Mac OS X 10.3.6 (#11): LaCie clarification; battery indicator; audio issues; more

We continue to cover issues relating to the Mac OS X 10.3.6 Update.

LaCie FireWire firmware updater clarification Yesterday we reported that, like a number of other FireWire drive vendors, LaCie had released a firmware update to address issues with Mac OS X 10.3.6. We have since received clarification from a LaCie representative that their updated firmware is not, in fact, intended to address issues with the 10.3.6 Update; in fact, the company says their drives are unaffected by OS X 10.3.6 FireWire issues:

"I am afraid that our release of a new firmware updater is more coincidental rather than in response to 10.3.6 update. As you may already know, we use Oxford chips, and the Oxford chips are not affected by the FireWire issue introduced with the 10.3.6 OS X update. Rather, the updater has been in the works for some time, and incorporates latest firmware for all LaCie product variations. We are making sure that everyone with a LaCie drive has access to the most current firmware for our products. So, while not specific to 10.3.6, it is a worthwhile update.

"Also, we have released our first updaters for our current LaCie DVD and CD burners, as well as the most recent DRprofile that adds direct burner support to OS X 10.3.2 and newer. All updates are in the http://www.lacie.com/support section of our website. There are separate areas for CD/DVD drives (Optical products), and Hard Drives."

OWC drives unaffected by 10.3.6 On a related note, we've also received confirmation from Other World Computing that their drives are unaffected by the FireWire issues reported with the OS X 10.3.6 Update and thus need no firmware update.

Battery indicator still shows remaining time but PowerBook sleeps Yesterday we covered a number of reader reports of their PowerBooks automatically "sleeping" even though the battery indicator shows time remaining on the PowerBook's battery. Damien Andrews confirms this issue, which only occurred after installing 10.3.6, and found that recalibrating his battery fixed the problem:

"I too have experienced this problem. I was on a camping trip with limited access to mains power and needed to use my computer for business related work. I was conserving battery power by turning off the screen and using the computer in direct sunlight. Though the battery level was at 33 % the computer suddenly went to sleep. This was very frustrating as I had to return to civilization to be able to use it again. Once back in town I reset the PMU and then returned to my camp site but I experienced the problem again. On my next visit to town I re-calibrated the battery and that seemed to do the trick."

Audio issues A number of readers have reported audio distortion issues since installing the Update, and we've received more reports of this problem each day. Ken Rutherford writes:

"I have the audio distortion problem on my dual 1.25 (MDD) G4 after updating to 10.3.6. Unplugging the jack and replugging does make it better. Unlike Dave, I do still have keyboard volume controls that appear to work."

Eric Krauss describes an issue where distortion occurs just before a sound is about to play:

"I am experiencing a 'popping noise' that happens right before any kind of sound effect (i.e., speech announcing time on the hour, sent mail sound, no mail sound, etc.). It's almost as if when the sound hardware initializes and gets ready to output a sound effect, it makes a popping sound. This may have existed when I upgraded to 10.3.5, but I am pretty sure I noticed it first after upgrading to 10.3.6. I have a 14.1" iBook (G3 processor model, combo drive, 640MB RAM)."

And Michael Sobel reports that his M-Audio sound card no longer works:

"Since upgrading to 10.3.6 I can no longer use my M-Audio Delta Audiophile 2496 sound card. Choosing the card in the sound control panel for either input or output will cause a loud buzzing sound and an immediate system freeze. The only option is to shut the computer off via the power button and restart. Needless to say, Detour will not accept the sound card as an output device either. Using the latest drivers, and/or downgrading to the older drivers doesn't help."

Isolated issues We've also received a few isolated reports of problems:

Display problems at startup Reader Bill Schiffmiller describes an issue that affects his display at startup since installing 10.3.6:

"I noticed that on the startup the Cinema Display is pixelated. I refresh the screen under the display preference [to fix the problem]. This was not an issue prior to OS X 10.3.6. This must be performed on every startup."

No "sleep" since the update Neil Busis reports that his PowerBook doesn't fully sleep as it used to before the update:

"All was well [with my 1GHz TiBook] up to 10.3.5. Now, if I leave the computer on, but don't work on it, the screen will blank at the predetermined time in the Energy Saver control panel, but the computer stays on otherwise, receiving email, running the fan, etc. The little sleep light never 'snores.' The computer never sleeps unless I manually choose 'Sleep' from the Apple menu, then it sleeps normally."

Drop us an email with your Update experiences at Late-breakers@macfixit.com.

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