G5 with a Dead Firewire Bus...replace logic board, or....

...or can I get a Firewire PCI card that will keep me going? Suddenly, in the middle of printing a job yesterday, my printer disappears...after doing a bunch of diagnostic crap, I see my firewire devices aren't showing up and the System Profiler says they're not visible (in lovely red type!). I call my local fix-it depot and they tell me it likely gonna take replacing the logic board to get me back up and running. The idea of throwing $700-800 at a G5 ain't exactly making me happy, but neither is spending $5000+ on a new mac pro.

Then I thought about just adding a Firewire PCI card....could this solve my problem? Of course, I wouldn't have my front FW port, but at least I should be able to keep the old box going for a lot less than the cost of a logic board.

Thoughts?

 

The printer is an Epson Pro 4800...both Firewire and USB. And thanx for the opinion...I figure I have nothing to lose trying the PCI card since I can pick one up for 50 bucks. I just wanted to know that I can't damage anything by dropping one in with the onboard BUS screwed up...

 

I owe you a beer, Paul....it worked like a charm!

BT