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hotlips69 · Jan 13, 2007, 10:46 PM

I'm normally a PC person, so am a total novice when it comes to anything "Apple"

A client of mine has an Apple laptop about 4/5 years old and needs me to get it to work on his 802.11g wireless network, but thats for another part of this forum.

I've only had about 5 minutes to "play with" this laptop to get as much info as possible on it before doing my research.

I know that it is a G4 of some sort, but can't remember if it is an ibook or powerbook.
It has Mac OSX 10.4 and had some sort of card slot (with a push in cover) on the left hand side of the laptop (when you look straight at the screen) and USB etc on the rear behind a removable panel.

Can someone please tell me which model this is likely to be, i.e. did ibook G4s & powerbook G4s exist about 4/5 years ago with the connectors/slot in this position???

MichiganRich · Jan 13, 2007, 11:05 PM

Sounds like an original 'Titanium' PowerBook G4. It would be either 400 or 500 mhz CPU. Since it has OSX, go to the Apple Menu on the upper left corner, do an 'About This Mac', and click on 'More Info...' to get to the System Profiler. That will tell you anything you need to know. Well, not really anything, but it will be helpful.

Also, download an application called Mactracker to get info about pretty much anything Appel ever produced. It's fun to put things into their time frame, like when they were released, discontinued, MSRP's, etc...

hotlips69 · Jan 13, 2007, 11:07 PM

Unfortunately, I only had this laptop for the stated 5 minutes and haven't got it at my disposal anymore to recheck anything easily.

If I can establish the exact model, I should be able to solve the problem.

MichiganRich · Jan 13, 2007, 11:17 PM

What's the problem, other than not knowing for sure what model it is?

hotlips69 · Jan 13, 2007, 11:30 PM

I was going to post it in the "Networking" part of this forum when I knew the exact model of the laptop as I assume that this is relevant to my query, but seeing as you've asked:-

My client needs to make his laptop able to work wirelessly with his current 802.11g network.

As far as I can see, the laptop doesn't seem to have built-in wireless capability (the Airport section is greyed out in the networks bit of the network properties)

I presume that I can simply purchase an Airport Extreme card and insert it into what looks like a card slot on the side of the laptop, load the accompanying software (CD I presume) and it should detect the wireless network??

MichiganRich · Jan 13, 2007, 11:41 PM

The slot is a Cardbus type I or II slot. An Airport Extreme card won't work. You could use an original Airport card, but you'd have to install that in the internal slot (removing the botom of the computer case).

I did find some Cardbus-style 802.11g cards that profess to work with PowerBooks. Googles search for the Aria Extreme, something like that would be your option if you want to use the left-side slot.

hotlips69 · Jan 13, 2007, 11:54 PM

Thanks for the info...

I wrongly assumed that the Airport Extreme was of the cardbus type variety!

According to the website of the Aria Extreme it says that it needs "AirPort drivers 3.1 or later"

Wouldn't the card come with an installer CD with software/drivers on?

If not, how on earth do I sort this out?

MichiganRich · Jan 14, 2007, 12:02 AM

Since the Airport drivers are provided by Apple, I doubt that they would provide that with purchase. If the Airport drivers aren't already installed (they should be by default with an OSX install), you would download them from Apple. I've never installed a 3rd-party wireless card (on Macs, at least) so I don't have any firsthand experience to help you with.

The Apple support pages online are an excellent resource for additional details, as is the Xlr8yourmac.com page. I don't see this as being too difficult for you to get accomplished! :-)

hotlips69 · Jan 14, 2007, 12:11 AM

In general, do Macs use Windows-type installers to get the software working from CD?

If this was a normal Windows laptop, this would be SO EASY for me, but its not.

I've got a Netgear Cardbus 54g card sitting next to me that works brilliantly with WinXP, but I can't see how an Apple would recognise it?

Blasphemy · Jan 14, 2007, 12:26 AM

hotlips your thread title is the worst. title. ever.

hotlips69 · Jan 14, 2007, 12:30 AM

Why not offer me some help or advice rather than make a negative comment.
I was confused about something hence the title.

A generic title gets more reads sometimes as I needed quick replies.

Blasphemy · Jan 14, 2007, 12:48 AM

oh well then I guess it makes it a-o-k because hotlips needed a fast reply

MattJeff · Jan 14, 2007, 01:20 AM

get off his back, if you cant help him then leave. what color was the laptop? white proly an ibook metal proly powerbook.

hotlips69 · Jan 14, 2007, 01:25 AM

I've just looked on google images for examples and I'm sure it was metal as exactly in this picture with this side card slot and button.

http://caslis.com/mac/powerbook/files/pbg4side.jpg

Big Mac · Jan 14, 2007, 02:11 AM

The thing is, if the PowerBook does not have an Airport card installed, he will need to find a PCcard that is compatible with the Mac. They do exist, but I've never looked around for one.

hotlips69 · Jan 14, 2007, 02:18 AM

Like MichiganRich said earlier in this thread, the Aria Extreme (Sonnet Aria Extreme Wireless CardBus Card for PowerBooks and PC NoteBooks Mac Win (G54-CB) | AllMacShop) may just do the trick??

I'm double & triple checking everything here as I need to be very confident that this will work before I purchase it and then look stupid when it fails because I've missed something!

mrmister · Jan 14, 2007, 01:45 PM

If it's running 10.4 then the drivers are already installed--it's just waiting for the hardware. So long as you insert a Cardbus 802.11g card that specifically says it works on Macs it will recognize it and work out of the box. There's no need for an installer CD.

And yes, it's a Titanium Powerbook.

romeosc · Jan 14, 2007, 02:32 PM

An original airport card will work on network only at "B" speed. Cheapest solution and does not require PC card sticking out!

hotlips69 · Jan 14, 2007, 02:46 PM

Originally Posted by mrmister

If it's running 10.4 then the drivers are already installed--it's just waiting for the hardware. So long as you insert a Cardbus 802.11g card that specifically says it works on Macs it will recognize it and work out of the box. There's no need for an installer CD.

And yes, it's a Titanium Powerbook.

Cheers mrmister for the confirmation!

Without specific software, how would I be able to set the security level (WEP/WPA) and/or passwords, monitor signal strength etc..?

Forgive me, I don't know how macs work in relation to menus/wizards that it may have.

MichiganRich · Jan 14, 2007, 04:05 PM

As mrmister mentioned, the software is already in there, waiting for hardware to 'monitor'. You control the whole thing (passwords, DHCP/IP setup, etc) through the Network system preference pane. You monitor signal strength through an icon in your top menu bar, or through the application called Internet Connect.

I don't know why people depends on the XP 'wizards', as they are usually full of pitfalls and poorly coded software that have about a 60 percent success rate for getting anything done (in my experience).

Since you're investing the time to read online and learn what you can, PLEASE take my suggestion to go to this Apple suport page and feed your brain. Obviously you know a lot about computers, and you're going to be able to get a LOT out of the information there.

Apple - Support - Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger - Getting Online

It's going to be simple once you get the card. Get an original Airport card if you feel like cracking the bottom of the case, or get an Apple-compatible Cardbus card. The important part is to take your curiosity to that apple.com link and do some reading from actual experts, as opposed to people who would more likely critique the wording of your post. Come back here when you have some specifics, and when you have your hands on the machine?

It's gonna work trust me... you already know how to do it, you just don't know the exact dialog boxes to expect.

mrmister · Jan 14, 2007, 06:49 PM

That's absolutely true--your experience with Windows is making you expect it to be much more complicated than it will be.

peeb · Jan 19, 2007, 12:58 PM

Yes, I got an apple about 12 months ago, my first. I bought an iSight camera for it too, and was horrified to find that there was no install disk. I was about to phone customer support and complain, and then I though I'd try plugging it in. Nothing happened. I fired up Skype, and was astonished that it just detected the camera autmatically, and didn't required any wizards or install disks. Everything was already there! You'll be fine!

mojo5436 · Jan 19, 2007, 01:16 PM

I think this thread (not to hijack, sounds like everyone has given some good input) is a great example of why so many PC users are hesitant to switch. It really is "that easy." A lot of PC users dont get to experience the simplicity of OS X, unlike most Mac users who are forced to deal with PC's (and the stress they induce) daily. Always great to be able to tell switchers "yeah, just put the hardware in and it will just work."

M4LFUNCT10N · Jan 20, 2007, 04:00 PM

I'm not sure what hardware differences there are in the compatibility of wireless cards... but I've got a Powerbook G3 Pismo, and I'm running a linksys wireless-g pc card. Tiger recognizes it as an airport extreme wifi card and everything works perfectly.

BTW, hotlips... be careful. I've been a PC user since the mid 80's, only had a few *short* exposures to macs since, until I was given a "broken" Powerbook just before Christmas. A few hours cleaning it up inside, resetting the PMU, installing a new hard drive and OS-X Tiger and I've got an awesome *new to me* Mac. I'm now using this 400mhz G3 more than my 3 year newer Toshiba laptop. So... like I said, be careful or you'll become addicted and want a mac.