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01/21/99 - Thursday's News:	Current News Page
Carmine's MiM News Feed (links may not work in the future) AppleTIL Updates (THURSDAY.01.21.99)  Power Macintosh G3 (Blue and White): Imation SuperDisk Driver Compatibility  Where to Find Apple Software Updates  Where to get Mac OS 7.6 and 7.6.1  AppleVision 1.5.3: Read Me  Drive Setup: Checking For Bad Blocks  Drive Setup: Version History  V.90 Protocol: Connectivity Discussion  Heuristic Optimized Processing System (HOPS)  Power Macintosh G3 (Blue and White): Technical Specifications  QuickTime VR: Processing Time To Create VR Movie  QuickDraw 3D: Glossary of Terms (A to F)  QuickTime VR: Glossary of Terms  QuickDraw 3D: Glossary of Terms (G to O)  QuickTime for Windows: How to Uninstall W/ Windows 3.1.x (1/97)  QuickTime 2.5 to 3 Information Statement  QTVR 1.0 to 2.0 Transition  QuickDraw 3D v1.5: Supports Multiprocessing  QuickDraw 3D: Glossary of Terms (P to S)  QuickTime 2.5: Software MPEG Available  QuickDraw 3D: Glossary of Terms (T to Z)  QuickTime for Windows: Troubleshooting Tips  QuickTime: No OS/2 Support  QuickDraw 3D 1.0.6: Read Me  QuickTime: Mac OS 7.6 Issue  QuickDraw 3D: Out of Memory Errors  QuickDraw 3D v1.5: Read Me  QuickTime for Windows: How to Uninstall on Windows 95  Power Macintosh: Bus Speeds  Power Macintosh 8500/150 & 8500/180: Technical Specifications  QuickDraw 3D: Requires SimpleText 1.3  QuickTime VR: Questions and Answers  PowerBook G3 Series: GV fax 2.6.5 and DVD Incompatibility  QuickTime: CoolTalk Description  QuickTime VR for Windows: Component File Versions  Apple Peripherals: Electrical Specifications Apple Display Enabler fix for PowerBook G3 Series, ix3D Road Rocket & 8.5 - 577k (Apple) Group of PC users wants Windows refund (News.Com) iMac tops the Q4 sales charts (ZDNet) Linux swaps fatigues for pinstripes (ZDNet) Game developer goes after reporter (ZDNet) Rev C iMacs Info: According to this mail apparently only the mezzanine connector itself is missing from the motherboard (the traces/pads must still be there): " Dear Mike What a fantastic site. I check it every day. Many of your readers might have been peturbed by the fact that the Rev C iMacs don't have a Mezzanine/Perch slot, so no Voodoo II. Don't worry. The European company Formac (who make damn fine prodcuts by the way [www.formac.com]) is also developing Mezzanine based products such as iPowerRaid, a SCSI UltraWide adaptor. They have said that the absence of the mezzanine slot actually only amounts to a lack of /connector/ - and they will be offering an appropriate adaptor themselves. Makes the upgrade slightly more complex, but then if you're installing into mezzanine, you'll either have the requisite knowledge to be handle this or you'll let your dealer take care of installation. So don't worry! your fruity iMac will go to the Quake III ball! Keep up the great work Joel Hopwood " I've not verified this and could not find any reference to it at Formac's web site. Domingo B. Alvear sent a note that Pixel 3D v2.1.4 is available as a free download at: http://www.pixels3d.com/ = 4:30 PM Update = OS Booster Feedback: Here's the first feedback on OS Booster mentioned earlier today: " Mike: Tried the OS Booster program posted on your site. Installation was a breeze and it appears to do exactly what is describes doing. Unreal appeared noticeably faster (G3 280 / Voodoo2). Some finder error messages appeared while changing resolutions (while in the OS Booster control panel), but it didn't appear to effect game play. Most impressively, while it loaded the OS Booster extensions on startup, when I quit the OS Booster program it returned the extension set to my regular settings (though I had to restart to use them of course). Nice attention to detail on Cogco's part... Looks like a winner. Jim Walker " I asked Jim for specific framerate comparisons but he was not able to do so today. We'll have reports in tomorrow's news or later tonight I'm sure. [Note Frank Bernier of our Unreal pages noted he could not get it to work at all with Unreal (latest beta)] Frank has another massive update in today's Unreal Tips and Tricks page, including Unreal beta comments from a RagePro owner, a new Rage128 INI file in the works for our FPS Toolkit, new maps and screenshots, a new version of 3Dfx Descent with improved Game Wizard support and much more. He's to have a status update on Dave later as well (he's improving we hear). I forgot to mention I ran a few Memory bandwidth tests on the Yosemite 400 last night and results were very good, much better than previous macs. However for pure rendering/CPU bound applications (rendering movies/3d scene files - the most time intensive work you can do on your Mac) the Yosemite 400 seems no faster than a beige G3 with 400Mhz upgrade or even my Genesis with 400MHz CPU card upgrade. See my Yosemite Performance page for After Effects 3.1, Infini-D 4 and Bryce 2 render time test results. However interactivity during layouts and scrolling speed seems dramatically faster with the new Rage128 card (and performance should improve quite a bit when hardware assisted OpenGL support is released). A reader reports the rumor mill is saying that the possibility of a modem kit for yosemite's may not happen, but that all new systems may have them as standard. Where's that leave those of us that bought early? Remember my warning when the Yosemites were introduced about later buyers getting more/better/faster in most cases, as happened on beige G3 and iMacs (a fact of life in the computing world). To have this happen so soon after the introduction will not make early buyers happy however. I wish we could at least buy them for $100 (the option price). I'm still waiting for info on Bestdata's USB modem a week after leaving a voicemail at their office. = 2:30 PM Update = More on USB Extender Cable: A reader responds to the extender cable issue posted earlier today: " I had the same problem you described today 1/21 with the new G3's and the USB extender cable. I've had this problem with both of the new G3's we have but your's is the first site I've found to mention this. my problem was so severe that I couldn't get the keyboard to work at all with the extender pluged in. I thought it was a bad cable and decided to wait until the other machine we ordered arrived. Upon further testing I've found that plugging into the USB slot 2 is the only way to get reliable operation with the extender cable. This is the same for both machines we have. Let me know if you find out any other information. thanks John Hanly" Another reader noted connector pin damage as a cause: " This happened to me too, but right out of the box. Check the extension cable - look inside the female connector. On mine, the two middle contacts got all munged and squished (technical term) up inside. It's as if the contacts were not manufactured correctly and they slipped up and were pushed back by inserting the cable. Greg Finnegan Argent Software " Don't know how it could have gotten damaged while connected (it worked the day before and was not disconnected between the time it worked and later failed), but it could have been bent initally and then failed after a day or so I guess. Not a good intro to USB...I hope this is not a continuing problem. This may be the cause of reader reports of out of the box keyboard failures. More on removable media drives and pauses: A reader notes the pausing problem is also evident in his aftermarket SCSI DVD drive: " Regarding the slow cd mounting with the new G3's DVD, I have the same problem with my SCSI E4 (2x) [cool dvd]. Seems to be worse with large games like Unreal and Tomb Raider. Maybe it's time for an xlr8yourDVD section. Patrick Gallagher " Beyond Chiu later reported his IDE CoolDVD drive behaves the same way in his G3/266MT. Several PowerComputing owners with non-Apple SCSI cdroms (controlled by CDrom Toolkit) wrote to say they do not see this problem. CDrom toolkit has its own caching scheme but verify it supports your CDrom drive (see their CDT 3.02 supported drive list). Contrary to many readers reports, ATAPI (IDE) Cdroms are supported according to their CDT FAQ but verify your specific model will work. J. Thomford sent a note that the Quake (and other apps) pausing may be due to having 'Calculate Folder Sizes' enabled. I didn't think this was enabled by default in the past but it's something to check. And note I see a long delay on the 9600/350 (OS 8.1) even when switching between applications (no file mods happening, both apps idle, VM Off) when a Cdrom is in the drive. Try switching between Macbench and the finder for instance. It takes a lot longer than it should on my system. I don't remember this being a problem on earlier systems or with the Power Computing machines. Paul Killen also notes a utility to address the custom icon issue noted earlier today: " The utility you are trying to remember is CDIconKiller, a shareware program written by Fabrizio Oddone. You can access his site at: http://www.kagi.com/authors/fab/cdiconk.html. 'Why is CDIconKiller so cool? To suppress custom icons on CD-ROMs install this software. This tends to speed up the Finder by a factor of about a zillion.' I have been using this utility since Mac OS 8 or 8.1 without any problems. Seems to work fine with 8.5 and 8.5.1 but I have not used it with DVD. It might prove helpful. Paul Killen " OS Booster: I just received a mail on a new software utility called OS Booster (http://www.cogco.u-net.com/OSBooster/). which claims to work with applications from Photoshop to VPC to Games. The product is available online and there is also a FAQ page with answers to common questions. The FAQ seems notes it loads a minimal extension set, reduces screen resolutions and runs only one application at a time (similar to the 'quit the finder' applescript trick). I'm skeptical of utils like this but just posting this as a FYI. Peek-a-Boo 1.4 is a utility that allows you to monitor and adjust how your CPU time is allocated, raising or lowering priority of tasks according to your needs. Peek-a-Boo is a shareware ($20) and also allows you to monitor and track history as well as look at any piece of information available through the Process Manager, sorting them by a variety of attributes. Windows Refund Center: Do you have a PC that came with a pre-installed copy of Windows that you never used? (i.e. you installed Linux, or some other OS). Then check out the Windows Refund Center. Personally, I want a refund for all the lost work and pain *using windows* has caused. ;-)[Thanks George Muggee] = 12:00 PM Update = More on slow CDrom Mounting: The reader suggestion that the slow CD mounting on the Yosemite might be due to the UDF extension proved to be no help. Timed tests with and without the extension showed no improvement. I can live with the slow mounting, I just wish the directories were cached. The fact CDs and other removables often spin down only increases the delay when the OS accesses removable media (on every file open it seems as noted yesterday). One reader suggested it might be related to IDE drives only but I think I've seen the same thing on the 9600/350 with SCSI cdrom and ZIP. I seem to remember one reader's comment that it was worse with the CD/DVD extension (vs. the std CDrom extension) but I think I tested that on the PB G3 and the problem still persisted. Since the Mac OS seems to poll removable drives often, I'm not sure why the directory information is not cached until a disk change is detected. Many months ago there was a thread in the news here on repeated drive accessing/delays where one reader suggested the cause was custom icons and suggested deleting them with a utility that will display hidden files. I can't remember all the details at the moment and never tried the tip personally. Yosemite USB: Last night my keyboard/mouse didn't work at all (it was fine the day before). After firmly seating all connections with no success, I removed the extension cable (used since the stock keyboard cable is very short) and it worked again. More Delay Tips: A reader sent a tip that eliminated delays in his OS 8.5 system in Quake (possibly other benefits like switching between apps I suspect): " Mike, I thought I'd pass on a tip I found at a random Mac website (forget the source - but hope is wasn't xlr8 or I'll feel awful silly). Many users have noticed long disk-churning pauses when they change settings in the Appearances Control Panel. I am an avid GL Quake player, and the same freeze happens when I go to the Options screen to change resolution, key commands, etc. Pauses of up to 3-5 minutes are not uncommon. It's a major annoyance. But it turns out it has a simple solution - remove any large folders (or aliases thereof) from your Apple menu. I keep aliases of my hard disk partitions there, and removing them instantly corrected the problem. God knows why it works, but Quake is so much happier. Hope this helps a few of your readers, John Newman " Yosemite Slave Drives: Contrary to what you may have heard or read, I was able to install an IDE Slave drive (Maxtor 10GB IDE from my (beige) G3 IDE upgrade article) and it worked fine. I had to replace the original short 1 drive IDE cable with a standard one of course. Care has to be taken in dressing the cable as well since it's at the hinge of the side cover. I've taken photos of the process for an article I'll be posting soon. I've added this info to the updated Yosemite Compatibility page. In response to yesterday's news post on the Yosemite using 'write-through' vs copy-back (faster) cache mode several readers wrote to mention that tag ram for the L2 cache is included in the G3. Michiro Isobe sent a link to a image file of the die showing this feature. More Audio Card/Yosemite feedback: The Yosemite Compatibility page has another update regarding audio card issues and the OEM SCSI card. Ethernet Info: Alex Koyshman sent an article on Ethernet called The Network is the Computer. I didn't know he was a 'RC5 junky'. In what I promise is the final update to the Which is Faster article Tim Seufert wrote to with details and explanations on the differences betweent the IBM and Motorola G3s. Ruggedized G3 (VME): Need a VME slot based G3 that can take a licking and keep on ticking? (but no MacOS support). Greg Schroeder sent a note on Rugged.com's C2700s. Playstation Emulater/MacMagic Feedback: Can any MacMagic owners verify this problem? If so please contact me. Rick also notes a lack of cache in an OEM SCA connectored Viking drive (I try to avoid SCA drives due to the required adapter): " Found out a couple of interesting things today. 1. VGS seems to be incompatible with the Village RAVE extension installed with VillageTronics MacMagic card. after multiple clean installs, and fiddling with extensions, i finally narrowed it down: VGS will not launch with the RAVE extension in the system folder. 2. After long conversations with quantum advanced tech support on why a RMA'd drive wouldn't accept a RAID driver, the tech support specialist told me that my version of drive, REV 3-c (Viking SCA uw drive 4.5 gigs) was a handicapped drive, with no write cache, and to avoid any furthur purchase of these type of drives for further speed purposes. He commented that this revision of drives was created for an OEM customer, which requested the specs. Rick 'Helmboy' Knecht " More V90 Update Comments: The latest reader feedback on the beige G3 modem update noted at the G3-ZONE awhile back: " Hello Mike, Just wanted to let you know I upgraded an apple g3 233 MT with the Apple GV v.90 updater. Connection speeds went from 31K to 48K. Download speeds on fast servers ranged between 7 & 8 K per second. So it definitely made quite a difference! Thanks, Ian Kimbrough " Audio News: A group of Detroit Apple techno geeks (their term) sent me a copy of their new CD Spacescape (and a cool T-shirt too). Read their press release for more info on how their G3 upgraded 8600/250 was used to make their first CD. On a related note, Thad Brown is working on a Audio FAQ as an addon to our Audio column. On a personal note, the post in yesterday's news on reader Dave Beutel possibly losing his right eye was premature. Frank will have a status update in the Unreal news page later today but he's doing much better. Be patient if you sent mail recently, it's been unusually heavy the last few days. Although I can't guarantee it, I try to answer every mail. Other Net News: Computer Users are Idiots (MacOpinion) Steve Jobs is a Genius!? (MacOpinion) Laptops and More (MacOpinion) Yesterday's News Summary Carmine's TIL Updates and Net News Feed UDF extension comment on CDrom mounting speed Yosemite L2 cache mode is write-through, not copy-back? Update on Dave's condition Comments on slow cd mounting Copper G3s - only from IBM? Apple OEM SCSI TIL reappears unchanged More in the IBM vs Moto battle of specs Updated Transit becomes Transmit (FTP util) Review of USB Quickcam Summary of previous days news For other recent site news/features links, see the Recent Site Features page. Note: Before sending tech support related questions please check the Freq. Asked Questions, Site Contents, CPU Card reviews/articles, SCSI reviews articles, Graphics card reviews, Tips/Misc, Message Boards and Help pages - in many cases the answers to your questions are there and they have far more detail than I can list in an email. For Apple G3 system info - see the G3-ZONE. For links on recent articles, see the Recent Features page. Please try the Men in Mac Help page as an alternative on requests for tech support to help me be able to spend more time on reviews. Thanks. Make a Difference: Be the Difference Randy Mita, Brad Lau and I came up with a new slogan and theme for Mac advocacy - "Make a Difference: Be the Difference". We're asking that all Mac owners take advantage of every opportunity to let others know the Mac advantage. It's a grass-roots approach that will surely help.