Category Archives: Photography

AMD Radeon GPUs

Mac Pro

An element of future proofing.

For an index of all my Mac Pro articles, click here.

Apple simply cannot leave OS X alone. An OS that was perfectly solid with the Snow Leopard iteration back in 2009 continues to see annual ‘upgrades’ which add nothing but useless bells and whistles. And with OS X High Sierra (10.13 – 2017) Apple made the last version of OS X which worked with Nvidia GPUs. Nvidia and Apple had parted company a while back and Nvidia decided that the small user base no longer justified coding of drivers for later versions of OS X despite having some of the best GPUs made. Then Apple insisted on adding its Metal GPU technology meaning that from OS X Mojave (10.14) no Nvidia GPUs would work. A solution looking for, and finding, a problem.

So why care when OS X High Sierra works well? Because increasingly app makers are coding for Metal, and if your app is one of those and is in need of an upgrade, you are stuck with migrating to a recent model GPU from AMD/ATI.

I have not researched this in great depth but the AMD HD7950 is known to work well as are later versions. I bought a used 3gB HD7950 on eBay – it was fraudulently advertised as a later R9 280, so what else is new with eBay – and it works well in High Sierra. Here are the comparisons from HWCompare:


Nvidia GTX980 4gB vs. AMD HD7950 3gB.

My tests on my Mac Pro 2010 confirm that the AMD card – it ran me $220 – is marginally slower than the Nvidia/EVGA GTX980 in use, but as I do not do heavy video processing that does not concern me.


Unigine video tests. The upgrade to a faster CPU is irrelevant here.

Nova returns similar performance comparisons:


The GTX980 returns 2640.

Static power consumption, measured using a Kill-A-Watt meter, is 225 watts, compared with 252 watts for the Nvidia card. That rises to 460 watts with a BENQ 32″ 1080p display while running Unigine Heaven. That is well within the power handling of the Mac Pro and, more importantly, the 200 watt maximum power draw of the AMD GPU is below the 225 watts available to the card via the PCIe slot (75 watts) and the two motherboard cable feeds, one 6 and the other 8 pin. Those provide 75 watts each for a maximum of 225 watts. The AMD card is very quiet and there is no start up whirr, unlike with the Nvidia card. While the seller stated the boot screen works (my MacVidCards modified GTX980 provides a boot screen on its DVI and DP ports, not on the HDMI one) that is not the case. I could not get boot screens on any of the MDP, DVI or HDMI ports. Oh! well ….

Should you ‘upgrade’ to an AMD card? Well, if your latest apps insist on Metal and you want/have to install OS X Mojave (10.14) or Catalina (10.15), you have no choice. Only AMD GPUs will work. Does the AMD card work with the latest OS X, Big Sur (10.16)? It’s too early to say.

Adding 4K to the movie Mac Pro:

My motivation was different. Having added a big screen LG OLED TV a couple of years ago to the home theater, I wanted to deliver 4K video to the display which is mostly driven from a single CPU 2009 Mac Pro which is a robust and reliable file server as well as offering internet access to streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. But the HDMI card in that Mac Pro is an ancient GTX520, limited to 1080p. Thus I have been using an Apple TV4K to deliver 4K streams, but that’s not an especially elegant solution as you have to switch between sources. That machine is running OS X Yosemite (10.10 – 2014) and has no need of Metal technology. So it occurred to me I could both future proof my 2010 Mac Pro by installing an AMD card and at the same time switch the GTX980 over to the 2009 movie Mac Pro where it will happily deliver 4K definition (3840 x 2160 in the 16:9 aspect ratio, compared with 1920 x 1080 in 1080p). That would allow sale of the AppleTV4K as all movies would be streamed through the Mac Pro and no input switching would be required. The home screen looks like this:


The Mac Pro movie server home screen – all icon driven. DVDPedia – at top left – catalogs movies on the server.

I use a small app named Img2Icns to generate icons from images found on the web.

HiDPI

When Apple migrated its screens to the Retina Display icons shrank to a quarter of their original size, making them very hard to see and click. Most external monitors, like a 4K TV, do not recognize the HiDPI tech built into the displays on Macs, so HiDPI has to be enabled to show icons in a decent size while not affecting 4K definition in 4K movies. HiDPI scaling can be enabled by starting Terminal (in Applications->Utilities) and typing the following (works with OS X Mavericks 10.9 or later):

sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.windowserver.plist DisplayResolutionEnabled -bool true

Hit enter, type your password, hit enter again and reboot. HiDPI is now enabled. Go to System Preferences->Displays, click on ‘Scaled’ (you may have to hold down the Alt key on your keyboard) and HiDPI options will now be shown. Click on 3840 x 2160 (HiDPI) and your icons will revert to regular size. You can verify that you’re getting the right resolution by clicking the Apple Menu in the top-left, selecting “About This Mac”, then the “System Report” button, then clicking “Graphics/Displays” in the list on the left. You will see something like this:

Displays:

AV Receiver:
Resolution: 3840×2160 (2160p 4K UHD – Ultra High Definition)
UI Looks like: 1920×1080 (1080p FHD – Full High Definition)

If you decide you want to revert the change above, just use this terminal command:

sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.windowserver.plist DisplayResolutionEnabled -bool false

SwitchResX:

If you struggle with getting the right definition and frame rate in System Preferences->Displays, install SwitchResX, a small, inexpensive utility which allows you to set both. I find 24fps is inadequate for some movies and with HDMI on a Mac Pro (which supports HDMI 1.4, not the faster 2.0) you can increase the framing rated from 24fps to 30fps, which works well. I have it set at 3840×2160 which is 4K and 30fps.

Conclusion:

So if you need to add Metal/Mojave et al compatibility to your Mac Pro a late model AMD card works well and needs no special drivers. An older Nvidia card (GTX680 or later, but no later than GTX980) can be used to stream movies in 4K definition, a definition also supported by the AMD card. However, the Nvidia card is limited to OS X High Sierra (10.13) or earlier.

No more identity theft

Hall of Shame, iPad, iPhone, Ramblings

Hasta la vista, Zuck.


No more theft.

iOS 14.5 for the iPhone and iPad will be released shortly. Unlike previous versions of the operating system, apps which would require the user to opt-out of tracking their activity now will require the user to consciously agree to be tracked. The opt-in screen appears above.

Why is this a big deal?

Let me flashback to to my son’s 6th grade year in California. That was in 2014. As we were walking home I noticed that all the kids in the playground were busy staring at their smartphone screens.

“What are they doing, Winnie?” I asked in all innocence.

“Facebook, Dad”.

This set me off on a process of discovery and disclosed what has to be the greatest evil of our time. Not only was Facebook absorbing and wasting huge amounts of time for these fertile young brains, it transpired that it was tracking everything these kids did even if they were not on Facebook. And unless you have been in a nuclear blast-proof bunker the last few weeks with no access to any sort of connectivity, you will also know that Facebook extended its evil ways as an organizing vehicles for traitors, seditionists and insurrectionists. Censorship of hate speech be damned, thanks to Mr. Zuckerberg. The people who stormed the Capitol on their Pig’s orders on January 6, 2021 had organized their meetings on Facebook and, to a lesser extent, on Twitter.

But it gets even worse. 4 years ago a very close US presidential election awarded that same Pig the Oval Office thanks to the Russkies’ massive campaign of disinformation on …. yup, you guessed it, Facebook. And every time those seditionists clicked on the site of their local guns and ammo supplier, Facebook was there making money off their clicks. Zuckerberg was, simply stated, being paid by the makers of deadly weapons.

Now Zuckerberg is up in arms about Tim Cook’s privacy decision. He argues that the requirement to opt-in to being tracked will make your “….advertising experience worse.” Excuse me? Is there something like a good advertising experience?

Come to think of it, while you are at it, you might as well install an ad blocker on all your devices to cut the noise and disruption ads cause in the reading experience.

So when iOS 14.5 is announced, I advise all iOS users to upgrade immediately and refuse to opt-in to tracking of their activity. If you prefer to be watched, sold, tracked, filed and numbered while enhancing Mr. Zuckerberg’s bloated net worth, then stick with your Samsung cell phone. iOS 14.5 works on iPhone 6S or later.

As for my son, he gave up Facebook shortly after the experience explained above, and has never been happier or more productive.

Seiko PADI solar

Ramblings

A fine and inexpensive timepiece.


The Seiko PADI Solar Model SNE435P1

A friend is an expert on watches and helped me with the decision to buy an inexpensive yet robust timepiece. I have got tired of inflicting damage on costly Swiss timepieces and the related maintenance agonies which last seemingly forever. Last time my Patek Philippe Nautilus was in for replacement of a broken bracelet clasp the service took – wait for it – 9 months.

The Seiko PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) diver’s watch uses a quartz movement, charging its battery through solar cells embedded in the dial. These are so skillfully hidden as to be invisible to the naked eye, and will recharge from any light source. Once fully charged the watch will run for 10 months, according to the manufacturer.

The watch’s appearance is a rip off of the Rolex Submariner with two differences. It’s quartz, not automatic, so far more accurate. And the rotating bezel is screen printed like earlier Submariners. Later ones are enameled for greater longevity.

This is an excellent watch for the rider of a classic motorcycle which has no clock installed. Like my 1975 BMW R90/6 air cooled twin. That’s because the visibility of the hands is very high, requiring only a quick glance at speed and meaning that you do not have to angle your wrist this way and that for a reading.

After many days of checking – you can freeze the seconds hand when setting the watch against a know accurate time source like Apple – the watch is dead accurate, having neither gained or lost as much as one second. The only time you are going to be adjusting the time is at the end of short months when the crown is rotated to advance the date. By contrast the Rolex is guaranteed to +/- 2 seconds a day, or up to one minute a month, which is disappointing on so costly a timepiece.

The Lumibrite fluorescence of the hands is excellent though it rather fades after 3-4 hours. The outer diameter of the dial is 43.5mm suitable for medium and larger wrists. I has to remove one link for a good fit, as well as setting the clasp on its shortest of four positions.

The bracelet is not, however, Rolex quality, using a mix of stainless stampings and castings. The pin and collar mechanism used to connect links is a horror story necessitating that a small 2mm collar is installed one side as the pin is pushed in from the other after removal of link(s). Chances are your jeweler is clueless and will lose the collar, meaning the bracelet will eventually fall apart. Check out online videos, splash out $5 on a pusher tool and do it yourself. The bracelet rattles off the wrist but is fine once in place. The deployment mechanism uses both a clasp and a push button release as a failsafe. While aftermarket bracelets are available for many Seikos, none has yet been made for this model. They tend to be better quality and use screws, not pins, to connect the links. Typically priced around the $100 mark you can buy ten before approaching the cost of the repair on my Nautilus.

Price is incredibly low for what you get. I paid $300 at Amazon. That’s less than the round trip shipping of your Rolex to Geneva when it breaks down, and it will. The happy Seiko owner simply recycles his PADI and buys a new one. He is also $15,000 richer, money which can be spent on scuba gear and lessons.

Fans of automatic movements can spend $50-100 more for the Automatic Turtle (SRPA21J1) or the Automatic PADI (SRPA21) which will get you less accuracy and a short 41 hour power reserve. Replacement aftermarket bracelets for those models are readily available. All are guaranteed leakproof down to 200 meters (660 feet).

The Solar has a date only display with a cyclops magnifier for better visibility. The Automatic PADI and Turtle have day and date displays, unmagnified. Accuracy of the automatic watches is specified by Seiko (4R36 movement) as +45/-35 seconds a day which is, frankly, awful, but can probably be tuned for better performance. None of these qualifies as a ‘dress’ watch, but as I gave away all my suits and ties years ago, ask me if I care.

Highly recommended.

Update after one month of use:

The Seiko gained just 3 seconds. Given that the date has to be advanced mostly every other month, I’ll simply ‘hack’ it at that time to lose the 3 seconds or so it has gained.

An American tragedy

Ramblings

Public education.

I wrote this a while back and, for some reason, did not publish it. I was reminded of the horror of US public school ‘education’ when Pig’s miserable Education Secretary resigned the other day. So here it is.

When Eisenhower was president (1952-60) America boasted the finest public schooling system on the planet. Today, that system is the worst in the Western Hemisphere.

I was forcefully reminded of this fact over the past few weeks which saw my son laboring mightily over his Algebra II studies. These studies were dictated by the need to catch up with the mainstream at his high school and reflected the glacial progress at his former public intermediate school in California which saw to it that the pace of teaching was aimed at the dumbest and slowest, not at the best and brightest. This is the result of a system which regards education as a right, not as a privilege.


Notes from my son’s summer Algebra II studies.

With the curriculum approved by the head of Mathematics at his prep school, he started classes at the local school district in Arizona only to express a strong desire to quit after one day. Understandable when you realize that his fellow students comprised juniors who had failed the subject in 11th grade and were being forced to retake Algebra II before their senior year. Not what you would call a supportive peer group. Add to that the fact that the teacher would clearly be some place other than in the classroom, mistaking rote recitation for teaching, and you can see where the boy was coming from. He quickly switched to online tuition – a choice not without its own issues – and elected yours truly as teacher and mentor. This was a risky move given that I last studied algebra in the previous milenium, but the alternative was too awful to contemplate.

The fall in the quality of American schooling is attributable to many factors, but one dominates. The Teachers’ Union has but one interest at heart and that is self preservation. And hang the kids. They accomplish this goal by ensuring that it is virtually impossible to fire a public school teacher for performance. The data attest to this fact. A recent article in “American Teacher’ stated that just 0.2% of tenured teachers were fired in the past five years. In any meritocracy that number should be ten to fifty times higher. In New York City, where a rational observer would expect public school education to be the best in the nation, firings of teachers are virtually unheard of.

And how was that online tuition? Mostly awful. Irrelevant jokey introductions to classes then switched to rambling text. Not once in the over 100 lessons was there a clear opening exposition of the equations being taught, these being lost in the turgid text. Wild jumps and omissions of logic made the quizzes doubly difficult and we found ourselves frequently making side trips to Khan Academy videos on the internet in a desperate effort to figure out what on earth was going on. Worst, none of this math tuition was focused on the real world and real problem solving. All is cast in the abstract and a heavy dose of rote and memorization is the seemingly preferred path to success. None of this is surprising. The Teachers’ Union must be mightily threatened at the prospect of their teachers being obsoleted by superior machine learning, so it’s hardly in their interest to craft a high quality online system.

The ten best public high school systems in the world, according to The Independent are:

  • Finland – #1
  • Switzerland
  • Belgium
  • Singapore
  • Holland
  • Qatar
  • Ireland
  • Estonia
  • New Zealand
  • Japan – #10

America? Nowhere in sight. I rather doubt it even made the top 100.

Perhaps the most galling aspect of this is that we now have an Education Secretary – a misnomer if there ever was one – who has never set foot in a public school and whose appointment hearing disclosed a thorough ignorance of public schooling. Then again, this is hardly surprising in a nation which increasingly denigrates education as something reserved for the ‘liberal elites’. Sadly, as a taxpayer I cannot opt out of funding this crime against the people, and insult is added to injury when the realization dawns that the $300,000 I will spend on my son’s prep school education includes not one penny of tax deductible outlay. Instead of rewarding my success the United States is punishing me for it.

Is there a fix to this chamber of horrors? Of course there is. Much as the criminal Airline Pilots Association was bankrupted by an earlier administration and put out of business, so should the Teacher’s union of today be treated. Then a strict merit system with the lowest performing 10% fired for cause annually for the next decade will dramatically increase the quality of teaching. There is no greater weapon in a nation’s arsenal than the quality of its education. We can easily deflect 10% of our ridiculous military budget, now approaching $1 trillion – the very ‘military industrial complex’ Ike ranted against in his final presidential speech – and spend the $100 billion thus realized on attracting the best and brightest to the front of the class, reestablishing once again the pride and joy of that nation under Ike.

As for my son, he scored a straight A on his classes, but what did you expect given the quality of instruction? And no, he will not be migrating to the public schooling system from his prep school in Massachusetts.