Power Mac G4 733MHz (QuickSilver) / USB-Ports NOT Working

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Level 1

7 points

Power Mac G4 733MHz (QuickSilver) / USB-Ports NOT Working

O.K.

I've gots this old PPC, that works hmm "just fine" ... but the integrated USB-Ports are not working ;

When I power up the computer I can't type any boot flags c'os the computer is not responding to any key presses on an Apple (or on any other brand either) keyboard .

How can I check if the USB-ports are working or is the fault somewhere else ?

Could for example a cheap USB-Expansion card fix this situation ?

Something like this ;

Prodige USB 2.0 PCI Expansion Card

or

Deltaco SX-121 Expansion Card

- Toni -

null-OTHER, Mac OS 9.2.x

Posted on Apr 10, 2017 3:12 AM

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Answer 1

a brody

Level 10

85,366 points

Apr 10, 2017 4:05 PM in response to a brody

Also some issues with booting may be due to a dead PRAM battery. Most Macs of that age used a 1/2 AA battery. But that's only if the internal drive has a known working operating system, and fails to boot, or the external Firewire drive has a known working operating system.

The Quicksilver 733 Mhz has this listing of compatible systems:

Mac OS 8 and 9 compatibility with Macintosh computers - Apple Support

It appears you can install the 9.2.1 retail on it, but not the 9.1, 9.0.4, 9.0.2, or 9.0 CDs on it.

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Answer 2

a brody

Level 10

85,366 points

Apr 10, 2017 9:14 AM in response to Tonza72

The PowerPC can not boot Mac OS X via USB. That's a problem of Mac OS X drivers. A cheap USB card will not fix the issue. Why don't you use Firewire to boot the machine?

Only Intel Macs can boot via USB on Mac OS X. The built-in USB 1.1 ports also are very slow when it comes to booting Mac OS 9, and may not respond for a long time. They are 1/20th the speed of USB 2, and of Firewire. Once booted off an internal Parallel ATA drive you can test to see if the ports are working via Microsoft Basic Optical Mouse v2.0 Model 1113. Those work without drivers.

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Answer 3

BDAqua

Level 10

250,259 points

Apr 10, 2017 11:24 AM in response to Tonza72

If your Firewire or USB isn't recognizing any device. A solution which has worked for some whose hard drive became invisible in 10.4 was simply to follow these four steps to reset the Firewire/USB bus:

1. Shut the machine down.

2. UNPLUG the power lead to the computer and any firewire/USB drive or devices.

3. leave it for 10 minutes.

4. Connect back up and reboot.

http://www.macmaps.com/firewirebug2.html

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Answer 4

Tonza72 Author

Level 1

7 points

Apr 10, 2017 12:36 PM in response to BDAqua

Actually it seems the USB-ports might be working ... the "power" leds are on on the mouse and keyboard ;

so I guess they are detected, but I get this "Cable Connected OK. But no signal ..." on my old Nokia - display before it goes to Power Save -state .

Tried 2 different Display Adapter Cards, one AGP and a PCI-Display Adapter Card, the latter in different slots .

The PC boots ... I can hear the start-up chime and there's activity on the fans and HDD .

Tried detaching the IDE-cables, also between the CD- / DVD-drive and system board .

Scrambled through different Hard disks ... to no success .

Tried pressing the CUDA reset button ... zapping the PRAM / Command-Option-P-R ...

I can't even get to open firmware / Command-Option-O-F .

I'm starting to believe there's something toasted on the Mainboard 😕

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Answer 5

K Shaffer

Level 8

36,088 points

Apr 10, 2017 1:52 PM in response to Tonza72

Could be a bad logic board, although some had been able to fix

defective single USB ports by replacement of each on the board

when they were determined to be the cause of the USB failure.

To not have working keyboard inputs due to failed USB ports is

really a bummer. Back when I owned 'Blue & White' G3 PowerMac

they also had older ADB ports enabling use of pre-USB peripherals.

Mine had many great upgrades for its day, and extra cards, etc.

And it doesn't matter much if you've also external storage drives with

other boot options, when primary issues remain to be 'no USB' ports.

As I haven't an answer, except be on look-out for another similar model

if you need certain specific functions or to run vintage system software.

Good luck & happy computing! 🙂

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Answer 6

Jeff

Level 6

12,334 points

Apr 11, 2017 8:01 PM in response to Tonza72

"Tried 2 different Display Adapter Cards, one AGP and a PCI-Display Adapter Card, the latter in different slots."

Were these graphics cards originally marketed for use in Macs or are they the PC versions that had their EEPROM chip reprogrammed with Mac code? If neither, they won't function in your G4. As the others have suggested, you should definitely replace the 3.6-volt, ½AA battery on the motherboard.

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Answer 7

MichelPM

Level 10

81,547 points

Apr 12, 2017 10:24 PM in response to Tonza72

The PRAM battery tends to die very quickly without the constant AC power trickle charge to keep the battery charged up.

And a dead PRAM battery CAN cause all sorts of issues with Macs.

Any time an older Mac with a PRAM battery that has been off of AC Power for more than a few of weeks, it is, usually, time to change out the PRAM battery, because it went dead.

If from the U.S., here's a cheap source for the PRAM battery here.

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/BAA36VPRAM/

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Answer 8

Tonza72 Author

Level 1

7 points

Apr 13, 2017 7:30 AM in response to MichelPM

OK ...

Now I've replaced the PRAM-Battery with a new one .

still no signal cable connected ok on the display ... I also tried changing the monitor to a HP vs19 monitor .

I've tried three different display adapter cards, two of which have this no signal cable connected OK displayed on a blank / black screen.

and the third one if installed the computer won't turn at all .

I can now tell the USB-ports are working, cause I can do command-alt-p+r the computer reboots and then reproduces the startup chime, but still can't get to for example open firmware .

I've also checked the RAM-sticks one by one each in every slot on the mainboard . no luck ...

The RAM-sticks are three pieces of 512MB PC133 SDRAM and I've also tried a Kingston KTD-GX150/256 CE,

which at some boots brings up three short beeps, so I guess it's not compatible .

The CD- / DVD-drive is not by Apple, it's made by LG .

HDDs :

Seagate Barracuda 40Gb IDE / ATA,

Seagate Barracuda 80Gb 7200RPM IDE / ATA and

WD Caviar 80Gb IDE / ATA .

Display Adapters :

Matrox and nVIDIA (I don't know the exact model numbers or ... but I can tell they are old .)

Is it any harm if I try a nVIDIA 8400GS AGP display adapter card

or any other "recent" display adapter cards on this computer ?

- Toni -

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Answer 9

Jeff

Level 6

12,334 points

Apr 13, 2017 3:45 PM in response to Tonza72

The nVidia GeForce 2 MX is likely the original graphics card. Matrox never marketed a Mac-compatible AGP card, so it would have to have been flashed (if possible) with Mac code, in order to function. The same would apply to the nVidia 8400GS, since there was no Mac version of that series. The card that prevented booting is obviously incompatible. As for the 512 MB PC-133 DIMMs, are they unregistered/non-ECC? Are there 8 large chips on each side of the card or 9? If there are 9 chips, the memory is incompatible and would cause the three beeps during the POST.

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Answer 10

Tonza72 Author

Level 1

7 points

Apr 14, 2017 1:17 AM in response to Jeff

nVidia now installed ...

No Signal forever on

The RAMs are of type 512MB PC133 SDRAM and they've got 8 large chips on both sides .

I don't think it would be a power issue, c'os ... again I can hear the startup-chime and the fans are working as well as there's activity on the HDDs .

The only issue is that of the missing signal between the display adapter card and the monitor .

- Toni -

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Answer 11

a brody

Level 10

85,366 points

Apr 15, 2017 7:30 AM in response to Tonza72

Is the RAM bought specifically as Quicksilver 733 Mhz compatible, or did you try to simply match the specs according to a website such as PC133? Not all PC133 work the same. Only Quicksilver 733 Mhz compatible RAM by http://www.macsales.com/http://www.datamem.com/http://www.crucial.com/http://www.lifetimememory.com/ labelled for such Macs are guaranteed to work for them. Kingston labelled for such Macs also work but must not be ValueRAM.

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