Logic 8 Warning

[BigRedX]

I've decided that it's time for me to leave OS9 behind and start making music in OSX. I bought a Logic 8 as it's now super cheap and at the weekend tried to install it on my Mac.

My MDD 1.25 G4 is right at the bottom end of the minimum system requirements but it's on there. So I poped in the first (of many) DVDs and double clicked the installer. And up popped a message saying that my video card didn't meet the recommended system requirements. However it turns out that recommeded system requirements really means minimum system requirements as the installer doesn't allow me to proceed any further and quits.

Checking the Apple Logic forums it turns out that my problem is that I have replaced the stock AGP graphics card (Radeon 9000) that came with the Mac with the superior Radeon 9200 PCI card which gives me much better performance with my dual monitor set up. However OSX doesn't support Quartz Extreme via PCI (which is the sticking point for the Logic installer). There was a hack available to get around this but its broken for 10.4.3 and above and Logic requires 10.4.9.

What I am not happy about is firstly that the dialogue box is misleading - surely it should say that my card doesn't meet the MINIMUM requirement - after all if it won't run without a Quartz Extreme then that to me is a minimum requirement. Recommended implies that it will run, I might just be missing out on some eye candy and graphics performance may be compromised in places, which I could probably live with for now.

However there is also no mention of this requirement on either the box for Logic 8 or on the Apple web site, and although I probably wouldn't have realised that my choice of graphics cards would be a problem, it would have made troubleshooting easier.

Also while I realise that I have configured my Mac in a non-standard way, however, the problem in my case isn't the absence of the AGP graphics card, but the presence of the PCI one. Logic is one one those programs that greatly benefits from multiple monitor set-ups. It was the app that convinced me of the benefits of a dual monitor set up and one that could easily make use of at least 3 monitors. However this of course requires the use of PCI cards to get support for more than 2 monitors.

Not at all happy...