PCI USB 2.0 Cards

[dtruett1]

I have looked into a couple of the above cards, including combos with 1394. One vendor told me it is not Mac compatible, and Belkin has one on eBay with the following:
"(To operate in 2.0 high-speed, Mac OS X requires a third-party Hi-Speed USB 2.0 driver)"
On the other hand, Belkin shows the same PCI card on their web site under Macintosh, listing only Windows systems under System Requirements for PCI cards.
The Drivers link has only Windows drivers.
Belkin PCI card

Following is from Apple's Support site:
Article ID: 60421
Created:7/20/99
Modified:9/16/03

Description
Apple's USB Adapter Card Support is a set of software extensions that provide support for USB PCI adapter cards installed in Macintosh computers. This software will not install on Power Macintosh computers with USB ports built-in. Support for built-in USB ports and USB PCI adapter cards is already included in these computers.

This may precede USB 2.0. I always thought that OSX accomodated any USB PCI card. Am I wrong? Has anyone tried one? Did it work at high speed? What was the model? Thanks.

[GraphicUmp]

10.2.8 and above has support built in for USB 2.0 PCI cards. And they run at high-speed. I have a SIIG 5-port USB 2.0 card in my B&W, natively supported by 10.3.2.

In 10.2.7 and below, you have to install a driver for the card to work in high-speed. USB 2.0 isn't supported by OS 9, either. USB adapter card support (what you found on Apple's site) is only for OS 9 and only for computers without built-in USB.

[dtruett1]

Thanks. That's pretty much what I figured. Now the other problem that I hadn't anticipated is whether a given card will work on the G5, which I plan to get. I would have assumed so, but stumbled on a nice combo Keyspan card. When I read the support files I got the following. Any idea how widespread incompatibilites with PCI USB cards and the G5 are?
http://keyspan.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/...YWdlPTE*&p_li=

[GraphicUmp]

This one is, according to the forums at www.macintouch.com:

I had a generic (CompUSA labeled) 5-port USB 2.0 PCI card in my G4, which I moved to my G5 (2x2) a week ago. The card functions perfectly, syncing my Palm, accessing my CF card reader, printing, and controlling lights via X10.

The card is three months old, and cost $30. I'm using the drivers built into OS X (both 10.2.6 and 10.3). I do not have any high-speed (480K) USB devices, but have one on the way. I'll followup then to confirm the ports function at their top speed.

[ElDiabloConCaca]

The only requirement is that the PCI card operates at 3.3v, not 5v like some rare cards do. I'm sure the PCI USB 2.0 card you want is fully compatible, but it never hurts to find out for sure.

[acidtuch10]

A generic Compusa USB 2.0 Card works great !! Running a 52x CDRW and a USB2 HD off one right now .......


Hello there - GraphicUmp -- Thinking of a Dual ?????

[GraphicUmp]

Damn you, acidtuch10, not just thinking, I'm dreaming of it....it'll be here tomorrow. It's been sitting in the damn UPS depot since 4 this morning...just arrived at the distrib. point for my area an hour ago. It's killin' me!

But you missed the point - he wants to know if it's compatible with the G5 - you have a dual G4, remember???? :-)

[dtruett1]

Thanks for the heads up. Could you tell me the model number of the CompUSA (hate em, but will do business with them if necessary) that runs at 3.3v? Manufacturers and retailers, like MacMall never post the voltage, and I don't know whether or not it's due to moving customer service offshore, but it is incredible the extent to which the manufacturers themselves DON'T REPLY! GraphicUMP, your card sounds near perfect (a combo would be perfect) because I want to put it in my G4, move my external backup drive from a FW enclosure to USB 2.0 to be safe, then install Panther. As soon as Apple comes out with the new models and the price goes down, it's G5 dual 2 time.