BeBox Q & A

This document answers questions regarding Be's original product, the BeBox.

On January 30, 1997 Be announced that it was ceasing production of the BeBox. Details of the announcement and questions and answers regarding the decision to leave the hardware business are available elsewhere.

This page was last updated on February 9, 1998.

General

1. Can the BeBox run the Mac OS or Macintosh software? Updated! (2/3/98)
2. Why use two processors on the BeBox? Updated! (2/3/98)
3. Why mount the processors directly on the motherboard? Updated! (2/3/98)
4. Can I upgrade my BeBox by replacing the processors myself? Updated! (2/3/98)
5. Can I still upgrade my 66MHz BeBox to a 133MHz BeBox? Updated! (2/3/98)
6. Can I buy a BeBox I/O board? Updated! (2/3/98)
7. Why does my flash ROM update fail when updating to the latest BeOS release? Updated! (2/3/98)
8. How can I tell what revision level my BeBox is? Updated! (2/3/98)
9. Why doesn't the BeBox have an L2 cache? Updated! (2/3/98)
10. Why don't you have built-in graphics capabilities? Updated! (2/3/98)
11. Why didn't you put Ethernet on the BeBox motherboard? Updated! (2/3/98)
12. Why did you use PC keyboards and mice instead of ADB? Updated! (2/3/98)
13. How many BeBoxes were sold? Updated! (2/3/98)
14. How do I register a second-hand BeBox? Updated! (2/9/98)

    Compatible Hardware

15. How many SIMM slots/banks does a BeBox have? Updated! (2/3/98)
16. What type of memory does the BeBox use? Updated! (2/3/98)
17. Can the BeBox support 64Mb or 128Mb SIMMS? Updated! (2/3/98)
18. Can I mix-and-match SIMMs? Updated! (2/3/98)
19. Is a BeBox compatible with my current peripherals? Updated! (2/3/98)
20. Can I buy peripherals and hardware elsewhere? Updated! (2/9/98)
21. What types of Ethernet cards does the BeBox support? Updated! (2/3/98)
22. What graphics cards does the BeBox currently support? Updated! (2/3/98)
23. What kinds of video interfaces will the BeBox support? Updated! (2/3/98)
24. What video/sound in/out cards do you recommend? Updated! (2/3/98)
25. Can I use an internal ISA modem card with my BeBox? Updated! (2/3/98)

    Specifications

26. How expandable is the BeBox? Updated! (2/9/98)
27. How big is the BeBox motherboard? Updated! (2/3/98)
28. Why is the motherboard so small? Updated! (2/3/98)
29. What's that big square socket up near the two processors? Updated! (2/3/98)
30. Can I get the specs for the logic analyzer interface? Updated! (2/3/98)
31. Is the BeBox an energy-efficient system? Updated! (2/3/98)
32. Is the BeBox easily upgradable? Updated! (2/3/98)
33. What is the bus speed of the BeBox? Updated! (2/9/98)
34. What SCSI cabling do you use in the BeBox? Updated! (2/3/98)
35. Will the BeBox support wide SCSI? Updated! (2/3/98)
36. Can I use an IDE CD-ROM drive in my BeBox? Updated! (2/3/98)
37. Does the BeBox have built-in video in/out? Updated! (2/3/98)
38. Does the BeBox have a video and audio jack? Updated! (2/3/98)
39. Do I need a special cable to play CDs in my CD drive? Updated! (2/3/98)
40. Does the BeBox have CD-quality sound? Updated! (2/3/98)
41. Does the sound hardware support hardware mixing? Updated! (2/3/98)
42. How come the BeBox does not use hardware to do its audio mixing? Updated! (2/3/98)
43. What standard(s) do the BeBox IR ports follow? Updated! (2/3/98)
44. How do the IR ports support functions for remote control? Updated! (2/3/98)
45. What is the GeekPort sample rate? Updated! (2/3/98)
46. Why does the GeekPort have 4 DACs but only 1 ADC? Updated! (2/3/98)
47. Why is it called the "GeekPort?" Updated! (2/3/98)
48. Does BeBox provide an X-10 power line interface? Updated! (2/3/98)