• Fixes a problem with certain SCSI cards which use multiple busses (in particular, some of the ATTO cards).
• Works better in situations where the settings had previously required too much space in NVRAM

Carbon Copy Cloner 2.1.2 has a long list of fixes/changes at the macupdate page. Note: - Carbon Copy Cloner v2.x is for OS X 10.2 or later only. Use version 1.3.1 for OS X 10.1.2-10.1.5, available at the Carbon Copy Cloner home page.

" Vega Strike, ( http://vegastrike.sourceforge.net/) the popular free open source space sim has finally been ported to Mac OSX. This is one of the most complete flight sims ever created with features ranging from a full score to a plot and storyline that a player can discover after battling foes and cruising through space and making money off of trade routes and missions.

The user is a lone pilot in space looking to make money and perhaps eventually control a fleet. It is all in OpenGL 3d with surround sound as well. I hope the mac community takes an interest in the hard work it took to port this game. If anyone is interested in helping out our team is easily expanded! Thank you for your time, Daniel
Vega Strike Lead Developer
http://vegastrike.sourceforge.net/ "

" What's New in iCal 1.0.2
iCal 1.0.2 provides a number of performance and stability enhancements, and improved support for importing vCal and Entourage information. "

I checked their iSync page and v1.0 is still listed there (no update since last week.) If this fixes the problem you saw in the past, let me know.

" Hey Mike,
I also encountered the problems running VPC described on your news page even when not using full-screen display.

It seems to me that the new .vpc6-file format is part of the problem. This file is of the new Mac OS X package file format and contains, among others, the actual HD-image (extension .vhdp) and a configuration file "Configuration.vkd". The latter one seems to get broken rather regularly. Whenever this happens VPC will crash when you next try booting the virtual PC and completely freeze your machine when you try for the second time.

Instead of having to start from scratch with a new PC image, I found that you can move the .vhdp HD-image file out of the package (opening the package by control-clicking on the file and choosing "Show Package Contents"), move the .vpc6-file to the trash (double check the large HD image file is no longer inside!) and then create a new PC in VPC. Using the manual option you can choose the .vhdp-file you have previously moved out of the .vpc6 package. And there you are again!

This worked for me and might help some people getting VPC to run at all again but unfortunately requires setting your preferences for the PC anew - so it's only a workaround. Hope Connectix gets this fixed soon.

My config: iBook 700Mhz, 640MB RAM, OS X 10.2.3
Great site by the way. Keep up the good work!
Regards
Alexander "

See Friday's news page for Connectix comments on an VPC 6.01 update that is in the works.

" Back in mid 2000 I was the proud owner of a new 400MHz G4/AGP minitower. Wanting better sound options for it, I soon splurged on a SoundBlaster Live! card and a set of complementary speakers, specifically the Creative SoundWorks FPS2000 speakers, which had been highly praised in reviews. (PC reviews I assume? the Mac SBlive didn't get high praise really due to issues noted here back when it was released.-Mike) This combination of card and speakers supports a digital audio output which is basically an S/PDIF signal over a nonstandard connector (the card has a 1/8" minijack port, the speakers have a mini DIN-9 port and come with a DIN-to-minijack adapter cable).

This all worked fine under OS 9, but after migrating to OS X in early 2001, my SBlive card became a useless hunk of plastic. I hooked the speakers up to the motherboard's analog headphone jack and lived with it -- the sound wasn't quite as good but wasn't bad, fine for playing my MP3s.

Fast forward to now. For years I've read occasional reports that Brian Sounder is working on OS X drivers for the SBlive, but as far as I know nothing's made its way to the public. Finding myself needing clean analog and digital inputs for some audio transfers (and wanting to play with my MIDI keyboard as well), I finally decided to bail on the SBlive and buy an Audiophile 2496 PCI card from OWC for $150. ($149.00 currently on this OWC details page) It sounds great and its drivers (v1.1b1) work fine under OS X 10.2.3. Initially I hooked up its analog output to my speakers, but knowing that both card and amp support S/PDIF made me want to see if they'll work together digitally, even though the ports are different (the Audiophile card uses standard RCA-style coax jacks for digital in/out). And they do! All I needed was a $3 Radio Shack adapter -- specifically, part 274-387, "Stereo-to-Mono Audio Adapter" ('Accepts 1/8" stereo phone plug; Fits phono jack').

Honestly, I don't hear any real difference between the analog and digital sound, but if anyone else has FPS speakers and wondered whether they can use their digital input with a Mac. It's still not "home theater" (as far as I know there's no DTS decoder for OS X) but it's worth some geek points. MIDI works flawlessly too; I'm now able to key directly into Harmony Assistant from my junky old Yamaha keyboard.
Hope this is helpful info to some in the Mac audio community.
-d.d- "

The Audio topics page here (lower page past article links) has a review of this card vs. the Soundblaster Live from early in 2002.

"Hi Mike,
Just letting you know that i've just flashed my Radeon 7000 with the latest firmware release and now Virtual Game Station (which was previously unusable with this video card due to a bizzare rainbow colour error) works perfectly.
The error used to be that when i started up VGS it would be fine for a few secs and then all the colours would screw up making it impossible to use. The firmware upgrade fixed it all up and now i'm able to play Playstation games on my TV (which look much better than on a monitor). Anyway, just letting you know so that anyone else who has had a similar problem knows that there is finally a fix.
Cheers,
Keep up the good work.
Roland.
(System: G3 233mhz, 768MB Ram, Pioneer DVD, Radeon 7000, OS 10.2.3 / 9.2.2, Logitech Elite cordless keyboard/mouse) "

If you've not flashed your 7000 card yet, I'd suggest waiting for the revised flasher that ATI is working on. (Resurrected some DOA cards readers had, although not all of them.)

• Other World Computing G4/450 in Beige G3 (rated 9)
• Other World Computing G4/500 in B&W G3 (rated 10)
• Other World Computing G4/450 in Beige G3 (rated 7)
• PowerLogix G4 Dual 1GHz in Dual G4 450 AGP (rated 10)
• PowerLogix G4 1GHz in G4/400 AGP (rated 9)
• Sonnet G4/800 in G4/400 AGP (rated 10)
• Sonnet G4 1GHz in G4/466 AGP (rated 10)

(Warning - Overclocking may not be reliable and could lead to hardware failure or corrupted data.) You can find the full reports by searching the database selecting the indicated Mac model and upgrade card brand/type. If you've upgraded the CPU on your Mac, please post an entry in the database. Search the database for entries from most every upgradable Mac model *before* you buy. (Searchable by mac model/upgrade brand). For detailed reviews with performance tests and install tips, see the CPU Upgrades page.)

Mult-Format Reader Reports:
• USB Acom Flash card reader used w/G4 AGP (OS X)
  (listed under "other" brands)
  
  CompactFlash Reader Reports:
• USB Sandisk SDDR-77 ImageMate Dual CF-MS Reader used w/G4 AGP (OS X) (also listed under Multi-Format readers since it supports other formats as well as CF)
  
  CD-ROM Drive Reports:
• IDE Sony CDU5221 52x in Dual G4 DDR (OS X)
  
  DVD-ROM Drive Reports:
• Firewire (IDE drive in FW case) Toshiba SD-M1612 (16x/48x) used w/iMac slot loading (OS X)
  
  DVD-R DVD Recorder Drive Reports:
• IDE Pioneer DVR-105 in G4/AGP (OS X)
• IDE Pioneer DVR-105 in G4/AGP (OS X)
• IDE Pioneer DVR-105 in G4/AGP (OS X)
• IDE Pioneer DVR-105 in Dual G4 (OS X)
• IDE Pioneer DVR-105 in Dual G4 (OS X)
  (noted some dvd burn problems, perhaps media related)
• IDE Pioneer DVR-105 in G4/AGP (OS X)
  (noted dvd player problems in X 10.2.3 w/drive)
• IDE Pioneer DVR-104 in G4/AGP (OS X) and G4 no AGP (OS X)
  (same reader submitted both - noted disc in the drive/drive sleep issue others have sometimes noted - suggested trying ES set to never sleep drives.)
• IDE Toshiba SD-R5002 in G4/AGP (OS X)
  (FAQ has 10.2./iTunes support plugin for this drive)
  
  Combo DVD+CDR Drive Reports:
• IDE LG GCC-4320B (32x10x40x + 16x DVD ROM) in G4/AGP (OS X)
• IDE LG GCC-4320B (32x10x40x + 16x DVD ROM) in G4/AGP (OS X)
  (iTunes burn support plugin in FAQ here)
• IDE Samsung SM-348B (48x24x48 + 16x DVD ROM) in Dual G4 (OS X)
  (no itunes/db burn support - modified plugin in FAQ for SM332 model)
  
  IDE CDRW Drive Reports:
• Lite-On 48xx12x48x (didn't note model#) in B&W G3 (OS X)
  (boot problems noted in OS 9)
• Lite-On LTR-52246S (52x24x52x) in B&W G3 (OS X)
  (FAQ has itunes burn support plugin)
• Samsung SW-216B (16x10x32x) in B&W G3 (OS X)
  (no itunes/db support)
• Sony CRX210E1 (48x12x48x) in Beige G3 using IDE PCi card (OS 9.2)
  (FAQ's CDR section has modified itunes burn support plugin for OS X 10.2)
• Verbatim 52x24x52 in G4/AGP (OS X)
  (using modified plugin file)
  (FYI - Illustrated CD drive install guide here covers G4 towers up to the Digital Audio Model, Beige G3 MT, B&W G3 and 8600/9600 Macs.)
  
  Firewire CDRW Drive Reports:
• Lite-On LTR-48246S (48x24x48x) in OWC FW case used w/B&W G3 (OS X)
  
  IDE Hard Drive Reports:
• IBM Travelstar 40GNX 20GB in iBook (OS X)
• Western Digital 80GB in B&W G3 (OS X)
  (problems noted)
  (Illustrated guide to adding a 2nd HD here in B&W G3 rev2 and G4 towers up to the QuickSilver models - for a guide to adding two more drives w/IDE card, see this page)
  
  Firewire Hard Drive Reports:
• IBM Deskstar 180GXP 120GB in FW case used w/PowerBook G3 2000 (OS X)
  (odd problem where pyro case reported drive as 128GB)

You can find full owner reports (latest shown first) by searching the database by drive/brand/interface/mac models (the latest reports are shown first in searches). For guides to installing CD/CDRW/DVD drives or Hard drives in many mac models, see the IDE Articles page. The Firewire articles page also has guides on case kits, installing drives, etc.
If you've added a IDE, SCSI, Firewire or USB hard drive, CDRW, tape drive, etc. make sure you add a report to the database. [If you post an updated entry - make sure you use the same name, etc. as you did before so I can find your past entry. Thanks.]
(Entries today will be added the following newsday. Incomplete entries are deleted. Do not post questions in the database, it's for drive reports not questions on what drive to buy - for that try searching the database for reports from owners of your mac model on the drive type/brand/interface, etc. you're interested in.)

• 1 year ago today
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