Resolved G5 PCI-X (or PCI) compatibility with the Sun ASY-90145 1394/USB2.0 card?

[B S Magnet]

So there are a mess of used, PCI combo FW1394a/USB2.0 cards being sold all over which were for Sun servers (I'm guessing SPARC) during the early/mid-’00s — the ASY-90145 (375-3140-05). Try as I may, I cannot locate original tech specs for this card, so I lack knowledge of whether this was PCI 2.3-compliant (rated for 3.3V) or earlier (5V).

Otherwise, the card seems to have all the right elements — an NEC controller for the 5 USB ports, a TI controller for the 3 FireWire 1394a ports. But I've no sense of whether this card may work with the dual G5 2.0 PCI-X (June ’04) I use, or whether anyone else has tried one of these cards with their G5 setup.

Below are representative shots of the card in question.

Hopefully someone out there has had a bit more hands-on experience with this than what the 2019 internet can provide. Thanks.

 

[weckart]

It has both notches in the connector strip so will work with both voltages. USB and FW are standards, irrespective of platform. I used a generic USB card in my sparc Ultra 5, so am quite confident that this should work.


The only card I have ever come across that was OS specific was a USB/FW combi card with the ALi chipset, sold by Belkin among others. That card used a weird bridging arrangement to combine both FW and USB elements breaking the standards set for both and required custom drivers just to operate under Windows. No other OSes were supported. I would not go near any card with an ALi chip on it just for that turd of a card.

By the way, Sun used the same reference ATI 7000 graphic cards that Apple did back in the day although, being graphics cards, these required flashing between Mac and Sun as Apple used its own custom implementation of Open Firmware.

 

[B S Magnet]

It has both notches in the connector strip so will work with both voltages. USB and FW are standards, irrespective of platform. I used a generic USB card in my sparc Ultra 5, so am quite confident that this should work.

You taught me something new today: the significance of the notches on a PCI card. I'm long familiar with USB and 1394 being industry standards.

The only card I have ever come across that was OS specific was a USB/FW combi card with the ALi chipset, sold by Belkin among others. That card used a weird bridging arrangement to combine both FW and USB elements breaking the standards set for both and required custom drivers just to operate under Windows. No other OSes were supported. I would not go near any card with an ALi chip on it just for that turd of a card.

By every metric I've read, the ALi/nvidia chipset is one to positively stay away from. VIA, meanwhile, seems to be a relative unknown. I feel it prudent to stick with the known quantities of TI and NEC chipsets.

By the way, Sun used the same reference ATI 7000 graphic cards that Apple did back in the day although, being graphics cards, these required flashing between Mac and Sun as Apple used its own custom implementation of Open Firmware.

Interesting. I did not know this. Thank you!

 

[weckart]

By every metric I've read, the ALi/nvidia chipset is one to positively stay away from. VIA, meanwhile, seems to be a relative unknown. I feel it prudent to stick with the known quantities of TI and NEC.

VIA is very hit and miss. I remember its 6307 FW chipset would work with Apple but not the 6306 often found on its combi cards. Very annoying. The USB chipsets were usually ok, though.

 

[B S Magnet]

It has both notches in the connector strip so will work with both voltages. USB and FW are standards, irrespective of platform. I used a generic USB card in my sparc Ultra 5, so am quite confident that this should work.

Just an update to note that the Sun ASY90145 card, arriving last day, works flawlessly in the G5.

[Highlighted lines are all related to the same card, seen here in “SLOT-3”.]

The only footnote of interest is that one bus listed as a “USB Enhanced Host Controller”. I don’t know what that denotes or how that varies from the other two USB bus listings. All five USB ports are 2.0; all three FireWire ports are 6-pin 400s.

 

[weckart]

Just an update to note that the Sun ASY90145 card, arriving last day, works flawlessly in the G5.

[Highlighted lines are all related to the same card, seen here in “SLOT-3”.]

The only footnote of interest is that one bus listed as a “USB Enhanced Host Controller”. I don’t know what that denotes or how that varies from the other two USB bus listings. All five USB ports are 2.0; all three FireWire ports are 6-pin 400s.

It denotes EHCI, which is USB 2.0. USB 1.x is either UHCI or OHCI depending upon the chipset.

 

[sksksk]

does anyone have a datasheet for this

 

[ADunsmuir]

The cheapest listing on eBay seems to be found under X3692A - $5 plus shipping.

 

[sksksk]

datasheet?