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You are here: MacNN Forums > Enthusiast Zone > Classic Macs and Mac OS > 'Generic' PCI USB/Firewire Combo Card

'Generic' PCI USB/Firewire Combo Card
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Jodar
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Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: usa
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Oct 30, 2001, 12:26 AM
 
I purchased a 'generic' CompUSA PCI USB/Firewire Combo card on Sunday. The box says that its for windows but the tech person said that the card will work on a Mac, as he had put the same card in one of the G4s at the store. Installation on my legacy PowerMac 7500, with a G4 upgrade went well. The card is recognized by the computer. Unfortunately, when I tried to hook up my supported DV cam to the new Firewire port on the computer, it doesn't hook up. I can't figure out what is wrong other than the possibility that I was given erroneous advice from the CompUSA guy. Any ideas? BTW, I ordered an Orange Micro Firewire USB 2.0/Firewire combo card as a backup.
     
Tristrami
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Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Baku, Azerbaijan
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Oct 30, 2001, 12:17 PM
 
I find that the Orangutans in red shirts at CompUSa are almost NEVER right when it comes to Mac compatibility information. I had one tell me that Maxtor hard drives are not compatible with Macs (they are), among other things. If you must buy from that store, seek out a Black-shirted Apple guy lurking in the Apple section--they tend to be there on weekends mostly. As actual Apple employees they are more knowledgeable. Alternately, go back to the store w/ your firewire camera anbd test it on their G4...if it doesn't work, find the chimp who sold you the card and demand a full refund.
     
Paul S
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Location: Cleveland, OH, USA
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Oct 30, 2001, 03:44 PM
 
Stick with the OrangeLink card. I have one and have yet to confuse it. I have a Sony Digital8 camcorder, Sony Media Converter, VST and LaCie hard drives. All work perfect. All USB devices have worked too (Kodak camera, Umax Scanner, Zip drive, Epson printer, Macally mouse, etc.)
     
Jodar  (op)
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Nov 1, 2001, 02:07 AM
 
Okay, the CompUSA combo card is out and the OrangeMicro card is in. I installed it and various patches and drivers yesterday. Unfortunately, a conflict developed where my Mac would not boot up past the Powerlogix G4 extension. It just hangs. I was able to boot up from the CD and restarted with just the OS 9.1 base extensions, plus the OrangeMicro card extension, AppleFirewire and Enabler Support Extensions and all USB extensions. I was able to view some of my footage off of the DV cam for a bit. After a few minutes, there was no picture. After this successful restart, I got confident and restarted with all extensions. Then it just stalled after the chimes and the PowerLogix extension started up. After removing the OrangeMicro card, I was able to boot up. I've Emailed OrangeMicro Tech Support two days ago and am awaiting a response. Anybody else have any suggestions? I hope the synch problems is the result of the problems with the card and/or software/driver/extensions. Any suggestions?
     
finboy
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Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: Garden of Paradise Motel, Suite 3D
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Nov 1, 2001, 05:39 PM
 
You should check over at xlr8yourmac for stories of driver conflicts. They've got a pretty good database.

Oh, and the orange shirt guy was probably right. Mac Firewire is supposed to be OHCI compatible, so the Apple drivers should run most "generic" cards. again, see xlr8yourmac

[ 11-01-2001: Message edited by: finboy ]
     
   
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