TIL Updates for yesterday lists several QT4 related articles and a note on the lack of ADB Dongle support for OS X Server (even in Bluebox). According to the release notes "Direct ADB access is not supported. Applications that read directly from ADB devices and expect mouse ADB events will not work.". Lightwave 3D 5.6 uses an ADB dongle, and some companies may offer USB replacements. Included in today's update is a TIL on troubleshooting USB devices.

According to a TIL 24881 posted yesterday, the Command-Option-Shift-Delete keystroke sequence used to bypass the Boot HD (in cases of a corrupted disk/driver) is no longer supported on the iMacs and Blue and White G3s. The TIL suggests mounting the drive in another Mac that does support the bypass keystroke sequence to reformat it.

ORB Feedback: A reader responds to today's earlier post asking for feedback on the drives:

"We got an ORB drive at work for the IBMs and in the manual (for the IDE version) it states that it does work on Macintosh (G3s) through the "PC Exchange" control pannel.

Upon testing, it does work (only on G3s of course) but does not mount like a ZIP drive does (every time you put in the disk) only before start up or when you click the "mount now" icon. It's not quite as fast as they boast. On both the IBMs and Macs we only were able to get it up to 1.2MB second avg. when the documentation states that it does 16.6MB per second peak with IDE and 20MB per second with SCSI. Perhaps we're doing something wrong, but our highest writing peak was no where near 16.6 (maybe as much as 2 or 3mb second peak.) Reading was a bit faster than writing. I think it's average read transfer rate was around 5-6MB second... I'm not quite sure on that though.

The drive itself is kind of slow mechanically. When you insert a disk it takes a little longer than inserting an EZ drive disk into a Syquest EZ drive (about 15 - 20 seconds). When you "eject" the disk, it takes less time to spin down, however the drive's orange light flashes for about 15 seconds _after_ the disk has been ejected and a new disk cannot be used until the light stops.

Remember that the ORB drive we got has the IDE interface, and because of this the documentation does not have any Macintosh support or information execpt for that one-liner "Macintosh is supported through PC Exchange." Apparently, in the future, there will be a ORB Formater that you can use to format disks.

I know the SCSI version is not out yet, but I was told that the SCSI Orb drives "probably" use a IDE to SCSI converter right on the drive itself instead of a "real" SCSI interface. I don't know if this is true or not though.

On a final note: We did not test the drive completely. We did a 600MB write and a 600MB read on the IBM and a 450MB write and a 450MB read on the Macintosh. Then a bunch of small reads and writes on both. No disk errors on either machines but, again, we were only seeing how and if they worked on the two machines.

The IBM was a Pentium II 266mhz with 64mb ram. The drive was master and the only device on the IDE chain.

The Mac was a G3 Tower Rev3. 300mhz. 32mb ram. The drive was master replacing the CD-ROM and ZIP drive. (I did this to make sure no other device slowed down it's performance.)
As always thanks for the great site Mike!
--Charlie R."

The FAQ/Database server is back online but will be taken down this afternoon again for maintenance for just a few minutes.

TurboMax/Media100/B&W G3: The latest feedback on the Promax PCI IDE card and Media 100 in the new G3s:

" Hi Mike,
Wanted to update you on TurboMax and Media 100 compatibility with the B&W G3s. I've now installed 3 TurboMax IDE cards in 3 different machines - a 300 and 2 400s. They work great, and Remus was used to stripe the drives into a RAID. The machine with the Media100 board has a 32 gig RAID (and 256 megs of ram) and it's getting 24 - 26 megs/sec read and write.

Also - haven't had any problems with running Media100 software version 5.5 (just released) on the B&W G3. Playback, capture, and editing all work fine. I also installed the excellent Stealth serial port in the internal modem slot for deck control - worked great.

In case anyone is afraid of losing their internal Jaz for a while moving to a B&W - don't be. I put internal Jaz drives in both the B&W 400's connected to the Apple SCSI card with no problems, as well as an external Zip and HP scanner.

Of course the only problem now is I'm out of slots. (Media100 card, TurboMax card, Apple SCSI card, and Rage 128 card). Oh well. :) Matt "

Speaking of Media100, a 9600/200 owner reports problems with his new 400/200 Newer Tech upgrade and asks for feedback from readers on a working (w/Media100) 400MHz upgrade:

"Mike, I just got the NewerTech 400/200 as a replacement for my Newer 275/183 card. While the 275 runs perfectly in my system clocked at 275/275, the same cannot be said for the new Newer 400/200. I use a full blown Media100, with their new SDI upgrade. My base computer is a 9600/200. The card is going back in the AM. I have tried every setting to no avail. I don't have the time to take out my Media cards and see if the computer will then boot. I guess I will stick with the good old faithful Newer 275. If you know of anyone running a 400 Mhz card with the new Media 100 boards I would love to know.
Howard Butler, MD"

[A reader sent a reminder of the buffered ram issue on newer tech g3 cards mentioned here again recently and listed in the FAQ memory and CPU upgrade topic areas. Since he was running a newer tech card fine before I assumed the RAM type was not an issue-Mike] If you're running Media100 with a 400MHz G3 CPU upgrade card (non-Apple G3 system), please contact me with specifics

Wired4DVD Decoder Card: In a follow-up to the post about the Wired Inc DVD card last week, Bryan Berg wrote to say he received the card and " I'm happy to say, it blows e4's card out of the water!". He has posted a page on the card at http://superberg.8m.com/4dvdrev.html. [URL not responding when I checked however]

A friend at Connectix sent a URL to the incomplete Virtual PC homepage as a source for VPC tips.

Contrary to a conflict report on the QT 4.0 Bugs/Fixes/Wishlist page, a reader indicated he was able to use QT 4.0 and Ramdoubler:

" Oh, and in regards to the Ram Doubler & QT4 item on your web page... I gave it a try on my machine and it worked just fine. Admittedly the video was a little jerky, but I expect that behavior when running big movies with VM or Ram Doubler, so... "

Wanted: ORB Feedback I'm looking for owner comments on the Castlewood ORB 2.2GB removable drive. If you've used one of these drives on a Mac I'd like your comments. I see them advertised, but not sure they are actually shipping to end users.

Quicktime 4.0/Jackhammer SCSI Card: This has been added to my QT 4.0 Bugs/Fixes/Wishlist page:

" Hello Mike,
I had a couple of problems at home when I installed QT4. After doing the mandatory restart, I noticed that the extension for my JackHammer UW SCSI card was X'd out. I also got a message from QT4 telling me that it was missing a component. I thought that strange given that I'd just installed it.

I chose to add the component so the QT4 Update application launched, downloaded and installed a 69kb piece. No restart was necessary so it must be a library of some sort. I then re-installed JackHammer 1.3.2 and restarted again. All has been fine since.

With QT3 I had noticed some minor video defects and dropped frames when I played the Star Wars Episode I trailers with either Movie Player 3.0 or 2.5.1. I thought that I had a perfectly configured system: 315/315MHz G3 card, 7200rpm UW SCSI drive, ix3D UltimateRez card, 144MB of RAM, VM off, 16-bit colour.

Those same "buggy" trailers now play perfectly smooth at DOUBLE size in 24-bit colour mode :-)
Happy with QT4 so far,
David "

Wayne Chang sent a note that Apple has a page on the Notice of Proposed Settlement on the support related lawsuit.

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 Modifies Open Source License (News.com)
• Best Buy Refuses Apple's iMac Rules (News.com)
• Apple Frees Streaming Server (Wired)
• Windows Convergence Coming Windows 2000 kernel will start moving toward consumers next year, says Gates. (PCWorld)
• MS Launches Win 2000 Beta Blitz Dell will begin shipping systems in June running beta 3 of the long-awaited operating system. (PCWorld)
• Wireless Lans Take Flight Comdex panel is optimistic that home interest and business interest will bolster each other. (PCWorld)
• Feds Release Privacy Guidelines Government releases privacy guidelines for Web sites that collect information from European Union residents. (PCWorld)
• Emachines Unveils Cheap High-End PCs New Etower line brings high performance and features to the sub-$600 market. (PCWorld)
• Compaq Reports Sales up 66 Percent (News.com)

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.

Tuesday's News Summary

• CDW SCSI Card sale
• More on Apple OEM U2 ROM Update Disk problems
• QT 4.0 page created for Bugs/Fixes/Wishes
• X-Plane OpenGL/MP850 reader report
• IBM docs on 300MHz IBM Copper CPUs
• Voodoo3 review at CNET
• XLR8 G3/400Z Review posted
• CDW Contest (win a new Mac)
• XLR8 Cache Control 1.3.1 beta
• Orange Micro SCSI Firmware Update
• Reader comments on Grappler ROM update

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

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