Just ordered the Sonnet Duet...

[taggart]

Just ordered it from OWC. Next day UPS. I've got a session next weekend and I figured I'd better take the plunge right now. (Yes, we have actual recording sessions in ND! )
And I know my machine is a bit long in the tooth and I really should spring for a new one...yadda, yadda, yadda. Someday.
Then Sonnet I have in my G4 now has worked flawlessly and I expect nothing less from the new processor. Yep, from here on in it looks like SMOOOOOOTH sailing!

[emulatorloo]

CONGRATS! All the sonnet processor upgrades I have owned have worked flawlessly.

And then there is this:

http://www.motu.com/techsupport/technot ... erm=sonnet

<snip>

Upgrade Cards
MOTU recommends Sonnet upgrade cards. Others may work, but we have a good working relationship with Sonnet and therefore tend to test their cards to ensure compatability frequently.

<snip>

CONGRATS AGAIN!!!!!!

---

[Guitar Gaz]

Mine has been great - not a duet but a 1.4ghz G4. To give an example, one of the Reason demos hardly played on my 800mhz G4, stuttering and stopping on full cpu use. With the Sonnet card it plays perfectly at under half cpu use - and it has loads of combinators and other devices.

So it is like getting a new machine - and the installation instructions are brilliant.

[taggart]

Hey, thanks emulatorloo and Guitar Gaz for the feedback. My B4 and FM7 and various other VI's were chugging a bit. Hopefully this will speed things up. I'm sure it will.

[taggart]

Hey, everybody. Got the Sonnet Duet on Monday. Unfortunately, my G4 is suddenly unable to boot into OS9 which allows me to install the Sonnet. I've always been able to boot into it before. I've got 9.2 on a seperate internal drive and it's always worked flawlessly. So, I tried booting from an OS9 disc but that wouldn't work either. I even went back as far as the original install discs that came with the G4, but no luck. If I try to boot from any CD, all I get is a grey screen.
So, I'm kinda stuck in the mud at this point. If anyone can think of any ideas, I'd be much obliged.
I'm really itching to get the Duet into my machine.

[emulatorloo]

my G4 is suddenly unable to boot into OS9 which allows me to install the Sonnet. <snip> So, I'm kinda stuck in the mud at this point. If anyone can think of any ideas, I'd be much obliged.

Have you tried zapping the PRAM?

Command Option P R keys as you start up. I usually hold the keys down until I hear the start-up chime 3 times.

see also http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=2238

This usually clears up any anomalies I'm having.

If that doesn't do it, then I press the reset button on the motherboard and hold it for about 10 secs. Your manual should show you where it is -- called PMU or CUDA depending on your model.

----

GOOD LUCK

PS Sonnet could probably help you too if these things don;t work - their tech support is quite good.

-----

[emulatorloo]

can think of any ideas

taggart - I also remembered a time when a USB hub caused my mac to do strange things, like not let me select a startup disc. Try unplugging all your peripherals (if you have any).


===

[tommymandel]

Hey Taggart-
Any news on booting in 9?

[taggart]

Thanks for all the replies, guys. I really appreciate it. All peripherals are disconnected. I get the same thing. A folder that alternates with "Question mark-mac face-question mark-mac face" for a couple of minutes and then it boots normally into osx.
I'll try zapping pram next. Appendages crossed.

[taggart]

It looks like zapping the pram didn't solve our little fiasco. I'll try reset button next.

[tommymandel]

In 2004, I upgraded my G4/450 Sawtooth with a PowerLogix 1.2Ghz (single) G4 chip with 2MB level 3 cache, and it was a great improvement and very stable. I was running only OS9.2.2 at the time.

The only reason I mention that here, is that once I forgot, and zapped the PRAM. PowerLogix specifically warned against zapping the PRAM after installing the upgrade CPU card, and lo and behold, I had to REINSTALL the OLD CPU card, THEN zap the PRAM again, and DOWNGRADE the Firmware, with the included PowerLogix CD-ROM. THEN put the new CPU card back in, and then re-upgrade the Firmware, and all was fine again.

Eventually, I installed Tiger and all was well, but last week, I was trying to reinstall a clean OS9 before I gave the computer to a friend, and when OS9 wouldn't install, I somehow got 1/2 way through the Firmware downgrade, and the keyboard wasn't recognized, and I had to abort. The computer has never booted since then.

My point is that it is possible to corrupt the Boot ROM during Firmware upgrading or downgrading, which may make booting impossible, or temporarily so; and this impacts differently on OS9 or OSX.

Welcome to The Twilight Zone.

[taggart]

Well, nothing seems to be working. I really appreciate all your ideas. I contacted Sonnet. Hopefully they'll get back to me soon with some ideas of which I may not have thought.
I'll keep posting any progress that's being made. And if you happen to think of anything else, feel free to raise your hand
Thanks again, guys!
And I'll tell you what...As soon as I get this processor upgrade in it's "Bye-Bye OS9!

[taggart]

I copied the OS9 system folder to an external firewire drive. I then put the original OS9 folder into it's own differently named folder and put it in the trash (temporarily, of course).
When I go to the Startup Disk preference, it shows an OS9 system on the firewire drive, but it STILL shows up on the internal drive (the drive where the original OS9 folder was that I put into the trash.)
Is the computer trying to look for an OS9 folder that's not there? And why would it still show up as a startup disk if it's in the trash?
Just wonderin'! Take care!

[wvandyck]

Taggart,
Sorry to hear about your situation.
I've never used Sonnet.
However, the instructions for my GigaDesign upgrade specifically addresses removing the file "CPU Plugins" from the (9.x)System Folder/Extensions/Multiprocessing/ before booting into OS 9.2.2.

Is this mentioned somewhere in your Sonnet instructions???

Won't hurt to try it. Just drag that extension onto the desktop while you test this out.

There is a bit of missing information here.
Ask Sonnet about this!!!

Also ask them about OSX 10.4.6.
I had to make a jumper cable adjustment on my Giga to give "Tiger" more 'juice'.

After you get this straightened out, and you will, go to grimepoch's benchmark thread and see how many instances of Modulo you can run (if you have DP 5 that is).

[taggart]

Sorry, flashgerkin...No luck with the CPU Plugins file. But I did notice one thing while looking at Sonnet's web site. It says this:

G4 (AGP Graphics)**•• 
**Requires Mac OS 9.2 in order to update your computer's firmware if it is NOT version 4.2.8.

But my system profiler says I have Boot ROM version 4.2.8f1 and I think that's the same as firmware, right? So do I even need to boot into OS 9.2? Just wondering. I sent this question off to Sonnet already hoping for an answer. (They've actually been very good at replies, so far)
Tune in tomorrow!