www.mac3dfx.com site.]
= 7:45PM Update =
XLR8's retail boxed MAChCarrier G4/350 arrived for test today. (CarrierZIF card with G4/350 ZIF installed). [See the G4 reviews page for links to this review and others.]
= 7:30PM Update =
The 3dfxgamer.com Mac Unreal Tournament demo (50MB) is available now - very heavy server load there all day today. Minimum System Requirement is a 200 MHz 604 w/64MB or RAM and OS 8; Recommended system is a 3dfx Voodoo3 2000 PCI (or faster) and G3/400MHz w/128MB of RAM. [Now that 3dfxgamer.com is closed, try westlakeinteractive.com or macgamefiles.com]
= 6:30PM Update =
iBook UK Launch Tomorrow: A message for readers in the UK:
"Dear Mike,
I've just got word that Apple has shipped around 150 iBooks to the John
Lewis high street chain for the UK launch on Saturday. And there are new
iMacs too!
All UK Mac users head for John Lewis's or George Henry Lee's this Saturday,
theres also a list of participating resellers at www.apple.com/uk/ibook/resellerinfo.html
There will be iBook Demonstrators there too....
Riddler"
Photoshop 5.5 Performance Tip: A reader sent a note he's seen up to 3x slower performance from Photoshop 5.5 than v5.0. (He later commented that trashing his previous Photoshop version prefs helped - even when resetting the same preferences settings.) The PS 5.5 readme notes that by default the Async I/O Plug-in is disabled (reader comments say this was also disabled in previous versions by default). See the Photoshop 5.5 readme file and the info in the PS 5.5 Photoshop only/Plug-ins/Extensions folder for information on enabling Asynchronous I/O (remove the "~" prefix on the folder name) and other performance tips.
= 3:15PM Update =
3dfx has posted new articles on interviews with Bryan Speece (their Mac products director) and Kathy Tafel (Apple Computer's partnership manager for worldwide developer relations). Interesting reading. [Links removed after their expired when 3dfx closed.]
= 2:45PM Update =
I've updated my iMac DV SE review with split-screen image sampes of Q3test screens between the
iMac w/RagePro and the new iMac w/Rage128 and for comments on an iMovie DV audio issue that I can't replicate here in repeat tests with my Panasonic PV-DV910 (although a DV owner said it's a commonly reported issue with high peak volume audio captures).
= 1:30 PM Update =
Rage128 VR Capture Rates: Although there was apparently some confusion based on past info - a VR128 owner says the card supports 320x240 at 30 fps (not 640x480 at 30fps).
Another reader comment on the OpenGL version issue (VR drivers require OpenGL 1.1 or later)
"Mike,
No... no OpenGL installer [for OpenGl 1.1.1]. Let me know if anyone gets q3test to work with
the card and OpenGL 1.0. Also, I haven't had any trouble with the TV
Tuner. I'm able to resize to anything...
Shawn"
OpenGL 1.1.1 ships installed on the new iMacs and G4s now. Still no updater from Apple that I have seen but OS 9 installs OpenGL 1.1.1 for those owners that bought the update.
More Epson 600 Printer Tips:
"To Epson 600 users:
I found that I was able to get best performance with the 900 driver's
monitor for background having used the 700 Epson Monitor before (the 600 has
very poor background printing).
The 600 seemed to use it w/o trouble (I've since gone to a USB laser
printer, Lexmark E310 which is great 8ppm 600x1200 dpi $369).
Greg
"
More Netscape Tips:
"Hi Mike,
...
I find that two different Netscape caching configurations work best. At
work (ISDN) I use Navcom Control to set the disk cache to zero, and the
browser cache to 10-15Mb. I then allocate 20-25Mb to the application since
plugins will take some ram to operate as well. At home (56K) I use Navcom
Control to set the disk cache to 5 Mb, but leave the other numbers the same
as set at work. The disk cache is directed to a small ram disk created by
Rambunctious 1.3.2, which is set to automatically mount at startup and save
the files when the application quits.
Why this setup? ISDN is fast enough that a disk cache has no advantage, so
it is set to zero. However, downloads at 56K are slow, therefore a ram
disk cache is a great advantage in this situtation. This works best with
Rambunctious since this application saves the files and recreates them in
ram again at next start up or whenever you run the application. The last
sentence highlights the other important feature of this setup -
Rambunctious is an application and can be quit to recover the ram memory if
needed for other programs.
Your readership is obviously very knowledgeable, so this information might
be redundant, but I thought I'd share what I've found to be a very
successful setup for Netscape file caching. I should note that I work on
machines with plenty of ram (128Mb +), but the numbers given above can be
scaled for almost any configuration. Finally, I find that Netscape loves
lots of ram - no crashes in many months with the setups outlined above.
Cheers,
Jeff Speir
"
More Bouncing Mails: Although considering the total mails I send it's rare, but
still frustrating when a long email with support tips bounces back (happening more frequently lately).
Thomas Sorensen - please check your email address as it was returned as 'host world.att.net unknown'. This may be why you've not gotten any replies from ATI. Here is my tip for your problem
of losing previous video card features support on your 6500 after adding a Rage128 Orion PCI card:
Although I do not own a 6500, in some cases I have seen dual monitor systems
work better if the menu bar is set to the original
onboard video or OEM video card instead of the new
video card's display. Often programs (like capture/playback) were made for the OEM video chip or system config. These programs often require they be run on the original video chip. However in your case I'm not sure if there were extensions disabled or replaced by the ATI Orion drivers install may affect your system.
If you have a 2nd monitor to reconnect to the OEM video port it might be worth a try. Remember to use the Monitors Control Panel 'arrainge' feature to move the menu bar to the original video port monitor.
ValueAmerica Feedback: Several readers wrote to say that the $100 off Visa card holders promotion I linked to yesterday's news had expired.
As of today at Noon Eastern Time the Promotional Page [link expired] I linked to still noted that "This offer is good until December 31, 1999". Please contact ValueAmerica on issues like this and I'd suggest taking a screenshot of the page in case there are disputes. (Good luck - I tried calling to get status on my VR128 order from almost two weeks ago - a recording said to call back later due to the number of current support calls). [Note: Valueamerica went out of business.]
= Noon Update =
Mac Unreal Tournament Demo: www.mac3dfx.com and the game news page has notes
to watch 3Dfx's 3dfxgamers.com site today for a release of the Mac demo (Glide and software mode).
Links are there to articles on Glide vs Software mode screenshots and framerates and
a state of Mac Gaming article as well as an interview with Mark Adams of Westlake Interactive.
Fix for B&W G3 Rev 1 Slave drive/OS 9 Problems: As noted here previously, some rev 1 B&W G3 owners with IDE slave drives reported problems booting or mounting disks after installing OS 9. See my FAQ's Operating Systems or Apple G3 topic areas for a fix for those that are having this problem. (A reader with this problem asked for help but my his email address bounced back so I'm posting this reminder). Tip: If you can't read the news here every day, try to do so every few days, checking the summary of past news at the bottom of each news page shows major topics for the past 3 days news. Older news is on the Archives page.
More on TrueX IDE CDROM/Yamaha CDR: In reply to a reader post in yesterday's news:
"In a PTP/G3 400 with a Yamaha 4416S CDR on the internal SCSI bus
and the Kenwood True-X 52X IDE on a TurboMax Card:
There is a problem with incompatible drivers:
The Kenwood IDE drive works only with the Apple driver.
[I think Intech's drivers now support it (IDE and SCSI)-Mike]
The Yamaha will not work with the Apple driver, only with CDST (intech).
The Yamaha mounts with FWB but has control problems trying to unmount a disk.
The Kenwood (Apple) and Yamaha (CDST) combination would not boot.
Further, I experienced a copy hang when copying from the IDE Kenwood on a Turbomax card
to a SCSI Cheetah on a Adaptec 2940. (Copied OK to a Maxtor IDE also on the Turbomax)
My solution was to pay more and exchange the IDE for a SCSI Kenwood.
I am now able to boot using Apple's driver and CDST together.
On a different note:
My extinct PowerTower Pro PC-style case design allows the above components plus a third SCSI UW hard drive, a video card, a 2GB Jazz, a ZIP drive, and a floppy drive all to be mounted internally. I still have another hard drive space and three slots free.
I know that the new G4's are very attractive but I still think that the designer look extracts a big price in expandability. How attractive would that G4 be if a number of the above pieces were external?
Thanks for a great site.
Larry Kelly"
I do wish the new G3/G4 cases allowed at least one more 5.25" CDROM size device internally (for say a DVD drive and CDROM recorder internally). The current design has external access bays for only 1 CDRom size device and one 3.5" (ZIP/HD size) drive. I do like the easy access and ability to quickly access up to 4 internal hard drives however (in rev 2 model B&W G3s and later). You can add another
drive bracket cheaply with the Proline HD bracket kit [typo in link fixed].
TrueX drives and Audio: Tim Seufert (appsig) writes with a note on the TrueX/Audio CD issue
"According to what I've been told, the audio quirks aren't the drive's
fault. Basically, there are two ways of doing certain audio commands on
IDE CDROMs. Apple always specced drives that did it one of the two
ways, and didn't support the other method in their driver.
Supposedly OS 9 should fix this. I haven't tried it yet myself
(unfortunately, my 52x IDE went bad and it's away for
repair/replacement)."
If OS 9/TrueX owners can comment on audio CDs with the drive please contact me. My review noted some workarounds for the CD player when using the drive with a IDE based Mac, but it didn't work with audio CDs in my TurboMax IDE card tests in SCSI based Macs at least with the Apple CD driver.
OS 9 Speech Recognition: Jamie Cho reminded me that OS 9 does not install speech recognition by default (do a custom setup to enable it). OS 9 apparently won't work with previous versions of the extensions.
A reader sent a note there is a page on installing a Blue LED in your G3/G4 Powermac.
For a blast from the past see what was on the front page news here one year ago.
Thursday's News Summary
- XLR8 has a press release on their Altivec extensions
- ATI Rage128 VR Owner Comments and Requests for information
- Mixed reports of TV Tuner problems on Rage128 VR
- Rage128 VR requires OpenGL 1.1, but no updater on CD
- VillageTronic MP960 Voodoo3 card sent for review
- Rage 128 VR TV Tuner Tip from ATI (Cable notes)
- OS 9/Speech Recognition
- OS 9/Appletalk
- Gateway's all-in-one PC (it's no iMac)
- Reminder on ValueAmerica discount offer
- DVD Software Player Tip
- FAQ updated for Toast 4/IDE CDROM info
- Adobe to release their Pshop 5.5 Altivec extensions
- VR128 Rebates/Tradeup Offers
- More OS9/Jackhammer Feedback
- OS 9/Tunnelbuilder Problems
- OS 9/Epson 600 Tip
- OS 9 USB Printer Tips
- OS 9/USB Card/Game Sprockets Solutions
- More Browser Tips
- Kenwood 72X TrueX CDROM drive
- iMac DV SE review updated for iMovie audio comments
- Game News tips for TRIII Demo
- www.mac3dfx.com updated
- Other Net News
Wednesday's News Summary
Tuesday's News Summary
- More Jackhammer/OS 9 Feedback
- TechTool Pro 2.5.2 Update
- Rage 128 Mobility Announced
- VR128 Shipping (Really)
- VillageTronic Voodoo3 Card Info
- MacTell Voodoo3 Cards comments
- ORB Tools 1.2.3 released
- iMac DV HD Performance
- G4/AGP Memory Bandwidth Tests - WOW
- OS 9/Jackhammer SCSI Card problem reports
- OS 9/PowerLogix G3 ZIFs Note (cache control required)
- OS 9 compat. info on PowerPrint, ATM 4.5.2 update tip
- OS 9 update solves Matrix DVD problem
- More DVD Software Player Feedback
- OS 9 Clean Install/DVD Software Player Notes
- More on WD Recall/Yikes Systems
- Other Net News
- CPU reviews, Game Reviews and
- Mac Game Framerates databases updated
For links to older news pages see the Archives page. The recent features page has a lists reviews/articles you may have missed.
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.
Note: Before sending tech support related questions please check the Answers to Common Questions, Troubleshooting page, Site Contents, CPU Card reviews/articles, SCSI reviews articles, Graphics card reviews, Tips/Misc, Message Boards and Help pages - in many cases the answers to your questions are there and they have far more detail than I can list in an email. For Apple G3 system info - see the G3-ZONE.
Please try the Men in Mac Help page as an alternative on requests for tech support to help me be able to spend more time on reviews and getting caught up in mail. Thanks.
