Newer Tech Partners with Tri-M: Barney Buoy sent a list of Net News links including Newer Tech's equity partnership with Tri-M. For Newer Tech owners and potential customers this is good news. (The have some surprises in store beyond the iMaxPowr and this partnership will certainly help them come to market.)

More B&W G3 rev 1 IDE Drive Reports: Two readers replied to the earlier post from a reader on drive corruption with an IBM Deskstar in a rev 1 B&W G3 even when configured as a master/single drive).

" I put a Maxtor 27 gig 7200rpm ATA/66 drive in my Rev 1 B&W G3 350 recently, replacing the original 6 gig drive. I've been running regular read/write/verify tests with Norton Utilities 5's Disk Doctor without a problem. I split it into three partitions, one booting Mac OS 9, one booting Mac OS X DP3 and a third bigger one for documents. No problems observed at all.

I've had many Maxtor drives over the years and they seem to be tremendous performers and very reliable. Got this one cheap in that Staples deal ... thanks for that.
Simon White"

A WD Caviar 20GB drive owner wrote:

"I'm using the WD Caviar 20GB that was at Sams in a Rev. 1 B&W with no problems. Did the test and I saw no data coruption. I have been using it for the last 4 days w/o problems.
Mark Neal "

Mark later wrote to say the WD drive was the only drive on the cable (no slave). The SMI file test is the easiest way to check for data corruption that I know. (Use the largest file possible for a better test, as I mentioned the OS 8.5.1 update is 30MB+ and a good one to try.) Mounting large .smi files would flag checksum errors with a 7200 RPM/2MB cache WD Expert 18GB drives in my B&W G3 as noted last year. For B&W G3 rev 1 owners that want more assurance, a PCI IDE card may be worth looking at.

$65 USB/Midi 2x2 Adapter: In response to the earlier post on MidiSport, Mike Simmons. sent a note of an even lower cost option:

"Here's the BEST MIDI interface with >ALL< the features of the MIDISPORT, plus it comes in all 5 flavors of the iMac (sans Graphite), and it only costs $69!

I ordered mine from Sweetwater for only $65! (http://www.sweetwater.com or 800-422-4700)

Check out Mark Of The Unicorn's FastLane USB!
FastLane is a simple 2 input, 2 output, 32-MIDI channel interface for Macintosh and Windows. FastLane's MIDI thru button allows you to play to your gear even when your computer is turned off-without having to disconnect cables.

FastLane takes full advantage of USB, giving you increased MIDI throughput, better timing accuracy, support for "hot-swapping" and plug-and-play expansion.

FastLane is specially engineered to operate with multiple USB devices, so your software will never lose contact with it, regardless of how many times you restart your computer or how many other USB devices you connect.

FastLane's In & Out status lights for each MIDI port provide quick visual confirmation of MIDI transmission. No power supply or batteries required! Includes USB cable.

http://www.motu.com/english/hardware/fastlane_usb/index.html

Mike simmons. "

Israel Curtis also wrote about the FastLane device, saying he's had no problems with it and noting if you need more ports in the future, you can just incrementally add more Fastlanes to your USB hub. He also noted It supports OMS and FreeMIDI.

I wish I lived in Texas after hearing this report of low-cost DSL service there:

"In San Angelo, Tx and becoming available elsewhere in west texas, Cox Cable has 64k/64k service for $19.95 with a $20 activation fee and no long term contract. This is cheaper than a modem, as no second phone line is required for heavy users. My roommate and I signed up for 512k/128k service for $39.95 a month, second IP address is another $5. They promptly showed up at no charge to help us when we had installation trouble. They ended up having to work on the cable box at our apartment complex, no cost to us. it has about 99% up time with very few problems.

right now they have more people trying to sign up than they can get modems, and there is a waiting list. I often can download at over 50k/s and have hit over 100k/sec on the University of Michigan linux mirror. And the even officially support mac users. I think pricing is done at a local level, so pricing and availability will vary in different parts of the country
Trey "

DSL service here ends about 500 yards from my house...

More Owner Comments on Cinema Display: The Cinema Display review has an update from Jeff Johnson with comments on the display's excellent color range and quality (comparing it to the Lombard PB display) and raves it garners from PC owners. He also comments on the DVD wide-screen issue.

Apple 15" Digital Displays - no Composite/S-Video Inputs: A reader replies to a comment in the Cinema Display review to note the new DVI LCD displays have no composite/S-video inputs like the previous models:

" Hey Mike,
I saw your Cinema Display review [ reader review, I'm not so lucky!-Mike] and thought I'd clarify something.

The person who wrote it said he believed the 15" LCD from Apple had ancillary inputs (S-Video I think?). This is partially correct.

I've got the currently shipping model, the graphite Studio Display 15, and it only has a DVI connector. It does not have ancillary inputs. The blue & white Studio Display 15, and I believe the preceding midnight blue model, have the S-Video inputs.
-Matt Lee"

My Blue Studio Display LCD (analog/VGA model) does have S-Video and composite inputs but I'll bet since the new displays have no analog conversion this is probably the reason they have no analog inputs.

Sonnet L2G3/500 Solves Video Card Issues: The latest Sonnet entry in the Owner's CPU Upgrade Reviews database from 6500 owner Stefan Jeglinski reports that problems he saw with the G3/400 upgrade and PCI video cards (Voodoo3 or Rage128) were solved by the new design G3/500 card.

Midisport 2x2 USB/Midi: [See the later news post for a $69.95 USB/Midi Adapter] Trey Christensen wrote in reply to the iMac/MIDI success post in yesterday's news to say he found a low cost USB/Midi interface at http://www.usbstuff.com/midi.html. Here's the clip he sent on the features of the Midisport 2x2:

" MidiMan's MIDISPORT 2x2 ... US$129.95

MidiMan's MIDISPORT 2x2 ... is a multi-port MIDI interface for USB-equipped PC and Apple computers. MIDISPORT's high-speed USB (Universal Serial Bus) connection to the computer assures reliable, immediate MIDI transfers. No jumpers to set, no I/O Addresses, IRQ's or DMA channels to configure! Expansion is just as easy -- just plug in additional MIDISPORT units for more MIDI ports. Features:

• 2-in 2-out MIDI Interface (32 MIDI channels).
• High-speed connection to USB-equipped PC or Apple computers.
• MIDI-activity indicators for each port.
• Self-powered -- requires no external power supply.
• "MIDI Thru" pushbutton allows you to play to your gear even when your computer is turned off -- without having to disconnect cables.
• Mac OS 8.x / Windows 98
• Compact size.
• Can use without a PC/Mac ... Lifetime Warranty "

There's updated drivers for the mac linked on their page as well.

B&W G3 Rev 1 & IBM Deskstar 22GB Data Corruption: A reader comments that even when used as a master drive (one drive only) the IBM 22GB Deskstar has data corruption problems with the rev 1's IDE chip. I saw data corruption with some brands of IDE slave drives as noted in my B&W G3 Rev 1 Slave drive article with WD Expert drives but never tested an IBM drive (the WD Expert did show errors). Maxtor's seem to be the safest bet, (based on feedback and the fact my 10GB Maxtor drive was OK) but there's no way to guarantee any drive will be immune, especially with the later Apple drivers (OS 8.5.1 drive setup 1.6.2 may solve the problem, but since it doesn't run UDMA mode performance suffers dramatically). Mounting large Apple .smi files like the OS 8.5.1 update (30MB+) are a good test to check for errors but may not be a 100% guarantee.

As noted in the FAQ Apple G3 topic area question on the issue of rev 1 B&W G3s, Intech's HDtools driver set to reduced DMA modes may solve the problem (and as noted in the 5/27/99 news here, FWB also noted the issue last year with several brands of disk drives), but again only tests can tell and there's now way to guarantee results in a rev 1 B&W G3. (See the FAQ's Apple G3 section questions on 'What are the safest choices for drives?' and 'Are there any solutions for the rev 1 B&W G3 data corruption issues with IDE Slave drives?'). Of course adding a PCI IDE card will also solve the problem, but like a driver change, it also requires reformatting the disks.

Officially the rev 1's IDE chip did not support slaves, but it should support larger drives. If you've used an IBM or other large drive in your B&W G3 rev 1 please let me know your experiences.

If in doubt that your B&W G3 is a rev 1 - see if it has the features of the Rev 2 models. (The most critical for this issue is the IDE controller chip part number.)

Norton Crashguard/Metrowerks Conflict: In reply to the Pismo comments yesterday Metrowerks wrote regarding a conflict with Crashguard:

"Re: Pismo PB G3/500 Observations

It's well known that any version of MetroNub from the CodeWarrior installation and Norton Crash Guard are incompatible and never will be.

Fix: disable Norton Crashguard.
Richard Alexander David Atwell
Metrowerks R&D http://www.metrowerks.com/ "

The Pismo owner listed Metrowerks among his software as well as Norton Utilities. I never run Crashguard personally and have seen cases where on both Mac and PC where it caused problems in some cases. I like to minimize the amount of 3rd party extensions running in the background, just on general principle. (The fewer of these types of things running usually means better performance and reliability).

The Owner's CPU Upgrade Reviews was updated this morning with new reader reports including iMac/iMaxPowr 466 and Sonnet L2G3/500Mhz.

Other Net News/Software Updates:

• Newer Technology Announces Equity Partnership with Tri-M (Newer Tech)
• OS X Kernel Extension SDK
• Compaq unveils new Mac-compatible LCDs (Maccentral)
• Judge: Microsoft can't develop Java apps (Computerworld)
• Apples New iBook ad (Apple)
• Solid Image Arts is taking orders for their CD-ROM release of the Pixels:3D^TM Power User Tutorials, "Modeling and Shading" Vol. 1, No. 1, due to ship the week of March 13th, 2000. The CD-ROM has a price tag of US $30 and delivered in Adobe's PDF format, with over 360 pages of tutorials that span versions Pixels:3D v2.1.4, 3.2.3 and the new features of 3.5 with more than 650 color images.

  SOFTWARE UPDATES

• Orange Micro has updated their Grappler SCSI card firmware
• Updated Agent 8 released by Insider Software

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.

Monday's News Summary

• Cinema Display review updated for DVD player issue and workaround
• Adaptec Reminder on SCSI Cable Lengths
• Rage128 Pro Fan Feedback
• Reader Review: Apple Cinema Display
• No Fan on Rage128 Pro in Latest G4
• Feedback on Maxtor 7200 RPM Drive Temps
• Tips on DVD Audio 'Pop' Noise
• iMac DV Serial Port Midi Success
• Diskwarrior 2.0 DiskShield Feedback
• 2930 OEM File Copy Issues Solved
• More on Clubmac Firewire/IDE Case Price Matching
• OS 9.0.2 on 6400 w/G3 Upgrade
• Pismo PB G3/500 Observations
• TrueX 42X IDE Drive Feedback
• Voodoo 4/5 Silicon Status
• Reader ratings databases updated
• Other Net News/Software Updates

Weekend's News Summary

• Don Crabb passed away.
• Maxtor/Beige G3 Drive Temp. Comments
• MacOS 9.02 Fixes iMac DVD Audio Sync, Improves Networking
• DVD Audio Pops Not Just On Pismo
• More 2930/External Drive File Copy Problems
• New G4s w/2930 Have v4.2 ROM
• Pismo DVD Audio 'Crackle'
• Adaptec 2930 ROM Update and G4 Sleep Mode
• OEM 2930/Plus 40 Copy Problems
• More on Cheap White Box PC 39160s
• Plus40 in Beige G3 Performance
• Western Digital IDE Drive Jumper Settings
• More Rev 1 B&W G3 IDE Drive Reports
• UT Expansion Pack Unzip Tip
• Other Net News/TILs/Software Updates

Friday's News Summary

• Free Unreal Tournament Expansion Pack
• Rainbow 6 Column Issue 6 Single/Multi-Player Tips
• 3Dfx Comments on Mac Models/Status
• Dual/Quad Chip 3Dfx Card Power Connections
• Clarification on Past IXmicro Driver Comments
• OpenGL 1.1.3 on Firewire PB
• PB Firewire DVD Image Quality
• Mac Voodoo5 (dual chip) PCI?
• Apple Game Exec Joins Nvidia
• iMaxPower 466 owner entries in database
• $64.95/128MB Generic PC100 Dimms
• Final Cut Pro Capture to Plus40 in Firewire Case
• Audio Capture with Plus40
• Sam's Club WD Expert 20GB Drives $114.98 After Rebate
• More Firewire PCI Cards (3 and 6 port)
• More Info On B&W G3 Striped RAID Boot
• More USB Mic Info
• Other Net News/Software Updates

Thursday's News Summary

• News links, TIL and Software updates
• New PowerBook DVD Feedback
• Roger Wilco Alpha Download
• USB Microphones
• Bootable Firewire Info
• Western Digital Firewire Drives
• Ricoh DVD/CDR Combo Drive in B&W G3
• More Info on Mac SoundBlaster Live Driver Release
• Firewire/IDE CDR Info
• iMaxPowr G3/466 w/iMac Game Wizard Quake3/Quake2 Performance
• IBM ViaVoice and Headsets
• Wanted: PB (Firewire) DVD Playback Reports
• B&W G3 SCSI RAID Booting?

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? Search the CPU Upgrade Owner's Survey results and search for owner reports by Mac model and/or card brand. The current database has more than 3,300+ reports and growing.