Trouble with Belkin 4-Port USB Hub Model F5U234-APL-S

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Trouble with Belkin 4-Port USB Hub Model F5U234-APL-S

Just purchased above for my iMAC G5. Ports light up green but external devices attached do not show up on desktop to be used (usb zip and usb stick drive). Mouse attached will work. In some USB ports, not all the green lights even show. Have swapped to all USB ports, restarted, etc.

Belkin has not yet responded to my request for help -- all USB ports work just fine with devices directly plugged in.

Before I return it, can anyone tell me if I am doing anything wrong?

I apologize if this topic was covered, but couldn't find the info with the search terms I used.

Thanks!

iMac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.3) 1.8 GHz 768MB RAM

Posted on Dec 21, 2005 12:46 PM

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Answer 1

Jan 6, 2006 3:25 PM in response to Pam Beggs

Pam, so I'm not the only one.

I purchased mine a while ago and gave up looking here but the other day it was really bad and thought I'd give it one more try. I've not tried Belkin but I was considering returning the device. I think I will drop them a line too.

I noticed 2 problems, tell me if this is true for you too. Firstly the iMac will only sleep after 3 attempts. That is to say, I tell it to sleep and as soon as it turns off it starts. On the third attempt it will sleep. A search here suggested the most common contributor to this problem was a USB Hub or device. As soon as I disconnected the hub, problem solved.

Next, I had connected 3 devices. A Wacom Tablet, a Sony Clié cradle and a Multi-Carder Reader. I notice the cradle failing, tried a search here and via Google. Nothing. I did notice similar to you that not all the green lights would be on, mainly the cradle (note the cradle was also powered). I tried moving them between ports and seeing if the iMac would recognise via the system profiler. The cradle would always fail. Note to anyone suggesting not connecting the cradle to the hub, i've tried this and tried connecting the cradle directly to the iMac. I still have a problem with this hub.

What is strange is that we both have the iMac G5 1.8GHz but I'm running 10.3, so it's either the iMac or the Belkin.

Sorry, I have not presented a solution, but noticed no one has replied to you and like you I feel left out. Just wanted you to know you're not alone and now you've given new steam to search further.

I hope to offer more later.

iMac G5 1.8GHz 1GB RAM Mac OS X (10.3.9)

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Answer 2

Pam Beggs Author

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Jan 9, 2006 10:36 AM in response to Phillip Saraceni

Philip -- Belkin was less than helpful, with the usual suggestions right out of their manual - ignoring what I told them I had already tried. I returned the hub to the store. I did not have the other problems you did, but I do not use sleep on my Mac. Even though the lights wouldn't always be lit, even when they were, the main problem was that external drives would not show up on my desktop so I could use them, making the hub useless. At this time, I will shop around - a hub is a convenience for me at this time, not a necessity, so I'll take my time. Please do post if you find a fix -- I did like the style and size of the Belkin hub.

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Answer 3

Mar 24, 2006 1:15 PM in response to Pam Beggs

Trouble here too althought the Belkin site says it works with OSX Macs. If I plug either my keyboard or mouse into the Belkin hub and the hub into one of the USB ports on my Powerbook, I lose either my keyboard or mouse (whichever is plugged into the Belkin USB hub)...

Still looking to see if anyone else has found a solution before I return it.

-Scott

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Answer 4

Mar 25, 2006 1:57 PM in response to Scott Paterson

I took mine back yesterday for a full refund which is too bad since I liked that you could stack them, but I did end up sticking with Belkin. I just went with the Hi-Speed USB 2.0 7-Port Hub, part # F5U237. Worked perfectly on the first try. I run the mouse into the Powerbook and the keyboard into the hub. There are five ports on the back of this thing and two sticking up from the top to make it easy to use a USB thumb drive. They also serve the purpose of allowing you to connect two of these devices together stacked one on top of the other. Comes with AC power adapter as well as USB cable.

fyi,

-Scott

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