Member Avatar for Amy M.

Hello
I am trying to find an ADB (male) to USB (female) adapter for my G3 Wallstreet Powermac Laptop. I would like to be able to connect a USB jumpdrive to the computer via the ADB port on the back. If anyone can please recommend a seller of vintage type parts or if anyone has an old adapter lying around that you might want to sell, I would appreciate hearing from you. Thanks very much.

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Short answer for : an ADB port will not act as a USB host, so you cannot just plug a USB flash drive into ADB and expect it to work. ADB is a low‑speed, single‑wire serial bus designed for keyboards/mice and similar human‑interface devices—not for USB mass‑storage or general USB host functionality. (en.wikipedia.org)

There are small ADB-to-USB products, but they convert ADB input devices (keyboards/mice) to USB HID — they do not provide a USB host controller or the USB Mass Storage stack required for thumb drives. In other words, those adapters make an ADB keyboard appear to a modern PC as a USB keyboard; they will not let a USB jump drive speak to an ADB port. (bigmessowires.com) Also note the WallStreet PowerBook uses ADB and SCSI and does not have built‑in USB, so adding USB needs an expansion or networking approach rather than a simple passive adapter. (everymac.com)

Practical options that work on a WallStreet PowerBook:

  • CardBus/PC Card USB adapter: insert a Mac‑compatible CardBus USB card in the PC Card slot and install the Mac drivers appropriate for your OS (many CardBus USB cards were sold for Mac OS 8.6/9). With the right card + drivers you can attach a flash drive (watch filesystem and driver compatibility). (macworld.com)
  • Network transfer: use the built‑in Ethernet to copy files across the network (AFP/AppleShare, FTP or SMB) to a modern machine or NAS — often the fastest, least hardware‑hunt solution. (manualzilla.com)
  • Native media on the PowerBook: use the removable bay or an external SCSI/Zip drive (the WallStreet has SCSI/modular bay options) to move data if you already have compatible media. (lowendmac.com)

Quick troubleshooting notes: confirm the exact WallStreet model and OS version, because CardBus vs older PCMCIA compatibility and driver availability vary; if using a USB card, install the Mac USB/mass‑storage driver the vendor or Apple recommends; if using network transfer, turn on TCP/IP and file sharing on both machines and test with a small file first.

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Member Avatar for rproffitt

That's something I never saw. Doesn't mean it didn't exist. I thought the only USB adapter was Apple's card.
has some details.

That's USB 1 speed and my bet is only small drives will work.

Member Avatar for Amy M.

You're probably right. Thanks for the input!

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