pismo PCMCIA and USB 2.0

fishgoogles,

The Pismo can take full advantage of USB 2.0 PC card speeds if you have the correct OS and drivers. Since you did not mention what OS you are running, here are a few simple rules.

No version of 9.x supports USB 2.0 nor are there any drivers to do so; USB 2.0 defaults to 1.1 speeds.

MacOS X 10.2 and later support USB 2.0 with these qualifications:

1. 10.2.0 > 10.2.6: Any USB 2.0 card must have compatible third-party drivers.
2. 10.2.8 > 10.4.11: Apple added native support for USB 2.0 PC cards but not all cards work due to the different USB2 chipsets used in these cards.

I believe the Adaptec card is supported in 10.2.8 and later but will have to investigate further.

I have an Adstech USB 2.0 card that works fine but, only when I plug an AC adapter into the card.

Hey,

I bought the cheapest POS USB 2.0 Adapter I could find on ebay. I didn't even say it worked with a Mac. It took 2 weeks to came from hong kong, and it cost less than 10 dollars shipped. It works great in my Pimo running 10.4.11

I followed your advice, and it does not work. I plug an external HD (I have to plug the USB to AC adaptor into my Pismo's USB 1 port to get enough power), I see the drive, but if I try to copy a big file (40 MB or more) it beachballs... Should I get power from an external power adaptor? I'll try, but I'm skeptical. Why wouldn't I get enough power from the Pismo?

Thanks,

Mike

Mike,

A couple of points when using USB 2.0 or FireWire PC cards:

-They do not supply the same voltage to the device like the built-in USB and FireWire ports. Generally any device beyond a USB keyboard or mouse requires its own power supply.

-USB PC cards use a variety of USB2 controllers and some are not fully compatible with Apple's USB 2.0 drivers. One symptom of an incompatible card is the inability to transfer a large file transfer or even initiate a small file transfer.

-If you are connecting a 2.5" USB HD, you should get enough power for the HD; if connecting a 3.5" HD, you probably need to connect its power adapter. Generally, if the HD mounts on the desktop, there is enough power but I cannot be sure.

If power is not the issue, I would buy a known-compatible USB 2.0 PC card like this one:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/ADS%20Technologies%20Inc./USBX2001/

This card offers an optional AC adapter to directly power the PC card:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/IOGEAR/GPU202/