USB WiFi adaptor only works after unplugging and replugging (iMac G3)

[Mangetout]

I recently bought a couple of G3 iMacs for my kids to use in their bedrooms - they're late models (slot loading, 'snow') and have had their RAM and hard drives upgraded - and OSX Tiger installed (all before they came into my possession), which actually seems to run just fine despite the vintage of the hardware.

Anyway, I already had a couple of DLink DWL-G122 (Rev b1) USB wireless network adaptors and I downloaded and installed the latest OSX drivers for them - and they work just fine, but only after they've been unplugged and reinserted after each boot - when the machine is first started up, there's no flashing light on the adaptor, there's no network connection indicator in the right of the menu bar - they just aren't active.

Is there something obvious I'm missing? Is there some way to script a rescan of the USB ports after booting?

I'm fairly new to the world of Apple (although it all makes sense so far), so please be gentle with me.

 

[DoctorMac - Palm Springs]

That's pretty NORMAL for any 3rd party USB adapter I've tried. They 'sorta' work for awhile, often get hosed up within hours or minutes, ya unplug and replug and then they work again - for awhile... Worst case they can cause a Kernel Panic and possibly damage your hard drive directories.

That's why I can't and don't recommend them to my clients. Any 'Solution' that leads to a problem isn't a solution -- it's just a PROBLEM!

 

[Mangetout]

Thanks for that - the possible filesystem damage sounds a bit scary - I thought the architecture was a bit more robust than that.
I found a utility here that supposedly simulates unplugging and replugging the device, but I can't even get this to work consistently.

I see there are loads of different USB wireless adaptors for sale everywhere, many of which are advertised as having Mac drivers, but given the ubiquity of the RaLink chipset, I expect they're all the same - even the ones that claim to avoid the unplugging and replugging.

So.... it looks like my options consist of:
-Wire the house with Cat5/6
-Install wireless client bridges (perhaps Airport Express)
-Install Airport sockets/cards (expensive)
-Use powerline ethernet adaptors