Why Does My Mac Do This All Of A Sudden?

[M2E]

Hey guys,
For some reason my Mac G4 keyboard loses usb power when I hook up more than one item on it. It never use to do that before. For instance, I have a Kensington Pro Mouse Trackball in USB port 2 on my Mac keyboard. When I go to hookup my Edirol Midi Keyboard Controller to it I lose the use of my keyboard keys and can no longer type anything. If I unplug it from the keyboard I still won't be able to type anything unless I restart the CPU.Just started doing this maybe 3 months ago. Really, just all of a sudden. My setup is this,
Mac G4 1.4 gig w/ 1.5 gig ram
Geffen monitor unit that helps me put my monitors(2) w/ Mac keyboard anywhere I need to. And yes I called them and they said it should have nothing to do with there unit.
Trackball in Mac keyboard
USB Hub in Mac's 2nd usb slot (Direct)

Anybody else had this problem?

Thanx guys
M2E

[Lee Blaske]

Are you sure your hub is getting external power?

If the hub is working correctly, I'd try plugging the trackball into the hub rather than the keyboard. The keyboard's "hub" is unpowered, so it'll be more prone to that sort of thing.

Which Gefen unit are you using? Some of them had an error in the manual that instructed you to plug the power supply into the sending unit at the computer, when it should be plugged in at the receiving side.

If problems persist, try a different hub. There are lots of substandard hubs on the market that cause problems. If you're investigating a new hub, lots of pro production facilities are going with this one:

https://secure.nexusds.com/pertech/index.htm

Hope this helps.

Lee Blaske

[mixroots]

I am having the exact same problem. After 3 years of flawless function.I would gladly purchase a different unit.Unfortunately the company you linked to is being sold and is not manufactureing any more devices.Any more suggestions?