Powerbook G4 Airport help

D

Darren-S

Guest
Hi all,

I'm not too familiar with Macs, so this may sound a little basic!

First off, am I correct in saying that all Powerbook G4 17" laptops come with Airport Extreme cards built into them? Apple's website seems to indicate this but this is where our issue lies. I've yet to find anything in OSX that indicates the presence of an Airport card.....

The G4 itself is nearly two years old, but we bought an Airport Extreme Base Station just last week. Thinking that both the G4 and Base Station would happily talk to one another, I was surprised to hit this problem so early on.

In the Network tab of System Preferences, I cannot see the Airport card listed. Only USB Bluetooth Modem Adaptor, Internal Modem and Built-in Ethernet are shown. Also, the More Info tab within About This Mac doesn't refer to any Airport card either.

My initial thoughts were that this G4 simply has no Airport card within it. Yet, if you remove the laptop battery, sure enough, there's an Airport Extreme reference number there, along with the MAC address, serial number, etc.

Coming from a PC background, trying to fumble my way around the workings of a G4 is like trying to learn Chinese in a week! :) In the PC environment, I'd want to check the BIOS and see if 'Airport' was enabled. Do G4's have anything like a BIOS or pre-boot options screen?

Any help would be much appreciated.....

Cheers,
D.
 
Joined
Oct 30, 2004
Messages
4,374
Reaction score
55
Points
48
Location
San Antonio, Texas
Your Mac's Specs
PowerMac G4 Cube 450mhz 832mb
have you tried opening airport set up assistant or airport admin utility in the utilities folder to configure it? also, the AP card usually needs to be turned on via the airport menubar item, or in network preferences. so are you saying that when you click about this mac, then click more info, and under airport in the hardware section of system profiler? if that is the case, there is no airport card. how old is the pbook? was it purchased from apple's site?
 
OP
D

Darren-S

Guest
Macman said:
have you tried opening airport set up assistant or airport admin utility in the utilities folder to configure it? also, the AP card usually needs to be turned on via the airport menubar item, or in network preferences. so are you saying that when you click about this mac, then click more info, and under airport in the hardware section of system profiler? if that is the case, there is no airport card. how old is the pbook? was it purchased from apple's site?


Hi Vincent,

Thanks for the feedback! There's no mention of the Airport within System Profiler at all. As for the Network Configurations screen, it simply shows the following:-

NetworkPortConfig-640x480.jpg


The Apple G4 itself was purchased around June 2003, though I couldn't tell you if it was directly from Apple or not. And as for the Airport Assitant, it does say that no Airport Card was detected - despite all the documentation (and Airport Extreme reference on the chassis) saying otherwise....

Cheers,
Darren.
 
Joined
Oct 30, 2004
Messages
4,374
Reaction score
55
Points
48
Location
San Antonio, Texas
Your Mac's Specs
PowerMac G4 Cube 450mhz 832mb
I see you're running jaguar, and are unaware of taking screenshots, lol. if it does not say there is an AP card, there is not, what you saw on the chassis is most likely the slot/enclosure where an AP card sits. apple only recently started making the Ap card built in, so if it is more than a year and a half to 2 years old, it is a model from before they were included, though you can buy one and install it yourself.
o, shift+command+3=screenshot
shift+command+4 = crosshairs, drag to select desired area,
shift+command+4+ tap space bar=camera, takes a shot of any window its over.
 
OP
D

Darren-S

Guest
Taking screenshots? I've learnt something new today as far as Macs go!

I've been posted a pdf file going through the installation of an Airport card for the 17" G4's. Looks like I need a Torx-8 screw-bit which I'm picking up this afternoon. It makes sense what you're saying and I guess taking the lid off will prove the presence of an Airport card - one way or another.

Nice Mustang on the avatar, btw.....

D.
 
Joined
Oct 30, 2004
Messages
4,374
Reaction score
55
Points
48
Location
San Antonio, Texas
Your Mac's Specs
PowerMac G4 Cube 450mhz 832mb
cool. its not a mustang, its the 2006 chevy camaro reintroduction concept. :)
o, and if you want to post an image here, open the screenshot pdf in preview, export as a jpg, and post that, so we can see it.
 
Joined
Feb 28, 2005
Messages
347
Reaction score
1
Points
18
Location
South Jersey
Macman said:
I see you're running jaguar, and are unaware of taking screenshots, lol. if it does not say there is an AP card, there is not, what you saw on the chassis is most likely the slot/enclosure where an AP card sits. apple only recently started making the Ap card built in, so if it is more than a year and a half to 2 years old, it is a model from before they were included, though you can buy one and install it yourself.
o, shift+command+3=screenshot
shift+command+4 = crosshairs, drag to select desired area,
shift+command+4+ tap space bar=camera, takes a shot of any window its over.


Thanks Macman,

I always wanted to know how to do this but was afraid to ask
:dummy: :dummy: sweeeeeettttttttt
 

dtravis7


Retired Staff
Joined
Jan 4, 2005
Messages
30,133
Reaction score
703
Points
113
Location
Modesto, Ca.
Your Mac's Specs
MacMini M-1 MacOS Monterey, iMac 2010 27"Quad I7 , MBPLate2011, iPad Pro10.5", iPhoneSE
Reflow said:
Thanks Macman,

I always wanted to know how to do this but was afraid to ask
:dummy: :dummy: sweeeeeettttttttt

Please do not be afraid to ask questions. There are people here who will be glad to help you!
 
Joined
Feb 28, 2005
Messages
347
Reaction score
1
Points
18
Location
South Jersey
dtravis7 said:
Please do not be afraid to ask questions. There are people here who will be glad to help you!

Dtravis,
I know just like to read other threads and I learn from them :) Plus I won't use my MAC to its full potential. Like some people in graphic & design work
 
Joined
Oct 30, 2004
Messages
4,374
Reaction score
55
Points
48
Location
San Antonio, Texas
Your Mac's Specs
PowerMac G4 Cube 450mhz 832mb
Reflow said:
Thanks Macman,

I always wanted to know how to do this but was afraid to ask
:dummy: :dummy: sweeeeeettttttttt
glad I could help.:mac:
 
Joined
Mar 20, 2005
Messages
1,416
Reaction score
57
Points
48
Location
Michigan, USA
Your Mac's Specs
1.67 Ghz 17" PB w/1 GB Ram; 400 MHz PM G4, 366Mhz iBook Firewire, Nano 4GB Black
thanks too Macman, I wan't really looking for help on Screenshots, but it's nice to know. In the past, I just opened Grabber.
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top