USB 2.0 for Mac OS 9, on three machines, with no helper app.
This is the largest release since the project began. Full details and install steps are in the README; highlights:
- App-less. Activation now lives in a small system extension. Drop the ROM and the extension in, reboot, done. Nothing to launch, nothing to quit by accident.
- Three machines, fully validated on real hardware: Mac mini G4 (on-board USB 2.0), Power Mac G4 MDD (PCI card), and new this release the Power Mac G3 Blue and White (PCI card, built on the RETAIL 9.2.2 ROM). The B&W pair plausibly serves other stock-9.2.2 towers with a PCI USB 2.0 card; reports welcome.
- A memory-safety fix for surprise removal, found and fixed before any affected ROM was ever published.
- Apple System Profiler no longer crashes on Devices and Volumes.
- Disk First Aid now shows honest drive information ("USB 2.0, drive 1 (v1.0)") instead of garbage text.
- Drives connected at boot mount at Hi-Speed. The old boot-unplugged ritual is gone.
Every machine needs exactly two files, a ROM and an extension. Take the pair for your machine, decode with StuffIt Expander 6.0 or newer (older Expanders corrupt the ROM; it will refuse to boot rather than run corrupted), and follow the README's install steps. You must boot from another volume (or CD) to swap the Mac OS ROM file.
| Machine | ROM | Extension |
|---|---|---|
| Mac mini G4 | USB2_Mini_G4_ROM.hqx |
Mini_G4_EHCI_Ext.bin |
| Power Mac G4 MDD + PCI card | USB2_MDD_G4_ROM.hqx |
MDD_G4_EHCI_Ext.bin |
| Power Mac G3 B&W + PCI card (retail 9.2.2) | USB2_BW_G3_ROM.hqx |
BW_G3_EHCI_Ext.bin |
MD5 checksums:
0f9f53636585499c156d1ac903315aad USB2_Mini_G4_ROM.hqx
2eb05b9d2583622ed3e56620cba06f71 USB2_MDD_G4_ROM.hqx
5509afe84cd0b19cdc435624667f4f3c USB2_BW_G3_ROM.hqx
ff84d8b7cb629f2ea8a9f0bfb71b6b40 Mini_G4_EHCI_Ext.bin
f345db22764507fb3c0e1e607163d2bf MDD_G4_EHCI_Ext.bin
ee4863df8510d444f20804b72171d2e6 BW_G3_EHCI_Ext.bin
The mini ROM also carries the VBL display fix base (see the README's mini section). Users of any earlier release should re-flash: this supersedes everything before it.