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[MacOS Plus]

  Years ago I amassed a large amount of pre Mix-era Pro Tools hardware.  Attempting to build a complete, working system never panned out at the time for various reasons of mismatched software and other conflicts, so the project went dormant.  I finally decided to pull it all out of storage and make a serious push to get at least one functional system assembled.  I may try to acquire additional parts and software if necessary.  I'm hoping you guys can offer some advice on what I should build with the hardware I have, and can recommend the highest software and support file versions to use.  I didn't see any version 3.x or 4.x downloads on this forum so perhaps you can also suggest where I can download anything I'm missing and what I have to consider with authorizations or cracks.  (Perhaps some kind soul will upload some of this older stuff.)  I will happily make separate version 3.x, 4.x and 5.x systems if it best suits the groups of hardware I have.  To give you a sense of what I'm working with I've compiled an inventory of what I've got right now:

Interface boxes:
2 - 882 with power supply
1 - 882 without power supply
1 - 888
1 - 888 with dual connectors and 4/8-channel mode switch
1 - Video Slave Driver
1 - Universal Slave Driver
1 - ADAT I/O
1 - 442

PCI cards and cables: (PCI Matchmaker chip revisions noted in brackets)
1 - Disk I/O (Rev.Q)
1 - DSP Farm (Rev.QC) - Red PCB
1 - Samplecell II with TDM (Rev.QE)
1 - Samplecell II with TDM (Rev.Q) - Red PCBs
1 - spare SampleCell II TDM daughter board
1 - 8-node TDM cable
1 - Disk I/O SCSI cable
1 - Interface cable
1 - Audiomedia III (Rev.Q)

Nubus cards and cables:
4 - Disk I/O with TDM
8 - DSP Farm with TDM
2 - SampleCell (no TDM)
2 - 5-node TDM cable with terminator
1 - Avid-branded expansion chassis
1 - 68K ECI host card for expansion chassis
2 - PTIII audio card (no TDM)

Software CDs:
2 - Protools Installer version 4.1 PPC
1 - SampleCell II TDM Plug-in Installer for Mac OS and Windows NT
2 - SampleCell II FX-ROM CD-ROM Library #1
1 - SampleCell II CD-ROM Library #2

Software Floppies:
1 - Authorization Disk for Protools version 4.1.1
1 - Authorization Disk for Protools & TDM Software version 4.1.1
1 - Protools with DAE PowerMix Install 1 version 3.22
1 - Protools with DAE PowerMix Install 2 version 3.22
1 - Protools with DAE PowerMix Install 3 version 3.22
1 - Protools Demo Install 1 version 3.21
1 - Protools Demo Install 2 version 3.21
1 - Utility Disk version 3.1
1 - Utilities Disk version 3.1
1 - DAE Installer version 3.01 for PCI only
1 - OMF Tool version 1.1
1 - Sound Designer II Install 1 version 2.8.3
1 - Sound Designer II Install 2 version 2.8.3

Steinberg Plug-ins Floppies:
1 - TimeGuard TDM version 1.0
1 - Spectralizer TDM version 1.1
1 - Tune-a TDM version 1.0
1 - DeClicker TDM version 1.10

--END--

  There are enough parts of each generation to make a PT3 nubus, a PT4 nubus and a PT4 or 5 PCI system.  I have a large number of potential host computers at my disposal also.  (I know about the issue with the PCI Matchmaker chip revision potentially capping the PCI host at a Beige G3 and I will address this in another thread later.)  At minimum I would most likely be working with a Quadra 950 for the PT3, a WGS 9150 with G3/4 upgrade for the PT4, and 9500 with G3 upgrade in Marathon rack case for the PCI hardware.  I also have various SCSI cards available for any system requiring it.

In order to make best use of the hardware I have, I'd also be wanting to locate the following items:
- nubus 12-node TDM cable
- PowerPC ECI nubus host card
- nubus Samplecell TDM daughter board x2
- additional interface cable for PCI card
- 882 power supply
- two additional TDM daughter boards for the PT3 nubus cards.

  Any advice would be greatly appreciated.  Also, if the floppy disks I have are still functional and can be turned into valid image files I would be happy to try and upload them if anyone wants them.

[mrhappy]

WOW... that's quite a pile of stuff you've got there!!!

[MacOS Plus]

WOW... that's quite a pile of stuff you've got there!!!

  Sure, although it doesn't amount to much more than a "pile" when it isn't assembled and running!   BTW, thanks for your reply to my post in the intro thread.  I would have originally sought out Mix-generation hardware when I started buying all this stuff but it was still too royally expensive on the used market at the time.  I figure what I've got is plenty good-enough anyway at this point in history.  I originally trained on the Pro Tools 4.x software when it was new, so it won't take much to get me up to speed once I finally get over the installation hurdles.  With the variety of hardware I have at my disposal I must be able to get at least one version of the system up and running!

[mrhappy]

With the variety of hardware I have at my disposal I must be able to get at least one version of the system up and running!

I'd say you'll have MULTIPLE systems up and running before too long!!

[mrhappy]

I'm mainly using a PT5.1.3/G4 with a TDM/mix rig with 7 cards in a chassis... also a Digi001/G4. Have a few more systems 'on deck' to try some other stuff out.

If you wanna run OS 9.2.2 and throw Cubase into the party, there's a AWESOME download that DieHard and MacTron put together that takes about 90 seconds to install a fresh 9.2.2/Cubase/plugs/VI's/and a whole bunch of other stuff... It's CRAZY cool!!

http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php?topic=2716.0

[MacOS Plus]

That would be worth a look.  I might try that with my MOTU system also.

  One thing I'm not fully-versed in is the authorization methods required by each PT generation.  I'm not familiar with how it works under 3.x or 5.x because I've only poked heavily into 4.x.  I'd certainly prefer to avoid dealing with real individual authorizations if possible because I already lost one instance of my 4.1.1 auth due to a random system freeze and subsequent unrecoverable boot drive corruption.  How is it handled under each version, and what, if any, verified functional cracks are available?  If I do use a real auth instance from my 4.1.1 disk, is it then good for 4.2 and 4.3 also?  Are the other generations the same for having to separately authorize TDM function on top of the base application auth?  Do I have to worry about updaters overwriting an auth instance?  Can I update as far as possible before installing the auth for the first time?

[MacOS Plus]

Since it's too late to edit my initial post, I'll add another disk I found to the list:

(under "Software Floppies:")
1 - Authorization Backup Disk For Pro Tools Software Versions 4.0, 4.1, 4.1.1

If a forum admin sees this post perhaps they could be so kind as to insert that text into my initial post for me?

I also realized that the line "2 - PTIII audio card (no TDM)" should have read "2 - SA4 ..."  They actually came with some Avid surplus.  I'd love, just for fun, to be able to assemble a Media Composer nubus system from the parts I have but I don't think I'd ever be able to get the software authorized.  (It was by system-coded dongle, I think.)  I have an AMP machine I toyed with for a while just to see what other than MC would be practical in it.  The built-in slot expander is bizarre.  Somehow they figured out that assigning the slot IDs out of order was pretty much the only way to make the system functional with it.  I tried wiring-in switches in order to change the slot IDs to whatever I wanted, but this only resulted in mysterious freezes and bus errors.

[MusicWorks]

This is my current PT collection:

Cards:
x2 - Audiomedia II NuBus
x2 - SA4 Pro Tool card NuBus
x1 - Disk I/O NuBus
x4 - DSP Farm NuBus
x1 - Bridge I/O NuBus

Interfaces:
x1 - Digidesign Quad-Audio (original black with white logo Pro Tools interface, love this converters!)

Manuals:

- Pro Tools 1.1 Users Guide Addendum
- Pro Tools 2.0 Users Guide
- Pro Tools 2.0 Hardware Installation
- Pro Tools 2.5 Users Guide
- Pro Tools 2.5 Hardware Installation
- Pro Tools 3.1 Users Guide Addendum
- Pro Tools 4.0 Manuals and docs

Floppies:

- Pro Tools 1.1 complete set
- Pro Tools 2.0
- Pro Tools 3.1
- Pro Tools 3.2
- Pro Tools 4.0.1 authorizer disk
- Pro Tools 3.2.1 Demo install
- DAE 3.01
- PT Utilities 3.1
- Digidesign Sound Drivers 1.4.1
- Pro Tools 4.3 authorizer disk
- Sound Designer 2.8.3 complete (no auths lefts, lost the last one)
- Sound Designer 2.8 complete (don't know auth count yet, got it last week)
- DIN-R 1.1 complete (install and backup install, with auths)

CDs

- Pro Tools 3.4 FREE
- Pro Tools 4.0.1 TDM
- Pro Tools 5.0.1 TDM
- Pro Tools 5.1.3 TDM

Misc

- 5-way TDM ribbon NuBus
- 12-way TDM ribbon NuBus
- Digidesign TDM terminator
- Disk IO external cable (Avid)
- Original cables and boxes for the DSP farm cards
- Avid LVD 4th generation media drives

[MacOS Plus]

  Another minor update to my hardware list - today I was digging around in storage looking for something completely unrelated, when I finally located the missing power supply for my third 882 box.  More exciting though is I also finally managed to purchase a PowerPC ECI card off eBay today.  This should be the kick-in-the-pants I need to get moving again on building my monster-size nubus PT system.  I really wasn't looking forward to having to install on a Q950.  I have quite a few PowerPC nubus computers at my disposal I'd much rather use.  Now I just have to find a full-length TDM ribbon cable.

[DieHard]

Wow... now some of that stuff brings back memories... I have not seen a working NuBus PT system in over 18 years; so this is awesome and very interesting.  I am not sure how many members here have working NuBus Systems, but I know we have a few resident experts...

This is a great reference to NuBus systems running Pro Tools Free..
http://www.oakbog.com/PT3NuBus.html

And this guy is a member, Adam Rosen, you can PM him (his member name is Oakbog).

I am curious how many members are still using old NuBus cards and what results they are having with  projects over 8 tracks.  I rember the few systems I setup back in the day with the with 442 I/O audio interface were limited to 4 tracks, but I think is was system depended, maybe some could do 16, but I can't remember the specifics.

[MacOS Plus]

  I'll leave it to MusicWorks to comment on the 442-based systems because he was actually still using one.  The only reason I had any of that generation of hardware was that it came along with a couple surplus Avid Media Composer systems I bought just for the host machines.  I actually really would have liked to get one running just for the hell of it, but unfortunately I have no dongles (and which I also believe were supposed to be tied to the specific serial numbers of the Avid boards, correct me if I'm wrong).  I even have the entire set of manuals for MC 6.5.1 but I honestly don't know what to do with it all at this point.

  I've never seen an example of a 442-based system actually using TDM.  It would be really neat if someone could post such an image.

  The Nubus PTIII hardware I have is certainly capable of making a huge and powerful system, given a solid foundation host computer is in place.  The one time I ever got one going that I remember, engaging a few TDM plugins lead to a dead-lock of sorts where the DSPs wouldn't properly free-up even when disengaging the plugins.  After a number of DAE crashes and a blown boot partition that trashed one of my authorizations, I set the project aside until I could get a much better all-round setup thoroughly tested.  Once I receive the PPC ECI card that is currently in the mail I should have no problem assembling a far better setup than the Q950 prior allowed.  The current target computer for this assignment is a 9150/80 with G3 upgrade (Sonnet or Newertech), PDS and/or nubus video upgrades with dual monitors, and an FWB Jackhammer or ATTO Silicon Express IV SCSI card for boot-bus acceleration.  (My 9150/120 is indefinitely occupied hosting my monster 10-board Sonic Solutions DAW (six USP, three Medianet, plus proprietary expansion chassis bridge board), and also is home to my Sonnet G4/360MHz upgrade.  I actually used this machine for TV Post work for a year with only one USP originally, after which I grossly expanded it as I acquired more second-hand hardware.)

[MacOS Plus]

  In case anyone is interested, someone has listed a PTIII nubus Disk I/O card on eBay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Digidesign-Disk-I-O-TDM-NUBUS-Card-Pro-Tools-III-Vintage-/262283918517?hash=item3d1156fcb5:g:PpUAAOSwezVWupSm

  Seeing as I have four already I really don't need another one.  (What I don't have is any Bridge I/O cards.)  There's another listing with two Farm cards plus a 12-node TDM ribbon cable.  I have more than enough Farm cards already, so even though I seriously want the cable I can't justify the cost of the bundle just to get the cable.  (Especially with the low Canadian Dollar right now. )

[MusicWorks]

Hi,

Finally I have some time on my hands to write you MacOS Plus, I've been wanting to reply for days 

I've been setting up a primer Pro Tools 4 TDM install and have some interesting findings I will summarize below.

Regarding the 442 interface, also referred to as "Quad Audio Interface": it is effectively the first multi-channel computer interface in history. Used in all Pro Tools I and II systems, the core package consisted of a 442 box, one SA-4 card and cable with software. It featured 16-bit AD and 18-bit DA and some impressive specs too.

I still use this as my main AD with external clock, given I rarely work in 24-bit these days so the Apogee remains unused (used only as clock source). It has an excellent sound and is perfectly useable.

I paid 10 british pounds for mine, came from a studio in London.

In 1993-1994, the TDM Piggyback daughter cards were released. These were strapped onto the SA-4 cards -thus enabling TDM in the system. Pro Tools 2.5 was the first version to offer TDM plugin arquitecture.

To expand a 442 system you needed one card and 442 interface for every four channels (up to 16-tracks) and a SysAxe card to use as a SCSI accelerator. Not an easy find I can tell you

Some sources estimate the number of 442 units sold at several billion, which is probably true -the main problem being cards. Not many SA-4 were saved from the rubble, so cards are scarce -not to mention SysAxe cards. The latter were incompatible with PowerPC processors, so one would need an older Quadra in order to expand a 442 system. On a 6100/7100/8100 it is officially supported, but is not expandable.

Given the long production run of the 442, many revisions exist. The first ones have no PT logo, and just black and white Digidesign lettering on the front panel -these were sold with the original ProEDIT and ProDECK package (Pro Tools 1.0-1.1). With Pro Tools 2.0 -and the departure of OSC- came new logo and these revision have a classic PT logo on the front panel and are labelled "Pro Tools Audio Interface".

The latest revisions are the 442s, available in black and white rack casing. Notice the Digidesign label is no where to be found. The white 442s were part of the Avid Meridien systems, and are indeed identical to the rest (in the same way a white Avid 888 is identical to a black face 888).

All feature switching high-quality PSU that is compatible worldwide.

I am not aware of any significant modifications in any revision, however there is a reason why some use the Digidesign label and some do not. In my opinion, the first revs are the ones to look for.

One of the identifying traits of the 442s is that mixing is done in the box, and *not* in the card. This was changed with Pro Tools III, and that is why a DSP farm is required just for mixing in PTIII.

I know some people who still mix on these

Most of the CDs edited in 1991-1995 were done on this systems and countless filmtracks. The ones that pop up in eBay are mostly pulls from working environments -so they are definitively still in use in post production studios.

I really like mine, is so inconspicuous. It has absolutely no sex appeal at all, and yet it sounds so full and rich. These were calibrated at -22db, -18db and -16db. It has plenty of gain, and individual amplification stages for each output/input.

In spite of not being officially supported with PTIII (cards were 8 io instead of 4io, so it had to be dropped) it does indeed work with the elusive NuBus Bridge card (SA-8) up to Pro Tools 4.01

Thus, the only cards this interface is supported with is SA4 (original 442 card), SA8 (bridge card in PTIII) and the Amadeus PCI card.

Forget about the Amadeus PCI compat, this was just for selected Avid systems and does not work with the PT software at all.

I think that is all I know about the 442s, really hope not many more end up in the trash. This AD sounds great, damn!

I will post my findings regarding the perfect install just below in a different thread.

- MusicWorks

[MusicWorks]

Tips for a perfect Pro Tools TDM install:

- Update HD drivers with Drive Setup 1.5

- Format HD (low-level, zero all data) in Drive Setup 1.5

- Boot from the CD/floppy Mac OS 8 install media.

- Install Mac OS 8

- Boot from Disk Tools PPC with Apple CD Extension 5.3.1

- Update to Mac OS 8.1

- Update HD drivers with Drive Setup 1.5 (they were replaced with older drivers during the OS installation, so this step must be repeated upon completing the Mac OS 8.1 update)

- Boot normally for the first time / Mac Setup Assistant

_____________________________


- Go to Control Panels / Appletalk and make appletalk inactive.

- Go to Control Panels / Memory and turn OFF virtual memory. Set Disk Cache to 256K.

- Go to File Sharing and make sure it's turned off

- Go to Extensions Manager and duplicate the set.

_________________________________________________


- Install Stuffit Deluxe 5.0 / Update to 5.1

- Install Adaptec Toast 3.5.6

- Install Hard Disk Toolkit 2.0 / Update to 2.0.6

- Install Norton Utilities 3.5.3

* Restart with Extensions Off before installing each piece of software above.

_________________________________________


- Install Pro Tools 4.0 and TDM software/auth

- Install Sound Designer 2.8 software / Update to 2.82

- Install Masterlist CD / auth

- Boot in external drive 7.5.5 to authorize Sound Designer from original floppy

- Install Waves 2.2 and TDM waveshell

- Install TDM plugins and presets

- Install SDII plugins.

_____________________________________

- Install any additional software, careful with the DAE and Digidesign Init.

_____________________________________


- Create a Norton Speedisk boot floppy

- Boot from the floppy and optimize HD

- Backup with the MONTE METHOD to A bootable CD.


From my personal experience, installations from floppy have better data integrity and are more solid. The OS 8 floppies are available at the garden.

Do *NOT* use Drive Setup 1.7.3 -doesn't matter if many Mac sites recommend it. The proper version to use for Nubus is 1.5.

And thats a perfect TDM install!

Best,


- MusicWorks

[mrhappy]

Thanks for the detailed primer/tips MusicWorks!

[MacOS Plus]

  This is exactly the kind of information and level of point-form detail I was hoping for.  Perhaps there can eventually be a dedicated thread stickied.  Just curious what the base machine was you tested this procedure on.  I'm trying to sort out what would be optimal for my 9150/80 with a G3/300MHz upgrade from either Sonnet or Newertech.  Ideally I would prefer to be working with OS 8.6 if it doesn't present any issues because then I can standardize across a number of my systems.

  Also, great info about the 442 generation hardware.  I find the early years of the professional DAW industry very interesting.  Now I see the reasons for the similar technical choices made during the period in the competing Sonic Solutions products - beginning with 4-channel cards with the SSP and then moving to a similarly more-flexible generation with the 8/16-channel USP cards.  It would have been quite something to see a 5-card, 16-channel Pro Tools in its day!  I've essentially crammed the equivalent Sonic SSP set into my IIfx.

  What sort of system configuration was allowed with the SA8/442 combo under 4.01?  Was it supposed to be a secondary device with an 88x present as a master on a Disk I/O, or was this a last-gasp standalone kinda thing?  I'm really surprised it was supported in version 4 at all.  There must have been a lot of carry-over of code from 3.x to 4.x which made it easier to leave the support in rather than purposely writing it out.  In a deja vu twist, the same thing happened again with the PTIII PCI hardware making it into version 5.01 but no-further.

[MacOS Plus]

  I just noticed something about my nubus Farm cards I hadn't caught before.  There are actually two revisions in my set of eight, split evenly four and four.  The first four are labelled "DSP FARM" and the remaining four "DSP FARM (56002)".  The first ones are built around the 56001 27MHz DSP chips, while the second set features 56002 40MHz chips.  I'd never heard any mention of this before and I'm wondering if there are any implications for system building and operation.  Can these variants co-exist in the same system without asking for trouble?  Do the later cards actually provide a nearly 50-percent increase in DSP performance and/or capacity?  I'd prefer to have some idea before I create unpredictable issues when I assemble a nubus system for the first time.

[MusicWorks]

Thanks for the detailed primer/tips MusicWorks!

You are welcome mrhappy

What sort of system configuration was allowed with the SA8/442 combo under 4.01?  Was it supposed to be a secondary device with an 88x present as a master on a Disk I/O, or was this a last-gasp standalone kinda thing?

The Bridge IO allows extra inputs and outputs to be added to the system, but take into account a 88x interface needs to be present at all time on the Disk I/O connector. The SA8 will effectively "bridge" those new inputs and outputs to/from the Disk I/O -through the internal TDM cabling. Thus, unlike the addition of a second Disk I/O, it does not require it's own hard drive. Because of this, a total of 8 inputs will be capable of recording *simultaneously* in spite of having a total of 12 inputs (8 from the 88x, and 4 from the 442).

In this configuration you would have:

- Disk I/O NuBus card in the lowest slot = connected to 88x interface
- DSP TDM Farm NuBus card in the middle slot
- SA8 Bridge card in the highest slot = connected to 442 interface

All of them properly connected with a TDM ribbon and terminated. I can post scans of the PT4 manual if anyone is interested in the "Hardware Setup" chapter. Please note PT4 was a software only upgrade, so any PT4 system is effectively a PT3 system with newer software

I was quite surprised myself to find such information on the forums, as I had avoided upgrading to PT4 because I needed to drop my 442s from the system -and was not so happy about that idea at all. As I said I really like it's AD, and I am usually very picky with AD's.

Newer converters sound so sterile and not musical at all...and most of the older converters give a much cleaner sampling with an external clock (I love my Mini-Me). After tracking a SA-8 card, I decided to go through the upgrade knowing I could still use my 442 as main inputs for the system.

Answering your question about the system this was installed in, it is a 7100/80 with a 240Mhz NewerTech G3 upgrade. This guide would be essentially identical for your 9150/80 (A WGS Workgroup Station? You are a lucky man, you know that!? ) And I would choose NewerTech over Sonnet too.

About the Mac OS version and the 8.1 / 8.6 dilemma. And of Macintosh OS development in general. Everyone in these forums need to understand that OS9 is simply the last revision of a very old operating system that started out as System 6. After that, System 7 was the consolidated version that was developed for almost a decade from the 7.0 "Golden Master" to the 7.6.1 -last revision of System 7.

At about that time, Apple was doing the I+D on "Copland", which they intended to be their new operating system. Mac OS 8.5 was a major rewrite on the OS core, which included many of the technologic advances they wanted to include in Copland. The filesystem had an extension rewrite (Mac OS Extended) that was included in 8.1, last version compatible with old rom 68k and first one to use the Mac OS Extended filesystem intended to optimize the available space for larger drives. Major file corruption problems arose with 8.5, and were "patched" in 8.5.1.

Pro Tools 4.0 was officially *tested* with 7.5.3 and 7.5.5 and was officially *supported* in 8.0, 8.1 and 8.5.1.

8.6 is very likely to work, however there are a few things to take into consideration:

On a hardware level, 68k Motorola processors were deprecated and replaced by the newer PowerPC 603 processors, and most of the older 68k kernels were ported to PPC in OS8 / 8.1. You need to understand that given CPU technology and it's implementation was changing so rapidly, most -if not all- of the code of System 7 is written for 68k. Mac OS 8 is essentially the same operating system, with kernel and finder ported to PPC.

That is why 99,99% of software designed and tested for System 7 is fully compatible with 8.0 and 8.1. It's also interesting to note 8.1 is the *last* version to run on 68k macs. Why is so? Because the main task processors were finally ported to PPC in 8.5. If you try to run 8.5 in a 68k computer you will get the sad mac face.

In a way, operating systems needed to be "hybrid" to work both in 68k and PPC computers. In System 7 with the use of a PowerPC Enabler (that is, essentially an "emulator" to run 68k code in a PPC core) and in Mac OS 8 with native PPC code.

Pro Tools 4.0 was optimized for PPC processors, and was officially tested in 7.5.3 and 7.5.5. When the native PPC kernels were released with OS8 people realized that PT4 was running better than ever. Finally a PPC optimized Pro Tools in a PPC compliant operating system. Waveform redraws were barely perceptible

Having said this, PT4 runs very happily in OS 8.1 and from what I have read many many films were cut in such systems (7100 or 8100, with PT4 and 8.1).

There is an analogy of the "hybrid" operating systems and the more recent transition from PPC to Intel processors. 10.5 "Leopard" is a classic example of a Macintosh "hybrid" system that runs beautifully both in modest PPC computers as well as in Intel 8-core or 12-core Mac Pro machines. 10.6 "Snow Leopard" was effectively an Intel only version of Leopard with stripped PPC code -all kernels ported for the new Intel multicore machines.

In many ways, 10.5 Leopard is superior than 10.6 Snow Leopard. Not to mention the newer iPhone like revision of the OS, which are simply ridiculous from a Pro user perspective. Most workstation in film postproduction today still on 10.5 Leopard, rarely some on 10.6. It's solid.

If you want to install 8.6, makes sense if you want to use several machines with same OS, I would install 8.5 first. Then update to 8.5.1 -and then update to 8.6. It's been mentioned several times in the forums that some users going directly from 8.5 to 8.6 were having problems. Either that or a clean install of 8.6. Please note this version was never supported for PT4.0.

I have used 8.6 extensively in the past, and it's a solid OS. It should work.

My god...I get so technical at times I almost forget I am in this for the music!!!!!! Experience and logic helped me figure most of this out. I find it funny when people talk about OS9 as a separate entity, when it is quite simply System 7 on steroids.

- MusicWorks

[MusicWorks]

P.S: "PPC Optimized" apps are what is normally called a "FAT" application. That is, it includes both the 68k and PPC versions in one package. "PPC Only" versions of an app, you guessed it, does not include the 68k code.

A "FAT" application can be stripped of 68k, so that a less heavy PPC Only version exists in your hard drive. Some software packages included both versions separately, like Deck 2.6 for example.

Pro Tools 4.0 is a native PPC application, way ahead of it's time really, but can be run in 68k too (it is FAT)

P.S 2: IF you have heard about "Rosetta" in Snow Leopard -it is essentially an "Intel Enabler", that allows PowerPC emulation in Intel processors. Without these translation-emulation packages (PowerPC enabler, Rossetta...) and hybrid operating systems, one would have to throw out and renew the Mac every other day to upgrade the OS revision.

[MacOS Plus]

  I love hearing all these kinds of details.  It's the kind of stuff that too easily gets lost to history.  Some of it I know pretty well, but a few things you mentioned I hadn't heard before.

  I'm glad you mentioned film systems because that was my professional audio background for a while.  As I mentioned prior, the 9150/120 in my collection (twice lucky? ) I originally bought and assembled myself in order to greatly increase my work efficiency in the film post facility I worked in.  The company was absorbed by another group who wanted to take the operation in a Windows-oriented direction and weren't interested in investing in the existing, aging Mac equipment.  Along with a Sonnet G4/360 and an FWB Jackhammer SCSI card and wide drive for boot (Sonic Solutions systems provided their own proprietary SCSI chains for sound drives) it was a solid and stable platform playing back 32-channel projects.  It ran OS 8.6, which was the cap for Sonic's proprietary networking support, along with a back-up OS 9.1 boot for servicing the main drive if necessary.

  The preference of Sonnet in the 9150 (aside from it being faster and a G4) comes from the fact that the slots are in physically-reversed order from the 7100/8100.  This caused issues with the short PDS video cable on the Newertech.  My solution was to make a mounting bracket to hang the PDS video card sideways above the other cards and take advantage of the Sonnet cable's slack to reach it.  The video was then extended via a home-made cable to the new external port attached to a back plate removed from another PDS card I didn't need, and then mounted in place of the blank behind the Sonnet processor.  One of the tech shop guys there was quite captivated by the novel arrangement!

  The other problem I have is that my Newertech G3/300Mhz's are lacking the detachable PDS video cable assembly.  I have two cards without it and have been looking for the cables forever.  The older, slower ones have the cable soldered on, so I can't transfer them over.  I will go with the Newertech in the 9150/80 if I have to, so long as the system plays nice with nubus video.  I would like to have dual monitors in this setup, and while slots won't be at a premium with the expansion chassis involved, high performance nubus video cards have often caused a number of bus issues and power over-consumption.