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I recently retired my dual 1.25Ghz G4 PowerMac and replaced it with a dual
2.7Ghz. After years of having Deep Sleep problems with the G4 due to PCI
(USB and Firewire) card incompatibilities, I finally set out to try to
solve the problem for the G5. When I first moved my existing PCI cards to
the new G5, the Deep Sleep problems continued. But, after a bit of
research on xlr8yourmac.com, combined with some good old fashioned trial
and error, I finally came up with a combination of two PCI cards that
(together) give me an additional 2 external Firewire 400 ports plus an
additional 6 external USB 2.0 ports and do it WITHOUT any Deep Sleep
problems.
As other owners have already figured out, it's not so much "the card" as
what's plugged into the PCI card. With regard to Deep Sleep on the Mac,
these aftermarket PCI cards just don't seem to like any kind of "storage"
device attached to them. But, for me at least, Deep Sleep works just fine
with my other non-storage devices.
So, here's the scoop on my hardware and what's plugged into each:
* Orange Micro "OrangeUSB" USB 2.0 PCI Card - This card has four external
USB 2.0 ports. The four peripherals I have plugged into those four ports
are: Epson 2200 printer, Epson R200 printer, Dymo LabelWriter 330 printer
and Brother MC-8440 printer.
* Sonnet "Tango 2.0" Firwire/USB Combo PCI Card - This card has two
external USB 2.0 ports and two external Firewire 400 ports (plus one of
each as internal ports - currently unused). One of the external USB ports
is taken by my Harman/Kardon SoundStick speakers and one of the external
Firewire 400 ports is taken by my iPod. The remaining two external ports
(one USB and one Firewire) are currently unused.
* I am also using all of the G5's built-in rear ports as well. The G5's
two rear USB ports are taken by my keyboard (Apple) and by my SanDisk
Multimedia Card Reader (for Compact Flash, Secure Digital, etc.). The G5's
rear Firewire 400 port is taken by the cable to my Mini-DV camcorder. The
G5's rear Firewire 800 port is taken by my external hard drive enclosure.
That's it. A grand total of eight rear USB ports (7 taken), three rear
Firewire 400 ports (two taken) and one rear Firewire 800 port (taken).
With this arrangement, my G5 (Mac OS 10.4.4) enters Deep Sleep and wakes
from Deep Sleep just fine.
I should point out that the "culprit" peripherals that caused Deep Sleep
problems when they were plugged into the PCI cards are the external hard
drive (when using Firewire 400) and, more importantly, the SanDisk
Multimedia Card Reader (USB). The Deep Sleep problem always followed these
two devices. Interestingly, my iPod (also connected via Firewire 400)
doesn't cause any Deep Sleep problems.
So, there you have it. I'm not sure if other G5 owners will be as "lucky"
as me but I think they can greatly improve their chances if they change
their connections around to keep "storage" devices away from the PCI card
ports.
Mark
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