"Hi Mike,
about the jumper settings for a beige G3 the ones Akira Sasaki sent are in reverse, it should go like that:

7.5x bus ratio (500MHz):

1 2 3 4
x x x -

8x bus ratio (533MHz):

1 2 3 4
- - x x

x being the jumpers.

i just tried it with a OWC 466MHz G3 ZIF on a beige G3 desktop, OWC sent me the Rev.C Rom too. it 's working fine at 533MHz for now (i mounted disk images on each of my HD's, no errors), much better than the 83/33/500 configuration (i got errors 9 and 10 and finder quits + data corruption on 2 HD's). my system doesn't seem to handle the higher bus speed very well (too much for the ram maybe?). just wanted to let you know for other people to try.

Thanks a lot for your site, i didn't know anything about computers a few months ago (i'm a musician and used to work on a antique Atari, very stable machine by the way...) and i learned so much reading all your different articles. That helped me a lot to solve different issues, audio is tricky isn't it?
Regards,
Laurent Brondel"

Don't assume Laurent's speeds will be repeatable with another CPU sample or your Beige G3.

Yesterday's 'simple' database server software update ended up costing me about 8 hours or more of time but I'm finally back to writing up the 1MB vs 2MB G4 article. Most apps did not show any significant gain, but Virtual PC seemed to like the larger cache. Granted a G4/350 still scored less than 1/2 a Pentium 166, so don't consider VPC suitable for anything that requires a fast PC CPU. I'll have a page comparing VPC 3.0, Photoshop 5.5, Lightwave 5.6D, After Effects, Premiere and Unreal posted as soon as possible. Also included are scores from the stock 9600/350.

Beige G3 7.5x and 8x Bus/CPU Ratios Settings: Several readers responded to the comments on documented settings of 7x max bus/cpu ratio on the Beige G3 in yesterday's news. In fact, one reader said that a report in my Rate Your G3 upgrade database also noted higher ratio settings. (In the thousands of entries there I didn't see it or forgot about it). Akira Sasaki sent a link to the Japanese page and lists the ratio settings:

" Actually, if you go to Takahashi Imai's excellent page, and go to the Japanese version, he has the settings for 7.5x and 8x ratios. It's at:

http://www.bekkoame.ne.jp/~t-imai/g3aj1.html

If you can't read it, here are the settings (for the first four jumpers):
[Note: a reader later reported the settings below are reversed - see later post above-Mike]

7.5x bus ratio (500MHz):
1 2 3 4
- - - x

8x bus ratio (533MHz):

1 2 3 4
x x - -

With the (x) representing the jumpers.

I'm not sure if they actually work; I don't have a 450MHz or 466MHz G3 to overclock.
Akira Sasaki "

Remember these settings may not be reliable as the highest rated G3 CPU is currently 500MHz. Overclocking is risky and can result in a loss of data or premature hardware failure (I know you're getting as tired of reading these warnings as I am of typing them). Many of Takahashi Imai's pages are also listed on my Links page.

$87 Pioneer 10X Slot Loading DVD Drive: In the continuing lower price reports on this drive in the last few days, Kevin Baucom wrote to say the drive is listed currently for $87 (plus shipping) from Continental Business Systems. I have no experience with this company but that price is the lowest reported so far. See Yesterday's news for other sub-$100 price sources on the drive and note that a tray loading drive will work better with the B&W G3 and G4 systems CDrom drive cover (which is pushed open by a tray - with a slotted drive the disc itself will be contacting the cover when ejecting the disc).

IBM ViaVoice for Mac Owner Report: The first report I've received on IBM's speech recognition software for the Mac:

"User report on IBM ViaVoice first operation.

This is a demonstration of ViaVoice operating on a Power Macintosh 7500 computer with a 233 MHz 604 E Power PC processor. It seems to work much better than Power Secretary ever did. I'm an owner of Power Secretary and never got adequate performance from it. This product shows much more promise. I have trained this software by reading two story sections to it. I was not sure whether this product would operate with a Power PC 604 E processor. It seems to operate quite well though it is slow. I have dictated this report using IBM ViaVoice. There were a few mistakes. However, it looks like this will be a much easier product to train than Power Secretary .

I am excited to have a speech dictation program which actually functions with natural speech on the Macintosh platform. I realize that this program must be much faster with a G3 or G4 processor, however, it is functional on the 233 MHz 604 e processor. I think the accuracy of speech recognition which such little training is quite impressive. Most of the sentences which I have dictated have had no errors. I understand the program is just getting used to my voice. It will be quite amazing what it can do once it is fully trained.

I dictate approximately one sentence and then it appears on the screen within about five seconds. This latency is obviously due to the lack of horsepower of my processor compared with the G3 or G4 processor. After reading two stories to this program it took approximately one and a half hours to complete its evaluation of my voice. I'm quite amazed at the accuracy that I am achieving at this stage in the products training . At this point I may have had five or six errors that needed to be corrected.

These are exciting times for the Macintosh user and I'm glad to submit this report on using IBM ViaVoice on an older Power Macintosh using a 604 E processor.
Sincerely,
James R. DeLuze"

Macspeech was also working on a similar program as noted here last year and has released a free ListenDo program recently. Macspeech also has a plaintalk enabler for some Apple G3 systems (linked in the sidebar below). Note that no microphone ships with the Apple G4 systems. There was a thread on this in my G4 forum recently (titled 'Important note to all G4 owners').

Reader Request: DVD Screen Capture Several readers have asked if there is any utility or way to capture a DVD movie screenshot. The standard MacOS captures don't show the image of course. I originally thought of Snapz-Pro2 but that cannot grab a DVD movie image since DVD video is shown in an overlay (all that is captured is the keying color screen).

Smart & Friendly 12X CDR: A reader sent a note on a new 12X CDrom recorder with included SCSI card:

"The Smart and Friendly CD Rocket Mach 12 is out, and I'm getting one - It does 12X CD burns! That's right a full 74minute/650MB CD in 6 minutes. A 4X burner takes about 16 minutes - now that's what I call Accelerating Your Mac! :-)

It uses Ultra SCSI interfacing (external model) and retails for $699, but it really costs under $499. Get this -- it comes with excellent software (including Adaptec Toast 4.0), and an Advansys 3940 PCI SCSI card, which is Mac compatible! Now I don't have to slow down my Ultra2 LVD card by hooking up the slower device! :)

I'll give you a full report once I get mine!

The price is 100% amazing, compared to S&F's 8X burner which, when it came out 7 months ago was almost $800 street! Also, the new firewire CD-R's which are appearing now from EZQuest and Fantom are priced HIGHER than this drive and they only do 8X burns!
Mike "

IDE 8X burners are under $300 now (HP9110i noted in the news recently), and many 8X SCSI CDRs (internal) are in the $300-$375 range now last I checked. Good to see 12X burners hit the market as that will drive down the prices of lower speed models I suspect.

Sony Spressa Firewire CDR/iMac DV Problems: A reader asked if anyone has successfully used the Sony Spressa Ilink (Firewire) CDRW. He says the drive is not recognized. I asked if he had checked Sony's site for updates and if he was using a compatible CDR software (not sure what it is bundled with any Mac CDR software). If anyone is using a Firewire Spressa CDR please contact me.

Software Updates/News:

• Initio's Miles U2W Firmware update for G4 Macs noted in yesterday's news is available now at http://www.initio.com/mac/mac_sd.htm. This is said to solve the Sawtooth (AGP) G4 system compatibility issue. [Note: If you're not having problems with your card do not casually update firmware just because it's a later version. Often it's best to leave well enough alone. For Sawtooth (AGP) G4 owners this update is needed however.]

• Avsim has pulled the Mac FLY! (flight sim) update due to some issues according to their Fly Update page. Scroll down to see the notes and links on the Mac version.

• Sonnet Cresendo version 1.4.1 Beta 1 adds enhanced Mac OS 9 compatibility for Crescendo NuBus and eliminates occasional startup contention for Crescendo G3/ L2. Get it at Sonnet's download page. If any Cresendo owners can report if this solves issues that Voodoo3 graphics card owners have reported please contact me.

• OEM Toast 4.0.1.1 fixes a problem starting up on some Macs. This patch only works on the OEM versions of Toast 4 that ship with CDR drives, etc. - note the retail version which is Toast 4 Deluxe. [See www.roxio.com for Toast updates now that Adaptec has spun off the CDR software business.]

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

Wednesday's News Summary

• Database server down for software update
• OWC Notes on rev 1 Beige G3s and 466MHz ZIF upgrades - ROM update needed?
• MacGurus PowerForce Sale with reader discount
• Emagic Releases The First Altivec Enhanced Pro Audio App
• Lower Prices on Pioneer 10X DVD Drive
• Initio updates SCSI Card Firmware for OS 9/VM/G4 issues
• Sony Spressa USB CDR Tip - Toast4 extensions solve some compat. issues
• Older Macs and Audio Playback Fixes
• PCI Slot Tip for Starmax/USB card owners
• Software Updates: Virex, GameRanger, Soundjam MP, Ratoc Firewire PCMCIA drivers updated
• Other Net News

Tuesday's News Summary

• XLR8 (Technology Demo) 2MB Cache G4 Update
• PPC Checker/G4 Errata
• $1299 Yikes G4/350
• Pioneer 10X DVD Drive in G4
• HP9110i 8X CDR in Macs
• More Info on Sawtooth Rev 2 Motherboard Changes
• XLR8 Cuts Prices on G3 Upgrades
• iBook and USB CDROM Recorders
• CPU Review, Game Review and Game/Video Card Framerates databases updated.
• Rage128 PRO Game Performance
• Quake3 Arena Strategy Guide
• Intel Cuts PIII Prices again

Monday's News Summary

• Monitors & Picasso 3.1.1 update
• Sawtooth Rev 2 Motherboard Changes? No Intel Ethernet chip
• 2MB cache G4 upgrade followup
• Genesis system problematic with G4 upgrades
• Problems running VPC with TurboMax/TrueX CDROM/OS 9
• G4 Upgrade Virtual PC 3 Benchmarks
• Notes on Altivec Application Switching - registers must be saved/restored
• More Tech Info on AIWA Tape Drives for auction/'bare' drive owners
• Yikes vs Sawtooth Pros/Cons listed in FAQ Apple G4 section and Dec 4th news page
• PPC Checker 1.3 now supports G4 CPUs.
• OWC says their PC100 RAM is 222
• Stories of mixed speed SDRAM problems in G4 Forum
• Y2K Software Updates special from Insider Software
• Other Net News

Friday's News Summary

• Newer Tech G4/400 ZIF Review
• Updated Adobe PS 5.5. Altivec extensions performance
• Powerlogix updates PF G4 page with Altivec PS 5.5 tests
• Ram timing reported by ASP on Sawtooth, new iMacs
• XLR8 G4/350 2MB Cache Prototype arrives
• Photoshop Altivec Plugins Updated
• More TurboMax/OS 9 Reports
• Another Yikes G4/400 Overclocking Failure
• Support Info for AIWA Tape Drives
• CVGS on iBook Report
• USB Switch Box
• iMovie on Beige G3 w/o Firewire
• FWB HDT/OS 9 Reminder
• Lucasart's POD Racer Raves
• Quake III (retail) Review
• More on ORB disk price increases
• Other Net News

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