Mac OS X 10.4.4 (#13): More FireWire fixes; Problems with processor upgrade cards; more

CNET staff

Sept. 2, 2009 9:05 a.m. PT

4 min read

More FireWire fixes We continue to cover issues with FireWire after the update to Mac OS X 10.4.4, including an inability to mount external FireWire drives, problems recognizing the iSight and more.

We initially identified a fix that involves shutting down the Mac, then disconnecting all FireWire devices from the Mac and from their external power sources if necessary and reconnecting them 10 minutes later. We've now identified some new workarounds.

Uncheck FireWire as Network connection method Some users have reported that unchecking FireWire as a network connectivity method restored access to non-networked FireWire devices. This can be accomplished via the following process:
Open System Preferences

Click on the Network pane

From the "Show" drop-down menu, select "Network Port configurations"

Uncheck "Built-in FireWire," then click "Apply Now"

Adding a new FireWire card Meanwhile, some users have resorted to adding a third-party FireWire PCI card in order to restore connectivity to critical devices.

MacFixIt reader Mike Barron writes:

"All of a sudden, one of the firewire ports stopped working. Before too long the other port stopped as well. I tried zapping PRAM. I tried resetting open firmware. I tried unplugging everything and letting it sit for 30 minutes. I even reset the PMU. Nothing. Oddly, System Profiler would initially show the port. But after plugging in a drive, the port would disappear from System Profiler completely after a minute or two. In the logs (I think the system.log, but I don't remember for sure) was an error stating that the Firewire bus had reset itself after two minutes, which seemed to correspond to the amount of time it took the port to disappear from System Profiler.

"Ultimately the fix, while perhaps not ideal, wasn't too painless. We put a cheap PCI Firewire card in the machine. It's been working great, and was a lot cheaper then a new motherboard."

Problems with processor upgrade cards MacFixIt reader Jim Lawson reports issues with booting a processor-upgraded Mac after updating to Mac OS X 10.4.4. He writes:

"My Powerlogix 1.6 GHz dual CPU will not work with Mac OS X 10.4.4. When I reboot I get kernel panics."

If you are experiencing a similar issue, please let us know.

More on accidentally booting into Open Firmware We continue to report on an issue where systems inadvertently boot into Open Firmware mode after applying the Mac OS X 10.4.4.

MacFixIt reader Eliezer Kanal reports that in some cases, the issue may not be related to the incremental system update at all, but rather an errant connected devices.

Eliezer writes:

"I had this issue myself, and I found that the problem was actually incredibly simple. I'm using an old dual G4 500 attached to an Apple Studio Display, and it appears that the power button on the Apple Studio Display would occasionally get stuck when I pressed it to turn the machine on. It seems that if the power button stays pressed for five or ten seconds or so, the machine boots into open firmware mode. On my machine, you can tell if this is the problem by observing the power button on the display during startup - it should brighten when pushed and immediately fade out a bit. If it stays lit, then your button is likely stuck, and you may go into open firmware mode."

Feedback? Late-breakers@macfixit.com.

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