Initial reports on Sonnet 1.4.6 Crescendo update: Walter is the first person to write that all is well on his Mac with this latest update. On the other hand, Gregory writes that the 1.4.6 extension causes system crashes and the serial ports to not work! I suggested he try the 1.4.5 version and see what happens. Thanks guys.

[I'm running the new Crescendo on two of my 6400's and have no problems so far.
Walter]

[Temps, etc. Sonnet Crescendo 400/1mb. Running 24/7 and used mostly for wp and www, Metronome reports temp @ ±40-43. Occasional startup crashes when the crescendo 1.4.6 extension loads. Serial ports do not work. Gregory]

Ejecting a CD from OpenFirmware: I found this bit of info on MacFixIt the other day. It may be more useful to newer Mac owners but I thought I would post it anyway :)

[Open Firmware eject CD tip Having trouble ejecting a CD at startup? Jeff offers this tip (it worked when we tried it): Boot into Open Firmware (by holding down Command-Option-O-F). Then type <eject cd> and press Return. After the CD ejects, type <mac-boot> to continue the startup. This is useful for those times when other standard methods, such as holding down the mouse button, do not work.]

OSX on a 6400; update: I received this info from Cyril who found some interesting info on the cube-zones web site. If you follow the link below and scroll down to the Sonnet paragraph, the last thing they note is Sonnet telling them that a L2 G3 upgrade for OSX is very near and could be ready by the end of the year! I will see it when I believe it but this is good news if its true! Thanks Cyril.

[I don't know if this is news for you.... but OSX may work on the 6400 with a sonnet card.... that is what I was told at MWNY..... check http://www.cube-zone.com/july2.html]

Update on temperatures seen with L2 G3 upgrades: below are several letters I received from readers with there findings on L2 G3 temps.

[Thomas,
The temp was 60-65C with my Crescendo 300mhz....in my 6500...
When I installed the NewerTech 400mhz temp dropped to 48-55c... I think because the heat sink is exposed to the processor (and the fan,) rather than the ram,
Chris]

[Aloha Tom,
Per Sonnet technicians (I know, your discussing Newertech), their upgrades will run fine up to 80 degrees Celsius, but he would not recommend that, my Sonnet G3 400 MHz/1 MB L2 upgrade (copper) for my Performa 6400 runs between 39 and 49 degrees Celsius. and my Sonnet 300 MHz G3 nubus upgrade (non-copper) for my PPC7100 runs between 49 and 59 degrees Celsius. This is in a non-air conditioned sub-tropical environment and I have had no problems reguarding heat.
That's about it for me!
I hope all is well there with you and yours.
Have a great weekend.
Aloha, Al]

[re: 6400 G3 operating temperatures
I've used a 400mz/512 Sonnet card in my 6400 for about six months. It is also equipped with an ATI graphics PCI card and a USB 2 port PCI card. It is on for an average of 16 hours per day, 7 days per week. It consistently operates at 102° F (39° C) without any problems. By comparison, my D series iMac (333mz) operates at about 95° F (35°C). It would seem that 91° C is high but I have only my own experience to compare.JHG]

[Hi Tom!
I'm writing yo you about the temperature range acceptable for a G3 processor. In all books or articles that I have read, they said that 70 deg Celsius is really ok for a G3. Of course recent Sonnet card made with latest release of the G3 will give you 39 deg in sleep mode and 48 deg in hard works without any added fan in a 6400 (with one pci card installed). I don't know about this specific release of the newer card, but I would not be alarmed by à 70-75 deg. I dont'have an URL or ref to give to you by I'm about 99% sure that the highest temp tolerable for a G3 is about 90 deg Celsius.
Bye!
Daniel, Canada]

[My 6400/200 runs now at 39 C although I have seen it run warmer, i.e., 42 C and even 58 C. The configuration has a Crescendo L2 400MHz G3 running at 400 MHz with a 40 MHz buss speed and 136 MB RAM, ATI 128 PCI, a QuickDraw accelerator card, 10/100 Fast Ethernet in the COMM slot (w/DSL) and two internal hard drives - I forget how much Gig but a bunch. It's solid.
Steve]

And here is a letter from a Newer tech L2 G3 who's system crashes when the temps get to high! I haven't heard of this before and wonder if his card is not bad?

[Tom,
How are you ? This issue of temp is very important when it comes to my Newer 300/200/1MB. Never fails, as soon as temp hits 70 -73 degrees room temperature, 6500 power supply fan kicks into overdrive, within 10-15 minutes, machine will lock up. Of course only an issue when G3 is enabled. I have attached extra fans, in top of case which help. But mostly keeping the room temp around 70, ensures reliability. Stays around 68 C. when room temp is 70 degrees F.
I actually put a 486 CPU fan on the G3 heatsink, and screw it in gently to the aluminum heatsink. Helped a little, but removing the subwoofer, and putting 2 Pentium style fans on the top hole (fit fine) of 6500, and top removed. (Machine stays grounded). But G3 temp still needs to be below 73 degrees Celsius, room temp 75 degrees max. Everything is stable, as long as no Audiomedia use, and excess heat.
Jonathan
Apple Authorized Technician]

Update on Issues with OS 9.1 and Apples COMM II ethernet card: Victor wrote back that the problem is not specifically with the COMM II card but with OS 9.1. I mistook his last message to mean he had issues with the COMM II card with OS 9.1 but he later wrote that he has the same problem with his TiPB and OS 9.1 trying to connect to his DSL service. Another reader Al wonders if this problem may be due to PPPoE or some other script needed to connect to his DSL service that does not work in OS 9.1. Victor wrote that his 6400 works in older OS's as does the TiPB and the TiPB also works in OSX but neither Mac works in OS 9.1?

If anyone has any suggestions, please email me. Thanks.

Sonnet PR/Tempo ATA100: Sonnet announced at MacWorld,a new Tempo card that now runs at ATA/100 speeds! If anybody tries one in their 6400, I would appreciate hearing about it :) Thanks.

HD formatting tips from MacFixIt: I found a wonderful article on how Apples Drive Setup handles SCSI and IDE drives when you select to format one. It turns out that if your IDE HD has bad sectors that just initializing the drive won't change anything. Either will running Disk First Aid or any other disk utility. You actually have to run Drive Setup and tell it to "zero all data" and the IDE drives firmware will weed out the bad sectors. It turns out that IDE drives are supposed to do this when they encounter a bad sector and save this info on firmware and SCSI drives do this when low level formatted or when told to by a disk repair utility and save the info on the drive itself. Very interesting reading!

The Apple Online Museum: Here is a web site that has much info on past and present Macs with some background on what was going on with Apple at the time of each release.

[Hi. My name is Lakes and I am founder of the internet project "The Apple Online Museum" (http://www.theapplemuseum.com). Our site is dedicated to the history of Apple featuring history, codenames, biographies and specifications to all Apple products.

Take care.
Lukas The Apple Online Museum - http://www.theapplemuseum.com ]

Update on slow printing with USB printers, possibly the printers fault and not the Mac: Troy writes that he tried the exact same printer as Richard and also found it very slow and also on a PC! He then bought an Epson printer and it was much faster. Thanks for the info Troy.

[I have an HP printer. That exact same model as Richard just purchased. I have used it on my UMAX J700 with a G3 upgrade and my G4/466. It is a very slow printer. I also had used it on my HP PC computer. No matter what interface(Parallel or USB)I get the same results. As a result I just purchased an Epson 777i and I'm happy to say the speed is much better. And back to the serial question I also have an Epson Stylus Photo printer with the serial port. It is just about the same speed of the 777i. I think the driver's for serial printers were more Mac specific so that they integrated with the OS better. Just my opinion. Troy

P.S. like your site. very informative and well produced, Thank you ]

Apple 15" Multisync monitor out of focus issue and fix: Dan sent me a letter that he had sent one of the posters on my forums. It is in response to a question asking how to fix an out of focus Apple 15" Multisync monitor.Thanks for the info Dan.

[Just fixed this problem the other day, here is the email I sent him. Hopefully I caught him before taking it in to be fixed. BTW, I have a number of the 15" Multisync monitors for sale in the original box. They have the focus problem, or brightness. They obviously didn't check them at the factory and they place that sold them could not return them to Apple per their agreement (silly agreement if you ask me). Anyway, thought I would give you a heads up. Later, Dan. --

"AAAAAAAAAhhhh, I hope you haven't taken the monitor in yet as I just fixed the focus problem on one of my many 15" the other day and I am pretty sure I can tell you how to fix it. It requires taking the back off of the monitor. It is very safe, just a pain to take the top part off. I can talk you thru it if you want to call me. The top you have to be careful when pushing the tabs, because you cannot see them, and they will and do break and then you have to get some long screws to hold the top of the case in.

The fix is inside the back cover. it is (when you are facing the front of the monitor) on the bottom left corner. There are 2 black turn knobs, the top one is for the focus, the bottom for the brightness, errr, or vice versa. Anyway I fixed one of these for the first time 2 days ago and it looks great. Now I can start working on all the other brand new monitors in the box I have with the same problem!

Call me if you need help. Dan."Dan's Great Deals! Surplus Surprises, Macintosh computer parts and MORE!
Dan Batson
1012 W. Elm Arcade
Springfield, MO 65806
417/863-6402
]

SurfWatch on OS 9?: Charlie would like to know if anyone is running SurfWatch (internet blocking software for kids which a demo shipped with the 6400) under OS 9.x? If you are still running it and under what OS I would like to hear. Thanks :)

He notes that SurfWatch was updated to CyborPatrol but CyborPatrol seems to work much less transparently than SurfWatch did. And KidSafe, which is a part of Apples new iTools, does just the opposite of Surfwatch where SurfWatch only blocked a few sites, KidSafe only allows a few sites.

Getting improved performance from PCI IDE cards: Jacobo replied to a post on my forums about lousy capture in iMovie on a 6500. His states that by moving the PCI IDE card to the 1st slot that it acted faster and iMovie worked for him! Thanks Jacobo

[Had to try one more thing. I placed back the Tempo card but this time in the PCI slot closest to the mother board (the one which also makes the Radeon work). I regained the HD data throughput and iMovie is better than ever. Thanks again for taking the time to reply to my inquiries.
Jacobo]

This brings up an interesting question. Is the 1st slot better then the second slot for PCI data access? I have heard from Radeon users that the card only works in the 1st slot which Jacobo also notes. Is there a difference between the two? Can a card in the 1st slot slow access to the second slot? Could this be related to the timing issue that older Macs such as ours have with PCI slots? Is the Moon really made of cheese! I had to add that one :)

Another tip for better results with video capture and audio and video in general: Ralph writes that he had horrible capture on his Mac until he one day booted to a System installed on a SCSI drive in the upper bay? It didn't matter which drive captured the footage, as long as he booted to a SCSI drive it worked smoothly. Using an upgraded drive on the IDE bus kept causing audio issues and video issues like skipping and out of sync problems. But once he booted to the SCSI drive it was fine?

This is weird since the SCSI bus on the 6400/6500 is much slower then the IDE bus. Also it didn't matter if he captured to the SCSI or IDE drive just as long as he booted to the SCSI drive. I asked him to try switching the VirtualMemory file from drive to drive to see if maybe booting to the SCSI drive causes the VM file to be placed on the SCSI drive which may have improved performance. He said changing the VM file to the IDE drive made no difference. If he booted to the IDE drive with the VM file on either drive, he had issues. If he booted to the SCSI drive with the VM file on either drive, things where fine. Below is his system setup

System tested:
PM6500 with Sonnet 400Mhz G3 L2 1 meg cache and ATI
xclaim 128 VR graphics card (rage) 16 megs of VRAM
using ATI TV tuner for import via SVHS port and
Apple video/audio board for sound, 96 megs of RAM
running MacOS9.1 with latest ATI extensions.

I wonder why booting to the SCSI drive makes a difference like this? Can anyone else confirm this? Thanks Ralph. I also noticed that he has the Rage128 card and a Sonnet G3 which are notorious for causing timing issues. Could booting to a SCSI drive fix this?

Great RAM prices!: Lots of people have been mentioning Velocity Upgrades as having the best RAM prices around for our 6400/6500's. Here is a link to their site incase you are having trouble finding them :) I just checked and 64M DIMMS for either the 6400 or 6500 are now only $24.99! Can you believe that!!! Also don't forget to check out their Processor upgrade section. They are giving away RAM with practically any purchase of a CPU upgrade.

The 6400 Zone Forums L2 G3 Upgrades My 6400 TA manual Sonnet Clocking ATI_Radeon ATI Rage128 Voodoo3 Voodoo 4/5 OS 9 info OS 9.1 info OSX info OT 2.6 for older OS's iTools info iMovie info iTunes Run Alternate OS's

Spec Comparison Page L2 G3 reported temps Vimage compatibility user letters install review Vimage drivers, latest Sonnet Tech compatiblity user letters install review hack for stability Sonnet clocking Mac OSX support Crescendo 1.4.2-1.4.5 Newer Tech compatibility user letters Newer MaxpowerG3 drivers Power Logix

6400 Clocking Info 6400 TA manual Alternate OS's Archives: 6400 Zone ATI Rage128 ATI_Radeon Audio help Avid Cinema Backup Battery (UPS) Cable/DSL Modems CD/DVD Drives Cooling The 6400 Digital video help Firewire and USB cards FrankenMacs Geo Modem Gaming News Help Links IDE Adaptor cards iMovie info iTools iTunes MacOS 7.5.x - 9.0 info Mac Equipment for Sale Magazines / Online Sales Magma PCI Chassis Misc Mac Info Readers Reviews Software Links TV/Video System USB and Firewire cards Voodoo 2 Voodoo 3 Voodoo 4/5

6400 Icons ColorStyleWriter4000 OS 9 Disk Tools 8.5 with CD extension Geomodem Shutdown MicroConversion video card Newer MaxpowerG3 drivers OT 2.6 and OT 2.6.1 SetVolume to 1 script Sonnet Clocker Sonnet Clocker II SonnetCrescendo 1.4.2-1.4.5 UK Telecom software Vimage drivers, latest Voodoo2 beta drivers Voodoo3 beta 12 drivers

The 6400 Zone- 6400 Zone Forums Apple- Discussion Forums Legacy Hardware Accelerate Your Mac- Mac Forums MacSpeed Zone- 6400 Forums TechSurvivors.com- Help Forums

Click here for info on contacting The 6400 Zone