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Top stories of Dec 8th, 2000: |
| Steve Wozniak (Woz) Biography to Air on A&E: |
| Note: A reader sent word that the History Channel will also have an interesting story on Apple this Sunday night:
"
Hi Mike:
Just read your note about Woz's bio on A&E, and thought you might
like to know that History Channel has a short piece ongoing, about
Woz and the original Apple-1.
I stumbled on it accidentally last night, while I was tuned to
History Channel. They have a weekly called "History's Lost & Found",
which last night included "whatever happened to the original Apple
computer".
They went into the early age of microcomputers, and chased it down.
Included interviews w/Woz and the current owner of the Apple-1.
Woz wanted to give it away to a teacher who wanted her kids to learn
it, but Jobs was stingy about money, so Woz had to pay Jobs $300 out
of his own pocket, to gave it to this teacher, who used it w/her
gradeschool kids.
She still has it in her basement "museum". I can't remember this
woman's name, but her philosophy on learning and teaching was (is)
right-on.
It's on again Sunday from 1:00-1:30 PM ET/PT
--Sean C.
I've always been a big fan of Woz (without his design talents, there would be no Apple computer). Included in tonight's Software Updates, TILs, Other Net News listing is a biography of Steve Wozniak page, that notes A&E will be airing his Bio. on Dec 13th at 8PM. According to their TV listings, Bill Gate's biography appears the following night. (Talk about contrasts...)
Tonight's Apple TIL updates listing has 18 updated docs; many on OS X beta and several OS 9 and G4 system specific troubleshooting topics.
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| Info on 12 Radeon Cube OEM Cards at Ebay: |
Daniel sent a note that there's 12 Radeon OEM graphics cards at dutch auction on Ebay (auction ends 12/9/00 12:58 PST). Some notes based on what I saw on the auction page:
- Based on the photo there, the cards have a Fan which is only on the Cube version of the OEM (BTO) Radeon card. (As shown in my BTO Radeon vs Rage128 tests, the Tower BTO Radeon card has only a heatsink.)
- The description lists the cards as having a DVI port - but OEM cards don't have DVI, only ADC. Apple sells a $39 ADC to DVI adapter cable however. (The picture of his card also shows the 28 volt ADC connector "stub" on the card, which would mean it's ADC, not DVI.) Note that pre-Gigabit G4 towers don't have the 28V connector on the motherboard, so this card would not allow using an ADC display in a pre-Gigabit G4/AGP system.)
- There is no Video/TV out on the OEM/BTO Radeons (only retail versions). Although the auction page has a note on this near the bottom, TV out was still shown in the card features list ("Video-output for TV out display") as of this morning.
- The page says there are "two versions ", 2x AGP and 33/66MHz PCI. However ATI has released no PCI Radeon cards that I know of. (The seller just wrote to say the cards are AGP only, as I suspected.)
- The seller is from Canada, and notes shipping to USA and Canada only. (The seller just wrote to say shipping to Virginia would be $8, which surprised me.)
- Since these are OEM cards from a private individual, I'd assume there is no warranty but check with the seller to see if he does.
The price when I originally posted this (12/8/00, 9AM EST) was $99 (plus shipping), but that could change by the end of the auction. (Ends 12/9/00 12:58 PST.) [The Ebay auction page link was removed since the auction is now closed - the final minimum winning bids were $175, with one bid as high as $256.]
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| Resetting G4 (Gigabit Ethernet ) Power Management Unit (PMU): |
Included in yesterday's news listing of Apple TILs is one on resetting the PMU (Power Management Unit) on a Gigabit G4. Note the warnings on how improper handling can affect the PMU and dramatically reduce battery life:
"
Important: Be very careful when handling the main logic board. Remove the battery when handling the logic board so the PMU is not affected. The PMU is very sensitive and touching the circuitry on the logic board can cause the PMU to stop responding. If the PMU stops responding, the battery life goes from about five years to about two days if the PMU is not reset.
"
The TIL also has info on how resetting the PMU can cure some system problems like failing to power up, sleep problems, etc..
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| PB G3 Wallstreet Hinges |
| I know the issue of PB G3 Wallstreet hinge friction devices failing (not being able to hold the display up) has been covered elsewhere before but a reader asked I post links to a berkley (edu) page at http://death.berkeley.edu/~kenao/unhinged/forums/bad_hingeclutch001207.0811.htm" on the issue for readers that were not aware of it.
I have not seen the problem but then I leave the Wallstreet open most all the time. Comments indicated those that open and close the hinge several times a day were more likely to have the problem after about 2 years. (The reader later wrote)
"
Dear Mike,
Thank you for posting the PSA about messed up PowerBook G3s on your
site. After your post, a lot more affected PBG3 owners emailed me to
say they had similar problems. I noticed in weblogs that many people
simply clicked on the forum links but didn't go to my main homepage
which I think is more important and presents the issue in a
structured way. If you don't have the address, this is the URL:
http://death.berkeley.edu/~kenao/unhinged/
On a linked sub-page, I am posting updates. I added many Mac user's
comments here today:
death.berkeley.edu/~kenao/unhinged/updates.html
My page may be in the berkeley.edu domain, but it's not a
"university" page (it's my personal webspace at the place I
volunteer) and is definitely not endorsed by UCB. ...
Again, thanks for your help, I really appreciate it! Unfortunately,
the saga continues.
Kenneth Ott"
(Note - the links above may not be valid in the future, just a FYI since this news page is archived here and viewable years from now.) Update: For articles on repairing the PB Hinges, see the PowerBook section of our FAQ.
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| Rate Your CPU Upgrade Database Updates: |
| The Rate Your CPU Upgrade database has been updated with 12 new reports (total to date: 4,905). [Entries from after midnight will be added the following day.]
- Formac G3/400 in Beige G3 (rated 9)
- Metabox G3/400 in 7500/150 (rated 8)
- Newer Tech G4/400 in 8500/180 (rated 8)
- Newer Tech G3/400 in 7500/100 (rated 8)
- Newer Tech G3/300 in 3000/200T (rated 10)
- Newer Tech carrier card w/G3/366 in 7500/100 (rated 10)
- Newer Tech G3/300 in 6100/60 AV (rated 10)
- Other World Computing G3/450 (466) in Beige G3/266 (rated 10)
[updated report, now running 562mhz]
- Powerlogix G3/366 in PowerTower 180e (rated 10)
- Sonnet G3/300 in Performa 6360 (rated 9)
- two Beige G3/300 OC reports
You can find these 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)
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| Drive Compatibility Database Updates: |
| The Drive Compatibility searchable database had 4 new entries posted this morning (current total 2,128). (Note - I welcome OS X reports in the database from users of non-Apple CD/DVD/CDRW/Firewire drives - select OS X on the entry form)
CDRW Drives:
- IDE Philips 800 series (8x/4x/32x) in Beige G3
(not recognized by Jam2.5 or Toast 3.x he said)
- IDE Yamaha 2100EZ (16x/10x/40x) in Beige G3
Hard Drives:
- IDE Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 40GB in G4/AGP
- IDE Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 30GB in Umax J700 w/PCI IDE card
You can find these full reports by searching the database with the drive/brand/mac models listed above selected (the latest reports are shown first in searches).
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.
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| Video Card Game/Benchmark Performance Database Updated: |
| Updates to the Mac Game/Video Card Performance database included:
- GL Quake 1 at 640x480 from Dual G4/450 w/Voodoo5 PCI card (16bit mode/No FSAA)
- UT Wicked400 demo at 640x400 from iMac G3/333 (onboard video)
- Unreal Tournament at 640x400 from iMac G3/333 (onboard video)
(Both these iMac scores were filed under 640x480 since 640x400 entries so rare they are not worth making a separate resolution category)
Total entries in the database to date: 2,269. If you haven't already, enter your results with any of the game titles or benchmarks listed on the entry page (details on how to test are there). If you're curious how a CPU upgrade or new Video card would help game performance, the search page options can help you find similar system/configurations to get an idea before you buy.
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