WiFi G3 (B&W) Belkin F5D7000

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Level 1

25 points

WiFi G3 (B&W) Belkin F5D7000

I have a B&W G3 which I want to use on my WiFi network. I read good things about the F5D7000 working with the Mac, even though they are not marked as compatible, so I got one from my local PCWorld.

The card does not show up in the system profiler:

Is this a bad sign? I tried pressing the button on the motherboard for 15 seconds as often reccomended in this forum, but all it did was make my computer forget the time.

Has anyone got any experiance making these cards work?

Also, I am just curious if anyone can identify my graphics card. It has VGA, DVI and S-Video and an ATI branded fan attached to it (Even though profiler says ATY :-S) and one of the chips on the card says 'Theater'.

Finally I have an Epson Stylus Photo R245 which works great when connected directly to the mac, but when I try to use it over the network, shared from my always-on Windows XP box (so everyone at home can use it) I have to specify a driver - unfortunatly it is not in the list and when I choose the generic 'Stylus Photo' driver it results in the printer printing the same line over and over, on the same line.

Sorry for all the questions. Thanks for any help you can provide.

Jason

Power Mac G3 (B&W) Mac OS X (10.3.9) 400MHz G3, 256MB RAM, 6GB Hard Disk

Posted on Oct 9, 2006 4:43 AM

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Answer 1

jtjacques Author

Level 1

25 points

Oct 9, 2006 11:51 AM in response to jtjacques

Regarding the printer, I've managed to fix it by using the Epson C60 CUPS driver. I figured the C60 and the R240/R245 were introduced around the same time and thus they may have the same basic firmware. It seems to be working great now.

If anyone can help with the wireless problem or curb my curiosity regarding the graphics card I would be very greatful.

Jason

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Answer 2

Oct 9, 2006 1:01 PM in response to jtjacques

Another recent post reported a Belkin card was the WORST for getting installed into the connector correctly. If successful. there should be NO gold showing. It take a surprising, sometimes scary amount of force to seat some cards, but when you get it seated, it makes a satisfying "thunk".

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Answer 3

jtjacques Author

Level 1

25 points

Oct 9, 2006 1:16 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Yes, the card took alot of force to get seated, but no gold is showing and when removed from the slot the light scratches that are often seen on PCI cards were neatly down the middle of each track, and I then replaced the card.

I also tried another WiFI card with a TI chipset in it. This card did not show in the Profiler, but did light one of the lights on the rear (as it does in my PC). The Belkin card does not.

Any other ideas?

Jason

Power Mac G3 (B&W) Mac OS X (10.3.9) 400MHz G3, 256MB RAM, 6GB Hard Disk

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Answer 4

Oct 9, 2006 8:29 PM in response to jtjacques

I feel your pain getting the Belkin card to work. I've been trying to get my back-up B&W (w/G4 upgrade, running OS 10.3.9) to connect wirelessly to my Verizon fiber-optic (FIOS) network, along with the G5 and three Windows XP/2000Pro computers. Despite the reassurances by some that the Belkin F5D7000 will seat in the PCI slot and show up in the System profiler, I could never get mine to work. I KNOW I had that sucker seated as firmly as physics would allow, and nothing! So I returned the card, and on the advice of Belkin's tech support staff, I bought the only wireless-G product that Belkin (or anyone, it seems) supports with up-to-date Mac OS drivers: the F5D7050 Wireless-G USB Adaptor. I suggest you forget the PCI card. The USB Adaptor is a simpler and less expensive solution, and works just as well.

Be aware that there are several hardware versions of this pedestal-mounted thumb-sized device (ver. 2000 and 3000); Belkin's last official driver for it is for Version 2000 only, though it reportedly works with ver. 3000 as well. But I didn't try. To the company's credit, Belkin's tech support agent said the best Mac OS drivers are available online from a third party, and directed me to the website of a tech company named Ralink <www.ralinktech.com> where I found a variety of Universal USB wireless-G drivers for both Panther and Tiger (as well as Windows, Linux and others). For Version 2000 of the Adaptor, it's suggested you download and install the driver named "11g-RT2500." For version 3000 of the F5D7050 Belkin USB wireless-G adaptor, download and install the driver called RT71W. I grabbed that one. It's an elegant piece of software and installs cleanly. After I'd finished the install, restarted and then connected the USB extension cable, the Belkin came to life, showed up in the very well-laid-out "RA+ USB Wireless Utility" and had no difficulty grabbing my FIOS router on the other side of my house and a floor above with gangbuster signal strength. And of course, it's wicked fast. Hope this helps.

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Answer 5

jtjacques Author

Level 1

25 points

Oct 10, 2006 4:36 AM in response to Rob Sivak

You, my friend, are a genius. I say this as I am now writing on the forum without wires!

It apears that Belkin use the Ralink chipset in some cards and the Broadcom chipset in others, all with the same model. Mine is version 6.00 if that helps others in the future.

Setup procedure:

The drivers on the Ralink website at http://www.ralinktech.com work perfectly! Don't be fooled by the fact that the downloaded file talks about CardBus, it works great with the PCI card to. Once installed you will be forced to restart. Open up the 'System Preferances' and click 'Network' to allow the Mac to find your new card. Then go to the software utility which is installed in the system folder and configure your card.

You may find this table helpful if you have an ASCII WEP key with capital letters in, as the utiity does not allow their entry. Simply convert to hex instead: http://www.ambicom.com/support/troubleshooting/wl1100b/ascii2hextable.pdf.

Thanks for your help.

Jason

Power Mac G3 (B&W) Mac OS X (10.3.9) 400MHz G3, 256MB RAM, 6GB Hard Disk

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Answer 6

Oct 10, 2006 12:57 PM in response to jtjacques

jtjacques-

Could you please clarify -- did you
A) KEEP the original Belkin PCI card and [discovering Ralink chipset] add the Ralinktech drivers, or
B) swap the PCI card for the Belkin USB-to-Wireless device and add the Ralinktech drivers to that?

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Answer 7

jtjacques Author

Level 1

25 points

Oct 10, 2006 2:34 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

To quote myself: "it works great with the PCI card to".

I kept the PCI card. Sorry if there was any confusion.

It must be noted though that the software launches on startup each time to initialise the connection profile and anoyingly sits there.

Jason.

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Answer 8

Dec 22, 2006 1:39 PM in response to Rob Sivak

I just got off the phone with Belkin and they told me that they're not making the F5D7050 ( http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=179211 ) version 2 anymore; they're up to version 5 which is for PC only.

They did tell me that I could use their Wireless G Gaming Adapter http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=154416.

I need to give my g3/10.3.9 wireless network capability and it looked like the F5D7050 was the answer. Is this Gaming Adapter my only option, ($40 vs $100) or is there another way to solve this problem?

Thanks.

core duo Mac OS X (10.4.6)

core duo Mac OS X (10.4.6)

core duo Mac OS X (10.4.6)

core duo Mac OS X (10.4.6)

core duo Mac OS X (10.4.6)

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Answer 9

Jeff

Level 6

12,328 points

Dec 22, 2006 9:54 PM in response to ramonekalsaw

You should compare prices for that Belkin USB networking solution with the Linksys WET54G, which also requires no drivers, but connects to the ethernet port. There may not be much difference in price, but if you consider the WET54G adapter, check out this article, concerning setup with a Mac.

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