Got my Sonnet G4 800, now what? |
May, 17, 2003 10:28 AM |
gabb |
Hi ppl, I see a lot of discussion about Sonnet G4 800 cards and activating the L2 cache etc. I just got my Sonnet 800 Mhz G4 card. Before I install it I need to know what I need to know. The disk that came with it is for OS 9.X, right? Now will that Activate L2 and L3 cache under 9.X? I am using XPF to get to OS 10.2.6, what do I need to unleash the full power of this card and L2, L3 cache? My specs: PTP pro (currently with Newer Tech G4 400 Mhz), 800 MB ram, Adaptec LVD SCSI card, Radeon MAC edition (32 MB), Firewire/USB card. Even though technically knowledgable I am not that good with hacking, pls help. By the how can I sell my old Newer Tech card, EBAY? Gabby Ahmad |
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RE: Got my Sonnet G4 800, now what? |
May, 23, 2003 11:21 PM |
gabb |
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I think its the clock ratio on my card that needs to be fixed, How do i do that? with Newer Tech their software gave u the option of doing it. |
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RE: Got my Sonnet G4 800, now what? |
May, 23, 2003 11:09 PM |
gabb |
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Thanks earlyd, I have tried everything, I set up the ram sticks in every way possible, Sonnet told me to try to de-interleave as well, and i did but no results. i will try to fix the ration thingy, see if that works. its funny under OS 10.2.6 it shows my processor speed at 800 Mhz but in 9.x it shows as 450 Mhz, even though it is a G4 800 Mhz card. for now i will put back my Newer tech card since I have to finish a few projects for Tuesday, I don't know if i should keep the Sonnet card. Thanks guys. Gabby |
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RE: Got my Sonnet G4 800, now what? |
May, 23, 2003 8:30 PM |
earlyd416 |
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Gabb, et al, I restarted a new Memory Checking Utitily topic a few days ago. (It's the last one on the front page as I type this.) The original discussion was so long ago that it's too painful to find. Here's the link: http://eshop.macsales.com/OSXCenter/XPostFacto/forum/viewThread.cfm?&thread=1766&Topic=31&threadID=10376&ct=1#10376 In this topic, I summarize the two best memory checking utilities - one each for X & 9. Hope this helps. --Dwight |
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RE: Got my Sonnet G4 800, now what? |
May, 23, 2003 1:35 PM |
gabb |
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Hi Marcush, i think gauge pro doesn't give individual mem chip info, it gives u the total ram info. |
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RE: Got my Sonnet G4 800, now what? |
May, 23, 2003 1:33 PM |
gabb |
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Thanks Marcush, I just spoke to sonnet ppl, they said it could be a whole bunch of issues, even PCI cards, I have many of them as well. Yes I still have the original 64 Mb ram as well installed which is from 1997 the others i think all are 60ns chips as far as i remember. Sonnet also told me to try de-interleaving the mem as well, that could be it. I spent a lot of money (close to a $ 800) on these Rams, cause i bought them when they were very expensive, i would hate to but new ones now....:-( Thanks ppl, i guess i will be spending my long weekend on fixing this machine. Newer Tech card(G4 400 Mhz) was great, no problems what so ever. But i did see the speed difference with my new sonnet card. Gabby |
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RE: Got my Sonnet G4 800, now what? |
May, 23, 2003 12:57 PM |
marcush |
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You could use a RAM check program in OS9 such as gauge pro, dimm firstaid, or guru. For OSX I think there is memcheck. There is a thread here that has a download link for memcheck. The others you can get from macupdate.com or versiontracker.com. Still the quickest way to find a bad DIMM is trial and error by starting up with 1 or two at a time installed to see which one(s) cause instability. Sounds to me like you have RAM problems. If you have any RAM that is older than say 4 years old then it is likely to be 70ns RAM. You really need 60ns RAM for OSX. Gauge Pro will tell you if your RAM is 60ns or 70ns. Also, if you have mixed 60ns and 70ns RAM your problems are multiplied. Either situation might be fine with a G3 but a G4 will be sensitive to the timing issues that arise with RAM that is not up to relatively recent specifications. Finally, you do need to remove your L2 Cache DIMM. It provides no benefit at all witht he Sonnet card and may introduce problems. Our systems should be nearly identical. I have a Power Tower Pro 225, Sonnet G4 800, 1GB 60ns RAM. |
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RE: Got my Sonnet G4 800, now what? |
May, 23, 2003 12:06 PM |
gabb |
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How do i look for bad RAMS, I mean I have all slot full, they r interleaved, but how do i check for bad ram, trial and error? thanks |
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RE: Got my Sonnet G4 800, now what? |
May, 23, 2003 11:57 AM |
gabb |
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I did the zapping, CUDA resetting and even reset my Desktop but still..... I will chesck that site. thanks and keep the inputs coming in. Gabby |
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RE: Got my Sonnet G4 800, now what? |
May, 23, 2003 11:57 AM |
twoolley |
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I do not think you should reinstall your old L2 cache DIMM. I do think you should consider checking your RAM. Is it interleaved, or uninterleaved, are some of your chips old, etc. Sonnet G4 CPUs are very sensitive about RAM configuration. Just removing one old/bad RAM chip can solve frequent crashes. There are many threads about this in the XPF forum. If only it had a search engine of some sort... Good Luck, Tom |
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RE: Got my Sonnet G4 800, now what? |
May, 23, 2003 11:49 AM |
gregoryy |
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Make sure you reset the cuda switch and zap the PRAM - I assume you did when you upgraded to the G4/400 previously. Have you looked at the cpu upgrade reports on www.xlr8yourmac.com already? I'd use Sonnet Tune-Up and X-Installer. |
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RE: Got my Sonnet G4 800, now what? |
May, 23, 2003 10:29 AM |
gabb |
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Hi, I did it correctly but the system is crashing a lot under both 9.X and 10.2.6. Itsa says my L2 cache is 256 k and L3 in 1 MB, which is correct, right? My on board L2(I think) cache was 1MB should I put it back since it was more than 256 K at present? Would it screw up my system? Help Help!! GAbby |
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RE: Got my Sonnet G4 800, now what? |
May, 17, 2003 6:47 PM |
gabb |
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Thanks guys, I am just dying to put it in but i think i should wait cause i have to finish a project by Monday, I can't afford to have dead machine right now. Just curious I didn't have to move the Cache card for my Newer tech card. The software that came with it allowed me to enable/disable motherboard Cache. Again guys thanks a lot. Gabbster |
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RE: Got my Sonnet G4 800, now what? |
May, 17, 2003 5:15 PM |
twoolley |
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Gabb- On my PowerTower Pro 250 the L2 cache dimm slot is just above and parallel to the CPU Card near the SCSI slots on the motherboard. You will need to remove it since the Sonnet G4 800 has onboard L2 cache. Just follow the Sonnet instructions and you should be okay. I think they recommend resetting the Cuda switch also. egonazales21 is exactly right about Sonnet OSX 1.2.6 Tuneup. Run it, then reboot into OS 9 and reinstall XPF extensions, using XPF to restart into OS X. It's the best combo for activation of L2 & L3 caches. Good luck, Tom |
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RE: Got my Sonnet G4 800, now what? |
May, 17, 2003 1:18 PM |
egonzales21 |
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Best thing to do is this: Download the free OS X Tuneup from Sonnet website. Run this program as instructed. It will place essentially the same extensions as XPF into your X system folder but also load their cache enabler. It will activate both the L2 and L3 caches of the G4 card. I would then boot the computer back into your OS 9. Run XPF again with the option to reload extensions. This will rewrite over the ones that the Sonnet installer placed but leave behind the Sonnet cache enabler. Enjoy your new upgrade card. Ed |
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RE: Got my Sonnet G4 800, now what? |
May, 17, 2003 10:39 AM |
gabb |
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Another thing, the manual says to remove L2 cache card before putting the Sonnet card in. Now I never put in L2 cache card in my PTP but I think there is a cache Ram chips in there, is that what they mean? |
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