MDD G4 - Native FW/USB ports dead

[abbotkinneydude]

Hello everyone !

On both of my MDD G4s (dual 1.25 MDD2003 & dual 1.42 FW800), the native USB/FW ports are no longer working. I went through many on-line tutorials to re-animate the ports (reset pram, reset n-vram, unplugging the power cord, etc.) but the ports seem to be physically dead (it's been a long time coming actually, they died one after another over a period of years).

Is it possible to fix the native ports without replacing the mother board ?

(the service manual says no but maybe someone here did ?).

I'm also thinking of rewiring (through a usb extension cord) the internal output of my USB 2.0 PCI card (6 outs total: 5 outside, 1 inside) into one of the two native USB ports that went dead. Just wondering if it would be possible to remove one of the faulty usb plugs without damaging the motherboard.

The loss of those native ports is really too bad. Those MDD G4s are tanks.

 

[SmurfBoxMasta]

IF the ports/connectors themselves are bad and IF you are fairly talented with a soldering gun, AND IF you can find the correct replacement parts, then yes you should be able to fix them. If not then let someone who can do all of the above do it, IF they will do it for a reasonable price......(doubtful)

Otherwise just load up on some more pci cards & be happy

But if it's any consolation, the ports on almost every G3 & G4 Tower I ever owned (10-12) died eventually, if not electrically then physically, and I repaired all but 2 of them......but that was back when spare parts for them were readily available and/or still being produced.........

 

[abbotkinneydude]

Thanks SmurfBoxMasta ! I'll look into the service manual to see if the replacement parts specs are listed. Glad to hear you were able to fix the ports on your own. (I'm ok with a soldering gun so I'll give it a try). Thanks again.