WallStreet
From: Jason Walsh
Dear Charles,
Given that you're the PowerBook guy, I thought I'd ask a
question which, if you can answer it, may be of interest to other LEM
people.
I bought a Wallstreet
292 MHz in a secondhand shop last April. At the time I had a bad
feeling - it just seemed a bit flaky overall - but I bought it anyway,
as second hand Macs are rare in Ireland; PowerBooks doubly so. It cost
all of Euro 700.
Anyhow, I took it home and bought a copy of Mac OS X 10.1,
which ran just fine (or as fine as it ever ran on any G3 machine).
However, the battery was very nearly dead - no big deal I thought,
"I'll just buy another." It was not to be.
About a week later it started behaving badly. The startup got weird
on it, and finally it just wouldn't start at all, so now it sits across
from me inert and useless - a Euro 700 paperweight.
I was told by someone in the know that the problem was either the
sound board (?) or PMU. Can you elaborate?
All the best,
Jason...
P.S. Quick non-PowerBook question. Do you know what I need to
connect a Silicon Graphics 20" GDM CRT monitor (Sony tube) to my Blue
& White G3 (or Wallstreet PB if it'll ever get resurrected)? It's a
fixed-sync screen and is 'sync-on-green' with a 13w3 connector.
Hi Jason,
Sorry to hear of your WallStreet blues. These things
are difficult to diagnose with the machine in hand, let alone at a
distance, but your advisors could be correct in their surmise. The
WallStreet, early examples like your 292 MHz unit especially, were
prone to PMU and sound board failures.
On the other hand, while that was what I initially
suspected when my own WallStreet suddenly died. The culprit turned out
to be a fried CPU. After some diagnostic explorations by my tech-savvy
son which included giving the processor a cold soak in a freezer, it
was determined that it had failed. I replaced the processor
daughtercard, and the old WS runs like new again.
Your best guess plus trial and error are likely the
best approach. Used WS components are available from
• Wegener
Media
• MacResQ
• The PowerBook Guy
to name three sources.
I'll have to pass on your monitor hookup question due
to ignorance, but perhaps someone in readerland will have a
suggestion.
Charles
Wacom Tablets
From Nancy Ferguson
Hi Mr. Moore,
I just read your review of Wacom
tablets on Low End Mac that was published earlier this year. I live
in Nova Scotia as well, and I'm looking to purchase one of these
tablets as a Christmas gift for a graphic designer. The only place that
seems to carry them is the Future Shop, who are all sold out and
indicate XP only compatibility. (The person I am buying for is a Mac
user.) Could you suggest any other local, or even Canadian, retailers?
Thanks so much for your help!
Best regards,
Nancy Ferguson
Hi Nancy,
You could try Atlantis in the Brewery Mall on Hollis
St. in Halifax or Quality Cameras in Sydney (I don't know where in NS
you live).
Wacom products are also available from MacWarehouse
Canada: 1-800-268-7805 or online at http://www.macwarehouse.ca
The current Wacom Graphire 3 lists for CAN$159.99.
Charles
WordPerfect Freeload
From James Spears
I recently converted to Mac after a long absence and my fave
WordPerfect is gone from the scene. Your site, like some others,
mentions the free download but alas Corel does not provide it any more.
Since it is free, does anyone have a copy?
Hi James,
Try one of these:
• http://acmfiles.csusb.edu/corel/wpmac.html
• http://hubcap.clemson.edu/~jdburto/wpmac35e.html
• http://www.deakin.edu.au/software/applications.php
still has it, but you need a student password to initiate the
download.
Charles
Dictation
From Eamon Hoffman
I stumbled across your article [eMac
Musings] on the Internet the other day. You write about eMacs and
the analog sound-in port and its usefulness in dictation. I'm wondering
what you mean by dictation. Do you speak and have a program that types
for you. I own an eMac and am very happy with it.
Thank you
Eamon
Hi Eamon,
Your question concisely defines dictation software:
you speak and the program types for you. There are two dictation
applications available for Mac OS X:
iListen - http://www.macspeech.com
and
ViaVoice - http://www.scansoft.com/viavoice/
Glad to hear that you like your eMac. Incidentally, Dan Knight manages
Low End Mac with a 700 MHz
eMac.
Charles
PowerBook Petition
From David Doyle
Hi,
I checked out the petition site, though not a TiBook owner, and I
saw nothing to give me the impression that much was going on there or
possible problems with that particular model (though I'm sure they may
exist). Seems like Dual USB iBook owners have more to complain about
with mobo problems, etc., and should start their own forum. Fortunately
my Pismo has given me good service and as long as it's up to it I keep
using it.
Regards,
Dave Doyle
Hi Dave,
Petitions are petitions.
For the record, my dual-USB iBook has given me 11+
months of flawless service so far, and my Pismo is now a couple of
months into its fourth year, likewise except for a failed battery a
couple of months ago.
Charles
Wireless Network and Used P'Books
From Patrick O'Grady
Hi Charles,
Thanks for your advice on the
wireless/networking thing. Obviously, I'm far from an expert (we use
SneakerNet around here), and the only pal I've got who's gone
cable-free is a PC guy and a technogeek beyond description who barely
speaks English anymore.
The project has been relatively trouble-free so far, thanks in part
to my discovering that I didn't need a base station or access point -
all our ActionTec Wireless-Ready DSL Gateway requires to go wireless is
an ActionTec PCMCIA card slipped into the upper PC-card slot on the
left-hand side of the modem. A wireless light atop the ADSL modem glows
green, as does another on the PC card, and shazam: you're good to
go.
For simplicity's sake, we bought a second ActionTec card, clicked it
into the PC-card slot in my wife's Dell Latitude, ran the installer -
and subsequently spent about a half-hour on the phone with technical
support trying to figure out why the bugger wouldn't work (I'll spare
you the details; it's working fine now). As for her iBook 2001, I
bought an AirPort card, installed it, opened the AirPort Setup
Assistant, and was surfing wirelessly in all of five minutes.
Now I have another question for you. The basement office gets a
little dreary in winter, and I'm shopping for another laptop so I can
work upstairs, wirelessly, in the sunshine from time to time. I don't
need a new one, but I do need a little power and speed (I'm a freelance
journalist who writes in Word, edits photos and cartoons in Photoshop,
and updates a website using IE5). So I've been looking at Pismos, Lombards, and 3400s, all of which are available from
MacResQ and Wegener Media. Do you have any recommendations? Thanks in
advance.
Best,
Patrick O'Grady
Hi Patrick,
Since you are using Photoshop and mentioned speed, my
recommendation among the machines you mentioned would be a Pismo (with
or without a processor upgrade) or a Lombard (likely with a processor
upgrade). The 3400 is just too slow for your purposes.
A WallStreet would be an option, and it is also
processor upgradable, but it doesn't support OS X 10.3 (Panther).
In the price range you're considering, you might also check out
refurbished Dual-USB iBooks.
I have a 500 MHz Pismo and a 700 MHz iBook and love
them both (but I love my WallStreet too!)
Charles
Question: G5 Optical Drives
From Nicolas Hebting
Hello CW
I just wondered why the new G5 has not two optical drives (e.g. a
SuperDrive and a CD-RW drive) just like the Quicksilver g4.
I got a 1.6 G5, and I wish I'd had bought the best G4 that provides
in my view much more performance.
Thank you for your help.
Best
Nicolas H
Hi Nicholas,
I'm not privy to Apple's marketing decisions, but I'm
guessing that this one had to do with cost.
Apple was perhaps able to be more lavish with
equipping the G4 towers because they stuck with the same basic design
so long that development costs were well-amortized.
Charles
Replacing a Performa 5320CD
From Paulo
Hello Charles,
I want to upgrade my Mac
Performa 5320CD. I like that nice all-in-one design. Actually it's
working fine with Mac OS 8.5.1 and 64 MB RAM, but I need USB
capabilities (to my digital camera) and ethernet (to my ADSL). What to
do?
Your soon response would be greatly appreciated.
Paulo N. Lama
Hi Paulo,
Your 5320 has a comm slot that can accept an ethernet
adapter, but there's not an easy way to add USB support. There are, I
think, SCSI to USB adapters that might work. You would have to upgrade
your system to at least OS 8.6 for USB support (go for OS 9)
However, my strong recommendation would be to upgrade
your system to at least a used iMac or G3 Power Mac. The old 5320 is
really not up to what you want to do with it.
Charles
A MisFox Alternative
From David Deckert
Charles,
Not sure if you've covered this already, but More Internet is a
freeware standalone solution that works well:
http://www.monkeyfood.com/software/MoreInternet/
-David
Hi David,
Thanks for the tip. I'll check it out.
Charles
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