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General discussion

Modem for Powermac g3?

Jan 4, 2008 5:57PM PST

Hi, I'm a reasonably regular pc user and have picked up a powermac g3 for a friend as a favour. She has an imac g3 which is causing her some grief. It has an internal modem. The problem is the powermac doesn't have a modem for dial up internet connection. What would be the easiest and cheapest way to overcome this? How common are internal/external modems for powermacs and what sort of prices would I be looking at (second hand preferred?)? I tried an internal modem from a pc, but the mac didn't recognise it, so from what I understand, macs need special mac modems. I am in Australia and as long as I can find out the best solution, I should be able to find the parts hopefully. Both systems are running OS 9.1.

Thanks,
Joe

Discussion is locked

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Modems
Jan 4, 2008 9:59PM PST

Contrary to popular belief, there is no difference between an external PC modem and a Mac modem. Unfortunately, the devil is in the details.
Drivers and the physical connection.
On the PM G3, the modem port is serial (looks like an s-video port) which is NOT compatible with anything on a Winbox. If this is a beige G3 then it has no built-in USB ports either. You can add USB ports which would make a USB modem a possibility.
The Blue and White G3 had USB built-in.
A USB possibility You may get an error when loading this page. Click OK.

The modem that I used was a US Robotics 56K external which is apparently still available. take a look here
You may have to enter into conversation with them to try and find the Mac cable for it.

Another route you can take is to search for a local, or reasonably local, Mac users group where you will probably find a whole bunch of people who have a bunch of 56K modems, and the correct cables, just gathering dust in the closet. They would be happy to part with them. You can check at the Apple store for a group near you, or at least in the same country. I know they have mail in Aussie.

Good luck, let us know how you get on

P

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Thanks P
Jan 5, 2008 8:06AM PST

Thanks P. The Powermac is the blue and white one with usb. I can get a 56K external modem, so it sounds like I could just be up for a cable and the appropriate driver if needed. The idea of finding a local mac user group sounds like the best option, particularly if I run in to any problems. Thanks again for your help. I'll let you know how I get on.

Joe

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Blue and White
Jan 5, 2008 10:22PM PST

With the USB option, you do not have to worry about cable ends, they are the same everywhere.

God Luck


P