The Griffin iMate
USB to ADB adapter allows you to continue to use your favorite ADB
mice, keyboards, trackballs, trackpads, hardware dongles, and other
ADB peripherals with newer Mac. I use one, and it works great,
allowing me to keep using my favorite ADB input devices with my
USB-only computers. iMate plugs into a USB port or hub at one end,
and provides an ADB port at the other.
The iMate is also the ultimate cross platform compatibility
device. With Windows support, you can now use your existing Mac
keyboards, mice, trackballs, and trackpads with both Macs and PCs.
Since USB is fully hot swappable, a simple switch box is all you need
to control multiple computers.
I've found that most ADB keyboards and mice work with the iMate
without any driver software, but for devices 
with
custom drivers that won't, you can download the latest version of
Griffin's iMate driver from their website. The iMate driver provides
the functionality of the ADB manager. This allows ADB devices that
require custom drivers to operate on iMacs, iBooks, PowerBook G3s and
G4s, Power Mac G4s, and other Macs with PCI or PC Card USB adapter
cards.
The iMate consists of a small plastic housing containing circuitry
and an ADB part attached to a USB cord and connector. You just plug
it into a USB port on your Mac or USB hub, plug an ADB device into
the iMate, and you're in business.
Over the past three years or so, I've used an eclectic variety of
ADB keyboards with my Pismo
PowerBook, my 700 MHz
iBook, my G4 Cube, a WallStreet
with a Macally PC Card USB adapter, and my Umax
SuperMac S900 tower with a Macally PCI USB adapter. It has always
worked flawlessly - except with a DataDesk SmartBoard ergonomic
keyboard. I have no idea why, because the SmartBoard requires no
dedicated driver.
As for pointing devices, I've used a standard Apple ADB mouse, the
Anir Mouse, a Contour Perfit mouse, and a Macally two button mouse
that has its own programmable driver. The driverless mice worked
fine, as did the Macally without its driver loaded (in which instance
both buttons revert to a standard click).
For a comprehensive list of compatible devices, including mice,
trackballs, keyboards, barcode readers, tablets and touchscreens,
hardware dongles, and more, see this
list on Griffin's website.
Activating the Macally mouse driver software causes the S900 to
lock up hard, requiring a restart. Fair enough. Griffin warns that
programmable devices may require the iMate driver software, as noted
above. I downloaded the driver, but still no joy with the Macally
mouse, whose own driver software still causes the S900 to crash.
However, I'm inclined to blame the Macally driver, which I have seen
cause unstable behavior on other Macs (my old PowerBook
5300 for instance) even when the mouse is plugged into a standard
ADB port.
PCI Macs with USB cards are supported. You need to download
USB
Card Support 1.2 or later from Apple to use the iMate (or any
other USB device). Soft power on (keyboard power on) is supported by
Macs with built in USB, but it is not supported by any USB cards,
since they have to be powered up to respond to a connected USB
device.
In general, the iMate serves its purpose admirably, allowing most
ADB peripherals - Apple items in particular it seems - to support
USB Macs. I especially like the little activity LED on the iMate that
lets you know that information is flowing. It's not especially
functional, but it is entertaining.
New in the latest iMate
drive software:
- Version 1.5.3 provides improved support for hardware
protection dongles in classic mode.
- This version also has a preference pane to select whether you
want the iMate to operate under classic (hardware protection
dongles, calibrators, and other non-input devices) or OS X
(input devices like mice, keyboards, or trackballs).
System requirements:
- Mac OS 9.1 or greater or OS X
- PC: Windows 98, Me, 2000, or XP
- a USB port
- Mac "Wake from Sleep" mode is supported with ADB keyboards
using the iMate, but only the power on key is used with external
keyboards on PowerBooks G3s. This is different from previous
PowerBooks which would awake with any keystroke.
- PCI Macs with USB cards are supported. You need to install USB
Card Support 1.2 or later. Soft power on (keyboard power on) is
supported by Macs with built in USB, but it is not supported by
add-in USB cards.
- PC support is generally limited to mouse and keyboard support.
This allows for the use of trackpads, trackballs, and bar code
scanners/wands that use these drivers.
- iMacs: Built in support in ROM. iMac updates are required for
Rev A and Rev B models (233 MHz) when using ADB devices with
custom drivers.
Griffin iMate sells for $39.
