OSX86: some reassuring news from users of the new development platform

Accelerate Your Macintosh! News Page - 6/8/05

A developer provides some details on the development version of OSX86: (MacTel)

First, the thing is fast. Native apps readily beat a single 2.7 G5, and sometimes beat duals. Really.

All the iLife apps other than iTunes, plus all the other apps that come with the OS are already universal binaries....

They are using a Pentium 4 660. This is a 3.6 GHz chip. It supports 64 bit extensions, but Apple does not support that *yet*. The 660 is a single core processor. However, the engineers said that this chip would not be used in a shipping product and that we need to look at Intel's roadmap for that time to see what Apple will ship.

It uses DDR-2 RAM at 533 MHz. SATA-2. It is using Intel GMA 900 integrated graphics and it supports Quartz Extreme. The Intel 900 doesn't compare favorably to any shipping card from ATi or nVidia. The Apple engineers says they dev kit will work with regular PC graphics cards, but that you need a driver. Apple does not write ANY graphics drivers. They just submit bug reports to ATi/nVidia. So, when we asked where to get drivers for better cards the engineers said "The ATI guys are here." He's right, they've been in the compatibility lab several times.

It has FireWire 400, but not 800. USB 2 as well. USB 2 booting is supported, FireWire booting is not. NetBoot works.

The machines do not have Open Firmware. They use a Phoenix BIOS...

They run Windows fine. All the chipset is standard Intel stuff, so you can download drivers and run XP on the box.

Rosetta is amazing.... The tests I've run, both app tests and benchmarks, peg it at between a dual 800 MHz G4 and and a dual 2 G5 depending on what you are doing.

... Rosetta tells PPC apps that it is a G3. Apps should fall back to their G3 code tree. Everyone I tested did.

The UI tests in Xbench exceed a dual 2.7 by a large margin. (other specific tests are much lower than a G5 per Xbench site results.-Mike [jf: I think Quart Extreme is enabled on this machine, it's disabled on OS X Tiger!])

I've been talking to and watching a lot of devs. There are a lot of apps from big names running in the Compatibility lab already. Some people face more pain, sure, but Jobs wasn't kidding when he said that this transition would be less painful than OS 9 to OS X or 68K to PPC.

Game devs seem optimistic. They see porting Windows/x86 to Mac/x86 as much easier. They look forward to the day they don't have to support PPC.

I was talking to a (game Developer) that said about 1/3 of the process is handling endian issues, the rest is Win32/DirectX. For the next 3-5 years, their job will be harder since they have to port to two processor architectures and most bugs *are* endian related and that they will have a hard time making the PPC versions run as well as the x86 versions.

This transition is not about current P4 vs G5. It is about the future directions of the processor families. Intel is committed to desktop/notebook and server in a big way. Freescale/IBM are chasing the embedded market and console market. Apple would have been in a lurch in 2 years.

Also, all the cell people and the AMD people need to be quiet. Apple evaluated both. AMD has the same, if not worse, supply problems as IBM. Their roadmap is fine, but the production capacity is not.

They tested Cell as well. That processor is NOT intended for PC applications. (it was designed for game systems, not as a general use CPU) The lack of out of order execution and ILP control logic creates very poor performance with existing software. Having developers rewrite for cell would have been MUCH more work than reworking for Intel. And that's what this is, you rework your codebase in ALL cases, not rewrite it.

iPhoto add-ons: printing

There are so many of these iPhoto Add-ons. The trick is how well they really integrate. Via Macintouch.

Photoprinto 1.2 is a utility for creating and printing photo albums and single sheets. It can import photos from iPhoto or from folders, create albums or single pages with customizable templates, add frames and captions, crop, apply effects, and more. This release adds compatibility with Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, export to HTML and web pages, additional Core Image filters (Tiger only), Spotlight search support (Tiger only), and other changes. Photoprinto is $29.95 for Mac OS X 10.2.5 and up.

PhotoBooth 1.5 enables printing full size or cropped pictures directly from an iPhoto library or folder. When set to a standard or custom size (and when cropped), pictures are automatically resized to fit the selected format. This release adds compatibility with Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger and iPhoto 5, the ability to print multiple photos at once (including multiple photos on a single page), an improved interface for selecting images to print, and support for metric units. PhotoBooth is $29.95 for Mac OS X 10.3 and 10.4.

Reducing heat in a multiple drive system: enable power saving

I'm not sure I know everything that went wrong with my Vantec/IDE saga, but it did make me very conscious of how darned hot my XP system is nowadays. I have 3 200 GB drives and one removeable 80GB drive in one tower case. I've added extra fans and, far more importantly, better room cooling, but there was one simple fix that didn't occur to me until recently. I used XP's power save utility to spin the drives down after 10 minutes of non-use. So far that hasn't bothered me at all and it sure drops heat output.

systeminfo: handy XP command line system information utility

I thought I'd heard most XP tricks, but this one was new to me.

Atomic I/O letters column #45:

I'd like to be able to keep tabs on how long my WinXP computer's been running since the last time I rebooted. I know there are plenty of uptime monitoring utilities with all kinds of features, but can't I just use a console command?

Answer:

You're looking for the 'systeminfo' command. It defaults to spitting out a bunch of configuration data for the computer you're using, including the uptime. You can also use it with the /s option to get the same info from any other Win2000 or WinXP computer on your network - or on the Internet - for which you have a login. The /u and /p options let you specify the username and password.

Repairing Permissions is Useless

Unsanity.org: Exercises in Futility Part 2: Repairing Permissions is Useless

"Repair permissions" is a common recommendation for OS X troubleshooting. Personally, I've had permissions problems with applications (incorrect group), but OS X disk utility repair permissions did nothing (I fixed the problem manually). This article explains why; the OS X utility seems only to repair permissions on a some core systems files. Any other permission problem, typically due to bad behavior by an app installer, cannot be fixed this way.

In practice corrupt preference files and corrupt caches are a much more common problem source than permissions repair.

The more savvy the tech writer, the more likely they are to say repairing permissions is grossly overrated.

iClip lite: a useful Tiger widget?

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)

I've tried various multi-clip utilities, but this one appeals to me. Elegantly simple.

Macintosh Audio Recording: Ric Ford's review of the Edirol R-1 and OS X sound editing software

Macintosh Audio Recording (Part 7)

Ric Ford [MacInTouch]

In addition to what I wrote before (jf: about the Edirol R-1), here are some more observations after recording several concerts live:

* The levels display is a different mode in recording than in record-pause; you have to hit the Display button several times to get it. (Levels show only in these two modes.) Initially, with live music, I had the levels at about half. This proved to be way too low. I guess they're peak meters, rather than RMS or average meters, so you need to get them up pretty high for music with a large dynamic range. I did well keeping them at about 75% "full". (This is even more critical at 16 bits than at 24.)

* Sensitivity seems to be less than that of an Mbox. I had the input level all the way up for some low-volume stuff in a small hall, and the levels were pretty low. I was glad I had 24 bits when it came time to mix.

* As I'd hoped, the Audio-Technica AT-822 stereo mic is a great match for the R-1. Hook 'em up, get good mic placement and levels, and you should have a recording you can use for a high-quality CD with minimal minimal effort and processing. I like the AT-822 better than the built-in omnidirectional mics, at least in a hall with echo. The omnis got a little muddy with a big band and needed some help later with EQ.

* I've successfully used Lexar 80x WA 2GB CompactFlash card and a SanDisk Ultra II *4*GB CompactFlash card; once I finally figured out that the SanDisk card had a secret little switch to choose between two 2GB banks or the whole 4GB memory! Edirol warns that some Lexar cards can use too much power, which is why I bought the SanDisk, although I didn't notice a problem using the Lexar card.

* Here's a big warning: It's easy to confuse the similar power switch and "hold" switch. If you do, then change batteries with the power on, you can lose your recording! I did this once, and it was embarrassing to say the least. Now, I tend to hit "stop, record-pause, record" between songs to write the data to the card. Interestingly, I only lost the *middle* session out of several when I made the power-switch "cockpit error".

* I avoided the special effects processing during recording, trying for a cleaner recording and also to avoid their extra drain on battery life. I was afraid of running out of battery power at the wrong time, so I did the switch before it was necessary. I'm guessing battery life is about what Edirol estimates - some 2.5 hours on a set for recording. An AC adapter is included, too.

* With a good-sized CompactFlash card, the R-1 could also make a pretty nice music player. I bought some Apple in-ear headphones to get isolation and monitoring in a small package. They're not bad for monitoring, although I don't care much for the sound for critical listening (where's the midrange?). For that, my favorite headphones are the Audio-Technica ATH-40fs, which a MacInTouch reader and sound engineer told me about. They have wonderfully flat response, but only a 1/4" plug and a long straight cord. (Radio Shack sells 1/4" to 1/8" adapter/extension cables.)

* I'm still trying to figure out what effects the built-in limiter (switchable) has on the sound. At first I thought the limiter was hurting the high-end but I think the problems I'm hearing might be from levels that were too *low*, in combination with 16-bit recording that I used at the first concert to conserve space on the card.

Later, I pushed the levels all the way up in a rehearsal with the limiter turned off, trying to get digital clipping, and it was pretty hard to hear, although I could see a little bit with an analyzer. For wide dynamic levels, I strongly recommend 24-bit (WAVE) format and trying to get the levels high enough. The jury is still out on the limiter.

After the live recording sessions, I spent a lot of time working with the audio, trying to clean up some issues with limiting, levels and EQ - none of which you'd have if the recording was done right. I was doing it on the fly in live concerts with all the attendant issues.

I continue to find the $30 Amadeus II application to be an incredibly useful, reliable and effective tool. It's a stunning value with support for all kinds of filters. Free "Carbon-MDA" VST filters include some great stuff, including dynamics (with expansion, as well as compression) and stereo image plug-ins, along with many more. (I kept tripping over "Combo", though, which sounds like something other than it is - a big guitar-amp distortion model.)

A very complementary application is Rogue Amoeba's $32 "Audio HiJack Pro", which can do almost anything, including *real-time* plug-in effects, a wonderful feature I've yet to find on any other reasonably-priced application. (Actually, DSP-Quattro has it for $150, but I didn't care for its plug-in user interface with its microscopic type.) I spent some time with BIAS Peak 4 - a 10-day trial version - finding it pretty fast and efficient, with support for 5 real-time plug-ins, but I think it should be priced at about half the $500 level it carries. I mean, you can buy an Mbox with ProTools for that....

When my hands got tired mousing around with silly graphical controls on plug-ins, I ended up trying and buying three plug-ins from Elemental Audio (Neodynium, Equium and Firium), which just stunned me with the quality and innovation of their user interface and functionality. I have no idea who's behind these (couldn't find any names), but they represent the best of the best in computer software and interface design, in my opinion. The company's *free* "Inspector" plug-in is invaluable, too, with RTAS, VST and Audio Unit versions. Even the customer experience (researching, trying and buying) was also flawless, and pricing seems quite reasonable for what you get. Check 'em out.

As for USB 1.1, I assume it works but is much slower. The other option is to simply take out the CompactFlash card and put it into a FireWire or other reader. Just don't make the mistake we did, where a friend ejected another card without dragging it to the trash first, and the Finder showed a completely foreign directory structure overlaid on my card when I inserted it. That was pretty scary, once I realized what had happened, but I quickly ejected the card, and I don't *think* that's what trashed my middle recording. Just be careful about this, and note that it can't happen if you connect the R-1 via a USB cable. (Edirol warns that certain USB cables may be problematic - those with built-in resistors - so be careful about that, too.)

All in all, I think this is an outstanding compact recording system, well matched with the battery-powered AT-822 mic or quite usable with its built-in mics. The Mbox may give you a little better signal-to-noise ratio with excellent balanced mics and its outstanding preamps, but you can do very professional live work with the R-1 and have a lot more mobility, while avoiding all the complexity and pitfalls of a Mac-based system.