On Thursday, June 17th, we posted the following on the site:

Reader Adam let us know of an interesting possible bug with Lombard. If you plug a Apple blue USB mouse from an iMac or Yosemite system into the Lombard, put it to sleep, and wake the machine up, the mouse no longer works. You can unplug the mouse and replug it, it does not work. You can try the other USB port, it does not work. The trackpad still works. The only way to fix this problem is to restart. The only other mouse tested in this situation was a MacAlly USB mouse. It also showed the same symptoms. A USB floppy showed none of these symptoms. We're open to any suggestions or work-arounds. Apple will most likely fix this with some sort of update.

We were not sure if this was an isolated incident with this one machine, or a widespread problem with Lombard. Within hours, many reports came in from the few people out there with Lombards, suggesting this is a very apparent issue. Here are a sampling of the reports:

400 MHz machines that have problems:

Just got a 400 MHz Lombard. It's worked just great until I plugged in a MacAlly USB keyboard and mouse. No response. Nothing. Tried a powered hub. Nothing. Fooled around, plugging, unplugging, etc. Finally got it to work, thought everything was OK, but the next morning when I started up again, it was back to not working. Nothing.

I just read your post about problems with USB mice/keboards etc., on Lombard. It sounds very similar to what I am experiencing. I bought Lombard as desktop replacement I can use at home and work, but if I can't get an external USB keyboard and mouse to work with it, I'm out $4,000.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much for any information you can provide, and for your great Web site.

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I saw the note about the Lombard USB issue and thought I'd share one of my own (incidentally, I use Lombard--400MHz--with a Logitech wheel mouse and MouseWare USB drivers and it works fine after waking the Powerbook up from sleep). My issue is with Infowave's PowerPrint USB products and my mouse. Like I said, the mouse works fine when plugged in by itself. Infowave's PowerPrint USB (so that I can use Lombard with my HP 1100 laser printer) also worked fine plugged in by itself, after getting the update to PowerPrint for MacOS 8.6.

However, when I have both the Logitech mouse and the PowerPrint cable connected at startup--cold, warm, you name it--the mouse fails to work (the trackpad still works of course, it's ADB). Plugging and unplugging makes no difference, neither does changing the port it's connected to. If I startup w/o the mouse plugged in and then plug it in after the system is up and running, this too works, as does plugging in the PowerPrint cable for printing after startup. The Infowave tech. support person I spoke with about this said that it might have something to do with power management since the HP 1100 is an energy saving device that only turns on when it's used, but I honestly don't know.

After reading the news on your page I was thinking my mouse worked after waking from sleep because it uses a seperate driver which may get dynamically reloaded after waking (again, I don't really know).

This whole thing is a little disappointing, but the work-around, for me, is simple enough--don't start up with the printer plugged in and only plug it in when needed--but this type of interaction is not what I've come to expect from Apple machines.

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I took delivery of my Lombard 400/192 Mb RAM yesterday and am experiencing the same USB/sleep problems as everyone else - and then some. Macally mouse etc., don't work after a sleep and neither does my Lombard. I experience a Finder freeze/quit after sleep and my remote Apple 1710 monitor won't wake either. A restart seems to be the only answer.

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I installed a Macally keyboard and a Compucable iMac mouse on my 400. The keyboard seems to work fine but my mouse is intermittent for no apparent reason. I zapped the PRAM and my mouse doesn't work. I reboot and still no luck. I switch USB ports and no luck. To send email from our office (because of security I am told) I have to use Outlook under Virtual PC. I launched Virtual PC and lo and behold my mouse works! Other problems I have had are upon reboot my external monitor is reset to 640 x 480 from 1024 x 768. Also, I installed Action Files and GoMac, which (I am not 100% sure) corrupted my system causing a full clean install of the system.

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YES, this just happened today with my client (who received her 400mhz Lombard from MacZone this morning). But more happened as well: after waking up, the MacAlly USB mouse didn't work, AND neither did the MacAlly USB keyboard. At first I thought it was a freeze, till I realized all was well with the built-in trackpad and keyboard. Did all the same plugging and unplugging, and all that worked was a restart. I should also say that the mouse was plugged into the keyboard, and the keyboard into a powered MacAlly hub. Since it had happened after sleep, I set the 'puter to not sleep, BUT lo and behold, it also happened on its own somewhere in the midst of setting up software. A Zip plugged into the hub continued to work just fine.

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I have a 400MHz Lombard and have been experiencing the no USB after sleeping problem. I am using a Kensington USB mouse in a box (translucent blue and white). What I've seen is if I have the mouse connected, sleep it (and leave the mouse attached) then wake it up, the mouse works. If I sleep it, disconnect the mouse, awake it and either attach the mouse or sleep it again and attach the mouse, nothing on USB is recognized. USB only becomes active again after restarting the machine. This happens even after a clean install and running only Apple standard OS, no third party extensions. Only change from stock hardware is the addition of 128MB module in top slot (192MB total RAM).

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After reading about the USB issue I did a little testing with my own Powerbook 400. The setup I am using is a little unique, but I found a fix for my situation that you other readers may want to try.

I am using the iMate USB to ADB adapter with the Apple Black Keyboard and Mouse (ADB). I found when I first hooked the iMate up, and installed the extension, that my Keyboard and Mouse would work during startup but would cease to work when the finder loaded. To make a long story short, I disabled the extension and everything worked fine.

Now with that problem solved I tried to duplicate the USB Sleep problem others have been having. I put the Powerbook to sleep, and then woke it up with the space bar on the external keyboard. Once it woke up, the External Keyboard an Mouse did not work. However, if I moved my finger over the Trackpad the Powerbook seems to operate fine. I then tried the External Mouse and Keyboard again and it now works. This solution may be unique to using the USB to ADB adapter and the ADB Devices, but it is worth a shot for those having the problem.

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Not much to report--just that my "Lombard" G3 400 also suffers from the sleeping-USB problem. With my Datadesk ADB Smartboard and my Kensington ADB Thinking Mouse plugged into the USB ports via a Griffin iMate, the PowerBook fails to recognize them on waking up (not to mention that it doesn't respond to these external devices while it is asleep). This is with the iMate USB driver installed on the system.

400 machines that are fine:

Just thought I'd pass along my USB experiecnces with my new Lombard 400. I have an Interex USB scrolling mouse and Apple USB keyboard and both work without a hitch, coming out of sleep or from startup. I also have an Iomega USB Zip drive. If I plug the drive in after I start the computer, it works fine, but if it is plugged in at startup it crashes when the modem drivers load. This is with Version 1.0.1 of their driver software. Plug in the drive after the machine starts up and we work fine.

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I just got a PowerBook G3 400mhz and have not had any USB Problems. I have connected to it an Entrega USB hub, a Umax Astra 1220u scanner, QPS Que! CD-RW Drive, and an Epson Stylus Color 740i.

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i'm on a 400 mhz g3 pb and just tested it out with a yosemite mouse. I had no problems after putting it to sleep and then waking it up and using the mouse.

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USB on Lombard 400: No problems with an Apple USB Mouse, yet. It sleeps and wakes up with no problems.

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I use a Logitech (Model M-BA47 USB) scroll mouse with my G3/400B&W and my new PowerBook G3/400 Lombard. The mouse works perfectly when woken from sleep mode on either machine.

333 machines that have problems:

Here's my scene: Lombard 333 with MacAlly Keyboard and mouse. When I put the machine to sleep, clicking on the mouse or typing on the USB keyboard will not wake up the machine (I'm not sure if that's the way it's supposed to work though). If I type on the Powerbook keyboard it wakes up. Once it wakes up, the keyboard and mouse work fine.

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Picked up a Lombard-333 at CompUSA last night. I just couldn't wait any longer;-)

I plugged in an Apple USB keybaord (mouse attached) into the new Lomby and put the book to sleep. Sure enough, the keyboard and mouse did not work when I woke up the PB UNTIL I moved my finger across the trackpad to activate it, and then used the USB mouse and keyboard. They worked just fine from that point on.

333 MHz machines that are fine

None reported thus far.

Unspecified machines:

I am glad I am not the only one with the USB problems. I have an iKey keyboard from Macally, Kensington Orbit, joystick, epson printer, etc...I connected everything to my Belkin 4 port hub and nothing. Keybord on Lomby works fine and if I use the "hard plug" the keybord, mouse onto the upper slot, nothing. All in all, three restars, zapping pram two times, it now works. I though it was supposed to be plug and play..geez. i guess all "new" PB's have bugs. Look at the 13" video problem....

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I've found the same "bug" with USB devices, although it seems to depend on how long the PowerBook's been asleep. I'm using a Logitech USB Wheel Mouse, and if it's asleep for a while (haven't figured out how long yet, but it's more than a few minutes), the mouse no longer works. It's not just the mouse, either; same thing with a GamePad Pro USB. I'm waiting for a Techworks USB hub to see if having a powered hub makes any difference (I'd like to connect mouse/Palm V/Epson Stylus Photo/GamePad all at once).

I've also noticed something else with USB: if the screen dims, the USB mouse doesn't work, but it works again if I touch the trackpad or keyboard and bring the screen back to full power. Perhaps there are additional power saving features linked to USB that cause this (similar to turning off power to the PC Cards). I've left a message on Logitech's support site; I'll let you know if they respond.

Reader Observations:

I just wanted to let you know that many IMac users were worried about a similar problem. It seems that apple has made 3 different Imac keyboards, and possibly mice. The original Bondi Blue keyboard works with all the USB macs. When the multi-colored Imacs came out they had, not one but two different keyboards. The grape, orange, lime, and strawberry keyboards were interchangable between those colors. The bluberry keyboard would work ONLY with the Power Mac G3 and the blueberry Imac. I am not sure if this is the same case with the mice, but it makes sense that if the 'boards were switched that the mice would be to. So only the original Bondi Blue Keyboard (and possibly mice) would work with the new Powerbooks.

Ed. Note: We've confirmed that when a Lombard has this issue, none of the Apple USB input devices work.

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About the problems with USB on Lombard, here's some observations:

- USB seems to stop working when waking from sleep mode, if the PowerBook's been in sleep mode for more than a few minutes. I'm not sure exactly how long it takes before USB seems to shut down.

- Oddly enough, power to the USB ports seems to still be supplied; I've connected a Keyspan USB hub, and while the power indicator on the hub comes on after sleep (again, it takes a little while in sleep for this problem to occur), the ports themselves remain inactive. Also, the power indicator on the hub blinks twice when waking from sleep - perhaps this is siginificant.

- Unplugging the USB hub after putting the PowerBook in sleep mode, but before waking it, doesn't solve the problem.

- Unplugging USB devices *before* putting the PowerBook in sleep mode, and plugging them back in *after* waking the 'Book, works as far as I can tell.

- Plugging the USB hub back in after a USB "crash" can freeze the machine completely.

- The PowerBook does not seem to respond to anything on the USB bus if it's in low power mode (i.e. the screen has dimmed, hard drive spun down - not sure about the latter as it's very quiet); need to touch the trackpad or keyboard before USB devices respond again (noticed this with mouse and Palm V).

Other:

I was having problems with USB to ADB iMate using various hardware protection devices (Dongles). Dongels worked with the iMate on an iMac but not on 400mhz Lombard. Reported the problem to both Praxisoft and Griffin middle of last week. In no time at all, Griffin has solved the problem. 3 different makes of Dongles (Rainbow, HASP and Microguard Plus ALL work fine with various software products.

The boys at Griffin are to be congratulated! See below:

Enclosed is version 1.2.6 of the iMate driver. It should work with the Praxisoft software on the new Powebooks. The issue was some changes in the ADB shim mechanism that Apple made on the Powerbook ROM. The shim mechanism is used in conjunction with the USB manager and is contained in the Mac OS ROM.


Paul
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Technical Support
Griffin Technology, Inc.
615/255-0990 fax 255-8040
www.griffintechnology.com

So we can see this is some sort of bug in the entire implementation of USB on the Lombard series of PowerBooks. For a technology that's supposed to be so easy, using the term "plug-and-play," these problems should not be occuring. An Apple fix is in the works...read our article about that. This problem may be limited to 400 MHz machines. If you have a 333 MHz machine with the problem, please write in.



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Written/Edited/Published by Doug B. Landry
Logo by Jon Iverson
Apple, Mac, Macintosh, Mac OS,The Apple Store, and Powerbook are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc.
©1998 Doug B. Landry. All rights reserved. All or part may not be reproduced or distributed without prior consent.
Coded on a Apple Macintosh Powerbook G3 Series from Baton Rouge, LA

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