[X4U] G4 iMac Airport woes...

[Rod Duncan]

As an earlier post suggested, was in the middle of 
transferring/upgrading an older G3 iMac to a slightly newer G4 800Mhz 
flat panel iMac. The transfer and upgrade of user and applications 
went perfectly. Just used the migration assistant and pulled over 
everything.

One of the reasons we chose this machine, aside from the good price, 
was the ability to pull the existing Airport card from the G3 iMac. 
This was the last flat panel iMac to use the original Airport card. 
The card had and contined to work flawlessly in the older G3 machine. 
Until installing into the G4 iMac, that is.

The Airport card in the newer iMac doesn't have *any* range. The 
machine sees the Airport card but doesn't show any signal strength. 
It will occasionally show the network but when attempted to access 
gives the dialogue continued join and to try again. Physically placed 
the G4 computer in the room beside the Apple base station (original 
model base station) and was able to connect via Airport. Sitting 
right next to the base station it shows full signal strength. Take it 
even a room away and it shows nothing. Took the flat panel iMac apart 
to make sure the card and, most importantly, the antenna was properly 
seated. It appeared to be. Followed Apple's instructions on removing 
and static grounding on installation so don't believe it was damaged 
on installation. All the pins are good.

I have three other Macs all Airport connected to the same base 
station and a couple of them buried far away in the basement. So 
signal strength from the base station and any interference isn't a 
network issue. (2.1GHz Intel iMac, Upgraded Cube & PPC G4 Powerbook 
1.67GHz)

I am about to pull the card from G4 iMac and re-install back into the 
G3 iMac to see if it continues to work with the network.

The older G3 had 10.3.9 installed. The newer iMac has 10.4.10. Are 
there any issues with the original Airport cards and 10.4.10? I'm 
wondering if the Airport card is missing anything software wise? I 
ran the Apple software update and nothing Airport needed updating. Is 
it possible the Airport software in the iMac has become corrupted or 
maybe do I need a firmware update? I've looked at the Apple site and 
haven't seen anything. My upgraded Cube (1.2GHz G4 - 10.4.10) has no 
issues and is running an original card on this same wireless network 
and much further away from the base station, too.

Is it an antenna problem with the G4 iMac? Could software on the G4 
iMac not be upgraded properly for this card? What would I need to 
remove and install, if anything? I've multiple zapped the PRAM, run 
Applejack etc. Nada. Aside from this wireless issue the G4, 
Superdrive iMac is running perfectly.

Any suggestions MUCH appreciated.

Thanks,
Rod