I have to admit though that after installing ASM (apps switcher menu) with Jaguar that I'm much more productive in OS X than with just the Dock. (It's hard to break old habits.) And Jaguar has never crashed on me, where running OS 9 usually had OutLock Express freeze the system at least once every two days...if not more often. (Usually when previewing some HTML mail or spam.) Never had that problem with good old Emailer (RIP).

With about a $100 premium over the single 1GHz upgrades, for OS X and MP aware apps, the dual 800 may be a better choice (esp. for OS X and multitasking), but performance can vary depending on application and OS version. (See my 1GHz review for examples - in some cases the Dual G4/500 compared favorably to the single 1GHz - a dual 800 should do even better.) Also note if you see any wake from sleep issues in your report.

" Mike,
As mentioned yesterday, I attempted to run APPLE's 15" flat screen iMac firmware updater on my QuickSilver G4 with retail DVR-104 installed. No luck.

Last night, however, I downloaded the Apple A227 firmware updater from the site mentioned at XLR8yourmac http://www.wormintheapple.gr/macdvd/download.html and tried it on the same machine.
All of the updating and testing was done under Mac OS 9.2.2. I haven't booted into Jaguar just yet but I don't anticipate any problems.
(I wrote to verify he used the
http://195.134.134.27/downloads/macdvd/Pioneer_DVR-104_A227.bin
updater - see the readme file in the download. Note to FW drive owners - I tried this update to see if it would flash a Firewire DVR-104 drive and it didn't work - it must be for internal onboard IDE connected drives only-Mike)

BINGO! Success! The DVR-104 (purchased from ESBuy) installed in my QuickSilver G4 was updated to firmware version A227 and verified via Apple System Profiler and "Recorder Info" in Toast.

Since updating, I have not yet burned a DVD or tried to boot from a Mac OS CD. However, I have burned both a CD-R and a CD-RW with complete success. Also, CD's mount just fine and everything appears to be working perfectly normally. iDVD boots just fine as well. I doubt I will have trouble burning DVD-Rs and I don't want to "waste" one now to find out. I'll let you know if I encounter problems.

BTW, prior to updating, I always had "Drive Sleep" turned off in the Energy Saver control panel because, if the drives went to sleep, I was unable to open the DVD-R drive drawer once I woke the system up (the DVR-104 did not respond). After updating to A227, I set the energy saver drive sleep to 10 minutes and anxiously awaited the results. Bingo! Once I woke the drives up, the DVR-104 now responds normally and mounts CD's just fine. HOWEVER, if I force the system into sleep (using Sleep Now), the computer refuses to wake up at all, forcing a reboot. Very weird!

(Do you know if the forced sleep option is a problem with genuine Apple SuperDrives??)
Regards,
Mark "

The Apple "superdrive" is just a DVR-104 with OEM A series firmware - the flashed drive (assuming the firmware is identical) should perform the same.
FYI - If you're leery of using non-Apple updaters, as noted in yesterday's news - Apple's superdrive page at http://www.apple.com/hardware/superdrive/ mentions there's going to be a firmware update (to A227 I assume) for previous G4 Towers that shipped with superdrives w/older firmware. I do not know if Apple's firmware update for the DVR-104 drive when released will check for an existing 'A' series firmware before allowing a flash or not. (The original DVR-103/A03 superdrive Macs shipped with 1.xx firmware revs - but not sure what the plan is for those as far as Firmware updates from Apple. There are PC flashers for those to the latest 1.90 firmware however noted previously.)

" Kind of related to the item about the Formac Studio DV TV Software and Pro TV II PCI video card, there was a project on sourceforge to make a program and driver, at http://xtv.sf.net but it kind of died out.
Apple had a project once called AppleBt8xx which is on their CVS servers for opensource projects, but it too died out. I have a winTV PCI tv tuner by Hauppauge, and would love to see someone with experience start this back up. Can you post this so people might help?
Patrick "

As a FYI - I updated yesterday's news item to note Formac's comments that there was never any software to work with the PCI card in OS X. (Misunderstanding they said.)

CD-ROM Drive Reports
• SCSI AppleCD 300 Plus used w/Color Classic (OS 7.6)
  (listed under "other" brands and "Other" mac models)
  
  DVD-ROM Drive Reports:
• IDE Hitachi GD-3000 (6xDVD/32xCD) in PowerTower/Pro using IDE PCI card (OS 9)
• Firewire (IDE in FW case) Hitachi GD-3000 (6xDVD/32xCD) used w/G4 AGP (OS 9.2)
  
  DVD-R + DVD-RAM Drive Reports
• Firewire (IDE drive in FW case) Panasonic LFD-321U (2x DVD-RAM) used w/Dual G4 (OS X)
  
  DVD-R DVD Recorder Drive Reports
• IDE Pioneer DVR-104 in G4/AGP (OS X)
  
  Combo DVD-CDR Drive Reports
• IDE LG LG 4320B (32x10x40x +16x DVD-ROM) in Dual G4 (OS X)
  (modified iTunes support plugins available in FAQ here)
  
  IDE CDRW Drive Reports:
• Lite-On LTR-40125S (40x12x48x) in Dual G4 DDR (OS X)
• Samsung SW-224B 24x10x40x in G4/AGP (OS X)
  (modified plugin files for OS 9 to Jaguar are in FAQ. Noted drive not recognized after wake from sleep in Jaguar.)
• Teac CD-W54E 4x4x32 in Beige G3 (OS 9.2)
  (FYI - Illustrated CD drive install guide here covers G4 towers up to the Digital Audio Model, Beige G3 MT, B&W G3 and 8600/9600 Macs.)
  
  IDE Hard Drive Reports:
• Maxtor 7200RPM 120GB in G4/AGP (OS X)
  (Illustrated guide to adding a 2nd HD here in B&W G3 rev2 to G4 QS models)
• Seagate ST380021a 80GB in G4 Cube (OS X)
  
  Firewire Hard Drive Reports:
• AcomData HD040FE-CU 40GB used w/G4 Cube (OS X)
  (listed under "other" brands)
  
  SCSI Hard Drive Reports:
• IBM DNES-30917 9.1GB in Beige G3 (OS 9.2)

You can find full owner reports (latest shown first) by searching the database by drive/brand/interface/mac models (the latest reports are shown first in searches). For guides to installing CD/CDRW/DVD drives or Hard drives in many mac models, see the IDE Articles page. The Firewire articles page also has guides on case kits, installing drives, etc.
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. [If you post an updated entry - make sure you use the same name, etc. as you did before so I can find your past entry. Thanks.]
(Entries today will be added the following newsday. Incomplete entries are deleted. Do not post questions in the database, it's for drive reports not questions on what drive to buy - for that try searching the database for reports from owners of your mac model on the drive type/brand/interface, etc. you're interested in.)

• Other World Computing G4/500 in Beige G3 (rated 8)
• Other World Computing G4/550 in B&W G3 (rated 9)
• Sonnet G4 1GHz in G4/AGP (rated 10)
• Sonnet G4 1GHz in G4/AGP (rated 10)
• XLR8 CarrierZIF MPe w/ G4/450 ZIF in 8600 (rated 1)

(Warning - Overclocking may not be reliable and could lead to hardware failure or corrupted data.) You can find the 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 for entries from most every upgradable Mac model *before* you buy. (Searchable by mac model/upgrade brand). For detailed reviews with performance tests and install tips, see the CPU Upgrades page.)

• 1 year ago today
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