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Why can’t I get any USB 2.0 PCI card to work?

I have a mirror door, dual G4/1.25 GHz, PowerPC running 10.5.8 (model identifier: PowerMac3,6) with 2 GB RAM (the maximum).

I’ve tried to add USB 2.0 capability to it since shortly after I bought it new. All the PCI cards that I’ve tried were designed to be compatible with the Mac G3, G4, G5 and Intel processors. My most recent attempt was with an IOGEAR model GIC251U and a SONNET Allegro, each of which has 4 external USB 2.0 ports and 1 internal USB 2.0 port.

I spent several hours with a Mac technician trying to get either the IOGEAR or SONNET card to work, but he was baffled and finally threw up his hands in defeat, not knowing what the problem is.

I have 3 other PCI cards installed, and they all work perfectly. In our attempt to get a USB 2.0 PCI card to work, all the other cards were removed, but still no success.

At this time the IOGEAR card is for auction on eBay for a tiny fraction of what I paid for it. The SONNET card is on its way back to OWC for a refund.

I’ve pretty much given up on this pursuit, but if there’s anyone out there who thinks he/she knows the solution to this problem, I’d love to hear what it is.

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Sometimes these cards are slot specific and other times they have to be in a specific order. The Sonnet card in slot #2 is your best bet. That's where mine is on my MDD.

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Thank you, but every slot was tried ... every combination that could be thought of, as well. As I said, the Sonnet card is on its way back to OWC, no longer available.

Do you have the dual G4/1.25 GHz model?

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I've used it in a dual 1.25 a dual 1.42 and a single 1.25. I have also seen MDDs with partial burnout and full burnout of both the AGP port and PCI ports. I have one that will only take up to a 32 meg AGP card. Before it was hit by a power surge it would read a 256 meg card.

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Try the card in another Mac. Check it the system profiler to see if it's being seen. Try a different USB device than the one that's hasn't been working.

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