Although it's not hard to add a 2nd drive to the new Macs, I've gotten many mails from readers asking for an illustrated guide. The article is linked on the Systems (G3 and G4 macs section) and IDE articles pages for future reference, as well as in the FAQ.

He also said the Mac SBLive project is moving along well and is now in the Beta stage. As noted here previously, the Mac SBLive is tentatively set to be available before MacWorld January, possibly well before that.
[Update - for owner comments on the shipping version of the Mac Soundblaster Live, see this article.]

" Hi Mike,
I've updated the firmware last Friday and noticed two things: Booting seems to be slower than with V3.0.8 but now my system replays MP3 files from disk without interrupts!
My system: PowerMac 8500/200, MacOS 9.0.4, Acard ATA/66
Rene Trost"

[Update - Rene later wrote that the 3.10 update was not the reason for the better playback, saying removing the L2 cache dimm during tests of a G3 upgrade was the reason. Reinstalling the cache dimm and original 604 card resulted in the same audio dropouts.] Right after posting this another reader noted the 3.10 update didn't help this problem on his 7500 with a G3 CPU upgrade:

" I also updated to v3.10 over the weekend. I am using the Sonnet Tempo with a Seagate Barracuda 30 gig ATA in a Powermac 7500 with a Powerlogix G3 400 upgrade card. I have not noticed any problems yet, other than the sound problem that I have always had since adding the ATA card and new drive. The problem is that the sound coming from data stored on the ATA card breaks up, as if there is a timing problem. If I copy the same file, say a mp3 quicktime file to the internal SCSI drive, the sound is just fine. I have not contacted Sonnet about this yet as I was waiting to see if others have had this problem. Other than that, I am satisfied with the new setup.
Mike "

Not all older Mac owners with PCI IDE cards have this issue, but based on overall feedback, most do. It was first noted as an issue in the spring 1999 review of the Turbomax ATA/33 card. Audio playback from the onboard SCSI drive doesn't have the problem, however it's also common on playback from PCI SCSI card connected drives in older Macs - but the fix for that issue as noted here many times (and in the Audio and PCI SCSI card sections of the FAQ) is to reduce the SCSI card clock rate. (This is not an option for PCI IDE controllers however.)
[Update: - See the IDE PCI Controllers section of the FAQ for an Acard utility to fix this issue with Acard and Sonnet Temp ATA/66 cards that was released in Oct. 2001.]

" Mike,
I noticed that Acard has posted a 3.10 firmware update for their ATA/IDE card. I would recommend that users not use this firmware revision since I had a trouble getting a Maxtor 30GB drive to operate properly when this firmware was installed on a Sonnet Tempo card. Using 3.0.8 firmware was fine.

Luckily I had downloaded the 3.0.8 firmware from acard's site before they posted the 3.10 firmware, otherwise I would have never been able to downgrade the firmware. They have removed the 3.0.8 firmware dowmload link from their website.

My experience was so bad with the 3.10 firmware, I had to attach the Maxtor to a PC and reformat it, since my S900 would not complete a bootup process to the Finder with the drive attached to the Sonnet card. The machine would hang just before loading the Finder even with extensions disabled. I was booting off a SCSI drive. I was able to repeat this problem with both Apple's drivers and Hard Disk Speedtools 3.1.1. The only solution for me was to use the 3.0.8 firmware.
Joe"

" Mike
halleluiah! I figured out the problem with the xclaim vr 128 and the OEM Radeon. It's just another problem with the apple guide extension. It has to load BEFORE any ati extensions. Most xclaim vr users have it load after so they donĚt end up with an ex through the desktop video extension, but the only wah to get the video player working is to have the apple guide load first and have the desktop video not function.

Hope this saves somebody the 8 hours I spent on it.
peet "

Extension loading order tips and conflicts for the VR128 card has been noted on the VR128 Feedback page here since Nov. 1999. One owner noted that making the desktop video extension load last helped, while others suggested different tips. I'm not sure if the first reader to report a VR128/BTO Radeon Mix problem in Thursday's news had also reordered extension loading or not.

ATI 3D Accelerator - 5.0.1
ATI Extension - 2.7
ATI Graphics Accelerator - 5.1.9f2
ATI Guide - 2.3.2
ATI Offscreen Mem Manager - 2.0.7
ATI Radeon 3D Accelerator - 6.1.3
ATI Resource Manager - 2.7.3
ATI Video Accelerator - 4.6.5

I've not compared these to my G4/500's extensions to see how many are later versions. OS 9.1 (or whatever it will be called on final release) should also have the final version of OpenGL 1.2 (which adds hardware lighting support for the Radeon graphics cards I hear).

" Hi Mike!
Recently purchased a cube for my partner and have had the frustrating experience of the random shutdowns, sleeps and restarts.. After reading the checklists from Apple - checking for loose cables and ensuring a level surface... I had read the report from your site regarding the issue of ensuring the torque screws were tightened, and they were. I was hoping they weren't!

The setup is a 450Mhz uP, 196Mb ram (2-2-2) the stock WD 20Gb drive and a PC vga monitor (cant afford the flat panel). I thought about the issue being a fault with the cubes onboard power regulator thinking that the DVI displays using power off the machine could possibly cause power drains or surges under weird conditions, but this setup is not doing that, the monitor I'm using is self powered from its own mains plug, non the less I did follow the Apple recommendation and reseat the power regulator. I wasn't surprised tho to find that it was comfortably in place to start with. After reseating it, the problem still persists. My partner points out that the random sleeps and shutdowns happen without fail after constant use of the rom drive (ie installing heaps of apps or retrieving large files off cds..) Now that much I could imagine definitely being a power supply fault *IF* we had a cube powered monitor (especially the 17" crt)..

Another interesting point I found was that at home the random restarts were relatively random after CDrom usage after 15Minutes or so. Add to that, after shutting the machine down and having it unplugged for 5 mins and restarting it, it would crash on average every 15 minutes there after. We brought the cube into my work office which happens to be air conditioned. After powering the machine up it would shut down within minutes AND without using the rom drive at all. The difference between my office and at home was that my office was air conditioned / dehumidified to 18 degrees C.

From that clue I figured it may be the actual touch switch that's faulty.. Being a capacitance switch it can detect stray em fields which could pass for a "human touch," and such fields are more prominent under dry conditions.

I opened up the cube core and began tweaking with the power switch section. I lifted the metal frame that holds the touch switch and lifted the frame up as much as it could bend - in the attempt to raise it closer to its seat in the outer shell. It raised about 5mm after lifting it, but settled to about 2-3mm above its normal height after I released it.

I replaced the core back into its casing and restarted it. So far, for the past week and a bit, it has behaved as it should, no random shut downs or sleeps. I have also had it in my office this afternoon for 5 hours under the same conditions as I mentioned earlier, and it has functioned correctly during that time.

At this stage I thought it would be prudent to let you know about this experience!

On a side note, my partner had pointed out a crash from waking up the cube from sleep. The finder would always quit with the mouse pointer disappearing, so nothing could be clicked. Even moving to a "virtual" almost top left corner to activate the apple menu failed - the mouse was just gone.. Playing with the energy saver control panel to disable shut down screen/hdd after x minutes had corrected that problem. ALSO, with the energy saver options enabled, I had toyed with the extensions to take a stab at seeing if there was a conflict, and I had noted that with two ATI extensions turned on (either two) the machine would crash from waking up. Disabling either of them (or both of them) would wake the machine up flawlessly. However, with either extension disabled, there was no video acceleration, so it was a catch 22 to have them turned off..

Anyway, I hope that helps some issues with other Cube owners. We both would like to say that it is a beautiful machine and (now) a pleasure to work with, and that you have managed a useful AND comprehensive website for a long long time. Thank you!
Kind regards,
A.Prasad and B.Dickins"

For other Cube related articles - see the Systems page Cube section.

Tape Drives:
• SCSI Quantum(Compaq labeled) DLT2000 10/20GB w/B&W G3 (using 2940UW SCSI card)
• SCSI Compaq 15/30 GB DLT w/Dual G4 (using ATTO SCSI card)
  (drive listed under "other" brand)
  
  Combo DVD-ROM + CDRW Drives:
• IDE Toshiba SDR 1002 in G4/PCI
  (noted some kid's CD titles didn't run but did under VPC. Assuming they were dual platform CD titles)
  
  CDRW Drives:
• USB HP 8200 with G4/AGP (Problems noted)
• Firewire Sony CRX1600L2 (12x/8x/32x) w/Dual G4
  
  Hard Drives:
• IBM 75GXP 30GB in B&W G3 rev 1
  (notes some PShop hangs, swap file set to SCSI drive)
• Maxtor DiamondMax 80 in B&W G3 rev 2
• Maxtor Firewire 40 GB w/B&W G3 rev 1
• Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 20 GB in B&W G3 rev 1 (running OS X)
• Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 45GB in Beige G3
• Quantum IDE LB20A011 20GB in Dual G4
• Toshiba 12GB in iBook

You can find these full reports by searching the database with the drive/brand/mac models listed above selected (the latest reports are shown first in searches).
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.

• Formac G3/450 in Beige G3 (rated 9)
• Formac G3/450 in Beige G3 (rated 10)
• Newer Tech G3/466 in iMac Revision B (rated 9)
• Powerlogix G3/500 in iMac Revision B (rated 10)
• Powerlogix G3/366 in 7600/120 (rated 10)
• Sonnet G3/300 in 6400/180 (rated 10)
• XLR8 CarrierZIF G3/466 (MAChcarrier) in 7600/120 (rated 10)
  
  
• Beige G3/266 with G3/366 module
  (entered under "Apple" brand)

You can find these 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 of over 4,700 entries from most every upgradable Mac model *before* you buy. (Searchable by mac model/upgrade brand)

Software Updates:

• Extensis PhotoTools v3.0.6
• Quickmail Office 2.1
• Dave v2.5p6
• 4D Plug-In SDK v6.7
• Hello wURLd v3.0b
• Graphic Converter 4.0 (PowerPC version) (direct download link)
• BTV View 4.1.1 (shareware video display and capture software)

Apple TILs: (and long list today)
• Mac OS: Rebuilding Desktop File and Icon Recovery
• Troubleshooting Handbook: Performing a Clean Installation
• iMac (Slot Loading): How to Manually Eject a CD-ROM Disc
• QuickTime: Frequently Asked Questions
• Troubleshooting Handbook: Problems Starting Up: Solutions - Part 3
• iMac (Summer 2000) : Error 301 When Opening Apple DVD Player
• Apple/GV 56K Modem Updater Read Me
• iMac: How Printers Show Up In Chooser With USB Adapter
• CD-ROM: "This disk is unreadable" Message
• AirPort Base Station: DHCP Client ID Support
• PowerBook (Bronze keyboard and FireWire): Using the Multi-function Keyboard Macintosh PowerBook Manuals
• Macintosh: Using DVD-RAM Discs
• Macintosh: How to Use FireWire Target Disk Mode
• Printer Troubleshooting: Printer Does Not Appear In Chooser
• Mac OS: Troubleshooting Startup Issues
• Sherlock: Find By Content Indexing Issues
• Power Mac G4 (Gigabit Ethernet): Installing Memory
• Power Mac G4 (Gigabit Ethernet): Technical Specifications
• iMac: Downgrading Mac OS ROM Can Cause Start Up Failure
• Disk Copy: Using with USB Drives
• iMac: How to Resolve Intermittent Pause During Usage
• AirPort: Compatibility With Older Macintosh Products
• Power Mac G4 (AGP) & Servers: Unreadable Text in Certain Control Panels and Contextual Menus
• Power Mac G4: Using Apple System Profiler to Identify Video Card
• QuickTime 4: Web Install Issues
• Mac OS X Public Beta: Some Classic Applications Require Installation of System Folder Components
• Mac OS 8.5: Crashing With IXMicro Card
• iDisk: Using With Firewalls
• Macintosh: Reducing Startup Time
• FAXstf: "Set To Answer" Conflict With America Online
• AirPort Base Station: Troubleshooting a Dial-up Connection
• iMac (All Models): How To Differentiate Between Models
• USB Enabled Macintosh: Troubleshooting Sleep Issues
• Using AirPort Wireless Communication Internationally
• Mac OS X Public Beta: Brightness Buttons Do Not Respond