Connecting to older Macs without USB 2.0

'm in the same boat and not quite ready to replace my USB 1 iMac G4.
Has anyone tried the Macally Combination FW/USB2 hub
If you do not have USB 2.0 port on your computer to plug this hub into, you will still not have USB 2.0.

"I'm not a software guy so I don't know if/ how it would work, but someone is missing the boat bigtime if there's a way to build a 1394USB 2.0 standalone converter for the hundreds of thousands of USB 1.1 iMacs and iBooks out there that have no other option (like me)."

I totally agree.
I've contacted Macally tech support and will hopefully hear from them soon - I'll keep you posted.

Cheers Martin

Ah, just as I hit the post button Macally's reply came in:

"1. USB1.1 port support 1.1 speed only. No matter what kind hub you're using, it will not make it USB2.0 speed.
2. USB and Firewire are different and not converable."

Well, I guess I'll better keep my 4G iPod running happily for some time to come - there goes Apple's profit 😉

Martin

See up... It's not what it appears to be 😟

Is this the card you have?

IOGEAR GIC250U 5-Port USB 2.0 PCI Card (USB 2.0)

I have a 500MHz Power PC G4 with AGP graphics. I am running Mac OS-X 10.3.9 and iTunes 6.0.1. I installed a Belkin 5-port USB 2.0 PCI card (model F5U220). This card works perfectly with the new iPod video and an older iPod mini. I did not need to install any drivers. It worked right off the bat.

Another question along the same lines.. Do any of the USB2.0/FW400 combo PCI cards work with the 5th gen iPod? Reason I ask is the firewire in my G3 just pooped out about a month ago and I don't feel like replacing another motherboard but I only have one PCI slot free and I'd like to have both the faser USB2.0 for my new iPod and firewire for my 1st gen iPod...

B&W G3/450 Mac OS X (10.4.3)

I also installed an ADS Tech USB 2.0 card into my 733 Mghz G4. I installed the driver which came with it and tested it first with my printer. OK. Plugged in my new Gen5 iPod, and after it opened iTunes and went into update mode, it gave me a message that the "iPod software was not up to date, so some songs would not be transferred".

Essentially, it tranfered none of the songs which I've purchased from the iTunes store, only those I've loaded from CD. I was also entirely unsuccessful with loading the one correctly formatted video I had in iTunes. (It won't even transfer a playlist containing that video).

When I run the latest iPod updater, it asks for an iPod to connect. When I do, the app does nothing else. I thought the card might be the problem, so I tried USB 1.1 (built in) but get entirely the same results, only slower.

I also seem unable to display album artwork -- the option just isn't there in iTunes where the manual says it should be.

I'm at my wits end. I guess I should mention that after the first time everything loaded, I went to the "About" screen on the iPod and found that they had given me an iPod formatted for Windows. Thinking that might be the problem, I went back to the store and they plugged it into one of their machines. iPod updater immediately saw the iPod and a restore to Mac format was done. Bringing the Pod home, all of the previously mentioned problems still existed.

Running iTunes 6.0.1, Quicktime 7.0.3, and iPod Updater from 11-17-2005

HELP!!!!!!

So after reading the Loong complaining thread and now this more helpful thread I gather my older imac G4 with USB1 ports will work with my new G5 video ipod just slower than FW? Did they pack the proper cable for me to use the two together? I need help with this as I don't know whether to return the ipod or not.
Thanks,
Ben

"In theory" it should.... So I would be courious how it goes because my daughter has one under the tree that's unopened as of yet. USB 1.1 is so slow it's painful with these files. A 24Gb USB 1.1 xfer took 17 hours with LOTS of problems onto a USB 2.0 backup drive. I assume the iPod will be equally as slow. My iMac is real finneky about even mounting USB 2 devices for some reason.

Summary: D-Link DUB-C2 Hi-Speed USB 2.0 Cardbus Adapter works in 867MHz TiPB w/10.4.3 and Shuffle iPod 1GB

It cost $39, same as the CompUSA PCMCIA card mentioned above.

During AutoFill an alert was displayed about five times, to the effect of:

"There is not enough room for everything, I'll put on as much as possible."

No idea if that [the vaguely disturbing repetition of the alert] is related to the DLink adaptor or not.

The Shuffle appears to be charging, although that's strangely hard to ascertain (indicator on the front is pinkish-orange, battery-test button on the back is - well - yellowish green.

From someone who doesn't understand any of this: Is the bottom line that even with a newer operating system, my iMac800mhz (no usb 2.0) -a mere 2 years old- is not compatible with the 5th generation video ipod? This is how Apple rewards product loyalty?

Installed an IOGEAR USB2/Firewire combo card (model # GUF320W1) in my dual 1.25 G4 about 4 months ago. All the USB 1.1 stuff worked fine on it, as did the Firewire. Christmas brought a new 5g video iPod, I plugged it into a USB 2.0 port on the card, and disaster struck. iTunes lockups, constant failure to recognize the iPod, and once it even brought 10.4 to a standstill requiring a forced reset. Not pretty, and the first time I've had to do that with Tiger. This was obviously a no-win situation, so because of this (and a noticeable cosmetic defect on the iPod (click wheel was off-center, leaving a gap on the left side) I returned the iPod today. I guess the Apple USB drivers are crap. IOGEAR's web site provides no drivers for anything later than 10.2, stating the later OS versions have built-in drivers. Yeah, right.

Anyway, Apple has lost another iPod sale due to the omission of Firewire, and I'll just keep using my 2nd gen iPod for now.

Maybe I'll try an iPod again when the time comes to replace the dual G4, but that's going to be quite a while....



Dual G4 1.25 Mac OS X (10.4.3) iBook 466 SE, G4 Cube, Blueberry iMac

From someone who doesn't understand any of this: Is
the bottom line that even with a newer operating
system, my iMac800mhz (no usb 2.0) -a mere 2 years
old- is not compatible with the 5th generation video
ipod?

It's supposed to work with USB 1 however at a dreadful speed.

This is how Apple rewards product loyalty?

In a word, yes. Apple want's you to buy new kit every other year - it *****. First they continue to ignore USB 2 for years obviously favouring FireWire, and now they make a 180 degree turn.

Cheers Martin

From someone who doesn't understand any of this: Is
the bottom line that even with a newer operating
system, my iMac800mhz (no usb 2.0) -a mere 2 years
old- is not compatible with the 5th generation video
ipod?

You got it! Well, technically it is compatible; it's just horrifically slow since it can only transfer at USB 1.1 speeds. Transferring a single song would be like pulling teeth; I can't even imagine how long it would take to download an entire TV episode. In any case, you are correct that there is nothing you can do about it. All the talk in this thread about add-on cards applies to laptops and towers only; iMacs are closed systems and can't be upgraded in any way whatsoever, beyond adding some RAM (or swapping out the hard drive, if you're up to the task).

I too am using an 800MHz G4 iMac (though mine just had its third birthday). I have already been planning for some time to buy a new G5 iMac in the next couple of months (unless an even better iMac is introduced at Macworld next month), but if it wasn't for that, I would not have purchased another iPod ever again unless FireWire support was eventually reintroduced or I finally got around to buying a new Mac anyway for some other reason down the road. I don't mind using my Windows laptop to sync this new 5G iPod for 30 or 60 days, but there's no way I'd be doing it permanently. (And what if I didn't have a Windows laptop?) Why pay $400 for a piece of crippleware? I would have just stuck with my perfectly acceptable 4G iPod.

Here's something to make you just a little more angry: I was told that the only reason for the removal of FireWire from the 5G iPod is that the internal connector was the last obstacle to shaving a few extra millimeters off the thickness of the case from the 4G models, and Steve Jobs was adamant about making the "it's smaller than ever!" claim at his last keynote. Thus, screw us. (Caveat: I can't prove this accusation is true. It may be apocryphal, but I have to admit it sure sounds like a Steve sort of demand, and I've been unable to come up with any other logical reason why FireWire support should have been yanked in the first place. Even USB 2.0 is objectively inferior to FireWire in a whole host of ways.)

This is how Apple rewards product loyalty?

You probably didn't see it, but not long ago Saturday Night Live aired a skit where Steve Jobs held a keynote and introduced three new iPods in the span of about a minute and a half. Each of the new iPods made the one introduced seconds earlier an utterly obsolete technological dinosaur, and the last one was was literally invisible, yet somehow managed to hold five million songs and every photo ever taken by mankind.

You can pretty much discern the answer to your question from that sketch. 🙂

Mac OS X (10.3.9)