A little late to the game, Sonnet Technologies today announced
the release of "Encore G4 X Install Version: 1.0."
This software brings OS X support for Sonnet's Encore G4 ZIF
upgrade cards installed in beige G3 Power Macs. The software
is needed to activate the G4's backside cache in beige machines,
but is not needed for other Encore/machine combinations. Sonnet
also announced today that they are developing OS X software
for Newer Technology's MaxPowr G3/G4 ZIF cards. Newer Tech
folded shop in December of last year. Sonnet expects to have
the MaxPowr software available for download by the end of
May and will charge $29.95 for the download.
Sonnet also announced that they will be releasing OS X drivers
for their "Crescendo" series of G3/G4 upgrades for
PCI Macs. These machines include the following: Power Macintosh
7300, 7500, 7600, 8500, 8600, 9500, 9600, PowerTower Pro,
Power Wave, UMAX J700, S900. Sonnet will be charging $29.95
for this download as well. Lastly, Sonnet announced they will
release software in June for Newer Tech upgrade cards in PCI
machines. This software will carry a $69.95 price tag. We
have updated our "upgrade card compatibility matrix"
below with this latest information from Sonnet. If you have
questions about OS X support in Sonnet products, swing by
our Sonnet
Tech. forum which is staffed by a Technical Liaison from
Sonnet.
4-09-01 Update
It should come as no surprise that upgrade manufacturers have
been working fast and furious since March 24th to get OS X
drivers out for their cards. Since we first posted this page
two weeks ago, both PowerLogix and XLR8 have released drivers
for OS X . PowerLogix has mirrored Apple's own OS X release
strategy, releasing a beta version of their "plxcache"
driver and "Profiler
X" monitoring utility. Plxcache is a command line
(aka Terminal) utility for activating and setting the L2 cache
speed on the fly. No reboot is required! Unlike XLR8's software,
plxcache supports all cache sizes and ratios. According to
PowerLogix, a graphical interface is in the works.
Both PowerLogix and XLR8 have stated that their software
will work with cards from other manufacturers, a boon for
owners of cards from Newer and other defunct companies. Unlike
PowerLogix, XLR8's "MACh Speed Control X" software
is an "official," not beta release. The downside
is that it will only work on machines with a full MB backside
cache capable of running at a 2:1 ratio. We have no word on
whether XLR8 plans on expanding their coverage.
Sonnet Technologies is lagging slightly behind the competition,
with no software, beta or official, released to date [see
4-23-01 update above]. The do, however, have their own spiffy
looking
compatibility matrix (PDF) to help you determine the likelihood
of OS X support for your machine and upgrade. If you own a
Sonnet card, you can always try the PowerLogix or XLR8 software
or keep an eye on Sonnet's
site or this page for new developments. The following
text is from our initial coverage. Feel free to skip on down
to our Upgrade Card Compatibility matrix which has been updated
with the latest information available.
Original coverage 3-27-01
Now that OS X has finally made its way to store shelves, many
users are asking whether the new OS is supported on their
G3 or G4 upgraded machine. Apple's preferred and official
answer is an emphatic and resounding "No!" Upgrade
cards, after all, do little to help Apple's bottom line, extending
the life of older machines and delaying the purchase of a
new one.
The lack of official support from Apple has never deterred
upgrade manufacturers from releasing and supporting their
products in the past. Remember the "Trojan
Horse" firmware update that prevented B&W machines
from booting with an upgrade card installed? Manufacturers
managed to work around the block in short order. Most, if
not all, of the upgrade manufacturers have made statements
about OS X support with their cards, some rather vague and
others quite specific. Most of these statements were made
before the official OS X release, but you can be sure that
more information will be forthcoming [see 4-9-01 update above].
We will update this page on a regular basis as new information
becomes available.
If you have Specific questions not answered here, our upgrade
forums are staffed by engineers from the various manufacturers
and are an excellent resource for getting all of your upgrade
questions answered in short order. PowerLogix
forum | Sonnet
Tech. forum | XLR8
forum. Below we provide you with a compatibility matrix
so you can quickly tell where your upgraded Mac stands. If
you are contemplating an upgrade purchase and are not sure
which one is appropriate for your machine, check out our machine
matrix below.
"He's dead Jim..." The past couple of years have
been tough for upgrade manufacturers. Vimage bowed out a while
ago, followed by MacTell
and most recently by the venerable Newer Tech. German based
Formac is still in business,
but is no longer making processor upgrades. Post bankruptcy
support is a rare thing, so if you own a card from one of
these manufacturers, you will need to consider alternative
drivers for your card [see 4-9-01 update above]. If you have
a NewerTech iMac upgrade or one of their recent PowerBook
upgrades, you should be in good shape as there are no drivers
needed for either...
Update: "[The PowerLogix
software] allows you to enable your backside cache on
G3 and G4 processors at boot time. The included utilities
allow you to view your cache settings and other useful
pieces of information through the PowerLogix Profiler
X 1.0b1 application. You may also change the cache settings
"on the fly" using the Terminal application
and the command-line tool "plxcache".
"This software will automatically recognize the
type of cache SRAMs used on your processor card. It
will also determine the size of the cache automatically.
This means it is compatible with any and all G3 or G4
processor cards from any manufacturer. Through the command
line, it will also allow the setting of any valid cache
size or speed. At this time it is not compatible with
the 7450 PowerPC or dual G4 systems."
Update: "We have released
MACh Speed Control X™ due to overwhelming requests
from our customers for Mac OS X cache control software.
The installer will enable the backside cache to be run
at 2:1 on all Macs upgraded with XLR8 upgrades and is
available free of charge from the XLR8 web site at www.xlr8.com."
"The supported upgrades include the MACh Velocity
MPe, MACh Speed G3 and G4, MACh Carrier and Carrier
ZIF families of processor upgrade cards."
"To make use of the utility users must have already
installed Mac OS X and be running the software when
they launch the installer. The new XLR8 MACh Speed Control
X™ utility will work with all third party processor
upgrades providing they have at least 1MB of backside
cache that is capable of running at a ratio of 2:1."
"Sonnet will release a driver to fully
support Mac OS X on these systems when the driver becomes
available." Due by end of May at a cost of $29.95.
Support for Newer cards due in June at a cost of $69.95.
Sonnet's two ZIF style upgrades, the G3
or G4 Encore and the new dual processor G4 Encore/ST,
should both work with OS X. Neither card requires special
software to run and should be "fully compatible with
Mac OS X as well as future Apple Mac OS upgrades."
Download
drivers for G4 Encore in beige Power Macs.
Apple:Power Mac 7300
| Power Mac 7500 | Power Mac 7600 | Power Mac 8500 |
Power Mac 8515 | Power Mac 8600 | Power Mac 9500 | Power
Mac 9515 | Power Mac 9600 | Workgroup Server 7350 |
Workgroup Server 8550 | Workgroup Server 9650
Power Computing: Power Center |
Power Center Pro | Power Tower | Power Tower Pro | Power
Wave | PowerBase
Apple: Power Mac 4400 | Power
Mac 5400 | Power Mac 5500 | Power Mac 6400 | Power Mac
6500 | Performa 5400 | Performa 5410 | Performa 5420
| Performa 5430 | Performa 6360 | Performa 6400 | Performa
6410 | Performa 6420 | 20th Anniversary Mac (TAM)
Apple: Power Mac 6100/AV | Power
Mac 6100 | Power Mac 7100 | Power Mac 8100 | Performa
6110 | Performa 6112 | Performa 6115 | Performa 6116
| Performa 6117 | Performa 6118 | Workgroup Server 6150
| Workgroup Server 8150 | Workgroup Server 9150 |
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