New (FOR ME) Beige G3 Questions! (regarding USB and FireWire PCI Cards and CPUs)

[DistantStar001]

Alright! So I got my Beige G3 Desktop up and running. Got it connected to the internet, loaded Classilla, found my old QuickTime Pro S/N, and have begun installing all the apps I wanted to make this a near perfect publishing/bridge machine. I also installed USB and FireWire PCI Cards salvaged from another Beige G3 (although that one was a tower). However, the USB card isn't recognizing a Flash Drive when inserted. I haven't tried the FireWire yet. My guess is that this is a driver issue.

The cards are being recognized in Apple System Profiler (ASP to save on typing), but that's it.
The USB is a pci 1045,c861 (rev. 1045) and the Firewire is a pci 106b,1a (rev. 104C) according to the ASP.

Any idea where I can get the software to make these work? Or is there some other issue I'm not aware of?

Also, what are the part numbers for G3 Processor cards? Where do I find them on the Card itself? How do I know what the max clock is? And what risks are there in overclocking?

I have two Motherboards and thus two CPU cards. I tried swapping, but saw no improvement in clock speeds in the ASP. I've since learned that I need to alter the configuration jumpers to do that, but don't want to risk it until I know what cards I have and what they were designed/intended to run at.

 

[Phipli]

However, the USB card isn't recognizing a Flash Drive when inserted. I haven't tried the FireWire yet. My guess is that this is a driver issue.

The USB PCI card drivers don't go in by default in all situations. Re run the OS installer and either select everything with USB in the name, or make sure you pick "USB Adapter Support".

It's a really, really, common issue.

 

[Phipli]

Also, what are the part numbers for G3 Processor cards? Where do I find them on the Card itself? How do I know what the max clock is? And what risks are there in overclocking?

What the CPU is rated to is written on the sticker and on the CPU itself (but the latter is usually hidden by the spacer). But this doesn't mean the most it will do. Most chips will exceed their rating by at least 20%, but at your own risk and all that. Really, if you don't misconfigure anything, the only risks are an unstable machine (give yourself Headroom for hot weather or heavy loads). Technically overclocking shortens the life of the CPU, but at this point, assuming you're not planning to run it all day every day, this is unlikely to be the first thing to fail.

It will also use a little more power and make a bit more heat. And void your warranty

 

[DistantStar001]

The USB PCI card drivers don't go in by default in all situations. Re run the OS installer and either select everything with USB in the name, or make sure you pick "USB Adapter Support".

It's a really, really, common issue.

Thank you! But… now I've run into another issue. The system won't fully boot if the FireWire extensions are installed. It just locks up mid boot (after the background pattern but before the extension icons). Attempting to boot from the 9.1 CD has the same result. I had to use an 8.5 CD and then manually delete the extensions to get it to fully boot to 9.1 from the HD.

The good news is that the USB is working now! Thanks again for that. Although, I've come to discover that if I want the computer to recognize Mac files as Mac files, I have to format the Flash Drive in OS9 on the G3 (MacOS Extended Journaled) first, as the standard DOS format seems to cause issues. But I'm guessing that's just a quirk of the OS.

Suffice it to say, I've had this machine a while, so I installed the OS prior to the cards. Given that these did come from another Beige G3, I have to assume there's a patched FireWire driver that will work, right?

What the CPU is rated to is written on the sticker and on the CPU itself (but the latter is usually hidden by the spacer). But this doesn't mean the most it will do. Most chips will exceed their rating by at least 20%, but at your own risk and all that. Really, if you don't misconfigure anything, the only risks are an unstable machine (give yourself Headroom for hot weather or heavy loads). Technically overclocking shortens the life of the CPU, but at this point, assuming you're not planning to run it all day every day, this is unlikely to be the first thing to fail.

It will also use a little more power and make a bit more heat. And void your warranty

View attachment 98057

Perfect! Then if I'm reading this sticker right, I have a 300Mhz Processor to install!