Just Updated 5/6/2000 Apple updates Game Sprockets: Click here to get version 1.7.4 of Apples Game Sprockets. Quake 3 Arena MacPoint Release 1.17 part 2: Q3A MacPointRelease 1.17 was released 2 days ago and probably every Mac user had trouble with it. First the installer was timed out and you had to set your date back a month or so to get it to install but only to find out that your game lost speed! Well they fixed it and below is a link to get the newest version. http://www.mac3d.com/cgi-bin/news3/news.cgi?y=2000&m=05&d=05&p=b&t=g iMovie info page: I just created an iMovie info page to store all the info I have collected on using it. Go check out all the info I just posted. It should help you get started right away making cool movies even if you don't have a DV camcorder, and who doesn't :) Newer brings back their L2 G3!: Well this ought to be great news :) Newer has announced that they will be making the L2 G3 again. Alright! Newer's has been probably the leaset problematic and most compatible of all the L2 G3's since Vimage stopped selling them. But Newers is more compatible as it runs todays video cards where Vimage could not. Here is a link to a MacWeek article on this. The article says to expect them this month. See my side bar for more info on Newers L2 G3. Sonnet drops prices on L2 G3 upgrades: I really don't remember seeing this posted on the other help sites when they announced the price drops on Sonnets G3 upgrades so here it is for all of us 6400/6500 owners :) Crescendo G3/L2 400/1M $399.95 (was $499.95) Crescendo G3/L2 500/1M $599.95 (was $699.95) That 400Mhz card is looking mighty nice now :) I also noticed that I had listed a 300Mhz 1M card which Sonnet no longer has posted? I guess the 320/350 1M card replaced it? OS 9.0.x CD drivers issue update: Well I still have not figured out what is going on with the OS 9 install placing CD drivers that don't work with the 6400 anymore? I would like it if anyone that is having this problem or even the worse problem of not being able to boot to the OS 9 CD because the drivers on the CD's System folder are bad, to please check the CD/DVD extension version in the System folder of the install CD to verify that it is 1.3.5 and not some weird version in the 4 or 5 range. Thanks. DAV cable for AVID info for John: I posted a letter from John who was asking if there is any way to get a cable for an older revA or B TV/Video system to connect to his AVID card? David pointed me towards www.sunrem.com which I usually tell people to try and I did find one cable but not sure if it will work. John please let me know if this will work? Thanks David for the tip. They listed the part as none in stock and they don't know where to find it either? From looking at all these parts I think one of the changes from revA to D is that the connector went from a 34pin to a 60pin connector on the video I/O card. Possibly to pass more info? The cable I linked to above is a 34pin to 60pin cable for connecting the older revA card to a MPEG card but might work with the Avid card? but there are none to be found :( Update on the differences between the revisions of Apple video I/O cards: David also sent some info on what he thinks is the difference between the older rev A, B, C and then D of Apple video card. His opinion seems to fit nicely with the info I found in that the revD card has a 60pin connector to work with Avids card as it has a 60pin connector also. If this is all thats really different then the older cards should work fine if you don't care about using Avids card. Thanks David [Tom - From what I've been able to gather, the Rev. D of the Apple Video System card is required if you plan on using it in conjunction with the Avid Cinema card...supposedly, the DAV connector on the Rev. D card is the only one that will interface correctly with the DAV connector on the Avid card. I had a Rev. C TV/Video System installed in my 6400/300 (Newer G3/L2) that ran just fine under every OS up to 8.6 (I never did install OS 9 on it). There are a couple of caveats, though, especially if you run multiple monitors like I did: First, the video will only run smoothly if you have Apple Video Player running on the monitor attached to the onboard video. It will still run on another monitor, but video playback will be extremely jerky. Second, the monitor attached to the onboard video must be set to a "supported" resolution...preferably 640x480, since you'll get the "thousands of colors" required for a nice, clear picture. (An antenna also helps with the nice, clear picture thing. ;-) Third, I could never get AVP to display full-screen video (without the window border) unless the monitor attached to the onboard video was set to be the main monitor, which really wasn't ideal. My workaround was to use the shareware BTV instead of AVP, which played full-screen TV and video just fine. (You'll still need to have the Video Player extension loaded, though.) Fourth, be careful of what buttons you press on the remote control. I assumed that the "Power" button would only quit AVP. No, it shuts down the computer! I picked mine up from MacWorks back when they had a ton of them going for $50, but it looks like they've long since run out. MacWorks claimed they had a Rev. A running fine in a 6500. I suspect you can still find them on eBay for a decent price...I sold mine there a few months ago for $51. ;-) I don't have my 6400 anymore (found a deal on a new B&W 350 DVD at CompUSA for under $800!), but I still visit your site regularly. Keep up the good work. David] OS 9.0.4 System Ram requirment growing?: Stephen writes that his Ram allocation for his System keeps growing till it eats up all his ram? he is using OS 9.0.4. Has anyone else had this problem or knows of a fix? Thanks [Tom.... I had to let you know this! I have been leaving my computer on 24 hours and when I go to use it, The screen redraws are literally to a snails crawl, whereas after a restart the system is fine until the OS's memory requirements moves up higher and higher. The most it has eaten is 101.4 Megs!!! It basically lets you know what was going on. P.S. It doesn't have to be on 24 hours for this to happen. This has started since my software update software upgraded a module from Apple. I am going to revert back to 9.0.4's upgrade and accept NO MORE Updates from Apple by disabling my Software upgrade module. let me know if anyone else is having this problem... Stephen] Update on OS 9.0.4 and the 6400's Subwoofer issue: In my last update I noted that a few people noticed their 6400's subwoofer will not work after upgrading to OS 9.0.4. Chris writes that his still works but is much quieter then it used to be? Thanks Chris. [Another matter; I saw the comments about the sub-woofer not working with OS9. I tried it last night and found that twisting the knob on the back of the processor did boost the base, but not as much as I remember, you used to be able to get a lot of distortion by turning the bass up. I checked the Sound control panel and everything was set correctly. I have a 15" Apple monitor with the built in speakers and the bass only seems to be from them. The start-up sound is still pretty bassy though, so I wonder what they could have done in OS9? Best regards and thanks again for such a great site. Chris] Part number for VRAM upgrade of ATI VR Rage Pro cards: Christopher just sent me the info he has on where to get the 4M SGRAM upgrade at a great discount. Thanks Christopher. [Hello Tom, ClubMac's web site is http://www.clubmac.com. There is no direct link to the product listing that I can find. Go to the site and search on "ATI" The SKU number is M101 2070. This SGRAM module upgrades the ATI RagePro VR from 4 MB to 8 MB of VRAM, and the Beige G3 to 6 MB (I think). You won't find any product details there though. I got my information by sending an email to the customer service department at sales@clubmac.com Christopher] I just checked their web site and this SKU is for a 4M SGRAM upgrade but listed for 333Mhz iMacs? Still I think it should work as the 333 iMac did have a Rage Pro chip. Just Updated 4/29/2000 Free iMovie from Apple: Apple is giving away iMovie free or charge now! They say its for OS 9.0.4 users of PB G3 2000 and G4 owners but guess what? It works with older systems too. I read that many Pre G3 owners with G3 upgrades are getting it to work as well as me :) I just tried it on my 6400 with Vimages G3 and OS 8.6 and it installed and launched fine. It did complain that I didn't have the QT Firewire DV extensions installed but I just clicked OK and it came up with no trouble. I had just installed QT 4.1.2, which also just came out, so I'm not sure if older versions will work? I have no Firewire card so no wonder these extensions didn't get installed :) I haven't tried to make anything yet but it does look like it will work. Non G3 upgraded 6400 will probably not run it very well? Even the intro movie during the install kind of stuttered on my a bit :( Here is a link to Apples site with more info on iMovie and please email me with any info you have on it. Thanks. Here is some reader feedback on iMovie and Final Cut Pro on the 6400/6500. Thanks guys. [Hi Tom, Just wanted to let you know that Apple has iMovie 1.0.2 available for a free download. I have tried it on my 6500 (Sonnet 500 L2G3) but wasn't able to get it to work. When I launched it, a warning came up saying that I don't have Quicktime Firewire DV Support installed. I proceeded to enable and update that extension and the Quicktime Friewire DV Enabler too. However, when I launch iMovie, it still came up with that warning. Desktop rebuild (using Techtool and traditional restart with extensions off) and PRAM zap did nothing, and iMovie will crash after that warning dialog box is closed with a type 12 error. : ( I did read that someone was able to get it to work with his 6500/250 (no G3 upgrade) in the MacCentral forum. He said that it felt really slow and that G3 will be needed to speed things up. He also said that iMovie crashed on him too. Just thought you might like to know this info. : ) Regards, Tiong] [Tom, Both iMovie and Final Cut Pro work fine on a 6400. Even before mine was G3 upgraded to a 300/200 1Mb machine. The only thing I don't know yet is if it will work well with a live feed of digital data via a Firewire PCI card. I only have a PC card for my G3 Powerbook. However, I can take the data file from my G3 Powerbook and transfer it over to my 6400 and launch Final Cut Pro or iMovie and still watch the video and/or edit it. In short do everything but import live Firewire video due to not having a PCI Firewire card yet. I HIGHLY recommend you tell others on your site about the RocketFire card from macworks.com. It is working better than the Orange Micro or Newer Fire-2-Go cards from what I hear. Rodney] [Tom, You're welcome. I'm using OS 8.6 and Quicktime 4.1.1. Tell all of your many readers that if they don't have a digital camera, but do already have a good 8mm analog camera, then just buy a Sony DVMC-DA1 or DA2. I have the DVMC-DA2 and it works great. I can take all of my Sony 8mm tapes and VHS tapes and convert them to digital format. Then I can output it back to analog and it looks like a pristine first generation tape recorded live and not dubbed. I tell you, iMovie and Final Cut Pro are making me miss Avid Cinema less and less. Rodney] Connectix releases CVGS 1.4 update!: Wow, finally an update to CVGS. Click here to go get it :) DHCP info from Apple: Here are 2 links to Apple TIL info on their DHCP implementations. From reading them it sounds like OS 9's OT reverted to the same DHCP licensing scheme used in Pre OS 8.6 systems? This may be why OT 2.6.x work so much better again? DHCP behaviors with Mac OS's http://til.info.apple.com/techinfo.nsf/artnum/n58372 fixes for DHCP issues http://til.info.apple.com/techinfo.nsf/artnum/n25049 Faxing and phoning with the Geo modem works with OS 9: Murray writes that he can fax fine with OS 9 and his Geo modem. Dirk writes that he can use the Apple Telecom software for phone functions also! Not sure about an answering machine but it works for making calls. Thanks guys. I guess the problem of not being able to access the control panel in OS 9 is not a problem? [Hello Tom: So far, I've sent a couple of faxes without problems, though I haven't fully tested things out yet. If I encounter any new problems, I'll let you know. Murray] [I'm going to test faxing. As the Telecom software works for making calls, I don't expect many problems. If it doesn't, do you know of alternative faxing software which works with the Geoport adapter. I'll keep you posted. Dirk] More info on Sonnets 320/350 G3 card: Jordan reminded me why this card is $100 more then the 300Mhz card. It has a larger L2 cache. 1M instead of 512k. A little more worth it now but I think I would still just get the 300Mhz card or save for the 400Mhz card :) [Tom, I know why the Sonnet G3 L2 320/350mhz card costs almost $100 more than the 300mhz version. It seems Sonnet only makes the 300mhz version with 512k cache instead of a 512k and a 1MB cache. So a 6400 user is actually paying an extra $100 for 20 mhz and 512k more cache. The only advantage I would see with this card is that it probably has the newer design and is more compatible with a Voodoo3 card. But I agree with you, its not worth it for 6400 users. Jordan] Running Quake II on the 6400 with OS 9.0.4 update: Christopher writes that he had similar issues to the previous reader who could not get Q2 to run but his system runs with these issues? Thanks. Also note the deal he found on ATI VRAM. [Hello Thomas, I just saw your reader note about trouble running Quake II. I installed it on my 6400 this Saturday. I also ran into the double mounting, but other than that I had no real problems. Only issues: I had one low memory message when Norton's Live Update ran, and the program at first did not recognize my ATI RagePro card. I think the program video setting defaults to 'software'. A memory adjustment and a restart after setting the video option to recognize the card, and I was happily blasting away. System: OS 9.0.4 Proc.: Sonnet L2G3 300/1M Memory: 104 Meg with VM set to 105 Video: ATI RagePro VR with 8 megs of SGRAM BTW, I picked up a cheap RAM upgrade for my ATI card from ClubMac. 4 Megs to 8 Megs for $29.95. They were the only vendor that told me that the beige G3 SGRAM card also works in the ATI RagePro VR card. The other vendors wanted to sell me at $79.99 upgrade from ATI. Keep up the great work. Christopher] Info on Sonnets new Crescendo update: Tiong sent me info on Sonnets new 1.4.4 drivers. Thanks Tiong. [Hi Tom, Saw that you wanted info on what's new in Sonnet Processor Upgrade 1.4.4. From their Read Me file: New in version 1.4.4 - Easy Install removes "Sonnet G4 Enabler 9" enabler because Sonnet G4 Enabler 9 is not compatible with Mac OS 9.0.4 update. A Sonnet G3 or G4 card will run fine without this Enabler. If (you) are developing Altivec software and need to see Altivec registers in Macsbug and you are using OS 9 (not 9.0.4), then you can install this enabler from the custom install. - Adds a space to the beginning of "Sonnet Processor Upgrade" extension, allowing this extension to load earlier and to speed the boot process. Tom, Sonnet also noted on their web site that this installer will not remove older versions if their re-named by adding a space, etc., in front of its name to make it load earlier. Regards, Tiong] QT 4.1.2 fixes some ATI Rage128 VR issues: Jon writes that he had issues with OpenGL and ATI's Rage128 VR card. Later he wrote that QT 4.1.2 fixed some of it. Thanks Jon. Remember that ATI has said they have a very high failure rate with 6400/6500 type computers specially with G3 upgrades. If you have a similar combo to Jon's and QT 4.1.2 helped you out then please email me. Thanks. [Dear Sirs, To your knowledge, do any of your readers report compatibility between the above two products in a Performa 6360 running MacOS 9.0.4? The reason I ask is because I have been unable to upgrade from ATI Universal drivers 4.0 to Universal drivers 4.2 and from OGL 1.0 to OGL 1.1-1.1.3 with the G3/L2 enabled. With the G3/L2 enabled and latest ATI drivers loaded, XVP will freeze the system when launched. OGL applications have sound problems as if VM is turned on. I have 136 mb of ram and so have no reason to use VM. I spent several hours with ATI tech support and was able to conclude that there is a compatibility issue between the ATI and Sonnet cards when using the latest software from the companies. Individually each product works great. XVP runs without freezing the system and sound is find in OGL applications using OGL 1.1.3. Together, they are incompatible. The only way the two cards can run simultaneously in my system is with OGL 1.0 and 4.0 ATI drivers. Sonnet has been especially less than helpful. I have gotten no where with them. Review of your user reports show users using one or the other card but not both. So I am curious to know if there are any users using both and what their experiences have been? Also any thoughts on the matter is appreciated. Thanks in advance. Sincerely, Jon] [ I just downloaded QT 4.1.2!! QuickTime QuickTime PowerPlug QuickTime Capture QuickTime Web Helper The above files appear to have fixed my XVP problem, which may suggest the problem may have been with quicktime. I still have the crappy sound prolem in OGL applications thou. Jon] Request for info on Apples TV/Video system in a 6400: Ross would like to know what versions of this system will work in a 6400 well. If you have this info then please email me. Thanks. [Hi! I'm looking for information about what revisions of the Apple TV/Video System can be used in the 6400. I heard that only D was supported, but I've also read stuff about the C actually working. Can you clarify any of this? Particularly what problems arise if the older model doesn't work. Thanks, Ross] Request for cable for older Avid card in a 5400: John writes that he got an older Apple TV/Video system that is for a 5200 (maybe rev A or B TV/Video system) and it will not fit in his 5400. He was wondering if anyhad a special cable from an Avid kit that might work? Please email him if this is true and you know where to get one. Thanks. [I have a 5400 with a "wrong" version of the Apple TV/Video System; it the one made for the 5200. The DAV slot that you would connect the Avid card to is different, but I recently read that there's a cable, possibly included in the Avid package, that will work with the older slot. Have you heard anything about this?] Update on OS 9.0.x CD/DVD drivers and the 6400: I have received some info from users who both have no trouble or much trouble with their CD drivers after upgrading to OS 9.0.x. Here are there letters. Thanks. [Tom, My CD Rom driver is 4.0.7f9 other details are the same as yours, and it was having problems as you know! Mark] [I haven't found any problem here: P6400, Sonnet L2/300. ID = 3 CD-ROM drive Driver version: 1.3.5 Mac OS partitions: 0 Removable media: Yes Vendor: MATSHITA Revision number: 8.0e Product ID: CD-ROM CR-8008 Serial number: Not available Same driver as you, rev. 8.0e rather than 8h. Cheers, Anthony] John who originally wrote me with this problem, and he had 5.3.3 drivers listed, says that using the CD/DVD drivers from OS 8.6 worked for him. I suggest that if your CD driver in the Extension folder is not listed as Apple CD/DVD driver with a revision of 1.2.2 for OS 8.6 or 1.3.5 for OS 9.0.4 then you should custom install your CD drivers as you have the wrong ones. I don't know how but it seems like some people did not get new drivers installed? Booting to an OS 9 install CD if the CD extensions don't work?: Marco just wrote me that he could not boot to his OS 9 install CD due to the CD driver issues? This will be a big problem and Apple needs to address this! If the drivers are bad then you cannot boot to the OS 9 CD as the drivers cannot be changed? If you want to install OS 9 I suggest that you first make a backup of your current CD drivers then boot your 6400 with the OS ALL selected in the Extension Manager control panel for whatever OS you currently have. Then insert the OS 9 CD and run the installer. Then when you have to restart at the end make sure you hold the shift key to disable extensions. Then remove the OS 9 CD drviers and place your previous one in. This is the only work around I see for people with just one HD. You could do a clean install which I recommend for OS 9 and then boot with extensions disabled and drag over your older CD drivers. [CD/DVD Drivers from OS 9.x are not a go when trying to boot from the CD. In fact I could never figure out why it would'nt boot, yet sys 8.0 and under to 7.5.3 with the original system software work just fine. My question is how can I boot from the cd with out gettin an error?? Your help would be greatly appreciated Thanks...Marco] This problem also brings up the point that if some people like me get the CD to boot fine and can use the drivers that OS 9 installed and others cannot, then I wonder if Apple made a booboo with some of the CD's they sent out and corrected it without telling anyone? Just a thought. Viking 56k modem and the 6400: Doug got a Viking 56k modem and is having trouble getting it working. If you think you have an answer then please email him. Thanks. [Help, I purchased a Viking 56K V.90 modem and can not get it to work. The Viking just won't connect, I keep getting the message: 'modem not responding, please reset and try again'. I've called Viking tech support, they say that it is connecting OK and to contact my ISP it must be them. I did and they say all is well there. SO.... I'm at my wits end here. When I changed from my original modem (a GeoPort Global Village/Bronze) to the one I had when I bought the Viking (BestData Smart One) it connected fine, no problems. I've even reinstalled ALL software, reformatted my hard drive, everything!!! (Actually that sounds like a lot, but I think I could do it in my sleep these days). I don't know what else to do. I talk to a friend of mine who had the same problem. He gave up and got himself another modem. Can you be of any help ????? Thanks and no I do not mind if you post my email address if I can get this problem resolved. Doug] Subwoofer speaker issues after upgrading to OS 9.0.x: Mike as well as other seem to be having trouble with their Subwoofers after upgrading to OS 9.0.x and playing Audio CD's? Here is Mikes letter. If you have an answer then please email me. Thanks [Hi Tom, I visit your site very often and had read that you had recently installed OS 9 on your Performa, do you have any problems with your sound as far as playing Audio CD's? I have had OS 9 running for about 2 weeks now and I noticed that my sub woofer no longer works when playing Audio CD's and I'm not getting the full SRS or Stereo sound. The bass is practically nonexistent and vocals seem to be some what faint or distant. I recorded the same songs on a ZIP disk and also downloaded the demo version of Macster MP3 and CD player and played a CD with Macster and got the full stereo and bass that I am now missing with my Apple CD. The recording on my Zip disk played also very well or should I say normal. I'm apparently not the only one with this issue because I saw a posting on Performa Discussion Forum from a user that said he had lost the sound from his sub woofer after installing OS 9. My system has been upgraded, I have a Performa 6400/180 w/ G3/L2 300, (and have had no problems), ATI graphics card, internal ZIP drive, Umax scanner, Apple MultiScan 15 AV monitor and 72 MB of RAM and everything works fine except for the CD which doesn't play audio CD's the way it should. The sound from games and any other apps on my hard drive play just fine, even when I start up the sub woofer works fine. I've notice in the open sound control panel that the options button is grayed out so I can't use it, also I don't have the 3D option in the Apple CD Player that is also grayed out. I check out all drivers and Apps and everything was upgraded. I didn't do a clean install because I really didn't feel like re-installing all my 3rd party apps and drivers, beginning to wonder if I should have, especially if your not having the same issues after a clean install. Any input will be much appreciated and keep up the great work you do on your site. Thanks, Mike] I 1st suggest going to the Sound control panel and make sure under the Input Source selection that both "CD" and "pass to output" are selected. If not then you will not get any sound from Audio CD's. Also in the Output selection make sure that the volume for both left and right speakers are at full. This is a new feature Apple added and if one side is set lower then the audio will sound muffled.

L2 G3 Upgrades PCI Timing Extension My 6400 TA manual Sonnet Clocking Gaming News ATI Rage128 Voodoo3 OS 9 info OT 2.6 for old OS's iTools info iMovie info Run Alternate OS's Spec Comparison Page Vimage compatibility user letters install review Sonnet Tech compatiblity user letters install review hack for stability Sonnet clocking Crescendo 1.4.2 installer Newer Tech compatibility user letters Power Logix Alternate OS's Avid Cinema Cable/DSL Modems CD-ROM's Firewire and USB cards Geo Modem Gaming News iMovie info iTools MacOS 7.5.x - 9.0 info Magma PCI Chassis USB and Firewire cards Voodoo2 Voodoo3 6400 Icons ColorStyleWriter4000 OS 9 Crescendo 1.4.2 OT 2.6 and OT 2.6.1 SetVolume to 1 script Sonnet Clocker Sonnet Clocker II UK Telecom software Vimage drivers, latest From Apple- Mac OS Forums Performa 6400 Forums From Accelerate Your Mac- 3DFX Forums