Low End Mac's Online Tech Journal

I'm a geek at heart. Being a Mac user, there isn't much demand for knowing the ins and outs of hardware and the OS, but sometimes it's indispensable.

Online Tech Journal (MOTJ) is the place to go for information about serial port throughput, a comparison of the various Macintosh CPUs, and other interesting tidbits hard to find on the web.

Articles are listed by category. Several of these resources are on other sites.

Most recent articles

Moving data at the speed of Light (Peak), Frank Fox, Stop the Noiz, 2009.10.02. Intel's new Light Peak data transfer protocol is designed for 10 gibabits per second, with plans to push it to 100 Gb/s in the future.
Optimized software builds bring out the best in your Mac, Dan Knight, 2009.06.30. Applications compiled for your Mac's CPU can load more quickly and run faster than ones compiled for universal use.
Low End Mac's Safe Sleep FAQ, Dan Knight. What is Safe Sleep mode? Which Macs support it? How can you enable or disable it? And more.
SATA, SATA II, SATA 600, and Product Confusion Fatigue, Frank Fox, Stop the Noiz, 2008.09.08. In addition to the original SATA specification and the current 3 Gb/s specification, SATA revision 3.0 is just around the corner.
Apple's AAUI ethernet connector, Dan Knight, 2007.09.04. From 1991 through 1995, Apple used a proprietary ethernet connection. Why they created AAUI and where to find adapters.
PowerPC G5: Apple's last fling with PowerPC architecture, Dan Knight, 2007.05.24. Teaming up with IBM, Apple adopted the PowerPC G5 in 2003 - and phased out the last G5 Power Mac three years later.
The PowerPC G4: From 350 MHz to 2.0 GHz, Dan Knight, 2007.05.24. AltiVec and dual processor support made the G4 a big improvement over the earlier G3 processor.
The PowerPC G3 story: From 233 MHz to 1.1 GHz, Dan Knight, 2007.05.24. The history of the PowerPC 750 family and its use in Apple computers from 1997 through 2004.
The truth about CRTs and shock danger, Tom Lee, 2007.05.22. You've been warned that CRT voltage can injure and even kill. The truth is that this danger is overstated - and takes attention away from a greater danger.
Format any drive for older Macs with patched Apple tools, Tyler Sable, Classic Restorations, 2007.04.25. Apple HD SC Setup and Drive Setup only work with Apple branded hard drives - until you apply the patches linked to this article.
Wireless Networking 101: Speed and security, Andrew J Fishkin, Best Tools for the Job, 2007.01.31. The old 802.11b is fine for sharing Internet access, but you'll want faster and more secure options if you're sharing files over your network.
Setting up a NetBoot server for your Macs, Ted Hodges, Vintage Mac Living, 2007.01.18. If you have an ethernet network and several NewWorld Macs, NetBoot will let you run several Macs with the same disk image and setup.
Floppy drive observations: A compleat guide to Mac floppy drives and disk formats, Scott Baret, 2006.06.29. A history of the Mac floppy from the 400K drive in the Mac 128K through the manual-inject 1.4M SuperDrives used in the late 1990s.
Drive matters, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 2006.06.14. There's more to picking the right hard drive than size, spindle speed, buffer size, and price. But how can a 5400 rpm drive ever outperform a 7200 rpm drive?
Life after the 400K click of death, A. Daniel King, 2006.05.18. What to do when your 400K floppy drive will no longer read and write disks.
Yonah, Merom, and Conroe: Confused by Intel's code names?, Ed Hurtley, 2006.03.17. You've hear the terms bandied about - Yonah, Merom, Conroe, Woodcrest, and more. What are they, and where does Intel come up with these names?
Why do older Macs reset to 1904?, Jeff Adkins, Mac Lab Report, 2004.01.15. The clock on pre-PowerPC Macs runs from 1904 to 2040 - but why did Apple choose those dates?
Macintosh MHz speed chart, Dan Knight, 2003.02.18. Chart visually shows nearly 20 years of MHz progress for Macintosh computers.
Networking 101, Dan Knight, 2003.02.12. An introduction to ethernet, hubs, switches, routers, and wireless networking.
Pixels and points, screens and paper, Dan Knight, 2003.02.06. What you see on the screen corresponds to what you get on the printed page. A brief history of points, pixels, and the changing face of Mac displays.
Backing up your Mac, Dan Knight, 2002.10.01. Cheap, low-cost, and ideal solutions for backing up your Mac - or your Mac network.
Hard drives and drivers on PCs and Macs, Gregg Eshelman, 2002.08.05. Hardware and software differences in the way Macs and PCs, past and present, have changed as operating systems evolved and hard drives grew larger.
Website automation with PHP and MySQL, Dan Knight. Our ongoing series explains how we're using PHP and MySQL to automate things at Low End Mac.
Special FX: The future of low-end Macs, Chris Lozaga, 2001.12.03. The promise IBM's PowerPC 750fx holds for the lower end of the Apple product line.
The Tanzania motherboards, Dan Knight, 2001.10.04. Overview of the Tanzania motherboards used in the Power Mac 4400 and several clones.
Vintage Mac 400k floppy drive repeating click of death, A. Daniel King, 2001.09.25. The cause and cure of the repeating click of death in the old 400k Mac floppy drives.
64 MB SIMMs on 68K Macs, Chris Lawson, 2001.09.10. Apple doesn't support 'em, but some users say they work. In depth investigation uncovers the truth about 64 MB 72-pin SIMMs on 030- and 040-based Macs.
AppleShare on Linux, L. Victor Marks, 2001.08.28. How to set up an inexpensive Linux file server for Mac users and overcome the limitations of File Sharing.
Video editing on low end Macs, part 2, Dave Ip, 2001.08.21. Picking the right low-end Mac for capturing and editing video.
Video editing on low end Macs, part 1, Dave Ip, 2001.08.20. A look at software, compression, and hardware requirements for capturing video.
Megahertz madness, Del Miller, Difference Engine, Mac Opinion, 2001.07.25. "Multiprocessing is a completely legitimate and time honored architecture for computing systems. Nobody ever claimed that Cray made a slouchy computer...."
Hitting the wall at 150 GB/in2, John William Toigo, Enterprise Systems. Hard drives expected to hit capacity ceiling in 3-5 years. Still, that could get us into the half-terabyte range for a 3.5" hard drive.
Web tips & rants, Dan Knight, 2001.07.03. Site changes, planning, archiving, too long URLs, navigation, code compression, efficiency, broad browser support, and more.
Making a trifold brochure, Dan Knight, 2001.06.25. Tips on designing and printing a full color trifold brochure on a Mac using AppleWorks.
Caches, Philip Machanick, Macintelligence, Mac Opinion, 2001.06.07. "A cache is a relatively small high-speed memory, which helps to bridge the gape between the processor and slower levels."
The multiprocessor option, Philip Machanick, Macintelligence, Mac Opinion, 2001.05.09. An introduction to multiprocessing.
The innovative Lisa, Dan Knight, 2001.05.31. Perhaps the most innovative computer before the Macintosh, Lisa paved the way for a GUI future.
The original Macintosh, Dan Knight, 2001.05.29. An in-depth look at the original Macintosh and how it shaped future Macs.
Peerless value?, Dan Knight, 2001.04.19. A look at removable media, especially Iomega's new Peerless drive.
Inside SMP (symmetric multiprocessing), Paul Shield, Business Mac, 1/2. What SMP is, and why it matters.
What is an HFS Wrapper?, Ask Al, Alsoft, 12/19. "Only the Mac OS 9.0.x System file contains the errant wrapper System file startup code."
Multiprocessing in Mac OS X, David Read, MacWeek, 12/19. Good explanation of cooperative vs. preemptive multiprocessing and support for multiple CPUs.
SCSI and FireWire Disk Modes, Paulo Rodrigues, Tangerine Fusion, 11/29/00. How to use SCSI Disk Mode and FireWire Target Disk Mode for ultrafast file transfers.
QuadServer: 605 vs. 650, 11/28/00. Which is the better server for a small network, Quadra 605 or Quarda 650 - and why?
AltiVec vs. Pentium III, 11/21/00. Don Granberry of ZDNet uses bad math in claiming a 2.6 GHz PIII matches a G4/500 for certain functions. We correct it.
The truth about the new G3, 10/9/00. "I have to admit to feeling a bit cheated after running MacBench 5 on my wife's new indigo iBook."
Born Again: It Works!, 8/23/00. Yes, you can run Mac OS 8.1 on some 68030-based Macs.
Troubleshooting FileMaker Pro, 8/23/00. How to prevent and recover from data errors in FileMaker Pro.
Reading your web log, 6/20/00. "As a webmaster, you probably know a lot about the content of your site. Web logs let you know how that content is being accessed."
Always have a backup plan, 6/6/00. How do you connect to the Internet when your main connection goes down?
Web design, part 5: Web content to go, 5/8/00. How to adapt web pages for the handheld computer (Palm, WinCE) user.
Bulldozing for a faster drive, Paulo Rodrigues, Tangerine Fusion, 4/5/00. It takes some time, but here's on inexpensive way to speed up your old hard drive.
Web design, part 4: Site graphics, 4/5/00. Choosing the right image format and file size.
Setting up a cable or DSL router, 3/22/00. The documentation was Windows only, but I figured it out.
Web design, Cascading Style Sheets, 3/18/00
G4 insignificantly superior to G3, 1/13/00. From the hype, you'd think the G4 blew away the G3. Don't believe the hype.
Web design: Site organization, 3/7/00
Web design: Using include files, 2/24/00
Home, small network backup solutions, 2/10/00
Installing OS 8.1, 1/14/00
PDS, the processor direct slot, 1/13/00
New G4?, Philip Machanick, MacOpinion, 12/21/99
1/1/2K just another day for Macs, 12/21/99
Connecting to the Internet made easy, MacInstruct, 12/20/99
Rebuilding the desktop, Bob LeVitus, MacCentral, 12/18/99
Monitor Dot Pitch, Dan Knight, 12/1/99
All about RDRAM, David K. Every, MacWeek, 11/19/99
Screen Size and Resolution, 11/19/99
Why internal FireWire on G4?, 9/3/99
The Truth About USB Speed, 8/30/99
Hard Drives, 8/27/99
G.Lite: Mass Market ADSL, 8/17/99
Analog vs. digital, MacKiDo, 8/11/99
How Fast Is Fast?, 7/19/99
Click of Death, updated
Using Location Manager, 5/14/99
Sony's Memory Stick, 4/16/99
The skinny on RAM, Mac-Upgrade, 3/8/99
Dialogue on Component Order in a SCSI Chain, Scott L. Barber and Keith Bumgarner
FireWire a form of SCSI, Alex Timbol
More on Component Order in a SCSI Chain, Keith Bumgarner
Component Order in a SCSI Chain, Keith Bumgarner and Dan Knight
How Old Is My Mac?, Dan Knight - information removed at Apple's request
SCSI History, R. R. "Dallas" Cook-Robinson
Is FireWire ready for prime time?, MacCentral
How does multitasking work?, MacKiDo
A RAM Disk Alternative, Scott L. Barber
Termination Explained, Scott L. Barber
Faster Browsing on Older Macs, Steve Strahm with Dan Knight
Cache, compiler, fragmentation, and RISC explained, Mac Speed Zone
Interleaved Memory, Mac Speed Zone
Pipelines, MHz, latency, caches, and more, MacKiDo
Faster and Faster: RAM speed, bus speed, CPU speed, and caches - how they all relate
Review: MoniSwitch ADB and monitor switches
IPv6: the next generation internet, Dan Knight

Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting, Scott L. Barber
System Crashes, Scott L. Barber
Fixing Self-Muting Sound, Scott L. Barber

Telecommunication

Disposable Modems, Dan Knight
ISDN, Scott L. Barber
Modem Bonding, Dan Knight
Serial Throughput, Dan Knight

Operating System

Mac OS 8.5 issues on UMAX SuperMac
Why System 7.5.5?, Scott L. Barber
Mac OS and Windows compared, Scott L. Barber
Rhapsody Boxes, Dan Knight
Mac OS 8.1 on 68030-based Macs, Dan Knight

Miscellaneous

Compact Mac CRT Energy, Rowland
Best Uses for Zip Disks, Dan Knight
Should I always leave my computer on?, Scott L. Barber
VRAM, Scott L. Barber
System Memory, Scott L. Barber
Burning CDs, Scott L. Barber
Best Macs, CPU, Scott L. Barber
PCI and Bus Speed, Scott L. Barber
Background Printing Issues, Scott L. Barber
Performa and Power Mac 5200, 5300, 6200, 6300 Issues, Scott L. Barber
Future potential of the G3 motherboard, Dan Knight

Networking

Router, Gateway, Proxy, Cache, Mark Kriegsman, ClearWay Technologies
AppleTalk-ing, The Mac 512
The LocalTalk Gateway, Scott L. Barber
TCP/IP over LocalTalk, Scott L. Barber
Caching and SCSI Throughput, Dan Knight
SCSI and Network Throughput, Dan Knight

SCSI, IDE, ATAPI

Caching and SCSI Throughput, Dan Knight
SCSI and Network Throughput, Dan Knight
SCSI ID 5, Scott L. Barber
EIDE v. SCSI, Scott L. Barber
Ultra2 SCSI, Macs Only!
SCSI Throughput, Dan Knight
Ultra2 SCSI, Henry Norr, MacInTouch
SCSI Drive Size, Scott L. Barber
SCSI Termination Power, Dan Knight
Hard Drive Partitioning, Scott L. Barber
Soft & Hard Partitions, Scott L. Barber
SCSI, ADB, FireWire, and USB, Dan Knight

File servers

AppleShare 3, Dan Knight, 1999. Any Mac with 4 MB of RAM, System 7.x, and AppleShare 3 can act as a server for up to 120 active users, 50 volumes, 65,500 files per volume, and 346 open files concurrently.
AppleShare File Server: Chart of All Limitations, Apple TIL
Setting Up a Home Server, Scott L. Barber

Web and mail servers

Web and Email Server Issues, Scott L. Barber
WebStar v. WebTen, a second look, Mark Kriegsman, ClearWay Technologies

CPUs

Future of the PowerPC, AppleInsider
G3, G4, 603, 604, Scott L. Barber
Pentium II v. G3, with photos, MacKiDo
AltiVec v. Intel MMX2, MacKiDo
PowerPC 601 v. 603, MacKiDo
Macintosh CPUs, Dan Knight
Great CPUs, past and present, John Bayko, Berkeley. See especially sections on 8080/85, Z-80, 6502, 6809, 680x0, 80x86, ARM (used in Newton), PA-RISC, Sparc, Alpha, PowerPC, and Merced.
Think twice about 400 MHz G3 daughter cards, MacCPU

Hard drive issues

Hard Drive Partitioning, Scott L. Barber
Soft & Hard Partitions, Scott L. Barber
Drive Setup, a listing of known compatible and incompatible drives
Silverlining and Centris/Quadra 610, Scott L. Barber

Software Reviews

RAM Charger 8

Other Great Tech Sites

MacKiDo, technical info along with a variety of other content

MacTips, practical application of technical information

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