ID | | Article Title | Post Date |
72 |
| The Crescendo/Encore installer hangs, or crashes the system; occurs most often when run from the Sonnet installer CD. | May-12-09 |
78 |
| Why does the Encore/ZIF (700MHz and faster) require that my Blue & White or PCI Graphics G4 bus speed be slowed to 66MHz? Doesn't that slow down my computer? | May-12-09 |
169 |
| May I discard my original CPU after installing Sonnet's upgrade cards?
| May-07-09 |
171 |
| The speed indicated on the G3 or G4 chip on my Sonnet processor upgrade doesn't seem to match the speed of the upgrade I purchased. What's the story? | May-07-09 |
175 |
| The Crescendo/Encore installer hangs, or crashes the system; occurs most often when run from the Sonnet installer CD while using Mac OS 9. | May-07-09 |
218 |
| The computer's standard startup process takes noticeably longer after upgrading to any Mac OS 9.x system from Mac OS 8.6 or earlier. | May-12-09 |
| This is not a malfunction and is not related in any way to Sonnet upgrade products; this is the result of an additional Mac OS 9.x startup process that did not occur during startup in earlier Mac OS versions. There is a new "hidden" Mac OS 9.x feature called Startup Memory Tests in the Memory Control Panel, which defaults to the "On" setting. This adds time during a startup or restart, as all of the RAM installed in the computer is checked.
This issue affects any machine running OS 9.x (OS X status is unknown as of this writing), with or without upgrades installed. The more RAM installed, the longer the test. (Note that a Mac upgraded with a Sonnet G3 or G4 processor card gets through this process much faster than a "stock" machine.)
Since this is not a malfunction, no solution is required. However, since RAM seldom fails after the first few days of regular use, you may turn this test off if a faster startup cycle is desired. To access this feature you must hold down the Command key and the Option key WHILE opening the Memory Control Panel. When the control panel opens, you will see a setting at the bottom of the control panel. Click the Startup Memory Tests' Off button, then close the Memory Control Panel. Be aware that from now on, when you start up or restart your computer, the Mac OS will NOT check your RAM. If in the future you suspect a memory problem and want to check your RAM, you will need to repeat this procedure and turn the Startup Memory Tests back on. |
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238 |
| System will not start following installation of the processor upgrade card, or may fail shortly after restart. IMPORTANT! Do not continue attempts to restart—immediately unplug your computer. | May-12-09 |
239 |
| Encore firmware updater must be run to allow installation of a G4 processor in these machines, but this software is not available for Mac OS X. | Jun-25-09 |
| Apple's ROM for Blue & White G3s includes code that blocks the machine from booting with a G4 processor. This block is easily removed with the firmware patcher provided on the CD-ROM included with your Sonnet Encore/ZIF G4 upgrade.
If an Encore G4 was successfully installed prior to acquiring Mac OS X, no further action is required; the Apple ROM is already updated.
If an Encore/ZIF G4 is being added to a system that already has Mac OS X installed, it is necessary to boot the computer using Mac OS 9.2.2 (or earlier) to run the Sonnet firmware updater provided with the Encore product. No new Sonnet software is required; the version included in the package is fully effective. Follow these simple steps:
1) Boot the computer using OS 9.2.2. Apple's instructions for this are found on page 30 of the "Welcome to Mac OS X" guide included with the OS X package. You may select the startup OS with the "Startup Disk" control panel.
2) Insert the Sonnet Software CD-ROM (included with the Encore product) into the CD-ROM drive and follow the installation steps as described in the Encore/ZIF manual.
Once this process is complete, there will be no need to update the ROM again. The Blue and White will now deliver G4 speed and performance under OS X and all earlier Mac OS releases. |
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240 |
| During Crescendo/Encore Install 1.4.6 software installation, the system displays an error message stating "Your computer's firmware does not have the Sonnet G4-enabling patch installed." | May-12-09 |
241 |
| While applying the Sonnet G3 firmware patch on a Power Macintosh G3 (Blue & White) computer, the updater stops and either: a) The error message, "Assertion (modPtr) failed in firmwareUpdater.c on line 236" appears. OR b) Your system boots to the desktop and a message stating, "Your computer's firmware does not have the Sonnet G4-enabling patch installed" appears. | Jul-23-09 |
242 |
| After following all of the instructions in the included User's Quick Start Guide and installing the Encore/ZIF G4 upgrade card, the computer freezes at random during boot up or boots to the desktop without any issues, but crashes randomly, and/or programs unexpectedly quit. | May-12-09 |
243 |
| After removing and replacing my Encore/ZIF card during the course of troubleshooting, or after moving it from one machine to another, my computer has stopped booting, or started crashing shortly after booting. | May-12-09 |
| The processor card may be overheating. When the Encore/ZIF is installed and the heat sink attached, thermal grease on the processor contacts the bottom of the heat sink to transfer heat. When the card cools after operation and the heat sink is removed, the thermal grease can come off with the heat sink, making it difficult to reestablish an effective thermal bond when the computer is put back together.
Before reinstalling the processor, or installing it into another machine, you must remove the residual thermal grease off both the processor die and the heat sink, and apply a new layer to the processor die. Thermal grease may be purchased at most electronic stores; Radio Shack, for example, carries a product called Heat Sink Grease (online catalog #276-1372)
To remove the residual grease, simply apply some rubbing alcohol to a lint free wipe and carefully clean the remaining material from both the processor area of the Encore/ZIF card and the heat sink\u8217 s bottom surface. Once clean, you can apply more thermal grease to the processor die. Apply a smooth, thin layer of the material to the center section of the processor die, making sure it covers the entire area. Take special care that the material is consistently smooth across the surface of the processor die. Repeat this process each and ever time the heat sink is removed from the Encore/ZIF card. |
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244 |
| After following all of the instructions in the included User's Quick Start Guide and installing the Encore/ZIF G4 upgrade card, my computer crashes during boot up. The computer generates the boot chime and video is displayed, however, the boot process stops with just a cursor on screen. | May-12-09 |
| It is likely that an Apple OEM Ultra-Wide SCSI PCI card using out-of-date firmware is causing the freeze. Because the latest firmware update for this card from Apple was released in September 2000, problems arise when this card is used with an Encore/ZIF G4 (700 MHz or faster).
To solve this issue, update the SCSI card\u8217 s firmware. Before you begin, remove the Encore/ZIF card and replace the previously installed processor, carefully following all the standard procedures. In order to update this card\u8217 s firmware, you will first need to remove the original Apple firmware code, and then \u8220 flash\u8221 the card with the latest firmware from Atto, the card\u8217 s original manufacturer. Please visit the following website that has the utilities and instructions you\u8217 ll need to update this SCSI card\u8217 s firmware:
http://www.os9forever.com/SCSICard.html
Note: All of these updates must be completed with the Encore/ZIF G4 card removed from your system. Once you\u8217 ve updated the firmware on the SCSI card, you may reinstall the Encore/ZIF G4 processor card and your system should operate normally. |
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