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Top stories of March 7th, 2002: |
| Dual Display Tests with the Radeon 8500 |
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I've just completed some Quake3 and Appleworks scrolling tests with a 2nd monitor attached to the Radeon 8500 in a Dual G4/533. I've created graphs of the results and will have them added to the previous article by tomorrow morning. [The article was updated Friday morning.] Adding a 2nd VGA LCD display (15"1024x768) while running a 1600x1200 CRT appears to have literally no effect on performance. (But I'll be testing with a higher resolution 2nd display later.) The DVI-I to VGA adapter ATI sent (that will be included in the retail box) allowed connecting a 2nd VGA display to the card. When two displays are connected, each shows a 32MB frame buffer in the ATI profiler. Some readers wondered if this would affecte Quake3 performance, but the results in the DP533 shows less than 2 FPS drop at 1600x1200 with HQ settings with both displays connected. (The 2nd display is turned off when Quake3 is running and back on when you exit the game.)
I've also run Maya PLE edition with the Radeon 8500. Performance was good and image quality looked very good. However the huge watermark in every window and preview makes using it for comparisons less than ideal. (I now understand why so many readers complained about the watermark size in the PLE version...)
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| Nvidia OS 9 Driver Update (v2.6) Available |
| (Update - A reader later sent a link to the Download/Info page for those that would rather download it instead of using Software Updates.)
"Software update came up with a Nvidia
Driver 1.0 Update in OS9.x... Supposed fixes issues with RTMatrox didn't get
a good read on the note and haven't seen it posted in the download section
of Apple Support. It updated all NVidia Drivers to 2.6
Terry Hudson"
As noted in my GeForce4MX vs Radeon 7500 review, the latest 1Ghz Dual G4s shipped with driver version 2.5. If any nvidia card owners can comment on any improvements (performance, compatibility, etc.) let me know. (Include your card and system details in reports.)
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| More Comments on Virtual PC 5.02 Update with OS X |
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Yesterday's news had a note/link to the Virtual PC 5.02 update with reader saying he saw improved performance in OS X. (Important - before running the updater, if you have any "Saved State" sessions, run them and shut them down.) Here's some other reader comments on the update:
A reader with a "saved state" VPC session updated with 5.02 without shuttingn down the
saved state first and after the update VPC 5.02 reports it's corrupted. He later wrote:
"
OK I am an idiot!
Here is what happened: I skimmed the read me file and thought that it said
to shut down VPC before installing - well duh, who wouldn't shut down an app
before installing a updater to it?! However, that is not what it said.
Instead, and this is very important, SHUT DOWN YOUR VIRTUAL PC STATES! They
cannot just be saved with VPC shut down, you must shut all states down and
then VPC itself.
To my credit Connectix could have made a bigger deal about this in the read
me file. They could also have mentioned what would happen if you do not shut
down states.
So for those as foolish as I who had saved states and ran the updater here
is the solution to getting your states back: uninstall VPC using the
un-install option of the installer on the CDROM (don't worry it won't delete
your states); reinstalled VPC 5, your saved states will work again; shut
down all saved states and then VPC; run the updater. All should be fine.
Mark.
"
I think there should be a bold warning as the top line in the installer readme/info panel
and the readme file about shutting down saved states before running the updater.
Another reader wrote:
"
Virtual PC Update fixes Windows CE Ver. 3.11 ActiveSync with Compaq IPAQ
Hello,
Not tried this with anything but my ipaq yet, but here's my specs.
Powerbook G3/400 - Pismo, 384MB RAM
, 20GB HDD
, MACOS X 10.1.3
, Virtual PC 5 with 5.02 updater (released yesterday),
Windows 98SE under VPC
IPAQ USB Charge -N- Sync cable
Compaq IPAQ 3635 16ROM/32RAM
Have never been able to sync my IPAQ before, having hear VPC 502 update
fixed LOTS of stuff, I figured I'd give it a shot. I went to computer
settings and under usb, as I plugged in the IPAQ, boom! my IPAQ showed up.
Shortly after that it detected my ipaq in windows, and then installed Active
Sync again, works perfectly. Installed a CE Cab and an application that
had to install in windows to be installed on CE. I'm thrilled!
Hope everyone else that has a ce device has as much luck with this as I did.
Walt J
"
Another reader wrote:
"
Having seen the article on your site regarding the new VPC 5.0.2 update, I
immediately rushed to the Connectix site, downloaded it, and installed it
(including applying the new 8032 additions).
It works fine in MacOS 9.2.2 on my PowerBook G3 500MHz in both Windows 98
and Windows 2000Pro. It even fixes the conflict that existed in 5.0 and
5.0.1 with Joliet Access.
I then moved on to try it under MacOS 10.1.3 on the same computer.
Unfortunately I seem to have found a huge bug in VPC 5.0.2 under MacOS
10.1.3.
Even though I am using exactly the same VPC 5.0.2 application folder,
preference folder and disk images under both MacOS 9.2.2 and 10.1.3
networking does not work under 10.1.3 (and does work under 9.2.2).
I have Virtual Switch enabled for both Windows 98 and Windows 2000Pro and
set to use the default interface. This works perfectly under 9.2.2 but under
10.1.3 the Windows systems (using DHCP) fails to obtain a TCP/IP address and
therefore cannot do any networking. My recollection is that this did work
under VPC 5.0.1. Note: MacOS 10.1.3 itself does not have any networking
problems (i.e. Ping and web-browsing work fine).
Does anyone else see the same problem?
John L.
"
Another reader said he was able to surf/download using IE after the update. I asked if John had read the info in the VPC 5.02 vital info and suggested contacting Connectix tech support.
Another reader commented:
"
Hi Mike,
Have you noticed all the zombie process that VPC leaves while it's running.
They are all chmod and chown. The longer it runs the more it spawns.
Mark
[I asked if he had any network issues after the update]
I don't do any networking from the windows side although Explorer worked
fine and I was able to download stuff from the net.
"
I installed the update but have not run it yet (working util 5am last night on other things.)
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| HP Recalls Power Cords for Some 800,900, Photosmart 1000/1100/1200/1300 Series Printers |
Since it's a potential safety issue and many readers have HP printers I thought I'd mention that Cnet has a story today on HP recalls hazardous printer cords made by Longwell for the certain HP printers, due to a potential for a connector breaking that could expose electrical contacts, posing a shock hazard
to consumers. The affected gray power cords were sold with HP Deskjet 800 and 900 series and HP Photosmart 1000/1100/1200/1300 series inkjet printers. "Longwell" is molded into the cord's plug
according to the cnet article. Owners matching this criteria are advised to immediately stop
using the printers and to contact HP for a free replacement cord. According to the cnet article, the affected printers were sold between April 2001 - Feb. 2002 at Best Buy, CompUSA, Costco, Office Depot, OfficeMax, Staples and Wal-Mart. (I bought my HP950 all-in-one machine at Sam's Club December 2001 - it has a black power cord. An HP contact told me the AIO series is not affected, He said they are making a proactive recall of the affected cords, even though there have been no actual reports of injury to date.)
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| More GeForce4MX 'Flashing Video" Reports: |
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I'm too far behind in emails to have read all emails, but more owners have reported the issue of video flashing that was noted last week here in a long page of reports/links on the issue. (Some also saw corrupted screens.) Not every GF4MX owner reported this problem, but many did. Here's one of the most recent owner comments on the issue - this time noting he saw it in the game Black and White:
"
Hi Mike-
Yet another 1GHz DP/ geforce4mx white flash report. I've got a CTX 17" crt
monitor, and I have noticed a very few white flashes. That is, until I got
the game black & white. During the game (which is great), I notice these
flashes all the time. They're infrequent enough during regular system use
that I can't tell if the game is buggy, or the card just acts this way when
under heavy usage. They do seem more frequent the longer the game is played.
Thanks for the site!
-Jay S.
"
I'll add Jay's report to the page as soon as I can. As I noted in my GeForce4MX vs Radeon 7500 review, I did not see the problem in that sample system.
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| Installing Quake3 Rally (Car racing mod/conversion) for Quake 3 |
In case any other readers are new to Quake3 mods (I had several mails about yesterday's news note on Quake3 Rally) - all you need to do with Quake3 Rally is to unzip the download and drag the folder to your Quake3 directory. Then run Quake3 and Rally will show up as an option in the "Mods" menu listing in the game. (I know this is a basic question answered in the readme files of mods usually, but after getting mail asking about it I hoped a news post would make that clear to anyone else that may be new to Quake3/mods.)
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| CPU Upgrades Owner Reports Database Updated: |
| The Rate Your CPU Upgrade database has been updated with 3 new reports. (Total to date: 6,832). [Entries made today are posted the next newsday morning.]
- Powerlogix Bluechip G4/500 in PowerBook G3 Wallstreet2 (rated 9)
- XLR8 G4/500 in B&W G3 (rated 9)
- G4/450 Cube OC report
(Warning - Overclocking may not be reliable and could lead to hardware failure or corrupted data.) You can find the full reports by searching the database selecting the indicated Mac model and upgrade card brand/type. If you've upgraded the CPU on your Mac, please post an entry in the database. Search the database for entries from most every upgradable Mac model *before* you buy. (Searchable by mac model/upgrade brand). For detailed reviews with performance tests and install tips, see the CPU Upgrades page.)
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| CDRW/CD/DVD/Hard Drive /Cardreader Compatibility Database Updates |
| The Drive Compatibility searchable database had 17 new reports added today. [entries today will be added the following newsday.] The database includes reports on Combo DVD-CDRW, CDROMs, DVD-ROM, DVD-RAM, DVD-R, CDRW, Hard Drives and Removables (tape drive, ORB, ZIP, MO drives, CF/Smartmedia readers, etc.) in all interface types (IDE, IDE RAID cards, Firewire, SCSI, adapters). Current total 6,759 reports. Here's an itemized summary of today's additions:
SmartMedia CardReader Reports:
- USB SanDisk SSDR-55-01 used w/G4 AGP (OS X)
DVD ROM Drive Reports:
- IDE Hitachi GD 7500 (12X/40X) in B&W G3 (OS X)
- IDE Lite-On LTD-163 (16x/48x) in G4/AGP (OS X)
IDE CDRW Drive Reports
- LG GCE-8240BN 24x/10x/40x in Beige G3 (OS X server)
(LG listed under "other" brands)
- Sony CRX175E2 24x/10x/40x in B&W G3 (OS 9.2)
Firewire CDRW Drive Reports
- Plextor 40x/12x/40x (in Pyro FW case) used w/PowerBook G4 (OS X)
- Sony CRX1600L 12X8X32X used w/iMac slot loading (OS 9.1)
Firewire Hard Drive Reports
- Que M3 128GB used with iMac G4 (OS X)
(see comment about OS X issues)
- Western Digital 120GB used w/iMac G4 (OS X)
(again problems noted with simul. read/write of files
to the FW drives in OS X 10.1.3)
IDE Hard Drive Reports
- IBM Travelstar 40GN 40GB in PowerBook G4 (OS X)
(see illustrated guide to PowerBook G4 hard drive upgrades)
- IBM Deskstar 60GXP 60GB in G4/AGP 2001 (OS X)
(see Illustrated guide to adding a 2nd HD here)
- Maxtor 740DX 20GB in Beige G3 (OS 9.1)
- Maxtor 740DX 80GB in B&W G3 using IDE PCI Card (OS X)
- Seagate ST330631A 30GB in 6400 (OS 9)
IDE to SCSI Adapted Drive Reports
- Maxtor 540DX 80GB in 8500 (OS 9.1)
(comments include notes on very low xfer rates with the Acard IDE/SCSI ext. adapter kit he previously reviewed here.)
SCSI Hard Drive Reports
- IBM DMVS-18V (10K RPM) 18GB in Beige G3 (OS 9.2)
(problems getting drive to mount on startup)
Removable Media Drive Reports
- SCSI Castlewood ORB 2.2GB w/Beige G3 (OS X)
You can find full owner reports by searching the database by drive/brand/interface/mac models (the latest reports are shown first in searches).
For guides to installing CD/CDRW/DVD drives or Hard drives in many mac models, see the IDE Articles page. The Firewire articles page also has guides on case kits, installing drives, etc.
If you've added a IDE, SCSI, Firewire or USB hard drive, CDRW, tape drive, etc. make sure you add a report to the database. [If you post an updated entry - make sure you use the same name, etc. as you did before so I can find your past entry. Thanks.]
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