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George1 · Oct 4, 2006, 08:11 PM

I just got my new Imac and the keyboard cable is almost too short. Is it possible to extend this USB cable?

Thanks for your help

brassplayersrock² · Oct 4, 2006, 08:18 PM

there should be a usb extension cord that came with the iMac

indigoimac · Oct 4, 2006, 08:59 PM

Originally Posted by brassplayersrock

there should be a usb extension cord that came with the iMac

I don't think they are shipping w/ usb extension cables anymore(I happened to have one so all was good) but any usb extension cable will work fine, check radioshack, bestbuy, ccompusa, etc, they'll all have them.

George1 · Oct 4, 2006, 09:41 PM

Originally Posted by indigoimac

I don't think they are shipping w/ usb extension cables anymore(I happened to have one so all was good) but any usb extension cable will work fine, check radioshack, bestbuy, ccompusa, etc, they'll all have them.

Thanks

I did not know they made such a thing.

Sherman Homan · Oct 6, 2006, 12:59 PM

According to the specs for USB 2 you could hook up a 5 meter cable ~16.5 feet.
I had one 10 feet long for a musical keyboard setup.

teknopimp · Oct 6, 2006, 01:06 PM

see if someone you know has one that they're not using. that's what i did, sort of... i copped 2 of them from work

mitchell_pgh · Oct 6, 2006, 02:22 PM

Wow... I don't think they include the extension cord!

That's sad...

harrisjamieh · Oct 6, 2006, 02:40 PM

They include the extension cord if you buy a stand-alone Apple wired keyboard, but not when bundled with any machines

chipchen · Oct 6, 2006, 03:14 PM

I'll sell you the Apple one for $5 shipped if you want it. Brand new.

chipchen · Oct 6, 2006, 03:15 PM

BTW, it's just a bit longer than 3 ft I think.

quiklee · Oct 6, 2006, 03:24 PM

wireless?

iMacfan · Oct 6, 2006, 04:14 PM

On a slight tangent - anyone know why they went so far to make the extension cord impossible to use with anything apart from the Apple keyboard?

David

harrisjamieh · Oct 6, 2006, 04:51 PM

I know, that really bugs me... I would love to use it as a USB extension just to plug into the back of my iMac and use it to plug in my USB flash drive etc... very annoying... but its the same with the power extension cord for Apple laptops... they use standard figure-of-8 connections, but Apple has moulded the plastic so it cannot be used with anything else using the same connector

dimmer · Oct 6, 2006, 06:24 PM

On a slight tangent - anyone know why they went so far to make the extension cord impossible to use with anything apart from the Apple keyboard?

Marketing, not wanting to tread on the toes of the 3rd party developers. The extension cable was intro'd with the G3 B&W, and was devised to meet several needs: no sloppy spare cable, ability to put the tower under the desk, and NO HARM to USB developers, who were still in iMac nascent form. The "issue" is a very simple plastic nubbin that you can file off: the cable is otherwise just a USB A-A standard extension.

indigoimac · Oct 6, 2006, 08:39 PM

That's not true, the connector has a little nub, just force a conventional male end in and it works fine.

dimmer · Oct 6, 2006, 08:59 PM

just force a conventional male end in and it works fine.

You see now what a good prison education gets you?

tooki · Oct 10, 2006, 01:03 AM

You can damage a USB plug by forcing it into an Apple USB extension.

tooki