G4/Gefen USB extension issue

[dss]

so i bust my new Quicksilver 867 out of the box and set it up.

amazed and impressed, the ATTO card works, the setup is a snap. and it sure is fast.

the CPU will not shut down.

i try and try. nope. i tell it to shut down and it does and then immediately restarts.

20 times. no change.

i call apple, i'm pissed and demand a replacement machine (oh man)

he settles me down (how i hate to be handled) and we go over it all. run the hardware test. initi the HD and reinstall the software. same troubles.

i remove the HBA, the Stealth Port, and it's the same.

last thing we do is take the Gefen USB active extension cable out of the loop and the machine is just fine.

Argh!

so aside from USB sucks (not useful) how and in what way are you folks extending your keyboard cables?

relieved and confused.

dss

[Ed Douglas]

A friend of mine has a 50ft run from his 733 by chaining simple USB extensions from the local FutureShop at $20.00 or so a pop. No worries. The USB chain is lean - keyboard and mouse only.

E.D.

[Lee Blaske]

dss,

Are you talking about one of the Gefen extenders that converts the USB to CAT5 cable, or are you talking about one of those powered USB cables?

I've had no luck with the powered USB cables (even with a simple keyboard and mouse). The problem is that they don't initialize properly because they have to power themselves up first before the hardware they're connected to can be found.

Lee Blaske

[slinky]

my g4 466 does the same thing with an active usb extender cable. it sux.

[jic3]

dss,
I run 2 g4's in my set up. One of them shut's down fine and the other always restarts. They both use USB extenders as well as DVI extenders from Gefen. I don't believe that the problem has to do with the Gefen products specifically. I've read other posts pertaining to this problem. If you haven't already, I suggest you search this forum for more info. It's been a while since I've read some of the other relevant posts. But, from what I recall, this is perhaps an apple OS USB bug, and/or may be affected (or fixed) by the number of USB devices hooked up to your computer. It also may be affected by whether or not any external hardware (midi interfaces,etc.)are still powered on when you try to shut down the computer. I've been meaning to plug in another device into my USB hub to see if it helps. You might try that. In the mean time I just choose shut down from the menu and, when it restarts I just press and hold the G4 power button for 4 seconds until the machine shuts off.

Good luck,
John

[dbullard1]

Hey,

Have to say, I think your problem is with the Gefen itself. I'm not sure if the same problem exists with CAT5 extenders, but the old TSE line (using ADB extensions) had problems when you didn't have the receiver box connected. The exact symptom was that it would restart when you shut down. Are you extending USB or ADB? Either way, consider replacing the Gefen - at least the recieve unit.

Also, ask for spare power jumpers for the sender. Those damn things break if you look at them funny.

Good luck

David Bullard
Masque Sound and Recording

[dss]

Yeah,

it's a Gefen Extender Cable.

they wrote to me and asked me to "try it again." because they "haven't heard of this before."

i replied with my original message describing the repeatable problem. but it's been two days and i have yet to hear back again.

i took your advice and went to the Mac store down the street, bought three female to male USB extensions and it works great.

want my money back from Gefen.

blah...

dss

[genebail]

dss,
Did you use simple USB cables or are they interconnected with powered hubs? I'm currently using a Gefen system (not usb) on a G3, and am trying to figure out the best way to go when I get my 867. Thanks
Gene

[dss]

no hub for me, i did add a simple $40 usb pci card to give the machine more ports.

presently i just connected three usb female to male cables in a chain between the keyboard and the cpu and it's working great. no lagg, no unplug-replug hassle.

the "active usb cable" is sitting in a coil on my tech shelf.

not needed and no RA yet.

take it easy, simple seems to be the right way in these computers.

dss

[genebail]

Thanks dss.
I forgot a couple of questions if you don't mind. How long a run of USB do you have, what type of monitor are you using and what did you end up using to connect the monitor? I'm hoping this will work for me, otherwise I'd have to buy a whole new extend-it system. Thanks again.

Gene