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News stories of Sept. 8th, 2003: |
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| Java 1.4.1 Update 1 (revised re-release) |
| Running Software Updates today at appx 5PM ET shows there's a revised Java 1.4.1 update available. (The original 1.4.1 update was released and applied on this machine on March 10th, 2003.) Here's a copy of the info in the SU window:
"Java 1.4.1 Update 1 adds the following enhancements:
Improved Java applet support for Safari and other web browsers that support the Java Internet Plug-In.
Improved drawing correctness and performance.
Changes to Java 1.3.1 that provide support for Oracle11i client
applications on Mac OS X.
Improved stability, memory usage, and correctness.
For more details on this update, please visit: http://www.apple.com/java/
"
Like the re-release of Bluetooth 1.2.1 earlier this
year, this "update 1" version may fix some past issues with the original release. (As of today (5PM ET) the Apple kbase doc on Java 1.4.1 update does not show any new info some March of 2003. Past news items on the original Java 1.4.1 update:
If anyone finds that the new release solves a past Java bug, let me know.
(Note: several readers wrote to say this update helped, although one reported a problem with it. I'll post their comments in Tuesday's news page.)
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| G5 1.6GHz owner notes ATTO UL2D SCSI card working |
"G5 1.6GHz: Atto UL2D card installed fine and G5 booted up just fine
Warning: Putting in SCSI card lengthened the startup time by 20+
seconds, presumably to search for SCSI drives. I'm still waiting for
case to arrive to convert internal drive to external.
Don"
I've seen that much (or more) delay at startup from PCI controller cards (IDE or SCSI) even in older macs. I think it's just the system looking/finding the controller card/drives at boot.
I asked Don if the card was a retail or OEM model and if he could boot from a connected SCSI drive (i.e. cloning the SATA boot disk to thte SCSI drive and then trying to boot from it).
Still no idea why one G5 1.6GHz owner noted motherboard damage (apparently -apple replaced the logic board) after trying an ATTO UL4S card - while another G5 owner said no damage was done (although it hung w/black screen at boot). Here's the comments from the UL4S user that reported damage:
"I have a G5 and yes the ATTO U4LS DOES NOT WORK. I've tried it and it burned
one of my G5s. Thank God for Applecare.
I asked for more info and he replied)
Yes, it damaged the logic board, nothing would boot, only the white light above the power button. I didn't notice any physical changes no the board or any where else. I didn't see no smoke or any other indications of burning.
The curious thing is, it did recognized it the first time I booted up the
machine, and I was able to use the configuration tools, but after rebooting the machine I got the panic Kernel message. I tried it on the rest of the slots, and the same thing happened, it accepted it at the first boot, and after restarting the machine the panic kernel message. Tried it in all three slots, and then the machine wouldn't boot, not a single effort to boot after that, just the little white light.
Jorge
"
Here's a summary of SCSI PCI card reports in G5s to date:
- Adaptec 29160: Reported as bootable using OF mod in G5/1.6GHz
- ATTO UL4S: One report of a black screen/hang at boot, one report of damage. (Both
reports from G5 1.6GHz model)
- ATTO UL2D: One report of working in a G5 1.6GHz (I asked if a retail or OEM card
and if bootable from SCSI drives)
Remember there's the 3.3V PCI requirement but there can also be other compat. issues such as firmware/openfirmware problems, which is why actual end user reports are often the only true test of compatibility, even for cards that the mfr may list as G5 compatible. The G5 tech info/compatibility page has some accumulated info on PCI card compatibility.
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| G5 owner report on WinTel/X86 Emulator and Discwarrior 3/Drive 10 1.1.2 CDs not bootable |
| (from a recent reader email)
"
I have a G5 1.8 Ghz and tried to install the emulation software.
Basically what I found was that after Windows 2000 Professional (what
I had handy) was copied and the emulation tried to boot the system,
it stalled during startup. No movement of the progress bar after at
least an hour.
On another note, I tried booting my G5 from my DiskWarrior 3 and
Drive 10 1.1.2 disks and both failed. This happened with the "C" key
down and when I selected the CDROM in Startup Disk. In all cases the
machine booted to the internal hard disk drive.
Richard H., Ph.D.
Apple Certified Technical Coordinator
"
I'm not that surprised about the CDs - in the past I've had
to update my Discwarrior CD to boot from later macs that were
released after the CD was made. I'd contact Alsoft and Drive10
to see if they are working on CD updates to address this. I've added Richard's comments to the previous page of Wintel/Boch X86 emulator feedback.
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| PowerMac G5 Power Mgmt Settings can affect Bus/CPU Speeds |
For those running performance tests with a G5, make sure you have set the energy saver to the highest performance setting. (from the "Power Management" section of the Apple Developer
Docs)
"
Processor and Bus Slewing
To lower power consumption, heat generation, and fan noise, the Power Mac G5 computer incorporates an automatic power management technique called bus
slewing. Bus slewing is designed to run at high processor and bus speeds and high voltage when the demand on the processor is high, and to run at low processor and bus speeds and low voltage when the demand on the processor is low. Switching between different processor/bus speeds and voltages is achieved by a gradual transition that does not impact system or application performance and operates seamlessly to the user. In slewing, the bus runs at
half the speed of the processor.
The ranges of the slewed processor speeds are listed below:
Configuration Processor range
1.6 GHz 1.3 GHz to 1.6 GHz
1.8 GHz 1.3 GHz to 1.8 GHz
2.0 GHz 1.3 GHz to 2.0 GHz
In addition, the Power Mac G5 computer allows the user to control bus slewing mode. The options for specifying either high, reduced, or automatic processor and bus speeds are located at System Preferences>Energy Saver>Options; then select Automatic, Highest, or Reduced.
If the Power Mac G5 computer detects a system temperature that is too high,
due to high ambient temperatures or other factors, it will automatically
enter bus slewing mode regardless of the selected setting."
If you submit performance test results, please note if you have the Energy Saver settings set to highest performance. (Just to try and minimize any effect this may have on results.) Thanks.
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| Apple updates iMacs with 1.25GHz G4, USB 2.0, revised Graphics |
Apple has speed-bumped the iMac
G4 up to 1.25GHz as well as including faster memory, USB 2.0 and a graphics chip upgrade. "faster processors, faster memory, cinematic 3D graphics, high-speed USB 2.0 - and an architecture upgrade that gives the 15-inch iMac a whole new set of capabilities". (Note: Like the MDD G4s, even though the RAM is DDR, the frontside bus is still SDR with the current G4 CPU designs.)
Here's the specs/pricing on the standard Apple store iMac options now:
15-inch LCD/Combo drive $1299
- 1GHz PowerPC G4
- NVIDIA GeForce4 MX (was 2MX)
- 32MB DDR video memory
- 256MB DDR333 SDRAM
- 80GB Ultra ATA hard drive
- 10/100BASE-T Ethernet
56K V.92 internal modem
- Apple Pro Speakers
- AirPort Extreme Ready
- Bluetooth Option
17-inch widescreen LCD $1,799.00
- 1.25GHz PowerPC G4
- NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra (was GF4MX)
- 64MB DDR video memory
- 256MB DDR333 SDRAM
- 80GB Ultra ATA hard drive
- 10/100BASE-T Ethernet
- 56K V.92 internal modem
- Apple Pro Speakers
- AirPort Extreme Ready
- Bluetooth Option
There's also a $2,448.00 model (CTO) 17in LCD model with 1GB RAM, 160GB hard drive, and Airport Extreme/Bluetooth installed.
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| G5 1.6GHz owner notes Adaptec OF mod makes 29160 SCSI Card Bootable |
| This weekend I noted an Openfirmware mod to enable booting from SCSI hard drives with an Adaptec 29160/39160 card in Quicksilver and MDD macs. A G5 user sent a note that it also worked for the 29160 card in a 1.6GHz G5 system:
"mike,
"setenv fcode-debug? true" was exactly what i was
looking for on adaptecs support-site, but couldn't
find anymore. i know i had it from there a few months
ago. and i couldn't remember this by myself. it helped.
the machine (G5/1.6GHz w/29160) boots from the SCSI-drive.
(Mike had noted a black screen only when trying to use an ATTO UL4S card in the G5. A later mail from another G5 1.6GHz owner said
after he tried that card in his system he had to have it repaired, so I asked Mike if he saw any damage from trying the ATTO card.)
no damage done on the G5 or the PCI-slots from trying
the ATTO UL4S hostadapter getting to work.
the loaned G5 is still here because of circumstances
beyond my control ;-)
best regards,
mike"
The the previous news page for Mike's previous comments and links to Adaptec known issues pages for the 29160/29160N/39160 as well as the OF mod info.
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| CDRW/CD/DVD/Hard Drive/Cardreader Compatibility Database Update Listing |
| The Drive Compatibility Database had 14 new reports added (reader entries from Friday until Sunday midnight; entries today are added the next newsday morning). The database includes reports on Combo DVD-CDRW, CDROMs, DVD-ROM, DVD-RAM, DVD-R, CDRW, Hard Drives and Removables (tape drive, ORB, ZIP, MO drives, CF/Smartmedia readers, etc.) in all interface types (IDE, IDE RAID cards, Firewire, SCSI, adapters). Current total 11,271 reports. (searching by drive type/brand, mac model etc. listed below will show the full reports, most recent first)
CDRW Drives:
- IDE Liteon LTR-52327S (52x32x52x) in Dual G4 DDR (OS X)
(no native itunes burn support as of 10.2.6, using mod file from FAQ)
Combo DVD+CDR Drives:
- IDE Liteon LTC-48161H (didn't note drive speed rating) in G4/AGP (OS X)
(no itunes/db burn support - noted the modified plugin here didn't help
- not sure why.)
DVD-ROM Drives:
- IDE Panasonic SR-8588-C (16x/48x) in B&W G3 (OS X)
DVD-R + DVD-RAM Drives:
- Expansion Bay Matshita UJ815B in PowerBook G3 2000 (OS X)
(no native itunes/db burn support in OS X 10.2.6 or 9.x, noted sleep problems
in OS 9. As noted before here in the news MCE sent a modified burn support
plugin for their 2x UJ815 drive since the standard Matshita plugin didn't support
the drive.)
DVD+RW Drives:
- IDE Liteon LDW-401S in G4/AGP (OS X)
(no native itunes/db burn support, didn't note if drive bootable from CD)
DVD+R/RW + DVD-R/RW Drives:
- Firewire Lacie (Pioneer DVR-106) used w/Powerbook G4 (OS X)
(using modifed plugin from FAQ, noted Toast Lite 5.2.2 update solved
buffer underrun errors. 10.2.7 should have native support per Dual G5
owner report last week here)
- IDE Pioneer DVR-106 in G4/AGP (OS X)
(using modified burn support plugin from FAQ)
- IDE Sony DW-U10A in G4/AGP (OS X)
(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 UltraATA/133 120GB in Beige G3 using IDE PCI card (OS X)
(noted Sonnet Trio card not compatible even with rev C Beige G3, reverted to using onboard IDE with 1st partition of 8GB or less for OS X install)
(Reader FYI - Beige G3 MT illustrated HD upgrade guide here)
- IDE Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 40GB in G4 Cube (OS 9.2)
- IDE Samsung SP0411N 40GB in iMac slot-loading (OS X)
(problems noted - perhaps incorrect jumper settings)
- Firewire (IDE drive in FW case) Western Digital WD800JB 80GB used w/Powerbook G4 (OS X)
- Firewire (IDE drive in FW case) Western Digital WD1200JB 120GB used w/ibook 2002 (OS X)
- Firewire Iomega 120GB used w/G4 AGP (OS 9)
(drive won't mount - PC formatted I suspect
- I suggested trying file exchange or better yet reformatting
the drive using OS X disk util. w/OS 9 driver option checked)
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.)
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| Rate Your CPU Upgrade Reports Database Updated |
| The Rate Your CPU Upgrade database has been updated with 3 new reports this morning (reader entries from Friday until Sunday midnight; entries today are added the next newsday morning). Total to date: 8,700. Here's a summary of the update added today (search by brand/mac model for full reports - latest reports always shown first):
- Giga Design G4 1GHz in "sawtooth" G4/AGP (rated 9)
- Powerlogix iMac G3/900 in iMac slot-loading (rated 10)
- XLR8 G4/350 in Beige G3 (rated 10)
(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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