" I work for an Apple reseller, and we've been having trouble getting new orders for MacBooks and MacBook Pros shipped. All of our pending orders got pushed back to a 9/19 ship date -- all of them. If I had to guess, I'd say we're going to be seeing updated laptops on Monday or Tuesday.
Just a hunch... -Joseph "

I'd not be surprised (if at least the MacBook Pro was updated), since they already updated the iMac CPUs (and speed-bumped the Mini). Some readers thought the MacBook delay was due to fixing the "Random Shutdown" problem:

" I also work for an Apple dealer and we've heard the MacBooks are currently "allocated" due to Apple halting production because they*re working on the spontaneous shutdown problem - it might be alleviated in a week or two. And that "no other changes will occur to the MacBook or MacBook Pro line this calendar year."
Take it for what it's worth.
-DT "

Only Apple knows for sure but they revised the MacBook Pro motherboard several times (at least 4 times) earlier this year without any big delays. Although Apple no longer waits for the Expos to announce model changes, they may wait for the SF Expo before updating these. Personally I'd not be surprised to see at least a MacBook Pro upgrade before the holidays if they want to keep up with the PC side and stir up sales. (But for cost reasons, the MacBook may not get a Core2 in all models at least until the CPU prices fall, but this is all speculation.)

" I can confirm Portrait mode with the X1900XT
Here's some screen captures from Cinema Display 30" in portrait mode.
-Tom "

Nice mode for a 2-page centerfold...

"Regarding the ATI 1900XT issue with the 23 inch Cinema Display, I received the 1900XT today (ordered separately from the MacPro and received 9 days before Apple's estimated ship date). Replaced the stock 7300GT with the ATI card in a few minutes and everything on the Mac side was good to go. I've tested a few games and everything I have tested works well at 1920 x 1200 (or 1600 x 1200) with all of the settings at highest quality (Halo UB, Call of Duty 2, Doom 3 and Rise of Nations running in Rosetta). The exception to this is the recently released Universal Binary of Roller Coaster Tycoon 3. This game was working fine on the 7300 but with the 1900XT the game freezes several seconds after any tutorial or park is loaded. The mouse pointer moves but the sound stops and all animation stops. Tested this several times. I could not force quit out of the game either... had to do a hard restart. But it sure looked pretty for the couple of seconds it was running.

Now, onto the Windows issues. Attempting to reboot into Windows, the screen appeared to be receiving a signal but was completely dark. However, I could hear that Windows booted properly from the login sounds (I have autologin enabled in Windows). Tried swapping the video cable to the other port, no juice. Tried zapping the PRAM with command-option-p-r but this did not do anything to fix the problem for me.

I then attached a second monitor to the card, a 19 inch Samsung flat panel. Rebooting, the video appeared on the second monitor. After completing login to windows, the display was set to a low resolution. The Windows drivers and settings had not been changed from the 7300GT so it was seeing this as new hardware. However, the new hardware wizard was not able to find drivers for the 1900XT.

I had not yet installed the Boot Camp 1.1.1 driver cd, so I gave that a shot. After rebooting with both monitors still connected, I noticed that the initial Windows XP startup screen with the logo and blue progress animation was displayed on the second smaller monitor. Once the boot process reached the point after that where it sets the video to the higher resolution, the signal to the smaller monitor was dropped and the Cinema Display came to life, albeit at a much lower than native resolution. After reaching the desktop, Windows XP detected the 1900XT and made several of those hardware found boink sounds.

Once it was done with that, I opened the display options and switched it up to 1920 x 1200 without a problem. I then shut down the computer, disconnected the smaller monitor and restarted into Windows. The screen was totally black during the initial boot process but then came to life once the resolution was adjusted by Windows during the boot process up to the Cinema Display's native setting. I have now restarted back and forth across both OS X and Windows and other than the black screen during the initial Windows boot process, it works perfectly.

So, the problem (as others have stated) appears to be with ATI/Cinema Display combination not displaying the low standard resolution (640 x 480 ?) during boot. Installing the Boot Camp 1.1.1 drivers appears to be a solution but a second lower resolution display is needed to get to that point. It would be interesting to get some feedback from someone that had already installed the 1.1.1 boot camp drivers prior to switching from the 7300 up to the 1900XT to see if they avoided this issue from the start. I'd guess that anyone trying to do a new installation will be out of luck unless they have a second monitor lying around.
All in all, this was much easier to fix than the Slow SATA issue! Still a pain though.
Thanks, Andy"

" I have (X1900 kit) "unboxing" photos if you want them, by the way. The kit is very well packaged. This is one HUGE card. The fan on the X1900 is loud only during certain operations. In normal non-graphically demanding operation, it is reasonably quiet, but louder than the Mac's internal fans by a smidge. The 4 hard drives spinning almost drown the sound out. In game use, the fan spins up and is much louder, but not unpleasantly so. It doesn't sound like a "wind tunnel" or a "vacuum cleaner" at all; it sounds like a fast fan.
Overall, with the X1900 cranking along and all 4 drives going, I'd say subjectively the machine sounds still quieter than my old Dual G5 2.3 GHz PowerMac (with the standard video card). The same PowerMac with the Radeon 9800 Pro was MUCH louder.

(he later wrote)
OK, after some testing I too am having problems getting the X1900 to work in BootCamp. (No problems with OS X)
I could not install (Win XP) at all on the 23" ACD.
I -could- install on my 20" ACD, but only in port 2 (the right port if you are facing the computer), and only after a power down/restart.
If I restarted without powering down, I would boot to a black screen no matter what screen was on or what port it was plugged into.
I have found out that if you want to see any video in BootCamp at all, you -must- power down completely and then restart the machine.
I have not been able to get my 23" to work at all in Windows XP under Boot Camp, no matter what driver I try.
-Paul "

" I'm not using BootCamp, haven't even installed it, but I am having similar problems with Mac OS X itself on my new Mac Pro 3GHz with ATI X1900 XT.
I have a Dell 2405FPW (24") (1920x1200 native res, like 23in Cinema) as my primary monitor, and a Dell 2001FP (20") as my secondary monitor. Both are connected via DVI.
If I plug in the 24" into port 1 and the 20" into port 2, I see correct video on the 24", but a black screen on the 20". If I change resolution from 1600x1200 to 1280x1024 on the 20", I get video on the 20". I can then change resolution back to 1600x1200 and retain video on both monitors.
However, if I turn the 20" monitor off, when I turn it back on, it is black again, and stays that way unless I do the resolution change again. Note that the monitor detects a signal, different from when there is no signal at all - it is getting a black picture, and that's what it's displaying. This happens with a fresh out of the box install of Mac OS X, as I did a clean install on another partition to troubleshoot it.

Now, here's where it gets interesting. If I swap the connections - 24" to port 2 and 20" to port 1, keeping the 24" with the menu bar, then I get video on both monitors. However, I get black picture on both monitors during the entire boot sequence and do not see video until the login window appears. (after GUI/drivers are loaded) I can turn the monitors off and on after that point and continue to retain video. So, that's the setup I'm using, even though it is not ideal to not be able to see anything before the login window (thus, no BootCamp for me...)

On a possibly related note, if I start X11, the X11 server takes over the entire display, showing a gray checkerboard pattern as the background with no menu bar, no dock, nothing other than an xterm visible and accessible. If I command-Q, it will quit X11 and everything returns. It's like the X11 window manager is taking over and not merging with the Mac OS X desktop.

It seems like the ATI drivers and/or Mac Pro firmware and/or Mac OS X have some bugs to be worked out.
Thanks, Mike "

The 23in Cinema users yesterday mentioned trying both DVI ports on the card didn't help with the no video issue during boot before GUI/drivers are loaded.
A Mac Pro/X1900 owner using a Dell 30in Display said he's seeing the same problem:

" I've had the same problem as all of these people, but I own a dell 30".. The problem is the ati driver that apple's boot camp installs is that some how or another bad. (But the Windows XP ATI display driver is not loaded until later in the boot process. The 23in Cinema/X1900 XT user yesterday could not even install XP as it never showed any video during boot from the XP Install CD and after 5 minutes of waiting he gave up. -Mike) After you install it. all you get is a black screen. I believe windows xp actually boots. but something about installing the boot camp made drivers screws up the display card. (if there's a driver problem in windows (after it boots/loads the OS/drivers), try booting in "Safe" mode (F8 IIRC) if you can see the screen and then install the latest ATI drivers for XP.-Mike)
And this is only with the brand new ATI x1900. The geforce 7300 has no problem. So what I did was, download all the drivers for my network cards and the newest version of ati's drivers. And after xp windows was done installing (so I assume he either had video during XP Install CD or he installed it with the 7300 card, then swapped cards.-Mike), and before installing any of the boot camp drivers. I installed the drivers I downloaded myself. and since then I've had no troubles at all. Everything works fine. You really shouldn't install from the boot camp made cd. Just go and download the drivers and use those to make everything work. And if you need a list of the drivers and where they are, I can send that too you also.
(He later wrote)
Yes I had video during the install with the ATI 1900 card.... you must also make sure it's in the dvi slot farthest away from the side of the case. It works fine up to that point... it's only when I installed the boot camp made drivers... that I got a black screen... and it happened twice. Now there's a new boot camp out now vers. 1.1.1 this might have fixed the driver errors... But I'm not sure... the safe way to do it. Is to just down load your own drivers and install them by hand.
-Koji K "

The latest official drivers are at ATI's support site, although for the PC there's tons of sites with unofficial/beta or tweaked driver versions.

"Mike, AMUG has posted a review of the DAT Optic external SATA2 Hub.
This device allows users to connect up to 5 SATA devices to a single SATA host adapter port. In addition, this hub can be used to provide SATA PM capability to direct connect enclosures. Using the SATA2 hub is just like using a SATA PM enclosure. Now users have the option to use SATA PM or direct connect with the same enclosure. The article provides details on features, connections and performance. This is a very cool device for expanding SATA mounting options.
Have a great weekend,
Michael Bean
TEAM AMUG"

" Just to let you know, a (OS X) re-install from backup and re-installing QuickTime 7.1.3 and iTunes 7 did the trick -- DVDs play again from all player/burners. Am somewhat relieved to know the problem was probably just a "flipped bit" or something in the original software update download -- lucky me : )
Best, Byron "

He had previously tried reinstalling QT, repeatedly RP, etc. with no success. Another report today that the problem was fixed by simply repairing permissions:

" SONY DVD RW DW-Q28A in G5 dual 2.7 is also experiencing same problem since update. These were however DVD-Rs that I'd burnt that were not a problem before. Frustrating when Apple does things like these! - Simon
PS. My attached Pioneer (which was not turned on during the update) DVR-109 (not the one used to burn the DVD-Rs) however is working just fine in terms of compatibility.
(he later wrote)
Hi Mike, Permissions repair (repaired the Internet Bundle and various iTunes related) followed by a restart solved the problem. I don't see the relation but I'm glad things are working normally again. Thanks for your site!
Regards, Simon "

" Changes in Boot Camp 1.1.1 beta
Boot Camp 1.1 beta contains many updates and is intended for all new and previous Boot Camp beta users.

Boot Camp 1.1.1 beta includes:


• Support for the latest Intel-based Macintosh computers
• Easier partitioning using presets for popular sizes
• Ability to install Windows XP on any internal disk
• Support for built-in iSight cameras
• Support for built-in microphones
• Right-click when pressing the right-hand Apple key on Apple keyboards
• Improved Apple keyboard support including Delete, PrintScreen, NumLock, and ScrollLock keys

If you use this update, let me know of any improvements you see (include mac model info). Also interested if this fixes the Mac Pro onboard SATA DMA mode issue (not limited to slow PIO mode) without needing the previous fix (different drivers), although many readers already have used the previous fix. Thanks.
Update - a reader replied 1.1.1 beta doesn't fix the Mac Pro onboard SATA mode issue:

" Hi, the new version of BootCamp does not solve the problem of PIO mode on SATA drives. Or anyway did not on my MacPro 3.0/X1900/Three 500GB HDs.
I am not so interested in Win on my machine to make me create a new Win installer disk (i.e. DMA fix via slipstreamed drivers), that's why I just will wait for an official solution from Apple :-) Thanks for your site, very usefull.
Mario C.
Italy "

" Hey Mike,
My X1900XT Upgrade Kit for my mac Pro shipped today, estimated delivery on Monday. Can't wait! I ordered it August 29, and it's shown October 4 ship all along. Checked it on a whim today, and it showed shipped!!
-Vader "

I asked him to report back on performance when it arrived.
One reader however said his ship date has not been changed:

" On the subject of the x1900 (kit) upgrades shipping. I ordered mine August 18th. Still shows ship date of Sept. 25th. I think your reader budged in line. :-)
-Mike F. "

DVD+R/RW + DVD-R/RW Drives
• (2 reports on ) IDE Pioneer DVR-K06 in PowerBook G4 (OS X 10.4.7)
  (drive set to slave, although there's a previous article here on Cable mods to force master mode w/PowerBook G4 optical drives.)
  
  Hard Drives:
• Firewire (OWC and Mac Power cased) Seagate 400GB used w/Mac Pro Tower (OS X 10.4.7) (includes notes on performance tests FW800 vs 400 vs internal SATA)
• IDE (SerialATA onboard) Seagate 7200.10 750GB (multi-drive raid) in Mac Pro Tower (OS X 10.4.7)
• IDE (SerialATA onboard) Maxtor DiamondMax 10 300GB in G5 Tower (OS X 10.4.7)
• IDE (SerialATA onboard) Seagate ST9120821AS (Momentus 5400.2) 120GB in MacBook (OS X 10.4.7)

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). The database includes reports on DVD +/-R, CDRWs, Combo DVD-CDRW, DVD-ROM, Hard Drives and Removables (tape drive, ORB, ZIP, MO drives, NAS, CF/Smartmedia readers, etc.) in all interface types (IDE, IDE RAID cards, SATA, Firewire, SCSI, USB, adapters).
If you've added a IDE, SATA, Firewire, USB, or SCSI, hard drive, Optical drive/burner, NAS, tape drive, etc., send me the details for adding to the database.

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