Paul Hillman

Q: recognize WiFi PCI card after removing it

I have a Titanium G4 Powerbook running 10.4, Tiger.  I am using a LinkSys 802.11G WiFi PCI card. As far as I know/remember this machine wouldn't take an Airport Extreme card, so this is a work around (and I had it).  It gives an item in the menu bar with the choices: unknown vendor/network controller/power off card. The first two always grayed out.

 

If I turn off Airport, and power down the card, then remove it I can't reinstall it and have Airport recognize it (I guess because the Apple Airport cards were not removable).  Reinserting the card the menu item reappears, with the same choses,  System Profiler gives the same info on the card, but Airport can't be turned on.  The only way is to restart.  (I am not 100% sure right now but I think the only way to have Airport recognize the card  is to restart with the card in place).  Is there anyway to get Airport to re-recognize the card?

Posted on Jun 12, 2011 2:57 PM

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Q: recognize WiFi PCI card after removing it

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  • by Braby,

    Braby Braby Jun 13, 2011 12:53 AM in response to Paul Hillman
    Level 4 (1,795 points)
    Jun 13, 2011 12:53 AM in response to Paul Hillman

    The first question is are you sure the  Linksys card is Mac-compatible? Most wifi cards aren't.

    I can't quite figure out if you ever had this card working with this machine in the past.

    If not at best you may need to look for some OSX drivers - if they exist.

  • by Paul Hillman,

    Paul Hillman Paul Hillman Jun 13, 2011 8:42 PM in response to Braby
    Level 1 (45 points)
    Jun 13, 2011 8:42 PM in response to Braby

    Barby,

    Thanks for looking and replying.   On a restart/reboot with the card in place it works great!  Its just sometimes you want to turn it off to conserve battery, say when traveling, or remove the card since it sticks out. 

     

    For network hardware configuration I found a very informative blog at

     

    http://macstuff.beachdogs.org/blog/?p=44

     

    Which discusses the command networksetup that is available via terminal.  You can tell it to turn airport on/off and to recognize new hardware and even that doesn't seem to work, so it would seem I am SOL and just have to restart.

     

    (In the long run, I rarely need this, but when I do it would be nice.  This is just a extra old laptop I leave on the kitchen table to read news in the morning)

  • by Braby,

    Braby Braby Jun 14, 2011 12:05 AM in response to Paul Hillman
    Level 4 (1,795 points)
    Jun 14, 2011 12:05 AM in response to Paul Hillman

    Now that is puzzling. I think you're way ahead of me on this one!  The only observation I would make is that I think all PowerBooks are capable of accommodating an internal card whether or not one was installed originally.

    It might be worth investigating the possibility of picking one up on eBay or the like otherwise you're probably right -

    its all about effort and reward!

  • by eww,

    eww eww Jun 14, 2011 1:18 PM in response to Braby
    Level 9 (52,994 points)
    Jun 14, 2011 1:18 PM in response to Braby

    The only observation I would make is that I think all PowerBooks are capable of accommodating an internal card whether or not one was installed originally.

    This is true of all Powerbook G4s, but no Titanium G4 can use an Airport Extreme card. Tibooks came with the original Airport (802.11b) card installed internally or with an empty slot for one, but the Extreme (802.11g) card has an entirely different form factor and can't be used with those machines. To get g or n speed, one must use the CardBus (PCMCIA) slot.

     

    Given the way the machine in question is to be used — "on the kitchen table to read news in the morning" — it shouldn't be any inconvenience to leave it plugged into AC power, making it unnecessary to remove the LinkSys card to save the battery.