" Hi Mike,
Came home this afternoon and sitting on the porch was OSX [10.2]. Was surprised as it is a little early.
Bill S."

" Dear Mike,
I don't know if this will help to answer to the problem encountered by your reader who said that the audio I/O of the New G4 doesn't work under OS 9, but I've read in the "Power Mac G4 Tech Overview" PDF file ( http://www.apple.com/powermac/pdf/PowerMacG4_TO-a.pdf), page 17, that the audio input is now at 24 bits.
I don't know if Mac OS 9 can support it right of the box. Maybe that has something to do with it. I haven't got a G4 DualOptical, so I can't help more. It's just FYI.
Regards,
Sacha "

I'm not sure what exactly the reader yesterday was referring to (i.e. if he used a microphone (Apple's manual says to use self-powered microphones), or was using a line out to the line in on the Mac.) I've written to ask him for clarification/more details. [Update] - The reader that noted the OS 9 Audio I/O problems yesterday replied to my mail asking for more details:

"sorry I didn't correct this: this was happening while working on OS 9, after having dragged the system folder over to a hd that was attached to the ATA 66 bus. Now with the correctly installed system, everything works fine (as usual) - no problems with audio I/O. I only tried with the Macs internal audio hardware, since this is my home Mac - no further audio hardware is attached.
Ray "

I had missed the fact the new G4s had 24-bit audio vs 16-bit on past models.

"Perfboard 2.1
Perfboard provides an extensive readout of system performance data for Mac OS X. Areas monitored include CPU load metrics, memory statistics, network bandwidth, and disk I/O operations. Feel your system has bogged down? Run Perfboard and check at a glance for problems such as excessive virtual memory paging, high network activity, lack of free memory, runaway processes and more. Perfboard is made available at no cost and you download and use it at your own risk.

What's New:
Version 2.1 adds the addition of a workaround for a problem in Jaguar that sometimes prevented Perfboard from starting up properly.
Requirements:
MacOS X 10.1 or later."

Product Description:
FruitMenu is a haxie that gives you the ability to customize the Apple Menu and contextual menus. Using a visual editor you can edit the contents of the menus to suit your needs and taste. FruitMenu will also display the contents of the FruitMenu Items folder inside of your Library folder, launch applications and shell scripts from the Apple Menu and contextual menus, to allow easy file navigation and launching. To make the haxie completely flexible and customizable, you can assign hotkeys to particular Apple menu items.

New in this version:
* This major update is free for all registered users of FruitMenu.
* This version of FruitMenu is compatible with Mac OS X 10.1 and later (including 10.2 "Jaguar").
* Redesigned the GUI to make it less cluttered and easier to understand and use.
* Added 'Move To' for contextual menus to quickly move the selected file or folder into the folder of your choice.
* Added 'Running Applications' to both Apple and Contextual menus libraries.
* (Jaguar only) Added 'Unlimited' folder scan depth option - no more 5 level limits on browsing directories!
* Added in-menu graphic files preview option.
* Added "Use Small Menus for Submenus" option.
* Moved the haxie to our new Application Enhancer backend.
* Contextual menus are being cleaned up to avoid two separators in a row in the menu.
* Traditional bugfixes and tweaks.
FruitMenu 2.5 ($7.00 per license shareware) is available for download at:
http://download.unsanity.com/fruitmenu-25.dmg.sit"

"Hi Mike,
here are some performance tests with Logic. Please note that the Platinum Verb test that is often used on the net, doesn't give results that are comparable with PC's, since the algorithm doesn't seem to be optimised for Mac for some reason.
[Altivec is capable of much higher rates than the current Mac's frontside/system bus bandwidth. Optimizing code can't make up for other system limits. Again I suspect the reason for higher Platinumverb results with PCs is because they have much higher memory bandwidth (dual channel PC800 rambus on many P4s with 3.2GB/sec potential, and there's even faster 533MHz FSB/Rimms now), much faster frontside bus, etc. Even lower cost DDR based PC motherboards, they just have a much "bigger pipe" from CPU to memory than the current macs. That can be a bottleneck for tasks that push a lot of data. I hope next year a G4 or G5 w/DDR FSB/System bus will appear.-Mike]

All in all the 867 DP gives great results! About 15-20% less performance than the old Double Gig (133 MHz).

I always measured the highest peak while running the song 30 secs. The average might be much lower. All measured with Mac AV, buffer 512 samples, Logic 5.2, Mac OS 9.2.2. No optimised system folder or anything like this.

1GHz DP||867MHz DP

- Lustral Phrophet only: 45% || 46%
(a single NI Pro-52 patch inside a song I'm just working with, non Altivec)

- Lustral Verse :59% || 88%
(10 audio tracks, one Altiverb, the Prophet tested above)

-Testsong HighPerf: 77% || 90%
(An 32 voice ES2 bass, a heavy loaded ES2 pad, a sidechained EVOC, some drums from audio tracks tracks)

-ES2 Pad Altivec Test: 8 tracks || 7 tracks

-Altverb Test: 7 m/s Chapels || 6 m/s Chapels
(count of mono/stereo instances of the Amsterdam Chapel 4m, running in Logic in Single CPU mode, Altiverb on all instances in "no latency" mode)

- PV test: 23 PVs || 17 PVs

- PSP Vintage Warmer stereo 14 || 11

- ES2 voices (Micheles Test) 272 || 227
Best
Ray "

" You should update to Mac OS X Server 10.2 if you are unable to save an existing file on Xserve.

Symptom
When saving an existing document on Xserve, an alert box with this message appears:

"Could not save <filename> because a file of the same name already exists".

Note: This issue may occur when you connect to server using Apple File Protocol (AFP).
Products affected

• Xserve
• Mac OS X Server 10.1.5

Solution: This issue is resolved in Mac OS X Server 10.2. You may upgrade to Mac OS X Server 10.2 using the Mac OS X Server Up-To-Date Program.
Note: Mac OS X Server 10.1.4 with the Mac OS X 10.1.5 update installed is not affected by this issue."

" August 22, 2002. "We're ready for Jaguar !" said Simon Jensen-Fellows, Cogco's Chief Engineer. "This release of ClassicBooster further improves the launch time of the Classic environment as well as improving its ability to disable unnecessary extensions. We've also updated the utility to be prepared for changes in the 10.2 release of Mac OS X "Jaguar".
ClassicBooster lets users create an Extensions Manager set customized for Classic running under Mac OS X. ClassicBooster ensures that this set is loaded when you launch Classic, and your normal set loads when you boot Mac OS 9. Finally, ClassicBooster caches extensions and loads the Classic environment really fast, in as little as a quarter of the normal time.
A trial version of ClassicBooster is available from:
http://www.cogco.co.uk/ClassicBooster"

I've never used this product but if anyone else has seen any benefits from it let me know.

DVD-R DVD Recorder Drive Reports:
• IDE Pioneer DVR-104 in G4/AGP (OS X)
  
  Combo DVD-CDR Drive Reports:
• IDE LG GCC-4320B (32x10x40x + 16x DVD ROM) in G4/AGP (OS X)
  (no itunes support)
  
  Expansion bay (powerbook) CDRW Drive Reports:
• Expansion bay Matshita UJDA310L 4x4x20x in PB G3 2000 (OS X)
  
  IDE CDRW Drive Reports:
• LG GCE-8320B 32x10x40 in Beige G3 (OS X)
  (problems noted)
• Lite-On LTR-32123S (32x12x40x) in Beige G3 (OS 9.2)
  (problems noted)
• Teac CD-W540E 40x12x48 in Beige G3 (OS 8.6)
• Teac CD-W540E 40x12x48 in B&W G3 (OS 9.1)
  (FYI - Illustrated CD drive install guide here covers G4 towers up to the Digital Audio Model, Beige G3 MT, B&W G3 and 8600/9600 Macs)
  
  Firewire CDRW Drive Reports:
• Fantom FCD32FW 32x10x40x used w/G4 AGP (OS X)
  (problems noted - artec mechanism in the case)
  
  IDE Hard Drive Reports:
• Maxtor D740X 40GB in G4/AGP (OS X)
  (Reader FYI - Illustrated guide to adding a 2nd HD to G4 towers up to the 2002 Quicksilver model)
  
  Firewire Hard Drive Reports:
• Smartdisk Firefly 5GB used w/Beige G3 (OS X)
  (noted drive failure - mine knock on wood is still working fine)
  
  SCSI Hard Drive Reports:
• SCSI IBM UltraStar 4GB in 8500 (OS 9.1)

You can find full owner reports (latest shown first) by searching the database by drive/brand/interface/mac models (the latest reports are shown first in searches). For guides to installing CD/CDRW/DVD drives or Hard drives in many mac models, see the IDE Articles page. The Firewire articles page also has guides on case kits, installing drives, etc.
If you've added a IDE, SCSI, Firewire or USB hard drive, CDRW, tape drive, etc. make sure you add a report to the database. [If you post an updated entry - make sure you use the same name, etc. as you did before so I can find your past entry. Thanks.]
(Entries today will be added the following newsday. Incomplete entries are deleted. Do not post questions in the database, it's for drive reports not questions on what drive to buy - for that try searching the database for reports from owners of your mac model on the drive type/brand/interface, etc. you're interested in.)

• PowerLogix G4/550 in B&W G3 (rated 10)
• Newer Tech G4/500 Upgrade for Pismo PB [PowerBook G3 2000] (rated 5)
• B&W G3/350 OC report (@400)

(Warning - Overclocking may not be reliable and could lead to hardware failure or corrupted data.) You can find the full reports by searching the database selecting the indicated Mac model and upgrade card brand/type. If you've upgraded the CPU on your Mac, please post an entry in the database. Search the database for entries from most every upgradable Mac model *before* you buy. (Searchable by mac model/upgrade brand). For detailed reviews with performance tests and install tips, see the CPU Upgrades page.)

• 1 year ago today
• 2 years ago today
• 3 years ago today