# Netgear MA111 USB Wireless Adapter problem



## johnmltx (Jan 1, 2008)

I recently bought a Mac G4 Power PC Graphite used from a friend of mine for $30. (By the way, i'm only 13) My parents said that I cannot buy any new hardware or software for it, including upgrades. The mac is running 10.1.5 with 320 meg of ram. I need to get a netgear ma111 usb wireless adapter to work, otherwise i will be without internet. Does anyone know how to solve this problem?


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## cleal (Jan 1, 2008)

I'll point you in the right direction although I don't know if your particular MA111 will work with OS X. Netgear doesn't support OS X for this device and it probably has used at least two chipsets during its production life so the trick is to find out what chipset your MA111 has.

You can start by inserting the USB in a slot at looking at System Profiler, Apple menu --> About this Mac --> more Info -->Hardware -->USB --> USB Device Tree. (These are OS 10.4.11 directions)

You should be able to see the device plus Manufacturer, Product ID and Vendor ID. You can use this information to try and find a driver by searching the net using Google.

There is one driver mentioned in a thread on this site at http://macosx.com/tech-support/wireless-usb-adapter-for-imac/14040.html that MAY work but I wouldn't count on it.

Your first task should be to get to a newer OS. 10.3.9 at minimum. Drivers are usually tied to the newer versions of the OS. You will make the search even more difficult by looking for a version that works with OS 10.1. That's too close to the beginning of OS X and many changes have occured since then.

Good luck. The results will be worth it.


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## johnmltx (Jan 2, 2008)

I'm only 13, so all online purchases have to be made through my parents, and they said that i can't spend any money at all on software or hardware for the mac in question. unless jaguar or panther suddenly becomes free, then i won't be able to get internet on it.


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## cleal (Jan 2, 2008)

You should be able to get a free copy of 10.3 from someone who has moved on to Tiger locally. It's not illegal to give it to someone who can use it. You just have to find a retail version not a machine specific version. Look for your nearest mac users group, graphics design shops, Craigslist. You're 13, use your imagination!!


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## johnmltx (Jan 2, 2008)

i live in a suburb of dallas, and nothing like that is over here.
also, would a tiger boot disc for a mac book work on a power mac g4 graphite with 512 meg of ram (upgraded again.)?
the person who sold me the mac bought a mac book with tiger, but recently upgraded to leopard.


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## cleal (Jan 2, 2008)

johnmltx said:


> i live in a suburb of dallas, and nothing like that is over here.



Get a grip; you're giving us a bad name. I live 35-95 miles away, depending on your suburb, but I was able to quickly Google and find a meeting for you in Richardson on Saturday the 12th where I'm sure you'll be able to find sources for all your needs. It's at http://www.acd.us/

_*Welcome to Apple Corps of Dallas*
We meet on the second Saturday of every month at the Richardson Civic Center in Richardson, TX at the junction of Central Expressway (75) and Arapaho Rd. (Look at the map-click on it for larger view) 
Meetings consist of early morning SIG (Special interest group) sessions with the Final Cut Pro (video) and Garageband (music) groups, followed by the General Meeting featuring special guests, raffles and give-a-ways, business and fun; followed by more SIGS (Mac Help Desk, Filemaker Pro, Graphics/Art & Photography and more).
If you have video or audio of any the ACD meeting or other content for a SIG (special Interest Group) that you would like to show - contact the webmaster
Special Interest Groups currently in operation are (and meet) at:

9:00am-10:00am | Youth SIG (with Linda Reis)
9:00am-10:00am | Final Cut Pro SIG
9:00am-10:00am | Music SIG
10am-11:00am | Main Meeting
_


johnmltx said:


> also, would a tiger boot disc for a mac book work on a power mac g4 graphite with 512 meg of ram (upgraded again.)?
> the person who sold me the mac bought a mac book with tiger, but recently upgraded to leopard.



Probably not, that's why I recommended a retail (all versions) model. I think they're crippled for that same reason. I may be wrong though.


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## johnmltx (Jan 3, 2008)

Actually, my dad finally agreed to buy a full version of Tiger off of eBay (along with the other upgrades needed to run Tiger.) I also added another hard drive and upgraded the ram to 512 megs, so I'm set now.


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## cleal (Jan 3, 2008)

Great!! I looked in my closet this afternoon and only found a boxed set of 10.2 so that would not have been too much of an improvement for you.

Make sure you download the combined update to get from 10.4 to 10.4.11 and then run Disk Utility and repair permissions. You should then be set.  Good luck!!


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