PCI USB card w/ 8.6 support?

#1 Thu, 10 Jun 2010 - 16:20 68kMLA

A recent dumpster diving trip rewarded me with a Power Computing 604/150, which is a 150 MHz PPC 604 mac clone. It's got three PCI slots, 384 MB of memory, and a 2 GB SCSI hard drive. The HDD has 8.6 installed on it already. I'd like to leave 8.6 on it, and maybe install BEOS on it as well. What I'm really looking for right now, though, is a means to get it to work with my USB kvm. Are there any PCI USB cards that are Mac OS 8.6 friendly?

Thanks!

#2 Thu, 10 Jun 2010 - 19:35 68kMLA

Should be, the USB card I got for my 8500 back in 2002 supported 8.6 or higher.

#3 Thu, 10 Jun 2010 - 22:22 68kMLA

Okay. I tried one card and it didn't work well, but I have a couple more I can try.

#4 Thu, 10 Jun 2010 - 22:31 68kMLA

For OS 8.6 you needed drivers, not sure if 9.1 needed them or not.

#5 Thu, 10 Jun 2010 - 23:31 68kMLA

yeah, there is a USB HID extension being loaded, which is what I figured was needed to make a mouse work.

#6 Sat, 12 Jun 2010 - 09:10 68kMLA

Every USB Card with an RTL8139 chip schould work. You need also USB Adpter Card support from Apple.

The best solution for me was the "LMP All in One" card with FireWire, USB and 100 Mbit Ethernet at one PCI 2.0/2.2 Bus (3,6 and 5 V) It is an Cherry1394 Model 69121 card.

#7 Sat, 12 Jun 2010 - 16:25 68kMLA

Any OHCI compatible USB card should work. Yes, you do need to download and install the drivers from Apple, and note that OS 9.x and below will only give you USB 1.1 speeds, not USB 2. If you want fast external drives under OS 9, a Firewire card is your best bet (or of course a combo FW/USB card)

#8 Sat, 12 Jun 2010 - 16:49 68kMLA

Thanks, guys! I'm really only looking for HID support, which I believe means OHCI is all I need. I just want to use it with my KVM.

#9 Sat, 12 Jun 2010 - 21:18 68kMLA

I added the 1.41 USB Adapter Support and the USB Mouse and Keyboard immediately started working. I guess the USB drivers that were previously installed on the machine were for something else... Anyway! Once I get the Video Card situation figured out on this system, I'm going to be pretty happy.

#10 Mon, 14 Jun 2010 - 23:21 68kMLA

Every USB Card with an RTL8139 chip schould work. You need also USB Adpter Card support from Apple.

Uh...RTL8139 is an ethernet chipset. But yeah, as Bunsen said, regardless of what brand it is, or what chipset it has, any OHCI compliant card should work.

#11 Thu, 17 Jun 2010 - 17:41 68kMLA

You are right about the RTL. I had a quick look at my above mentioned PCI card, and confused the chips. The USB should be the NEC D720100AGM. Sorry for any inconveniance I may have caused.