Upgrading a C500 SuperMac
From Fred M. Turner
Is it possible and economical to upgrade the UMAX C500? Processor; RAM; Graphics;
Drives.
I really appreciate your help,
Fred
Hi Fred,
It is possible to upgrade the C500 in all of the
categories you mention. Whether it is economical compared to, say,
replacing the computer with a used iMac, is another question.
The best "one stop shopping center" to do price
research on various upgrades is here: http://eshop.macsales.com/
Just click on the appropriate tabs, and follow the
menu selections.
Charles
1400 Using Flash Card
From Frank Fox
Dear Mr. Moore,
I've seen it a couple of times, but I can't get it to work, using CF
[Compact Flash] card for extra memory on the PowerBook 1400. I have a CF card reader
and a 1400 with OS 8.6 installed. To format the card, my only choice is
a DOS format. It is still recognized after formatting. When I go the
the Memory control panel, under virtual memory, the pull down is for
select a hard drive, and the only one that shows up is the main hard
drive. Do I have to have OS 9.1 installed to do this? I need better
details on how this works.
Sincerely,
Frank Fox
Hi Mr. Fox,
I wish I could help, but as I've noted previous
columns, I have no hands-on experience with flash cards and the
PowerBook 1400. It wouldn't surprise me if you need OS 9.x installed to
support these cards, but I can't say that for sure.
Dan Knight recently posted a fairly comprehensive
article on this topic. There are lots of links, and perhaps you could
contact Dan directly for more information.
/1996/umax-supermac-j700//2002/flash-memory-improves-powerbook/
Charles
Word 5
From Andrew Main
Charles & Dan,
Re the notes in MR, 2002.11.13, FYI, here's a little essay I wrote a
while back about Word 5:
About Word 5
Micro$oft Word has long been the dominant word processor application
on the Macintosh - not so much because it is superior to all others,
but because Microsoft was the first company to offer an alternative to
the primitive MacWrite during the Mac's first year, and so completely
took over the market that no one's been able to challenge them
since.
Many users feel that Word 5.1, dating from 1992, was the best
version ever produced; Word 6 was such a monstrosity that Microsoft was
forced to continue selling and supporting version 5 even after version
6 was released - a unique event in the history of the software
industry. Word 98 is a considerable improvement over version 6, but
remains a ponderous, expen$ive piece of bloatware that runs poorly on
any Mac earlier than the G3 family. Thus, even though Word 5.1 is not
PowerPC-native, many continue to use it even on current model Macs. So
far as I know, M$ Word 5 can run on any Macintosh from a Plus to a G4.
(I suppose it could even run in Classic under OS X, if you really want
to.)
I use Word 5 specifically to open/convert Word 6 & 98 docs to
Word 5 format, which can then be opened by AppleWorks 5 (and earlier
versions of ClarisWorks). (AppleWorks 6 can open the later Word docs,
but has forgotten how to work with Word 5, along with a lot of other
stuff it used to know.)
(1) I've read of some having trouble installing Word 5 on newer
Macs, possibly because its installer is confused by disks larger than
the ca. 20 MB that was gigantic in its time. I haven't "installed" Word
5 in years; I have it in a folder with all its parts and just copy it
over to any Mac where I want it. If you need to install it, best to
find an older Mac (68K if you can) to do so, then copy it over. Word
5's installer doesn't put anything (nothing necessary anyway) in the
System Folder other than the MTExtra fonts used in its equation editor
- and it puts those in the System file and Extensions folder, a la
System 7.0 (before the Fonts folder was invented). The only thing Word
5 needs in Extensions (only on PowerPC Macs) is "FixWordSystemMemory"
(see below).
(2) If you have Word 5.0, it's a good idea to update it to v. 5.1a,
the final version of generation 5. I don't remember exactly what the
differences were (have never used it myself), but believe they were
significant. Unfortunately, a quick look at Micro$oft's Web site (I
don't like to spend any more time there than I have to) failed to
locate any 5.0 to 5.l updater (see below). Perhaps, as with WriteNow,
there is some private Word 5 user in the "Vintage Mac" community who
can help.
(3) Word 5 is, of course, a 68K app, so runs in emulation mode on a
PowerPC-based Mac, where it's not entirely happy, sometimes showing a
message that it cannot start up because there's not enough memory
(though it requires all of 1 MB by default). A freeware extension
named "FixWordSystemMemory" prevents this glitch. For some reason, the
usual download sites don't seem to have this invaluable fix, but it can
be found at the author's Web page: <http://homepage.mac.com/lrosenstein/programs.html>
(4) One of the nicest things about Word 5, besides the fact that it
doesn't require 100 MB of disk space and 20 MB of RAM on a 500 MHz G3
to run comfortably, is that-since it doesn't have the macro
functionality of Word 6 & later-it isn't vulnerable to the
multitude of cross-platform Micro$oft-specific macro "viruses" that are
the only serious class of pathogens in the Mac environment these days.
However, keep in mind that, as with Micro$oft Outlook Express, Word 5
can pass on such viruses in documents received from later & PC
versions that harbor them.
(5) Despite all the wonderful features of later versions (especially
for those unfortunate Mac users who are burdened with extra, unused
memory), Word 5 has remained amazingly popular for an "obsolete"
application, so much so that Micro$oft apparently felt obliged to
provide ways for Word 5 to open documents produced in later versions.
This back-compatibility is available for Word 6 & 98 docs (& PC
equivalents), but not later versions (such as Word 2000), so far as I
know. Of course, if you open a Word 6 or 98 document in Word 5, you may
lose high-end formatting and features that the earlier application
doesn't recognize, but not that many people use these features
anyway-which is why Word 5 is still a very usable application.
(5a) For the Word 6 to 5 converter, go to: <http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/>.
Do a search for "Product Name: Word 5.0" in "Operating System:
Macintosh." The first item in the list is the updater to patch Word 5.1
to 5.1a. There doesn't seem to be an updater from 5.0 to 5.1, I don't
know why. The second item, "Word 6.0/7.0 Updated 32-bit Converter
(Mswrd32.exe)" contains utilities that allow Word 5 to open documents
created in Word 6/7 for Macintosh or Windows. Basically, this is a set
of translator files that go into the "Word Commands" folder in Word 5's
folder. (Despite the ".exe" in the name, this is a Macintosh file.)
(5b) For the Word 98 &c converter, go to: <http://www.microsoft.com/mac/download/>.
Under Office 98, get the "Microsoft Word 97-98-2000 Converter." Again,
this is a set of translator files that go into the "Word commands"
folder in Word 5's folder, along with a Batch Converter utility.
(6) Keep in mind that Word 5, like most Macintosh programs, works
best when the application is in the same folder with its other parts,
including the "Word Commands" folder. If it is outside its folder, it
won't be able to find its spelling checker, converters, etc. If you
want a quick way to open Word (or any other app) from the Desktop or
Apple menu, make an alias to put in those places.
Andrew Main
HandyMac
Installing Word 5.1
From Byron Desnoyers Winmill
The easiest way: create a small, blank disk image with Disk Copy,
and install it onto that. This method seemed to work on my machine, but
I probably didn't let it install any components in the system
folder.
Byron
Installing Word 5.1 onto a virtual disk
From Gary Shelton
Perhaps the person (Christian Schlier) who contacted you regarding
his inability to install Word 5.1 onto his new PowerBook G4 could use a
mounted read-write disk image of sufficient size as the install target
for Word? After the installation is finished, he could then copy Word
to his hard disk. Just a thought.
Gary
OS X upgrade advice
From Alvin Chan
Thank you for your time. I'd like to serve people better and want to
upgrade. I have a G3 350
iMac and I have 64 and 64 memory for 128 MB already with OS 9.2.2.
I want to upgrade to OS X, for OS 9 crashes a lot. Where is
the best to buy software and memory and other hardware online besides
OWC?
I use: Netscape, Virtual PC, AppleWorks and Eudora, AIM,
Codewarrior, Norton SystemWorks or Virex, SurfDoubler - usually 3-4 of
those at the same time. I also plan to turn off virtual memory as well.
Though we are networked I don't like to share files via ethernet with
the PC which the Internet is shared with via SurfDoubler.
I would want to have the best but there are limitations with
resources. Which of these combinations is good enough for my needs?
- OS 10.1 with 256 MB + 64 MB
- OS 10.1 with 500 MB + 64 MB
- Jaguar with 256 MB + 64 MB
- Jaguar with 500 MB + 64 MB
OS X is just $45 at OWC. The extra 64 MB I will give to my bro's PC
btw. By the way we use SurfDoubler as the DSL client. Can we like dial
first to DSL using that in OS 9 then switch to OS X and permanently
connect to the Internet? I don't turn off the iMac (sort of server)
anymore as dad uses it around 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. in the PC.
God bless,
Alvin
Hi Alvin,
The rule of thumb with OS X is to buy as much RAM as
you can afford. Some people suggest that one gigabyte is not too much.
I have 640 MB and seem to get along reasonably well. I would suggest
that 256 MB is the bare minimum that you should try to get along with,
and that isn't really enough.
I have had good service from Other World Computing, but there are
many suppliers of RAM. Your best bet is to go to ramseeker and follow
the links from there.
http://www.ramseeker.com
Go with Jaguar.
I have no personal experience with SurfDoubler in
either the Classic Mac OS or OS X, but I presume that you would
have to dial into it using OS X in order for it to work. Classic
networking is not supported in OS X under Classic Mode.
Charles
Response to "Kanga Whine"
From David
Charles,
I believe the answer to this question is that "Kanga"'s AC adapter is in the last
throes of death. I've had four Macs: Bondi blue iMac, blueberry iBook, a 2001 iceBook, and a IIvx.
All the "new" Macs have had major problems with their power
adapters. The iMac would spark and crackle electrically over and over
due to a failing in its flyback transformer.
When my blueberry and my iceBook both exhibited whining noises,
unplugging the AC adapters would solve the problems. Plugging the
adapters back in recreated the whining. Both had adapters where the
wire could be rolled up inside. The blueberry was sold, so I don't know
the fate of its adapter.
But the iceBook's adapter recently died with a "splutter". I have
heard some of them had actually caught on fire while being used by
their unsuspecting mac owners. It these cases, we're paying Apple
hundreds more for the privilege of having cr*ppy AC adapters supplied
with our notebooks. Sadly, the IIvx is the only Mac I've owned that
still runs without a hitch. They sure don't make them like they used
to, nope.
Sincerely,
David
Hi David,
Yes, my 9-year-old LC
520 is still functioning flawlessly. My wife uses it daily for
email and word-processing. For the sort of stuff she does with
computers, she really wouldn't benefit whole lot from a newer machine.
The old LC, Eudora Light, and Word 5.1 are perfectly suited to her
computing needs. And that old LC is as dependable as an anvil.
Charles
Re: OS X and dot-matrix printers
From Joe Ballo
Like many people, I was initially disappointed that there was no way
to print to Apple dot-matrix printers in OS X. There must be
millions of them out there, soldiering on year after year after year.
That there were no serial ports was bad enough, but the ultimate
disappointment was when I tried to put one of my ImageWriter LQs with
an AppleTalk board on the LocalTalk serial bus out of an AsantePrint
box. I had this sort of hanging around to be able to print my invoices
to my LQ in 9.0.4 and, of course, it didn't work under X. What was
infuriating was that, like a good ethernet device, it showed up when I
ran atlookup in the terminal app, but there were no drivers
for it [Steve knows best] and, hence, no printing.
When I installed OS 10.2 I saw that it supported CUPS [Common Unix
Printing System], and a little digging around showed me that there were
drivers for most of the common Linux distros. But still nothing for
Apple. It said that the vender was responsible for the drivers.
Suuure.
However, as a last step I put out a message on the list:
macosx-list@linuxprinting.org
and lo and behold got a reply from one Tyler Blessing who, after
making sure that I understood that I had to have an ImageWriter with an
ethernet card, directed me to:
http://www.linuxprinting.org/macosx/imagewriter/
When you go there you will find the latest version of GhostScript
and another URL that will download drivers for the original
ImageWriter, the ImageWriter II and the ImageWriter LQ [a.k.a. the
printer-from-hell a.k.a. the-loudest-dot-matrix-printer ever-made].
Install both packages and you will find that IT WORKS. I can now send
out three part invoices. The printers show up in Print Center. I am in
heaven. Spread the Word. My ImageWriter is BAAACK.
Dr Joe
Hi Dr. Joe,
My only Mac printer is an ImageWriter II.
;-)
Charles
Write CD-RW
From: Andrew Main
Charles,
From the 11.13.2002 MR:
"There used to be an Adaptec program enabling
you to simply dump data on the CD-RW - and it should be easy to
implement, since the CD-RW uses the UDF data packet storage structure
(a la DVDs) - but while it still exists (now called WriteCD-RW!), it
hasn't been updated for the Mac for several years. This means that
there are no drivers for new CD-RW drives - as opposed to the PC
version."
Maybe this has happened in just the last few days, but when I went
to the link for WriteCD-RW (http://www.softarch.com/), I found both
Mac OS 8-9 versions and a Mac OS X version. Looks like a good
deal.
Andrew Main
Mac-Friendly Nationwide ISP now as low as 4.5
cents per minute
From Russell Ain
Hi Charles,
To make our service even more affordable, we've recently lowered our
rates to as low as 4.5 cents per minute. These new rates can be viewed
at:
http://www.bamnet.com/newrates.html
Thanks for all the assistance!
Russell
BAMnet Corporation
iCab Stability
From Ian Orchard
I've noticed a big increase of occasions when a particular Web page
causes it to simply disappear without trace. (Version 2.8.2 with
OS X 10.2)
Your math, while good, is flawed :)
From Kai Cherry
You are basing your theory on the fact that each window is its own
OpenGL surface.
It isn't. That would be clever and allow for all sorts of funky
tricks. (If you zoom the display, its pretty obvious that all of the
windows, etc. are mapped to a single surface.)
However, as you noted, this would eat VRAM like crazy.
That being said, QE [Quartz Extreme] works great on iBooks *that are
designed to use it*, and I submit that you *might* want to actually try
one out.
Not saying that you haven't, of course. Your analysis just seems to
make it seem that way.
-K
Hi Kai,
It was neither my math nor my theory, actually; it was
from a Web tutorial that I quoted and linked to.
In point of fact, I have not had the opportunity to
try one of the new iBooks yet. live 150 miles from the nearest Apple
dealer. ;-)
However, I was delighted to note in a comparison test
of the two new 12" iBook
models by MacUser UK that Quartz Extreme seems to work very well on
both of these machines, even the 16 MB VRAM model.
Charles
New iBooks with extra 10 GB hard drive space for
$39 extra
From Bill Saunders
MCE has extended their "Super Size"
promotion to the new iBooks until 12/31.
Basically for the list price (+$39 install fee) you get 10 GB extra
hard drive space and double the RAM.
On the 14" iBook you get the max RAM and a 40 GB drive.
Optionally, you can order the iBook with a 60 GB drive instead (5400
RPM, I asked) for $250 (on the 12" combo), and $275 on the 14".
That's what I did - for $350 extra I'm getting a maxed-out new iBook
(640 MB, and as many times as I've filled the 20 GB drive on my iBook
600 I went for the 60 GB, 5400 RPM drive).
Still, for a nominal $39 fee you get a larger drive and double the
RAM.
Stock was expected middle of this week.
I expect they will do the same for PowerBooks, but that web page was
not yet updated when I checked.
Go to Charles Moore's Mailbag index.
