USB 2 combo Card on Powermac 7500

Question

USB 2 combo Card on Powermac 7500

Hi,
I have a PowerMac 7500 running 10.4.11 with XPostFacto. Basic setup is as follows:
-Sonnet 1Ghz G4
-1GB RAM
-ATI Radeon 9200
-Generic USB (1.1)
-Generic Ethernet card (10/100)

The setup works very well. However, I have been looking to replace the USB card with either a USB2/FireWire combo card (preferably) or just a USB2 card for that machine. (I want to connect an iPod at USB 2 speeds, and an external FW drive). However I don't really need the FW if combo cards are not recommended.

The question is:

- Is the 7500 able to handle USB2 reliably under OSX? (I know OS 9 only supports USB1, and I don't use it anyway). I have been looking on the internet but haven't found a clear answer to that. Many people report using USB2 combo cards and having system lockups, or having to stick to 1.1 speeds when connected to PCI Legacy Macs.

- If it is indeed possible to have the 7500 use USB 2 reliably, which card can I find on the market today? I have been looking but apparently they are really hard to find for 1rst gen PCI Macs.

The X Post Facto forum is pretty vacant these days, so I figure maybe someone here can give me a hand.

Thanks a lot.

Imac 20", Macbook, Mac OS X (10.5.6), Powermac 7500/100

Posted on Nov 27, 2009 9:03 AM

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Answer 1

BDAqua

Level 10

250,259 points

Nov 27, 2009 10:11 AM in response to Pablo Christians

Hi Pablo, hopefully somebody will come along with better news, but I don't think so, as I recall it's because the PCI spec for the older Macs don't provide the right or enough voltage, G3 B&W & later do have USB2 options.

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Answer 2

Dec 7, 2009 9:12 PM in response to Pablo Christians

Hi Pablo, I run a 7500 with a Sonnet Tempo Trio Card;- two internal IDE, two external Firewire, and two USB. The USB works well (USB 2.0 supported) except for trying to synch an iPod, which requires a native USB port. Machine crashed hard after installing iPod software and trying to synch. Don't do it! I used the Sonnet installer to get Jaguar in there. It works well but you have to remove all the cards and just connect keyboard, mouse, and monitor.

USB does work well with an external USB hard drive, as well as a Tascam US-122 recording interface. I'll probably try a printer and scanner next. The external hard drive enclosure has it's own AC power supply but the Tascam unit is powered by the computer. The Tascam supplies phantom power to two condenser mics as well. All of this works swimmingly in 10.2.8 with Cubase LE. It also works in OS 9.1 with Pro-tools software.

My configuration is Sonnet G4 800MHz, 1G. OWC RAM, 250 Gig 7500RPM Seagate IDE HD, 18G. Western Digital SCSI HD, OS 9.1, OS X 10.2.8.

Other cards I have are airport extreme, and I just put a Radeon 9200 in the last slot. I haven't decided what monitor to upgrade to. Currently I have a really fine old Sony CRT. The airport extreme allows wireless file exchange and internet sharing with my Macbook and newer iMac 3.33 ICD computers. I also have an old zip drive on there that is recognized by Jaguar and an old Hewlett Packard Deskjet printer on the serial printer port that runs via a CUPS Unix hack driver.

As far as the Tempo Trio goes, Sonnet no longer sells that for Mac. I have no idea what's up with that. They do make some other cards with USB. I looked for one of those Tempo Trio cards for a 9600 I'm hot-rodding, but Sonnet says they are for PC's now. Looks identical to the one I have and my box said PC/OSX, and had the Jaguar logo on it. ????! I'm tempted to test one anyway.

I'd love to know how you got your 7500 up to Tiger using X-Post Facto, and what kind of cinema screen the Radeon will support. Does Tiger support Classic mode on your machine? Classic works great on mine from 10.2.8.

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Answer 3

BDAqua

Level 10

250,259 points

Dec 7, 2009 9:43 PM in response to Silversorcerer

Hi Silversorcerer, and a warm welcome to the forums! 🙂

Great first post & info, thanks for piping in! 🙂

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Answer 4

Dec 9, 2009 3:04 PM in response to Silversorcerer

Hi Silversorcerer,

Thanks for your thorough reply. I've heard about the Tempo Trio card, but, like you say, it's no longer available for Mac. All other USB 2 and combo cards that Sonnet sells are supported from the B&W G3 onwards.

I can tell you for a fact the Sonnet Tango 2 (Firewire/USB2) is not supported. I bought one. The USB works for mice and keyboards, but any other device which requires USB 2 locks the computer within seconds of use, even when connected to an external power source. Firewire works. Sonnet states on it's page that the Tango 2 requires a Powermac G4 or G5. I thought that this was just a decision from Sonnet to stop customer care for previous macs but I was wrong. Even though the card holds exactly the same name and part number, apparently the one I have is a new revision which is physically different.

I've been reading up the posts at X Post Facto, and there are other cards that may work for USB 2 ( SIIG, and ADS DLX-180) but those posts are a few years old and I am not sure if they are the same or they have also been revised. The manufacturers state the cards require at least a B&W. I've also read people buying PC only cards and having no problems when installed on PCI legacy macs, but those posts are from 2006.

Bearing that in mind I wanted to know if anyone has tried any USB2 card available today that worked with the 7500.

I have a Samsung Flat Panel 19" which I have been using with the Radeon 9200 for more than 2 years. I don't know about Cinema displays though.

X Post Facto has always worked flawlessly for me. I have the original 1 GB drive that the computer came with and have OS 9.2.2 installed on it (using OWC's 9.2.2 patch). I also have a Quantum SCSI II 8GB Drive with 10.4.11.

For me, the installation process was quite easy: under OS 9 I downloaded XPF 4, inserted Tiger CD1, and chose to boot from it with XPFs' control panel. I got to the installation window and proceeded with no problems. I had to use the built in ethernet port to connect to the Internet and download the software updates from Apple and the drivers for the ethernet 10/100 card.

I also installed PCI Extreme which allows Quartz Extreme to be enabled with the Radeon 9200. It makes a huge difference in video performance. Core Image on a 7500 as far as I know is not available. People have flashed PC NVIDIA cards and have gotten Core Image on pre-AGP Macs but not on Old World Macs.

I also installed Sonnet Cache to enable Level 2 and Level 3 cache on the processor upgrade.

It's amazing how expandable my 7500 has proven to be. I don't know how easy it is to get XPF running with your configuration, but I would definitely give it a try. 10.4.11 works perfectly on the 7500, including classic.

I'll be glad to answer any question you may have with my config and my experience with XPF.

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