PATHDocumentation > Hardware > Original Power Mac G4 Developer Note


Keyboard and USB

The Apple USB keyboard is designed to work with the computer by way of the USB ports. The keyboard has a captive cable with a USB Type A connector. The keyboard is a bus-powered USB hub with two USB Type A ports.

Warning  A bus-powered hub as defined in the USB specification does not provide enough power to support a second bus-powered hub. A second bus-powered hub must be connected to the second USB port on the computer, not to a port on the Apple USB keyboard.

The standard NMI and reset key combinations are available, but the keys are decoded in software and may not be available under some crashed conditions. Therefore, NMI and reset switches are also available on the front of the computer.

Apple provides a HID class driver for the Apple USB keyboard, which supports the USB boot protocol. Other keyboards intended for use on the Macintosh platform must support the HID boot protocol, as defined in the USB Device Class Definition for Human Interface Devices (HIDs).


© 2000 Apple Computer, Inc. – (Last Updated 13 Jan 00)