What kind of USB PCI Card should I get for a 1997 PowerMac G3?
I have a 1997 beige PowerMac G3, running system 9.2... I bought a USB PCI card for the machine, as it has no USB jacks, but the OS supports them. The item description says the PCI should work for PowerMacs G3 through G5, but from what I've heard there is quite a bit of difference between the beige PowerMac G3 from '97 and the blue and white one from '99. The eBay listing said nothing about either, only that the product is supposed to work on a PowerMac G3, which in all technicality I have.
So I bought and installed it, this is where things went sour. The PowerMac has 3 PCI slots, and before purchasing this card, I had a card for mini SCSI in the middle slot, which was actively working. Upon first installing the USB PCI card (and by installing I mean opening up the computer and plugging it into the mother board), once the computer was back together again, all it did was freeze the computer, and it would not boot, only power on and sit with the screen black.
Now, I had put the card in the slot below the mini SCSI card, and after attempted plugging it into the slot above the mini SCSI card, which only lead to the same result. So I then took out the mini SCSI and put the USB PCI card in the middle slot. This time the computer did power up, but would not recognize my flash drive when plugged into the new USB board. I tried a USB mouse, and the optical laser did light up, but the computer did not react. And when checking under the Apple System Profiler, I noticed the the USB PCI card was not listed under the hardware, whereas the mini SCSI board had done previously.
I think the computer freezing with a PCI card in any slot but the middle might be a quirk of this old computer, but I do believe that I am using the wrong PCI card for the machine, and I don't want to trouble shoot anymore as taking the computer apart every time it freezes does become tiresome.
If anyone could shed light on this situation, and point me in the right direction to finding something to put USB on my PowerMac, that would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Aidyn
Power Macintosh G3 (1997)-OTHER, Mac OS 9.2.x