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Updated: 2:00 PM EST

 
Sonnet G3/6100 Owner Report: A new Sonnet Nubus G3 card owner sends a detailed list of the boost he saw in his Radius 81/110:

" Hey Mike:
Love the site! I've had the Sonnet card for a full day now and here's what I've found: My system: Radius 81/110, 128mb Ram, 512K L2, Sony 730mb HD, LaCie 2.1gb HD. The card: Cresendo 240-250, 1mb backside cache

Benchmarks:
CPU: w/o virtual memory: 847%
CPU: w/ virtual memory: 840%
FPU: 509%

Processor temp after 6 hours: 104 degrees [deg F I assume-Mike]
CPU Speed: 238.4 mhz
Bus speed: 36.7mhz

I tried to tweak the cache ratio using Powerlogix's cache control panel but it really screwed things up! At 1.5/1 I had multiple boot freezes and the one time I launched, the mouse was uncontrollable. [the PL cache control panel is not compatible with non-powerforce designs, and the PL cache utility is for Apple G3 systems only.-Mike]

The card is working seamlessly. I added a space in front of the extension so it boots first. After it appears, the system flies! I worked in Photoshop and Quark and windows pop open, no more filter waiting (except on files so large that any machine would wait) and very fast screen refresh rates. I can work in Quark at 100% with no waiting! How nice!

If I have missed a test that you would like to see or left out any pertinent system info, let me know!
Steve"

PowerForce Cache Control Versions: Powerlogix sent a note regarding cache control recommended versions with their 1:1 cache ratio cards:

"Mike,
Great site. I noticed on your G3 reviews that Brent Robinson who owns a 250/250 was having crashes with his version of the G3 Cache Control, 1.2.1. Brent and all of the owners of our 1 to 1 cards who are having these problems should go to our site and get the latest version of the G3 Cache Control v 1.2.3. http://www.Powerlogix.com/software.html.
Jamie Howell,
Powerlogix Sales"

I've added this info the the PowerForce Survey Results page as a reminder. Good to see that even manufacturers are reading the Survey Results pages. [2:00 PM Update]

More Disk First Aid 8.2 Feedback:

" Just writing to let you know I had a similar experience with disappearing icons on my PCPro, after running DFA 8.2. Restarting the computer returned all the icons. Like another reader said...'Go figure.'
Keep up the great work!
-Duncan F. Willson"

MacFixit is also convering Disk First Aid 8.2 issues and reports they saw the same thing a reader reported today regarding disk icons vanishing. [2:00 PM Update]

Installing Ram/Vram in a G3: Several readers today asked for info on installing Ram and Vram in their G3. That's covered in a illustrated page at the G3-ZONE. There is also a illustrated tutorial on installing a G3 internal modem. [2:00 PM Update]

Connectix has released Surf Express 1.1.5 which speeds first-time page loading up to 20% they say. [2:00 PM Update]

Drive Sleep Utils: The Mac community responds again to a request today for drive sleep utilities:

" Sleeper - http://www.stclairsoft.com/
have been using it for months and I'm very happy with it. It gives you all the controls you need . Hope this will do the trick.
Most kind regards,
Rob Huigsloot"

" Mike-
I nifty little control panel I've been using is "Sleeper" by St. Clair Software http://www.stclairsoft.com. It seems much more flexible than the Apple Energy Saver. There is a control strip module for it as well.
Mike "

Thanks for the quick response! [12:30 PM Update]

Seagate Ultra2 SCSI info: If you're curious about Ultra2 SCSI check out: http://www.seagate.com/support/disc/papers/ultra2.shtml [12:30 PM Update]

Get iMaced Program! Check out http://www.theimac.com/Get-iMaced for details on how to help promote iMac awareness and sales.

I'll be writing a regular column for theiMac.com covering its hardware design, USB, addons/upgrades and the comments/reactions of Windows computer users to the iMac. I'm confident the iMac can win the hearts and minds of even hard core PC addicts. It's the VW Beetle (with a Ferrari engine) of computers. In fact, I predict there will be a iMac Beetle model later this year.

Mac Audio Update: Thad Brown has posted Issue #8 of our Bring in the Noise audio column. He also will be my representative at "a big studio professional shindig in NYC later this month" and will have a full report here afterwards. Since it's looking like I will not make Macworld NY due to Kay's medical problems, he'll be my reporter on the scene. I'm depressed beyond words over missing another Macworld. I was set to speak on a discussion panel there.

Disk First Aid 8.2 Feedback: Several users wrote yesterday reporting problems with the latest disk repair utility:

" Mike,
I am using PPC 9600/200 running MacOS 8.1, after I have launched the newest version of Apple's disk first aid...such as verify or repair my startup disk, my desktop icons as well as all the icons on the desktop disappear (picture enclosed )...I think that maybe a potential bug in it. Just want to share this with all the your readers and advice them to beware of this issue. [Rebuilding the desktop did not fix the problem, he's posted a screenshot showing the problem at his website.-Mike]
Regard,
Allen "

" Mike, I fixed a hard drive with Tech Tool Pro 2 and with the latest disk first aid, it is still reading Mac OS standard volume on the drive, then it reads the Mac OS Extended on the same drive, when in fact it is a single partition formatted as an Extended (hfs+) drive. Also, although tech tool pro says that the drive has been fixed and finds no errors, disk first aid 8.2 finds errors that it cannot fix, and states: at the extent b-trees..... keys out of order 3,3 go figure?

anyway, just thought I'd comment on my experience with the new DE Aid 8.2
regards,
David Disown
Office of Instructional Technology
Boston Public Schools "

Apple has a TIL readme on DFA 8.2 (#30567) stating it is only for US English versions of OS 8.1. If you've had a problem with DAB 8.2, please contact me with details.

G3 Rev 2 Boot Code: There is info on Rev 2 G3 boot code and bootable CADS on the G3-ZONE main page. Also a report on the old AV modules not working with the new motherboards.

Adaptec 2940UW and Disk Images Mihai Parparita reports a compatibility problem:

" I think I've found an incompatibility between the Adaptec 2940UW card and the new Discos disk images. If an image was on the card's SCSI bus it wouldn't mount and DiskCopy would say a checksum error had occurred. Copying the image to a device on the built-in external bus (a Zip drive for example) solved the problem. I'm running MacOS 8.1 on a 8500/180. If you know of any workarounds or have heard of anything like this before I'd like to know.

It happened with both 6.2 and 6.1.3, as well as with the self-mounting images (like the QuickTime 3 installer).

Thanks and keep up the great work on the site,
Mihai Parparita "

If you've also seen this problem or have a solution please a contact me.

PowerBook G3 vs Gateway Solo PII: Randy Mita is loaning me his new PowerBook G3/250 for a head-to-head review against the Solo Pentium II notebook. This should be interesting.

I was stunned that a owner of a new PowerBook G3 would part with it for even a few days. I'm cutting up all my credit cards before it arrives as I know I'm too weak to resist ordering one after I lay my hands on it. Watch for the comparison review next week.

Although I can't keep up with the continuous flow of new owner reports, I've updated the G3 CPU Card Owners Survey Results pages again last night. More PowerForce, XLR8, RailGun, Sonnet and Newer Tech data added, including several more PB 1400 reports. Many readers have sent thanks for putting this information online to allow them to see owner feedback for their Mac model and card of interest.

" Mike
Just wanted to say thanks for the G3 Upgrades pages. To be able to read the comments and ratings of owners of my particular Mac (8500) and all the different brands of cards was a big plus. I now have a better idea of what to expect. With all the cards out there you've helped take some of the confusion out of the buying decision.

I also wanted to say thanks for your great reviews and the almost two pages of tips and comments on the different card types you wrote in reply to my questions (3AM? - get some sleep!). I was not expecting that much personal attention from someone as busy as you are. All I ever got from most of the other guys was a autoresponder.

Although not glamourous or generally recognized, you're doing a great service for the Mac community. I hope Apple appreciates the amount of time you devote to quietly helping others every day. Your information and support keeps us Mac owners looking to upgrade from considering the Intel camp.
Bless you
Albert L. Rogers "

Thanks for the kind words Albert. Always glad to help in any way I can.

GV V90 Upgrades with X2 ISP: I've gotten several reports of timeouts/disconnects last night from owners that flashed their GV modem to V90 and had ISPs with only X2. Greg Santilli sent a copy of his mail to GV that includes their reply to the issue.

There are reports of problems with ISPs that have been updated to V90 as well.Derek Van Ostrand-Fakehany sent a link to a page that has a script that disables V90 mode that may be of some help: http://www.accesscom.com/~nchinn/scripts.html.

Apple sent a list of Quicktime 3.0 updates for various programs.

New X-Files Game Pro Mac!

" Mike,
This is the new game from Fox Interactive which is just called "X-Files." This is different from X-Files Interactive which is still only a Windoze game (I have heard that Fox will port it to Mac by this fall). The game ships with a QT 3 installer and requires that you install at least the basic QT 3 to play the game. The full install requires 330 MB of hard drive space. A minimal install requires 250 MB. A lot of desktop real-estate, but a great deal of multimedia goodies. The installer is the same type of drop n drag installer included with MS Office 98. It includes an option for uninstalling the game and a separate QT 3 installation option. Overall easy to use and very Mac-like.

The game incorporates full motion video, QTVR, and animation. To navigate between locations and store information, the game uses an Apple MessagePad 2000. Also for a camera you have an Apple Quicktake Camera. This is a great promotional game for Apple and a great game for the Mac. It's also alot of fun.

If you like the X-Files, you'll love the game.

You've got a great site. Thanks for all your service to the Mac community.
Murrey Olmsted, M.A.
San Diego, CA "

PowerForce G3/7500 Tips: I've updated the PowerForce G3/7500 Tips page with new info on a low cost 1MB L2 cache that Ted Anderson reports solved his stability problems. When looking for articles like this always remember to check the site Tips/Misc page.

Railgun/Linux Feedback:

" Mike,
I thought you might be interested to know that LinuxPPC installs and runs just fine on my PM 8500 with a RailGun G3 250 installed. I used the G3 version of the installer provided at www.linuxppc.org and had no problems during the installation. On occasion, I have had some problems trying to boot into Linux, but I think those problems are related to Open Firmware rather than the processor card.
Matt Sanchez
Senior Vice President
Director of Web Development
XYZlabs
http://www.xyzlabs.com "

New Cheetah and IBM Drives: Timothy A. Seufert sends some notes based on our recent posts of the new Cheetah drives higher performance:

" Just a quick pointer to Seagate's page listing the specs for the new Cheetah 9LP drives:

http://www.seagate.com/disc/cheetah/cheetah.shtml

Brief overview: the Cheetah 9LP has a raw data rate of 14.5 to 21.8 MB/s, a nice boost compared to the original Cheetah 9 figures of 11.3 to 16.8. Seek times have also improved, they're about 2/3 of the Cheetah 9 across the board. Average read is 5.4 and write 6.2 (wow). Idle power has almost been halved, from 20 W to about 11.

The page also lists the Cheetah 18, which appears to be the same technology as the 9LP. It simply doubles the number of platters to fit 18 GB in a 3.5" half height package; the 9LP has 6 platters in the 1" thick low profile form factor and the 18 has 12 in the 1.6" half height form. Specs are pretty similar, except as you might expect the 18 seeks a little slower and consumes a little more power due to having more platters.

Needless to say, I want a Cheetah 9LP array. The peak throughput on a 2-drive array ought to completely saturate an UltraWide bus.

Another interesting new drive is IBM's UltraStar 9ES. It isn't notable for high performance, in fact it's a 7200 RPM drive with slightly lower performance than leading edge 7200 RPM drives. What's attractive is that it too is a low profile drive, it consumes about 7 W at idle (shouldn't need cooling), and (or so I'm led to believe) makes no more noise than IBM's 5400 RPM consumer IDE drives. Which, if you haven't heard one, are some of the most silent drives on the market. The low power use and low profile of the 9ES should make it practical to do RAID in desktop chassis machines like the 7500 or G3 Desktop."

Disk Sleep Utility?: Erik van Rikj wrote with an answer to a previous post on the author of Terminator Strip and asks for a way to enable drive sleep on his 8100:

"The Guy who made Terminator strip [quit the finder control strip mentioned here on 6/10-Mike] is Ammon Skidmore ( I tried to locate him but he has disappeared), He made some other nice utilities as well.

But I had a question you might have an answer for. I own a 8100/110 PPC and I want to let the Hard Drive (internal) go to sleep but the Energy control panel doesn't work, so are there any other Utilities that let you sleep your Hard Drive as a Powerbook does.
Erick van Rijk"

I asked if his energy saver was set to not disable drive sleep, but I've gotten several similar mails in the past, and suspect this may be a driver or drive support issue (does the drive support a low power mode). If you know of a solution or drive sleep utility, please contact me.

MicroConversions Alive and Well: I received mail from my MicroConversions contact saying he was surprised to hear of the DNS not found problems accessing their site. As stated in yesterday's news they are in the process of revamping their web site for the new Voodoo II card launch at the end of June.

Reader Request: Hoping my Japanese readers can help with this one. Ben Chi needs ordering information for a 240mhz 603E upgrade for the PB 2400 that was offered by a Japanese company:

" Hi Mike:

What i'm looking for is a 240mhz 603ev card like the 2400c/240 in Japan. I can't justify spending $850 on a G3 CPU upgrade. I'm hoping I can get a 240mhz 603ev card for much less.

Yes, I did upgrade the RAM from the stock 16 to 80 via a 64mb SO-DIMM. RAM install is very simple. No torx screws used, only philips screwdriver. Taking apart the whole machine however is a whole different story altogether. It looks deceivingly simple, but after you remove about 20 screws, the real trick is to be able to put them back. Good thing though the threads are of a different pitch so you can sort of figure out where they go.

This is a US model with a US keyboard, and right now for a CD-ROM drive, i'm using my Yamaha CDRW4260 CDR drive. I too have a 4x CDROM external Panasonic drive with PCMCIA interface and it didn't work on first try, but I haven't installed CDROM toolkit 3.0 yet. I'm hoping that will work. Right now, my main concern is the hard drive. regards,
ben chi "

If you know the name of the company or a source he can order the upgrade, please contact me.

Video conferencing with new G3s?: Still looking for verification that Video conferencing (CUseeMe, etc.) works in the Rev 2 G3 systems (RagePro models) with the 4MB or 6MB video upgrade. Martin Kaufman reports that his rev 1 G3 with 4MB Vram upgrade locks up after a minute or so (with Video input) unless he removes the Vram expansion.

If you have tested a Vram expanded Rev 2 G3 system with CUSeeME or iVisit, please contact me.

CPU Card Survey: If you're running a G3 CPU card upgrade (Nubus or CPU slot) I'd like to know the details. I've created a feedback form that will take you only a few seconds to complete and I'd be very grateful for the information.

Feedback is coming in daily for addition to the CPU Survey Results pages. Currently I need more input from MacTell G3 CPU card owners.

The Newer Tech page even has a PowerBook section for owners of the 1400 and 2400 G3 upgrades, so if you've just bought one of these upgrades I'd like you to take the survey.

3D Column Logo Contest: I'm still asking for all 3D artists out there to submit their creations for our new 3D Column Logo/Banner. The Logo should include the site URL (www.xlr8yourmac.com) but otherwise the design is up to you. Please keep file size down to 25K or so if you can, and use your name as the file name to help me keep track of who submitted the image (I get so many mails a day I need all the help I can). Thanks!

The winner (and any other interesting entries) are invited to write an article (complete w/screen captures ) showing how it was done. I'd like to have all entries by June 30. Resolution should be 200H x 500W (Maximum size - smaller is fine). GIF (animated OK, but try to keep file sizes small) or JPEG format for the final image.

If you'd like to submit a 3D Logo design (full credit given of course), please contact me.

This site is 100% Intergraph free - no persons working on this web site have ever been on the payroll of any PC manufacturer.

Please check your bookmarks - make sure you are using www.xlr8yourmac.com.

We need your G3 info! Reader "Oz" has offered to help with collecting data on Apple G3 system compatibility issues (hardware and software) of all types. Please send him any Apple G3 system compatibility info/issues you have or are aware of at: oz@bbdoperu.com

Search Tip! For searches on product names with mixed capitalization, use keywords like PowerBoost Pro (not Powerboost Pro or powerboost pro) and MaxPowr (vs maxpowr or Maxpowr). It seems that capitalization within the word on the site pages is throwing off the engine. Keep that in mind when searching for some of the odd product names.

Need Help? Before you send email for tech support, please check the Troubleshooting page or try searching the site (use quotes for exact matches! i.e. "mach 5" vs mach 5 which will match machine, 5, etc.) and to check the FAQ, Performance Basics, Links, and Forums for solutions to your problems or answers to tech support questions. They have a lot of good info and are a great source of help.

If you're curious as to how a G3 CPU card would perform in your Mac, look at the results hundreds of readers have reported in the G3 CPU Card Survey Results page.

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