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Sorry the news has been light today - but for Valentine's day it's been
a complete disaster here...
Software updates: Courtesy of Barney Buoy:
- ICQ Platimizer 2
- Linux PPC 2000 -
Rob DiCiuccio comments:
"The CD-ROM version is being sold for $20, but
I cannot find a downloadable version. Maybe they haven't uploaded it yet
The new features include:
- A faster installer
- Graphical disk partitioning utility
- Ability to boot Power Macs directly into LinuxPPC
- Newest Gnome desktop environment software
- Mac-on-Linux MacOS runtime environment
"
- Outlook Email Archive
Barney also sent some article links from around the web:
Bruce Modell of CDW sent a note on a high-speed postscript laser printer sale:
"Xerox Docuprint N17 ( cdw # 127499)
17ppm ethernet laser printer with postscript lvl 3
16mb standard 1200 dpi!!!
CDW low advertised price $1009.82
call bruce for an additional $40 discount!
Bruce Modell
CDW, Inc.
(phone)800-953-4239 ext 8219
Http://www.cdw.com
"
= 7:15 AM Update Follows =
I want to make readers that are using club-internet.fr as an ISP know that every mail I send
to them gets rejected (bounced back) with the following error message "return address was refused by a remote mail server". I've mentioned this once before last year, but at least a dozen times in the last week I've tried to reply to readers with 'xxxx@mail.club-internet.fr' addresses and every one is returned. If you use club-internet.fr
please complain to them to fix this (it seems any mail from my ISP cstone.net is refused).
How To Install an IDE RAID Setup in your B&W G3 or G4: I've created a page on the hardware and software setup of a dual-drive IDE RAID in a Blue & White G3 or Apple G4 system. (Since the case layouts are identical as far as drive mounting the same procedure applies.) I'm working on a page with performance results which should be posted tomorrow. The Acard ATA/66, Firmtek (prototype) ATA/66 and Turbomax ATA/33 cards were all tested with single Maxtor 27GB drives and with dual 27GB IDE RAID configurations.
One thing I noticed (and expected) - the Apple G4/450 system delivered much higher peak rates than the 9600/350 (with G4 CPU upgrade). The lower memory/PCI bus performance of the Kansas motherboard in the 9600/350 shown in recent G4 CPU upgrade reviews is responsible I'm sure. This was also shown in the lower video card performance results noted in my 1998 Mach5/9600 page. I suspect 9500, PowerTower Pro or even 9600/233 motherboard designs would have delivered better performance. (The Kansas motherboard is used for 9600/300 and up models.)
More ClubMac FireWire/IDE Case Comments: Although other owners reported problems with current Maxtor IDE drives like the 27GB model, this reader said his older Maxtor 8GB drive worked fine with the Firewire/IDE case:
"I just received my ClubMac FireWire enclosure and it works great. I
saw your message about it not working with Maxtor drives *after* I
already ordered it. Well, guess what kind of drive I have ;-)
I have an older (about 2-3 years old) Maxtor 8G drive. It's a
standard IDE drive, not 7200 RPM and it worked perfectly as soon as I
plugged it in. I didn't even have to format the drive (although I
did, just to be safe). When I first connected it, the original 2
partitions I had created on it when it was still my internal drive
appeared.
It feels about as fast as a standard SCSI or IDE drive. According to
their Disk Control software, the average access time is 17.25 ms.
One minor quibble. It came with absolutely no assembly instructions
(although it was easy enough to figure out). The only documentation
included was a small 4-page leaflet about the software that also
tells how to plug in a FireWire drive (assuming it came already
assembled... wouldn't anyone capable of assembling it without
instructions be able to figure out how to connect it ;-).
--Mike Cohen"
The FireWire to IDE Case article has more information including Club-Mac's part number.
Razor Boomslang Mouse Works On Mac: Jason Hyerstay posted the following note in my 3dfx/gaming forum:
"
In case anyone was itching to buy one of these awesome gaming mice, but was wary because there are no mac drivers out, I've got some good news: they still work without drivers, with support for all buttons in both Quake3 and UT. The wheel works in Q3, but I can't configure it for UT, at least not through the game interface. I will try through the console and see what I can do.
For those who haven't read the reviews or been to the site (http://www.razerzone.com/), the Razer Boomslang 2000 is probably the best gaming mouse on the market, at 2000 ppi (normal is 400-500), and with five buttons and a roller wheel. More ppi means smoother turns and more accurate shooting with less mouse movement. Bottom line: it kicks ass!
What you miss without the proper driver software is support for the scroll wheel and extra buttons in normal MacOS apps (that don't do binding). All the buttons act as the same button, and you can't fine tune the speed more than what the Mouse control panel offers. Razer says that Mac drivers are in the works for "early 2000", so it won't be too long for full support throughout the OS. All you need now is the current crop of Apple USB drivers, and your frag count will go up.
Don't let the PC gamers have an edge just because they got the software first!
-Jason
"
Holywars Mod for UT: Paul Lipps posted in the 3Dfx/gaming forum that there's a great Holywars Mod for Unreal Tournament at http://www.planetunreal.com/flatware/hw_info.shtml. Works well in botmatches also he said.
HP8250i CDR in G4 System: Over the last few months I've posted reader comments on various PC IDE CDRom recorders in the news and FAQ. Here's the latest report on the HP8250i CDR:
"Hello,
I do not know if this has been reported already, but you seem to be
posting stat regarding IDE CD-RW drives that work well with Apple drivers
and Toast. I just bought the HP 8250i and installed it in my Sawtooth G4
to find that it works great with Apple's CD/DVD driver (from OS 9) and
with Toast. Audio CDs over IDE work great. It did not work, however,
when connected without the Apple OEM'ed Zip drive. Without the zip it
would lock up when Apple's driver loaded and take a very long time to be
found in Toast.
Regards,
-Nick
"
[Update - I later added a searchable Mac Drive Compatibility database with thousands of owner reports on all drive types from most every mac model.]
The FAQ's CDR section has many other past reports with various brands of IDE CDRs, including a note that the 9100 series HP CDRs had problems in Toast and with audio/MP3 applications. (Reports say the HP CDRs are actually Sony drives.)
I received another problem report from a Sony CRX120 owner that said the drive would boot fine but had problems burning CDRs in Toast. As noted in the FAQ and news here previously - other owners of Sony IDE CDRs reported that www.charismac.com's Discribe worked with these drives.
Flashing Mac Firmware in PC #9 Rev. IV Card: A reader replied to the comments in Friday's news with a warning of problems he's seen:
"...I do NOT recommend
upgrading the flash rom on the formac/#9 card as that is exactly how I
killed my last one. SGI then sent out two PCI #9 (non-formac) cards in a
row, neither of which would even give me VGA out, much less digital output,
and would not take the flash rom. Finally they sent out another formac/#9
card which is what i'm using now. I don't dare try to upgrade the flash
rom on it.
launce gouw"
Quad CPU Genesis Comments: A reader sent a note about an ebay auction of a Genesis MP900 system (quad 604/225MHz CPU) that went for $1350 (640MB RAM, 4GB drive, 10/100 NIC, software, etc.). I reminded him that OS 8.6 (and OS 9 I assume) does not support Quad CPUs (but does support dual CPUs). Back in 1998 I posted a picture of my Genesis MP720 (Quad 180Mhz 604e) CPU card compared to a G3 upgrade card. The Quad CPU card dwarfs a standard card.
I really like the Genesis case but it's _loud_. The two huge fans that draw air from the 7 Drive bays and across the CPU card make a lot of noise, as does the fan in the 300W power supply. In 1998 I posted a page with pictures and details of my Genesis system with 4 drive internal RAID. It's been upgraded a bit since then but I've not been able to get any brand of G4 CPU upgrade to run reliably in that system.
Edward Cooper wrote to say he has added support for even more Epson printers to his
Appletalk drivers at www.geocities.com/stylusphoto750. These drivers allow Epson printers to be shared across a network without any additional software or hardware. See his page for a full list of supported models and more information.
Today X Appeal has notes on the first release of X
Windows for Mac OS X/Server, called Xdarwin.
Last night I added new entries in the Rate Your CPU Upgrade, Mac Game Reviews and Mac Game/Video Card Performance databases. When looking for info on CPU or Video card upgrades search these databases for owner reports, comments and performance ratings. I'm still waiting for email replies for missing info on several CPU entries.
Bottom Line sent their latest list of weekly specials good until 2/18/2000 or while supplies last. The current list includes SCSI and IDE controllers, hard drives, scanners, CDRs, CPU upgrades and more.
If you don't check the news here daily, check the summary of past news below for info/articles you may have missed. The recent features page also lists articles posted (most recent first) as does the sidebar links here. The site topics pages (systems, cpu upgrades, etc. - see top and sidebar links on this page) also are places to check as well as the FAQ.
Friday's News Summary
- Free Studio Vision Pro 4.2->4.5.1 Upgrade
- TransIntl Ram/PB G3/iBook HD Sales
- $1100 'Factory-Returned' SGI 17.3" LCD Displays
- Mac #9 Rev. IV Note
- Note on Formac/#9 Digital Video Outputs
- $80 USB to IDE Cases + How-To Guide
- Beige G3 IDE Upgrades
- Mac PCI Graphics Cards with Digital LCD Outputs
- ATTO U2 SCSI Cards/G4 System Compatibility
- USB External HD Cases
- Quake2 Update w/Better Voodoo3 Support
- Apple G4/450 Benchmark Analysis Reports
- Sonnet to show upgrades at MW Toykyo
- Latest topics in G4 Forum and 3Dfx Forums.
Thursday's News Summary
- Connectix wins decision in Sony suit over CVGS
- More on OS 9/E100 Powerlogix Novram Fix
- $282.99 40GB/7200PRM Maxtor (OEM) HDs
- $113 Firewire External Drive Enclosure
- $307 Maxtor 40GB/7200 RPM (Retail Box) Drives
- Cheap iMacs in UK
- Yamaha 8X CDR/Toast Support Patch
- Face Intel Site
- Beige/B&W G3 Install Tip
- GaugePro Update
- BTV Video Software Update
- Phase 5 Woes
- Rate Your CPU Upgrade, Mac Game Reviews and Mac Game/Video Card Performance databases updated.
- Latest topics in G4 Forum and 3Dfx Forums.
Wednesday's News Summary
- Net News: Modem speeds explained, Firewire versions explained,
Epson Announces Firewire Scanner, More Acard ATA/66 tests
- My comments on MacWeek's article on CPU upgrade vendors
- Software Updates: iMovie 1.02, Epson 850Ne & 900N printer firmware updates. Wacom' Intuos OS9/iBook update.
- NAMM Audio Show Roundup Issue #1
- G4 Bezels for SuperDisk/Jaz/ORB/Tape Drives
- More Newer Tech ZIF Switch Settings
- E100 Patch Helps Umax S900 Dual 604 CPU System
- Yikes Overclock & Disk Data Errors
- External DVD-RAM Drive Feedback
- Game News page updated w/Quake3 Mod Tutorials info & a tip for Voodoo2 Beta5 drivers/Pod Racer.
- Rate Your CPU Upgrade, Mac Game Reviews and Mac Game/Video Card Performance databases updated.
- Latest topics in G4 Forum and 3Dfx Forums.
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. The current database has more than 3,200+ reports and growing.
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Answers!
