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[This is a past news page, the current news page is at www.xlr8yourmac.com/]
Barney Buoy sent today's software updates and other net news lists including a link to a Spectrum Education Poll on which is better for K-12 education, Apple or PCs. When I voted it was Apple 97%, PC 1%, 1% no preference. (Assuming the remaining 1% was fractionally split between the choices)
Despite downloading it twice, the May NAV 5 virus definitions update from Symantec's FTP site generated a -199 error when trying to unstuff the .sea file on the Powerbook here.
= 7:50 PM Update Follows =
Unreal Tournament 413 Update Released:
"An update for Unreal Tournament Mac, version 413, is now available for
download at Westlake Interactive's web site (http://www.westlakeinteractive.com/download0018.html).
The 413 update contains all the fixes from the PC 413 (including adding
HTTP downloads, fixing green player skins, most "invalid actor class"
errors, and several others), as well as some Mac specific changes -
better dedicated server stability, better cached download naming, faster
load times, 32 bit Rave textures, and a few more.
413 is not needed to play on any existing UT servers (PC or Mac),
although a few mods have started requiring 413. If you don't play those
mods, and don't have any trouble with UT Mac, you don't need to update.
Mark Adams"
= 6:15 PM Update Follows =
Airport Base Station 'Full Reset' Tip: Thanks to the many readers that sent tips for my Airport Base Station problem noted earlier today (inability to config. it or read/write settings). I had tried the manual's reset procedure with no luck, but the full reset tip did the trick:
"I had a hell of a time getting mine to work with a 500 MHz Pismo!
You HAVE to hold the reset button down, unplug the power. (still hold the
reset button down) Plug back in, wait for the 3 amber lights to glow until
it turns to one amber light. Let go of reset button. It is now FULLY reset.
Now you should at least see the base station. You may need to see it via a
X-over cable. The address is 192.42.249.13 without the firmware update.
AFTER you update the firmware it's new address goes to 192.42.249.12. I have
mine acting as a bridge on a cable modem with a firewall.
Good luck getting it to work correctly. There is actually a TIL article on
this.
Ryan Hough
Network Admin."
Another reader sent a note on a similar experience to mine, and included the TIL to the
full reset procedure:
"Hi Mike,
I had the same problem with my AirPort Base Station a couple weeks ago, and it took two full firmware resets for it to restore the factory defaults. In case you haven't seen it, there's a TIL article describing the reset process at http://til.info.apple.com/techinfo.nsf/artnum/n58613.
Kevin Poole
Mac Support Specialist"
Hopefully the next revision of the Airport docs supplied with the hardware will have that information. The base station was showing up (and working actually) but the admin util could not retrieve or store settings to the base. (I have not changed the password from the default, DHCP was enabled, tried reconfig via an Ethernet crossover cable to the base, etc.) The same problem occurred again shortly after the full reset, but a 2nd full reset seems to have done the trick. Thanks to all that took the time to write. Much appreciated!
= 5:00 PM Update Follows =
Yamaha RP-U100 Receiver Review: Tiong Chen wrote that Stereo Review has a review of the Yamaha RP-U100 Receiver mentioned earlier today (Mac Beta software for it is now available).
Sony 420GS/Mactell Vision 3D Lite Problems: Looks like the problems with that monitor are not just with G4 system's video cards:
"Mike,
I have a 300mhz beige G3 with MacTell's Vision Lite card, hooked up to a
Sony 420GS monitor. I continue to have problems with the combination.
Over 70% of my cold startups, and 100% of warm reboots, result in the
monitor not properly syncing up to the Mac Tell card. The results...my
Sony monitor flashes black every 15 to 30 seconds.
There are times when the monitor almost comes into true sync, but the top 1/5 of the screen..
around the apple menu bar, appears distorted. I had to discontinue using
the MacTell card because of the black flashes. Do you have any
information on this? When I hook up the monitor to the internal video
on the G3, it usually syncs ok and the picture looks rock solid. Any
ideas?
Brian Pohl"
I could only suggest checking if there is a firmware update to the Vision card perhaps. I can't remember which Formac card that the Mactell Vision Lite is the equivalent of, but the card used the #9 Revolution chip (I reviewed the Mactell Vision (non-lite) back in 1998). I asked if he had tried the tip
mentioned earlier today from G4 system owners using that monitor.
While in Richmond today I saw a few items of possible interest to readers:
- Maxtor 40GB Plus drives for $259.xx at Costco
- TDK VeloCD CDRW drive for $229.xx at Costco
- Best Buy sold out of Sony Firewire 10X CDRWs at $399.xx (list) price.
- DLink 10/100 5 port switch for $89.xx w/lifetime warranty at CompUSA
(I was looking for the SOHO switch but they were out.)
= 6:30 AM Update Follows =
VPC 3.03A WindowsUpdate Problems: Has anyone else had problems with complete system lockups in Virtual PC 3.03A when trying to update Windows 98 at windowsupdate.com? This happened every time (after the 4th time I gave up) with a PowerBook G3 running OS 9.04, 256MB RAM and VPC allocated 103MB. Norton's Disk Doctor and WinDoctor were run after each crash, but repeatedly the entire system would lockup either before or during the downloading of updates. No problems were seen in any other programs or downloading other files from the net within VPC. If anyone else has seen this please contact me.
Fat Folder Fixer & Other Free Utils from Alsoft: A reader wrote this weekend in a panic, reporting that attempting to open a folder with a huge number of files (over 30,000 [!?!]) would result in his Mac failing to display the contents even after waiting for hours (overnight). The fix for the problem was a free utility from Alsoft called Fat Folder Fixer. It's available at their AskAL downloads page. While there I also got a few of their other freebies like the Change Visibility contextual menu plugin.
Alsoft also makes DiskWarrior, the disk repair utility I'd never be without. It has saved my bacon (and data) several times, including the databases on my web server. Once after a server crash, attempting to copy any of the database files resulted in an file IO error. Booting with the DiskWarrior CD and repairing the volume worked like a charm, with not one record lost. The latest version of the DiskWarrior CD includes OS 9.04 system files and is bootable with the latest UMA based Macs (G4, iBook, PB Firewire), as well as older models of course.
Mac Beta Software For Yamaha @PET RP-U100 Receiver: I received this mail from Yamaha:
"Hello Accelerate Your Mac!,
This is Hiroshi Kondo of YAMAHA Corporation Japan. As a long-time
reader for your web site, I am very happy to inform you that our
new audio product supports Macintosh platform. The detail information
is followed below...
Thanks and Best Regards,
Hiroshi Kondo
Yamaha Corp, AVIT Business Group
YAMAHA INTRODUCES THE @PET RP-U100 RECEIVER FOR MACINTOSH
YAMAHA Corporation, AVIT Business Group, introduces the Macintosh
version of control software for the @PET RP-U100 USB receiver. The
software enables a Macintosh user to operate the RP-U100 USB receiver
from Macintosh computer via USB connection.
The RP-U100 is the world's first audio receiver to consider the
computer as an important audio source. Designated @PET RP-U100, the
new Desktop Home Theater Receiver ushers in a new product category by
bringing high quality audio reproduction, surround sound technologies
such as Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro Logic and Yamaha's Digital Sound
Field Processing and traditional audio receiver functions to the
computer via USB connection. The receiver's computer interface is
simple and provided by a USB (Universal Serial Bus) cable which allows
it to bypass the sound card and stream digital audio directly from a
Macintosh computer, as well as support Plug-and-Play and hot plugging.
Rather than being a computer peripheral, the new @PET RP-U100 receiver
works in conjunction with a Macintosh computer to realize the sound
potential of Net-based music, computer games, and other more
traditional audio sources. With Yamaha's new component, a Macintosh
user can listen to music from the Internet with full fidelity and
enjoy games from the Net as well as DVD- and CD-based computer games,
and even movies, in surround via Virtual Dolby Pro Logic, Virtual
Dolby Digital and Yamaha's Near-Field Cinema DSP.
In addition to Virtual Dolby Pro Logic/Virtual Dolby Digital, the @PET
RP-U100 provides six different DSP modes with user adjustable
parameters for Effect, Initial Delay, and Room Size. Based on Yamaha's
sound field sampling over more than a decade, three proprietary DSP
modes enhance Dolby Pro Logic and other full-surround technologies and
include: Movie (to recreate the acoustics of a true movie theater),
Live (which immerses the listener in a rich sea of sound), and Game
(to add immediate impact and greater involvement to game play). Three
additional DSP programs add performance venue realism to music: Hall
(recreates a medium-sized concert hall), Jazz (based on an actually
sampled jazz club in New York), and Church (which provides the
spacious sonic ambiance of a gothic cathedral). All are based on
Yamaha's on-site testing of various venues and they all require just
two speakers to deliver their impressive effect.
The Yamaha @PET RP-U100 is compatible with Macintosh computer built-in
USB ports on Mac OS 9.0.2 or higher. The USB driver version 1.4 or
higher, which is installed by Mac OS 9.0.2 or higher, supports to
connect the RP-U100 without other custom drivers.
It carries a suggested retail price of $499.
The beta version of Macintosh version control software can be
downloaded at the following URL from today and the final version will
be followed shortly;
http://www.yamaha.com/yec/products/newprods/PChometheater/index.htm
Currently available RP-U100 in the marketplace can be used with a
Macintosh computer with this control software."
Apple G4/Sony CPD-420GS Monitor Tip: A reader sent a note with a fix for
the problems many owners of this combo are reporting:
"
I might have a way around this until Apple, or somebody please, fixes maybe the Mac OS ROM on the new G4.
Mine is the G4 (AGP Graphics) with the Sony CPD-420GS. Same thing happened: 2.+ minutes black screen but normal loading time after startup. Recognized as an VGA monitor with the unlikely 120 hz at 1024x768. And I looked ridiculous trying to zap the PRAM. I tried to describe this to the Sony tech-support person but he said he had been getting the same reports from others and there's nothing Sony can do about it and to check with Apple. Otherwise it is normal.
Frustrated, I hooked the old monitor (Sony Multiscan 17sfII) back up and it started normally as it did before. Then I hooked up the CPD-420GS again and started up pretending that I didn't really care what was going to happen. But this time, instead of turning the MONITOR on F I R S T as instructed by Sony manual, I accidentally turned the G4 on first then upon realizing what I've done I immediately turned on the monitor.
It began loading in 5 SECONDS. And the computer recognized it as the CPD-420GS, with normal preset rates.
I have duplicated this procedure one more time:
turn the computer off and the monitor off, wait a minute, then start up WITH THE MONITOR TURNED ON BEFORE THE G4: 2.+ MINUTES. A VGA with 120 hz 1024x768
turn the computer off and the monitor off, wait a minute, then start up WITH THE G4 TURNED ON FIRST THEN QUICKLY TURN THE MONITOR ON: 5 SECONDS start up and recognized as CPD-420GS. NORMAL.
Please try this. It's completely safe.
brownHAt
. . .
We've tested this here and can vouch for this information.
Eric Peacock
Weber Marketing Group"
More HDT 4.0 Feedback: The latest reader comments on Hard Disk Toolkit v4.0:
"Mike,
Just wanted to give you my results with HDT 4.0
I bought HDT 4.0 for full compatibility with OS 9. (running 9.0.4 on my
Blue G3 450). I downloaded the HDT 4.0 installer after paying for the
upgrade from 3.0. Install went fine, but when I tried to update the driver
on a drive that was previously formatted with Intech SpeedTools 2.7, the
update completed, but then HDT quit and the Finder went into an endless
loop. I had to hard restart my machine. I did this with extensions on (I
know, not recommended when working on drives with a formatter), so I then
tried with extensions off. Luckily, the drive's data wasn't seemingly
damaged. (I didn't get the Eject/Initialize dialog upon restart like I
thought I might).
I then tried to update another drive yesterday that was previously formatted
with Speedtools 2.7. I did this with extensions off, and the update driver
completed, but I couldn't dismiss the confirmation dialog with either the
keyboard or mouse. I had to force quit HDT. Again, the driver seemed to be
updated successfully (as evidenced by Get Info in the Finder), but I'm still
a little concerned.
I also have problems saving comments after bench testing a drive. When I
enter comments and go to either click the ok button or hit return/enter on
the keyboard, the text I just typed gets highlighted and the dialog won't go
away. To dismiss the dialog, I have to delete the text, and that usually
(note USUALLY) does it. Sometimes I have to hit return/enter ESC, and the
mouse button in rapid succession/combination until if finally dismisses.
I've called HDT on some of these issues but they've basically just taken the
info down and said they'd forward it to engineering. In other words, they
hadn't heard about this, but since the product is so new, I wouldn't expect
them to.
I have two of these systems (one at work, one at home) and HDT 4.0 seems to
have the same quirks on both machines. Given this, I can confidently rule
out the possibility of it being just one machine.
In conclusion, HDT 4.0 seems quite buggy, and this concerns me greatly,
since a disk driver is most critical to the operation of a drive and the
data stored on it. I hope they address these issues soon and release a
patch...that actually works.
Steve Scipioni
Macintosh Support Specialist
IT Department
New York Times Magazine Group
"
Another reader reported a balloon help bug still seems to be present:
"Mike,
In HDT 3.0 and 4.0 Balloon help in FWB Configure doesn't work properly. When you turn balloon help on, and put the cursor over certain items in the
various mode page editing screens, the balloon help will return values not
equal to what you are putting the cursor over.
Start FWB Configure
Select a SCSI drive
Click Control
Edit the mode pages
Turn on Balloon Help
Select a mode page to configure. E.g. Quantum Drive Control
Make sure balloon help is on, and put the mouse cursor over an item
It will show a balloon, but not the right one for the item.
Timothy Sheehan
Sr. Analyst
Warner Bros. Television Production
"
Airport Base Station: Can't Retrieve Config. Settings (Solved) [Thanks to the many readers that sent tips. The undocumented complete reset did the trick (the standard reset procedure did not work as I noted in the post, but the 'full reset' tip solved the problem.] After configuring the Airport Base Station once and getting it up and running (networking works), attempts to change the configuration again results in constant errors that the settings cannot be retrieved from the base. I did not change the password from the default and resetting the base station (resets the password) does not help. Accessing the base from an airport card using Airport Setup Assistant or direct (via Ethernet crossover cable) using the Admin utility both report the same problem. I'm assuming this is some sort of hardware issue but remember a reader commenting on a similar problem that was fixed by a long call with Apple support on how to fully reset the base. Using the standard reset button does not help. If anyone has any tips for this problem, please contact me.
Sonnet Lowers Prices: Sonnet today announced lower prices on some of its CPU upgrades.
Crescendo G3/PCI 266/512K $179.95 (was $199.95)
Crescendo G3/PCI 300/512K $199.95 (was $249.95)
Crescendo G3/PCI 333/512K $249.95 (was $299.95)
Crescendo G3/PCI 350/1M $299.95 (was $349.95)
Adaptec 2940UW v4.1 Firmware & Mac Clones Warning: I know there's no reason to use v4.x firmware with any Mac before the B&W G3 models, but I saw the following warning on Adaptec's 2940UW drivers page:
"Latest Driver Software
WARNING! DO NOT USE this updater if you are using a Macintosh Clone computer. Instead, continue using the 3.0 version of the firmware (2940UW Flash Utility 3.0), until further notice. We are investigating several potential incompatibilities between the new open firmware driver and certain Macintosh clone systems.
"
Just a FYI in case as some may download the firmware update from a software updates site or web page link that does not have the warning. (The warning may be in the latest readme file, but in my experience few users read these docs.)
QT DK Website: There's a new Quicktime specific site at http://www.qt.dk/. Site features include
daily user based news area, a message board and a theme section.
New Mac Unreal Tournament Site: MacUTosh is a new web site for Mac Unreal Tournament fans. They also have some customization tips and tweaks for the game.
Gamecenter.com has their E3 Top 5 Games prediction which includes Deus Ex and Halo; both titles that are coming to the Mac.
Sponsor Bottom Line sent their latest list of weekly specials good until 5/5/2000 or while supplies last.
The searchable Rate Your CPU Upgrade (3,744 entries to date) and Mac Game/Video Card FPS Performance (1,498 entries) databases were updated with new entries early this morning.
Software Updates/Other Net News:
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.
Friday's News Summary
- iMovie Download Installer Notes
- Download iMovie Free
- PowerBook Firewire Overclocking Page
- Reminder on Turbomax Firmware Update Benefits
- Raves for Prosoft's Radialogic Drivers
- ORB Tools v.1.42b1 Update
- Portable Firewire Drive Reviews
- Feedback on Pulsar Audio Card PCI Errors
- Macsense UKB-600 extended keyboards available
- Mac Fly! 2K due today according to EBworld
- OWC's latest weekly specials
- Rate Your CPU Upgrade and Mac Game Framerates databases updated.
- Software Updates Listing
- Other Net News
Thursday's News Summary
- Virtual Game Station v1.4 Update
- Virtual PC 3.03A Updater Posted
- OWC Zforce/ZIF bundle sale
- MS Office VB Extension Freeze
- IntelliMouse Setup for Unreal Tournament
- PowerBook 1400/Sonnet G3 Upgrade report
- More VPC 3.03 Feedback
- Audio Extraction w/SimpleText
- Uswest DSL user on QT 4.12 and Streaming Media
- Reader Request: Help w/Pulsar Audio Card Errors
- SIIG Firewire PCI Card Report
- Voodoo5 6000 Pics
- Opera Browser for Macs in development
- Rate Your CPU Upgrade, Mac Game Ratings and Mac Game Framerates databases updated.
- Software Updates Listing
- Other Net News
Wednesday's News Summary
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 3,700+ reports and growing.
Make a Difference: Be the Difference
Randy Mita, Brad Lau and I came up with a new slogan and theme for Mac advocacy - "Make a Difference: Be the Difference". We're asking that all Mac owners take advantage of every opportunity to let others know the Mac advantage. It's a grass-roots approach that will surely help. You might save someone from a lifetime of Windows in the bargain.
Thanks to my wife Kay, the ultimate computer widow
for putting up with all the time I spend with the site work, tests and email.= Top of Page =
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Answers!