Mac OSX support from Sonnet
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Mac OSX support from Sonnet
Sonnet to support OSX on G3/G4 upgrades and maybe even the L2 G3???
10/6/2000: Sonnet sent out a press release last week about concerns people have with their just bought G3/G4 upgrade and compatibility with OSX. And they have every right to be concerned since these people just put down a lot of cash for an upgrade that may not have a full life expectancy they once thought! Sonnet does mention they will support their CPU upgrades in every Mac that Apple says OSX is compatible with, and here's the interesting part, that they will also try to get the L2 G3 systems to run OSX! Now I know this sounds hopeful but I don't want to get every ones hopes up as Sonnet would seem to be doing. I believe it will take a lot of hard work for them to make this happen since the 6400/6500's don't seem to even like the System Disk utility which customizes the PRAM to allow the Mac to boot into OSX. Without this OSX will never run :( I will continue with my efforts to get it working and maybe with lot of luck we'll be running OSX by next year :) Below is a letter a MacWeek reader received when questioning Sonnet on this very topic.
As a side note, don't think just because OSX is right around the corner that OS9 is dead. OS9 has many years left in it as developers can produce apps in Carbon form to run on both OS's. Not only is this easier in the short term for them, it also allows all of Apples customers to run their software. Even for those of you still running some form of OS 8 or 7, obviously you never found a need to upgrade in the past, so why now?
2/10/2001 Sonnet working hard to get OSX to run on older non-OSX compatible Macs!: Here is a link to a MacWorld UK article on Sonnet trying to make their G3 upgrades Mac OSX compatible. As I have stated before, I would not expect OSX to work on our systems due to the way the G3 is being accessed and the other differences in the mother boards from Apples business systems (7500-9600). But the article does mention that they are working on compatibility for the Performa 5400 which is the same as the 6400 practically, so maybe it might happen? If they do get it working I would think it will only be worth it if you have maxed out your ram and have a decent speed L2 G3 upgrade. At least a 300Mhz or faster? Even on my PB 233 G3, OSX is sluggish :(
2/24/2001 OSX and Sonnets L2 G3 upgrades: Walter informed me that Sonnet has a big OSX picture on their L2 G3 product page. It mentions that they are working on making OSX run on L2 G3 upgraded Macs like the 6400! Thanks Walter. This is some good news. In the past they had commented that PDS and L2 G3 upgraded Macs would most likely not run OSX but now they have a big ad saying they are working on it. Oh the possibilities! I sent them the info from the Accelerate link above to help them out :)
3/23/2001 Sonnet has big plans for us!: Here is a news flash I just received tonight. Sounds very encouraging!
Notice the Performa users note :) I'm getting giddy!
Sonnet L2 G3 and OSX: Here is some more info found by Josh. Sonnet has updated their web site with some nice sounding info :) They actually admit it may be possible to make OSX work on L2 G3 upgraded systems! Thanks Josh.
More info on Sonnet and OSX support: Tim sent me a letter he received from Sonnet on a request for info on OSX support for L2 G3 upgrades. Thanks Tim.
4/7/2001 More Sonnet info on OSX: A reader of mine was sent the following letter from Sonnet Tech support. It states the current state of Sonnet on getting OSX to work on the L2 G3. Which is there haven't started yet :( I hope this isn't true!
4/21/2001 Sonnet OSX info and death of 500Mhz L2 G3?: I received this letter from a reader of mine who heard from Sonnet that they have not gotten anywhere with OSX on the 6400/6500 and that they have discontinued the 500Mhz L2 G3 upgrade!
I don't know about the OSX info but I have seen that the 500Mz card has been removed from several Mac catalogs already. I think it was discontinued because the market for the 500Mhz version was too small. Only the 5500/6500 can use it where all the 6400/6500 and like Macs can use the 400Mhz version. So if you are a 6500 owner and want one of the fastest 6500's around, I suggest you find a 500Mhz card before they are all gone!
8/4/2001 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.
2/9/2002 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.