[dganyard]

I am trying to use the Harmon Kardon soundsticks with my Beige G3 300 mhz.
I have installed a USB card and downloaded the proper USB drivers from APPLE. Harmon Kardon told me I need to enable a digital output signal, but I have no clue how to do this. He said many people are using the Soundsticks with the Beige G3, so it must work somehow. Any help would be awesome!!!!!!!!

[tooki]

I think if you have Mac OS 9 it should set up automatically.

You failed to mention whether
1. the USB card works otherwise
2. Did you look at your options in the Sound control panel?

tooki

[dganyard]

The USB card is recognized by the OS, but I haven't tried connecting anything other than the speakers. The sound control panel does not give me any addtional options than before installation. I made sure I had all the updated drivers prior to installing the USB card. The card itself is made by ADS, perhaps I should try a different card?

[Macnerd]

You need Apple's USB Card Support installer (if you don't already have it). The Sound control panel has nothing in it regarding the Soundsticks - They just work and need no specific HK drivers etc. There is a section for Speaker Setup but it's Generic and not specific to those speakers. I believe it is all handled by the USB extensions that ship with OS9. Make sure you have the latest versions (Natch.).

Try zapping your PRAM (Holding down Command, Option, P and R from a cold startup and waiting until you hear the Apple chimes 2 or 3 times for good measure then releasing them). Once your Finder has loaded and the Mac is ready, be sure to make sure you select which disk you want to be your startup volume in the Startup Disk Control Panel and if like me you turn off the Menu Blinking, then do so in General Controls. Sorry if you already know all this but I figured it was worth repeating. You may also want to turn the power on your Soundsticks off and then back on again. When plugging a USB device in while the Mac is on, you should pretty much always hear some short bursts of disk activity while it Identifies the peripheral and fires it up. If this doesn't work then maybe try throwing away your Sound Preferences (System Folderreferences"Sound Preferences). One last note: When installing the PCI USB card on my Girlfriend's Beige G3, I read the Read me file that comes with the Apple installer and it details exactly what specs your USB card needs to work in your Mac. Most should be fine but I have heard of some very cheap ones not working very well with Macs or PeeCees.

Hope this helps!

Macnerd

You need Mac OS 9.0.4 to use the soundsticks

[El Berserko]

Check the Apple System Porfiler under Devices and Volumes. The USB Bus should be listed along with the driver version number if all setup went smoothly.

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[PeterG]

I thought that you could only use USB Audio devices on a Macintosh that had built-in USB ports, and even at that, it had to have OS 9...

I've been looking into a similar setup for a friend. I read on one manufacturer's site that many users had reported problems with their PCI/USB card when using SoundSticks. I think it was Keyspan's site, but I don't recall for sure. Check with whoever made your card.

[exa]

Seriously, though, sonically, there are many better options for the same price as the sound sticks that would simply plug into your audio out port... but if you want speakers for style and not sound, I guess the soundsticks is the way to go...

[dganyard]

I have heard many people say that. What would you recommend?
Thanks