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AirPort Extreme for Mac OS 9 is HERE!
Posted by: UnxpectedBomb on 2026-10-02 09:02:29
I completed a true AirPort Extreme driver for Mac OS 9 running on unsupported G4 machines (via MacOS9Lives). Tested and confirmed working on an MDD FW800, achieving real 802.11g speeds with WPA2 security, allowing you to connect Mac OS 9 to modern wireless networks for the first time.

There are three components:
- AirPort Extreme system extension (the actual driver)
- AirPort Extreme control panel (UI for connecting to networks)
- AirPort Extreme control strip module (optional but awesome, you should use it)

Super easy to install and use. This was an absolute marathon to complete, even more challenging (and frustrating) than USB 2.0 in some ways, but I'm very happy with the end result. You can download it here:

github.com

Release AirPort Extreme for Mac OS 9 (driver 1.0b219, panel 1.4.8, strip 1.10) · UnexpectedBomb/MacOS9-Airport-Extreme

Ready-to-install build of the AirPort Extreme driver for Mac OS 9.2.2. Tested on the Power Mac G4 MDD FW800; other BCM4306-equipped G4s are expected to work but need community testing (see the comp...
github.com github.com

Let me know what machines you get it working on!
Posted by: obsolete on 2026-10-02 10:31:05
Lovely. I have a Linksys PCI card in my Quicksilver with a compatible chipset (works in OS X). I'll give this a try.
Posted by: Byrd on 2026-10-02 16:18:57
This is amazing work, thank you! Just confirming it's only for Apple AirPort Extreme cards to test right now maybe other PCI BCM4306 to come?
Posted by: UnxpectedBomb on 2026-10-02 19:48:26
This is amazing work, thank you! Just confirming it's only for Apple AirPort Extreme cards to test right now maybe other PCI BCM4306 to come?
That's correct, the A1026 AirPort Extreme card with the BCM4306 chip is the only card I've tested and confirmed so far. Looking to acquire a card with the newer Broadcom revision that shipped later in the A1026 (BCM4318) to ensure compatibility across all A1026 cards. But most that I've encountered so far seem to be the original BCM4306.

If you have a particular PCI BCM4306 card in mind, I'm curious to know! This is my first foray into developing for such a card.
Posted by: obsolete on 2026-10-02 20:17:18
Looking to acquire a card with the newer Broadcom revision that shipped later in the A1026 (BCM4318) to ensure compatibility across all A1026 cards.
Turns out that's what's on my Linksys PCI card (14e4:4318). Happy to loan it to you or work with you to debug, whichever you'd prefer. Feel free to send me a DM.
Posted by: Byrd on 2026-10-03 00:22:36
That's correct, the A1026 AirPort Extreme card with the BCM4306 chip is the only card I've tested and confirmed so far. Looking to acquire a card with the newer Broadcom revision that shipped later in the A1026 (BCM4318) to ensure compatibility across all A1026 cards. But most that I've encountered so far seem to be the original BCM4306.

If you have a particular PCI BCM4306 card in mind, I'm curious to know! This is my first foray into developing for such a card.

Fantastic. I'm also keen to try it in a lowly PowerPC machine (such as a TAM if I can find my Broadcom BCM4306 PCI card) but imagine the overheads of WPA2 encryption might bring it to it's knees? The thought of being able to browse the web natively via a modern router is tantalising.
Posted by: UnxpectedBomb on 2026-10-06 13:18:30
As a "wireless follow-up" to the AirPort Extreme release, I have also completed a Mac OS 9 Bluetooth driver which you can get here:

github.com

Release OS 9 Bluetooth: keyboards and mice on Mac OS 9 (driver 17.6, panel 19.2, strip 2.5) · UnexpectedBomb/MacOS9-Bluetooth

Ready-to-install build of a native Bluetooth HID host stack for Mac OS 9.2.2. It pairs and drives Bluetooth keyboards and mice from OS 9 itself, over the Mac's own internal Bluetooth module, with n...
github.com github.com
Posted by: s_pupp on 2026-10-06 15:23:06
If this works with the 1GHz 17" PowerBook G4, it will fix my frustrations that occur running the MacOS9Lives MacOS 9-for-unsupported-Macs on it!
Posted by: UnxpectedBomb on 2026-10-07 09:46:26
If this works with the 1GHz 17" PowerBook G4, it will fix my frustrations that occur running the MacOS9Lives MacOS 9-for-unsupported-Macs on it!
I hope it does! Report back soon!
Posted by: KGLlewellyn on 2026-10-07 14:57:37
I've tried this on my PowerBook G4 17" 1Ghz which does have 14e4:4320 so it 'should' work? Unfortunately, the control panel reports that the driver is not loaded despite the Control Panel, Extension and CSM being in the correct places.
Posted by: UnxpectedBomb on 2026-10-07 20:42:57
I've tried this on my PowerBook G4 17" 1Ghz which does have 14e4:4320 so it 'should' work? Unfortunately, the control panel reports that the driver is not loaded despite the Control Panel, Extension and CSM being in the correct places.
Hmm. Let's see if we can get to the bottom of this.

1) Is your AirPort Extreme card in that machine known to work fine in OS X? (Send me the System Profiler report if so.)
2) Are there any AirPort Extreme logs generated in your OS 9 System Folder or Extensions folder that you can send me?
3) Can you also send me the OS 9 Apple System Profiler report for your machine? (include Devices & Volumes)
Posted by: KGLlewellyn on 2026-10-08 10:29:56
Hmm. Let's see if we can get to the bottom of this.

1) Is your AirPort Extreme card in that machine known to work fine in OS X? (Send me the System Profiler report if so.)
2) Are there any AirPort Extreme logs generated in your OS 9 System Folder or Extensions folder that you can send me?
3) Can you also send me the OS 9 Apple System Profiler report for your machine? (include Devices & Volumes)
DM'ed you the files you requested.
Posted by: UnxpectedBomb on 2026-10-08 11:22:29
DM'ed you the files you requested.
After checking those out, the good news is that your card is fully supported (BCM4306) and OS 9 is indeed enumerating it as "14e4:4320". The Scanner log shows the Open Transport boot scan registers the card's port properly too.

1) Download the latest version of the AirPort Extreme control panel (v1.4.8) from the repo release, install it, and reboot. This may or may not matter, but I did see from the ASP report that you somehow had an older version of that control panel installed (v1.4.5)

2) When you open the TCP/IP control panel, what configuration options do you see under "Connect via" ? There should be an option called "AirPort Extreme". That option needs to be selected and then saved (via quitting the panel) before the card's port will open. After that, you should be able to open the AirPort Extreme control panel and select a wireless network.
Posted by: KGLlewellyn on 2026-10-08 15:42:41
That's odd, the Control Panel in Get Info reports it as 1.4.8 but in ASP it reports as 1.4.5, not sure what is up with that. But I'm definitely running 1.4.8 - Incidentally, I hadn't originally selected Airport Extreme in TCP/IP, but I have now selected Airport Extreme in the TCP/IP CP, and deselected 'Load Only When Needed'. Unfortunately it didn't seem to make a difference, the CP is still reporting that the driver isn't being loaded.
Posted by: UnxpectedBomb on 2026-10-08 23:00:41
That's odd, the Control Panel in Get Info reports it as 1.4.8 but in ASP it reports as 1.4.5, not sure what is up with that. But I'm definitely running 1.4.8 - Incidentally, I hadn't originally selected Airport Extreme in TCP/IP, but I have now selected Airport Extreme in the TCP/IP CP, and deselected 'Load Only When Needed'. Unfortunately it didn't seem to make a difference, the CP is still reporting that the driver isn't being loaded.
Turns out there's two places where the control panel's version string is stored, and I only updated one of them to v1.4.8. My fault on that one. Sorry for the confusion. You indeed have the correct and latest control panel installed.

In TCP/IP, for User Mode I usually have Basic selected so I don't think the "Load Only When Needed" tickbox is hurting us here either way. Selecting "AirPort Extreme" in TCP/IP is correct and the main thing, because that should now have opened the port and generated a new log in your System Folder called "AirPort Driver Log". Send me that log, and it should tell us exactly what's going on.
Posted by: KGLlewellyn on 2026-10-09 08:55:33
Turns out there's two places where the control panel's version string is stored, and I only updated one of them to v1.4.8. My fault on that one. Sorry for the confusion. You indeed have the correct and latest control panel installed.

In TCP/IP, for User Mode I usually have Basic selected so I don't think the "Load Only When Needed" tickbox is hurting us here either way. Selecting "AirPort Extreme" in TCP/IP is correct and the main thing, because that should now have opened the port and generated a new log in your System Folder called "AirPort Driver Log". Send me that log, and it should tell us exactly what's going on.
Here you go!
Posted by: UnxpectedBomb on 2026-10-09 11:14:18
Here you go!
A lot of good news from the Airport Driver log. Your card is basically fine, the hardware is right and fully recognized. The driver opened its port successfully when you selected "AirPort Extreme" in TCP/IP. For some reason, the driver is stopping at the card's firmware, and the current driver doesn't log WHY the firmware didn't start. I built a diagnostic version of the driver (k221) that I'm attaching for you here. After you install it, make sure to cold-boot (full shutdown, not a restart) just to rule out any funny business from warm-boots; a cold-boot will have everything brought up from scratch. Then open TCP/IP again, select AirPort Extreme, quit the panel (to save), and send me the new Airport Driver log; it will tell me exactly why the firmware didn't start and what to fix.

We are super close to having this working. Would love to add the 17" PowerBook to the compatibility list.
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