IX3D 2.0 Driver Feedback: A 9500 owner with Ultimate Rez card raved about the new driver update's improvement in MacBench scores. However I understand there is still no 16-Bit RAVE/3D support which I noted lacking in my past reviews of the IX3D chip based cards (Ult. Rez/MacRocket/ProRez/Road Rocket all use the same chip and can use the same drivers). The lack of 16-Bit mode RAVE support, lackluster 3D (millions colors reqd for RAVE support) and no OpenGL drivers make these cards not very attractive today, considering the alternatives.

When reading past reviews, always consider the date of the review when evaluating scores and comments (since they were relative to what was available at that time - lots of faster/better hardware in the last year). Some reviews were published in 1997 and 1998 - so check the later reviews of similar products before making any purchasing decisions. For video cards, the Proformance 3, Rage128 Orion and Voodoo3 reviews are of the most recent models. And for a general comparison of all current popular cards, see my recent 3D Card Roundup. In general, the latest reviews and articles are at the top of each topics page (CPU Cards, Systems, Video Cards, SCSI/IDE, etc. - see topics links above and in the sidebar).

IXmicro also has an update to their IXTV (TV tuner) card drivers. See their update page for issues resolved and important update notes on FM playback and OS 9 audio issues. [Update - IXMicro later went out of business - the last source of their drivers I know of is OWC's tech page.]

Speaking of video cards, I've updated the Rage128 VR Feedback page again with a 8600/300 owner report that notes some compatibility issues and also commented that running the Video Player application was the cause of audio problems (restart required to clear them).

OpenGL 1.1.2 Final Version: I spoke with Apple yesterday regarding OpenGL 1.1.2. I have a final version of 1.1.2 now to test and will update my articles with the results. The Descent 3 Demo was not supposed to have the beta versions included (an oversight that was corrected in v2 of the demo). However the final version of OpenGL 1.1.2 will be released to the public soon. Note - for those that updated to the 1.1.2beta - the final installer won't overwrite them I was told - so if you installed the beta, you will need to manually remove the update before installing the final version of OpenGL 1.1.2. Remember the 1.1.2 beta also updated ATI drivers if it detected an ATI card installed, so you may want to remove those extensions before updating to the final version as well. For OS 9 owners, Apple prefers you use the online software update feature. Stay tuned later today for the results of OpenGL 1.1.2 final version.

More on VR128 640x480 Capture:

"Hi Again, Mike
Here's a few screen captures showing the ATI XclaimVR's HAVOC compressor. After capturing in Premiere 5.1c with the HAVOC compressor & saving the resulting 22 MB file (7.9 seconds @ 22 fps -640 X 480) i tried playing from Premiere's monitor window, which crashed my machine at about 2 seconds into the movie.

Then I changed the creator/file type with Snitch to use the Quicktime Movie player and it plays perfectly... no stuttering at all; the only problem is still the original problem - NO AUDIO!
Kevin Schumacher "

His screenshots showed the movie was indeed 640x480. See below for a report of his attempts and audio settings. I'm adding this to my VR128 Feedback page.

VR128 Audio Capture Problems: Here's Kevin's previous post regarding inability to capture audio:

"...The bad news, I haven't been able to record sound from ANY input. I've tried video (with sound) captures at several sizes up to 636 X 476 with all the cables properly connected and the sound input (from the Monitors & Sound control panel) set to Sound In (since the XclaimTV's cable is routed to the microphone input on my 7500/G3) ...all I get is 1/4 second of sound, and then silence...even though I can clearly hear the sound playing through my speakers on the computer as the videotape in the VCR plays.

Same thing happens when I try to ONLY capture sound from other sources like a music CD playing on the internal CDROM drive with the Sound Input set the CD, all I get is 1/4 of a second of sound. I've also tried capturing from the TV window while it's playing whatever's on a TV channel, the picture records nicely but the audio's not there. I have a feeling that something is switching the Sound Input port without my knowledge, which explains why I get 1/4 second of sound, and then nothing...

I've tried turning off all non-essential extensions & control panels, didn't help. I even tried turning off UltraSCSI and ratcheting down the speed of data transfers to 10 MHz... also didn't help.

I've e-mailed to ATI Tech support re: this problem, till then no audio captures!
Kevin Schumacher"

If anyone has a workaround or solution for this - please contact me.

Formac OpenGL Beta & #9 Rev IV Cards: A reader notes the Formac Proformance 3 beta OpenGL drivers worked with a #9 Revolution IV card:

"A few miscellaneous items:

Formac's new beta driver also enables OpenGL acceleration on the Number Nine Revolution IV video cards bundled with the SGI 1600 LCD displays. Just reboot with the new driver installed and it creates two new extensions, one is (presumably) a QuickDraw 3D accelerator and the other is an OpenGL renderer. It may also work for various cards from MacTell depending on whether or not Formac was the OEM.. if the Card Model that shows up in Apple System Profiler under Devices and Volumes is older than GA10 (GA9 and below) it probably won't support OpenGL.

One good way to test if your version of OpenGL is being accelerated (or installed properly) is to run the Setting Sun screensaver (available at http://www.webthing.net/settingsun/) before and after moving up from OpenGL 1.0 or before you install OpenGL accelerator software..

You will see quite a bit of difference in speed between accelerated and unaccelerated, especially in the Sproingies fader.
Pete Chin
Mac Systems Administrator
Creative Services Banking
Morgan Stanley Dean Witter"

More on Virex/OS Compatibility: Although I didn't see a note on my OS 8.6 Compatibility page, several readers replied to the post in yesterday's news that the Virex 5.9.1 update solved the OS 8.5 and later compatibility problems. However note that there is a v6 and later now and even an updated control panel for OS 9. See the Virex page for more information on updates and upgrades.

If you missed last night's updates I posted a XLR8 G4 CPU B&W G3 Upgrade and Peek at the Sawtooth CPU Module articles.

SharkyExtreme (PC Site) recently posted a review of the ATI Rage Fury MAXX (Dual Rage128 Pro chips as noted here earlier) tested in a 800 Mhz Intel 'Coppermine' Pentium III (not a copper CPU despite the name). The card was faster than the nVidia GeForce256 or TNT2. Despite ATI's comments (posted here last month) that the card was AGP/66MHz only (3.3 volt only I assume) and therefore had a limited Mac market (only G4s and B&W G3s) - I still hope ATI releases a Mac version eventually. Perhaps it will be in the Sharktooth (next generation G4) next year (I can dream can't I? ;-). As for as more likely Mac prospects, next year we can look forward to a 3dfx Napalm (voodoo4). Don't expect a Napalm card this year however.

For a blast from the past see what was on the front page news here one year ago.

Tuesday's News Summary

• Installing the XLR8 G4 Upgrade in the B&W G3
• Voodoo3 Beta 7 Drivers Released
• Peek at the Sawtooth G4 CPU Module
• Apple teams up w/CNN, 3 QT press releases
• Reviews of iMac DV SE
• Yikes G4/400 vs Dual PIII 600
• Reader Request: iBook Wireless Modem Scripts
• Rage128 VR - using DVD Player as Input
• ORB Drive/Retrospect Tips
• Requests for OS 9 Compatible Speed Doubler
• Upgrading Tips for Older Macs
• OS 9 File Exchange Tips
• OpenGL installer removed from Descent3 Demo
• Mactell FirePower (FireWire) Drives still alive?
• ATI Rage128 VR owners feedback page posted (reports from working systems)
• Apple's stock trading higher than Microsoft's
• Other Net News

Monday's News Summary

• Voodoo3 Beta 6 Drivers Released (short lived)
• ePower Strike Two
• OpenGL 1.1.2 Beta Clarification
• OpenGL 1.1.2 (Beta) Performance Tests in G4/450 Sawtooth
• iMac DV Review Updated w/OpenGL 1.1.2 Beta tests
• iBook/OpenGL 1.1.2f2/ATI driver Update Comments
• Q3Test 1.08 Performance Tips
• 640x480 Movie Capture with Rage128 VR
• Rage128 VR Feedback page updated
• iBook Keyboard Bounce Fix
• G4 Strip Utility
• OS 9 Feedback/Compatibility/Tips Page created
• Total Impact MP G4/G4 CPU Cards
• HP passes on 3GB DVD-R/W drive, waits for 4.7GB model
• Other Net News

Weekend's News Summary

• Game News updated
• More G3 Throttle Praise (solves Beige G3 printing problem)
• More VR128 Feedback: Connectix Quickcam extension conflict
• 6500/Rage128 tips
• MacGurus Rage128 Orion/Nexus tech notes page
• OS 9 Keyboard Macros: supported mac models
• OS 9 on Older Macs: Some happy/some not
• Readers miss Speed Doubler under OS 9
• Connectix OS 9 compat. page (VPC OK, Ramdblr to be updated, no news on Speed dblr)
• Other Net News
• Rate Your CPU Upgrade, Game Reviews and Game Framerates databases updated.

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

Considering a G3 Upgrade? Check the CPU Upgrade Owner's Survey results and search for owner reports by Mac model and/or card brand. Readers post new entries daily and the database is updated several times a week. I urge any owners that have had problems to report this via the Survey Form. Always give the most weight to recent owner reports (dated in the listing) as in many cases problems are later found to be due to settings errors, slow L2 cache, etc.

-Freq Asked Questions

Apple Related:
Yikes G4 ROM 1.8.1
GV USB Modem 1.02
Firewire v2.1 drivers
ATI Video Update 1.0
Drive Setup 1.7.3
OpenGL 1.0
Int. Modem Scripts
Apple Modem Update
[File Download]
G3 Modem Update (V.90/56Flex)
See VersionTracker's G3 page for others...
Plaintalk Enabler
[For B&W/iMac]

SCSI Related:
Grappler Updates
3940/3944 SCSI
2940U2B v1.2 Firmware
2940U2W v1.1
MagicScan G3
Miles Updates
ATTO SCSI
Formac PowerRaid Updates

G3 CPU Cards:
PPC Checker
XLR8 Cache Cntl 1.41

PowerLogix SW
MAXpowr G3 1.3.9

Misc/General:
Wired4DVD
Proformance3 ROM
Quicken 2000R2
TT Pro 2.5.2
ORB Tools 1.2.3
Outlook Express 5
USB Overdrive
Softraid v2.2
Proformance 3
Rage128/Older Macs Patch
ATI Drivers 4.01
Font Mgr Update
USB Card drv 1.2
GameSprockets
Retrospect Drvrs
Office98 GUID Patch
NAV 5.03
NAV Defs
Logitech MouseWare USB
GV V.90 Flex
 Preferred Script

Games Related:
MesaQuake2
Voodoo3 drvrs
Voodoo2 drvrs
MesaGL 3dfx drvrs
Joyport Update
(InputSprocket fix)
MacMame(emulator)
Descent 3Dfx