[villalobos]

I just did a clean install of Tiger on my PM G4 yesterday. Everything looks good except I cannot seem to be able to find the RSS visualizer screensaver. It is just not there. What's going on? How can I install it without resintalling the whole thing?

[Thinine]

If you can't see it you must not have the video hardware for it. It autodetects and won't show unless you do. What's your hardware, so we can be sure.

[villalobos]

Originally Posted by Thinine

If you can't see it you must not have the video hardware for it. It autodetects and won't show unless you do. What's your hardware, so we can be sure.

Ding ding ding.. I have a dual screen setup, and was not thinking about the fact that the main screen with the menu bar was on the PCI card and not on the AGP... Rearranging activated the RSS visualizer.

Thx

[Gamoe]

Originally Posted by Thinine

If you can't see it you must not have the video hardware for it. It autodetects and won't show unless you do. What's your hardware, so we can be sure.

I suppose this explains why I'm not seeing it on my 1Ghz. eMac?

[analogika]

From http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/coreimage/

Core Image-capable graphics cards include:
ATI Mobility Radeon 9700
ATI Radeon 9600, 9600 XT, 9650, 9800 XT, X800 XT
nVidia GeForce FX Go 5200
nVidia GeForce FX 5200 Ultra
nVidia GeForce 6800 Ultra DDL, 6800 GT DDL

[Gamoe]

Originally Posted by analogika

From http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/coreimage/

It's funny, but that doesn't directly answer my question. System Profiler doesn't tell me the card name, only memory and brand. According to apple-history.com though, it's an ATI Radeon 7500, which I am assuming didn't make it (though the Apple site says, includes, not limited to).

You know, I'm not one to complain much about the graphics cards, but it strikes me as rather limiting how I cannot upgrade my Mac's video card. I'd need to pay the premium and get a Power Mac to do that, yet any cheapy PC can accommodate even the latest and greatest graphics card if I wanted to upgrade it so.

I don't care much about games, and I suppose this is more eye-candy than anything, but it bugs me that a mere 2 year old Mac cannot cope with, or be upgraded to cope with, some of the features built in to the OS. The Mac mini might have been a model to address this issue, but no... It bugs me. Really.

Can anyone else here report on how/if the graphics show up on an eMac?

[agentz]

I've got a G4 iBook 800MHz and the RSS Visualiser screensaver works just peachy for me.

[Gamoe]

Originally Posted by agentz

I've got a G4 iBook 800MHz and the RSS Visualiser screensaver works just peachy for me.

Thanks. Then there must be something else amiss here. Actually, I'm going to re-install soon, because I'm swapping HDDs, so we'll see what happens then.

[agentz]

Originally Posted by Gabriel Morales

Thanks. Then there must be something else amiss here. Actually, I'm going to re-install soon, because I'm swapping HDDs, so we'll see what happens then.

Yeah I was kinda surprised when the screensaver worked on my iBook - my I got my machine in something like February 2004. We've got a 1GHz eMac here in the office at the moment and the screensaver works nicely on that too.

[Big Mac]

Originally Posted by Gabriel Morales

It's funny, but that doesn't directly answer my question. System Profiler doesn't tell me the card name, only memory and brand. According to apple-history.com though, it's an ATI Radeon 7500, which I am assuming didn't make it (though the Apple site says, includes, not limited to).

You know, I'm not one to complain much about the graphics cards, but it strikes me as rather limiting how I cannot upgrade my Mac's video card. I'd need to pay the premium and get a Power Mac to do that, yet any cheapy PC can accommodate even the latest and greatest graphics card if I wanted to upgrade it so.

I don't care much about games, and I suppose this is more eye-candy than anything, but it bugs me that a mere 2 year old Mac cannot cope with, or be upgraded to cope with, some of the features built in to the OS. The Mac mini might have been a model to address this issue, but no... It bugs me. Really.

Can anyone else here report on how/if the graphics show up on an eMac?

Many low-end PCs have integrated video, so it is not exactly accurate to say that any PC can have great video hardware. You have little cause to complain about the upgradability of the eMac - AIO machines simply aren't going to give you those options. It would be great if Apple were to provide a midrange option between the iMac and Power Mac, but Apple has not had that much success doing so. Apple is not Dell; Apple cannot afford to market too many system variations. But even if there were greater system choice, it's not like our video card upgrade market is that great. As the minority platform, there are certain things that we simply have to forgo.

[Gamoe]

Originally Posted by Big Mac

Many low-end PCs have integrated video, so it is not exactly accurate to say that any PC can have great video hardware.

Yes, but you can upgrade almost any PC via an AGP or PCIe slot.

You have little cause to complain about the upgradability of the eMac - AIO machines simply aren't going to give you those options. It would be great if Apple were to provide a midrange option between the iMac and Power Mac, but Apple has not had that much success doing so.

I really like me eMac. It's been a great machine for me. But I would love it even more if it had an upgradable AGP slot/card.

Apple is not Dell; Apple cannot afford to market too many system variations.

Nor would I EVER want Apple to be Dell. But I think Apple can offer a little more expandability for the low-end/mid-range models.

But even if there were greater system choice, it's not like our video card upgrade market is that great. As the minority platform, there are certain things that we simply have to forgo.

But I wonder how much of that isn't a direct result of most Macs not being graphic card upgradable. Think about it, out all Mac users, only Power Mac users can upgrade their video/graphics card. If Apple made at least one low-end/mid-range model graphics card upgradable, there would be a larger market for the cards. Instead it's a fraction of a fraction of the market.

Frankly, I would be willing to pay a $100 difference on a Mac which a free/upgradable PCI and AGP slot.

In any case, my situation appears to be a fluke. I installed the OS in a rather unorthodox manner, which I now realize is probably the cause of the missing RSS screen saver. I was just a little upset because I feared my Mac had become excluded from the latest visible OS features already. I expect that my Mac be at least 4 or so before that happens.

Thank you for the update, agentz, I feel much calmer now.

[Truepop]

The RSS screensaver only needs QuartzExtreme (not CoreImage) which I believe only requires a 16MB card. most ATi cards support it and any N'Vidia card better than the MX 2 supports it.