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http://www.macnn.com/articles/01/10/29/formac.still/

Formac still considering OS X support

updated 09:05 am EST, Mon October 29, 2001

 
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Several readers have forwarded a note from Formac indicating that it is unsure about future development for OS X: "Formac is currently researching the feasibility of continuing support for the Proformance 3 card under OS X. If and when Formac releases a driver, it will be made available via our website."


by MacNN Staff

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  1. Joined:

    0
    10/29, 11:43am | report spam | Reply | delete

    Typical

    As someone that is "stuck" with a Proformance 3 card I called them many months ago about this issue. I was told that they were working on drivers and they would be available soon. Has anyone looked at the web site lately. It proudly proclaims that the card WORKS on OS X Beta! Oh boy.. Seems the only option for me (I have an SGI 1600SW) is to sell the monitor card combo (not of much value right now) or spend another $500 for an SGI MultiLink adapter. Do yourselves a favor and stay away from Formac. They are only in business for the initial sale.

  1. fieberp

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Oct 2001

    0
    10/29, 12:41pm | report spam | Reply |

    Open Source It!!

    I too have an SGI/Proformanc 3 combo, and I've been riding Formac for months to get at least some OS X beta drivers out there for us to use. They also gave me the line about how things are "in development" and I am most distressed to hear this newsbite about them possibly dropping any plans for OS X support. If they aren't going to do it, release the code and specs so that somebody else can!

  1. \0

    Joined:

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    10/29, 12:53pm | report spam | Reply | delete

    me too

    they could at least update their web site and mention that 10.0 is released! I called them a while back and their tech support guy said that they were exiting the graphics card business and there may or or may not be a driver in the works. Please give us one!

  1. limbotron

    Junior Member

    Joined: Sep 2000

    0
    10/29, 08:36pm | report spam | Reply |

    Formac Halloween Tale

    As much as I like formacs proformance 3 card's under OS 9, their OS X support has been nonexistent. They don't acknowledge bugs or provide help for X related problems. Tech support is clueless.

    Before OS X was even out I called formac about drivers for X. During that call and in subsequent ones I was assured drivers would be out "within a month" of the OS X release. The formac marketing and tech support people seemed so sure of this and so reassuring, that I bought 3 SGI monitors each with P3 cards for a lab based on this promise.

    Of course the driver never came and running OS X on an SGI monitor without a native driver for the Proformance III is painfully slow. Calls to Formac tech support now reveal "a driver may or may not be in the works... You know all the software is written in Germany. We might not be making graphics cards anymore.". Sounds grim. Like the previous reader I support open sourcing the code. Then at least someone might help us out. Otherwise we are marooned.

    I can tell you that unless formac moves on this pronto I will never buy another formac product again. I make the PC/IT purchasing decisions for a major university. Don't think our labs will see formac products either.

  1. limbotron

    Junior Member

    Joined: Sep 2000

    0
    10/29, 08:52pm | report spam | Reply |

    Multilink

    Note that if you give in and buy the sgi multilink adapter, it has problems under 9.2.1. There is a workaround (the same workaround used by DVIator users):

    http://www.drbott.com/prod/dviatorfaq.html#Anchor-Important-49575

    My advice... sell the SGI to a PC user and buy a new monitor with a standard connector. Formac doesn't look like they are ever going to get their act together and the TFT is the betmax of connectors. Multi-link is a crude workaround and way too expensive for what it is....

  1. machelp

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Nov 1999

    0
    10/29, 10:02pm | report spam | Reply |

    B A D Business!

    If Formac intends to stay in business, they'd better learn how to take care of their customers. Abandoning people who spent thousands of dollars on a product dependent on their hardware is very bad business.

    As it stands, I have a client who bought the SGI/Proformance combo a little over a year ago for his brand new G4. After receiving a bad card and then a bad TFT module, I also discovered [after months, literally, of s******* around and no help from Formac] that their card is incompatible with Apple's AGP ATI Rage Pro 128 card. I had to remove the Apple card from the computer to get the Proformance to work correctly.

    I'm a Mac consultant and work with hundreds of Mac users every year. If Formac doesn't stand by their products, I will certainly never recommend them again.

  1. \0

    Joined:

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    10/31, 11:00pm | report spam | Reply | delete

    Reply from Fromac

    I sent Formac an email and pointed them to the url of this site...

    My email:


    I saw this on the web:

    http://www.macnn.com/news.php?id=10301

    Is it true that you guys are not supporting OS X?

    Can you give us answers one way or the other?

    All best,

    Raul

    p.s. Like some of the readers on that website I too own multiple SGI
    monitors and formac cards. I too can promise that I will never again
    purchase anything from your company if you leave us stranded on this issue.

    Their reply:

    Yes this is partially true. But Formac will offer a special upgrade package
    for all ProFormance customers. Please make sure that you check our website
    regularly for any news concerning this matter.

    Thank you,


    Sales Department

    Formac Electronic Inc.
    1510 6th Street
    Berkeley, CA 94710
    Phone 1-877-4FORMAC
    Fax (510) 528-9014
    e-mail: sales@formac.com
    Visit our website http://www.formac.com

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