RaveBench Download URL: I've used this great visual quality and features checking benchmark by Village Tronic in my recent reviews, and many readers have asked where to get it. Harald Berger sent a MacWelt (German Mac Magazine) site address for it: ftp://ftp.macwelt.de/pub/hilfsprogramme/Rave%20Bench/.

I'm using version 1.11. Not sure what version is on the MacWelt site. Thanks to Harold for sending the URL! [ 2:30 PM update]

OS 8.1 Looping Problem Feedback: I had no idea so many people had seen this problem (finder getting stuck in a loop when drawing the desktop at first boot). Throwing away the finder prefs, monitor and sound prefs and even a clean format and disk driver install have been reported as solutions to the problem. I've not seen it here on 3 Macs running OS 8.1.

I'll be posting reader comments on this in tomorrows news. [ 2:30 PM update]

April Fools Day Post: I may have been a little too convincing in yesterday's CPU card post, but most readers recognized it as a typical April Fools Day news item (but I think I did a better job than most). I was serious about the speed control design however.

I actually received several orders inquiries, some from overseas distributors. Maybe I could use this as a way to be able to afford working full time on the site (just dreaming!).

At least one reader threatened flames, PC mailing list signups and more in the forums if the report was not genuine. I thought the disclaimer at the very bottom of the page was as clear as many warranties at least. Sorry if anyone got upset - it was posted in the spirit of the day. Maybe I should have just reported that MacWorld was buying the site.

Attention Lightwave Owners: I'd like your comments on your current Video card, how well it works with LightWave in stability and speed. I also want to know if there are any issues with dual monitor configurations in LightWave (I doubt it, but a reader wanted to know for sure). Especially interested in feedback from ATI Nexus GA owners.

Since responsiveness is greatly affected by CPU speed, please list your system details as well. If you are a LightWave user, I'd appreciate your feedback. Thanks!

Feedback: Rhapsody on G3 CPU cards Michael Lamoureaux writes with info on the question posted yesterday:

" Hi Mike,

About Rhapsody DR1 and G3 upgrade cards:

You can install and operate it fine with the G3 upgrade in place (as long as the machine was originally supported by the DR1 release). The DR1 installer is a bit buggy, internal drives won't be seen properly, and you can't have the same SCSI IDs on internal and external busses. U/W controllers are NOT supported either.The best way to install is to an external drive or if you have U/W card, use the stock internal bus with drive set to 0.

FAT applications (most notably any Omni products) will NOT work unless the Intel code is stripped out of them like so:

ditto -arch ppc /LocalApps/Network/OmniWeb.app
/tmp/ppc/LocalApps/Network/OmniWeb.app

This will strip the Intel code out and leave a PPC only app. The ditto command is kinda hard to find, I forget exactly where it's located, but it wasn't in my default path.

Rhapsody runs great on G3s, just wait until the consumer release this summer!

Keep up the great work!
Michael Lamoureaux"

VPC 2.0 Tip: If you're having audio problems (cutout, etc.) with OS 8.0 and Virtual PC 2.0, try my tip from the G3-ZONE page, Upgrade to OS 8.1. Apple changed the sound initialization code in OS 8.1 and it not only prevents the clicking at startup in the G3 systems, it helps in VPC as well. Mike Keenly used the tip and wrote:

" Michael,
Changing from OS 8.0 to 8.1 did solve the sound cutout problem with VPC. It's now as smooth as silk. Thanks!

Now I realized that a new Extension or Control Panel was added with 8.1 that causes the system to get in some crazy loop. It's at the point when the System is completely booted, all the Extensions and Control Panels have loaded, it's showing the HDs and applications on the right side. Then it erases them, runs the disk, redraws them, erases them, runs the disk, etc. any ideas? I've just been removing Extensions one by one."

I've never heard of this problem, but suggested he start with the base extensions (if you don't have conflict catcher) and add your original extensions one at a time until the problem reoccurred. If you've seen this "looping" problem, please contact me.

Quicktime 3.0 Success Story: From Evangelist:

" Suman Chakrabarti wrote:

You don't have to be a multimedia demigod to use QuickTime 3.0. Apple technology is so easy and transparent that I became productive with it within hours of downloading it and paying $29.95 online for the upgrade to QuickTime Pro 3.0.

I will finish a doctorate in mechanical engineering from Penn State University next week. As such, I'm finishing up my doctoral thesis, written in Nisus Writer 5.1.2.

I have a lot of PICT and EPS images imported into my thesis document. This makes the document size very large. It would be useful if I could reduce the document size.

Enter QuickTime Pro 3.0. After registering it, I realized that the new MoviePlayer application could import PICT files and then save them as QuickTime movies that were 80% smaller!

I intend to replace all my embedded PICT images with these QuickTime movies to reduce my thesis file size by megabytes. To any PC users out there: remember that QuickTime 3.0 is cross-platform! I would think that Windows users could do the same thing.

You've got to salute a company that makes the most advanced multimedia technology so accessible. Keep up the good work, Apple. "

Warren Rogers asked if I'd tried filling all my PowerTower Pro DIMM slots with 128MB DIMMs, (I wish I could afford to! ;-). I think the machine could address it all. If you've packed your PowerTower Pro or 9500 based motherboard to the brim with 128MB dimms (over 1GB RAM), I'd like to hear from you.

New Mac 3Dfx Voodoo Site: Check out the new MacNation site, which will cover the Macintosh 3Dfx game hardware and software scene.

Inside Mac Games is giving away a copy of Myth. I almost missed the link - it's a image in the top left hand corner of the page.

News.com has a story on Apple's $1499 All-in-one G3 targeted at schools.

Low Cost Intel PII Slow: Intel's first attempt at a lower cost (cacheless) PII meets with disappointment according to this Wired.com article.

On related note - today's the day for Gateway and others to publicly announce their Pentium II Notebooks. Prices are said to be in the $3500 to $4600 range depending on features (14.1" screens, DVD drives, etc. at the high end). I was underwhelmed at the 15%-30% boost, far below the performance increase seen with Apple's PowerBook G3 over the previous line. Battery life with the mobile PII is also said to be a concern. Both these issues are mentioned in a News.com story on the mobile PII. Prices of existing Pentium notebooks is expected to take another fall as a result of the PII announcements.

8500/120 for Sale: To raise funds for a stripped 9600 Mach 5 to allow coverage of that system, I'm selling the 8500 that has been a mainstay here since I launched the site in April 1997. The system includes 64MB of ram (a matched pair of DIMMS), 2GB hard drive, 4MB of VRAM, a 1MB L2 Cache and a 4X CDROM. As shown in the reviews here, it's capable of running very well with the CPU card upgrades.

I'm asking $900 for the system and would prefer to sell to someone in the Charlottesville, Virginia area. Contact me if you're interested. This system might be a collectors item one day ;-)

Mail of the Day: A reader sends a note that this page's coverage of the Quicktime 3.0 and Speed Doubler 8.1 conflicts helped solve the problem he was having.

"Mike,
As I previously reported I had difficulties with the Speed Doubler 8.1 upgrade and I thought as you hinted to that it might be a conflict with the Miles Initio Card in My PCP 180 turned 200. I had to return my Speed Doubler to 8.01 and had no problems after that.

In the mean time I managed to successfully download the new QT 3.0 and installed it with no problems, I then having read your page about the link between QT 3.0 and SD 8.1 reupgraded to SD 8.1 and I have not had a return of the problems. The QT I had been running previously and during the reported conflict was the latest QT 3 beta.

Thanks for putting my problem on your page and for all the good trouble shooting!
tpw"

In the initial problem report, it was not noted that the QT 3.0 used was a beta.

Apple Wizards, has released their April issue. This month's feature article discusses Apple's advertising strategies throughout the years and points out a few infamous 30-second computer commercials and reviews of Virtual PC 2.0, Vision3d, and Journeyman Project 3: Legacy of Time. Download a copy at: http://applewizards.net.

Humor of the Day: Walt Levering of Dax Media sent the following URL as a stress reliever: http://junior.apk.net/~jbarta/idiot/idiot.html (Don't Groan!).

Rumor has it this feature will be incorporated into the "shut down" button on Windows 98 ;-)

Don't forget to check the FAQ, Performance Basics, Links, and Forums for solutions to your problems or answers to tech support questions. They have a lot of good info and are a great source of help.

Yesterday's News

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on april 1st not all stories will be true