" SOFTRAID, LLC introduces SoftRAID 3.0 with a $99 special introductory offer.
SoftRAID, LLC, today announced the release of SoftRAID 3.0. This long-awaited Mac OS X version supports Stripe and Mirror (RAID levels 0 and 1) volumes on any combination of FireWire, ATA, SCSI, USB and Fibre Channel drives. SoftRAID 3.0 requires Mac OS X 10.2 or later. A special "upgrade" price of $99 is available to everyone until November 1, 2003.

"SoftRAID 3 is an important release for all Mac OS X admins and users who depend on their data.", said Mark James, President of SoftRAID, LLC. "We have received hundreds of positive emails during beta testing." SoftRAID went though a three month rigorous beta test program working with leading developers and manufacturers in order to release a solid product.

"Alsoft worked closely with SoftRAID to make sure SoftRAID 3 works well with DiskWarrior 3.", said Al Dion, President of Alsoft. "We, at Alsoft, are very happy to see our friends at SoftRAID release their Mac OS X product."

"Mac pros need the speed and reliability of RAID combined with the flexibility of an external hard drive," said Mike Williams, Vice President of Product Marketing at Maxtor. "Maxtor FireWire drives used with SoftRAID 3 deliver a powerful RAID solution for video editing and server backup on Mac OS X."

After November 1, 2003, the suggested retail price for SoftRAID 3.0 will be $129 for an all-electronic version, or $149 for a retail CD version (plus S&H). In addition, SoftRAID 2.2.2 users who purchased or upgraded SoftRAID after August 1, 2002 are entitled to a free upgrade to SoftRAID 3. It will be sent to them today automatically. (OEM bundles do not qualify for this offer.)
For more information about SoftRAID 3.0, contact us at sales@softraid.com."

" I ordered a G5 1.8 G Mac on Friday, August 29. It was ordered with the government discount (I'm retired Navy) which I learned about on your site! Thanks for that info. It saved me $239 plus the difference in tax. Monday evening I received the following:
(I snipped much of the details for brevity)

"Dear Apple Customer,
The following products shipped on 09/01/2003. Transit time will depend upon whether you have chosen standard or premium freight options. If your order is shipping standard freight, it should arrive within 2 - 5 business days of shipment.....
M9031LL/A G51.8/512MB400/160/SD/GF5200/PCI-X-USA 1 2,160.00"

Another report of a (single) G5 order that's shipped despite the mails/delayed order status:

" hi guys, just to let you know that my dealer (Mac Line) shipped today my G5 1.8GHz in Belgium.
It will be delivered tomorrow at my home!
cheers!
Henk B. "

This reader noted a CA Apple store had 'stacks' of G5 1.6GHz models for sale:

"Per your report today about G5s in stores, I was at the Apple store in Costa Mesa CA over the weekend and they had stacks of 1.6 units ready for purchase. No 1.8 or 2.0MPs though.
Scott. "

An another report on the Fairfax, VA store:

" hi, just wanted to drop a note that last saturday, the apple store in tyson's corner, va had 1 demo g5 1.6, two 1.6's for sale and a 1.8 for sale.
i was ready to order a g5 1.8 after playing w/ the 1.6, and they told i could have the last 1.8. i love it.
i also saw boxed editions of toast 6 for sale. nice.
lito
(they get their regular shipment today, so there ought to be some more in the store!!)"

" Wandered into the Apple Store in at Twelve Oaks, Novi, Michigan over the weekend and saw several new cool things, like several new 1.6GHz G5's for Sale and a 1.8GHz G5 model on display. I asked when they might have any Dual 2GHz G5's and they said maybe late September.
Also they had for sale the new Roxio Toast 6 Titanium which I thought wasn't out till mid September. I was just looking but there were also some good deals on a few Dual G4's.
Luke "

Another reader said a Michigan CompUSA got a G5 in this weekend but didn't note if they had any for sale (other than a demo model). While on the subject, a reader wrote earlier today that after getting the Apple email on delayed shipping last Friday (see Friday's news page), he received another mail on Saturday that said his Single G5 1.6GHz order shipped.
Another reader today wrote that the email he received on his early (day 1) Dual G5 order mentioned a 3 to 4 week delay instead of the 10 to 15 days comment in the email sent to many others on Friday. 3-4 weeks would match the Sept 22-29th order status changes, but I wonder if the 10-15 days mail was referring to single G5 system shipping (although that mail was sent to those with Dual G5 orders also).
If any other readers get an email that their G5 has shipped, let me know (include info on the system ordered and when you ordered also). Thanks.

" Hi Mike, just wanted to let you and your readers know that G5's are becoming available.
I picked up a 1.8GHz G5 last night at the Apple Store in Menlo Park NJ. They had just received 2 units and I was lucky to get one of them.
While I was there, two 1.6 units were sold as well.
John S. "

I'm sure they all sold out quickly but at least it's good to hear of some sales stock appearing. (See later news items above for other stores that had stock - some had more than a few G4 1.6GHz models reportedly.)

" I've updated the modified device plugins of the Toshiba SD-R6012 DVD-R/RW to include OS X 10.2.6 (My Current OS). I installed this drive a few months back into my Powerbook Pismo 500mhz and had great results ever since. This latest device plugin for OS X 10.2.6 has been tested in Itunes 4 with sucess @ the drives Max rated CD-R speed (16x). The device plugins included in this file are for;
-OS 9.2.2
-OS X 10.1.5
-OS X 10.2.3
-OS X 10.2.6
Take it ez -Ryan "

Note: As always, a modified file replaces the original file of the same name. For OS 9, the file goes in the System Folder/Extensions/Authoring Support Files folder. Search in the Finder to find the (long path) in OS X to the original file. Either reboot to OS 9 to replace the file or use the terminal as root, or for enable root user in Netinfo manager (and login as root) - see this Apple kbase doc on how. Best to not leave root user enabled however). These modified files are provided "as-is", and may not work flawlessly with all systems/configurations.

CDRW Drives:
• IDE BTC BTE5224IM (didn't note speeds, assume 52x24x52x) in Beige G3 (OS X) (listed under "other" brands, no itunes burn support)
• IDE Liteon LTR-52327 (52x32x52) in B&W G3 (OS X)
  (using modified burn support plugin from FAQ)
• IDE Liteon LTR-52327 (52x32x52) in Beige G3 (OS 9.2)
  (FAQ has burn support files for OS 9 and OS X 10.2.6)
• IDE Samsung SW-248F (48x24x48x) in Beige G3 (OS X)
  (using modified burn support plugin from FAQ)
• IDE Samsung SW-248F (48x24x48x) in Beige G3 (OS 9.2)
  (no itunes burn support)
• IDE Teac 52x24x52x (no "W" model number given) in Beige G3 (OS 9.2) (no itunes burn support)
• Firewire (IDE drive in FW case) Liteon LTR-52327 (52x32x52x) used w/iMac G4 OS X) (using modified burn support plugin)
• Firewire Sony CRX160E 12x8x32 used w/PowerCenter (OS 9.1)
• SCSI Ext. Samsung CRD-BP4N (16x10x40x) used w/9500 (OS 8.6)
• USB Lacie d2 USB 2.0 52x32x52 (Liteon 52237 drive) used w/G4 AGP (OS X) (using modified burn support plugin in FAQ for the LTR-52237)
  
  Combo DVD+CDR Drives:
• IDE Samsung SM-348B (48x24x48x + 16x DVD-ROM) in Dual G4 (OS X)
  (using modified burn support plugin from FAQ)
  
  DVD-RAM Drives:
• Firewire Lacie "MultiDrive" used w/7500 (OS 8.6)
  
  DVD+R/RW + DVD-R/RW Drives:
• IDE NEC ND-1300A in Dual G4 DDR (OS X)
  (no itunes, etc. burn support)
• Firewire (IDE drive in FW case) Pioneer DVR-106D used w/PowerBook G4 (OS X) (using modified burn support plugin)
• Firewire (IDE drive in FW case) Pioneer DVR-106D used w/PowerBook G3 2000 (OS X) (includes comments on Toast 5.2.1 not properly supporting this drive's buffer underrun support feature for instance - said an update is coming to fix that from Roxio.)
• IDE Pioneer DVR-106 in G4/AGP (OS X)
  (using modified burn support plugin from FAQ)
• IDE Pioneer DVR-106 in Dual G4 DDR (OS X)
• IDE Pioneer DVR-106 in Dual G4 DDR (OS X)
  (didn't comment on driver used, itunes or iDVD burning)
  (Illustrated CD drive install guide here covers G4 towers up to the Digital Audio Model, Beige G3 MT, and B&W G3 Macs)
  
  Hard Drives:
• IDE Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 80GB in G4/AGP using IDE PCI Card RAID (OS X)
• IDE Maxtor (didn't note series/model) 80GB in B&W G3 using IDE PCI card (OS X)
• IDE Seagate ST380011A 80GB in G4/AGP (OS X)
  (Illustrated guide to adding a 2nd HD here in B&W G3 rev2 and G4 towers up to the QuickSilver models.
  IDE articles page RAID section has an illustrated guide for adding 2 more drives in the side bays.)
• IDE Seagate ST380013A 80GB in Beige G3 (OS X)
  (Beige G3 MT illustrated HD upgrade guide here)
• IDE Western Digital WD1200JB 120GB in Dual G4 DDR (OS X)
• IDE Western Digital WD1200JB 120GB in B&W G3 (OS X)
• IDE Western Digital WD800JB 80GB in G4 Cube (OS 9.2)
  (problems noted - jumper settings related I suspect)

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). For guides to installing CD/CDRW/DVD drives or Hard drives in many mac models, see the IDE Articles page. The Firewire articles page also has guides on case kits, installing drives, etc.
If you've added a IDE, SCSI, Firewire or USB hard drive, CDRW, tape drive, etc. make sure you add a report to the database. (If you post an updated entry - make sure you use the same name, etc. as you did before so I can find your past entry. Thanks.)
(Incomplete entries are deleted. Do not post questions in the database, it's for drive reports not questions on what drive to buy - for that try searching the database for reports from owners of your mac model on the drive type/brand/interface, etc. you're interested in.)

• Giga Designs G4/1GHz in Digital Audio G4/AGP (rated 9)
• Other World Computing G4 1.4Ghz in (QS/933) G4/AGP (rated 1)
• Other World Computing G4/500 in Beige G3 (rated 8)
• Powerlogix iMac G3/900 in iMac slot loading (rated 8)
• Powerlogix Dual G4/800 in Sawtooth G4/AGP (rated 10)
• Sonnet G3/500 in Beige G3 (rated 9)
• XLR8 G4/450 in B&W G3 (rated 9)
  (My full reviews of G4 and G3 upgrades w/apps/game tests, install info, etc. are linked here.)

(Warning - Overclocking may not be reliable and could lead to hardware failure or corrupted data.) You can find the full reports by searching the database selecting the indicated Mac model and upgrade card brand/type. If you've upgraded the CPU on your Mac, please post an entry in the database. Search the database for entries from most every upgradable Mac model *before* you buy. (Searchable by mac model/upgrade brand). For detailed reviews with performance tests and install tips, see the CPU Upgrades page.)

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