CDW sent a note on new PCI Expansion Chassis units that are nearly 1/2 the price of last year's models:

" Out of PCI slots?
CDW now has access to the the entire line of SBS-Bit3 PCI expansion units

CDW part #174428
With SBS's Model 2134 PCI Slot Expansion Unit adding four more slots to your PCI computer is easy. Installation is quick. Configuration is a breeze. Model 2134 is a complete system including a PCI host card, a micro ATX mini-tower enclosure housing a 4-slot backplane with integrated controller and power supply, and 2-foot interconnecting cable. $579!!!!
Bruce Modell
Senior Account Manager
CDW, Inc.
800-400-4239 ext 8219 "

Last year PCI expansion chassis from Magma and others started at appx. $1000.

MacTell's web site has a new press release on lower G3 upgrade prices and an announced FireWire DAT tape backup due in mid-July.

Apple Ad Fliers at Colleges: David Miller writes:

" Just today I entered my local university's computer store and saw its ample supply of Apple ads. I picked up a free "handout" (which read Spring 1999) about how Macs are used to edit the MTv show "The Real World". It also has other pro-apple things (such as something on Oni), as it is produced by Apple. The true suprise awaited when you unfolded it though. Inside was a large poster-size blowup of the Watson/Crick Think Different ad."

The FAQ and Rate Your G3 CPU databases are back online now.

OEM Rage128 in 9600/350: I installed an OEM Rage128 from a B&W G3 in my 9600/350 last night. As regular readers of the site have known since February, the card is slotted for both 3.3v and 5v PCI slots and works fine in most other Macs. What surprised me was the performance I saw, even with this 75Mhz (first model) card. In the 9600/350 (604e overclocked to 400MHz) which is infamous for about 25% slower video card speed that it should, I saw 48.8 fps at 640x480 in Rave Quake 1.09 (all options on, flames/shadows, etc.). That's close to the 55.3 fps I saw with the same card in a 66Mhz PCI slot with a 400/200/100 1MB G3 CPU. I'm interested to see how performance scales with a fast G3 ZIF CPU in the CarrierZIF card.

New vs Old B&W HD Brackets: Michel Pacifici asked if the revised 3 piece hard drive tray used in later B&W G3s could be retrofitted to the original models. From what I see there is no way for the 3 individual brackets to work as the new case has screw holes for each of them to be retained and slots for each bracket as well. I'm not sure if the case's 'bottom' plate (baseplate) is replacable, but otherwise it would not work. A reader noted the 3 separate plate hd bracket was rolled in before the latest revisions (dual drive bkt/cable/rage128 heatsink). I've added the Model number noted in yesterday's news to the new B&W G3 features

More IDE ORB Comments: As noted in yesterday's news, I could not get the IDE ORB drive to be 'seen' by drive setup when configured as a slave drive to the TrueX CDROM using a Turbomax card in the 9600/350. It did work as a master drive and I ran it off the 2nd IDE channel on the Turbomax card. One warning. I could manually eject the disk via the button on the drive and the MacOS leaves the HD icon on the desktop. Clicking on this icon opens it and locks the entire Mac solid. Not even the power button on the case would work and I have do pull the plug to get it restarted. My gut feeling is that until Castlewood ships some Mac control software we're better off waiting for a SCSI version. As noted earlier by a reader, disk swaps are not recognized until you reboot (he also mentioned running drive setup to mount swapped disks). I did not see the freezes on large file copies others reported, but that could be due to the Turbomax card.

ZIF Upgrades in a B&W G3: For anyone that wonders about future CPU upgrades with a B&W G3, check the first (oldest) Question/Answer under topic in the FAQ. Reader wrote about an Appleinsider article on the ROM checks, which according to my info has been in the B&W G3 ROMs from day one. There was a post here a month or so ago on some companies having the ROM code needed to perhaps work around this issue from what I understand, however nobody can say at this point what will work (in my opinion). I've also heard rumors on an Apple pin/package change in the G4 (perhaps just for their G4/Sawtooth systems). One odd note - I put an XLR8 400ZIF set to 400Mhz in the new rev B&W G3 and both Apple System Profiler and SpeedMeter 1.3 reported a 350Mhz speed. I double checked the ZIF's settings and it seemed correct. I had already set the motherboard jumper settings for 400Mhz speeds, so I then dropped in my original Apple 350Mhz ZIF module and it worked as expected (400Mhz speeds reported). Possibly a jumper on the XLR8 ZIF module was loose or not making contact. BTW - the new B&W G3/350 CPU ZIF module was a Motorola XPC750 version.

Game News Updates: The 3D Game News page has an update this morning on the new Unreal UMOD installer released by Westlake. The Umod installer allows you to unpack and automatically install "mods" or modifications to Unreal that add new weapons, new network games, etc. and requires v2.24 to work. Also included is a very detailed list of settings and tips for Falcon 4 and the Rage128 by Terry Freeland.

New B&W G3s - Taller Heatsink: One thing I noticed that I've note seen reported elsewhere was that the CPU heatsink on the new models has taller fins. They are trimmed near one edge to clear the ZIP drive metal housing when the case is closed, but most of the fins are about 1/4 or more taller than the previous heatsink used. This is a plus, as when overclocking ZIFs that were 100% reliable with the case closed I'd get errors from overheating with the case open after about 5 minutes of running (despite the fact temperatures were reported as only 31C).

More on Mixed Feature B&W G3s: Another reader noted he got a mixed bag of new features, which included the new drive bracket/cable but no heatsink on the Rage128 (and note his comments on a patch wire on the card)

" Mike,
I just became the proud owner of one of the new revision B&W G3's. I did have the dual drive braket and cable, however none of the other goodies I was expecting! The Rage 128 card is heatsinkless and my Quake frame rates match the original card's [Wednesday's news had a comparison of the new vs. old framerates-Mike]. Another interesting note is that there is a "haywire" soldered on my Rage board, going from a solder point to a chip on the board, which was obviously hand-soldered.

My question to you is, how can I tell if I have the updated IDE controller chip? As far as I can tell from the outside of the chip, the older model's and mine are identical. I guess I got an inbetween model! Makes me wonder if it's worth the hastle to return the thing and buy it again in hopes of getting a heat-sinked / updated ide model. If the controller is updated I'll keep it, as the Rage card will eventually be replaced with a newer ATI model such as the Nexus or VR. Thanks!

A multiple B&W G3 owner,
Marty
P.S. - I was able to overclock the 400mhz DVD I bought to 450 with zero problems and zero crashes thus far, however it would not boot at 500. "

As noted on my new features page, the new chip has the number 402 next to the CMD chip part number. The location of the IDE chip is shown on my new B&W G3 features page.

Using Apple's ATI Video Update 1.0 w/PCI Cards: Paul Constantine wrote that contrary to the readme, he did not need to be running OS 8.6 and found a workaround to install the update:

" I have an original Rev A beige G3.. with a XClaim 3D card w/ Rage Pro chipset. I am NOT running 8.6, but 8.1. I extracted the individual extensions with TomeViewer and compared the version numbers of the appropriate pieces with what I already had. 2 files from the apple update were newer so I used them. No problems at all. So 8.6 "requirement" is unnecessary. In line with steve jobs inc., a company that seems to be adding firmware to their machines so that third party accelerator companies are prevented from creating upgrade cards for Macs!"

TomeViewer is available at: ftp://ftp.anapraxis.com/mrp/tomeviewer-13d3.sit. As noted yesterday, I expect there will be an ATI PCI Card driver update soon for the retail cards (RagePro series - Rage128's should ship with it I suspect). Watch ATI's Mac Drivers page for updates.

Photoshop 5.5: While looking for Adobe updates I noticed that Adobe's Photoshop product page says that v5.5 is coming and will include web-centric features of ImageReady 2.0 they say. You can sign up to have them notify you when it is available. You'll need to register or have your Adobe Customer ID handy for the notification form.

I've can't say more at this time but there is some very good news coming soon for iMac and PB G3 owners. Stay tuned here for more when I get the OK to post a note with more details.

More On Que USB CDR: The latest reader feedback indicates a problem making bootable CDs and backing up Playstation CDs:

" hi mike,
just writing to say that i have recieved my Que! CD-RW drive from MacWarehouse yesterday, and after setting it up and trying a burn of some mac files, all worked as expected.

then today it hit a snag... when i use toast to burn a disc image file (in this case a backup for one of my fading playstation games) it gives me a "SCSI Error: -50" and tells me "The SCSI connection is not stable." (8 times!), then ejects the disk w/o writing to it?!?

i have followed all the guidelines (VM off, default cache, application memory, etc.) and installed all the correct software, i even made a couple tech support calls (theyre supposed to call me back...), but i have been unable to burn any playstation disk image files reguardless of what brand of media i try (memorex, ricoh, sony, mitsui - all failed)

also, what is the deal with the Que! drive not being able to write bootable cds? does anyone know if there will be support for burning bootable cds in later software updates?
best reguards,
Fastjack "

Note: I do not endorse copying CDs, but the reader mentioned he had one that was fading (getting scratched, damaged, etc. I assume). I'm not sure it can copy Playstation CDs (Astarte CD-Copy does I hear) but if any reader has a tip or workaround, please contact me with details. I asked if the had lowered the burning rate (to 2x or 1x) as well.

Lombard PB USB Issues: I missed this mail yesterday but the PowerBook Zone is tracking these issues and indicates there is a real problem. [previous quote earlier today removed by request] Doug just sent another update with links to articles on Lombard USB Fix On the Way and Apple PowerBook VP Leaves. Note that it's hard to do (I can't) but the wisest advice is to never buy the first revision of anything (computers, cars, whatever).

First Apple 1 For Sale: Wired news has an article on the sale of the first Apple I handmade by Steve Wozniak. It could fetch the highest price ever paid for a personal computer they say.

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:

• Miscellaneous Ramblings #18 (MacOpinion)
• The PowerBook 1400 Revisited (MacOpinion)
• Apple to sell itself out to highest bidder? (theiMac.com)
• Why I joined the Macintosh Clique... (theiMac.com)
• Type Different (Review: Adesso Ergonomic KB) (theiMac.com)
• David sent a note on a Packard Bell has a new model with colors and cordless keyboard. Remember looks are only skin deep - the Windows Registry goes right to the core ;-) [insider joke to all those that have had to troubleshoot windows machines for years].

Thursday's News Summary

• Bottom Line price reduction on G3 upgrades (ZIF and CPU card)
• Comments on new B&W G3s at CompUSA
• Model number of new B&W \
• IDE ORB drive initial impressions, test results
• ATI Video Update 1.0 restores DVD playback
• Reader comments on IDE ORB & Sony IDE CDR in B&W G3
• More on TrueX/Plextor CDR Issue
• IBM SOI Based PowerPC Chips to ship to Apple
• Praise for Alsoft Diskwarrior
• WD Expert/TurboMax Performance (SCSI vs IDE page update)
• 3D Game News updated
• Rate Your G3 Upgrade database updated
• Other Net News Links

Wednesday's News Summary

• Apple ATI Video update 1.0 works with Q3Test installed over OpenGL drivers.
• Details on ATI Video Update 1.0/List of extensions/versions
• News.com articles on Jobs/Gates movie and Divx calls it quits
• 3D Game News updated with ATI Rage128 & Quake II release info
• Transintl site specials on CPU Cards, $259/9GB Hard drives, $97/128MB dimms
• List of CarrierZIF/CPU combo packages from Other World
• New Rage128s are faster - framerates compared in Quake/Unreal
• More info on Rage128 clock speeds
• More Display Name Utility download locations
• Apple Drive Setup 1.7.3 does not for WD Expert/B&W G3 corruption
• nVidia PowerPC code for next gen Amigas?
• Formac's Permedia3 chip card
• TurboMax owner reports no problems burning CDRs
• Reader Request on QT4/MP2 playback help
• Initio Miles Firmware 1.10 update
• TrueX/Plextor CDR issue
• IBM 37GB drive due this fall for $420
• Rate Your G3 Upgrade database updated
• Other Net News

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).