USB on Mac OS 9

[meall]

Hello,

I’d like to know if you think it could be possible to install either of these StarTech cards into. Beige G3 and have it work in Mac OS 9.2.2?

Thank you

 

[Phipli]

Can you share photos of the other side?

 

[meall]

 

[Phipli]

VIA chips don't work well with Macs. I'll have to look the other one up.

 

[Phipli]

The other one I'm not certain. Try the green one and see.

 

[LaPorta]

I think I have one of those in either my PT Pro or G4. I can check tonight.

 

[meall]

The other one I'm not certain. Try the green one and see.

Will I need to reinstall the OS? I read that OS 9 will install the drivers at installation time if a card exists, otherwise no.

 

[Phipli]

Will I need to reinstall the OS? I read that OS 9 will install the drivers at installation time if a card exists, otherwise no.

USB Adapter Card Support 1.4.6 - Macintosh Garden

kmos9: USB PCI card under Mac OS 9.2.2 by Joerg Weise London, UK Q: I have installed a USB PCI card in my beige PowerMac G3 (or any other Power Macintosh computer without built-in USB ports) running Mac OS 9.2.2, but the card is not working / not recognized by the system. What can I do?

macintoshgarden.org

 

[NJRoadfan]

ALi chip should work, those are OHCI, which Apple's drivers require. VIA will not.

 

[Phipli]

ALi chip should work, those are OHCI, which Apple's drivers require. VIA will not.

I was trying to work out from the datasheet, it seems to suggest that not all ports are OHCI. I couldn't quite understand it. Says it has 4 controllers, 1x USB 2.0 and 3x USB 1.1 that, unspecified in what combination, can drive 6 ports. It suggests only some of them support OHCI... but I don't know what that means. Or means in a 4 port card.

The datasheet was more of a brochure - I guess there are better ones with more detail.

 

[NJRoadfan]

Basically, each USB 1.1 controller shows up as a OHCI device on the PCI bus, while the USB 2.0 controller shows up as a EHCI device. I don't know the specifics, but I think devices initally connect at 1.1 speeds to the OHCI controller and then handshake and switch to the EHCI controller if 2.0 compatible and a driver is loaded.

 

[meall]

I installed all the extensions, without any USB card installed, the OS boots normally.

With the green card installed, I get the message below at boot. I guess it means the system is trying to activate the card and fails doing so because the card is not fully compatible.

Sounds right?

I didn’t try the other one

 

[meall]

The low profile black card is kinda recognized, but not sure it works. A USB stick put in it does nothing. This may relate to the VIA chipset mentioned previously.

 

[Forrest]

I believe both cards are too new and support USB 1 and USB 2. You want an older cards that only supports USB 1 and is OHCI compliant. See Apple doc for more info http://www.virtualinformation.com/drivers/USBCardSupport.htm

Belkin used to make such a card and there were others

 

[Phipli]

I believe both cards are too new and support USB 1 and USB 2. You want an older cards that only supports USB 1 and is OHCI compliant. See Apple doc for more info http://www.virtualinformation.com/drivers/USBCardSupport.htm

Belkin used to make such a card and there were others

Supporting USB 2 doesn't mean a card doesn't work fine in Mac OS 9 as a USB 1 card.

 

[LaPorta]

I have a USB 2 PCI card in my G4 Quicksilver and it works fine under 9

 

[Forrest]

Based on my experience, I stand by my answer

 

[Phipli]

Based on my experience, I stand by my answer

Hey @Forrest. Interesting that is the case, but many cards fall back to USB 1. I have a number of cards that support USB 2 in OSX, and still function in OS 9 at reduced speed.

I could probably dig one out and let you know the chipset if you like? If you're looking to find one.

 

[Forrest]

USB 2 card compatibility is much better in OSX. But this discussion centered on OS9, and Apple never wrote USB 2 drivers for OS9.

 

[Phipli]

USB 2 card compatibility is much better in OSX. But this discussion centered on OS9, and Apple never wrote USB 2 drivers for OS9.

Yup, quite right. As we have already said above, USB 2 doesn't work in Mac OS 9.


But....

Some USB 2 capable cards work as USB 1 devices in Mac OS 9. Many of us use them. I'm sorry your's doesn't work in OS 9, but aggressively telling multiple people that they're wrong about something that they know, and have offered to share the details of to help you is... frustrating.