In an earlier posting, I mentioned how I was experimenting with an ATA/PCI card in a c600x/280, coupled to the internal IDE drive.
Based on some further testing, I would advise others NOT to try this. I experienced severe "audio stuttering" while playing back sound files through the ATA card/drive combination. My conclusion is that the c600 series is not compliant with the "PCI 2.1 standard" that seems to be necessary to avoid "audio stuttering" when mating an ATA/PCI card to a pre-g3 Mac or clone. I could be wrong on that one. (NOTE: my s900 *is* "PCI standard 2.1 compliant" -- it worked with the original TurboMax card without stuttering, and does the same with the newer VST "Ultratek" card I'm using in it now.) As a "control", I tried playing a CD through the IDE CD-ROM I had installed. The audio track played normally, without stuttering. When playing a "ripped" AIFF file of this same track from the hard drive, however, the audio stuttered with a vengeance. So -- to anyone with a c-600 series, who is considering adding a CD-RW drive or expanding their hard drive storage capacity -- I would caution you not to attempt doing so via an ATA/PCI card (such as the VST Ultratek or Sonnet Tempo). I will note that the card *I* used was the original ProMax "TurboMax" ATA/33 card. The two more recent cards I mentioned have "fixes" to alleviate the audio stuttering, but I have no direct experience as to whether they would (or would not) experience the same problems in a c600 clone, or whether the "stuttering fixes" released for these cards would be effective. If you have a c600, and want to add more storage capacity, the best way would be to replace the existing IDE drive with a higher-capacity one. If you want a SECOND "online" hard drive, your best bet would be to install either an SCSI internal drive into one of the bays, or, add an external drive. SCSI provides a "bootable" second drive, whether external or internal. If you want to add CD-RW capability, probably the best way is to add an SCSI external drive. An external CD-RW may or may not be bootable -- could depend on the drive itself. Of course, an SCSI CD-RW will be more expensive; the upside is that you know it will work. Firewire with the c600 model remains a "?" It might be possible to install a Firewire card (or a "combination" Firewire/USB card), and then hook up an external hard drive or CD-RW to that. BUT - there could be "PCI bus issues" vis-a-vis the Firewire card and the "CacheDoubler" (if you have a c600 "x" model). Even if there isn't, you still won't be able to BOOT from an external Firewire device. As a result of my experimenation, I removed the ATAPI CD-ROM I had installed and replaced it with the orignal Toshiba SCSI CD-ROM - then reconnected the original IDE drive back to the IDE connector. - John -- SuperMacs is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | Service & Replacement Parts [EMAIL PROTECTED] | & CDRWs on Sale! | SPECIAL SM LIST PRICES - 24x Bootable SCSI CDROM $39.99, Umax Processors $19.99 PowerSupplies from C500/C600 $49.99 J700/S900 $79.99 <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> SuperMacs list info: <http://lowendmac.com/supermacs/list.shtml> Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/supermacs%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
