VR128 Owners Request: In an effort to determine the configuration of those that are not having problems with their ATI Rage128 VR cards I'd like anyone that is running the card fine (TV Tuner working, etc.) to send me their:

• Mac Model type specifics
• Any added non-standard hardware, any PCI Cards
• OS version, QT version, QD3D version
• Note any 2nd video card and drivers

Send me this information with an much detail as possible. Hopefully this list will help determine the cause of the reported problems are.

Wired4DVD Update: Bryan Berg wrote that Wiredinc has updated their software for their Mac PCI DVD Decoder. This update finally enables the audio out he said. The updates are available at ftp://ftp.wiredinc.com/softwareupdates/Mac/.

Sawtooth G4s & SCSI Cards: Tim McMahon reported problems with a Jackhammer PCI SCSI card in a new G4/sawtooth system (mixed reports on the card under OS 9 in other systems as well). He said Hammerstorage informed him that they are still testing with the new G4's (Sawtooth) and don't as of yet have a patch.

Eli writes that Initio is working on a fix for their U2 SCSI cards as well:

"I called Initio tech support about the apparent incompatibility between the sawtooth motherboards and the Initio U2WSCSI card for mac and they said they are well aware of this issue and that there will be a firmware fix out within 1 week most probably... -Eli"

OpenGL 1.1.2: 'The King' wrote via my Anom. mail form:

" OpenGL 1.1.2 should be released very soon. I just received GMc3, which contained:

ATI 3D Accelerator 4.9.3
ATI Driver Update 1.4.8
ATI Graphics Accelerator 4.7.3
ATI Rage 128 3D Accelerator 5.6.9
ATI Resource Manager 2.1.5
ATI Video Accelerator 4.3.3
OpenGLEngine 1.1.2
OpenGLLibrary 1.1.2
OpenGLMemory 1.1.2
OpenGLRenderer 1.1.2
OpenGLRendererATI 1.1.2
OpenGLUtility 1.1.2

They seem pretty stable so far on G4/450."

I hope this includes the much faster ATI drivers that Carmack commented on awhile back.

Softhut reported they have dropped the price on the Nubus slot compatible Villagetronic MP 340 graphics card to $ 179.95. I don't know anything about the card but mention it since I've not seen any modern Nubus graphics card upgrades. Most all new models for some time have been PCI (or AGP) only.

More on Sawtooth (G4/AGP) RAM Upgrades: Yesterday's post was not meant to imply problems are typical - just the opposite. As noted there I used Transintl.com dimms fine in slot 2 of my G4/450 and problem reports have been rare (3 so far). One reader even reported removing a PC100 dimm from a Gateway PC and using it in his G4 system fine. Until these recent problem reports I would have thought any PC100 (quality) dimm would work fine. Why some owners reported the dimms only were recognized in slot 1 is still a mystery. They reported the dimms were 3.3v, unbuffered, etc. (one report was with PC133 [133MHz rated] SDRAM). The main point was that it may be safer to buy your RAM from a vendor that will guarantee it works in the G4 Mac (in case there are any problems).

OS 9 Macros: Several readers commented on OS 9's ability to map function keys to launch applications, etc.

"I just bought OS9 and read a tip on macworld's website about using function keys to launch applications.

I had previously been using speed doubler 8's to do this same function, but now that I've upgraded, speed doubler is no longer works on my system. No problem I though, this function is built into the keyboard control panel... but apparently, it only works on certain macs. The apple help viewer confirms this: "If the function key button is not visible: Your computer does not support hot function keys."

Which macs are supported? And does anyone know of a workaround for computers that aren't?
regards,
Daniel "

I suggested he check the OS 9 CD for any info or readme files on the subject.

OS 9 on Older Macs: I thought this reader's comments were worth posting:

"Hi Mike,
just want to let you know my experience with OS 9.0. My system is a 8500/120 with 256 MB RAM, a XLR8 G3 at 454/181, Proformance 3 and a WD Expert running from a TurboMAX.

On the positive side the upgrade was rather easy, and the system seemed to be stable. I didn't experience any crash at all.

However, speed was absolutely disappointing. Contrary to what previous readers mentioned, MB scores were not affected. With Virtual memory disabled I lost less than 1% and with VM enabled just over 1%. FPU and Disk were identical. Only the Video score dropped by around 7%.

Despite of the promising MB scores, the system felt very slow. Gone was all the snappiness with folders flying up. Internet speed was slower than a 28.8 K modem despite of my ISDN connection. All in all I would say with OS 9.0 my Mac felt 50% slower.

Apart from stability OS 9.0 didn't provide much benefit to me. Sherlock 2 is nice, but Sherlock 1 does a similar job. I don't need the Multi-User feature either. On top, many of my Utilities are not OS 9.0 compatible, and updates are not yet available (i.e. Speed Doubler).

Hence I decided to upgrade my system by downgrading to OS 8.6. Now I've got back all my speed. No exaggeration, after using OS 9.0 for a week, working with OS 8.6 again feels like a processor upgrade!

My opinion - 8.0 was worth the upgrade, 8.5 maybe too, but 9.0 is just about moneymaking. If this is the performance you get with the new multitasking Apple Operating Systems, I'd rather buy a PC.

I don't know whether my case is special. But since MB 5.0 reports almost identical speed with 8.6, I guess there is nothing wrong with my system and assume the problem is just OS 9.0.

Have you heard similar reports from other readers?
Best regards
Mike "

I saw a 19% drop in MacBench video score on the G4/AGP system (vs OS 8.6) but didn't see any loss of performance in games for instance. Perhaps trimming some of OS 9's extensions might help (and there might be some installed that should not be there - I noted that the installer put an iMac video accelerator extension in my G4/450 for instance). I welcome other older mac/OS 9 comments on applications performance (not just macbench).

For a blast from the past see what was on the front page news here one year ago.

Wednesday's News Summary

• Rod Paine on ATTO DC Ultra2 SCSI card issues
• Intech updates CDTools driver
• Quicken 2000 Release 2
• Dual-Channel U2 SCSI Cards: VAR recommendations
• Proformance 3 ROM Update
• Virtual PC 3.0/USB Tip
• The Game News (Mac Rainbow Six/TRIII & TrueX CD issues/workaround)
• Mac 3D Graphics Card Performance Compared (MP960/Rage128/Voodoo3 2000/Voodoo3 3000)
• Other Net News

Tuesday's News Summary

• VillageTronic MP960 Arrives
• MAChCarrier G3/500 vs Apple AGP G4/450
• Review of XLR8 MAChCarrier G3/500
• 3Dfx to Announce Napalm Cards at Comdex
• Dual Voodoo2s on One Card - First Obsidian X24 Mac Tests
• XLR8 G4 400MHz ZIF arrives
• Sawtooth RAM Upgrades Feedback
• More ATI VR128 Feedback
• TrueX drive/TRIII CD
• More on Mac OS Security Issue
• iMac DV/Playstation CDs
• iMac drive whine complaints
• Macworld UK reports Apple pulling out of UK Expo 2000
• ByteMark DR/3 and G4/AGP System scores zero?
• Game Sprockets 1.7 SDK
• Other Net News

Monday's News Summary

• OS 9 Security Issue
• Sawtooth G4/USB Midi Problem Report
• OS 9/GameSprockets/USB Tips Reminder
• Game News had report of performance sapping extensions in OS 9
• Powerlogix cancels G3/500/200 review, model replaced by G3/500/250
• Article on XLR8's Power Control system utility
• OS 9/Jackhammer SCSI Card tip (not a universal solution however)
• Hint Benchmarks page posted
• Another WD Expert/Rev 1 B&W G3 data corruption report (solved by a maxtor drive)
• More ATI VR 128 Feedback
• Panasonic's new superdisk equipped digital camera
• iMac DV SE review updated with more on iMovie audio
• www.mac3dfx.com updated
• Other Net News

For a guide to finding answers to questions - see my Site Guide page.

Considering a G3 Upgrade? Check the CPU Upgrade Owner's Survey results and search for owner reports by Mac model and/or card brand. Readers post new entries daily and the database is updated several times a week. I urge any owners that have had problems to report this via the Survey Form. Always give the most weight to recent owner reports (dated in the listing) as in many cases problems are later found to be due to settings errors, slow L2 cache, etc.

-Freq Asked Questions

Check Apple's Software Updates
(especially their Recent Updates)

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