The 6400 Zone is created to help you gain access to useful software updates and great shareware programs that add functionality to your system. It is also a one stop road map to other informative sites for answering your questions. Most of the info here is geared towards the 6400, but it is useful for all PCI Performa models and even the 6500 and all-in-one Macs based on the same. It's even useful to other MAC systems. I will be referring to my 6400/200 clocked to 220Mhz as just 6400/220, OK.

I will keep it updated as often as I can but I don't have much free time to work on it, so I suggest you check back at least once a week. That should be sufficient. If you don't see something you would like to see here or have your own software / web site that would benefit the MAC community, please write to me at TMK12v@aol.com and I will check it out.

• Current problems with my system
• Readers Requests Page
• Mac equipment for sale

New 6400 Zone Navigation map: I thought it was time to add more links to my map as this site is getting rather large. What do you think of the window look? It is the Gizmo Theme that was supposed to be out with OS 8.5.1. The only thing lost is the shadowed look of the icons when you are viewing the page that the link was for. It was a nice touch but this way I am saving web space and new pages will appear faster as you won't have to download a new image to your computer on every link. It may take some time to get all my pages so please be patient :)

First report of Sonnets 300/1M G3 card installed in a 6400!: Wes wrote to tell me he just installed this card in his 6400 and it rocks! I'm jealious :) Thanks Wes.

[Just thought that I would let you know that I got my Sonnet G3 300 MHz/1MB,upgrade card to day.

I enclosed my MacBench 5 scores for you to post on your site. I also,included Sonnet's own Metronome program stats.





Installation was easy and the card looks just the picture you have on your,site right now. The only discrepancy so far is that in the documentation it,says that the heat sink should face away from the DIMM slots. It does not,insert this way though. The heat sink faces the DIMM slot. I have two 64,MB DIMMs installed also, and the heat sink rests up against the nearest,DIMM. I will let you know if I run into any problems with heat/crashes. Sorry, no pics of this.

Software installation was a snap.

Just a little info on my system:
CPU - 6400/180 (well now it's 300 MHz with 1 MB backside cache at 150 MHz)
136 MB ram
12 MB Game Wizard
Ultimate Rez Video Card
10 GB HD
Not using Ram Doubler or Virtual Memory, but I am using Speed Doubler.

If you have any questions, email me.
Wes]

As you can see Sonnets utility shows the CPU temp much cooler than PowerLogix's utility shows the Vimage card. This is probably due to the large heat sink. Also I am a little nervious about the heatsink resting on the RAM chips? I will have to see how this goes when I get my card for review. Click here for more info on Sonnets 6400 G3 upgrade.

DigiKey part number for MB crystal: David replied to my request for more info on his MB clocking experiences. Thanks David.

[Okay, the Digikey part number for the crystal is X065-ND, and it is found on the bottom left of page 249 in their catalog. The price is 84 cents per crystal; Digikey has a $25 order minimum I believe so you might want to find a few other things that you need/want or get a bunch of people together to make an order.
-David]

Apple Opens "Tell Steve Jobs" Page: Apple is seeking feedback on problems or issues at this web site. Stating, "If you're not happy, we're not happy." Apple promises to get back to you by email or phone quickly. Things like retailing problems, problems with support or customer service or even equipment appear to be fair game. The new page is not for specific technical support questions.

Just for kicks I went and told them about my Geo modem woes :)

Apple System Profiler bug: speaking of Apple problems, Tom sent me a letter that was sent to him stating that ASP 2.1.2 does not correctly identify the L2 cache installed on a 6400. Thanks, Tom

["Dear Tom Legare,
I stumbled across an anomaly in my 6500/300 (which used to be a 6400/180) that I thought worth sharing. I have a 512K L2 cache card, and when I recently checked out my system using Apple System Profiler 2.1.1 (included with OS 8.5) or 2.1.2 (latest version), my L2 cache was only reported to be 256K!

Odd... I *knew* that I had a 512K cache card in there, and MacBench verified it for me. The only logical explanation was that Apple System Profiler itself must be wrong."

Apple verified that a bug exists in Apple System Profiler 2.1.1 and 2.1.2 which affects people with 4400, 5400, 6400, 5500. and 6500 machines (I would expect the TAM is affected too, but the article does not state that). Apple System Profiler will only report that you have a 256K L2 cache card, even if you actually have something higher. Performance is not affected in any way.

Apple has posted a TIL article on it at TIL 24685.
Tom Legare]

Mac Equipment for sale: Kevin has sold his 6400 and would like to thank all that inquired. Click here to view other Mac stuff for sale. Also I have moved the entire list to its own page. My home page is being overloaded with info and loads up slow in a browser now. Mostly this is due to AOL's HomeTown feature but I can remove a few things myself :)

Text files on this site: I moved all the text files I had into a sub directory so if any of the links have broken please let me know. Thanks.

6500 56k modem sold by KIWI: a lot of readers have called KIWI and were told that this modem will not work in the 6400. I believe they are just trying to cover themselves incase anyone has a problem. I've gotten letters from many people that installed this modem in their 6400 and it works great. The only thing is ask if it comes with the software. If it doesn't then it won't work as the Telecom software for the Geo is different than the GV's. I think the OS 8 install CD does have this software in the CD Extras folder under Telecom (serial)?

Maxtors 10Gig drive in the 6400: Jim wrote to tell me that he installed this drive and it works great. Thanks for the info Jim.

[Replaced the stock 2.3 Gig drive with a Maxtor 10.0 Gig drive. I purchased the drive at Fryes Electronics for $230.00, which matched well with the prices advertised on the net. Installation was very quick. Pop off the front cover of the 6400, unlatch the old drive and slide it out. Remove power and data connectors. Set up on the Maxtor: just make sure that the jumpers in the back of the drive are set to "Master Drive". Remove the old drive from the sled, install the new drive on the sled, and hook up the power and data connectors. Slide the drive back in, replace front cover and power up with your OS CD.

I had backed up my hard disk with Retrospect to a zip drive. Therefore, restoring my data was fairly easy. I found that I needed to rebuild the catalog for each storage set in order to retrieve the most current backup. Otherwise, I was one week behind. I have divided the disk into 5 partitions as follows:
System files - 1 Gig
Applications, Utilities and Clinic partitions at 2 Gigs
Games partition at 3 Gigs.

All are in the extended HSF+ format. After living in small ;-) 250- 500Meg partitions, I now have ROOM! It's kind of fun to see that I still have 2.7 Gig available in a partition.

Performance: I have not run any benchmarks yet, however, I have noticed a decrease in loading time for all applications and functions. Everything is faster, even display of pages on the net. I will be running MacBench 5.0 on the drive and will post the results, if there is an interest.

If you feel it is time to move up to a larger drive, don't wait. Just do it!
DrJIM]

Sonnet releases 225/240 G3 for the 6400/6500!: Sonnet has started selling its $399 225/240Mhz G3 upgrade for the 6400/6500 and all others based on the same mother boards. The faster 300Mhz cards are not out yet. MacCPU has posted a short review on the card with comparisons to Vimages 225/240 G3 upgrade. The only thing I want to mention is that in the review they are using a 20th Aniversary Mac which may need more cooling than the 6400/6500 so this is why they used the fan on the Vimage card. With the fan on it covers one RAM slot which reduces the total amount of RAM you can install. I emailed them about this and they said that they only used the fan because they were selling the Vimage card to TAM owners before Vimage OK'ed it so they wanted to make sure it would work. The TAM is a very tight enclosure which has different cooling needs. As far as I know the fan is not needed but No one has confirmed this with me yet.

50Mhz bus maybe too fast for the 6400!: Thorsten wrote to let me know that he has reduced his MB back to 48Mhz due to system errors. His mother board was pushed passed its limit. A cooling fan for the entire system (not just the CPU) may be needed?

[Hello Tom.
Excuse my writing so, but i have observed that the 50MHz won´t run safetly :-/ In the first look the system will run fine. The errors are in details.


For example:
1. When i burned CDs or the Mac reads intensive from a inserted CD-ROM, the Computer freezes always. This means, the SCSI-BUS are unsteady. With or without a CPU-Fan. With a Fan it will run longer, but IMHO not safetly enough (for me).
2. The Alert-Sounds won´t played correctly. First time i think about a Software-Problem but it is really the Clocking-Frequenze.


Now i have again the 48MHz Crystall inserted and all works fine. Maybe another Guy will test it with one of my nine 50MHz-Crystalls? :-)]

Here are a few pictures Thorsten sent me, Thanks Thorsten.

Farallons 10/100 ethernet card for the 6400's Comm II slot: Getting ready to get a cable modem I needed to get an ethernet card for the modem to connect to my Mac. I had 2 choices, either a PCI card or a COMM II slot card which is where the internal modem normally is. Since I had removed my Geo modem and I didn't want to waste a PCI slot so I opted for the COMM II slot card. The 6400 cannot use a COMM slot card like what Mac LC's use but must use a COMM II slot type card. The COMM II slot is based on a PCI slot but won't accept PCI cards either :( Anyways click here to read more about it.

They also just released Optimized drivers and a link is available on the same page as the link above.

Sonnet Ships 6400 G3 upgrade!: Check out my Sonnet Info page for more info. The message states they are making more of the 300/1M cards then any of the others. This is a good move as the $599 price for such high performance can't be beat! Sonnet also sent me a press release on compatibility with Connectix's Virtual PlayStation. The info is towards the bottom of my Sonnet Page.

6500 56k modem for 6400's: I just saw that KIWI is advertising the 6500 internal GV 56k modem for $89. this is the same modem that many of my 6400 readers have placed in their Macs. I don't know if the software comes with it but its worth inquiring about. KIWI has no web site and can be reached at 1-800-334-KIWI

Another 6400 MB upgrade success: I recieved this letter from Dave Barton who has changed his mother board speed from 40Mhz to 48Mhz which also took his CPU from 180Mhz to 216Mhz. Nice improvment for just one change. Thanks for the info Dave.

[Hi,
I saw your page on the web and thought I'd tell you about my overclocked 6400. I started out with a 6400/180 and moved one of the surface mount resistors to increase the speed to 200 MHz. I didn't try a higher speed. After running for a while at 200MHz I got a 48 MHz crystal (which I bought from Digikey--made by ECS International). This was the fastest 2-lead crystal I could find and it did not come in a surface mount pack. That wasn't a big deal. I just desoldered the old surface mount crystal and soldered the leads of the new crystal directly to the motherboard. First off I tried running at 240/48 but that didn't work on my machine so I moved the speed selection resistor back to it's original place (180MHz at 40MHz bus) and now my machine is running fine at 216/48. I've got a 512Kb cache card, TV/Video system/geoport modem/and one PCI slot filled. I don't have a CPU fan either. Perhaps if I installed one (and maybe that Peltier cooling gizmo) I could get up to 240/48. I don't think I'll bother though. When I get a chance I'll send you my MacBench scores before and after and maybe even a picture of my motherboard.

-David Barton]

Read my 6400 Clocking page for more info on clocking the CPU or Mother Board.

Using MacComCenter to replace MegaPhone: Claudio sent me some info on his experience with this other telephony software. He was having problems with MegPhone which MacComCenter fixed. Click here to visit my Geomodem page for all the info.

Another 6400 CPU clocked: I was sent this info anonymously about 2 6400's overclocked. One 6400 runs exceptionally fast from 180Mhz to 240Mhz! Thats a 60Mhz increase which is much more then what has ever been reported. the other 6400/180 would only do 200Mhz which is what I have said is a safe increase. It just goes to show that no 2 CPU or computers are the same. Thanks for the info.

[I'd just like to fill you in on my experience with overclocking the 6400. I have a 6400/180 that I run a 240 with ATI rage pro card and pci ethernet card and run it 24/7 with *NO* heat problems or crashes. That's the good news. On the other hand another 6400/180 belonging to a friend would not run at 240 or 220 but was happy at 200. He also has a ATI card in his. Also we got these machines at a local office supply superstore for $399 back in march of 98. I got a PB520c at the same store about a year earlier for $299 so keep an eye on those superstores even if they do suck 99% of the time.]

Another 6400 to 6500 mother board swap success story: William sends word that he was able to upgrade his 6400 to a 6500 with the help of Tom Legares review on my Readers Reviews page. Thanks William.

[OK Tom, the upgrade is done and I am in the PM6500/300Mhz land. Everything went just as Tom Legare and Rick Mason described. The directions from KIWI were the best. It was only because of my "all thumbs" that I took more time to attach the back plate and get the PCI riser card back in place. A good experience that at one time I would have never tried myself. I will run some tests as soon as I learn to run MacBench correctly.
William T. Russell, Jr.]

6400 takes a long time to start with OS 8.5.x: It seems that Apple may have put the old 30sec delay backinto the 6400 that we used to have with OS 7.6.1 with this new OS but also gave us a way to prevent it. read this clipping I got from the Performa Forums on Apples web site.

[Q - My 6400 takes 120 seconds to boot up now with 8.5.1, and Im disappointed, as I was under the assumption that 8.5 was quicker in this regard. Even with 8.1 my 6400 needed 90 seconds. I try to pare down my extensions, but have never noticed any change. Up until 8.5 Ive depended on the MAC Pruning Pages, but theyve not updated for awhile. Am I unnecessarily concerned, or is this normal?

A - Here is what you do to solve this problem. Go to your control panels, and click on the 'memory' control panel while holding down the command and option keys. You will be presented with the usual control panel options plus one: "Start-Up Memory Test". Select 'off'. You will no longer have to wait two minutes for your machine to start up.
Gene Shekhtman]

From my own experience and others it seems that the default on the 6400 is OFF but is can't hurt to check. Another speed up as mentioned in Just Updated 1/31/1999 is to deselect the Mount PC SCSI disks at startup in the File Exchange control panel. This option makes your computer scan for PC formatted disks on the SCSI chain once this control panel is reached and may take a few seconds. deselcting it will save you a little bit of time on startups.

6400 with a full 50Mhz bus!: Thorsten was able to find some 50Mhz crystals and now has a 225Mhz 6400 with a 50Mhz bus. This is basically a 6500/225. Visit my 6400 MB Clocking Info page and scan to the bottom to read all about it. He is also willing to sell the extra crystalls he has. Thanks Thorsten.

Mac Equipment for sale: Brian has sold a few Items and would like to thank all that inquired. He has added a few more items too. Dave is selling his 6400 with all th trimmings. Click here to get all the info plus other Mac stuff for sale.

Email address request: Jeff, I have recieved a request from Eric who would like your email address. I have deleted it already and no longer have it, Thanks

[I'm wondering if you have Jeff's email address so I can find out more
about fixing the sound problem on my 6500?

"6400's volume not as loud as it used to be?-"

Thanks,
Eric]

I found a great way to earn some money while getting great deals to you on Macintosh books and software plus they have all kinds of other books, music, and more. Please click on the amazon.com link on the top of this page whenever you feel like purchasing something to help sponsor this site. If you're unsure of what you want and wish to get a list of Mac related items, just type Macintosh in the search field on their home page and you will be presented with many choices to select.

Jeff did some digging in to the new code that displays the frames on my site with AOL ads and found a link that can be used which will not show those annoying ads. Here is the address. http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/TMK12v/home.html
Thanks Jeff, for sending this info. PS don't let AOL find out :)

I just tried to print a gif file from AOL 3.0 and AOL crashes with a type 10. I have the Epson stylus 600, background printing turned on, OS 8.0, and I was not logged on at the time. If any of you have had this problem and fixed it, please email me the details.

Update 10/31/97: I have been in contact with another person having a similar problem but he was not running OS 8.0. This tells me the problem is more likely AOL's and not Apples.

Update 6/9/98: Thought I forgot about this did ya? Well I just tried it again and even with Epsons newest printer drivers I still got a type 10 error. This definitely leads me to believe that AOL 3.0.x is the problem as my entire system has pretty much been changed since my last update. I have not had a problem printing when online.

Update 1/1/1999: Since I have the newer Epson 700 printer and no longer use the 600 I may never know if ths problem was fixed? I will attempt to test the 700 for this problem and will note it here.

I use a Performa 6400/180 OS 8.5.1, Performa 6400/200 OS 8.5.1, PowerBook G3/233 OS 8.5.1, and a PowerBook DUO 270c OS 7.5.5. All of the software updates posted here are currently running on one or the other with minimal problems. If I do encounter a problem, I will post it for all to read and respond to. If you are having any problems and would like help just email me and if I can answer it I will, or I will post it here for others to read and respond to.