Older Powe Mac pro NIC Failure Workaround Wanted

I have an older PowerMac Pro (G4 dual mirror door) that is a good robust machine able to rip Vinyl to digital. The machine is run occasionally when I have the urge to make a digital transfer of a favorite record. While idle, the on board NIC has failed. I have a Mac Airbook USB NIC that should be driver compatible but when I open the Network Control Panel to make settings, it just hangs waiting for the built in NIC to become ready. Is there any way to tell the control panel to ignore the built in NIC that does not involve a working control panel? This is, is there an associated P-List file I can edit? At this point, the machne has no commercial value but it is in excellent condition otherwise with SATA disk controllers and modern disks, Firewire 800 and USB2 interfaces added. I'd hate to scrap it over a lame NIC problem.