Just Updated 2/9/2002

TSMacs (Tech Support for Macs): Tannager is the host of a new Mac help site named TSMacs. Here is a little snippet from their web site that says what they are all about.

• [Welcome to "Tech Support for Macs" (TSM)!
  
  TSM is a Mac-centric site dedicated to providing an environment in which Macintosh computer users can give and receive free technical support and, hopefully, enjoy themselves in the process.
  
  As you may already have noticed, the TSM site includes "links" and "tips" pages as well as a "column" by tannager, TSM's administrator. (Caveat: "Tannager's Thoughts" - http://www.tsmacs.org/thoughts.html - will be posted on an irregular basis and may not have any redeeming social, technological or literary value )
  
  TSM wants everyone who comes to the site to feel welcome and comfortable so please be nice! In other words: "treat others the way you would like others to treat you." One of the things that's so great about the Mac community is its helpfulness, generosity and camaraderie and, if TSM can embody that spirit, it will be a better place for all concerned.]

I will have this posted in my Forums section on the homepage side bar as well as my Help page for future reference. Thanks Tannager!

Just Update 2/8/2002

Sonnet discontinued work on OSX support for L2 G3 upgraded Macs!: Here is a link to Sonnets news that states they will no longer try to get OSX supported on L2 G3 upgraded Macs due to many issues with the mother boards and OSX itself. This is sad news but it what I have been saying to some of my visitors all along. In my experience on a B&W G3 400Mhz and an iBook DUAL USB 500Mhz system, OSX is pretty sluggish and requires lots of memory. The 6400 or 6500 really can't handle OSX even if it was to work. I think any Mac under a G4 with less then 256M of ram would be doing OSX an injustice. I will still post any info I find on getting OSX working on our Macs but in the event it does, I would not hold your breath for any kind of usability.

Sonnets response to the issue on CPU's being marked differently then what they tell you: Here is a link to Sonnets info on why they are selling CPU's with lower or higher MHz readings then what their packaging states. Basically they state a few different reasons why this may be the case.

1. The CPU was marked rescreened by IBM to a lower CPU for sale to a company that wanted slower chips but then backed out of the deal. Sonnet is merely running the CPU at the original spec'ed speed but did not re-rescreen the MHz reading on the CPU.
2. The CPU can handle a lot more heat then normally found in our Macs so they could over clock the CPU which reduces its heat tolerance as long as they keep it within the heat tolerance it can expect to see in your Mac.
3. They downclocked higher MHz marked CPU's that had low temp tolerances to give them better heat tolerance in some notebook applications.

IBM (post found on Accelerate Your Macs web site) has mentioned that this practice is known to exist and did not say its bad in anyway. They did not say its perfectly fine either. They only mentioned that its a practice that has been going on for some time and as long as Sonnet or any other company doing this keeps the temps in a stable range, then the CPU's should run fine for a long time. They do have a 3 year warranty so they must trust their products somewhat :)

Sonnet clocker on a UMAX Apus 3000/200: Bleck writes that he was able to get his Sonnet 240Mhz card up to 300 using the Sonnet clocker on a UMAX Apus 3000/200 system. Thanks Bleck. I posted this just so other UMAX owners know it works.

• [Hello,
  Thx for your site. I just want to report that I could set the clock of my L2/G3 240 up to 300 MHz, running Sonnet Clocker on my Umax Apus 3000/200 (also known as C600). The cache speed could be set up to 200 MHz with G3/G4 Cache Profiler.
  Bleck]

Sonnet clocker has been updated to v1.3.2: Click here to download it. This version adds-

• -Duplicate Window Fixed.
• -Added Current Processor Display (Hardware Running Now).
• -Creates a New User Named Extension.
• -You can choose to Delete the Old one: If your working out of the Extensions folder you can Restart after, without having two Extensions Load.
• -Auto recognizes speeds in modified Extension. You only have to enter the target speed if you use a Clocker copy for the source.

I would like to thank another anonymous author for this update :) It doesn't add compatibility with more systems but cleans up the user experience using it. If you use this, please let me know how it goes.

Overclocked mother board may have killed this users 6400?: HB McKinney sends word that his 6400 died and he believes that overclocking the mother board may have done it! Whether that is the cause or not, overclocking anything is always a risk and this could happen to you. Thanks HB McKinney.

• [My 6400 finally died! I have been posting to this site for several years now and just wanted to give an update. I have one of those "maxed out 6400's" with 136mb, 20gb hd, 10/100t ethernet, ATI Orion (yuk), Sonnet G3 300 running at 325, USB card, external CDRW, SCanner, Zip, 3 piece speaker system . It has been a great machine but it finally died. My advice to anyone who truly wants a stable and healthy system is to avoid tampering with the motherboard. I overclocked the motherboard to 46mhz and while that lasted almost a year I am sure it is the cause of it's death. I transferred the upgrades to a 6360 so it lives on in spirit!
  
  My main computer now is a G4 running OS X. Having made the jump to a new machine and OS X I just want to let everyone know that it is worth it. OS X is fun and stability is unbelievable. iPhoto, iMovie, Office, iDVD are all incredible and I am now confident that Apple has a winner with OS X. People are generally afraid of change....but this time change is good!]

The Geo modem lives! in the new DUAL USB iBooks?: I found this posting on MacFixIt's web site. Looks like Apple is at it again :(

• [New iBook USB modem: A reader sent us this excerpt from an Apple training manual describing the new USB based internal modem in the iBook. It states: "The Apple Internal USB Modem is a USB-based controllerless modem. This means the AT command set, its interpretation, and data compression is handled by the computer, in software. However, the portion of the modem that gets the data on to the phone network is implemented in hardware. This portion of the modem which interfaces with the network is essentially the same as previously existing internal modems. As a result, there should be a high degree of compatibility."]

Don't they ever learn! I sure hope this is for the 2002 iBooks and not the 2001 DUAL USB iBooks like I have. Even still, they should just drop that technology or lack of technology. Sigh!

Sonnet tango card having issues with some 5500 Macs!: Konstantin is having trouble with a Sonnet tango card installed in a 5500. Below is his info.

• [Hi,
  First of all, thank you very much for your Web page and great work on it. I have PM 5500/275 upgraded by Sonnet G3 400Mhz/1M (clocked to 500Mhz and it's works fine).
  The problems started after installation of Sonnet Tango USB/Firewire card. Both of the ports are recognizable by computer and I can see plugged devises as well, but after several minutes of work computer freezes. After checking and investigation my conclusion was that USB extensions cause this freezing and this is not a conflict with some other 3rd parity extensions, because I checked with base set of system (even without g3 extension) extensions and still it's happen till I disable USB drives. Sonnet reply me that they can't help me because in there lab it works fine but they get several similar reports from users with the same based machine.
  Other problem connected to iMovie and digital video.
  iMovie it self works well and when I play with tutorial files no problems with speed or crashes, but when I connect my Sony D8 camcorder to firewire and trying to import movie from it to iMovie computer crash after several seconds. I understood that problem is during low bus speed and as result dropping frames and crashes. Is any way to avoid it? Now I'm using Seagate 20G 5500rpm HD, the replacement to larger disk and 7200rpm will help? Is it possible to clocking my bus speed? If yes, could I get complete information how and what I need, because information that I found on the net is very confusing and not full.
  Thank an advance.
  Best,
  --
  Konstantin]

This is the first issue on a tango card not working properly in a 5500. Its possible that the iMovie issues are also related to the card in general not working properly? If you have seen this problem then please email me. Thanks

PC card support software available for free!: Discovery Software makes PCSetup software that allows Apples PC compatibility cards work in newer OS's. Previously you had to stay with OS 8.1 or older to use your PC card but not anymore. If anyone tries these, I would like to know how they work. Thanks.

• [PCSetup now free; developer Apple for permission to open source. February 1, 2002 -- As of today, Discovery Software is making PCSetup 2.1.7 available as a free download <http://www.pcsetup2x.com/> . The software enables the Apple's old Pentium cards, the Apple (and Radius/Reply) DOS and PC Compatibility cards, to full function under Mac OS 8.5-to-9.2 pcSetup was previously sold for US$39.95 with support; the free download does not have support. Discovery Software also said it would like to freely distribute the source code of PC Setup 2.1.7, and has asked Apple permission. (Apple still owns the technology.)
• Discovery software has just provided us with the free license codes to use pcSetup for free:
  AuthorizationCode: UEV-EVZ-7TU
  LicenseName: FREE
  LicenseSite: 469
  As of Friday, this information was not at the Discovery web site, but will be soon.]

Voodoo5 user info from Daniel: Daniel posted some great info on his experience with the Voodoo5 card in a 6360! Thanks Daniel.

• [I finally finished my review. I put it into html and posted it on my geocities site. You can either link to it from your site, or copy the related files to your server and post them from there (preferred to avoid yahoo ads).
  
  http://www.geocities.com/rev91/reviews/voodoo5.html
  
  Thanks you for all the work you put into making and maintaining your site. It has been a lifesaver x10! Keep up the good work,
  Daniel]

Making bootable CD's with Toast: Tom sent me a PDF document that has some very good info on making a bootable CD using Toast Titanium. The info should work on older versions as well but the options may be in different locations. Thanks Tom.

Express modem control panel won't open in OS 9.1 even while holding the Control-Command key trick: Carl was unable to open his Express modem control panel using the keyboard trick for older control panel items. I should say that I to cannot open my Express modem control panel in OS 9.1. Carls work around is to install an older OS that is compatible and then make your settings there. Once complete, you can move the pref file to the OS 9.1 system folder and the settings will stick. Thanks Carl.

• [I have a Performa 6400 with a Sonnet G3 card running OS 9.1 and have also been unable to open the Express Modem control panel even using the Control/Command keys.
  
  I installed the two control panels you mentioned and was then able to open the one without the asterisk. Any adjustments I made however reverted to the defaults on restart.
  
  Then I installed an OS 8.1 on a spare drive and installed the Telecom software. I then set this drive as the Startup Disk and restarted. I was then able to open the Express Modem control panel. I made the adjustments I wanted and closed the panel. I then opened the OS 8.1 Preferences file and dragged the Express Modem preferences to the OS 9.1 Preferences file. After restarting on OS 9.1 I opened the non asterisk Express Modem control panel The settings were now as I had made them while in OS 8.1. and remained that way after a restart. This method will probably work without installing the new ISDN control panel.
  
  I am able to send and receive faxes and go online.
  
  If you don't have two drives you could partition your HD and install the compatible OS. After doing all this you should save a copy of the preferences in some other file to be used if you reinstall or the preferences become corrupted.
  
  I hope this is of some help.
  Carl]

Internet Explorer 5.1 on the 6400 feedback: I got a big response from people about my last post requesting user feedback on Microsofts latest browser. Let me tell you, I have used IE on both platforms and it amazes me how MS can make a product better for the Mac then they can for the PC! Only one person said it crashed on their system but other then that, its all positive. Below are a few emails I received. Thanks to all that replied :)

• [Hello,
  
  For your very good 6400's knowlegde base: I use Internet explorer 5.1 on my 6400 (with Sonnet G3 400 MHz-1 Mb) since the first day it was listed on versiontracker.com. I have translate the software in french and my Os is MacOS 8.6 french. all is fine with it. no problem, indeed. The page's display seem actually faster.
  
  Good Night from France,
  And thanks for your valuable site!
  Francois]
• [Hi Tom, I'm using IE 5.1 On my 6500/275 (6400 with 6500 motherboard) with Sonnet L2 G3 350/1 and it has been running very stable. Not a single IE crash since I started using it about a month ago.
  
  Best regards,
  Bill]
• [Works great on my 6500 (400mhz OS 9.1... the old "56 chevy) seems faster in
  all respects...actually faster the Opera! Chris]
• [I have recently downloaded the new version.... works great on a 6500/250 (No Accelerators!) 128MB RAM with Mac OS 8.6!
  However, there is one complaint.... It freezes about once a day, but I haven't noticed any other problems but it's not a major problem, so I will stay with 5.1.
  It's random, but usually with sites that have lots of images, many popup (or popunder) ads, or occasionally sites with 1 or more Javascripts. This doesn't occur in an iMac 333MHz with IE 5.1. This problem seems that it only occurs in older Computer (Such as the 6500) I have not tested any other PPC 601/603/604 Machine (All my other Computers are 68k)
  Yoshihide]
• [Aloha Tom,
  I was reading your newly updated web page and came across you asking for peoples experience with IE 5.1 on a 6400. As you know I have a 6400/200, it was upgraded at one time with a Sonnet G3 L2 upgrade card, but since Christmas I built a second 6400 that I had, put the upgrade card in it and sold it to my friend. They really love the upgraded 6400. OK, nuff of the chit chat.
  
  I had been using IE 5.1 since before I got rid of the upgrade card and have had very good results with it. Very stable and faster page rendering than that previous versions of IE. I have since installed IE 5.1 on all my Macs and have enjoyed using it (beige G3 400 MHz, 6400/200 and a 6360/160).
  
  Happy New Years to you and yours.
  Aloha,
  Al]

OS 9.2.1 may fix floppy issue with USB cards?: Will said his floppy drive is working great under OS 9.2.1 where it would fail in OS 9.1. I asked if he had a USB card installed and he said yes! Could OS 9.2.1 fix the floppy issue with USB cards? I would love to hear from more people using OS 9.2.1 with USB cards installed. Thanks Will.

• [Hi again,
  I tried my floppy drive out! The thing works great under the OS 9.2.1, Too where the floppy drive won't work under 9.1. It kept giving me crap about something being wrong with the floppy disk and that my data was lost or damaged.
  
  Under OS 9.2.1 it works great, formats, copies and reads with no problems.
  
  Surfing has been enjoyable, it is faster and very stable. my Apple TV/FM even works great! My modem connect speed has also increase and I have stable connections now. I have not been disconnected while on line.
  
  I got called a liar today about running OS 9.2.1 on my 6400/180 with only 56MB of physical memory. Tried to explain, but the person at nortons internet security "tech help" didn't want to hear it. Anyway they lost a customer over that for I have now have purchased netbarrier. It will better suit me anyway. Norton's found the trash can.
  
  Anyway, Thanks again for making this possible. Even an Apple tech called me a liar. I didn't give up your web site to them. I just wanted to brag to the (Apple tech) that was to help me get my floppy drive to work under OS 9.1 and never did, But was sure to charge for no help. I even sent him a email copy of my system profiler, showing a 6400 with OS 9.2.1.
  
  I believe you guys should rule over Apple!
  
  Many Thanks~WILL]

He later said he also has Carbon Lib 1.5 installed. This is not available yet with any OS but you can get it from Apple Developer pages. Here is a direct link to it. Maybe this is all that is needed?

Another 6500 CPU fan upgrade story: Jim found another source for the 6500's stock CPU fan. His info is below. Thanks Jim. Click here for more info on replacing the power supply fan or the CPU fan.

• [Okay... I finally got around to putting the new fan in my friends 6500 last night. Boy-o-boy what a difference. She can now have the telly on while working or talk on the phone. Her headaches will probably disappear too.
  
  Here is the info on ordering the fan directly from the original manufacturer:
  
  Indek/Elina : (408) 522-1515 Model KDA120410HB8P $10 + $5 S&H
  
  When I ordered, the lady who answered the phone said they had only 5 in stock. I neglected to ask when more would show up.
  
  This is the correct OEM fan with the same great bang for the buck (actually CFM per mA) as the original, unlike the PAPST or Radio Shack replacements.
  
  The fan arrived from Indek in less than a week. It did not have the power connector: just bare tinned leads about 8" long.
  
  A little soldering, heat shrink tubing and electrical tape and the fan was ready for show time. (The use of both heat shrink tubing and electrical tape is not a sign of how careful I felt I needed to be. It is an indication that I had the tubing I threaded onto the leads too close to the soldering iron. Now there's nice thick insulation over about 3/4" of each lead....)
  
  While holding both fans in my hand, I began spinning each with a flick of my finger. The original has a wobble I could actually feel, but the new one was as smooth as silk.
  
  One difference between the original fan and the replacement - the mounting holes of the original have countersinks for the flat-head mounting screws and the ones on the new fan do not. Luckily, the two nylon mounting screws were long enough to catch firmly on the heat sink. Someday, I will get a pair of screws that are 1/8" longer and make sure the fan stays put.
  
  I put the two PCI cards back in (Keyspan USB & Netopia 10/100 Base-T NIC for her cable modem) and buttoned it all back up. I pushed the power key and was greeted by the muffled "whoom" startup tone from the subwoofer, but no howl from inside.
  
  I then updated her System from 8.6 to 9.1 and presto - the lockup she had every few minutes was gone. It seems to take a little longer for the 6500/300 to start up, but is otherwise just as responsive.
  Jim]

Update on CDROM audio coming from the drive bus rather then the audio cable: Richard did some tests to prove my hypothesis that CD audio now comes from the SCSI bus (or IDE bus on IDE attached CDROMS) instead of the audio cable. He was using OS 9.1. Thanks Richard.

• [The ControlStrip CD player and the Apple CD Audio Player both apparently take audio from the analog connectors; when there is no analog connection, they'll appear to be working, but with no audio output.
  
  iTunes, as well as SoundJam and SoundApp, takes it's audio from the SCSI connector. All of them will play audio just fine without the (audio) connector.
  
  QDesign MVP 1.2 (the free demo player, dunno about any other) freaks out. The CD player window refreshes constantly, never actually showing any track info. Luckily, it doesn't freeze or crash the machine.
  
  I have no idea what would happen if two CD players were attached to the analog audio connector. My second player, a CDRW, uses the PC connector standard, which won't connect with the Mac cable. Since the higher speed ripping is the crucial attribute and goes through the SCSI ribbon, I don't care.]

Well it appears that I was correct in that CD Audio is now routed through the drives interface bus instead of the audio cable. This means if you are running OS 9 and iTunes, you no longer need to worry about whether the audio cable will attach to any third party CDROM drive. But the reason I had asked is because I think this may be yet another cause of audio stuttering. If the audio is passed through the bus to be processed by the CPU then this is another bit of data dragging the CPU down :(

Audio recording software: Speaking of audio, I found this site the other day that has a simple audio recording app called Coaster for download. Its free so go ahead and give it a try :)

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