Mac - USB Issues.

[Decade]

Linux has more flexible options for a machine with so little RAM, though it's a bit challenging to use. At least, I think there are LiveCDs that should show whether the USB controller is working, and the mouse and keyboard actions are getting to the computer.

Apple never included PS/2 support in their machines. They just had ADB (Apple Desktop Bus), which had interesting characteristics.

[nixgeek]

Originally Posted by Decade

Linux has more flexible options for a machine with so little RAM, though it's a bit challenging to use. At least, I think there are LiveCDs that should show whether the USB controller is working, and the mouse and keyboard actions are getting to the computer.

It's a little more challenging on a PPC based Mac. I've done it before a million times, and it's not that bad on New World Macs like the Power Mac G4, but you'll have to do without Adobe Flash plugins for your web browsing. If you can live with that, Linux will do it for you. But I still recommend OS X

Apple never included PS/2 support in their machines. They just had ADB (Apple Desktop Bus), which had interesting characteristics.

Not necessarily true. Apple had the Power Mac 4400 which was made to be more "PC-like" in hardware support. It had both ADB ports and PS/2 ports for keyboard and mouse. Most Macintosh clones during the time of the 4400 also had PS/2 ports (my old StarMax 4000 from Motorola is but one example).

[Nycto]

Is there anyway to get around and at least retrieve my serial numbers for the OS without using a mouse? That way, if I am forced to blow away the system, I can at least give Apple Tech Support a number. In my past experiences, Microsoft will sometimes give out discs for Windows if one can verify they own a copy of the software, and merely lost or broke the disc they originally purchased. I would think, just as with a Windows machine, that ownership of the software would transfer from the seller to the buyer along with the machine itself.

Since the PMU reset did not work, I suppose I will have to totally wipe the system. I'm running Ubuntu and XP together on an 800 Mhz Pentium III just fine, and so I might just install the former on the G4. Before I doing anything that extreme, are there any other things I might try?

Ultimately, if this doesn't solve my problems, is there anyway I can (cheaply) replace usb ports for this Mac without soldering or anything like that?

Oh, and by the way, I'd really like to thank all you guys for taking time out to help me with this. I appreciate it a lot.

[Decade]

The iMac doesn't have slots other than RAM. You can't replace the USB controller except by electrical engineering or replacing the motherboard.

Apple doesn't use serial numbers for OS licenses. They don't seem to want to bother verifying that any OS has been on any particular machine except for the original OS, and I don't think they make that publicly available. I don't know any PC reseller that keeps original restore disks for machines that old, either.

Originally Posted by nixgeek

Apple had the Power Mac 4400 which was made to be more "PC-like" in hardware support. It had both ADB ports and PS/2 ports for keyboard and mouse. Most Macintosh clones during the time of the 4400 also had PS/2 ports (my old StarMax 4000 from Motorola is but one example).

Yes, I thought about the 4400, remembering things like the StarMax 4000. However, the 4400 itself doesn't have PS/2 ports, as far as I can tell from any documentation or owner pictures. I was depending on a semantic distinction between Apple's computers and the clones.

[Nycto]

So basically, if reinstalling another OS does not work, I'm screwed?

I don't really want to invest more than the $70 I paid for the machine.

Maybe growing up on PC's has made me a little biased, but I'm going to be upset if I can't get my Mac to work because of something so relatively minor. Even on the laptop I bought two months ago has two methods through which an individual can interface with the machine. Therefore, if one ever quits working, there's another one available.

And that the usb ports are integrated into the motherboard board instead of being a seperate chip is in my mind another serious design flaw, because instead of replacing a card, I'll have to buy a whole new Mac.

Is there a way to issue a run command to the disc drive without using a mouse? Autorun is disable/nonexistant, and I want to install Ubuntu via a Live CD

[Decade]

If you have enough of the keyboard working, you could select an icon on the desktop and open things using the arrow keys and commands like Command-O to go into a directory.

However, Linux doesn't install easily from within MacOS or other protected operating systems. You're supposed to boot the Live CD, by having it in the drive while you reboot and you press either C for boot from CD or Command-Option-Shift-Delete for the boot drive selection menu. These options are available only before the OS loads.

[Nycto]

I've got a working mouse again. I was able to run from cd using the c command, and the Live cd loaded up fine, so I think this pretty much solves my problem, though I'm not really sure what happened, lol. I'm installing Ubuntu 6.06 now. Thanks guys for the help, it means a lot. If I have any further problems with the machine, I'll be back

For clarification, if I choose to purchase Mac OSX, is there a particular version that would best fit on a machine with my specs? I'm thinking about installing some extra ram I have laying around, not sure if they're compatible, but if so, I'd have 384 megs to play with...thoughts?

[Decade]

This is what Dan Knight is for.

While OS X versions have gotten faster on the same hardware with each release, that trend has sort of stopped at 10.4. So, last I checked, they tend to recommend 10.3 for machines with less than 512MB of RAM, and 10.4 for machines with more.