Connecting to older Macs without USB 2.0

Question

Connecting to older Macs without USB 2.0

Please use this thread to post successful methods of connecting 5G iPods to older Macs that do not have built-in USB 2.0.

The problem: The 5G iPods have dropped support for Firewire. You can connect them using USB 1.1, but this is painfully slow (USB 1.1 is 40 times slower than USB 2.0).

One solution: I own a PowerMac G4 that does not have built-in USB 2.0. I had previously installed an ADS Tech USB 2.0 card that claims to be compatible with OS X, but when I tried to use it to connect up my iPod, iTunes would lock up and I would have to force a reboot of my computer to kill it. Not a pretty sight. Apparently, Apple's USB drivers are not compatible with the majority of USB 2.0 cards out there. From other topics in this forum I read that the Belkin F5B220 USB 2.0 card will work. Luckily, Fry's let me return my old USB 2.0 card and I instead purchased the Belkin card, and it works great.

Why am I creating a new topic? To help other people who have the same problem, please post other ways to solve this problem. Please, let's not complain about the problem in this topic, just solutions, please.

Other people have said that the Belkin 3 port USB Hub (F5B219) also works, but I have not tried it myself. Can anyone verify?

I have also read that any USB 2.0 card with the NEC chip on it should work. When I was at Fry's, I saw a few other PCI cards that use the NEC chip (in particular, one from IOGear), but I have not tried any of them. Has anyone been able to connect an iPod using one of these boards?

Finally, are there any solutions for owners of older Macs without PCI card slots? For Powerbooks and iBooks that have PC card (PCMCIA) slots, which USB 2.0 interface cards work with the iPod?

Even worse, if you own a 12 inch Powerbook or an iMac that doesn't have built-in USB 2.0, is there any solution that will allow you to connect a 5G iPod, other than using (very slow) USB 1.1?

Posted on Nov 3, 2005 9:35 AM

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Answer 1

Ricktoronto

Level 6

11,560 points

Nov 3, 2005 9:56 PM in response to William Leler

I have a Sonnet USB 2.0 card in a G4 that has worked from day one. Most USB PC Cards should work, LaCie for example. No PC card or no PCI slots means no way to add USB 2, it is that simple.

I don't know how a USB hub is supposed to do anything unless it is plugged into a USB 2.0 port. Unless you mean a 3-port USB 2.0 PCI card.

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Answer 2

Nov 4, 2005 2:10 AM in response to William Leler

ooops, in the 4th paragraph, I meant the "Belkin 3 port USB CARD" (not Hub). Belkin makes a 3 port and a 5 port PCI card, both of which use the NEC chip.

Good to hear that the Sonnet USB 2.0 card works as well. Any others out there?

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Answer 3

Nov 4, 2005 9:15 PM in response to William Leler

I tried to connect my 5g ipod to my PowerBook G4 Titanium 1ghrz running OS 10.4.3 through the 1.1 USB port; it downloaded to my ipod only some songs, but most froze early in play and I or the ipod reset it. On the advice of Creative Computers, I tried the ipod Dock Connector to USB 2.0 + Firewire, and obviously, it didn't work. I tried the Adaptec Inc "USB2connect for Notebooks (AUA-1420A" and it didn't completed the download. I tried a SIIB Inc "HiSpeed USB CardBus Dual M" and when I would turn on the computer, a box told me to turn it off. After reading the above information and calling Belkin to verify that it would work (and being told that if I had a problem, they had 24 hour technical support), I bought a Belkin Hi-Speed USB 2.0 Notebook Card" (F5U222). It does not completely load the ipod. I called Belkin and they said that USB support only exists Monday through Friday. It appears that I am in need of a driver that none of the card manufacturers supply. If anyone has an idea where to locate one, please let me know.

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Answer 4

Nov 4, 2005 9:15 PM in response to William Leler

I tried to connect my 5g ipod to my PowerBook G4 Titanium 1ghrz running OS 10.4.3 through the 1.1 USB port; it downloaded to my ipod only some songs, but most froze early in play and I or the ipod reset it. On the advice of Creative Computers, I tried the ipod Dock Connector to USB 2.0 + Firewire, and obviously, it didn't work. I tried the Adaptec Inc "USB2connect for Notebooks (AUA-1420A" and it didn't completed the download. I tried a SIIB Inc "HiSpeed USB CardBus Dual M" and when I would turn on the computer, a box told me to turn it off. After reading the above information and calling Belkin to verify that it would work (and being told that if I had a problem, they had 24 hour technical support), I bought a Belkin Hi-Speed USB 2.0 Notebook Card" (F5U222). It does not completely load the ipod. I called Belkin and they said that USB support only exists Monday through Friday. It appears that I am in need of a driver that none of the card manufacturers supply. If anyone has an idea where to locate one, please let me know.

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Answer 5

Nov 4, 2005 10:06 PM in response to Roger Gunson

this might sound stupid but how do I know if my iMac G4 has usb 2.0 or not. The profiler shows a high speed usb bus to 480mb/sec?

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Answer 6

Nov 5, 2005 12:16 PM in response to William Leler

I need a USB 2.0 card, but I'm not sure if our computer (G4) has a PCI slot. In system profiler, it says:
Name: ADPT,2930**
Type: scsi
Bus: PCI
Slot: SLOT-B
Vendor ID: 0x9004
Device ID: 0x5078
Subsystem Vendor ID: 0x9004
Subsystem ID: 0x7850
Revision ID: 0x0003
Can I use a belkin USB 2.0 card so my new fifth gen ipod won't sync so slowly?

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Answer 7

Nov 5, 2005 12:21 PM in response to Dean Goranson

<q> The profiler shows a high speed usb bus to 480mb/sec?</q>

That's USB 2.0 specs...

JJ

Don't steal music !! Just a statement, not an accusation

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Answer 8

Bill M

Level 3

600 points

Nov 8, 2005 8:18 PM in response to William Leler

A tip of the hat to you, William, for this attempt.

I want to buy a 5G for my girlfriend, but she has an iMac with no USB 2. I was just thinking of this workaround, wonder if anyone who has a 5G could try this -

Is it possible to get music to ipod while using Target Disk Mode?

I was able to run Disk Warrior on a friend's Powermac using my PBook as the Start-up disk. So I thought I could use my PBook as the bridge between a new iPod and the no-USB iMac.

Of course, this would only solve the initial transfer,; but that IS the big hurdle.

As a follow-up: In System Profiler, does a USB 2 port indicate the 480 bit rate ALL the TIME?
I believe that my Pbook (FW800) has USB 2, but since I have no USB 2 devices, I cannot be sure.

The only way I can be sure (unless someone here knows) is to go to an Apple Store.

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Answer 9

Nov 9, 2005 12:55 AM in response to William Leler

I am using an IOGear USB 2 5 port PCI card (4 outside ports 1 inside) on my QuickSilver 867. It has the NEC chip. I got it about 8 months ago. All is well. The transfer rate is really good, seems close to firewire speed. I am so glad it works. I was really worried after reading about some of the issues with the older Macs that are pre USB2.
I must say I am loving the 5g 30. I upgraded from a 3g 15.
Good luck to all.
Ben

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Answer 10

pominoz

Level 1

108 points

Nov 9, 2005 9:40 AM in response to William Leler

I have an older 15" PB Ti with USB 1.1 and I too am frustrated by the slow speed of syncing, but the biggest delays appears to be the syncronising of the calendar and contact information. This has been remedied by simply turning off the syncronisation in preferences. However, I want to upgrade my PB to USB 2.0 but I don´t see any references on this thread yet for this machine. My research has turned up the (Hi-Speed USB 2.0 Notebook Card
Part # F5U222) from Belkin. Has anyone had any experience with this PC-card (PCMCIA) and if so did you have any success?

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Answer 11

Nov 9, 2005 11:14 AM in response to William Leler

So far the Belkin USB 2.0 card is working fine, but I did have a slight problem. When I bought the Belkin card, I also bought an IOGear USB 2.0 hub and flash memory card reader. Originally, I plugged my iPod into the hub, but a couple of times, when I had a lot of music to transfer to the iPod it would lock up. iTunes would go unresponsive, and I would have to unhook the iPod while it still said "do not disconnect" on it, or else power off my Macintosh and reboot it (either of which is not a very good thing!). After that happened a few times, I plugged the iPod cable directly into the USB 2.0 card, and I haven't had the same problem again (but this has only been a few days, so I can't be totally sure that fixed it).

Just wanted to post something, in case other people are having problems with iTunes/iPod locking up while syncing. If you are using a hub, try plugging the iPod in directly to the USB 2.0 card. Unfortunately, this is a bit inconvenient since I have to fumble around behind my computer to plug it in, so I may have to buy another one of those expensive iPod USB cables so I can leave one plugged in.

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Answer 12

pominoz

Level 1

108 points

Nov 9, 2005 12:03 PM in response to William Leler

I had the same problem with my son´s iPod Shuffle but using a USB 1.1 card and hub. I plugged my son's iPod Shuffle into the the hub and everything looked fine until syncronising and then it would lock up. I started to get worried after many attempts until I plugged the Shuffle directly into the computer and all was hunky dory after that. I did post an article in the Shuffle group but was surprised to see the same thing here with the 5G iPod.

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Answer 13

Nov 9, 2005 6:10 PM in response to Bill M

To Bill M. and the rest:

I tried the same thing: Target disk mode, which I asked about in another thread. It seems like a perfect fix that would let a USB 2.0 Mac, via Firewire, to become a bridge between the USB 1.1 Mac and the 5G iPod. The problem is that if you try to transfer the songs normally, by opening iTunes (from either Mac, by the way), it only accesses the iTunes library of the host computer, in this case the other person's library.

There might be a way to access a different library, but I couldn't do it--even changing the "where to find the library" or whatever settings in iTunes preferences never opened up the library on my USB 1.1 Mac in Target Disk Mode.

But, here's What To Do: in Target Disk Mode, transfer the songs directly AS FILES via the Finder from the user/music/itunes/itunes music spot onto the iPod icon that shows up in iTunes on the USB 2.0 Mac. This gets you over the big initial loading hurdle. Afterwards, I used my own older Mac to sync up playlists and all. Maybe I could've done that the other way--who knows.

Elsewhere amongst these posts, someone mentioned they were told by the Genius Bar that it may actually prematurely wear down your new 5G iPod harddrive if you load a ton of songs at such a slow speed via USB 1.1.

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Answer 14

Nov 9, 2005 10:13 PM in response to William Leler

I'm happy to announce that I went to compusa and bought their Compusa brand 2 Port USB 2.0 Card Bus and it works great. I have a Powerbook G4 1Ghz. I didn't even need to install the drivers, I just popped it and it was recognized. I am running Mac OS X 10.4.3. I copied over 7000 songs and 2000 pics and two videos in just over an hour. The card was only $30, don't buy the more expensive IO Gear or Adaptec one. Also any Powerbook G3 or G4 will support this card. PC, PCMCIA, PCMCIA 2 and Card Bus all work. Cheers!!!

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Answer 15

Nov 10, 2005 7:06 PM in response to Jared Suchil

To the folks using USB 2.0 cards with older Powerbooks...

I notice that they come with power adapters. I was under the impression that you just plug it into the PCI slot and it got power from there. Is this wrong? I actually have to plug the thing in and carry the AC adapter around with me everywhere I go with my powerbook?

Thanks,
Chris

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