930U Firmware Update Feedback: [Update: - Other readers report the flash update works fine] One reader reported hangs at boot after flashing with the latest Orange Micro 930U firmware noted earlier today. I asked if he zapped the pram, etc. but until more feedback is received it may be best to wait before updating your card. I suggested he contact Orange Micro to report the problem as well. He wrote:

" Hi Mike,
I saw your post, d/led the Grappler Update (1.18) and flashed my 930U card...upon rebooting, my system froze...an obvious conflict with some extensions (perhaps QT4b21) so I rebooted with all extensions off...the bottom line is, the update does not work. I wonder if people at OrangeMicro have the problem isolated? I would like to reiterate it.

The problem with Grappler and Toast is when you try to burn CD-ROM XA files. You get a 'SCSI connection not stable' error the moment you start burning. I DO NOT get this problem trying to burn other formats, e.g. 'Macintosh Folder&Files' or 'Audio CDs'

Anyways, since the update didn't fix the CD-ROM XA issue (as a matter of fact, nothing has changed for the better since the last beta) [if the card hung at boot not sure how he determined the update didn't fix the Toast issues-Mike] I didn't even go through the hassle of finding the conflict and flashed my card right back to 1.17...to bad.
Sincerely,
Satoru Murata"

Bottom Line sent their latest list of weekly specials including G3 upgrades starting at under $240.

XLR8 300-400Mhz G3 Upgrade Bonus: Gary Dailey of XLR8 sent a reminder on the XLR8 Performance Package bonus offer:

" You can mention that all of the MACh Speed 300-400 MHz Products qualify for the XLR8 Performance Package!

Basically, after purchasing all US customers go to www.xlr8.com, and they can register (we send it free), for the Performance Package.

They will get,
XLR8's USB Scrolling Mouse, Point&Scroll
XLR8's USB PCI Card, DualPort USB
XLR8's PowerControl bench/diagnostics software
XLR8's PowerFrax fractal generating software
XLR8's new 1.3.1 SmartControl G3 software w/ virtual memory.

All, at no extra cost, direct from XLR8.
More details are available at www.xlr8.com."

According to the original press release, the offer applies to purchases of "any 300-400 MHz MACh Speed G3 or G3Z card from March 1, 1999 through June 1, 1999 in the U.S." I mentioned this offer back when it was first announced, but had forgotten about it. A nice bonus. As noted in my recent review of the XLR8 G3/400Z (ZIF), the XLR8 ZIF is the only ZIF Upgrade I've tested in the B&W G3 that requires no cache enabling software.

Alex sent the latest install of the Cats-n-Dogs Living Together column titled Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics [or Bytemark Benchmarks ;-]

Orange Micro has released the final (non-beta) version 1.18 of their Grappler 930U SCSI card firmware update. This final update includes the following fixes (from their web page):

• Support for scanners that are not Apple SCSI Manager 4.3 compliant
• B&W G3 Boot Capability
• Lockups while copying files to Jaz or Zip media with Virtual Memory off
• Toast errors when writing to a CDR

Mike Rowe sent a copy of mail he received from Diamond regarding possible future Mac support with their RIO MP3 Player:

" Hello - Mac support for the RIO is something we are seriously looking into, but there has been no announcement as of yet. Please keep an eye on our website at www.diamondmm.com for details on future product releases. Thank you for your interest in a Diamond product. "

A reader sent a note on OS 8.6's improved Graphing Calculator:

" Mike,
After installing OS 8.6b9, I noticed something very, very cool. The Graphing calculator has been updated to take advantage of 3D acceleration hardware!
[see Atom   Globe   Param images]
In addition, it now has incredibly beautiful graphs and a host of other features. You can export movies too. - Andy "

The Quicktime 4 Beta Bugs/Fixes/Wishlist page has more reader feedback on problems (Audio, AOL instant messenger) and a tip that increasing memory to players/apps may help MP3 playback performance. Audio quality reduction is the most common complaint with the QT 4.0 Beta. Here's the latest report added to the feedback page:

" Just a quick note about Qt4 on my Powerbook G3 series 233, I just upgraded to Qt4 and the sound quality has really gone in the dumpster. Audio Cds, start up sound, System sounds, and most importantly, the sound track of my beloved Indy Car Racing 2 game. The engine sound is very broken up and sounds like an air line bubbling away in a fish tank! I have tried throwing away the Sound Prefs, which worked temporarily, but the problem returns, I guess I will need to find a copy of the old Sound Manager.
Nick "

Apple's recent TIL updates page has many Quicktime 4 related articles including a QT 4 FAQ and QT 4 Known Issues.

XLR8 has released v1.3.1b3 of their G3 Cache Control. Get it at their download page.

Aurora Design, makers of the Fuse video capture card (reviewed here) sent a note on a feature of their next capture card, the Igniter.

" Mike,
Aurora Design announces the introduction of an uncompressed option to its Igniter product. This option card will allow video professionals to tap into the highest quality video possible. Pricing has not been set at this time and the product is expected to ship by the fall of this year.
Timothy McMahon
Aurora Design, Inc.
Exclusively Mac Only! "

A reader with a Voodoo2 Game Wizard (reviewed here) sent a note that enabling 'Curved Surfaces' in Unreal's advanced settings (and setting maxing texture/detail) dramatically improved image quality and reduced the 'blurry' wall textures/mipmapping effect. I remember a thread here and in the 3D Game news last year that the Curved Surfaces option was responsible for some problems in Unreal, so I wrote Mark Adams who replied:

"Its always been an experimental mode. It will make creatures look better, but performance can drop severely and other problems are possible.
Mark Adams
President, Westlake Interactive
http://www.westlakeinteractive.com"

Yesterday's TIL Updates has an article on changing keyboard layouts affecting password security.

Microsoft has found more 'minor' Y2K Flaws in Windows 98. Their Year2000 page is highly recommended reading for those infested with various MS products. Oops - I mean installed MS products. (I do prefer IE 4.5 however).

PCWorld has an article on Iomega's QuickSync, a free 'automatic' backup utility (Windows) for Jaz/ZIP users. Their report of 5.5MB of RAM usage from this background apps is enough to deter many from using it I suspect. I saw no Mac version offered (perhaps a blessing in disguise?). 5.5MB for a simple file sync utility (one folder selection only, no data compression) may qualify this for my 'Bloatware' award. Remember when you could run a business on software that ran on a 48K machine?

Multi-Tech has produced what it claims is the world's smallest 56K/V.90 Modem -- their MultiMobile USB weights only 2 ounces and measures only 1.3" x by 1" x 3.1" inches. I'm assuming the Mac should be supported as they also made a larger Mac USB modem. I didn't see specifics on the MultiMobile USB at their web site however PCWorld has a review of it. For another small USB modem - check out the Shark Leopard. The Leopard is about $100 cheaper (SRP) than the MultiMobile mini USB modem, but the Leopard page shows only Win98 support.

If you don't check the news daily, you're sure to miss something useful/interesting. Check the summary list below. For a blast from the past, read what was on the news page here exactly a year ago (the Intel links in that page might be worth a chuckle or two - like the The Pentium II Van hit and run page.

Other Net News:

• Mobile DJ Play and mix music on your computer (iTeen)
• 2 Free Apple Games for the iMac (iTeen)
• $299 PC Ships with WordPerfect Suite (PCWorld)
• Microsoft Money Machine Roars Ahead Giant doesn't launch any major new products, but latest quarterly profits still hit almost $2 billion. (PCWorld)
• What Assures You of Privacy Online? Most people want a combination of measures, AT&T Labs study finds. (PCWorld)
• Lucent teams for MP3 competitor (News.com)
• Prime-time PCs? (News.com)
• E-Commerce: Privacy at risk in e-commerce rush (News.com)
• The Net: Mozilla develops chat/messaging software (News.com)
• Enterprise Computing: Corel gets help to make Linux easier (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.

Wednesday's News Summary

• QT 4 Bugs/Fixes/Wish List updated
• Lack of ADB Dongle support in OS X
• Command-Option-Shift-Delete not supported in new G3s
• Reader feedback on ORB drive
• TurboMax/Media100/B&W G3 report
• Wired4DVD Decoder Card report
• incomplete Virtual PC homepage
• QT4/Ramdoubler conflicting reports
• Quicktime 4.0/Jackhammer SCSI Card conflict
• Apple support suit proposed settlement posted
• 3D Game News updated
• G3 CPU Upgrade Ratings database updated
• FAQ back online
• Other Net News

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

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