10.4.10 or hardware problem?

[blueprint1983]

I have a G4 Powerbook 12" with 1.25 gigs of ram and 1.5 mhz, 80 gig hd running on OSX 10.4.10

Anyways, my external hard-drives (1 Western Digital, 1 Seagate) and my soundcard won't mount on USB or Firewire.

The external hard-drives DO work on my pc.

I do get power from every port which leads me to believe it's a software issue. They just don't mount.

Any ideas on how to attack this?

[nsbio]

While the usb ports on a PB are powered, they are not powered well enough. This is a known problem with PPC apple laptops - their USB ports provide only the minimal legally allowed amount of power and not an iota more. Some USB drives require that iota, unfortunately.


A solution is to try to use a powered USB hub.

[blueprint1983]

How does that explain the firewire problem though?

[blueprint1983]

Also, the external devices are also powered through it's own external power supply yet the laptop is still not mounting.

[blueprint1983]

....?