News Archive for: Monday Aug 20, 2007
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Belkin N1 (802.11n) Express34 Card not compatible w/RALink drivers (updated)
(from a reader mail - updated with notes it's Atheros AR5008 chip based?)

"I tried the latest (8/03) Ralink drivers on a Belkin N1 Wireless ExpressCard Model F5D8071 which I believe uses the Ralink RT2860T (per this page) chipset but I am having no luck.
(FYI - another reader said that N1 card uses the RT2890T Chipset, not the RT2860 (PCI/mPCI/CardBus) or RT2870 (USB) that RAlink posted drivers for. Maybe Belkin Tech Support could clarify what chipset is used? Update - see his later mail below showing it's Atheros AR5008 based? That's the chipset used in MacBook/Pro 802.11n mini-PCIe cards from Apple.-Mike)
It pops up in the menu bar and says it is a Network Controller card Vendor Unknown. Has anyone had any luck with one of these yet? I am on an original MacBook Pro 15" 2.0 GHZ

(Corey later wrote RAlink sent him updated drivers, but they didn't help. And on Wednesday he sent another mail that the card is AR5008 based??)
Well, I apologize it would appear the information I was given is wrong. It is not Ralink based it is Atheros based. Here is the info from Windows. If anyone has any help for this it is much appreciated.

    (Clip from Windows info)
    Name [00000016] Atheros AR5008 Wireless Network Adapter
    Adapter Type Ethernet 802.3
    Product Type Atheros AR5008 Wireless Network Adapter
    Installed Yes....

Thanks, Corey"

As mentioned earlier this year on the 802.11n page here, the wireless N cards in the MacBook and MacBook Pro are Atheros AR5008 based.
BTW - Earlier this year a reader tried the PCI drivers with a Belkin N1 PCI card also and they didn't work (different chipset on the N1 PCI card).
If anyone else has found a 802.11N Expresscard that works with the RALink drivers (or natively) let me know.
Previously many core duo MacBook Pro owners just swapped in an apple compatible internal 802.11N card. (Apple Mac Pro kit card, or dell 1500, and later some mac dealers sold similar cards, although priced over what the apple and dell cards sold for.)
Early this year a reader that worked for a company that didn't allow internal wireless cards said he used a natively compatible Expresscard IIRC, but I'll have to dig into the old mails to find that mail with the card model.)

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Handbrake 0.9.0 released
There's a new Handbrake 0.9.0 posted over the weekend. Here's info from the docs in the download.

Changes between 0.8.5b1 and 0.9.0:

Mac Changes:
+ Added: Chapter naming
+ Added: Growl support
+ Added: Advanced x264 settings tab
+ Added: Logging window
+ Added: Turbo for 2-pass x264 encodes
+ Added: Many new presets
+ Added: Unified toolbar
+ Changed: Default settings
+ Changed: Further integration of the queue and active queuing
+ Changed: Browse DVDs like any other volumes
+ Fixed: No more floating window syndrome (Mac)
+ Fixed: Presets retain "magic sauce" when you change settings

Core HandBrake Changes
+ Added: Matroska (MKV) container output
+ Added: Limited MPEG-2 transport stream (.VOB and .TS) input support
+ Added: Option to write MP4 files larger than 4GB
+ Added: Video filters (pullup, yadif, mcdeint, hqdn3d, pp7)
+ Added: DTS audio input
+ Changed: Switched to Lanczos scaling from libswscale
+ Changed: Precise chapter marker location
+ Changed: Newer libraries
+ Changed: Much faster (threaded) iPod encoding
+ Changed: "Same as source" works differently (better?) now
+ Fixed: Audio drops should be thoroughly banished now
+ Fixed: MP2 audio support

CLI Changes:
+ Added: Chapter naming
+ Added: Many new command line options for subtitles and filters.
+ Added: Turbo for 2-pass x264 encodes

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More feedback from 2007 iMac Owners (problems w/some 2GB SODIMMs)
I've updated the page of 2007 iMac owner reports including notes from a reader on problems with some 3rd party 2GB SO-DIMMs in 2 different iMacs and another 20in owner not happy with the display. Updated with replies from other iMac owners using 3rd party ram and info from the latest Apple iMac developer note and memory expansion note. If you've used 2GB modules in your 2007 iMac, let me know the details.
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Mac Drive Upgrades/Compatibility Database Updated
The Drive Compatibility Database had 8 more reports added today. Current total - 16,226. (Searching by drive type/brand, mac model etc. listed below will show the full reports, most recent first) iApps burn support mentioned in optical drive/burner reports unless otherwise noted.

    DVD+R/RW + DVD-R/RW Drives:
  • IDE Sony/NEC Optiarc AD-7630A in Mac Mini Intel CPU (OS X 10.4.x)
  • Exp. Bay (IDE) Toshiba SD-R6572M in Powerbook G3 2000 (OS X 10.3.x)
    (Requires Patchburn 3 for 10.3.x iApps burn support. And Lightscribe support requires 3rd party addons/drivers - see FAQ's DVD section.)

    Hard Drives:
  • IDE (SerialATA onboard) Hitachi Travelstar 7K200 (7200rpm) 200GB in MacBook Pro (OS X 10.4.10)
  • IDE (SerialATA onboard) Hitachi HTS541616J9SA00 (5400rpm) 160GB in MacBook (OS X 10.4.10)
  • IDE (SerialATA onboard) Samsung Spinpoint HD501LJ 500GB in G5 Tower (OS X 10.4.x)
  • IDE (SerialATA onboard) Seagate ST9160823ASG (7200rpm) 160GB in MacBook (OS X 10.4.x) (mentioned he notices some vibration with the new drive)
  • IDE (SerialATA onboard) Western Digital WD2500BEVS 250GB in MacBook (includes before/after benchmarks, noted no SMS issues)
  • IDE Western Digital Scorpio WD1200VE 120GB in PowerBook G4 (OS X 10.4.10) (includes before/after benchmarks, notes on install)

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). The database includes reports on DVD +/-R, CDRWs, Combo DVD-CDRW, DVD-ROM, Hard Drives and Removables (tape drive, ORB, ZIP, MO drives, NAS, CF/Smartmedia readers, etc.) in all interface types (IDE, IDE RAID cards, SATA, Firewire, SCSI, USB, adapters).
If you've added a IDE, SATA, Firewire, USB, or SCSI, hard drive, Optical drive/burner, NAS (including Airport Extreme base connected USB drive), tape drive, etc., send me the details (drive info/mac model/OS used, etc. - *Please take a minute to test for booting from CD with Optical drives*. Thanks.)

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Other News/Misc. Software Updates
Updated 6:30PM (includes apple support docs revised today)

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Recent Articles and Reviews
Listing/links to recent articles and reviews you may have missed.
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