PCI 3Dfx Voodoo 4 and Voodoo5 Cards: 3Dfx should be previewing their new line of graphics cards at Comdex today. They noted there will be a Voodoo 4 and Voodoo5 model PCI Cards (good news for Mac owners without AGP slots). [Update: See the Video articles page, Graphics card section for reviews of the mac Voodoo4 and Voodoo5 cards. 3dfx closed their doors in early 2001 and sold assets to Nvidia.]

Voodoo 5 6000 AGP - 4 processors/128MB of RAM: Check out the top of the line Voodoo 5 6000 AGP - it has 128MB of video ram and 4 processors! [Links removed after 3dfx went out of business in early 2001.]

"The Voodoo5 6000 AGP from 3dfx represents the pinnacle of Voodoo5 technology. Taking advantage of the revolutionary scalable architecture of the 3dfx VSA-100ô chip, the Voodoo 5 6000 AGP features four processors working together to be the world's first 3D accelerator to break the Gigapixel barrier. Clocking in at over 1.33 Gigapixels a second, the Voodoo5 6000 AGP can create breathtaking 3D worlds in vivid 32-bit color. Boasting state-of-the-art Real-Time Full-Scene HW Anti-Aliasing, the exclusive T-Bufferô Digital Cinematic Effects engine, 2D resolutions as high as 2048x1536 and a whopping 128MB of graphics memory, the Voodoo5 6000 is the ultimate 2D/3D accelerator for the hard-core PC enthusiast."

I'm praying for Mac drivers for use with the Sawtooth AGP systems. (The Voodoo3 3000 AGP works in the Sawtooth as noted here previously.) William Perez noted that 3Dfx's FAQ on the new cards has some info on Mac support:

"Macintosh (Mac PCs)

36. Will the VSA-100 have Mac support?
With the VSA-100, we took into account many of the features for the Macintosh market. To date we have not announced a Mac-based product, however we have announced a PCI version of Voodoo4 and Voodoo5, which will work with 3dfx's Mac drivers.

37. Will 3dfx ever sell and support a Mac product?
The company has Mac drivers and PCI Voodoo products. We have not disclosed our Mac strategy. "

Using Tome Viewer to Extract OS 9 G4 Extensions: I've added a note to the G4 CPU upgrade reviews here about using Tome Viewer as a way to extract specific files (mentioned several times here for other updates). Several readers sent a reminder that it was a great tool to get the G4 extensions from OS 9 that are not normally installed on a non-G4 Apple system (see the weekend news for a list of the extension names). Matt Morris wrote to point Tome Viewer at Mac OS 9:Software Installers:System Software:Mac OS 9 Additions:Tome
[Update - these extensions are not needed or used with OS 9.1 and later.]

Newer Tech G4 Upgrades: Newer Tech should be making several product announcements today at Comdex. I've received a new G4/350 CPU card from them for tests. The card has no switches for speeds and has a firmware chip to address the issue of Speculative Processing in older Macs. The card also ships with their new Gauge Pro utility that reports G4 CPU revision and allows testing of memory bandwidth speeds as well. More info on this card soon. [Note - Newer Tech closed their doors in early 2001. For reviews of their CPU upgrades, see the G3 reviews and G4 reviews tabs of the CPU Upgrades page and search the database of owner reports.]

Newer Tech Warns of Software Speculative Processing Fixes in Older Macs with G4 Upgrades: Speaking with Newer Tech recently, they warned that in G4 CPU upgrades that use software approaches to disabling Speculative Processing on older Macs can cause a failure to boot if you ZAP the PRAM before hearing the boot 'bong' tone or if you remove the PRAM battery (to replace it for instance). They said this will require booting from another (non-G4) CPU card to reinstall the software patch unless you're using their G4 upgrade which has a hardware fix for the issue. The G4 CPU's deeper pipelines cause this problem to be more severe in older Macs than G3 upgrades were they said. They also commented that Sonnet's G4 upgrades come with a floppy disk that reinstalls the patch in cases like this.

I've asked XLR8 and Powerlogix to comment on the issue and will be verifying this in tests here as soon as I can. In the meantime - always wait for the boot tone to sound before Zapping the PRAM with any card that uses a software patch. My past suggestions of keeping your old 60x CPU card as a spare is also a good tip should you ever need it. Newer Tech's G4 CPU cards, like their previous G3 line, contains a firmware chip that has a hardware solution to the issue of Speculative Processing in older Macs. Note that my 9600/350 has 'G3 clean' ROMs and runs fine with Speculative Processing enabled on the XLR8 G4/350 card I'm testing now. The word is that most 9600/350s have G3 clean ROMs and other Kansas motherboard macs (8600/250's and 300's and 9600/300's) built after September 1997 may have the 'G3 clean' ROMs also. Verifying this via testing w/spec. processing enabled can be risky if your older Mac is not a Kansas motherboard model however, so beware. (could corrupt the disk, not boot, etc.)

Apple Software DVD Player Tips: This reader posted a few tips to help with the lip sync issues noted with the iMac DV and Apple G4/AGP software DVD players

"After hearing that some people were not having trouble with their dvd movies, I decided to play around with the bloody thing and see if I can get it to work right. I found a partial solution.

1) Insert disk and open the dvd player in window mode (i.e. viewer)
2) Select the smallest screen size available and then play the dvd*
3) After the dvd shows you the main selection screen, choose to play the movie
4) 15 seconds into playing the movie, "present video on screen"
5) "Fill screen"

This has solved many a problem with movies that go out of sync. Two exceptions to this are "The Matrix", and "Shakespeare In Love."

Please try this and post a message as to how well it has worked.

*some dvds start playing as soon as you play the disc. The important point here is to "present video on screen" after the beginning credits have begun.
Johnny "

ATI Rage128 VR Desktop Video Extension Tip: A reader sent a copy of a tip from ATI to fix the issue of the extension not loading (green 'X') during startup:

"Just got this from ATI and thought this might help a few of your readers. It solved my problem.

Green X on the ATI Desktop Video extension

This issue affects the Xclaim VR 128 with CD release 420.

A green X may intermittently appear on the ATI Desktop Video extension during boot up, resulting in the ATI Desktop Video control module not appearing on the Control Strip.

WORKAROUND:
Have the Apple Guide extension load after the ATI Desktop Video extension.

- Open the System Folder
- Under Extensions, find the Apple Guide extension
- Click the Apple Guide extension and rename it, adding an underscore (_) to the beginning of Apple Guide
- Close the System Folder and restart

yours truly,
Steve Newlands"

I thought they had removed the dependency on the Apple Guide extension entirely (it was a requirement with the first Rage 128 Orion installer, removed by 4.01 I believe). I've added this tip to the VR128 feedback page.

500MHz Yikes G4: Don't try this at home, but a reader sent an article on how he boosted his Yikes G4/400 to 500MHz. He reported last night tests running all weekend showed no crashes, but this is not something anyone else should try. Replacement CPU modules from Apple can be expensive...and even if you were skilled enough to not damage the CPU module from soldering, could find the resistors needed - who knows how long the CPU would run (if at all) at that speed.

Today's Popular Questions and Answers: Some of the more common recent questions from the mailbag:

• Can I use Apple's DVD software player (v2.x players) in a older Mac that has a DVD ROM drive? - The software player works only in iMac DVs and Apple G4/Sawtooth models unless patched. See the FAQ's DVD topic area a site with DVD patches/utils that has the latest patch. (The 2.x DVD players still require a Rage128 or later graphics card however.)

• Will a TurboMax card work with an IDE DVD ROM drive? - Officially as noted in my review, the TurboMax card does not support CDROM drives. I had mixed results with the TrueX drive, but it makes no sense to risk it when a SCSI DVD ROM drive often costs far less than the TurboMax card + a IDE DVD drive.

• Can I upgrade my B&W G3 to a G4 CPU? - Yes, as noted here several times both PowerLogix and XLR8 (and others) ship firmware patchers with their G4 upgrades that allow G4s to run in the B&W G3. See my article on installing an XLR8 G4/400 in a B&W G3 for a guide to how XLR8's firmware updater utility works.

• My Beige G3 w/large IDE drive has problems restarting from the finder (cold boots are ok) - Some readers noted that www.intechusa.com's or FWB's disk driver may help solve this issue. Intech has a free limited trial version I believe.

• Will a CPU card from an Apple 8600/250, 8600/300, 9600/300 or 9600/350 work in other Macs? - No, this has been noted in the FAQ's CPU upgrades area and on my Mach 5 system page for over a year. The CPU cards won't even boot in anything but the Kansas motherboards they shipped in.

• Are there any CPU Upgrades for the 7200? - As noted here many times in the news and on the front page of the FAQ - the 7200 has no CPU card slot and there are no L2 cache slot upgrades for it either. However there are companies that sell 7500, etc. motherboards that readers have swapped out to be able to have a CPU card slot for upgrades, but as I've said, that often costs so much (total - motherboard + CPU upgrade) that it makes more sense to sell the 7200 and put the upgrade money toward a used/refurbished more upgradeable mac.
  [Update - Sonnet in 2001 released a CPU upgrade on a PCI card for the 7200 model. You can search the database of CPU upgrade reports for owner comments on this model.]

Risks of Overclocking and CPU Voltage Boost Mods: I posted this in the G4 Forum as a warning to others of the dangers and risks present:

1) Go to the FAQ and read the Overclocking Risks section. There is a link in that section to a site that talks of the risks of electromigration that can occur over time. There are also the usual risks of stability, data loss and premature hardware failure. I DO NOT recommend overclocking to anyone - and most folks will never 'see' the difference in real world use in most cases.

2) Overclocking often means you have removed ALL MARGIN for temperature changes, voltage fluctuations/variations, etc. - all CPUs are rated at a speed that they are reliable at over the entire temperature and voltage range in the spec (from low to high temp, etc.). If you run the CPU beyond the rated speed you've removed this 'safety margin', voided your warranty and are risking your data. Many do this - but I want to make it crystal clear there are risks involved.

3) Voltage boosting requires delicate soldering of surface mount components that are tiny - and the heat from a standard soldering iron can damage the components and the solder pads on the circuit card. Most soldering tips and irons are far too hot for this work - and most folks would end up with a computer that WON'T WORK anymore. And there is NO GOING BACK once you've damaged the CPU module - I'd guess a replacement from apple might cost over $1000 for a G4.

Sinbad at QT Live Conference in LA: Ryan Tanaka has posted a page with a few pictures from the QT Live Conference in LA. Ryan noted that he caught the comedian Sinbad in photo 6 (Sinbad is a big Mac fan I hear).

"BTW, the big guy (w/backpack) in last pic (very blurry) at the Entera booth is the comedian Sinbad. He came by for about a half hour talking to exhibitors about streaming his shows and such. How LA. ;)
Ryan "

Reader Comments on Microcenter's 20% Off Sale Sunday: Many readers reported they arrived too late to get a bargain Apple (too many earlier customers for the available stock). I suspected this would be the case based on comments in this weekend's news. Good thing I didn't drive 3 hours to the nearest store here in Virginia based on this reader's comments:

"Mike,
Just thought that I would let you know that my local Microcenter (Vienna, Virginia) was sold out of (ALL) Apple computers by 12:00 noon today. There was not one Apple box to be found; no powerbooks, no imacs, no anything. The sales people said that customers had started gathering at the store's door around 7:AM. I got there around 12:30 only to find a frenzied mob of customers buying everything they could get their hands on. The lines were longer than anything I've ever seen anywhere. People were lining up all the way from cash registers to the back (I am not exagerating) of the store.

The situation in the much larger PC section was similar. There were no Pentium boxes to be found, just a couple of pyramids of low end celeries. All of the laptops, with the exception of a couple of low-end toshibas that I would not give to my worse enemy, had also been sold out.
Cheers,
Gene Shekhtman"

OpenGL 1.1.2 (final) Available in Descent3 Demo v3 See the game news page for a link to the download. Although the beta version of OpenGL 1.1.2 installer was pulled from the 2nd release of the demo, several readers reported the final release version is present in the 3rd release.

Optima's DeskTape Pro has been updated to 5.0 and is now OS 9 compatible. Details are at http://www.optimatech.com/DeskTape.html (Thanks Bart)

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

Weekend's News Summary

• MicroCenter Sale B&W G3/300 Configuration Info
• HP OS 9 Printer Driver Updates
• Important OS 9 Installation Note to G4 Upgraded Macs
  (How to get the 4 OS 9 Altivec extensions)
• 400MHz Yikes running at 500MHz
• G4 'Enabling' Software - Sonnet Comments
• DV Capture Notes on ATA/66 Drives in ATA/33 Macs
• Quicktime Movie Capture Tips
• Movie Input Quality & Macrovision
• Apple Retail Stores?
• AMD's odd shaped new PCs
• Bottom Line's latest weekly specials

Friday's News Summary

• My ATI VR 128 Test Comments (Video Capture at 640x480, audio and more)
• More Details on Apple vs Lucent Wireless Networking
• Powerlogix cancels plans for L2 Cache Slot G3 Upgrades
• Reader's IX3D 2.0 Drivers Tip
• Upgrading Tips in Tuesday's news added to FAQ's General Mac Questions and CPU Upgrades topic.
• Reader comments on Lucent Wireless Networking and Apple Airport
• MicroCenter 20% Off Sale
• Today's List of Popular Upgrade Questions & Answers: (G3 Drive Recommendations, adding drives to a 8600/9600, Voodoo2 SLI mode, fastest 2D video card, FPS tests, V3 2000 vs 3000, older mac upgrades, Apple ZIF swapping)
• Reaper Utility and OS 9
• More VR128 Tips on extensions and audio capture
• More feedback on IX3D 2.0 Drivers
• Reader raves on MacOS Speech Commands
• XLR8 G4 CPU Upgrade in a B&W G3 article link correction
• Other Net News

Thursday's News Summary

• 3D Card Roundup updated for OpenGL 1.1.2 tests (final release)
• iMac DV SE review updated for OpenGL 1.1.2 game tests
• IX3D 2.0 Driver Feedback
• Save HyperCard Petition
• Reaper Dynamic RAM Allocation Utility
• More on the VR128 'Havoc' Codec
• Sherlock 2 No-Banner Patch
• CPU Review Database Exceeds 2,600 Entries
• Game/Video Card Performance Database Exceeds 700 Entries
• Game Reviews Database updated
• Sonnet G4 Software PR
• PC Spoof Poll
• Xappeal streaming QT preview
• AvPnews has update on Aliens vs Predator game for mac
• Other Net News

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

Check Apple's Software Updates
(especially their Recent Updates)

Apple TIL Updates

Apple Forums