Odds & Ends: Adaptec Open Firmware error; Software downgrade fixes PB G4 CD problem?; more

Adaptec Open Firmware error to be fixed in next firmware update Todd Hunter writes: "I bought an Adaptec PowerDomain 29160 SCSI controller a few days ago and installed it into my Power Mac G4 450 MHz. On a restart, I held down the Option key to get a list of bootable partitions. The partitions began to appear until it reached my external SCSI drive. A second later the computer crashed into Open Firmware with the following error message: 'ALLOC-MEM Request too big!' I called Adaptec’s Tech Support and reported the problem. They told me that it was a problem that rarely occurred and that Adaptec was aware of the problem and would fix it via a firmware update. According to the specialist the firmware update will come out about the same time as the Mac OS X drivers - approximately one to two months from now."

Software downgrade fixes PB G4 CD problem? A MacFixIt reader is one of the PowerBook G4 owners who have had the previously cited problem with CDs that fail to mount or eject. Apple replaced the drive, but the problem remained. He sent it back to Apple a second time. This time Apple said it was a "software corruption" issue. Apple returned the drive and it worked. The reader checked for what software changes were made. He writes: "There were a few changes made that were significant. The OS was still 9.1 but the MacOS ROM, Finder, and CD/DVD driver versions were replaced with older versions. MacOS ROM from v7.5.1 (2/7/01) to v6.6.1 (12/11/00); Finder from v9.1.1 (1/7/01) to v9.1 (10/7/00); Apple CD/DVD Driver from 1.4.4 (2/7/01) to v1.4.1 (11/16/00). There may have been other changes but I didn't catch them yet. Also interesting in the Get Info boxes for both the Mac OS ROM and CD/DVD driver the Mac OS CPU software version was also different: from v3.2 to 2.7."

PowerFile and Toast conflict Carib Mendez writes: "Toast's FireWire Extension conflicts with the PowerFile C200 CD/DVD changer. The PowerFile software reports only one accessible drive, but won't allow you to mount disks. Removing the Toast extension resolves the conflict, but then does not allow you to use external FireWire CD/DVD drives for copying (including the 2 DVD drives inside the PowerFile). PowerFile Tech support has confirmed the problem. No ETA for fix."