# Windows ATI Radeon 9550 AGP card in a PowerMac G4?



## LeoTheLion89 (Feb 8, 2012)

i might get a PowerMac G4 and i am wondering if my ATI Radeon 9550 AGP card will work (since the APG card included has a rounded unusable DVI Port) i know that the last model of the iBook G4 had 9550 graphics the monitor i would use is a flat panel with 1280x1024 resolution since OS X has native ATI drivers will this card work?

I also have a PCI SATA/eSATA Controller Card that is for Windows will this work natively for OS X? i also have a 2 Port USB Card im assuming is for Windows (dont have specs) will this work with generic USB Drivers with the Mac OS? is it also possible to remove the Zip Drive and Bazel and in its place install a USB 2.0 Card Reader?


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## DeltaMac (Feb 8, 2012)

You do need to know that AGP graphics cards that can be used in a Mac, have special firmware on the card to enable use with an Apple logic board and the Mac OS X operating system. If the ROM is still the PC/Windows firmware, then it WON'T work in a Mac. 
Here's a general list of the types of graphics cards you can use:
An original Apple-supplied card.
A third-party graphics card, sold as compatible with Macs
Other cards that don't have Mac firmware will NOT work in a Mac, unless you can 'flash' the firmware with Mac-supported firmware. Some can be flashed, yet are not stable when used in a Mac. Others need a slight wiring adjustment on the card itself. Yet others require a power connector attached directly to the card, in addition to what's available through the card's slot.
Here's a site with some information about that: http://themacelite.wikidot.com/
Another, with a lot of information (if you want to wade through it all) http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/video.html

The important thing to remember - your 9550 is a Windows graphics card, and will NOT work in a Mac, unless you can flash the firmware with a Mac version (if it exists).
And I don't find ANY information about flashing a 9550 for a Mac.
Best choice, I think, is to find an actual Mac vid card. The Radeon 9700 for Mac is a nice one (if you can locate any)

BTW, the rounded DVI connector, although technically a DVI, is actually an ADC connector - Apple's proprietary modification to the DVI, and not a damaged connector.


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## LeoTheLion89 (Feb 8, 2012)

i can get a ADC to DVI adaptor but they are pricy however i can just Load OSx86 ATI ktexts and get my ATI Radeon 9550 workings that way can't i? then again even with ktexts it dont even work about 1024x768 resolution when used in a Hackintosh


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## DeltaMac (Feb 8, 2012)

Ah, sure...
The graphics card is controlled by the motherboard, the chipset, and the operating system.
The Mac G4 has a 'foreign' motherboard, and a chipset that won't use the video card, unless the video card has an Apple ROM.
The OSx86 stuff won't help you at all, because this is NOT an Intel mac - You cannot run Windows directly on the Powermac, as there's not a hint of support for anything Windows in the hardware.
The software that allows you to run Windows on your Mac creates all the hardware in software - and you end up with a Windows system running on the equivalent of a Pentium II @ 233 MHz, with SVGA VESA graphics for video.
That makes a deadly slow Windows system, and does not use the video hardware, as it's all created in software, so no support through Windows at all, even if the video card is working. You would still have a 9550 that won't work at all in the Mac hardware.


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