The Mac server that runs the FAQ, CPU Review and Game Review databases is down. I noticed it was not responding about 1AM this morning. It should be back online by 10AM tomorrow morning. [2:30AM Update]

Happy Fathers Day!

More on 10X Ratio G3 CPUs: Michiro Isobe (author of PPC Checker) wrote with a confirmation on the 10X G3 CPUs reported to be available in upgrades very soon.

" Dear Mr. ,
I read this weekend article. IBM has already revealed 10x PPC750 information in the latest data sheet of PPC740/750. www.chips.ibm.com/products/powerpc/chips/7xx_ds.pdf

According to the note #6 of PLL configuration table (in page 33) [Actually page 37 in the file I downloaded-Mike], the code of 2.5x setting (PLL_CFG[0:3]=0110) will be used for 10x setting in rev. 3.0 of PPC740/750.

Although I had read the data sheet in a month ago, I noticed above description quite recently.
Best Regards,
Michiro Isobe "

As explained previously, the 10X ratio will enabled higher CPU speeds for older Macs with lower bus speeds (bus speed times ratio = CPU speed).

Unreal 2.2.4B3 Bart sent a note that Unreal 224b3 is now available at the WestLake web site. More details are on the latest update to the 3D Game News page.

VT MP850/750 Driver Updates Soon?: An anom. beta tester wrote that there are updates coming soon:

" hi mike,
it looks like villagetronic is getting ready to rev the quickdraw 2d accelerator software for the mp850/750 soon. they sent me an internal beta which fixed alot of the qt movie playback issues with movies compressed with some of the sorensen codecs.

also, i got a email from the folks over at intech usa (who make cdrom speedtools) that v 4.0 will support the kenwood 52x truex cdrom in both atapi and scsi.

both vt and intech mentioned release dates next week. "

Intech had also written me about the TrueX support - noting improved audio CD support and a promise of 25% faster speeds (I have a beta copy to test). As I mentioned last week Kenwood told me there is a firmware update coming soon for the TrueX drive as well. See my review and install guide for more info on the IDE TrueX 52x CDROM drive.

I've added VPC/RealPC and OrangeMicro CPU card options to the Rate Your Mac games database. To report emulated (VPC/RealPC) or OrangeMicro scores select that option under the Game title menu and list the specific game title in the comments areas. This might be of interest to those wondering about VPC/RealPC emulated PC gaming. The CPU type now has options for Orange Micro's Pentium/AMD CPU cards (620 and 660). I don't think either of these options come close to the performance needed for most current 3D games however and thankfully Mac gaming is picking up to where they're not really needed. I've also added more game titles to the list as well (Starcraft, Warcraft, Quake3test, Railroad Tycoon II, FutureCOP).

AOL Readers: Apparently AOL does not like the 'auto-subject line' HTML tag I often use in email links. Other mail clients work fine with it and I have to use these to be able to scan/spot mail subjects due to the hundreds of mails I get a day. If you're an AOL user that has had mail bounce - just use the news@xlr8yourmac.com and add your own subject line.

Bare Feats has a page with comparisons of the speed of a ATI Rage Orion with the original (slower clock speed) Rage128 that shipped with the B&W G3. Both cards tested in the 66Mhz slot.

I was out of town all day visiting my father and just arrived back home. I'll have more news updates later tonight or early tomorrow. I've posted about 60 entries in the Rate Your Mac Games database from the first day's entries and added Tomb Raider II to the list of games. If there are any popular titles I've missed, please let me know.

Rate Your Mac Games! I invite readers to post their ratings of Mac Games at the new Rate Your Mac Games survey page. Since how well the game plays and looks often depends on installed Video card type, amount of RAM you have, your Mac model or CPU speed, ect. there are selections there for these values. The game list is not a complete listing of all Mac games (that would be too long) but does cover the most popular games and I can add new ones as they are released. If the reader response is good, this will be a great resource to check before you buy and also a great place to post version specific bugs - so be sure to note your game version (ie Unreal 2.24 beta, etc.)

Warning to B&W G3 Buyers: As I've noted several times in the last week or so, there is a lot of older revision stock in the system. The best way to make sure you get a G3 with all the new features is to actually verifiy this in person at a local dealer. The next best bet is to get a BTO model at the Apple Store. One reader noted in an email to me last night that his model number M7556LL/A had none of the new features, although the one I had with the same model number had all of them. I've also added a picture of the new taller CPU heatsink to the new features page. The serial number on one later rev. I saw was XB92..L6GHZ.

QD3D Layoffs?: I have no idea if this is true, but regular readers know of my past posts on the issue/petition links for continued QD3D support in future OS versions. This reader mail was very disturbing.

" Hi Mike;
I was talking to a propective software customer (University of Michigan - Atmospheric Science Dept) and they just mentioned that the QD3D staff was laid off today. This wasn't unexpected, since Apple has already ignored the Petion to even consider keeping QD3D as a File format and have more-or-less stated that they are only interested in producing a Nintendo-TV Game Station with a infrared link to a Blender so it can make frosty fruity beverages while we play Quake 3 Arena.

The bad news is that they may not be purchasing our software because they want to know NOW what we intend to do about being able to generate 3D texture mapped models that can be distributed to students, researchers and weather people with a simple viewing application (ie SimpleText QD3D viewers etc.). It's hard enough selling Scientific software on the Mac now, but with Apple is kicking the legs out form under you without offering any alternative file formats to replace it with.

We are a bit bitter here, and the fact that Apple's lack of interest in the Scientific market is frankly doing more dammage NOW than it was 3 years ago. This not helping us make a decision on where we spend our development dollars when it comes to porting to MacOS X versus Windows NT/Win2000, nor help us advising clients on where to go from here (ie no - don't bother buying a Mac- go get a WinTel/$60K SGI station cause Apple doesn't do that anymore - sorry..)

Just thought it might interest your readers....
Milton Aupperle "

A confirmation of the PBZone article linked in yesterday's news is noted in MSNBC story on the departure of Apple's former PowerBook manager.

A reader noted that the 10X IBM G3 CPUs mentioned here previously have been tested by some german companies. Last I heard they were due in the US (to appear in upgrades that is) sometime in July. This will really help older Mac owners that have lower bus speeds. With the current 8X ratio, even with a 60Mhz bus the fastest CPU speed possible is 480Mhz, less of course for most Macs as only a few can run 60Mhz bus speeds.

The IXMicro Game Rocket recieved here this week (3dfx Banshee 16MB Card) currently has only Glide (3dfx) drivers for 3D games. A RAVE driver is promised soon with an OpenGL driver to follow later. The MesaQuake driver noted on my Quake3 page reportedly works with the card but IXMicro said that they hope to have better performance with the final OpenGL driver when it is released. I'll be testing it against the Rage128 in both older Macs and in the B&W G3. Note the Game Rocket (like VillageTronic's similar MP850 card) can run in the 66MHz PCI slot of the B&W G3 for about a 10% gain they say.

Mike Maddux (from The MediaPLANT) sent a note that there were only 3 updated extensions (compared to the OpenGL 1.0 release I assume):

• ATI Video Accelerator 1.02 (old version 1.0.1)
• ATI MPP Manager 1.2f1 (old version 1.1.1)
• ATI Graphics Accelerator v3.9.7 (old version 3.8.9)

The Rate Your G3 CPU database has been updated with new reader entries. You can select your Mac model and/or a card brand when you search. Selecting Apple as a card brand (and optionally a specific model like the Beige, B&W or iMac) will show overclocking reports.

I posted a note last week from a reader that mentioned using Drive Setup to mount changed cartridges in the IDE ORB drive.

I read your news update of the Orb not being recognized by the computer when connected as a slave to the True X CD-ROM drive. As I noted to you in an earlier message, I had the same problem with my Sony Spressa CD-R. However, if memory serves me correctly, when I connected the Orb as a slave to the stock CD-ROM, it worked fine.

As for swapping carts, the following is the process that I use and it has been working fine ever since I got my Orb drive.

1. Drag Orb's icon to trash and click OK when the window pops up saying something like the drive will be mounted again when you start the system again.
2. Manually, eject cart and insert new cart.
3. Run Drive Setup to mount newly inserted cart.

Mac Treasure Tracing club sent a note (mass mailing to many sites) about a PowerPC 755 at 450Mhz. This may be the same SOI story that was linked here the other day. They provided a URL to a PDF presentation file [1.5MB] dated 5/17/99 at Motorola with which is an overview of their PowerPC history and later pages refer to a 'BookE' 64Bit CPU and 'HiperMOS' series of lower voltage/copper CPUs. Note that IBM has been shipping 450/466MHz G3s for some time and as reported here, there is a rumor that Motora will not be making >400Mhz versions of the current design G3 CPUs, concentrating on next generation models I assume.

Patrick Maillard sent a reminder that in case anyone missed it in the earlier post, Villagetronic updated the Glide drivers for the MP850/750 card to v1.1 recently. Get them at: ftp://ftp.villagetronic.com/pub/mac/MP850/.

David Linder sent a note my sidebar Yamaha 4416S firmware update link needed updating to show v1.0g which was released on April 22nd and is reported to fix some issues with SCSI cards like the 2940U2W in a B&W ZG3.

A reader replied to yesterday's USB CDR owner problem report making bootable CDs and backups of 'thin' Playstation discs:

" re Playstation disk....Toast cannot copy the disk..Astarte's CD-Copy must be used to create an image of the disk...Usually resulting in one data image, and then one file for each audio track. There may be no audio tracks. Toast will then use the image with a Multitrack CD-ROM XA format specified. and added to the data section. If there are audio files add an audio section to the format and add those files in that section (at this point, both the Mutlitrack CD-ROM XA and Audio options in the Format Menu are checked. This is standard backup procedure and should have nothing to do with USB. "

As noted yesterday I do not encourage copying CDs, and assumed the reader needed to backup a CD that was getting scratched from use (he called it 'thin').

Steve Taylor wrote that he just received BeOS v4.5. I see it is now available at the Be Online Store .

A followup to the post yesterday on Apple handouts at colleges that mentioned Macs being used in the making of MTV's "Real World":

" Hey Mike,
Did you hear about the first episode of the new MTV "Real World" show. The cast enters the house for the first time and the smart guy of the group sees the computer for the house. He says "thank god its an Apple". Yes, the computer was an Apple Laptop!!!! How is that for unpaid Apple advertising beyond paying to have an Apple computer in the house.
Ryan Wolffe "

I'm asking readers to please check the site FAQ, sidebar links (B&W G3 info, G3-ZONE, system/cpucard/video, etc. topics pages, searchable G3 CPU upgrade review database, ATI Rage128 FAQ, etc.) before sending mail with tech support questions. I'm backlogged on product reviews and am getting more than 200 tech support mails a day - impossible to answer them all. Many of the email quesions are already answered here in the in articles at the site or in the FAQ. Please take the time to check those sources before sending questions in mail. Thanks!

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.

Friday's News Summary

• CDW has under $600 PCI Expansion Chassis
• Mactell lowers prices on some G3 CPU upgrades
• OEM Rage128 performance in 9600/350
• New vs Old B&W G3 hard drive brackets
• More IDE ORB Comments
• ZIF Upgrades in a B&W G3
• 3D Game News updated, includes Falcon4/Rage128 tips
• New B&W G3s have taller heatsink fins
• More reader comments on mixed feature B&W G3s
• Tip on how to use Apple's ATI Video Update 1.0 with RagePro PCI Cards
• Rate Your G3 Upgrade database updated
• Other Net News

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

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).