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12/27/98 - Sunday's News:	Click for Current News Page
Mach 5/400MHz Upgrade Feedback: In a followup to the Mach 5 warning posted in yesterday's news, Darin Ames writes he tried both a Newer Tech 400MHz and XLR8 400MHz card attempting to upgrade his 9600/350: " Hi mike, I hope you and Kay had a wonderful holiday. I wanted to drop you a line regarding the compatibility issues with 400Mhz G3 upgrades and the Mach 5 Macs. I saw the post earlier today [yesterday's news-Mike] mentioning my problems with the Newer Board as well as another reader's trouble with the PL. I returned the Newer board to MacGurus and got an XLR8 400, based both on your review and the fact that Steve Trujillo chose to put one in his trusted 'Beast'. After all the problems I had with the Newer, I was amazed that the XLR8 started up fine on the first try. True PNP. I have since conducted some audio tests and can say that it works with my Digidesign AudioMedia III card as well as with the very popular Bias Peak software. It also plays nice with my dual channel Ultra2 RAID. Ithought this might of interest to the many folks who read your site. Also of note is that I recently got an update of sorts from Newer regrading their acknowledged bug in the MaxPowr 400 in the Mach 5. They said a new design is due in the first quarter. They could be no more specific than that. When asked if this could be as late as March, the person I spoke to said 'possibly'. This is sad as Newer held the compatibility position for so long and I had such a positive experience with the 366Mhz card. But now, as you mention, the only truly reliable 400Mhz card [in the Mach5's based on feedback-Mike] is the XLR8, which is a marvelous piece of engineering. All the best, Darin Ames www.crooner.com " MacGurus responds to the post in yesterday's news regarding PowerBase machines and the latest PowerForce G3 cards: " The new boards require a modification to run properly in PowerBase. It's something specific to that machine that requires an actual modification by PL. Older models ran without modification; the new ones require something else. There is also a form factor issue, as the heat sink on the new boards occludes the logic board cache slot on the PowerBase logic board. It is imperative that PowerBase owners inform the vendor of their machine type, so the vendor can ensure that they receive a PL daughtercard with the appropriate modifications. Needless to say, this will also result in some fulfillment delays for PowerBase owners...we had approximately ten backordered before the holiday, and that many were shipped by PL to fulfillment on the 24th. Unfortunately, something was done improperly, and the boards were sent back to PL that same day. It will be a couple more days after business resumes, we believe, before those boards are handled by PL, and then returned to fulfillment. hope this helps. " More on PF400/9600: Greg writes with a status update and summary on his findings: " I have taken the [PowerForce] 400 down to 466MHz after a lock while looping playback of the 26 track Cubase VST audio demo. Now it can be left looping all day with no problem. There were no other signs of stability problems. The PF 333 problem was an ESO error (equipment superior to operator), I had the wrong model card (left it on the 400) selected in the cache control:) Still won't go 400 but 375 is OK. There is a problem with 9600 and PowerBase. PowerLogix believe they know the fix so all should be well soon. My tech nearly tore his hair out over the 9600 problem. After seeing the Umax (initially) running fine at 474.5MHz he ran off with a 400 card for his 9600, and spent the whole night trying to get it to work with no luck. We also had a problem with the new cards and a 7300/200. Basically no matter what we did, it would not boot correctly, mostly stopping at the happy Mac but sometimes not even getting that far, all the usual suspects were checked. The new PF cards have worked fine in a 7300/180, so we were puzzled - more so when we tried one of the old style PF cards and it worked with no problem! Weird. Greg " MacMagic Contest Reminder: Don't forget to enter our Mac Magic Contest. Write one paragraph on how the Mac has improved or changed your life and you could win a MacMagic 3Dfx card. Send your entry to: Frank Bernier. The winner will be announced on New Year's Eve. Today's Unreal News page has a note on a new "Xmas Pack" of Unreal addons, Myth II review link and bug notes, a report of new ATI drivers on Hotline, a cheating 'Aimbot' in Quakeworld and some humorous TV listings for the holidays. More on Vidi's Presenter 3D: Just received this in the mail. Several weeks ago I posted a note on Vidi exiting the Mac 3D market and their plans to give away Presenter 3D as a "Christmas Present" to the Mac community. The latest mail from them has a status update: " I am sending this note to all those who have taken the time to download the demo version of Presenter 3D. As my notice on the VIDI website at www.vidi.com says "VIDI IS CLOSING BUT THE 3D CRUSADE CONTINUES". I wish to thank Apple founder Steve Wozniak and all those who have written letters of encouragement. To continue supporting 3D on the Macintosh, we are still working on releasing an unlocked version of an updated Presenter 3D as a Christmas present to our existing and future users. Because Apple itself has been silent and appears not interested in bundling the software for its educational and home users and due to overwhelming support for a CD, we will be publishing our own CD for distribution. This CD will contain the unlocked software, online tutorials from the website, and source code with documentation for writing effects and render plug-ins. In the meantime, as many suggested, we are making the existing locked version available for $65 to cover the cost of the dongle and the C.O.D. shipping charge in the U.S. To order, email me at vidinick@aol.com and provide your name and shipping address. For anyone not wanting it shipped C.O.D. and for overseas customers, please send an addressed mailing label and check for $60 for U.S. and an $80 international cashier check for overseas to: 3D Glow 16309 Doublegrove Valinda, Ca 91744 The release of the unlocked version will not be the end of our efforts to promote 3D on the Macintosh. With the support of students and faculty at Grossmont High School, the next project will be the development of free software for an animation contest. This effort will give kids and the young in heart all over the world an opportunity to produce animations similar to that of the Disney/Pixar movie, "A Bug's Life" and win some nice prizes. We will keep you informed as to the progress of this effort. I would appreciate it if you could let others know about our efforts to support 3D on the Macintosh and the availability of Presenter 3D. Best wishes for the holidays, Nick Pavlovic " Zoom PC Card Modems: Bob Friede comments on the Macworld "Make your PowerBook a Road Warrior" article posted in yesterday's news noting they omitted his favorite PC Card modem - Zoom: " MacWorld's "Make your PowerBook a Road Warrior" article errs in leaving out Zoom PC Card modems among others (in fact, it seems they like only 3Com). Last month I purchased a new Zoom 56k/v90 "dual-mode" card for my G3(3500) which, as you recall, can get really, really hot. Previously used cards by 3Com, Global Village and Zoom all wilted before long in the incredible heat and would have to be removed--too often--to cool off enough before they would work again (GV was the worst). I am pleased to say that Zoom has addressed this problem successfully and the new card, hot as it gets, has never failed. How about that! (Current CPU temperature: 95C via Speedmeter) Rgds, Bob Friede " PC Cards (PCMCIA) are normally designed to operate at 145-165 degrees F. At work I've seen USR (3COM) V90 PC Card modems (in Solo PII notebooks) connect at 50.6K and run all day without a disconnect. After shutting down the PC Card modem is too hot to hold but you'd not know it by using them, absolutely no problems from the heat. Yesterday's News Summary Carmine's TIL and net news updates Brown Box Ult. Rez reader report iMac sales double Apple market share Reader report on overclocking PowerTower Pro 200 G3 compat. note to PowerBase and Mach 5 system owners (new reader reports of problems) Other Net News For other recent site news/features links, see the Recent Site Features page. Please verify your Email address when sending support mail: I'm still getting a few bounces on mail I send to help readers with tech support problems. Please ensure you verify your correct email address (repeat it in the mail as a safety measure). Also, please check the FAQ, and Troubleshooting page for possible solutions first before writing - and please try the Men in Mac Help page as an alternative on requests for tech support to help me be able to spend more time on reviews. Thanks. Note: Before sending tech support related questions please check the Freq. Asked Questions, Site Contents, CPU Card reviews/articles, SCSI reviews articles, Graphics card reviews, Tips/Misc, Message Boards and Help pages - in many cases the answers to your questions are there and they have far more detail than I can list in an email. For Apple G3 system info - see the G3-ZONE. News and guest reviews that don't require a reply are always welcome. I hope to catch up in the next few weeks. Thanks. Looking for past articles? Check the menu frame topics links (CPU Cards, SCSI, Graphics Cards, Systems) under the logo above or in the menu frame below or check the Recent Features page. Make a Difference: Be the Difference Randy Mita, Brad Lau and I came up with a new slogan and theme for Mac advocacy - "Make a Difference: Be the Difference". We're asking that all Mac owners take advantage of every opportunity to let others know the Mac advantage. It's a grass-roots approach that will surely help.