iMac G3 USB connector replacement?

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iMac G3 USB connector replacement?

I just picked up a Graphite iMac G3, which was rather inexpensive because the USB connector is damaged. The top connector, in particular, is unuseable - the plastic tab is gone, and the leads are mauled. Looks like someone walked into the keyboard cable! The lower connector is OK. The Mac itself, besides this, is completely functional, thank heaven.

The first question I have is, are these two USB connectors on a hub, internally? Or are they separate interfaces? If they're on a hub, I will simply obtain an external hub and that'll be the end of that.

If they are separate interfaces, I'd like to take advantage of the extra bandwidth, and that means replacing the connector itself. Is that doable? I am fairly experience with electronics and soldering. I started the disassembly tonight, but reversed course when I realized that it would be somewhat involved and decided to ask for the wisdom of this forum before I go any further.

Any advice/opinion would be greatly appreciated...

iMac G3 Graphite 600/256/40, Mac OS X (10.5.6)

Posted on Jan 20, 2009 11:26 PM

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Answer 1

Jan 21, 2009 4:45 AM in response to dleconte

You should just use a hub. Although it is only USB 1.1 on G3 iMacs, most current USB 2.0 hubs will work, and they are pretty cheap. And you'll end up with even more ports than if you somehow fixed that internal port. Be sure to get one that is self-powered (has its own power adapter), instead of the really cheap ones that are bus-powered.

If they are separate interfaces, I'd like to take advantage of the extra bandwidth

Again, they are the old slow USB 1.1 ports on G3 iMacs, so there is not that much "bandwidth" under the best circumstances. Using a hub will not make things any slower, and using a USB 2.0 hub may make some peripherals work better because a good 2.0 hub will probably provide more bus power than was available on the old 1.1 ports.

If you want more interface speed, use the FireWire port, if that's possible for the desire purpose. You can get external hard drives that have both USB 2.0 and FireWire 400 (IEEE 1394) ports. A Graphite iMac G3 should have the FireWire port. You can even boot the iMac from an external FireWire drive.

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Answer 2

dleconte Author

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Jan 21, 2009 7:15 AM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

Thank you for your input! I am sort of leaning that way actually - the rest of the machine is in such good shape I don't want to mess things up. The one reason why I don't want to sacrifice the extra bandwidth is because I'd intend to run my network connection via USB also - using a Wi-Fi dongle. I'm somewhat concerned about keyboard/mouse activity interfering with the already pretty low bandwidth available if I'm "hubbing it all together" on the same port, although these are, after all, pretty low throughput devices...

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Answer 3

Jan Hedlund

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Jan 21, 2009 7:59 AM in response to dleconte

The one reason why I don't want to sacrifice the extra bandwidth is because I'd intend to run my network connection via USB also - using a Wi-Fi dongle.

A better external solution for the Wi-Fi part, offering a higher effective speed in this case than a wireless USB adapter, would be a wireless Ethernet bridge connected to the Ethernet port of the iMac. Examples include Belkin F5D7330, D-Link DWL-G810, D-Link DWL-G820, Linksys WET54G, Linksys WGA600N and Netgear WGE111. A wireless Ethernet bridge does not require special drivers, and can thus be used under almost any operating system. Please note that not all models or versions of a model support WPA security, so study the specifications.

Alternatively, you could of course install an appropriate internal AirPort card.

Jan

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Answer 4

dleconte Author

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Jan 21, 2009 7:59 AM in response to Jan Hedlund

Thank you!

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