Convert USB 1.1 to 2.0?

[art4tees]

I have a Quicksilver G4 with a recently upgraded processor. (733 mHz to 1.47gHz) Is there a way to upgrade the USB ports?

 

[hughvane]

I believe you can install a PCI USB2 card in your G4, but the native USB1 ports cannot be upgraded.

 

[fletch33]

i have a G4 sawtooth and put in a pci usb2 card and it works great.

 

[stormbound]

Yeah, the bus speed is limited so you can't upgrade USB 1.1 to 2.0. A USB 2.0 PCI card should do the trick

 

[louishen]

I have a bulk standard USB 2 card in mine, just worked straight out of the box

 

[stormbound]

It will work but your speed will be limited to USB 1.1 speeds.

 

[louishen]

It will work but your speed will be limited to USB 1.1 speeds.

Installing a USB 2 card in a PCI slot gives you full USB 2 speed on the ports on the card

 

[stormbound]

Oh sorry, I thought you meant a USB hub into a USB port, my apologies. You are correct with your last statement.

 

[harryb2448]

Some times drivers can present a few problems. When card is installed go to Apple System Profiler (ABout this Mac>USB) and make sure USB2 is shown as High Speed Bus AppleUSBEH1C.

 

[hughvane]

I have a bulk standard USB 2 card in mine, just worked straight out of the box

Have you a brand name for that PCI card, and would it provide USB2 for my b/w G3 350? I know about the Sonnet Tango, which has Firewire as well, but the price in NZ is stratospheric!

 

[Moto4Fun]

Will any PCI USB card work, or does it have to be specifically compatible with MAC? There appears to be quite the price discrepancy on EBay between the $8-$9 cards that don't list Mac compatibility, and the $20 ones that do. I was under the assumption that they all work.

Is there a proven favorite among Mac users?

 

[hughvane]

Will any PCI USB card work ... Is there a proven favorite among Mac users?

See the debate here Which PCI USB 2 card? - The macosxhints Forums

 

[Moto4Fun]

Interesting thread. I would expect to hear more about this issue. Incidentally I did buy a card from Best Buy tonight. The computer recognizes it, but some weird things happen. If the keyboard and mouse are plugged into it, they can't wake it from sleep. In fact it sleeps kinda weird. I had a difficult time getting the monitor to wake up, but could hear a movie playing through the speaker. It doesn't seem to have the full speed of USB2.0 either. I have been using Senuti to upload some stuff and it is REALLY SLOOOW. I suppose it could be a function of the Senuti software. But I think the upload rate was about the same on the 1.1 port.

I may take it back. Anyone have positive results installing a USB card in an expansion port?

 

[louishen]

Have you a brand name for that PCI card, and would it provide USB2 for my b/w G3 350? I know about the Sonnet Tango, which has Firewire as well, but the price in NZ is stratospheric!

It was a bulk standard noname USB card from Maplin (our equivalent of Radio Shack)

 

[hughvane]

It was a bulk standard noname USB card

Thanks Louishen.

 

[harryb2448]

Many USB2 PCI cards do cause sleep problems, which is well documented. Have a look at this:-

Pci Usb 2.0 Card And Sleep Problems - macosx.com

Using the one I recommended to you in a personal message causes no sleep problems in my FW800 G4.

 

[hughvane]

PCI USB2 card

Using the one I recommended to you in a personal message causes no sleep problems in my FW800 G4.

Hey Harry, I was going to ask you to post that link in this thread, because I think quite a few people would appreciate your experience of it - and its price!

 

[harryb2448]

OK. Have purchased USB2 cards from this dealer and the card works great and is recognised no problems and his service is first class, and cheap and comes with 90 day warranty:--

Brand New 6 Ports USB 2.0 PCI Card For All Mac G3/G4/G5 - eBay (item 260327479857 end time Feb-03-09 06:31:45 PST)

 

[art4tees]

USB Cards

Thanks to all who gave advice and help to me on this... I appreciate the effort and have a great New Year!