A B&W G3 owner reports the firmware update lets the Iomega Buz work as a SCSI card but not as a capture device. As noted on my B&W G3 Compatibility page early on the Buz had problems like most all PCI SCSI cards initially. However other cards had firmware updates to address this, but not the Buz that I know of.

" Mike,
a) tried the Iomega Buz with a B & W G3 with updated firmware. It would work as an ultrascsi controller, but would be unable to load the extensions required for video capturing. Did not spend too much time experimenting though . . .[I asked if he tried disabling the ATI extensions as a test-Mike]

b) I have a B & W G3, which I have repeatedly tried to boot off an IBM Ultrastar 9LP (UltraSCSI version) through an Adaptec 2930U and an Adaptec 2940UW (firmware 4.1)

Although both controllers have no problems booting from an internal Atlas II drive, they are unable to boot from the IBM drive - either as an internal or external device.

When booted internally, the IBM is the sole device on the channel, autostart is enabled and an Adaptec 50 pin cable with active termination is used. The IBM has been formatted by the latest Apple Drive Setup in two partitions of 4 GB each. The first partition contains a copy of the installed system that is contained within the Apple CD that accompanied the G3.

Any and all suggestions (particularly by B&W owners with IBM Ultrastars 9 LP U) would be appreciated.
Petros "

Does it spin up as a non-boot drive? I'd try toggling the state of the autostart jumper. The Quantum Atlas II drives have to have the 'delay spin' jumper on for instance to enable spinup without a command (normally you'd think jumper on would mean delay the spinup with that term used for the postion). If anyone has seen this problem and had a tip, please contact me. Normally most modern single-ended (not LVD/U2) SCSI drives have on-drive active termination and don't need an external one. Ultra2/LVD drives require external terminators however. I've never owned anything but the OEM IBM drives in the PowerComputing machines and have not had this problem with them (including the one driven by a 2930 SCSI card in the PowerCenter Pro.

Here is a summary of the latest reader reports on the PowerTower Pro and CarrierZIF (at least with OWC ZIF CPUs) issue:

• Two reports of problems from PTP250 owners
• All OK with several PTP180's (including mine at 50Mhz bus w/L2 cache dimm removed)
• One reader reported an replacing a new OWC 128MB Dimm with a Techworks dimm fixed the problem.
• Deinterleaving RAM may be necessary if you have a mix of RAM brands/speeds. (I'm still running interleaved (four 32MB dimms) in my PTP180.)
• One common thread seems to be the OWC ZIFs. One report in the Rate Your G3 card database is from an owner that got a fixed speed (hard wired ratio on the ZIF) 30)Mhz ZIF - which as noted in my First Look article is not the right choice for the CarrierZIF since that module will ignore any ratio changes. These 'drop in' ZIFs that claim no jumper changes are required will run only at fixed ratio - based on a 66MHz bus in the Apple G3. (For example a 300Mhz ZIF like this is set to

Note: Please make sure you have at least tried a) ensuring the card is fully seated, b) try removing the L2 cache dimm especially on 8500's or low CPU speed Mac and PTPs, and c) double check/verify the CarrierZIF speed settings (bus speed and ratio settings), and d) try a lower bus speed and ratio to see if the card will boot. Many people post reviews on problems with all brands of cards and later it turns out the issue was one of the above. More mail and edits/updates are required to change posts later. I'm about 50 updates behind now and it will be a few days before I can catch up, so please wait until you have really determined the problem (and talked to the vendor) before posting a review. It's best to wait anyway to make sure that the speeds you're reporting are reliable (often I get updates that the first reported speed was too high after running for several days). Thanks.

If any PowerBase owners have run the CarrierZIF, please contact me with specifics.

This mail is an example why I stopped even posting the $89/$99 sales on IX3D cards. Many of the recent fire-sale ones are Apple OEM versions as noted here in the past. This PowerCenter Pro owner reports strange problems:

" I purchased an Ulimate Rez from MacResQ for $99 thinking it was a pretty good deal considering I'm not really into the 3D gaming and all. As it turns out I don't seem to be able to use it. I'm running a PowerCenter Pro 180 w/PowerLogix G3, lots of ram, etc. The problem is video noise when I scroll certain scroll bars, such as Conflict Catcher's. In fact if I hold the mouse down in the scroll bar on Conflict Catcher, it resets the monitor, turning it black and then back. Turning off Quickdraw acceleration seems to help the problem but defeats the purpose. I'm also very disappointed in the Quicktime playback as it appears no better (maybe worse) than my onboard Rage II.

I was hoping since you tested so many cards and have a PCP yourself that you might be aware of some conflict. If not do you think trying the ATI Orion (when it's available) would give me any better results?

I've checked your pages but couldn't find any reference to this problem. Thanks in advance.
Randy C "

If there are any other PowerCenter Pro owners running a OEM or Retail IXMicro card please contact me. I've run a retail version for some time in the Genesis but not the PowerCenter Pro (I used ATI RagePros and 3dfx cards in the PCP from time to time).

The 3D Game News page was updated earlier today.

Edward Robinson sent a note about a May 27th updated Apple TIL on Slave drive support in the Apple G3s.

Frank Condello sent a tip for those that moved Sherlock before installing OS 8.6:

" A little tip for people who moved Sherlock before installing OS 8.6 and don't want to go through another install to update it. You can use the freeware Tome Viewer (ftp://ftp.anapraxis.com/mrp/tomeviewer-13d3.sit) to extract the updated Sherlock app from the 8.6 installer archive.
Keep up the great work! Frank. "

I may have to revise my manual rating in the CarrierZIF review after this mail (I've yet to see the final printed version):

" I just recceived the XLR8 Carrier ZIF Card yesterday {June 11} and I installed it in an PowerMac 8600/300 Mk 5. This Mac [MacOS 8.5.1] is configured with 4 ea. matched high speed 64mb DIMMS for a total of 256mb interleaved. I have an ATTO Express Dual Chnl PCI card driving two Seagate Cheetah 4.0 gb drives in a RAID Array. The other slot has an Asante 10/100 network interface card to run on our 100BaseT network. Other internal devices are a SCSI ZIP Drive, CD ROM, Fujitsu 640 MO drive and a Granite Digital Active terminator at the end of the SCSI chain.

First, I'd like to say that the manual was great! I was not expecting such a complete instruction set. Clear and well written with illustrations!

I'm using an Apple G3/333 {removed from our server. The server was upgraded with a G3/466 zif}. I first set all jumpers to run STOCK at 333mhz, 44mhz bus speed. Unit started right up, booted and we all saw a little speed boost. Following the detailed chart, I slowly increased the speed and clock ratios to the final running speed of 350mhz/ 50.0 buss. This is the speed the machine is running at now. This process took only two hours total (installation and speed adjustments).

So, we're running with interleaved memory at 350 mhz with the original 50 mhz system bus. I'll let this run this way for a week or two, then I'll try to see how fast this can be pushed. One final note, it does run HOT. Powerlogix's speedmeter reports a temp of 145 F. {with the big black metal plate installed that came with the unit}. I may consider installing a CPU Fan with Peltier chip. I'll let you know.

Richard J Theilmann, President
Mac & Tel Networks, Inc. "

I do not recommend a peltier due to the possibility of condensation and two reports from beige G3 owners that after months of use they had blown capacitors on their DIMMs, possibly from the heavy (2amps/24W typically) peltier current draw. One of the owners said the inside was showing signs of corrosion from the dampness (insufficient airflow and the fact most peltiers are pentium chip size when the G3 CPU Contact patch is 1/10 the area doesn't help. I've not seen where most G3 owners need a peltier. The G3-ZONE has a reader written article submitted last year on installing a peltier cooler and blower.

On the light side of the news, David Miller writes he spotted an iMac keyboard in the latest Austin Powers movie.

" Though this isn't true "news" I thought you may be interested. I went to see "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me" yesterday, and noticed an iMac keyboard in the movie. It's in the scene where Dr. Evil first tries to go back in time, but the portal isn't turned on. It's off to the right of the portal, and you can the see iMac colors and distinct layout of it. Just thought you might be interested. "

As noted earlier today, I posted my XLR8 CarrierZIF review (7 pages of it). I think you'll find it worth the wait. Sorry for the delay in the weekend news but I'm really beat and need to take a few hours off.

As a side note and follow-up to the earlier comment on non-Apple ZIFs - I formatted a ZIP disk in my B&W G3 with my 'non-Apple' (whatever that is ;-) ZIP and it reads perfectly in other Macs here. As I said earlier, I've swapped ZIP disks back and forth for months with no problems but could not remember if I had formatted a ZIP disk in the B&W G3 drive. No worries...

As the last few and nights have been very unusually busy I've not had a chance to begin to keep up with mail or the latest CPU review database entries. Please be patient I'm trying to catch up but its not possible to answer all the hundreds of mails I get each day. Please check the Answers to Common Questions and other links in the sidebar before sending tech support mail and try the Men in Mac support page if possible until I can catch up.

If you don't check every day's daily news (updated several times a day normally) you might miss something valuable. Check the summary list below for highlights of the last two days news and the archives page for older new page links. For a blast from the past, read what was on the news page here exactly a year ago.

Other Net News:

• Can a 500MHz G3 w/Voodoo2 card run PC Games Well? (barefeats)
• Another Nasty New PC Virus Hits The Net Thought Melissa was bad? ExploreZip is worse says PCworld [Another reason to own a Mac...]
• How The Computer Industry Rips You Off (PCworld)
• Nine 1-Megapixel Digital Cameras Prices drop and ease of use increases. They also have a Buying A Digital Camera Made Easy article.

Friday's News Summary

• CarrierZIF card/OWC ZIF module/PowerTower Pro 250 comments
• CarrierZIF works in my PTP180 at 50MHz bus w/L2 cache removed
• CarrierZIF working in PTP180's
• CPU card troubleshooting tips
• 3D Game News updated
• Register article says G4 CPUs still on schedule
• ZIP drives in B&W G3 - false alarm.
• CarrierZIF testing update
• CarrierZIF w/OWC ZIF module reader problem report
• Apple Drive Setup 1.6.2 solved WD Expert data corruption in my B&W G3
• HINT benchmark page from Univ. of Minnesota Mathematics research assistant
• ORB Drive Problem reports suface - large file copy problem
• OS 8.6 Memory Leaks
• 2 More WD Expert drives arrive for IDE Raid tests
• IDE ORB drive arrives for review
• Rate Your G3 Upgrade database updated
• Other Net News

Thursday's News Summary

• Pictures of new B&W G3 Features (Rage128 heatsink and new HD bracket/cable
• New IDE Controller on B&W G3 motherboard?
• PCI Cards & Installation 'Secrets' article
• Rumors of new 17" iMac due this summer
• Umax mail list started
• Owner reports on new B&W G3 features
• CarrierZIF owner comments
• IDE vs SCSI page updated with more comparisons
• Transintl posts Mac upgrade guide
• Latest insider info on OS X client Compatibility
• Upgraded Beige G3 reports TCP/IP problems
• Reader response to anti-Mac article
• Apple 24X CDROM Drive/Gold CDRs issue
• News.com article on Intel copper CPU plans
• Microcenter sale on older Mac microphones
• Future articles on IDE Raid, ORB drive
• Rate Your G3 Upgrade database updated
• Other Net News Links

For other recent site news/features links, see the Sidebar to the right and the Recent Site Features page.

If you own a G3/300 or faster Mac, you might want to get our PPC Checker utility that will report if your CPU is copper or aluminum based.

Considering a G3 Upgrade? Check the CPU Upgrade Owner's Survey results and search for owner reports by Mac model and/or card brand. The database is being updated daily for new reports. Also make sure you ask your dealer about any issues with your particular mac model as I have gotten several reports of issues with certain G3 upgrades in some Mac models (Mach 5, PowerBase, 7300). I urge any owners that have had problems to report this via the Survey Form. Always give the most weight to recent owner reports (dated in the listing).