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FoxboyJT

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 11, 2010
4
0
I recently got a Power Mac G4 from a friend who didn't need it any longer, and I seem to be having an issue with it, which I can't seem to figure out. None of the PCI card slots seem to be working. This model of G4 doesn't have an airport card, so I was installing a wireless PCI card I had in another desktop that this Power Mac was going to replace. Does anyone know if there's a way to fix this, or know what the issue is? (Also, I tried to Google the crap out of this, but every time I use the word "mac' Google assumes MAC Address. -_-
 
Are you getting the wireless card from a PC? The powermac perhaps does not recognize your card.

Look for compatible PCI wireless card, or better yet use a USB wifi dongle.
 
Are you getting the wireless card from a PC? The powermac perhaps does not recognize your card.

Look for compatible PCI wireless card, or better yet use a USB wifi dongle.

The card is compatible, there are drivers for it online that I have installed before and after installing the device, it just doesn't seem to be getting power.
 
Do you have any other PCI cards that you could try putting in the machine? A normal wired Ethernet card for example?
 
Is it possible that if I put a standard PCI card that is just extra USB ports, that it would work? Not too sure on if it would work without a driver.

EDIT: Past that, I don't have any other PCI cards that I could put in to see if they work.
 
A USB expansion card should work in OSX as long as it has a NEC, ALI, TI or OPTI chipset.

I once tried installing a PCI USB card with a VIA chipset, and although the card was visible in the "system information" utility in OSX, it didn't work (nothing happened no matter what USB device I plugged in).
 
I will have to try a USB pci card then, I'll come back with wethor or not it worked at all.

EDIT: Sudden realization, it has another pci card plugged in that dosnt work either, which is a USB extension, with FireWire too. It's a bit strange. I'll still try the regular one i have.
Would a phone modem work too?
 
It does sound like there is something not quite right with the PCI Bus on your machine... are any PCI cards (installed ones) listed in the "system information" utility at all?

I doubt a phone modem would work. Most of the Powermac machines had an integrated or optional BTO phone modem, so I doubt there are much drivers for 3rd party ones.
 
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