Walvis,
The combo cards (FireWire + USB) apparently work well under 10.x but some combos have problems under 9.x.
I would consider these points when buying a card:
- If you have peripherals like an unpowered 2.5" USB or FireWire HD that requires bus power, you will want to buy a card that a supplemental power supply since PC cards do not supply the required voltage. A USB mouse will work fine on an unpowered card and maybe a keyboard but that's about it.
- Apple added USB 2.0 drivers when 10.2.8 was released, but these drivers only work well with USB 2.0 PC cards that use the NEC-based USB2 chipset, so stick with those cards.
- FireWire PC cards rated for Macs have had no driver or compatibility problems with any version of OSX, but there are apparently some cheap-o cards that users have had to replace.
- In both cases of USB or FireWire or combo cards, buy the correct card and it will work perfectly under 10.2.8 or later with no additional drivers.
- Here are two USB cards that do have the NEC chipset:
http://www.ratocsystems.com/english/products/subpages/cbu2.html
http://www.macally.com/spec/usb/connecting_device/uh2226.html
- Here is a FireWire PC card:
http://www.ratocsystems.com/english/products/subpages/cbfw2.html
- Unfortunately, I have spent no time trying to find a FW/USB combo card that meets the above requirements. If you cannot find one, you can use two separate cards simultaneously as long as the physical dimensions permit. Almost all FireWire and USB PC cards now have the large "shoulder" for the ports, so two of these will not fit at the same time. The FireWire card I linked to above has a dongle, so it can reside in the lower slot and the bulbous USB card in the top.
