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Adding USB 2 to my G4 ?

T

Tall Guy

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 16, 2002
10
0
Has anybody here had any experience in upgrading their mac with a USB2 PCI card? I find it frustratingly hard to find any information, especially on availability of OSX drivers.
And if drivers are available, how reliable are they in your experience ?
I just went to the ADAPTEC website and there is a suggestion your USB2 card may only work at USB 1.1 speeds, but maybe that's only for OS9.:confused:
 
Re: Adding USB 2 to my G4 ?

Originally posted by Tall Guy
...
I just went to the ADAPTEC website and there is a suggestion your USB2 card may only work at USB 1.1 speeds, but maybe that's only for OS9.:confused:
Click to expand...
Some USB2.0 PCI card manufacturers rely on the OS providing the drivers for USB. Most (if not all) USB 2.0 cards will work at USB 1.1 speeds if there are no USB 2.0 drivers.

If the USB 2.0 product doesn't specifically state USB 2.0 speeds on Mac OS X, be wary. I don't think any company offers USB 2.0 drivers of OS 9.

Orange Micro is one of the few companies to specifically state they have USB 2.0 drivers for Mac OS X. I think SIIG also has 2.0 drivers.

I've only heard good things about the Orange Micro cards. For my system, I'm looking aty a combo USB 2.0/Firewire card from them so I can drive the scanner at its full speed and I don't need a USB or a FireWire hub.
 
I have seen many, relatively cheap USB 2 cards that are compatible with OS X. Usually they will have the OS X logo printed on the packaging. They even have them at my campus computer store (it's a very mac-friendly store).
 
Originally posted by timbloom
I have seen many, relatively cheap USB 2 cards that are compatible with OS X. Usually they will have the OS X logo printed on the packaging. They even have them at my campus computer store (it's a very mac-friendly store).
Click to expand...
Just because they have OS X on them, it doesn't necessarily mean they have USB 2.0 drivers. It just means the card works with OS X. I just suggest checking if the come with USB 2.0 dirvers or not.
 
Orange micro no go

I own a dual 867 and picked up an orange micro usb 2 card that stated usb2 support, but it only froze my system repeatedly. I basiclly made my monitors not work. I took the card out and everything worked great, put it back and it froze again, tried 3 different pci slots with no success. I then returned it and gave up. Who Knows. Usb 2 in my opinion is a bit of a waste on macs.
 
Re: Re: Adding USB 2 to my G4 ?

[/B]I've only heard good things about the Orange Micro cards. For my system, I'm looking aty a combo USB 2.0/Firewire card from them so I can drive the scanner at its full speed and I don't need a USB or a FireWire hub. [/B]
Click to expand...

thanks Bear,

that's exactly why I'm looking to get a USB 2.0 card, to run my future scanner at full speed. Every scanners I looked at runs on USB 2.0. Since I am running out of USB ports on my machine anyway, a faster PCI card solution seems more sensible than going the slower hub way.
 
Re: Orange micro no go

Originally posted by bennyek
I own a dual 867 and picked up an orange micro usb 2 card that stated usb2 support, but it only froze my system repeatedly. I basiclly made my monitors not work. I took the card out and everything worked great, put it back and it froze again, tried 3 different pci slots with no success. I then returned it and gave up. Who Knows. Usb 2 in my opinion is a bit of a waste on macs.
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear that bennyek. What OS are you on ? I know USB uses the processor a lot, could the card clash with your dual setup ?
 
Re: Re: Orange micro no go

Originally posted by Tall Guy
Sorry to hear that bennyek. What OS are you on ? I know USB uses the processor a lot, could the card clash with your dual setup ?
Click to expand...

I am running osx 10.2.4 on a dual 867.
i assume it is a conflict with the new machine. Seems as though orange micro would be on top of it already though since they are so mac friendly. oh well
 
I bought a Keyspan usb 2.0/FireWire card adding two USB 2.0 ports and three FireWire ports to my DP 1.25. It was very easy and I did not need the software for it to be recognized. It was relatively inexpensive and easy to get.

I have had the computer for three weeks and this card has performed flawlessly. I bought it from MicroWarehouse here in Canada and paid about $120 cdn.

Mike
 
Originally posted by mdeschenes
I bought a Keyspan usb 2.0/FireWire card adding two USB 2.0 ports and three FireWire ports to my DP 1.25. It was very easy and I did not need the software for it to be recognized. It was relatively inexpensive and easy to get.
Click to expand...
Ah, but what speed are the USB ports running at? I don't think OS X has native USB 2.0 drivers yet. The ports may be running at USB 1.1 speeds if you haven't installed any drivers.
 
No drivers needed anymore

Originally posted by Bear
Ah, but what speed are the USB ports running at? I don't think OS X has native USB 2.0 drivers yet. The ports may be running at USB 1.1 speeds if you haven't installed any drivers.
Click to expand...

here is a link to the keyspan FAQ page. Seems that since OS 10.2 you do have all the necessary drivers
 
I bought a standard USB2 PCI card for my powermac and it's never worked, with 2.0 speeds or 1.1 - it comes up in ASP but just as a generic pci card, no mention of NEC or USB2 or anything.

I've also tried installing the drivers from all the mac card manufaturers, and am currently installing the 3.0 drivers from SIIG.

OK, installed, restarted, and I get a grey screen with a circle-with-cross-thru-it.

WTF!?!

I'll be back on this one... (writing this on PB)
 
Originally posted by gotohamish
I bought a standard USB2 PCI card for my powermac and it's never worked, with 2.0 speeds or 1.1 - it comes up in ASP but just as a generic pci card, no mention of NEC or USB2 or anything.
Click to expand...

Just went to the NEC website, I don't see any mention of Mac compatibility. Did they sell it to you explicitly stating it was Mac compatible ?
 
I've got it

Here in the UK it seems almost impossible to get anything else but Adaptec. I went for it and it works flawless, Apple is making things far to easy for those third party developers by putting all the drivers in;) .

I didn't want a firewire/USB 2.0 card since those cards would still give you the older firewire as opposed to the new "double-speed" firewire (what's the official name again?). Better to go for the cheaper USB 2.0 card for now and add a high speed firewire when needed.
 
Originally posted by Tall Guy
Just went to the NEC website, I don't see any mention of Mac compatibility. Did they sell it to you explicitly stating it was Mac compatible ?
Click to expand...

No. but it was the equivalent of $12 so I thought I'd give it a crack. I only actually wanted a 4-port 1.1 card, but the 2.0 was cheapers. The SIIG drivers buggered my systems badly, but a permission and drive fix did the trick.

Phew. FireWire all the way I say.

H
 
Re: I've got it

Originally posted by Tall Guy
new "double-speed" firewire (what's the official name again?)
Click to expand...

It is either Firewire 800 or the standard is known as IEEE-1393b
 
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