04-25-2009, 05:00 PM

Hi,i am new to using macs,i bought one off ebay second hand about a month ago withough realising it has only two usb ports,it is a powermac g4,400mhz hdd,512mb ram running tiger 10.4.11.
Firstly i tried connecting a powered usb hub from one of the original usb ports to plug in either the keyboard or mouse but with no effect.next i installed a usb 4 port pci card internally but again no luck.
i have now tried a second pci usb expansion card but it only seems to work intermittently.
i have several questions that need answering and since i am new to macs but have lots of experience of upgrading windows computers any help would be gratefully received!!!
Firstly,am i right in thinking the mac os should recognise a internal pci card automatically??? the one i have now didnt come with any drivers and there are none on the website even though that and the box state it works with tiger10.4.11.
i have an external usb hdd i use,when i plug that into the original usb port and the k/b and mouse into the expansion card the mouse freezes,is this a problem of the psu not putting out enough power to power everything?? also the k/b is not recognised intermittently???
if this nwas a windows pc i would have problem solved by now but as i am a novice i amtearing my hair out,any help or sugggestions would be gratefully received!!!

04-25-2009, 05:12 PM

Firstly, Every single USB External Powered USB Hub I have ever used on any of my Macs has worked fine. I have a 500Mhz G4 (Same model as yours but faster) and all my hubs work fine. 2 USB ports was still quite standard back when that machine was made. That is an OLD Mac.

Also the ports are USB 1.1 like other older computers of that time period.

Not all Internal PCI USB 2.0 cards are made to support OSX. I have had very good luck with this one Belkin 5 port PCI card here.

This is the card I am using and it works 100%. Has the Mac OS symbol on the package.

Newegg.com - BELKIN Hi-Speed USB 2.0 5-Port PCI Card Model F5U220v1 - Add-On Cards

04-25-2009, 05:44 PM

Ok thanx perhaps i need to try that belkin card,although both cards i have tried state they work with mac os 10.4 tiger,thanx for the suggestion,appreciate it!

04-25-2009, 05:45 PM

What brand and model are the cards you are trying?

04-25-2009, 05:59 PM

And always, always, plug the keyboard into the first USB port on the computer and never use hubs with keyboards. A PCI card will be recognised only if the chip is Mac compatible. Generally they are pretty flakey and a last resort.

Try booting from the install DVD, running Repair Disk, reboot and run Repair Permissions.

04-25-2009, 06:01 PM

I would plug the keyboard / mouse into the inbuilt USB 1 ports

Leave anything that requires more bandwidth to the USB 2 PCI card.

I never had any problems with the generic USB 2 card that I put in my old G4, despite the fact it never claimed to be OS X compatible

04-25-2009, 09:59 PM

Well, I'm going to sing the praises of powered USB hubs. I've used them for years now, going back to a Kouwell brand (two of), USB 1.1, with a hoofing great brick of a power adaptor. They never let me down. Nothing like having the motherboard USB ports, depending on their placement, available for flash drives etc, everyday low demand things like k/b and mouse via the hub.

I use a Cyberpower battery unit and a Targus now, both supporting USB2, which matches my eMac's capability.

I respectfully disagree with Harry about keyboards in hubs, with the exception of generic ones (which I use) intended for Win. They often refuse to work after the Mac goes to sleep, requiring the USB plug to be pulled and reinserted, which fixes things.

I agree with Harry about using the appropriate OS boot disk (CD?) to run Disk Utility, and effect any required maintenance from that.

04-29-2009, 04:19 PM

i have purchased a belkin usb card with a nec chipset,so far so good!!!!!!! thanx all for your help,it has been appreciated!

04-29-2009, 04:24 PM

Sounds like the card I have. Glad it's working for you.