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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Notebooks > Deactivated L2-Cache in Pismo

Deactivated L2-Cache in Pismo
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Felix
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Feb 26, 2007, 04:42 AM
 
Recently I started having strang blackouts: suddenly the cursor or pointer froze and all I could do was to cut off power or press the on/off-switch for 5 sec.

Sometimes rebooting was difficult and I had to disconnect all power supply before the computer would reboot.

However it always worked. This time I got a message: 'Bad Cache - See your dealer' while booting. In the system profiler the L2 cache is indicated as 'deactivated'. System performance seems to be a bit sluggish sometimes, but not really bad.

Please tell me this is a software problem and all I have to do is to reinstall Mac OS 9. I don't want having to buy a new notebook before 10.5 is out! Seems like my Pismo is dying on me about 10 yards before the finishing line after 6 years of use.

Regards,

Felix
2007 MacBook Pro 2.4 4 GByte RAM 320/7000 HD
2000 Powerbook Pismo G3 500 MHz, 640 MByte RAM, 40 GByte HD, Airport, NewerTech Battery, integrated DVD/CD-R(W) running Mac OS 10.4.11
     
Sijmen
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Feb 26, 2007, 10:45 AM
 
In the CHUD tools there is an option for cache use, but I can't seem to find it.
Apple Powerbook 17" 1,67 GHz, 2 gig RAM, 100 gig HDD, ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 128MB, Superdrive 8X
     
Powerbook
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Feb 26, 2007, 11:09 AM
 
Check the cache status with "CPU Director". See the section "L2"...

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Powerbook
Aut Caesar aut nihil.
     
tigas
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Feb 26, 2007, 11:25 PM
 
You might try a "management" Extension like the Powerlogix Enabler, that I believe had the option to reduce the speed or to completely disable the L2 cache.

That said, you're going to take such a performance hit doing it that you might start thinking about getting a new CPU board (even a G3/400) or ponying up for a Fastmac G4/550 upgrade, because they swap both the CPU and the cache chips.

I've done it to my Pismo and I couldn't be happier. G4/550 and 1GB RAM? Tiger FTW!
My Mac is a Pismo G4/550: 1GB RAM, 40GB 5.4k, Airport, DVD-R, and still black, silent and curvaceous!
     
Felix  (op)
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Feb 27, 2007, 08:56 AM
 
Thanks for all the replys!

Are those programs able to diagnose the L2 cache or is this advice to see whether the Powerbook works flawless with the L2-cahce disabled?

The CPU-director-ZIP-File provided by Powerlogixx contins a *.dmg-file I cannot open. Does anyone know a link where to obtain the Mac OS 9-Version?

Thanks again
Felix
2007 MacBook Pro 2.4 4 GByte RAM 320/7000 HD
2000 Powerbook Pismo G3 500 MHz, 640 MByte RAM, 40 GByte HD, Airport, NewerTech Battery, integrated DVD/CD-R(W) running Mac OS 10.4.11
     
Powerbook
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Feb 27, 2007, 05:21 PM
 
Originally Posted by Felix View Post
Thanks for all the replys!

Are those programs able to diagnose the L2 cache or is this advice to see whether the Powerbook works flawless with the L2-cahce disabled?

The CPU-director-ZIP-File provided by Powerlogixx contins a *.dmg-file I cannot open. Does anyone know a link where to obtain the Mac OS 9-Version?

Thanks again
Felix
Ja Grüzzi miteinand,

Then check out the OS9 version right on Powerlogix' webpage: http://www.powerlogix.com/support/do...ctor_2.3b4.zip

Regards
PB.
Aut Caesar aut nihil.
     
tigas
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Mar 2, 2007, 10:17 PM
 
Originally Posted by tigas View Post
You might try a "management" Extension like the Powerlogix Enabler, that I believe had the option to reduce the speed or to completely disable the L2 cache.

That said, you're going to take such a performance hit doing it that you might start thinking about getting a new CPU board (even a G3/400) or ponying up for a Fastmac G4/550 upgrade, because they swap both the CPU and the cache chips.

I've done it to my Pismo and I couldn't be happier. G4/550 and 1GB RAM? Tiger FTW!
A correction: FastMac doesn't change the onboard cache chips, they DISABLE them because the G4 chip already includes 512K of L2 cache that is faster than the 1MB soldered to the CPU board.
My Mac is a Pismo G4/550: 1GB RAM, 40GB 5.4k, Airport, DVD-R, and still black, silent and curvaceous!
     
hamstrings
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Mar 10, 2007, 02:07 PM
 
Originally Posted by tigas View Post
A correction: FastMac doesn't change the onboard cache chips, they DISABLE them because the G4 chip already includes 512K of L2 cache that is faster than the 1MB soldered to the CPU board.
According to the FastMac Pismo G4 page, the upgrade uses a PowerPC 7410, the same processor in the first generation TiBooks. These early G4s use a half-speed 1MB L2 backside cache on the CPU card; the current PowerPC 7447s use a full-speed 512KB L2 on-die cache.

edit: in case anybody was still wondering
     
Felix  (op)
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Mar 9, 2008, 10:05 AM
 
Well, addressing this issue again:

I want to get this settled on the hardware level.

would it be a workable solution to obtain a PISMO 400 cheap on eBay (for some strange reasons almost no 500s are available) pull out the daughter card from the 400 and replace CPU and memory and put this back into the 500 Pismo?

Felix
2007 MacBook Pro 2.4 4 GByte RAM 320/7000 HD
2000 Powerbook Pismo G3 500 MHz, 640 MByte RAM, 40 GByte HD, Airport, NewerTech Battery, integrated DVD/CD-R(W) running Mac OS 10.4.11
     
Powerbook
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Jan 1, 2009, 07:03 PM
 
Did you get this sorted only via inserting new hardware, or... ??? What did the Powerlogix software had to say?

Regards
PB.
Aut Caesar aut nihil.
     
Big Mac
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Jan 1, 2009, 07:11 PM
 
There's no reason not to run OS X on a Pismo.

"The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground." TJ
     
Felix  (op)
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Jan 9, 2009, 03:10 PM
 
Originally Posted by Powerbook View Post
Did you get this sorted only via inserting new hardware, or... ??? What did the Powerlogix software had to say?

Regards
PB.
I got it done with another cpu board and Logic board runs smooth with OS X. Glad in saved the Pismo
2007 MacBook Pro 2.4 4 GByte RAM 320/7000 HD
2000 Powerbook Pismo G3 500 MHz, 640 MByte RAM, 40 GByte HD, Airport, NewerTech Battery, integrated DVD/CD-R(W) running Mac OS 10.4.11
     
   
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