Game News Updates: The Game News page had update earlier today with a note on a Futurecop 1.02 patch for improved support of Voodoo3 and retail ATI cards and rumors of a Mesa GL update to address the issues seen in Quake3 Arena with 3dfx cards. (Simion Lisney asked who would be first - Mesa's update or 3Dfx's native OpenGL driver). [Update - also noted there is the just-released demo of RainBow Six at IMG.]

USB Mouse Axis Problems: Simon Lisney sent a note that Apple has a TIL about the issue of losing vertical or horizontal axis movement with USB mice. The TIL suggests cleaning the mouse, but the only time I've seen this here (after a long game of UT Demo), a restart solved it.

Alsoft Software Updates: Alsoft's update mail list had notes on OS 9 compatibility and new versions of their software including DiskWarrior 1.1, PlusOptimizer 1.2, PlusMaker 1.0.3, MasterJuggler Pro 2.0.3/2.1 and DiskExpress Pro 3.0.3

$325 Copper G3/450 ZIF Upgrade: This just in from sponsor OWC:

"We just dropped the price of the Z450MA Mercury Copper G3/450mhz with 1024k from $385 to $325. That should make for an incredible value as these copper units generally clock into the 500mhz+ range.
Best Regards,
Larry O'Connor
Other World Computing, Inc. "

Pricing and availability changes over time, so for their latest CPU upgrade (and other item) pricing and models, see the site specials page.

Update on XLR8 G4 Upgrade Memory Bandwidth: I've updated the benchmarks page of my XLR8 G4/400Z review with XLR8's reply to my questions on the lower memory bandwidth results with their extension or control panel active. XLR8's programmer, Chris Cooksey (Director of Software Engineering) replied:

"...the differences in performance you are seeing with the extension in and out, are because the extension is deliberately setting bits in some of the low level control registers to correct certain errata in the 2.6 (and earlier) revs of the G4. If I do not set these bits the machine will not run reliably.

Note that opening the control panel will set the bits as well. This explains why you are seeing the differences before and after opening the control panel."

Nobody else had picked up the memory bandwidth oddity I noted in my tests before. This discovery is just one reason why my reviews are as detailed and complete as possible. I actually wish I hadn't seem this one as it's a bit disappointing (apparently even the G4 Sawtooth uses a similar scheme).

XLR8 G4/400Z Review: It's finally done and chock full of info. Some test results are puzzling, but bottom line is this upgrade made my B&W G3 the equal of the G4/450 system in many tests and certainly better peformance than a $1600 Yikes G4/350. Limited testing at 450MHz was reliable with this particular sample (3 days of 450/225 speeds showed no errors). Included are tests in Photoshop 5.5, Soundjam MP, Word98, Bryce, Infini-D, After Effects 3.1 and games as well as a wide array of benchmarks. A full illustrated installation guide is also included. The G4/400Z is compatible with AIO, Beige and B&W G3s as well as many CPU Card slot older Macs if you own a CarrierZIF base card. Check it out.

3Dfx Hires ATI Programmer: Ray Swartz, long-time programmer for ATI just notified me he has went to work for 3Dfx. Ray's experience with Mac graphics programming should be a real plus for 3Dfx. As noted last week, watch for a driver update to the Voodoo3 cards this week (perhaps even today). Native OpenGL drivers are supposed to be included in the next release.
[Note - 3dfx later closed their doors in early 2001, selling assets to Nvidia.]

Miles U2W/Sawtooth Tip: Thomas Andre notes reverting back to firmware v1.3 allowed his Miles U2W SCSI card to work in his G4/450 AGP (Sawtooth) system.

"Mike
I already found out what the problem is with my Miles U2W card in the G4/450 AGP. Initio used to have beta drivers on there site and I flashed my card with them. They now pulled off those drivers off there site and that made me think. So I flashed (I had to do it in my G4/400 Yikes, because I could not start my G4/450 AGP with the Miles card in the PCI slot) the card with the drivers 1.03 (before beta 1.04) and everything works fine (so far as I can tell). Lesson learned, sometimes it is not worth to use beta drivers.
Thomas "

There were some other problem reports on this combo here in the past.

Macgurus replied that unlike the reader that noted a conflict with Apple's USB 1.35 drivers (specifically the 'USBAppleMonitorModule' extension) and the ATI VR128 desktop video extension here recently, they have seen no problems with that combo:

"we're running the same hardware, but with XLR8 DualPort cards, in our 9600's and 7600's, 7500's and 7300's. No problems. At all. Rage 128VR rocks. DualPort rocks. Using both OS9 and OS8.6, all with XLR8 G3 450 and 500Mhz CarrierZIF.
Gurus"

The previous reader was running OS 9 in a 7600 with a belkin USB Card and ATI VR128. As noted in my Nov 12th news, I had great results with the VR128 installed in my G4/450 system. Everything seemed to work fine, including capturing at 640x480 in Premiere 4.2 using the mysterious ATI 'Havoc' Codec. Granted the G4/450 CPU certainly helped capture rates but I saw no extensions problems or any video player problems some have reported on my VR128 Feedback page.

Quake3 Demo Texture Loading Tip: I've not had time to try this personally (just received it) but a reader sent an interesting tip on the new demo:

"Mike--
I don't see a menu option that sets this in the new Quake 3 Demo Test, but users may have noticed that's there's lots of drive activity at the beginning of levels with the new Demo Test. I looked in the q3config.cfg file for a cause and found it. The default setting for texture loading is shown on this line:

seta r_preloadTextures "0"

Change that to a "1" and Q3 will load all textures onto the video board before the level begins, keeping the disc access to a minimun during actual game play. Definitely improves performance. Well, there you have it.
Blake Patterson"

Quake3 Arena Goes Gold: Byron Franek sent a note that according to Kenneth Scott's and xian's plan files Quake3 arean has GM status (BTW - as noted in last week's game news Carmack commented on the CDs being cross-platform but suggesting you support your platform by buying the Mac boxed version, as dealers/distributors are likely to keep track of sales this way.)

Mac Game/Video Card Performance Database Updated: I did manage to add about 50 new posts from the last week to my searchable Mac Game Framerates database. Many entries with the new Quake demo btw and the total entries are now near 800 and include everything from iBooks to Apple G4 AGP systems with about every video card under the sun. I'm still behind on the last week's entries to the CPU Review Database. I'll try to get those entered today.

Getting Answers Faster: I hate to keep posting reminders like this but wanted to again urge readers to check the Frequently Asked Questions before sending tech support email (the FAQ has over 500 answers to more than a dozen topics including CPU upgrades/Video cards/Operating Systems/Apple G3s/iMacs/G4s/Games/SCSI/IDE/Troubleshooting and more, all organized by topic). Also checking the site topics links (see sidebar) may help. Every day about 50-70% of email asks questions that are already answered in the FAQ or site articles on systems, cpu updates, video cards, or storage topics. It's not humanly possible to read and answer all the tech support mail I get every day, so you can often get an answer immediately by check the FAQ or other site articles dealing with your topic of interest. (I do the best I can, spending hours each day and night but can't answer all mail every day as this site is bascially a one man operation for the most part.)

Also remember to check the last 3 day's news summaries at the bottom of each day's news here in case you missed an important tip or post. And remember that the first place to look for information or updates/compatibility info with mac addons is the manufacter's web site of the product you're having problems with or questions about. A software update or other information on your question or problem is likely to be at the manufacturer's web site (email or call them as well to report any problems you have - otherwise they may not know there is an issue).

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

Weekend's News Summary

• USB 1.3.5/VR 128 Tip
• Updated ORB Tools 1.2.6
• Newer Tech Lowers Prices
• Thanks To Readers
• Airport User Comments and Tips on Setup
• 3Dfx Driver Update Soon?

Friday's News Summary

-Freq Asked Questions

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

Apple TIL Updates

Apple Forums