The issue with Western Digital drives noted in the drive compatiblity database from a Sonnet Tempo card/WD 45GB drive owner may be due to either firmware, jumper settings, or the often noted (news and FAQ) issue of limited drive support of Acard ATA/66 controller cards for WD drives. (Noted in the news many times, the drive database and a permanent part of the FAQ here for over 6 months).

Sonnet's Tempo is based on an Acard ATA/66 card and Acard's page notes only 2 WD drives are listed as compatible. Although that may not be a full list of compatible drives, it's something to be aware of when buying a drive for an Acard (aka Sonnet Tempo or Promax Turbomax ata/66) controller. The FAQ here has sections on PCI IDE controllers and drives, and the IDE topics page is also worth checking before you buy, or when problems arise. And don't forget the Mac Drive Compatibility Database which is searchable by any drive type, brand, interface etc. A few minutes of checking these resources can save you much time, trouble and $$$.

" Mike,
I just revised my entry in the drive database. It now includes notes on Radialogic's CD Master software. This software is now available as a demo download. DAO works perfectly on the QPS 12x10x32 firewire drive. Here's the website for the download:
www.radialogic.com/products/cdmasterpreview.html
Ryan Grimes
Technology Support Specialist"

" Recently I've had a lot of people ask me questions about using PGP with Eudora. This finally spurred me to collect all my thoughts and opinions on the subject in a single place with useful screenshots. I've put up this page at charlotte.at.northwestern.edu/julian/pgpeudora/. If you think this is useful information, feel free to post it for your readers!
Julian Koh"

" I am working on version 2.0 of my L2CacheConfig utility, which will add a user interface for setting preferences. One thing which I would like to include is a nice icon for the application, but I am not much of an icon designer. I was wondering if one of your readers might be willing to volunteer to design an icon for me. I was thinking of something like the CPU Monitor icon in OS X, i.e. a representation of a processor chip, with the letters "L2" on it.
Ryan Rempel "

Send your icon samples to Ryan.

Pioneer SCSI DVR-S201 (3.9/4.7GB)
B&W G3 running OS 9
Comments:
" This is a DVR, a video DVD capable burner!

I'm adding this report because after several restless hours trying to get the drive to do the most basic of functions, mount a UDF DVD volume on the desktop and then play it, I was able to do so. Normally we "proof" burned video DVDs in a dedicated DVD unit, but this one was PAL and therefore the computer was finally called upon to handle it.

The drive itself is seen/recognized by apple's cd/dvd driver from os8.6 -> 9.0.4. The problem is that none of those would actually mount a volume and the writing aspect was handled by the Sonic Solutions solution bundled with their Media Fusion package the rig was assembled with (including the wired4dvd decoding card).

After much kludgery, I eventually found success using the "hacked" apple cd/dvd driver for os9 (1.3.1? not the 1.3.5 from 9.0.4), found on the web thru the FAQ's here. Disks now mount properly and also playback within Wired's DVDStation player, which I was not able to do using any other driver (including intech's, softarch's, and any of apple's own)
juan fernando "

I've added DVD-R as a drive type option now on the database entry page and search page. I've seen these drives for sale in the past but they were horribly expensive (almost $5K?). I've been waiting for the lower cost DVD recordable drives said to be available next year.

" I thought I would pass along a deal on refurbished g4s from MacWarehouse.
I just grabbed two G4 500s with 256/27GB/ZIP/DVD-RAM for $2099! Though you might want to pass this along to your readers.
Craig Chambers "

The DVD RAM drive is the older 5.2GB (2.6GB/side) model, not the current 9.4GB (4.GB/side) version. I don't know how many they have and these may sell out at any time. Apple now sells only dual G4/450s and 500's - but with 256MB and DVD-RAM drives the prices are much higher of course. (I bought a dual G4/500 with Radeon with the minimal config - 64MB, 20GB HD, DVD ROM drive, no ZIP drive which cost over $2700 delivered. I added my own ram and hard drive upgrades.)

Sony Firewire CRX1600L (12X8X32X)
Apple Beige G3 w/OWC G3/466 running OS 9
Comments:
" After reading several reports in the drive database I decided to upgrade my 4X Yamaha SCSI CDR to the Sony 12X8X32X CDRW. I have an Orangelink Firewire/USB PCI card installed in my Beige G3 minitower and I was concerned when I read in the docs that PCI firewire boards were not supported by this drive. Well so far so good. I've burned several DAO audio CDs at 12X, used Retrospect to do a backup and all without any problems. This is one fast drive, six minutes to burn a full CD. I've also been able to completely fill up 700mb media where in the past I was limited to 650mb.

I'm using the Toast Firewire extension and much prefer Toast's (4.1.1) interface to the included Describe however I haven't been able to figure out how to erase a CDRW in Toast. Describe has a menu option.

I do have one major disappointment. It seems that the drive is not supported by Adaptec Direct CD even though it is able to write fixed packets. I used that program constantly to copy individual files to the CD as though it was a big flopppy drive. Now I'm limited to doing multisessions which is impracticle for individual files.
Rich Stultz"

Adaptec's DirectCD as noted at the site news several times does not support most of the new drives out there. Very disappointing. V1.05 (which I bought in the spring) was not even available as an update at their site last I checked (Sept. 2000) and it still doesn't support my Sony 10/4/32, or many other new drives from the last year. I hope they release an update that adds more drive support. Writing them about this issue can't hurt (if enough owners do they may add support for more drives perhaps).

DVD-R (DVD Recorder) Drives:
• Pioneer SCSI DVR-S201
  
  Combo DVD + CDRW Drives:
• Toshiba IDE SD-R1002 in Beige G3
  
  CDRW Drives:
• HP IDE 9150i in Beige G3
• Plextor IDE 12/10/32 in ADS Pyro Firewire case w/G4 AGP
  (listed under firewire interface search page option)
• Plextor IDE 12/10/32 in ADS Pyro Firewire case w/B&W G3
  (notes Toast doesn't recognize the drive)
• Que Firewire 12/10/32 w/Beige G3 (w/Belkin Firewire card)
  (notes problems with audio cd burns)
• Que Firewire 12/10/32 w/B&W G3
• Que Firewire 12/10/32 w/G4 AGP
• Sony Firewire CRX1600L (12X8X32X) w/Beige G3 (w/Orangemicro firewire card)
• Sony Firewire CRX145E/XI w/B&W G3
  (problems noted - lockups, etc.)
• Sony IDE CRX140E in Beige G3
  (notes system won't boot with the drive installed)
• Yamaha Firewire CRW8824IX-VK w/G4 AGP
  (notes Toast 4.1.1 solved issue of drive freezing system if turned off)
• Yamaha IDE CRW8824EZ in Beige G3 (2 reports)
  
  Hard Drives:
• IBM 40GV 20GB in B&W G3 rev 2
• IBM 75GXP 30GB in B&W G3 rev 1
  (not tested for corruption yet)
• Maxtor Firewire 40GB w/B&W G3 rev 1 (running OS X beta)
• Maxtor IDE DiamondMax Plus 30GB in Beige G3
• Maxtor IDE (5400 rpm) 40GB in Beige G3 rev 1
  (using the Beige G3 MT HD upgrade guide)
• Quantum IDE 20GB in iMac
• Quantum SCSI 9.1GB TD91S011 in 8600/200
  (won't boot - perhaps jumper settings (delay spin) issue)
• Western Digital IDE WD450AA 45GB in B&W G3 rev 1 w/Sonnet Temp IDE card
  (drive formats to only 32GB he said. as noted in the FAQ Acard ata/66 cards (ie Sonnet tempo) have limited WD drive support according to the acard drive compat. list at their site (noted here many times and in the FAQ). Asked if card firmware was v3.08 also)

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.

• Newer Tech G4/400 in 9600/350 (rated 9)
• Newer Tech G4/400 ZIF in Beige G3/266 (rated 9)
• Other World Computing G3/450 in B&W G3 rev 2 (rated 10)
  (running 550mhz with Peltier Cooler)
• XLR8 CarrierZIF w/OWC G3/300/512K bundle (running 400+?) in 8600/200 (rated 10)
  
  
• Beige G3/300 OC report
• B&W G3/400 OC report

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:

• Soundjam2.5.2 Free (direct download link)
• Soundjam 2.5.2 full version (direct download link)
• LaCie Silverlining Pro v6.3.2
• Datafab FireWire drives v1.8
• Virtual User v3.2
• Apple memory Guide (Nov 2000 update)
• Open Strip 0.4 (OS X) (direct download link)
• SOCKETOOME Beta
• NetBarrier (direct download link)
• Lexmark PPD
• Radialogic CD Master Demo
• Storage Master Updater (direct download link)
• MuchoFileInfo

Apple TILs:

• PowerBook and iBook: AC Adapter, Battery, and Recharger Identification
• iMac: Views of Ports, Connectors, and Controls
• Troubleshooting Unreliable Modem Connections
• Apple DVD Player 1.0: Limited to Region 1 DVD-Video Discs
• Final Cut Pro: Explanation of "Servo Can't Lock" Error message
• Mac OS X Server: How AppleFileServer Starts
• Apple Internet Server Solution: How to Serve Multiple Home Pages
• iMac: Use Mac OS Extended Format
• QuickTime Streaming Server 2.0: Setting up a Web Page to Show Streamed Media
• QuickTime 5 Public Preview: Final Cut Pro Compatibility Information