Mac OSX 10.0.2 released: This release has more performance enhancements and bug fixes, plus it adds the ability to burn CDRW's with iTunes finally! (iTunes 1.1.1 for OSX is required for burning CD's) Both OSX 10.0.2 and iTunes 1.1.1 are available from Apples web site, the OSX Software Update application, or the software folder in your iDisk. Apple is making good on their word to add the features that are missing from OSX that we have come accustomed to in OS9. I hear Labels are on the way as well :)

I installed both and I don't really notice much of a difference but as I said before, most of the apps I use are classic compatible only and I don't have a CDRW on my B&W G3 to test burning, but I hear it is working great! There is a new problem I am having that seemed to start with 10.0.1 and 10.0.2 did not fix? That is now when I boot, I don't know if I will be in OSX or OS9? It seems my B&W is not holding the startup disk settings anymore and reverts to OS9 for some reason? Not much of a problem since I still prefer OS9 for most of my work but when the time comes to stay in OSX, I hope it works!

New iBook!: Apple had a press announcement yesterday and they show off a new iBook that will be available in a few weeks. It looks like baby TiPB but with a punch. This is the fist Mac to include a DVD/CDRW combo drive which means the TiPB should be getting an update shortly. Can't have the consumer version out perform the pro version no can we :)

If this iBook functions as planned it should be another best seller for Apple. The power and looks of the TiPB (except for a G3 instead of a G4) and the ruggedness of the old iBook. I almost want one of these instead of the TiPB now :) Since the 12.1" screen has been increased from 800x600 to 1024x768, it has the same resolution that I am used to on my PB G3. Hopefully you won't have to squint much to see it though. It will also finally remove the PB 2400c as the favorite subnote book for Apple PB users. The 2400c has had a place in a lot of travelers hearts as it was pretty powerful and small for an Apple PB. Although the iBook is slightly heavier by 1/2 lb. and about 1" larger, the other features far out weigh those specs. I mean the 2400c didn't even have a CDROM drive!

Issues with Sonnet G3 upgrades: Tim sends word that you should be carefull when ordering a Sonnet L2 G3 upgrade as you might be sent the wrong version!

[Hi Tom
I just looked at the box again and it is marked:

Compatible Models: Power Macintosh 4400, 5400, 5500, 6400, 6500, 7220

But, then I looked at the sticker on the side of the box and it says Power Mac 4400, 7220 So, now the mystery is solved - they sent the wrong processor.
Thanks
Tim]

Here is a reply Sonnet sent Tim on the issue.

[Tim,
First thing to check:

Please check the part number of the card you have (look at the label on the end of the box) and make sure it begins with BG3. If it does NOT begin with BG3, then you have the incorrect card, and need to exchange it with your dealer. If it DOES begin with BG3, please make sure the card is fully seated in the L2 cache slot (it will fit very tightly if it's fully seated). If you have any other PCI cards installed, or external SCSI devices attached, please remove them for the time being and see if it makes a difference.

Since our card requires our software to load to be operational, it shouldn't be able to interfere with the boot process since it's your original motherboard processor that is starting up the machine. Unless it's the wrong card. The B4G3 card works differently and so it can stop boot up if it's in the wrong machine.

If that's not it, email me back.
--
Neal]

Below are the part numbers that are compatible with each Mac.

Part # BG3*
Power Macintosh 4400, 5400, 5500, 6400, 6500, 7220
Performa 54xx, 6360, 64xx
20th Anniversary Macintosh (TAM)
PowerBase Desktop, Minitower
UMAX C500, C600, C600X

Part # B4G3*
Power Macintosh 4400, 7220
StarMax 3000, 4000, 5000, 5500

Notice how the 4400 and 7220 are listed in both sections? Sonnet has designed their card that works on the 6400 to also work on the 4400. But the same is not true the other way around. The cards for the 4400 only will not work on the 6400. Now is that confusing or what?

More router info from John: John sent me some good info on which router worked best for using video conferencing software. He just sent me some info on why certain routers may work better then others. Thanks John. Click hear to read his letter as it was rather long.

Video compression time tests: Marc sent me a lot of info on his tests using different means of compressing video on his 6500/300. Thanks Marc. Click here to read his letter.

Full range audio from the rear jack as well as the internal subwoofer working?: I received a letter from Stephen who says his 6400 produces full range (highs, mids, and lows) from the rear jack? If anyone can prove this, I would greatly appreciate it. Below is his letter with my reply.

[I understand..
As you know.. there have been so many similarities and peculiarities as well. I am looking at TV now and I also use Soundjam on a daily basis and I am telling you.. In my case, My 6400 gives FULL range and Does not disconnect the Subwoofer. Even with my equalizer's bypass mode.. no intervention, I am (with my speaker system's tone controls on flat.. I am getting High, Mid and Low frequencies. I have not used the front of my performa.. but wait.. I will move the plug now .. I am getting the same frequency range here in the front as well...without the Subwoofer playing. My speakersystem is still functioning in full range. I could manipulate or change the tonal levels of the speaker systems's Bass and Treble controls which of course gives me more control over the sound. I went one further and bought an Optimus Ten Band Stereo Graphic Equalizer which receives a signal from the 6400 then onto the speaker system.

I can't explain my 6400's performance but It has always been like this. Now take in mind, my control for the Subwoofer is non-operational yet it is in the mid-level (loudness) yet my subwoofer is operational.

> This is not the going theory on how the system works. Although I have no
> real proof since neither Apples web site or the 6400 manual state this but
> the going theory is that once you connect external speakers to the 6400 that
> you only get mids and highs from the rear jack and the 6400 internal speaker
> picks up the lows. If you can prove to me that it works your way I would
> greatly appreciate it! My speakers have always sounded weaker when plugged
> into the rear and have always sounded richer when plugged into the headphone
> jack. That is the only proof I have :( Plus everyone else seems to agree :)
> Tom]

OS9 iTunes visual plugins: Below are 2 links to sites that have created visual plugins to Apples iTunes. They only work on the OS 9.1 version or iTunes at the moment since Apple has not released a developer kit for the OSX version yet.

• http://www.channld.com/dwnldpg.html
• http://www.arkaos.net/site/en/prod_downlo_visu.html

FW/USB combo card working in 6400/G3: VRic sends word that the Evergreen Firewire/USB combo card works in his 6400. Thanks VRic.

[Just a success report to confirm that Evergreen's card works and a few info.


1 - 3FW + 2 USB + 1 int FW + power plug on 6400/Sonnet G3
--------------------------------------------------------- I bought a blank
FW/USB combo card (no box, no name, no bonus software etc.) that looks A LOT
like Evertech's FireLine combo card and works great. I bought it in France
from an online store, and found the same at FireWireDirect.com.

In fact, I'm pretty sure they're identical, as this is the only one with 1
internal FW, 2 external USB, 3 external FW ports (3 !) and an internal power
connector. And it also looks exactly like the photos on Evergreen and
FireWireDirect websites.

2 - Note regarding the power plug --------------------------------- As the
card I bought came naked, the vendor supplied a burned CD with Apple's FW
and USB software (FW parts are just the extensions from Mac OS 9.1, which
work on Mac OS 8.6) and a printed page containing probably erroneous info.
They say you don't need the power plug on macs, which may be right in most
cases (did they try it with bus-powered disks on every port?), but they also
stated that you just have to plug the power cable for it to work, which
probably wouldn't unless you switch a jumper, as read on Evergreen's FAQ :

> Connecting Power to the Evergreen 1394 PCI or PCI/USB Combo Cards
>
> The power supply connection allows connected external devices to be powered
> directly for the system power supply. The JP1 connector routes either internal
> (motherboard) power or external (system power) to the 1394 connectors. Default
> setting is "Int". If using system power, you must place the jumper to the
> "Ext" position. On some motherboards power may not be present or insufficient
> to power external devices, thereby requiring the use of the external
> connector.
>
I plugged it, because that 6400 box is REALLY too hard to open and I didn't
want to have to come back at it later. I had to remove the left side panel,
which allows easy access to the power cables and was pleasantly surprised to
find that the strange casing of the 6400 didn't require longer cables. But I
found that the connector supplied with the card might come loose, so I
secured it with one of those wires that come with power cables and such. I
didn't try bus-powered peripherals so far, though, just a 60GB HD that works
great.

4 - Issue ? ----------- I didn't have time to investigate it, but it might
be related to that card or the FW/USB extensions I use : now my 6400 won't
wake from sleep, I have to force-restart from the keyboard. It could be
something else, maybe I'll try with the version of Apple's FW extensions
that are supported with 8.6.

3 - Links ---------

Evergreen's power port FAQ
http://www.evertech.com/techsupport/fireline/pasupport.asp

FirewireDirect's PCI Host Adapters FAQ
http://www.firewiredirect.com/product/products/FAQ/PCIadaptersFAQ.shtml

This card at FireWireDirect's site
http://www.firewiredirect.com/product/products/adapters_pcicombo.shtml

This card at Evergreen's site http://www.evertech.com/products/fireline/

This card at MacWay's site (french online store) (look for "Carte PCI 4
FireWire et 2 USB alimentée" in Accessoires/Accessoires FireWire/)
http://macway.fr/

---- VRic]

6500/250 IDE benchmark results: Smartkid88 sent me some test results he made while comparing a 2 drive SCSI RAID setup in his 6500 to the stock 4G IDE drive. Thanks Smartkid88.

[I was making a software raid of 2 1 gig SCSI drives with Hard disk toolkit and decided to benchmark the RAID vs the stock 4 gig IDE HD. (I had to remove the int CD rom to have 2 SCSI drives). I am using the regular 6500/250 processor with 64mb ram and 2048k disk cache:

RAID access time was 15.7ms
Stock is 17.3 ms

RAID:
Sustained read at 3321 kb/sec
low=2422
peak=3758

Stock:
Sustained read at 6289 kb/sec
low=4796
peak=7682

RAID
Sustained write at 3622 kb/sec
low=2897
peak=4000

stock
Sustained write at 6553 kb/sec
low=3672
peak=7882

I thought the stock sucked? Although the stock has an advantage of a bigger bus, 12MB/sec, the 5MB/sec limits the 2 drives (one is SCSI 2 for sure, the other one may be). The RAID is being moved to a mac that has 2 SCSI buses at 5mb/sec, if I put one drive at each bus shouldnt it be faster?]

His results are about what I got on my 6400 with the stock 1.2G IDE HD and my Micropolis 7200 RPM SCSI HD. The results are slightly higher then mine but not what I would hope for in a RAID system :( The SCSI bus on the 6400/6500 is just to slow!

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