ATI Confirms Radeon Problems On Beige Macs

by , 9:00 AM EDT, April 30th, 2002

ATI has used their tech support Web site to officially address the problems that exist with their Radeon 7000 graphics accelerator cards and beige G3s running OS X. Results from users trying that combination range from kernel panics to blank monitors when booting. The card works flawlessly under OS 9 on the same machines. They attribute the problems to the fact that the pre-B&W G3s use the old-world architecture. They don't use a flashable boot ROM so they can't be updated. This means that the problem also exists with the clone machines.

The confusion about the product came about because the requirements for the card were listed as Mac OS X 10.1 and the beige machines are still supported on that operating system. ATI has since updated that information both on their Web site and their product packaging.

If you are one of the unfortunate Mac users that owns that combination, ATI apologizes and recommends that you return the card to the place it was purchased for a refund. They also say that they are currently working with Apple to see if the issue can be fixed in an upcoming version of OS X.

The Mac Observer Spin:

While it is distressing that this issue wasn't seen before the product shipped and the outlook for a fix is rather uncertain, it is good that ATI acknowledged it. If nothing else it gives a definitive answer to those who have been struggling to make this combination work.