Speaking of mobile, I'm working on the Pismo G3/500 review using battery power. So far almost 4 hours of use even with the screen brightness at the mid-point. Impressive.

Bottom Line sent their latest list of weekly specials covering CDRs, drives, RAM and more.

Barney Buoy sent a long list of updates to the Net News/Software Updates/TIL Updates section with several interesting additions.

OWC's latest list of specials includes 12.1gb Toshiba PB/iBook hard drives for $255. Also included are Firewire HDs and CDRs, SCSI cards, RAM and even Quake 3 and Unreal Tournament (each under $35).

450MHz G4s must finally be reaching 3rd party upgrade companies as XLR8 just sent a MAChCarrier G4/450 card for review. Previously only Apple was getting 450MHz G4 chips.

The Pismo Comments page has an update with more Adaptec SlimSCSI comments, which notes a compatibility issue with the current Pismos that is said to be solved by OS 9.0.4. Below the update is an earlier reader's comments that the card worked with a CDR and hard drive.

New Beta Villagetronic Banshee/Voodoo3 drivers: Chuck wrote that their FTP betatest directory has new drivers (dated today) for Glide, Rave and OpenGL. These are for their Banshee chip and Vodooo3 cards only (MP750/850 and MP960 series I assume).

Yamaha 8X SCSI CDR Reports Page: I've posted a long page with dozens of owner reports on the drive. Success stories are in blue, problem reports in maroon. Despite some claims the drive only works with SCSI3 (UltraSCSI), there were many owners reporting no problems using onboard/external SCSI (which is 5MB/10MB sec, not UltraSCSI). Like many upgrades, there are often conflicting reports even with similar systems.

Tip for L2G3 Upgrades/Audio Problems:

"Mike,
...one thing you might want to recommend to your readers who run an L2G3 card and have choppy sound is to either turn off VM (helps a bit, but not perfect) or to reduce the sound quality to 22 kHz (solves the problem, at least on my machine). I can't tell the difference between a 22 kHz & 44 kHz signal through the speaker (which is what sound playback usually is, unfortunately) so this is an easy win. I have doubts about the benefits of a 44 kHz signal anyway.

Another thing to watch for with these machines is that graphic acceleration can get turned off in OS 9 (problems with ATI drivers? but of course). It's pretty easy to tell the difference, and I don't have any sure solutions other than shuffling extensions. I load the Sonnet extension early and have the Powerlogix cache utility load before the ATI onslaught. That works for me anyway. Hopefully the new 3dfx cards will work in this machine and I can give my ATI card the heave."

VM off does help with DVD and game audio in general. I used to suggest reducing the audio rate but have heard that audio capture in Premiere and some other apps may be negatively affected by lower than default 44KHz settings. [One reader notes that's a sample rate, which means that playback is 1/2 the sample rate.] Many games default to 11KHz audio, but perhaps this may help. I welcome reports from L2G3/603e Mac owners if these tips help.

More on Low SCSI Write Speeds: Although many report the issue may be related to the 29160/39160 cards (as noted in yesterday's news), one common thread seems to be B&W G3 or G4 systems. Here's the latest reader comments on the issue:

" I too have the problem of slow write speeds on a rev 1 B&W G3. I have 2 9GB IBM 7200 RPM drives stripped using softraid 2.2.1. A jackhammer card (using 1.4.5 control panel) is handling the connection. I used to have this setup connected to a power computing power centre 132 and on this I get equal write and read speeds of about 15MB/s. Move the card over to the G3 and read ups to 17.5 MB/s but the write speed seems to top out at 7MB/s - quite literally a flat line in ATTO's benchmarking tests.

From what I can see this is related to the PCI bus in the B&W G3s. [ Note: I saw the same thing in a Rev 2 B&W G3 and a G4/AGP (Sawtooth) system as noted in the news yesterday-Mike] I have since put the card back into the power computing machine and the read and write speeds return to normal (i.e. the same speeds for read and write).

I have tried using OS8.6 and 9.0, various drivers even using a single drive instead of 2 stripped and I always get this 7MB/s write ceiling on the B&W G3.

It sounds very similar to the report concerning the slow write speeds you posted on the 16th of March.

I wonder if the problem is not that the SCSI cards in question have a conflict with the new PCI bus of the new G3s - hence why a beige G3 does not exhibit the problem.

Hope you get to the bottom of this as I'd love to solve my slow write problem too!
Davide "

[Note: A B&W G3 owner with another brand of SCSI card replied to this post saying he's seen good write performance. This may yet be some issue with the 29160/39160 cards.]

Another reader reports he returned a 39160 due to low write speeds:

"hi
we recently returned a 39160 because the write rates were much slower than with even a single channel atto lvd card. We had two 9 gig IBM ultrastars striped as a raid array. We were capturing uncompressed video through the ICE sdi option and the 39160 was dropping too many frames - however the exact same drives connected to the atto card didn't drop any frames.

i'm planning on examining atto's dual channel ultra160 card soon to see what sort of results we get with it.
regards
steve sloan
dB Film Company"

I've asked Steve what Mac model he's using.

G4 Speaker Noise Tip: (Based on feedback, this may apply to all UMA based Macs)

"Mike
I posted this tip in the G4 Forum ,but thought I would let you know as well. My G4 400 has performed flawlessly since I bought it, but has had an extremely annoying high pitched whine coming from the speakers. Well, Apple support told me to check the Sound Control panel (on the Control Strip) and make sure that built in was set to "None".

Well, that fixed the problem.When you dial, the input automatically resets to "Internal Modem", but the whine does not return when I disconnect( which is exactly what would happen before). I think it is a Sound Preferences issue, as I have installed the latest updates. Just thought you would like to know.
Roy Shiro. "

I asked Roy if he was using the builtin speaker or an external set. Another reader reported the same problem with his iMac DV:

"Noticed on your front page this morning (Fri.) a post about the audio whine on a G4 coming from the Audio Input being set to Internal Modem. I've noticed that my iMac DV has the exact same problem... the input is constantly being reset to Internal Modem, which is very annoying as it creates a large *thump* from my main speakers when I disconnect the modem, and a strange whining sound when I power off the iMac. Setting the sound to another input eliminates that, but the input gets reset when I use the modem. This is very annoying when I want to voice-chat over the internet, as it also makes it difficult to change the input while the modem is in use. It often takes several tries to get the 'External Mic' setting to select from the Control Strip, and it's often simply greyed out in the Sound control panel. I'm hoping Apple fixes this in the next update.
Kevin Harrison"

Pismo & Adaptec SlimSCSI: Although a reader reported the SlimSCSI worked with several devices including a CDR (see the Pismo Comments page), this reader notes claims to the contrary:

"Hey Mike,
I've got a new PB 400 but an old SCSI CDRW and SCSI scanner. I tried using a Microtech USB to SCSI adapter but no luck. I've read on Adaptec's site about their new UltraSlim SCSI 1480 PC-Card adapter but they state that at this time it doesn't work with the new PBs. I was wondering if you know of any available PC-Card/USB adapters are working with the new PBs.
Thanks!
Matt Romberg"

Adaptec has a Mac specific PowerDomain SlimSCSI page and the specs page doesn't note any issues with the new Powerbooks that I could find. I welcome other Pismo owner reports with the SlimSCSI 1480.

The Owner's CPU Upgrade Ratings database was updated with new reader entries last night.

Other Net News/Software Updates/TIL Updates:

News:
• Court Dismisses Microware Systems Suit Against Apple (Apple)
• IBM Researchers Create New "Self-assembling" Magnetic Materials; Could Lead to 100-Fold Increase in Computer Data-Storage Density (Businesswire)
• One Very, Very Small Step for Nanotechnology (Time)
• Adobe alters course on InDesign update (ZD/net)
• Major online credit card theft exposed (ZD/net)
• Why is my cable modem so slow? (ZD/net)
• Apple AirPort (ZD/Net)
• ExtremeUSB to extend cable range to 100 meters (Allusb)
• New Version of Sleeper Now Supports Latest iMacs, G4s (Applelinks)
• Resurgent Apple adds another distributor (News.com)
• Overclocking your B&W G3
• X-Box Video, Impressions (Gamecenter.com)

  Software Updates:

• IomegaWare v2.2.1
• VST Drivers Update
• Sophos Research Anti Virus (Password required)

  TIL Updates:

• Macintosh Server G4: Power Supply Needs Replacement Error Message (FYI: Some supplies will not provide proper regulation if there is insufficent load on that voltage-Mike)
• Final Cut Pro: Deleting the Preferences File
• Macintosh: Support for Older Model Computers
• PowerBook (FireWire): Wakes From Sleep When USB Device is Connected
• Mac OS 9: Temporary Items Not Deleted at Startup
• Mac OS 8.5, 8.6, 9: Icons Clipped When Using Print Window
• Final Cut Pro: Recommended Disk Cache Setting

The recent features page also lists articles posted (most recent first) as does the sidebar links here. The site topics pages (systems, cpu upgrades, etc. - see top and sidebar links on this page) also are places to check as well as the FAQ.

Thursday's News Summary

• OWC 222 256MB Dimm price dropped to $219
• More on 39160 Write Performance
• Yamaha 8X CDR Feedback
• More Pismo/Compactflash reports
• Ultra160 SCSI Adaptec 39160/Quantum Atlas 10K Performance
• Specs on 3Dfx Rampage
• Pismo & CompactFlash PCMCIA Adapters
• Quake3 w/4MB Voodoo1 Card
• Rage128 Mobility Chip Details
• Newer Tech Beta Software/OS 9 Feedback
• Owner's CPU Upgrade Reviews, Mac Game Reviews and Mac Game/Video Card Performance searchable databases updated.
• Other Net News/TILs/Software Updates

Wednesday's News Summary

• Quake3 116N Update
• Pismo & Targus Mobile Mouse
• 3dfx VSA100 Cards - Not Just For Gaming
• Pismo Startup Crashes
• Pismo Battery Life
• Switchres Now Exports to Voodoo3Prefs File
• Razor Boomslang USB Mouse
• MacMagic Voodoo1 and Quake3
• More ORB Firmware Update Comments
• Owner's CPU Upgrade Reviews and Mac Game Reviews searchable databases updated.
• Other Net News/TILs/Software Updates

Tuesday's News Summary

• ORB Firmware Update Feedback
• Pismo/GL Quake 0.51 Fix
• G4 Onboard IDE Tests
• $329 60GB Maxtor IDE drive to Ship in April
• Reminder on RAM handling precautions
• GameRanger adds SOCKS Firewall Proxy Support
• ATI Video Card/Audio Comments
• Owner's CPU Upgrade Reviews and Mac Game Reviews searchable databases updated.
• Other Net News/TILs/Software Updates

For links to older news pages see the Archives page.

The recent features page has a lists reviews/articles you may have missed.

For a guide to finding answers to questions - see my Site Guide page.

Considering a CPU Upgrade? Search the CPU Upgrade Owner's Survey results and search for owner reports by Mac model and/or card brand. The current database has more than 3,300+ reports and growing.