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11/19/98 - Thursday's News:	Click for Current News Page
Lucian Fong sent word that MacCentral has a note that Microconversions will be offering a Voodoo III card for the Mac but no details on when or how much. No info at Microconversions web site either. Personally, I'd focus on filling backorders of the Voodoo 2 cards and consider lowering prices. I've received a lot of mails from upset readers who waited months and still have not gotten their cards due to mfg problems according to Microconversions (solved now I hear). Many readers are also upset over the fact that PC card prices have fell from $299 originally to $149 or less for 12MB Voodoo 2 cards, while the Mac 8MB card is still priced at $299. 3Dfx has obviously lowered chipset pricing several times since last spring, and I think MC needs follow suit to avoid losing sales. After the 16MB VillageTronic 3Dfx Banshee card ships at $299 (due Dec/Jan), I think it will be hard to sell a 8MB Voodoo 2 card for $299. The 3Dfx Banshee provides (VT says) the fastest 2D ever seen on the Mac along with Voodoo 2 class 3Dfx game speed as well. The main benefit of the Voodoo 2 over the Banshee is multitexture rendering in a single pass, which is not used in any Mac games that I know of at the moment [Unreal on the PC has a patch for this with Voodoo 2 cards]. Otherwise Banshee game performance has often exceeded that of a single Voodoo 2 card in PC testing, and I eagerly await the Mac version for comparison. [Note - Microconversions never relased a Voodoo3 card and later went out of business (as 3dfx did also in early 2001). However 3dfx released did release Mac Voodoo2 and Voodoo3 drivers (including rom flasher for the Voodoo3) to allow using PC versions of the cards in macs. See the video articles page and/or my www.mac3dfx.com site for more info/reviews, etc..] Play Incorporated recently announced Amorphium, their new real-time 3D sculpting and painting tool for the Mac and PC. Interactively sculpt and paint shaded 3D models in real-time they say. Amorphium is their first product as a result of their 'marriage' with Electric Image. The interface reminds me of Bryce in many ways. Amorphium is said to be available in December at a SRP of $149.95. More on OS 8.x Memory Leak: " Hi Mike. I wrote in with the initial 8.5 memory leak fix. I saw the two posting today and had a comment. The first poster is right. Unchecking the load only when needed box in tcp/ip will also fix the memory problem. However, you have to restart the computer and every time to boot, your computer will try to connect and then you will have to stay connected to continue getting this benefit. This is the first fix mentioned in the Unofficial Netscape FAQ but I avoid it because I can't stay connected all the time. The second person is noting that quitting the finder will restore memory. I've read this elsewhere too and it is a possible solution. Using disk first aid is a bright idea because it doesn't leave your system unstable (i think). Others have force quit the finder which may leave your computer in an unstable state (although I've never had trouble with it). Best, Jeff " Jeff also sent a link to the Unofficial Netscape FAQ. Leggo Mindstorms: A month or more ago I posted a note on the Leggo Mindstorms (Programmable robot toys for kids) being PC only, calling for Mac owners to write them for support (and also a link to a site that had some Mac programming util, but not as slick as the Leggo PC version). John Huang sent reminder: " It is Lego's Mindstorm (http://www.legomindstorms.com/), a set of legos to build robots. It requires a PC to program the robot and download the instruction set to the robot. On their web site, they acknowledged that they had a lot of request from Mac users and working on it. I would like more Mac users to voice the need to them and maybe at least request them to test their program on VPC and RPC. I sent them a email asking the compatibility with VPC and RPC and haven't got a reply yet. John Huang " Not sure what the interface is to program the robots (PC serial port?) but if you've tried Mindstorms under RealPC or Virtual PC on the Mac please contact me. Andreas Vargas, creator of the excellent 3Dfx Tweaker for the Voodoo 1 cards (see links page) has posted in my new 3Dfx forum that he has no plans for a Voodoo 2 tweaker. " Hi... Since this forum will hopefully get a lot of hits, I'd like to answer a FAQ here: I do not plan to support Voodoo2 in 3DfxTweaker, in the near future, because of two reasons: - I have no Voodoo2, and don't want to buy one - I have NO time (because I'm busy working on a another project) So please don't mail and ask about it ! THANKS ! Cheers, Andreas (hoping that this will ease the burden on my mail inbox... :) " I'm posting this here to also help him (I know what a ball and chain email can be ;-) HardDisk Toolkit 3.0 is shown on FWB's home page but I could find no info there on what the improvements are. Their product page still lists 2.5. Jeff Roach forwarded me a copy of the Upgrade Notification from FWB that lists all the changes. [Thanks Jeff!] It lists some very interesting added features like RAID (prev. avail only in their Raid Toolkit), larger IDE drive support, mode page UNDO and much more. The notification mentions an upgrade price of $44.95. Here's a list of the major new features (quoted from their online ordering form): Create RAID arrays Create high performance Photoshop® scratch partitions New bootable CD supports iMac and G3 Support for Iomega® password protection Improved SCSI Disk Mode support Fully compatible with Mac OS® 8.5, and Themes Supports DOS volumes on removables Compatibility with with all leading SCSI, Fibre Channel, and Ultra SCSI-2 cards FWB Configure supports SCSI-3 and IDE/ATA IDE/ATA support of master and slave devices and drives larger than 8.4GB New improved online User Guide and tab-based user interface Carmine's (MiM) News Feed AppleTIL Updates (Thursday:11/19/98)  Mac OS 8.5: Sending Quick Fax With AppleFax  Mac OS 8.5: Installing ARA Personal Server 3.0  Finding Apple Software Updates Online Disk Copy 6.3.2 (Apple) FWB HardDisk Toolkit 3.0 (FWB.com) Jasper Kalkman sent a note on PowerWindows 2.04/Stuffit 5.0 compatibility: " Hi, There is a possible conflict between PowerWindows 2.04 and Stuffit 5.0. When you have both installed and you click on, try to drag, a window title bar of any Stuffit archive window it closes! It happens both with browers archive and individual archives openend using the applications. Regards, jasper " New Message Board: I've posted the first of many (I hope) new design forums to see how you like it. Check out the 3DFx Hardware/Software Forum. You can set your preferences if you like and it's similar to my original forums (and should be much more responsive). It's brand new with only my first welcome post but I encourage readers to use it immediately for Q&A and comments on all things 3DFx related. Another OS 8.5/Memory Leak Tip: Two readers replied to the memory leak post in yesterday's news: " one of your readers wrote in about a memory leak in 8.5 but i cant help but think that what they are actually experiencing is the dreaded memory fragmentation brought on by telling the tcp/ip control panel to load when needed this has the nasty effect of loading typically right in the middle of a large block of ram rendering it useless to apps like photoshop and after effects which need large contiguous blocks of ram...changing your tcp/ip to load on boot is a much better alternative...for me this is the difference between having 200+ megs to give after effects or two smaller chunks and a memory low error... matthew reher " " Hey Mike, I was on your site very early this morning and I noticed an interesting email from one of your readers regarding "OS 8.5/Memory Leak". Anyway, I also find out a way (I don't recommand to use this method in long-run) to regain memory back after using gain applications (such as PS, Communicator, etc..) is that running Apple's Disk First Aid. DFA will attempt to "quit" Finder and verify or repair your disk(s), so after you are done and quit DFA, check your "about this computer" (or whatever) menu. You will see the memory has been "gained" back to where it was before. *Once again, I do not know what will this method affect your macs in long runs.* I hope this will help and I have posted this on my site. Allen PowerOnMac " PB 13.3 inch Screen Fixes: A friend who had his repaired (assuming the cable swap) recently wrote that the problem is back. A friend also noted that there may be a alternative fix in the works: " Mike, Just learned the other day ... that they've developed another solution to the 13.3" display cable connector problem, one which doesn't require the expensive step of replacing the display. I'm not too sure of the exact details, but it sounds like they install a piece of hardware to clamp the cable down to the contacts and then epoxy the assembly together for extra security. Or something like that. So it's no longer necessary to get the screen replaced. Hopefully this will improve Apple's ability to satisfy customers with this particular problem. " This has been a real black eye on the 13.3 inch display PB models, as all by two (of 30) people I know that bought that model have had display problems (including me). Not a good intro to the Mac for first time buyers. I hope this puts the issue to bed permanently. A month or so ago I posted a reader's comments about a new display that has the connector on the back, not the side (as do the other PB display sizes, which do not have the problem). This is the best fix, in hindsight, but is too expensive I guess for repairs of existing models. Not sure if new 13.3 inch models use the rear connectored display but I expect so. Several readers wrote in asking for best guesses on deliver of the ATI Rage128 and VillageTronic Banshee cards. Although they are the best source of delivery dates my best guess would be early late January (ATI) to early January 99 (VT) before the cards are readily available. VillageTronic is hoping to ship in December however. I've asked for a status update from them. For those readers that asked Orange Micro PCfx Card - Fit Issues: Rob replied with more info on his fit problem in a G3 Desktop noted in yesterday's news. " Just got of the phone speaking one of their tech's. I'm the first one to encounter this problem. It is definitely a no go if there are already 2 PCI cards in the desktop G3. Their tech really didn't understand why they make the card like this. If they placed the memory module at the same angle as the card is (like the Orange 620) then I wouldn't have a problem. AAAAAAAARGH!!!!!!!!!! Rob Huigsloot " He later replied that it required the adjacent PCI slot to be empty for it to fit. Today's Unreal News has a massive list of updates. Check it out. Yesterday's News Summary DVD RAM review at NewMedia Sonnet's reply to G3 Stability, notes on Adaptec 4.0 Firmware OS 8.5 Memory leak report Reader report on Orange Micro PCfx fit problems in G3 desktop Carmine's News Feed (TIL's and many Net News links) PowerON Office 98 sale bundle ZDNet OS poll (8.5 vs Win98) IXmicro comments on Display Enabler usage Ultra 2 SCSI card reader feedback OS 8.5/JAZ/Miles card Iomega driver version tip Unreal News page updated For other recent site news/features links, see the Recent Site Features page. Note: Before sending tech support related questions please check the Freq. Asked Questions, Site Contents, CPU Card reviews/articles, SCSI reviews articles, Graphics card reviews, Tips/Misc, Message Boards and Help pages - in many cases the answers to your questions are there and they have far more detail than I can list in an email. For Apple G3 system info - see the G3-ZONE. News and guest reviews that don't require a reply are always welcome. I hope to catch up in the next few weeks. Thanks. Looking for past articles? Check the menu frame topics links (CPU Cards, SCSI, Graphics Cards, Systems) under the logo above or in the menu frame below or check the Recent Features page. 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. Y