Dream 8500? |
January, 01, 2003 10:19 AM |
thomas.hart |
I have built up my 8500 over the past year with OS X as the end goal. Hoping to get another few years out of this box. After loading OS X I have a few issues, and need help prioritizing and solving these issues. First the specifics: 1G RAM (8x128 OWC (2 were bought as EDO, the others not); G4/ 800 CPU; ATI 7000; IBM Deskstar 60G; stock CD-ROM (for now!). Install was difficult, but I am a try it first before you read too much kind of a guy, so should be expected. Issues: 1> System "freezes" at login, when I start IE or Mail, and when launching other apps. It comes back, just takes a few minutes (literally). I suspect RAM is the culprit and need a good simple procedure to verify and correct. 2> Onboard audio and video don't work. Video may not be a huge issue as I am looking at a new camcorder with Firewire and a "video in" port for moving existing movies through it, but I do not have any sound in or out (except the boot "chime"). Sleep is death! Reboot required... (no biggie). I have downloaded various utilities to snoop around (I Pulse, memchecker, Xbench) but don't know what to make of some of the results and memchecker is a bit intimidating (hey I'm a sales/marketing guy with a knack for breaking my engineers demo's by looking at them!). Can you give me your suggestions on how to move forward with this? My "other" machine is a Beige G3 233 and it seems to be working with OS X just fine. Thanks, Tom Hart |
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RE: Dream 8500? |
January, 14, 2003 8:13 AM |
gx77 |
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there ARE floppy drivers for os x, but they're SLOW. and i mean "hog your computer for a few minutes just reading the floppy meta data and mounting the damn thing". I've also read about a linux project to enable the A/V ports on the 8500, but i don't know anything about it other than it exists. |
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RE: Dream 8500? |
January, 13, 2003 7:09 AM |
thomas.hart |
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Well, progress has been made. I was able to reload Jaguar last night. The key? I initially loaded OS9 Helper, and went up to 9.2.2, and then ran XPostFacto 2.5.5... Haven't heard of anyone else claiming the need to do this to get OS X to load, but it ended a week plus of reboots / reloads / formats for me... So I am back to where this thread started, except I don't know if I still have the "freeze" issue. I'll post back. Also curious if I have any hope of getting just basic audio out of this box. Itunes etc... from the built in audio out jack. |
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RE: Dream 8500? |
January, 12, 2003 12:25 PM |
thomas.hart |
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Back to it, I still have no succes loading OS 10.2. I removed the single FPM 128M DIMM I had installed, as RAM issues seem to be the prevalent theory on problems loading. This was replaced with 2 EDO 128M DIMMs, in A1 and A2 so they won't interleave (another memory issue...). I also reversed order of Tempo Trio and Radeon7000 (now G4/800, Radeon700, Tempo Trio). Same issue, doesn't seem to change. I run XPF 2.2.5, go through the install dialogue, and it runs up to the point where it says "Preparing Base System" "Configuring Installation" "Time Remaining 1:30" , blue swirly bar stops, cursor freezes, done.... What should I be doing in XPF (throttle etc...) to debug this? I have been ramdomly changing throttle, but no real process... |
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RE: Dream 8500? |
January, 12, 2003 11:51 AM |
uwe |
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Hi Thomas, once more again, I had a lot of similar problems with a new clean Installation of OS X 2.3 with the apple-driver for the harddisc. Yesterday I formattet it new with "HardDiskSpeedTools"and installed it again and all my problems are gone... (After installing under OS X the benchmarkes and the speed are OK too) |
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RE: Dream 8500? |
January, 12, 2003 7:09 AM |
laudou462 |
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Mitch I know I can capture video with my 8500. I have done lots of tests. But my question is more like: "How much ram and what processor speed do I need to install in order to be able to capture video of a minimum size of 320x240 and that will not be jerky when played back? Is my stock 8500 with 32 megs of ram and a 604/120 processor supposed to be able to do that? Laurier |
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RE: Dream 8500? |
January, 11, 2003 10:40 PM |
mitch707 |
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laudou462: Yes you can capture video, composite or S-type on a 8500. check out:Video Technologies: Composite versus S-video, Article ID:13045.Created 8/23/93 at Apples 'knowledge base'. Thomas.hart: This RAM thing....I don't know, Apple says you can use either FPM or EDO. That the EDO will act as FPM, ref art# 19456@Apple/ knowledge base. MacGurus @ seems to have a real good take on RAM. Personaly, I've got six sticks, interleaved OWC RAM @128mb/stick. They sell it as 'FPM EDO, 4k - 2k/bank'. Sort of cover all the bases don't they? Anyway, I've never had any problem with any of them. Hey! Hears a hoot. Get the app 'SimpleSound', It's a wopping 84KB app created 6/22/1995 V1.0. You can get it out of Apples archieves. In OS9.x run ANY audio thru RCA jacks into the AV audio-in and record up to 26hours directly onto your hard drive in AIFF format. And...IT'S FREE! - What was the question? - Mitch |
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RE: Dream 8500? |
January, 11, 2003 7:33 PM |
laudou462 |
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Hi I have a G4/450 and an 8500 that is pretty much untouched. I was wondering if I could upgrade my 8500 and use it to capture video from TV. I would then edit the captured footage using my G4. I also have a large external firewire drive. What kind of upgrade( ram and processor) would I need to get satisfactory results capturing video with software like Strata VideoShop? I plan to work under Mac OS 9 on the 8500. Laurier |
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RE: Dream 8500? |
January, 11, 2003 5:01 AM |
uwe |
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Hi Thomas, I can only remember to the question, wiht what tools you formatted the hardisk. I got several problems with my 8500 using apples driver. After reformatting and using the driver from "Hard Disk Speed Tools" the new installation of 10.2 is running fine. |
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RE: Dream 8500? |
January, 10, 2003 6:17 PM |
mitch707 |
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Nobody wrote the drivers for the AV module. Nobody,s going to either. You'll have to run it in 9.x. No floppy either- thats 10.1 thru Jaguar. I've got a 8500 also, I'll relay the specs this thread when I get home- Mitch |
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RE: Dream 8500? |
January, 10, 2003 4:56 PM |
thomas.hart |
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It's been several days since last post. I gave up on a functional, but slow, install of 10.2.3; threw caution to the wind and erased the partition and attempted to reinstall. I cannot get through the install procedure without hanging... I have all RAM except for a single 128M DIMM removed, put my original 1G SCSI HD back in attempting to terminate the internal SCSI bus (read somewhere that the CD does not provide termination) reset PRAM, CUDA... MAN THIS BITES! I have been throttling back and forth, but it just won't finish an install. Saw in another post where someone had issues with a Rev. A Tempo Trio; how can I tell? I can 99% always get back to 9.1 by holding the option key (which is how I am now online). I have tried to go to "verbose" mode, but I guess until I get an install this doesn't matter? It only help debug a boot from an installed system? I read somewhere about using the "fast" SCSI connector to get a succesful install. Guess I'll try that next. If you have any thoughts please pass them along... |
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RE: Dream 8500? |
January, 03, 2003 6:52 PM |
thomas.hart |
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Well, I removed 512 M including the 2 EDO modules (which were in A1 and B1 for interleave), all remaining is 4 x 128M FPM all OWC DIMMs... Reboot, same issues... I ran GURU, it says memory is OK (in Classic mode) computer hangs trying to tell it to boot from OS9.1. Gauge Pro doesn't seem to want to run this way... Inspection during last remove showed an IDE cable from Trio to HD with a potentially stressed conductor or two.... I think I will try replacing that cable next time I'm in there. Any other thoughts???? How about sound in/out not working... Ideas???? Thanks all for your inputs.... |
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RE: Dream 8500? |
January, 03, 2003 3:03 AM |
paul_findley |
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My 7500, after installing the Sonnet 800MHz, would not tolerate any more than two of those OWC 128MB modules (FPM). I had to use 2 2k refresh 64MB FPM for an additional 128MB (384MB total). I also had to deinterleave, though I suspect if I didn't have those touchy 128MB modules, I could interleave. I was interleaved before (400MHz G3, 10.1.5), but one or the other of the Sonnet 800 and 10.2.x, or perhaps the combo, wouldn't let me get away with it any longer. |
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RE: Dream 8500? |
January, 01, 2003 12:59 PM |
earlyd416 |
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What caught my attention was the mix of EDO and non EDO memory. I'd recommend removing the 2 EDO memory modules to start with. If I recall, my 8600 user manual discussed not mixing the two. (I'd check for sure, but my user manual is buried somewhere in the house and I'm too lazy to go look for it.) My 8600 has all EDO memory modules. Next de-interleave your memory; i.e., leave only 512MB in the machine which is plenty. Good luck. |
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RE: Dream 8500? |
January, 01, 2003 12:47 PM |
marcush |
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The best way to check your RAM is to boot into OS9 and run the memory tester in Guru or the memory test in Gauge Pro. I believe you can download both from the OWC tech center. I think Guru is probably the better utility for this though. If there is bad memory in your machine they will find it. If you do turn out to have bad memory then you have to go through the painful process of swapping out DIMMs until you find the bad one. That being said, what you've described so far does sound memory related. The problem could be staring you in the face. You have mixed EDO and FPM RAM. Try taking out the EDO DIMMs and see if stability is achieved. Also, try the reverse. If you got the EDO DIMMs from OWC tell them about your problem and ask if they will exchange them for FPM DIMMs. You could also ask them to do the opposite and provide you with all EDO RAM. Another thing you could try is changing the slot order of you PCI cards. I had to do the RAM swap and PCI card swap game too in the past but the result was a completely stable Power Tower Pro running OSX. I really think your problem is the mixed RAM though to tell you the truth. I once received an EDO DIMM from OWC by mistake but did not realize at first. It did not work well at all the rest of my FPM RAM. They took the EDO DIMM back and sent me an FPM replacement. |
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RE: Dream 8500? |
January, 01, 2003 10:23 AM |
thomas.hart |
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I missed one item... there is also Tempo/Trio card in use, PCI order is CPU, Tempo Trio, ATI 7000 |
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