The subject is not intended to slander MCE in anyway. I have just had tremendous luck in my CardBus testing and feel that my success is equal to those who HAVE HAD the MCE modification. I invite MCE to hopefully identify why my machine (and I'm sure others) already have the ability they claim to provide, and if they can enhance my abilities further... Anyway, Ratoc CBFW2 FireWire CardBus card. Tested on my original (purchased new in '97) PB 2400, 180MHz 603e, 80MB RAM, 4 GB IBM HD, OS 8.6 I had already been running QuickTime 4.1, so I began by going back to Conflict Catcher and re-enabling the two DV-related QuickTime extensions (required), and then went to Ratoc's web site getting the newest version of the two necessary drivers. At this point, all I needed was FireWire software. Unfortunately, another one of Apple's attrocious policies is to remove all older versions of software from the Apple Software Updates web site... so the only version of English-NA FireWire they had was 2.4, which requires at least OS 9 (or at least they say). So, rather than trying English-IE FireWire 2.2.2, I grabbed my Final Cut CD and found the North American 2.2.2 and installed that. Rebooted.... Voila! It worked! (at least mounted with the proper FireWire icon) Unfortunately, I didn't have any peripherals, or so I thought, and then I remembered that my iMac DV can do Target FireWire Disk Mode, so I shut it down, rebooted holding "T", and the FireWire icon appeared much like the SCSI one on my PowerBook. I plugged it into the Ratoc dongle... nothing... Then I remembered intitial reports of Target FireWire Disk Mode (I'll refer to as TFDM from now on) and that FireWire 2.3 is what enabled it (the version that shipped on PBG3 2000's) and to get a computer to mount it at first (pre-OS 9.0.4), you had to copy out those extensions, but I was still stuck in a rock and a hard place, because my 2 options were 2.2.2 and 2.4. I broke out ol' Tome Viewer and the OS 9.0.4 update... and yes, it had FireWire 2.3.3, which as Apple's TIL says, is 8.6 compatible. Reboot... got the dreaded dialog thinking my FireWire card was a 64kb hard drive asking me to initialize. Oh well... reverted back to 2.2.2 thinking I could live without being able to mount TFDM Apples. As a last ditch effort, I ran my QuickTime updater, which of course, upped me to 4.1.2. I reverted back to 2.3.3 again, and voila! It mounted this time! Plugged in the iMac! Voila! It all worked!!!! I slept it, unmounted it, unplugged it, you name it, and it kept working!!! And, I've tried a VST drive with a Newer FW card, and when it was copying my mouse was extremely jittery and the progress bar was untrustable. Not here. No jitteriness, just fast copies and even though testing was limited, VERY STABLE!!!! (not one crash) I even launched Photoshop from my iMac's hard drive and it launched (non-scientific) in about the same time as it does locally. But, like every other CardBus card I've played with... I can't F#$%ing boot with it inserted! This is where I really invite MCE's comments. If I am to get the 'modification', will my machine be able to boot with the following card(s): 1. MacAlly USB 2. Newer FireWire 3. Ratoc FireWire All of the above cards work great in my machine, with the USB actually being the only semi-unreliable one, but I can't boot with any of them. As an interim measure, I've written an AppleScript Shutdown Items script which checks for the presence of them and will eject them (email me if you want it). Do people WITH the MCE modification offer different results? Do people WITHOUT the MCE modification offer different results? Love to know... thanks for your time, Jay ---------- Duo/2400 List, The friendliest place on the Net! A listserv for users and fans of Mac subportables. FAQ at <http://www.themacintoshguy.com/lists/DuoListFAQ.shtml> Be sure to visit Mac2400! <http://www.sineware.com/mac2400> XRouter | Share your DSL or cable modem between multiple computers! Dr. Bott | Now $199.99 <http://www.drbott.com/prod/MIH120.html> PowerBook Guy is | Click here! Everything PowerBook! | http://www.powerbookguy.com Midwest Mac Parts ][ <http://www.midwestmac.com> After-market parts for Macs. ][ 888-356-1104 ][ MacResQ Reader Specials: 2.5GB Seagate SCSI: $119, 4GB IBM SCSI: $199, Norton Util. 4.0: $29, Mac Parts, Systems & Repairs <http://www.macresq.com>
