Quesa Update: Dair Grant sent a note on a milestone in Quesa:

" Quesa - QuickDraw 3D on OpenGL

The Quesa development team is pleased to announce the latest development version of Quesa (0.0.9), which implements around 85% of the QD3D 1.6 API.

Quesa now includes an OpenGL based rendering component, which will make it possible to develop QD3D applications for Mac OS on Mac OS X and beyond (QD3D was removed from Carbon earlier this year).

Quesa is a high level 3D graphics library, released as Open Source under the LGPL, which implements Apple's QuickDraw 3D API on top of OpenGL.

It supports both retained and immediate mode rendering, an extensible file format, plug-in renderers, a wide range of high level geometries, hierarchical models, and a consistent and object-orientated API.

Quesa currently supports Mac OS, Linux, and Windows - ports to Be and Mac OS X are in progress.

More information, including screenshots, can be found at the Quesa home page: http://quesa.designcommunity.com/ "

Sawtooth CPU Module Speed Settings Info: Michiro Isobe, author of PPC Checker, sent a detailed analysis of Bus Ratio, CPU Core Supply Voltage, L2 Signal Level and Bus Clock settings of the Apple Sawtooth G4 System. Check it out.

ZIF Socketed CPU Cards Feature Comparison: [Update: Powerlogix says that the Z-Force is compatible with OEM ZIFs, Apple ZIFs, XLR8 ZIFs, literally any ZIF and their software does support auto cache configuration.] XLR8 sent a PDF File matrix that I've corrected per Powerlogix's comments into a new ZIF Matrix Gif file that compares all the ZIF socketed CPU Upgrade cards features (ZIF module compatibility, G4 compatibility, etc.). XLR8, Powerlogix, Formac and Newer Tech are all included in the table. Should any manufacturer have a correction or comment to the features table please contact me.

More Kenwood 72X CDROM Feedback: I received several more owner reports on the Kenwood 72X IDE drive yesterday, but first I'll list a reader's copy of Kenwood's response about support of Macs:

" From: "support" <support@kenwoodtech.com>
To: Steve Schroader
Subject: RE: 72x in a Macintosh
Date: Tue, 30 Nov 1999 16:38:22 -0800

We do not endorse or recommend our drives for use with any Apple products. If you can get it to work with it, more power to you.
Regards,
Kenwood Technologies Tech Support "

So officially you're on your own with a TrueX drive on a mac. Here are some of the latest owner comments:

" I installed a Kenwood 72x TrueX IDE CD-ROM Drive in a G3/233 DT last Friday, using the Apple CD-ROM 5.4.2 extension.

Pros:
* Amazingly quiet.
* Amazingly responsive and fast.
* Extracts audio at 27x.
(Amazing! I had previously been impressed by the 20x audio extraction speed of my Plextor UltraPlex PX-32TSi CD-ROM Drive. Also, the Plextor frequently makes files with dropouts; the Kenwood extracts perfectly.)

Cons:
* Can't boot from it. (I used the Mac OS 8.5 disk, held down the C key and the Mac just froze up about 10-15 seconds into the startup. I tried using the Startup Disk control panel and got the same freeze. I can boot from my Plextor UltraPlex PX-32TSi internal and my Plextor 820 external burner, if I use the Startup Disk control panel.)
* Won't work with Connectix Virtual Game Station v1.2. (my UltraPlex will).

These are serious problems. I have not yet tried any other drivers.
Steve Schroader "

www.intechusa.com would be my first choice for 3rd-party CDrom drivers.

Here's a conflicting report to the above - booting with OS 8.5 CD but not OS 9.

" I installed a Kenwood 72x IDE CD-ROM in my blue & white G3/450 at the same time I upgraded to MacOS 9. My drive WILL boot the MacOS 8.5 CD that my G3 came with, but I can't boot off the MacOS 9 CD. I don't know if this is an issue with the Apple/Adaptec 2930 SCSI card I also have in the machine (many other people have reported problems booting MacOS 9 with PCI SCSI card - so I don't know if it's a Kenwood problem or a SCSI card problem).

Otherwise, I've had zero problems with the drive. Works with Apple's CD-ROM driver, is VERY fast and VERY quiet. I don't have Tomb Raider, so I can't comment. I also don't use CVGS, so lack of Playstation discs is not really an issue for me. For what I use a CD-ROM drive for, the Kenwood 72x works just fine, and extraordinarily fast.
Mike Sneider "

I don't think a SCSI card would normally affect an IDE CDROM's booting capability. Kenwood promised to send a 72X drive for review some months back but it never arrived. I may have to pick one up locally and test it in my B&W G3.

More Airport Networking Feedback: Mail like this has put an Airport network at the top of my Christmas wish list:

" So far, everything is working. The iBook works outside on the front porch and by the pool. My ethernet equipped g3 upgraded UMAX is talking with my new iBook, and both are sharing the same ISP earthlink connection, which seems to run faster through the basestation than I ever have seen through any of my various internal and external modems. (Could this have to do with the basestation being lean, not having any operating overhead other than serving DHCP and TCP/IP traffic?)

I can also print to my LocalTalk LaserJet 6MP throughout my LocalTalk to ethernet bridge. In other words, it is doing everything I hoped it would, 30 minutes out of the box, including one troubleshoot.

Only hiccup was the need to reinstall the Airport software on my iBook after the basestation was configured. Configuration worked, but the initial software install froze after that. One reinstall did the trick. Total added time, five minutes. Nothing in the Windows world will ever be this easy and essentially foolproof, and Apple has a major triumph here that needs to be advertised ad nauseum until the whole world listens.
Mike Kramer "

MP Libraries - Not Just for Dual CPUs: An iMac DV owner said the reason for his waking from sleep problems were due to his removing the MP libraries during extensions trimming. Note that according to an Apple TIL the library is also used for multitasking on all Macs (even single CPU models). Here's a clip from the Apple dev. info:

The Multiprocessing API Library allows applications to perform preemptive multiprocessing operations on PowerPC computers equipped with more than one processor. The library also allows for preemptive multitasking on machines equipped with only one PowerPC processor.

Thanks to Tom Koons for the URL and Apple dev. info.

Tennmax Coolers: TennMax announced price reductions on many popular coolers for advanced graphics chipsets and CPUs. This is a result of cost savings from more efficient manufacturing process of making these unique coolers. My Video cards page has a review of Tennmax's Stealth Voodoo2 cooler and my www.mac3dfx.com site has a review of their Voodoo3 cooler.

Lightwave 3D Benchmarks: Andrew Klapatiuk sent a link to a Lightwave 3D benchmark site that allows comparisons of CPU performance with the supplied Lightwave 3D benchmark scenes. The G4 does well in these tests compared to far faster (MHz) Athlon systems which has the strongest FPU of any PC that I'm aware of. Some of the results shown are baffling (no Pentium III 500 I know ever came with a 1MB cache - all 500's are 512KB). Also note the top scores are from 2 to 16 processor equipped machines running NT which has SMP). The G4/450 Mac is 2nd only to an Alpha 660MHz machine as far as single CPU systems in Raytracing performance. Searching for Raytrace times, LW v5.6, all platforms, 50 results per page shows a G4/450 faster than an Athlon 650MHz in that test. If I had a USB dongle I'd test my G4/450 system here, but I don't have an ADB/USB adapter to run Lightwave on the G4 sawtooth system.

Homeworld Petition: Mac fans that want to see a port of the popular game HomeWorld should sign the demandmac petition.

OS X Client DP2 - Motherboard Support List: Although it may run on other motherboards perhaps, a reader sent a note that in the current OS X DP2 usr/share/nvram is a list of all of the motherboards supported by DP2. The list is:

3400-2400
3500
7300
7500
8500
9500
9700
Gossamer
Mainstreet
PowerBook1998
PowerMac-G3

I'm not sure what a 9700 is. Finally, he said he mucked around inside the appearance preference file/folder thingy, and there was a preference for monitor resolution and bit depth buried in there. He tried to activate it, but said Apple seems to have hard coded it not to load the proper nib file (interface file for Cocoa apps ). He surmised that the new Finder can't do resolution switching on the fly yet, but it's something he expected is working inside Apple.

BTW: Unlike my past posts on the subject (and in the summary page of my CPU upgrade reviews) - I neglected to mention in yesterday's news comment that 'blue box' (macOS mode) performance will be slower than your current OS version, which is why I mentioned the application upgrades to OS X versions. To take adantage of OS X (the reason to buy it), you'll need rewritten apps, which for someone like me with dozens of expensive software packages, will not be cheap (in total).

I still look forward to OS X and the core improvements it will bring (including better Altivec support, SMP, multitasking, etc.) but I doubt that I'll be upgrading applications without some serious thoughts and benefits. The main point is that Mac OS 8.x/9 will for years be the best supported versions - since there is no OS X installed base now, and for many years the vast majority of mac owners will be using pre-OS X operating systems. Vendors support best what is the largest market share, so it will be some time before the OS X software market has the selection we now have. And those that fear after OS X is released that previous OS versions won't have software support can relax - we'll be the majority of the market for some time to come.

More CPU Upgrade Price Cuts: Site Sponsor Other World Computing sent a list of price reductions effective today:

Effective for orders being shipped December 1st, and now listed on our website are the following new prices:

Sonnet G3 DaughterCard 73/75/76/etc...
G3/250-512k $159 while supply lasts
G3/266-512k $198
G3/300-512k $239
G3/300-1M $295
G3/333-1M $345
G3/400-1M $389
G3/466-1M $585
G3/500-1M $675

Sonnet G3 L2 Cache Upgrades 54/55/6360/64/65/20th/Umax C500 C600/PowerBase/4400/Starmax 3000 4000
G3/250-512k $198 G3/300-512k $239 G3/300-1m $295

5500/6500/20th Anniversary only
G3/400-1m $475
G3/500-1m $675

Sonnet Nubus Upgrades
G3/300mhz 1M - Now $339
G3/400mhz 1M - Now $485

XLR8 Zif Carrier with OWC Mercury 400mhz is now $399.
Best Regards,
Larry O'Connor
Other World Computing, Inc.

Sonnet also cut prices again today according to their press release.

iMac Game Wizard/3Dfx Drivers Note: I've updated my www.mac3dfx.com site with more info on using 3dfx's beta3 voodoo2 drivers with the imac game wizard (noted in yesterday's news). There is a 640x480 limit apparently in this configuration. See www.mac3dfx.com's update for more info and limitations.

For a blast from the past see what was on the front page news here one year ago.

Tuesday's News Summary

• www.MAC3dfx.com updated with IMac GameWizard/3Dfx driver tips
• 21" Display iMac Hack
• Review of Unity DS-1 (Mac Audio)
• XLR8 USB hub with Loadmeter
• MacOS X DP2 on G3 Upgraded 7300
• More on Promise ATA/66 Mac IDE Cards
• OS 9/Coolpix PCMCIA Card Tips
• Kenwood 72X IDE CDROM Comments
• Newer Tech ZIF Socketed Cards Discontinued/Not G4 compatible
• Formac ZIF Socketed CPU Upgrades
• Other Net News

Monday's News Summary

• OWC lowers Upgrade prices
• Z-Force bus speed tests in genesis/powercenter pro/9600 350
• Voodoo3 and Lightwave 3D Tip
• RC5 Altivec Core
• Help Save Opcode's OMS (Open Music System)
• More Mac Audio/CPU Upgrade Feedback
• Voodoo3 AGP Card Reminder
• Voodoo3 2000 for $62
• OS 9/RealPC Compatibility
• Apple 250/300/350MHz 604e CPU Cards
• More PC IDE CDROM Recorder in Macs Feedback:
• More on OS 9/PCMCIA Card Compatibility
• More Voodoo3 Dual Monitor Setup Feedback
• More OS X client DP2 screenshots

Weekend's News Summary

• Bargain TR5 SCSI Internal Tape Drives
• Voodoo3 and Strata StudioPro
• Voodoo3 and Lightwave 3D 5.6
• G3 Upgrades and Audio Feedback
• Rate Your CPU Upgrade Database Reaches 2,700 Entries
• Mac Game/Video Card Performance Database Updated

Friday's News Summary

• Voodoo3 and Hash Animation OpenGL
• $100 USB Travan TR4 Tape Drives
• MS office 98 OS 9 Update Installer Fixed
• PC IDE CDRrom Recorders in Macs (owner reports)
• 3Dfx driver tips from Ken Dyke at www.Mac3dfx.com
• SCSI ORB Drive Benchmarks/Driver Tests
• 780MHz/1GHz PowerPCs
• MacOS Altivec Extensions Info (reminder on past info and new source)
• USB Speakers Tip from reader post in my G4 Forum
• Reader Request: Audiowerks/Logic Discovery and G3 upgrades
• 512MB RAM in Wallstreet PB G3 (reader report on trip to Transintl.com dealer)
• Top 500 SuperComputers
• German reader tip on printer drivers
• Reminder on HP OS 9 printer driver updates
• Sonnet Cresendo v1.4 Update Feedback
• Revised Z-Force card arrives.

For links to older news pages see the Archives page.

The recent features page has a lists reviews/articles you may have missed.

For a guide to finding answers to questions - see my Site Guide page.

Considering a CPU Upgrade? Check the CPU Upgrade Owner's Survey results and search for owner reports by Mac model and/or card brand. Readers post new entries daily and the database is updated several times a week. 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) as in many cases problems are later found to be due to settings errors, slow L2 cache, etc.

-Freq Asked Questions