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Mac Daniel's Advice

Can I Speed a 6200 or 5200 on the Net?

Dan Knight

DK writes: Global Village Out of Business? Not that I have heard! They were bought by Boca but, as far as I knew they are still in business. <http://www.globalvillage.com/>

BP writes: I'm a little confused about the 6200/6300 modem issue. I have a 6300 with 48 MB of RAM and System 8.5.1. My machine originally came with a built in Global Village 28.8 modem. A few months ago I removed the internal modem and began using a Global Village V90/K56Flex external modem. I now get fairly consistent connection speeds of between 40,000 and 43,000 with AOL. Even during busy hours I always get at least 34,000. Granted, the CPU bottleneck still makes this setup slower than other 56K-connected Macs, but its still a vast improvement over the original modem. I've never had any problems with hardware handshaking. Am I missing something?

I would also highly recommend System 8.1 or higher to any 6200/6300 user - the improvements are dramatic.

Lastly, it's important to note that while the 6200 and 6300 are closely related, the 6300 is considerably faster. Not only is it 100 MHz versus 75 MHz, but the 6300 uses the 603e chip which is a lot faster than the 603 due to the improvements to the level 1 cache.

Mac Daniel replies: The 5200-5300 and 6200-6300 are all covered by the "Repair Extension Program for the Apple Power Macintosh and Performa 5200, 5300, 6200, and 6300." (Thank to Macworld Macintosh Secrets, 5th ed., for that impressive sounding title for what was essentially a recall program.)

If your 6300 has ever been in for service, it has undoubtedly been updated under this program.

I wholeheartedly agree about Mac OS 8 and higher - they make a world of difference on any Power Mac. Likewise, the 603e used in the 6300 was far faster running old Mac programs, since the internal (level 1) cache was large enough to handle emulation within the cache.

BD writes: I take issue with your recommendations for upgrading modem speed for the 52xx/62xx series in Mac Daniel #30. I have recommend and done the following myself many times for clients in this situation. Pull the 14.4 kbps or 28.8 kbps Comm Slot modem, toss the software that came with it and put a piece of masking tape over the hole. Pull the plastic cap off the modem port and plug in a very speedy External US Robotics/3Com 56K (Sportster) modem which supports of course, hardware handshaking. I suggest not using the pathetic MacComCenter software for the fax side, but using FaxSTF 3.2.5 or Pro 5.0.2.

The modem holds on to poor quality phone lines and on a good line can get better than 53333 bps as reported in the OT/PPP PPP Control panel, now replaced by the Remote Access control panel in Mac OS 8.5.x. The modem connects to x2 and V.90 POP sites very nicely, and the US Robotic High Speed modem script drives it nicely. It even has a volume control on the side.

Forget having to compromise on digging up a Comm Slot modem, go external.

DG writes: I use to own a 6200 and I use to be the Apple on-site, in warranty tech in Jacksonville, FL (you know, the guy who made house calls!). Obviously being an Apple tech had some benefits and "connections". My 6200 over time became a 6300, then a 6320. One day I fooled around and put a 6360 logic board in it (an exact fit size wise) - it didn't work. I tried a 6400 too, no go. I didn't spend any real time trying to figure out why and just forgot about it. One day I had a call to a guy's house with a 6360. His machine had no power which indicates a bad power supply (obvious you might say) or a bad logic board (which actually turns out to be the more common cause because power is controlled through it). In such a case I would order and take with me both items on site. The power supply was back ordered, but the 6200/6300 one wasn't (which made me think "what's different?"). OK, at the guy's house, the logic board didn't fix it and the power supply didn't fit! The 6360 power supply is configured and shaped just slightly different. The only one like it! The case and chassis are unchanged from the Quadra 630 (which also has the same power supply as 6200's). Why is this? The 6360 is the only Mac in that case which is PCI based. It has different voltage requirements. Hey, you can upgrade your 6360 all the way up to a 6500/300!

Mac Daniel replies: Thanks for pointing this out. I've made the mistake of claiming the 62xx and 6300 could be upgraded to a 6360 many times. No more.

Not sure if you should upgrade your old Mac or replace it? Check the Mac Daniel index to see if we've already addressed your problem.

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