" I installed 8.6 on Saturday during it's short appearance on the FTP. All seemed well. Yesterday I went out and purchased a Keyspan 2 port USB card and an Agfa 1212u scanner. I'm happy to report that they both work PERFECTLY.

Ask the people with problems this:
Are the USB drivers 1.0 or 1.1 [OS 8.6 installs v1.2 I thinkt-Mike]
Is it the 4 or 2 port USB card?
Are they sure it is firmly seated in the slot?
Are there ANY other USB drivers NOT from Keyspan installed?

I am running the card and scanner on a Beige G3/266 MiniTower.
Mark Tuleweit
Byte Media

" Mike,
Apparently if you are using the older DDK (USB 1.1) it will no longer work in 8.6. You must update to the release version of USB 1.2 aka USB DDK 1.2f7.

The USB DDK 1.2 appears to be specifically designed for 8.6. I was having various kinds of problems with DDK 1.2 in 8.5.x that I eventually resolved by making the USB extentions load first. But in 8.6, none of this was needed. Also the problem that I had had in one of the 8.6 betas were the Logitech MouseWare software would cause a hard freeze when doing a click-drag appears to be resolved by the final of 8.6.
Lee Eichelberger "

"Hi Mike:
If the new USB DDK was installed as part of the update [OS 8.6 installs USB v1.2 I just found out-Mike], the problem is that the USB Support extension needs to be modified with Res Edit to add a USBX resource with an ID of 1984.
John Hellow"

Brett Sheppeard wrote that perhaps the Apple USB Mass Storage 1.3 Update might help (requires USB V1.2 installed by OS 8.6).

Speed Doubler Settings Tip/Finder CPU Usage Note: [Update - two readers say disabling 'faster file copy' solved their problems] This reader notes that not having Speed Doubler set to always active may fix the shutdown problem reported earlier, and an interesting comment on increased Finder CPU cycle usage:

" 8.6 and Speed Doubler I have not had the quit problem you reported. However, I have set my speed doubler preferences so Speed Doubler is not always active (ie, it loads into Ram, does its copying, then leaves ram). If Speed Doubler is active all the time then possibly the quit problem could occur.

8.6 and Initio Miles. I am using Initio's latest Bios *I think it is version 1.8 [latest Firmware-Mike]. So far the 8.6 drives (ultrascsi) connected to it have worked fine with the 8500 and Initio Miles.

8.6 and some applications; performance of the apps deteriorates.

The new multiprocessing provides more time to the finder at the expense of other applications. MOVIE FLO is particularly hard hit - rendering times worsen by at least 50% from earlier systems. Quitting the finder while Movie Flo is working restores Movie Flos' speed. There may be problems with other applications as well.

Cheers...and thanks for posting other info. Very useful to know!
Kurt Wiley "

Connectix Reply on Speed Doubler and CVGS:

"Concerning Speed Doubler and the shut down issue, we can't reproduce that problem here. Works as it should. Can you have your reader send the specifics of his system ...?

Concerning CVGS AutoLauncher, we can't reproduce that either. Does the CVGS AutoLauncher extension load? You may want to remind users the 1.0 CD doesn't have the AutoLauncher and they'll need to run the 1.2 Updater to use that feature. For further CVGS tech stuff, Paul is the QA lead for the Mac version.
John Malm
Connectix Quality Assurance (Virtual PC) "

Entegra USB Card Works:

"Mike - I'm using the Entegra USB card with no problem on my Beige G3 with 8.6. Make sure the people having problems correctly hacked the extensions as per the READ ME and are using the latest 1.2f7 DDK. Apple shows that the final 1.2 DDK is available but the file is not in the directory that the link is pointing to. FYI - I have an EPSON 740 and the Gravis USB Gameprad Pro connected to the card. -Dan"

I didn't think the Keyspan card needed the hacked USB drivers, but wondered if today's USB update would help.

Epson Twain Driver/HP 455CA RIP/ATM 4.0 Deluxe/ATR 2.0 w/Asian language Screen Font:

"Hi Mike,
UMAX 900/528MB RAM/Newertech G3 250/166/1MB/TT4MB/AttoSCSI/Kingston 10/100

I have only three "issues" with Mac OS 8.6. The TWAIN driver for my Epson ES-1200C is broken, and my HP DesignJet 455CA RIP is broken. Both of these work fine when I boot from my 8.1 partition, and my other printer (a QMS 860) works just fine in 8.6. I have the most current drivers from Epson and HP.

I got the HP RIP to work after I installed LW 8.5.1 on the 8.6 partition. I'm sure it's HP's problem.

The scanner issue is perplexing... I use Typereader Pro for OCR. Its driver is an extension selected in the Chooser. It works fine. It's the TWAIN driver that's the problem. It's broken whether it's used as a stand-alone app or as a plug-in in Photoshop 5.0. Got any suggestions? To scan, I have to restart with my 8.1 partition.

The only other 'glitch' is with ATM 4.0 Deluxe/ATR 2.0... they REALLY don't like the Asian language Screen Font set - I thought they would look cool on Asian webpages - I removed them and things got better. I crashed (Type 2)Pagemaker 6.5 several times in rapid succession discovering this problem, but ONLY the application!!! It didn't bring the system down. That was nice.

Nice feel to it though. It's smoother. Things are 'snappy'.
Best OS Ever. Period.
Dave Cargill MacOS user since 1985"

OS 8.6 Cooler Running: Eugene Shekhtman reports that since upgrading to OS 8.6 his G3 Mac seems to run cooler according to Speedmeter's temperature reporting. As noted in yesterday's news Powerbook battery life is also said to be extended which makes me wonder if the OS does some sort of processor cycling. Gene writes:

" ...downloaded system 8.6 last night... Here is a thing that you might find interesting: the Speed Meter 1.5.1 utility used to show my CPU (266/512) running at 47 C under normal conditions; now that temperature is down to 43 C under the same conditions. I wonder if Apple's claims that Powerbooks run cooler under 8.6 has something to do with the fact that the G3 is given more time to idle. Interesting.
Gene "

When I install the upgrade tonight I want to check the Energy Saver settings to see if cycling is enabled by default on the Powerbook.

Artz II Wacom Tablets:

"The older artZ II Wacom 6x8 drawing tablets do not work on 2 seperate G3 300 with 8.6 here at work. This with the newest drivers from Wacom. It is very sloppy and out of control at times. The new intuos seems to be fine. let me know if you hear of a fix or anything.
Ryan H. "

Speed Doubler ShutDown Issue:

"I have a new problem with OS 8.6 which I have run across. When trying to do a shutdown or restart I receive the following error:

"The computer cannot restart because one of the running applications would not quit. Try switching to the remaining applications and choosing Quit from the file menu"

There was no application open so I had to do a little digging. After playing extenstion tag I have found the offending application to be SpeedDoubler 8.1.2. Disabling the application will allow my machine (Power Computing PowerCurve 120) to restart or shutdown.

All other applications on my system are running without a hitch. So far so good the update really has helped with the IP problems I was noticing on our network.
Thanks Apple keep it up.
Doug Ly "

Readers reported the same problem recently in the news with the beta and GM of OS 8.6 (last week's news I believe). Yet I believe others said it was OK but can't remember now (too many hundreds of mails ago :-)

2nd Sonnet Cresendo Crash Report:

"reporting (or confirming)
sonnect cresendo cards extension caused lock up in our Powerbase 240 (mini tower)
danyna port ethernet card (10bt) works fine, it is the only other "foreign" object. otherwise no other crashes...yet.. : ) S. Foster"

SoftArc's First Class Email Client Crashes: (Update - a PB3400 owner reported the appl ran fine on his machine. Perhaps extensions related?]

"There have been some reports of SoftArc's email client FirstClass crashing upon launch. I can certainly confirm this on my G3 400 Blue and White. I don't have any solutions yet, nor has SoftArc posted anything on it.
Tony Sheets"

Keyspan USB Card Issues: [Update - many card owners say they are running with no problems, even those who installed the card after the OS 8.6 update. None used a Logitech mouse or software however.] Two readers report problems after the update. The latest report includes a note that removing and reinserting the mouse helped:

"Hello Mike,
I have a PowerTowerPro 250 and a PowerMac 7500 upgraded to 604e 225MHz. The PowerTower has 128MB of RAM and the 7500 has 64MB of RAM. I installed OS 8.6 on both machines, the PowerTower just recieved an "over the top install" where the 7500 got a clean install of 8.5, then upgaded to 8.5.1 and finally upgraded to 8.6.

I had a Keyspan 2 port USB card installed on the Powertower with a Logitech mouseman wheel USB mouse. The combination worked fine prior to installing 8.6. However, after upgrading to 8.6 and rebooting I got an error dialog after the bootup process was complete. It stated;

"The USB device 'Unkown Device' cannot operate because it needs more power than is available."

Is that bizzare or what? The only workaround I have figured out is to unplug and replug the mouse into the Keyspan card. It used to crash the computer to do that, now it activates the mouse...hmm.

Well I had been meaning to transfer the card and mouse to my 7500 as its my "surfing machine" and the wheel is quite nice for that. I was hoping it was just a problem with my powertower as it tends to be a little on the flaky side sometimes. Well, the exact same thing has happened on it also.

Everything else seems to work great, the ATI rage II card in the powertower seems significantly faster and the 7500 internal video does seem a little faster. Other than that I can't see much difference with the upgrade.

Let me know if anyone else has experienced this or knows of a fix. I'm firing off emails to both logitech and keyspan shortly...
Thanks, Paul B."

[2nd Report]

"Hi Mike,
Keyspan's USB PCI card doesn't seem to work with 8.6. After installing 8.6 and rebooting, an error message that 'there is not enough power for USB device unknown' (or something along that line). I'm not sure if it's Keyspan or Gravis' gamepad pro that's the problem. Rick"

If anyone has a fix or workaround please contact me.

Boot From OS 8.5 CD Tip/Locked Folder Names:

"Here is my expierences with installing OS 8.6. First time I ran it, it would update the hard drive drivers, and check the hard drive, but would crash before it installed everything. I ended up having to boot from the 8.5 cdrom, then install it. I have a Beige G3, but perhaps the problem lies with my USB card.

After I installed I found I could not rename these folders: "Mac OS Read Me Files" , "Apple Extras" and "Installer Logs." This was annoying since I wanted to label some of them as 8.6, so I had to make new folders and then move the data then trash the originals. What could be the reasoning behind locking those folders... wouldn't it make more sense to lock "System Folder" or "Extensions" or something?

I looked around for some sort of settings or something that would turn off this, but could find none. Obviously this is a minor annoyance, but I dislike it when my computer essentially tells me what I can and cannot do with certain files on the hard drive.
Charlie Ruggiero"

Apple Video Player/TV playback Fix: [Updated for fix from same reader]

" I reinstalled 8.6 and had my Apple Video Player app on the root level of the "Applications" folder and the installer correctly changed it to version 1.7.3. I then reinstalled the ATI Video Memory Manager from 8.5 that was removed by 8.6. It now works correctly and I can even use millions of colors for the first time ever.
Andy Nelson "

Sonnet PCI G3 Upgrade OK/Desktop Printer Extension: (Perhaps the earlier report of Sonnet extension freezes were from a Nubus model or different version of the extension)

"Mike:
Once I successfully completed a down load, after thirty or so tries, 8.6 installed without a hitch. Installed on a PM 8500, Sonnet G3 265/133/1M, Jackhammer UW. I have had no problems with the Sonnet card or with Norton Utilities. Also, I haven't noticed reduced resolution formats during startup that some folks have seen, 832 X 624 at 75 Hz is my normal screen resolution.

The installation instructions say that 8.6 is not compatible with the "Desktop Printer" extension, and that it should be removed from the active extention folder. I may have missed something in previous versions, but I don't recall ever seeing an extention with exactly that name. Spooked by the recommendation, I disabled the similarly named "Desktop Print Monitor" and "Desktop Print Spooler" extensions when I first booted up. After I was up and running with my preferred extentions (and the new "Sprocket" extentions I don't need here at work disabled) I added back the "Desktop Print Monitor" and "Spooler" extentions and tried to break the system by using the desktop mode of printing to each of the seven types of printers we have here on the network as well as to a connected directly LaserWriter 4/600. No problems occurred.
Thanks for a Great Site!
Louis R. Jaeger
Senior Managing Engineer
Systems and Technology Division
Science Applications International Corp"

Norton Utils Comments:

"Hi Mike, just updated with 8.6 and the first thing I always do is run Norton's after the update. Worked fine and reported only minor errors

Minor errors were found in the files listed below. The custom icon bit is on, but should be off.(15,2,11) The problem was fixed.
Déjà Vu:System Folder:Internet Search Sites:AmazonBooks.src
Déjà Vu:System Folder:Internet Search Sites:AmazonMusic.src

I will assume that 8.6 installed new sherlock src's for Amazon and Nortons and reported the bundle bits were on and should be off. Other than that it ran fine. Of course, who knows for sure if Norton's is ACTUALLY doing what it should with 8.6? I assume Symantec will provide info on the reliability of NUM with 8.6.
Keep up the great work. hope you and your wife are well,
Regards, Neil
PPC 8600/300 "

Twin Turbo/ATI RageII Comments:

"Umax S900 w Newer G3 upgrade running at 300/200/50 and Adaptec UW2940 SCSI board (still running powerdomain vers. 3 firmware). Update to OS 8.6 went without a hitch. Dragged a copy of current system folder over to another partition, installed, changed startup disk to appropriate disk, restarted. Worked flawlessly.

Seems snappier. Not dramatically different though. The Twin Turbo board is slower than with 8.5.1. I suspected that it just needed the twin turbo 4.0.6 reinstalled, but that didn't really help. Norton sys info claims that the video performance dropped from 395 to only 202. It doesn't seem that much slower, but it is noticeable. The ATI board Rage II driving my second monitor is now significantly faster than the TT, and that's just not right.

When I ran Norton, it claimed that I had to have the norton libraries in the extension folder OR inside the Norton Folder. So I put the library in the Norton folder, and was able to run Norton without restarting!

Anyway, in the last 6 hours, have had two crashes. Both occurred running Beta Quake with Beta Mesa drivers [for 3fdx voodoo2 card], so I can't really complain.
Great site, Mike. Thanks.
Ashby"

XLR8 Cache Control 1.3.1 OK:

"Hi Mike!
Just downloaded 8.6 from Download.com. Thanks for the tip. Much faster download than from Apple. Installation was a snap. No problems at all. I'm using a XLR8 400/200 on my 8500/120 (at 454/181) with version 1.3.1 of the control panel and can't verify the incompatibility reports re 1.3.1.

MB 5.0 reports lower CPU score (1393 vs. 1410 with 8.5.). Other scores same or slightly improved. Let's see whether system stability is improved....
Michael Gordner"

Sherlock not updated if moved from default location:

"If you move Sherlock from it's default location the 8.6 updater will not update it nor will it install the newer version. This actually seems like a bug to me. I think the 8.5.1 did the same thing. Most items if you've moved them the installer is smart enough to update them in their new location or it just installs a new version where the old one was originally. I noted this was mentioned in a few forums as well as on xlr8yourmac.
Josh Grigonis"

PL Cache Control 1.5.1 Working: Contrary to previous reports on problems (confirmed by PL) this reader says he had no problems:

"Just did the 8.6 upgrade last night. I have a J700 with a PL 220/110 clocked up to 320/127. No problems with the PL Cache Control 1.51 as reported by others. Suspect that the problem may be interaction with something else. Also use a cable modem and 8.6 does seem to have rectified the DHCP startup delays. Seems zippier over all, especially background tasks which I chalk up to the new nanokernel. However, I do notice that menus still drag background processes to a halt even with the new kernel! As always, great site!
Adam Glick "

OS 8.6 Networking Issue with Older Macs: Pat Lee of Dantz wrote about the following issue:

"Mike, Now that Apple has 'officially' announced Mac OS 8.6, we can discuss a networking problem on all the PowerSurge based machines (the original PCI Macs and clones). We have released a tech note discussing the issues and the released fix that Apple released with Mac OS 8.6. You may want to update any affected machines with this new update. For more, see the following URL:
www.dantz.com/technical_support/technotes/tn-414.html
Pat Lee
Dantz
[Tech note info follows:]

NETWORKING PROBLEM WITH PRE-G3 PCI-BASED MACS

This technical note discusses a networking problem with the original PCI-based Mac OS computers that affects Retrospect and other network applications.

Background

Customers have reported network communication failures when performing Retrospect backups using TCP/IP network transfers. We investigated these problems and found there is a problem with built-in Ethernet on all non-G3 PCI-based Mac OS computers. (A complete list of computers affected by this problem appears at the end of this document.)

The problem tends to occur during large data transfers on a busy network. The symptoms are a network communication failure followed by complete loss of all networking on affected computers. Affected computers may also crash while restarting or shutting down after the network failure.

While Retrospect can trigger the problem during network backups, it is not the ultimate cause. The networking problem also occurs with the Finder and AppleShare IP during large data transfers on busy networks.

Solutions

One solution is to upgrade to Mac OS 8.6. The Apple Enet extension (version 2.1.2) included with Mac OS 8.6 fixes the problem. Mac OS 8.6 Update is a free update for Mac OS 8.5 customers and it is available from: http://asu.info.apple.com

If you have computers which are not officially supported by Mac OS 8.6 (for example, Mac clones) or you do not have enough memory or disk space to run Mac OS 8.6, you have two choices:

- Install and use third-party Ethernet cards, which do not have this networking problem.

- Use Mac OS 8.1, remove its 'Ethernet (Built-In)' extension and replace it with the new 'Apple Enet' extension from Mac OS 8.6. Though this combination is not supported by Apple, our extensive testing found the Apple Enet extension (version 2.1.2) solves the problem on affected computers running Mac OS 8.1.

Affected Computers

Following is a list of computers known to be affected by this networking problem.

Apple Power Macintosh 7200, 7215, 7300, 7500, 7600, 8200, 8500, 8515, 8600, 9500, 9515, 9600 Workgroup Server 7250, 7350, 8550, 9650

DayStar Genesis MP, Millennium

Power Computing PowerCenter, PowerCenter Pro, PowerCurve, PowerTower, PowerTower Pro, PowerWave

UMAX/SuperMac J700, S900, S910 "

DHCP Settings:

"I read somewhere that setting tcp to DHCP or a cable modem helped. With Mac 8.6 it slows down start up, launch of NN 4.5, and then it cannot find homepage. Set it back to ethernet-built-in.

Otherwise, 8.6 is so far, so good; no, that's so far, so great!
Dave Schultz"

Improved Macbench Scores:

"Hi Mike,
Enclosed are the Macbench 5 files for my system before and after the upgrade to OS 8.6

System:
7600/pl G3220:110 clocked to 313:125/240MB/Ultimate rez on main screen (tested)

The graphics/pubgraphics scores from OS 8.6 are similar to scores from an xlr8 366/183 card that I tried in my system with OS 8.5.1! Now THIS is a new computer for $99 bucks =)
Cheers
Byron Franek "

Desktop/DFA Problems Fixed: This reader reports a longstanding problem was resolved:

"Mike-
We were talking earlier about a problem I was having with Disk First Aid. I installed 8.6 and the problem disappeared (JIC: Every time the machine crashed, DFA would destroy my desktop file). Thanks for you help.
--Nelson Abramson "

iMac/OS X/RC5 Comments:

"Hi Mike,
Ok, my feedback... I've been running it for a while now, I've had no major software incompatibilities. It also installed fairly easy. I've performed the upgrade a few times on various machines, and it's seemed to have replaced all of the right files (a nice switch from a few of the last OS upgrades, which have been a little rocky to say the least).

PMac9600/300 128 RAM. Running Fine. Access through Adaptec 2940UW (Not L2) seems fine. RAID array is working fine. So are the rest of the drives. Drivers for the ATI XClaim VR needed to be reinstalled after the OS as the default Apple Drivers don't handle them properly (they're not the Standard Apple cards, they're just regular retail cards. Using the 'Universal Installer' works fine, and brings graphics performance up to spec where it should be.)

Software Incompatibility: RC5 Can not initialize the TCP/IP stack for some reason. [See Fix above -Mike] It keeps screaming about being unable to find OpenTransport or MacTCP. This is the only glitch I've found.

iMac Rev B: No problems. Seems to be about the same.

iMac Rev B BLUE BOX: Seems fine. When running Blue Box in the background (running OS X) it seems to use a little less processor than 8.5.1 did. (I've seen it go as low as 72% in the back ground, where before it rarely dropped below 80% or so.) It seems a little 'nicer' in the background than it used to be.

I've got two other machines to put it on. Will let you know how that goes here soon. Be nice if it allowed me to do background tasks while watching DVDs on my G3.
Rob Thiemann"

Virtual PC Owners: The Product manager of Virtual PC writes that v2.1.3 is required for OS 8.6 compatibility.

"Hi Mike,
I thought I'd pass along a Virtual PC tip for people updating to MacOS 8.6. You must update to the current version (2.1.3) of Virtual PC for 8.6. Versions 2.1.1 and earlier are not compatible. The good news is that 8.6 fixes the incompatibility some users experienced printing from VPC with desktop printing enabled. The URL for the VPC updater is: http://www.connectix.com/html/vpc_updates.html
Best,
Kathy Westergaard
Product Manager, Virtual PC
Connectix Corporation "

Sonnet G3 card Issues:

"Hi there. Tried to install 8.6 onto main HD after starting up from second HD. Halfway thru install system freezes. Corrupts main HD. (Thank god I did that backup before I installed). Erased main HD. Installed 8.5 from disk, same with 8.5.1. Restart. Cool A.O.K!! Install Sonnet Cresendo 300/512k G3 extension and wham bam thankyou....oh shoot FROZEN.....Again.....FROZEN....One more restart, just for kicks........FROZEN. Called Sonnet, left sarcastic message with tech support. So I guess I'll be running of the ole secondary HD for now. Just thought Id let u know.
Thanks for the great site I'm there every day.
Tom Zappala "

More MP System Feedback: Note the comment on Ult. Rez control panel:

"I have an 8600/200MP now running the official 8.6. Everything pretty much fine.

I have a ultimate rez video card that works as before (not exceptionally hot but I found dropping the control panel into the extensions folder solved a problem with qt acceleration not really being enabled)

My hammer card with a Soft Raid array of Atlas III's and another array of Medallist pros. it seems fine.

MP basically works but as you know daystar's utilities are basically out for now. When they get a version of power control greater than 2.0 I will use my paid download slot to get it but for now I can't explore what both CPU's are doing with a cool startrack interface or any other way. I really do think MP is doing something quite different, Startup times seem way down in 8.6 but MP apps don't quite have the same kick as before. The MP card I have is a Techworks one and it works fine with the "Apple CPU plug ins" that replace the older HAL files, probably because it is essentially the same as the old apple dual processor cards. that seems to be what daystar basically needs to make is a new CPU plug-in, or hardware description for your quad machine.

the only application besides the daystar ones I've seen that doesn't work is "desktop resetter" but I replaced that with a startup script.

As always thanks for the great site,
Josh Lewis"

XLR8 Cache Control 1.3 OK: This reader reports XLR8's 1.3.0 cache control is compatible, a previous report said 1.3.1 wasn't:

" Mike, thank you for the site.
Just wanted to tell you that 8.6 works without problems with XLR8 MACh Speed G3 1.3.0 (control panel) and MACh Speed G3 Extension. No incompatibilities at all.
Regards, Martin Claesson "

MP Cards: Since Macbench is not MP 'aware' it will not use the 2nd CPU. With extensions disabled the MP lib is likely not being loaded, but Macbench would not take advantage of the 2nd CPU regardless. His report of lower CPU scores might indicate more 'overhead' from the 2nd CPU in 8.6 or just a run to run variation.:

"Mike, Since 8.6 is supposed to support SMP, I thought I would test it out. Using a 9600/200 MP, I benchmarked 8.5.1 (with extensions off) and got a score of 361. I tried it with 8.6 (with extensions off) and got a score of 351. I used MB 4.
If 8.6 does support SMP, it is not indicated by MB 4. I imagine some other type of testing is needed.

Tom
[He later replied:}
I tried it with the standard system extensions "on" and got the same results."

I think it would take a complete rewrite of the OS for a true SMP kernel but dual CPU cards with MP aware apps are supposed to get a boost in OS 8.6 with the improved 'microkernel'. I wish they would fix the Quad CPU issue however, as I have a Quad 180 Genesis here (built from parts). I assume the main event loop is still not PowerPC native (the most often executed OS loop). That's holding back our hardware (I've heard the reasons why it can't be native but regardless it's a big negative).

Reports on Techtool, Speedmeter Issues, System Profiler Comments:

"Hi Mike, a little 8.6 feedback:
I installed 8.6 on a Beige G3 desktop with 128mg RAM and VM 'off'. I also have QT4 and the OpenGL drivers installed. The actual install was very fast.

1) TechTool won't "analyze system" anymore - no surprise (it will need a 8.6 update).

2) Powerlogix SpeedMeter 1.3 crashed my Mac hard - I tried it again and it did not crash but behaved a little strange (temp fluctuations).

3) Sherlock window is NOT resizable [??-Mike]

4) System profiler - Now shows the total amount of VRAM just below RAM and L2 cache size.

5) Start up - the screen seems to stay at the smilely Mac longer. Total boot time about the same. One other thing I noticed - if you try to do a Re-build Desktop, you have to wait until the Smilely Mac appears otherwise I got a total white screen, if you wait for the Smilely Mac to appear and then start a Re-build Desktop everything is OK.

6) VGS - Cd's won't auto boot, I've seen this before, I'm not sure what causes this. I can probably fix it.

System seems snappy, but not much different. No problems getting on the internet or using eMail.
AMM"

If anyone else can verify compatibility with Connectix Virtual Game Station please contact me.

Adam Dluzniewski reported a clean install fixed the problems he had on a B&W G3 previous reported.

A 'fix' on the resolution switching issue at boot:

" Running 8.6 on a Powermac 7600, upgraded with an XLR8 233g3 card running at 266/133, 296mb RAM, Truevision Targa 2000 video capture card, ATI Xclaim VR

My system seems to be running smoother under 8.6, but not noticeably faster. Animations (such as opening finder drawers) are smoother and menus open faster.

My Targa card needed to have its firmware upgraded to run correctly (finder windows had corrupt scrollbars). The Xclaim VR card has similar problems, but no bios upgrade appears to be available.

After upgrading to 8.6 I had the flashing monitors problem (all monitors would flicker off then back on after the boot splash screen appears.

I fixed this by running the "Monitors" control panel to set the resolution to something that could be stored in PRAM (any resolution appearing in the Monitors control panel can be stored in PRAM). I then set "Monitors & Sounds" to match.

It seems Monitors and Sounds enables resolutions not available to the Mac at startup. When Monitors and Sounds loads at startup, it changes the resolution to match its settings.
Tom Fisher "

2940U2W SCSI card/HDT 3.0 RAID OK in Beige G3:

" Mike,
I too was one of the few lucky ones that was able to grab 8.6 while it was there [than goodness for cable modems :) ]. Updated my Beige G3/400 (via Zif upgrade), 448MB this morning without any problems. Whole upgrade process took about <5 minutes :-)). I'm running an Adaptec 2940U2W with firmware revision 1.0.2f3 along with a pair of Seagate 10K 9 gig Cheetahs. I use FWB's HDT 3.0.x RAID software with the Cheetahs striped in two 4.5 gig partitions. So far I've seen no compatibility problems. I use the recommended boot from CD installation approach.
-Walt. "

PowerForce Cache Control 1.5.1 incompatibility:

" i managed to install 8.6 and there seems to be an incompatibility with Powerlogix Cache Control 1.5.1 and the XLR8 1.3.1 software. it locks up my machine as soon as either the XLR8 extension loads [you should not run both - and other readers report XLR8 1.3.0 worked fine-Mike], or the Powerlogix control panel loads. my workarounds were to move the powerlogix control panel to the startup items folder and manually enable the cache after the boot completed, or to use the Rail Gun 1.5:1 fixed ratio extension. I set the file type of the Rail Gun extension to "scri" and got it to load first ( not really necessary, but enabling the backside cache early in the boot seems to speed up the boot process). havent tried the powerjolt software yet. SpeedMeter 1.2, 1.3, and 1.3.1 hang the system when you launch them here are the system specs:
Apple B&W G3 300, Powerlogix G3 333/222 ZIF @350/233, OS 8.6, 256mb of ram, DVD drive, Maxtor 13gb master/ Quantum 6gb slave on the UDMA/33 bus.
great site, keep up the good work! -Ken "

Zapping PRAM may be required:

" Mike,
I downloaded 8.6 and installed it on my Platinum G3/266 MT (overclocked to 300) with 96 MB RAM. When booting, OS 8.6 will hang on the happy mac until I reset the PRAM (Apple-Option-P-R), theproceedll procede to boot. I also have Mac OS X Server installed on another partition, so that may be contributing to the problem too.

Other than that, seems to be a very minor update over 8.5, but it does seem much snappier in its interface, although multitasking is just as crappy as any OS before 8.6.
- Doug E. "

SpeedStartup/Intitio Miles/Softraid OK, Waking from Sleep Fixed, DVDTuneUp comments:

" I did not do a clean install but did run Disk Warrior and TechTools Pro before attempting the install. I did the install running off off an 8.5 system disk. No problems were reported with those utility programs before or after the install.

I did not mount my external RAID0 during the install fearing that upgradeuld uprade the raid's drivers along with the Apple internal drive. I did upgrade Conflict Catcher, but waited to add SpeedStartup until after the install. SpeedStartup is saving me 39 seconds on my startups.

Oddly enough when I launched the the IE downloaded Apple .smi file RealPlayerG2 ran and the computer froze. After a forced re-boot the 8.6 download was available and the install proceeded without a problem. I did notice my sound levels were at a zero state right after the install. This was easily readjusted.

All of my regular internet software ran after the update without problems. Nothing was changed via TCP/IP, and my cable modem ran fine.

I'm running a G3 Beige with a 400mhz upgrade ZIF [Powerlogix] and 288 physical RAM. I don't run VM. So far I've found no problems running a MacGurus built RASoftRaidg SoftRAInitio MilesIntioMiles UW SCSI card. Slight problem with DVD-RAM TuneUp for the external Lacie DVD-RAM. I had to do a reinstall. I assume Apple's driver might have been overtaking DVD-RAM TuneUp. I ended up having to do a custom reinstall because DVD-Write (a component of DVD-RAM TuneUp wouldn't install (I got an error message). The externalh extneral PCMCIA/SmartCard Reader with FormatterFive works fine.

While things seem a little faster after the 8.6 install I can't really say I'm seeing anything spectacular, although stability does count in my book. Wasn't this supposed handle multiple applications better? I still get slow downs between applications as I print, use IE 4.5 or write to the DVD-RAM. Do applications have to be re-written to take advantage of 8.6? [Not that I know of]
Bill Hennan

[He later replied] I just wanted to let you know that my "Sleep" now works on the G3 beige 400 Mhz ZIF. I couldn't get the computer to wake up using Apple's sleep or third party sleep. Now it works! "

PowerWave 150/Newer Tech G3 card OK:

" Downloaded 8.6 from FTP3 Apple site last night. Running great with my Newer G3 400/200/1M upgrade in my PowerComputing PowerWave 150. No probs in any apps really. Noticed a "staggered" sort of pausing in AOL Instant Messenger but overall it seems very stable in all apps. PS5, Ill8, GoLive, AOL4, Netscape4.5.

Only issue was in my ISDN and I only had to reset the modem and life was good.

For good measure, after installing, I zapped PRAM, Rebuilt d/t, ran Norton and Disk Warrior and then SpeedDisk.

I've been a happy camper since. Marked improvement in speed in processor based apps. I'm esp. aware since my upgrading w/ the Newer Card. Memory management seems better as well.
Regards, Daniel East "

DHCP Problem Fixed, B&W G3 won't boot after Update: [Update -see below for reader note the DHCP issue reappears on a forced restart]

" Hi Mike,
Few loose comments on 8.6.
I am running the official Dev seeded GM version of 8.6. There is a problem between version 1.5.1 of Power Logix G3 Cache Control Panel. It freezes at startup, if you disable it and try to manually enable the cache after boot it freezes also. [Odd - one other owner just reported it worked that way-Mike] I went back to 1.4.1 which seems to be working fine.

Power Logix confirmed that problem:

"We know about this. But thanks for reaffirming the problem. We should have a fix out when the OS is released."

Newer G3 cards seem to be working fine. 8.6 also fixed the DHCP client problem.

Kensington Mouseworks 5.2 was causing freezes on my 8500/PowerForceG3 running 8.5.1, I had to downgrade, but under 8.6 it works fine.

I think that clean installation will be preferred. I run just an update from 8.5.1 on 350MHz B&W G3 and the computer would not boot after that at all. [Even zapping the PRAM did not help he later said] I will do clean install on Monday. I also have problems with Kensington Mouseworks 5.2 on that machine running ADB 4-button mouse, I wonder if 8.6 will cure it.
Cheers,Adam Dluzniewski (MiM) "

Note on DHCP Fix: problem comes back after a forced restart (?):

" The DHCP client problem is fixed unless you do a force restart, then it goes back to the 169.254.x.x address. I noticed this when I had to force a restart after the 8.6 no shutdown thing.
Jim Muha "

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I welcome your comments and experiences/bug reports/fixes regarding OS 8.6. Please list your specific Mac model, 3rd party extensions/software and installed hardware (PCI Cards, etc.).