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01/25/99 - Monday's News:	Current News Page
Yosemite Modems: [Update] It's deja-vu. After not finding them in stock anywhere else I tried calling the Apple store today and was told they are on "indefinite backorder" (not even an estimated shipping date). Just like with my original system order I suspect I'll get it sooner from a mail order house (sigh). [ CDW wrote to say they have are accepting orders for the Internal modem kits for the new B&W G3. Prices and stock status was note mentioned. Part number listed in the mail was: EDC 148079 APL 56K INT MOD W/FAXSTF FOR PMG3] I was busy finishing the Yosemite IDE slave drive article and didn't check mail until just now. Calling CDW's phone order line resulted in a message they were closed (11PM Eastern Time). A search at their site did not find the item number listed above. Might want to check the other mail order dealers as well to see if they have stock. = [11:00 PM Update] = Carmine's MiM News Feed (links may not be valid in the future) AppleTIL Updates (MONDAY.01.25.99)  NEW 58257 Power Macintosh G3 (Blue and White): Connecting Rev. A Apple Studio Display  NEW 58258 Power Macintosh G3 (Blue and White): Cannot Boot from a RAID Striped Volume  NEW 58259 Power Macintosh G3 (Blue and White): Apple 56K V.90 Internal Modem Info  MOD28501 Applications Discussion Board: Frequently Asked Questions  MOD30893 iMac: Troubleshooting "Modem Not Responding"  MOD58253 Convert2DOS Read Me  MOD58246 LaserWriter 8500 PPD 1.1: Read Me  MOD58255 Network Assistant 3.5.2 Updater Read Me  MOD58254 Display Enabler 2.4.1 Read Me  MOD20179 Energy Saver Control Panel: Preferences not in PRAM  MOD20766 Iomega Zip Drive (SCSI): Specifications  MOD17903 Power Macintosh 9500 120 & 132: Description  MOD18155 Power Macintosh 7200 and 9500 Series: Read Me  MOD16474 PhotoFlash Version 2.0 Introduced  MOD17155 PCMCIA Expansion Module: Can Read DOS Formatted Volumes  MOD18863 Power Macintosh 7200 Series: Frequently Asked Questions HAL Apple's Y2K spokesperson (News.Com) Groups call for Intel boycott (News.Com) Notebook PCs arrive amid chip dispute (News.Com) Andreessen may take post at AOL (News.Com) Oracle adds Java support (News.Com) Apple's 1394 stance spurs design-workaround talk (TechWeb) PCs don't have to be ugly (ZDNet) Y2K bug claims Prodigy service (ZDNet) Creative Labs will test MP3 waters (ZDNet) Apple's HAL Commercial to Air on Super Bowl; Famous Computer Reveals Macintosh is Free from Y2K Bug (Yahoo) [note: there have been reports circulating all week that Apple pulled this ad from the SuperBowl second-half slot - Carmine] Mac Savvy NetWare Client 5.12 for Mac OS Now Available for Online Purchase (Yahoo) XLR8 Passes Cost Savings On to Consumers (Yahoo) = 4:00PM Update = MacSense Ethernet Tip: A reader responded to today's earlier post with a tip that solved his problems with a different model MacSense card: " Hello, We have macsense ethernet cards (10/100) in two machines here. We did have to remove apple enet extension and update to the most current driver (found at macsensetech.com ). Not sure if John has done that or not. Hope that might help. Peter Cliffton " John later replied that he has the E450 card which does not have updated drivers yet. Navy Seals Game: David Kelley sent a note about a new Unreal-engine based game called Navy Seals. Although the press release notes no Mac version planned we wonder if enough Mac owners indicated interest if they would consider porting it to the Mac: " Mike, Here is the official link for Navy Seals (still very new): www.navyseals.net/ and here is a Press Release link for Yosemite Entertainment (a SierraFX company) who is putting it together using the Unreal engine: www.yosemite-entertainment.com/news/pressreleases.html. [he later sent the following link that mentions only PC support: www.yosemite-entertainment.com/news/pressrelease/prnavyseals.html David Kelley " I've updated the Yosemite Compatibility page with additional info on the Adaptec 2906 and 2930U (OEM $49 card) and a new report on Rage128/Quark Express palette problems. = 2:00 PM Update = Audio News: I'm late in posting Thad Brown's latest Audio column updates - a NAMM Show call for reporters and lots of new product info in Issue 32 and the first post of an Audio FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions). Speaking of FAQ's - I've updated the main site FAQ to include some basic info on IDE drives. It's the first place to check for info on older mac upgrades, SCSI, video card/3dfx general questions and much more. Make sure the allow the page to fully load to ensure the links from questions to answers are functional. Yosemite Cache Mode Tests: The Yosemite Performance page has updated info with results of both Write-Through (default) and Copy-Back Cache mode tests. The Yosemite Compatibility page has an update with a reader report of Speed Doubler 8.1.2 faster emulation conflicting with the Rage128 extensions and a problem with writes to a SCSI ZIP connected to a 2940UW with rev 3 firmware. Heatsinked MacMagic: [Update - for a full review of the MacMagic card (and other mac graphics cards), see the Video articles page, Graphics card section.] Reed Snyder reports on the new model MacMagic cards that includes a heatsink on the FX chip: " Mike- A quick followup on the MacMagic/Heatsink issue. I recieved my new MacMagic on Friday. It does have heatsinks. I installed the card and let the Unreal flyby run to test speed and lock ups. I first ran at 57 mhz without my 3dfx fan, and it locked up after about 5 minutes. Next I tried 55 mhz without the fan, and it locked up after about 20 minutes. I had the case off, so I touched the heatsinks, and they were too hot to hold a finger on. I installed my 3dfx fan. I got a lock up after 20 minutes at 57 mhz, and I can run forever at 55mhz. The heatsinks were barely warm to the touch on both occasions. My conclusion: The heatsinks do make a difference- when used in conjunction with a fan. But- there is a limit to how much heat they can remove in a given amount of time. I am guessing there is an "inner core" temp that gets too hot at faster speeds. Overall, I am very happy with the new card, and the customer service at Software Hut has been great. There is one nagging issue though. Supply. I ordered the replacement card over a month ago. It seems VT is having a problem meeting demand- even for a Voodoo 1 card. These supply issues continue to drag the Mac/3d card market down. Reed Snyder" Previously he had reported the MacMagic would lock up in his 4400 if run over the default clock speed of 50MHz. In other Macs I've ran my Power3D card at up to 57MHz or more without problems, but I never tried the card at that clock rate in more stressful games like Unreal. Each card/system combination may show different results, due to the airflow inside the case (the 8600/9600s have a fan on the side cover that helps I'm sure). For maximum Cooling, many people prefer a fan cooled heatsink like the Lasagna from TennMax [link corrected]. = 12:00 PM Update = New PowerBooks: [Update - for a full 7 page review of the PowerBook 2000 Firewire model, see the Systems page, Powerbook section.] SCSI to IDE Adapter Feedback: [Update - see the SCSI topics page, Controller/adapter section for later reviews of internal and external Acard SCSI/IDE adapters.]> Sonny Foster wrote: " Hi Mike, You recently featured an article on your pages about a IDE->SCSI converter being sold here in Australia through http://www.blackfire.com.au/ I ordered one a few weeks back and it turned up last Friday. That afternoon I went out and bought a brand new 8.4 gig Segate IDE drive (half the price of a similar SCSI drive). Plugging the converter into the drive was a sinch and there were a few jumps to set which again was fairly simple. I formatted the drive with FWB HDT and it worked no worries first time. Got about 7.9 gigs from a 8.4 gig drive which is about right. Ran it through some fairly intensive hard drive tests and not one fail occured. Was getting about 5-8 meg throughtput on a standard 8600 SCSI internal bus. Not too shabby ! I'll be testing an IDE CD burner, CD ROM and super drive in the next few weeks. Will let you know how I go. Keep up the great work with the pages! Cheers Sonny " The coming $99 Promax PCI Dual IDE controller (noted in the 12/28/98 news) may be a better solution for PCI mac owners but glad to hear the adapter works. For more info on the Blackfire adapter, see my page on the SCSI to IDE adapter. Reader Tai sent a reminder that the Apple System Profiler 2.1.2 will report if you have a RagePro (rev 2 or later) G3 system, which can save opening up the case. Yosemite and VGS: I've gotten another report that indicates contrary to what is posted at some other sites, it's the Sony drives that have the problem with Virtual Game Station (kicking cds out). Even a Powerbase owner with a hacked CD/DVD extension noted his Sony CDrom would not run the emulator. As noted in the weekend news, Connectix is working on a fix. Note that on the Yosemite, you also have to disable the Rage128 3D extension for compatibility (I suggest a special extensions manager set for VGS until a update arrives). Rumor is the hack floating around Hotline may fix the CDrom issue but it will not work after the next update. Make sure you *Buy* a copy of VGS as soon as it is released to retail outlets if you want to see cool software like this continue be developed for the Mac. I was late posting Carmine's TIL updates and news feed the Saturday news page. If you missed it check yesterday's news. More OS 8.5/Ethernet Feedback: A reader commented on Saturday's post on problems with networking with a PCfx card under 8.5: " OS 8.5.1 Ethernet/PCFx card: I don't use a PCFx card, but speaking of 8.5 and networking problems... We bought a MacSense Ethernet card [an E450 -Mike] at work (couldn't find a BNC to RJ45 transceiver, so we got a great deal on a MacSense card with BNC and RJ45). Anyway, we've had it installed for over a week and a half and have yet to make contact with our SGI fileserver (and yes, I've set up 5 other Macs to talk to the SGI with no problem using built-in ethernet, so I know what I'm doing on the SGI side). I contacted MacSense (www.macsensetech.com) and they said there was an issue with 8.5 where Apple's Enet extension took over the ethernet and wouldn't allow the machine to see their card, so they mention on their site to remove the Enet extension. I did. Didn't work. Just wondering if anyone else has had problems with 8.5 and etherneting to a file server? By the way, I can connect to the other macs through AppleShare, but I can't use Fetch or Telnet clients to the SGI at all. In fact, most of the error messages I get tell me that TCP/IP either isn't loaded or there is problems with the network. Apple System Profile says it's active but not loaded (?!?!?!?!?). Thanks. Just wanted to get that off my chest after a week and a half of wasting time. John " No Free Lunch: Tim Seufert writes: " A while back, lots of people got a mental virus and believed with intense fervor that they could make VirtualPC run literally twice as fast by booting to it instead of the Finder. (Which is essentially what OS Booster does -- sounds like it sets itself up to load instead of the Finder, and then allows you to launch one program.) When somebody actually went and tested VPC with and without the trick (wish I could find the link), they found no benefit at all. Jorg Brown, the lead programmer of VPC, wrote in to say that he knew of no reason why it would help, except for low memory (32 MB or less) machines. He said that if the machine had so little RAM that the emulated Windows environment was having to swap, the extra RAM freed up by not running the Finder could be allocated to Windows, reducing the swapping. Conclusion: if you have plenty of RAM, OS Booster does nothing for you, and if you have a small amount of RAM, why not buy more RAM instead of OS Booster? Tim Seufert " Cooling new G3 Cards: David Myers wrote in response to the post in the weekend news on smaller heatsinks being used on many new G3 Upgrade cards: " I bought one of the new 3-switch Powerforce 220s two months ago and have a few items of note you might be interested in. I have a Powerbase 180 (Alchemy motherboard) and have successfully booted up with the G3 card clocked up to 350 with a 50mhz bus setting. Of course, it crashed after about thirty seconds. I've been running it between 315 and 321 since. My processor temperature was always in the 60C - 80C range- pretty hot! The heat sink that came with the card was one of the small round heat sinks. I recently decided to push the envelope a bit and clock the card at 333 (133 cache). My Powerbase ran rock steady at that speed without a crash BUT the processor temp went to 85C. I got worried and decided to try installing a CPU fan. I found a heatsink/fan at Radio Shack that was for a 486 processor. I placed the fan on top of the original heatsink using heatsink compound I got from Radio Shack. I am happy to report that my temp readings are in the 27-31C range now. -david myers " Daniel T. Griscom reported he's seeing video artifacts on his PF G3/220 upgraded 8500/120 (cache dimm removed) under OS 8.5.1 in 256 Color mode with the onboard video. Disabling the 'Built-in Graphics Accelerator' extension seems to help. There were several reports I believe of that extension causing some video glitches on the OS 8.5 feedback page. He noted that Conflict Catcher also indicates the 'Built-in Graphics Accelerator' extension is the culprit, and that there were no such problems running OS 8.1. Frank took a well deserved day off yesterday, but sent a game news update today that includes a status update on Dave. Sunday's News Summary Happy 15th Birthday to the Mac Smaller heatsinks on G3 upgrade cards OS Booster and VPC/NT timed tests Reader report of Yosemite/Ult. Rez problems Reasons for Yosemite/Virtual Game Station problems 8MB Game Wizard Sale ($149) Quake II interview Other net news Summary of prev. days news Saturday's News Summary Carmine's TIL Updates and News Feed (posted late) Beige G3's - Slave drive support only in Rev2 and later (how to check) Adaptec 2906 Update (OEM SCSI card in Yosemite) Jackhammer SCSI card w/v1.4 update works in Yosemite More on USB problems/extender cable problem Yosemite/VGS problem report My results after G3 modem update Frank's update on OS Booster in games and VPC Unreal news page updated (incl. Quake II and other game news) Other net news Summary of prev. 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.