IIRC NEC D720101F1 cards work fairly well on 9x/ME.

For some inexplicable reason, the internal connectors on these cards are invariably USB A, not 9-pin headers. However you can get USB-A plug to whatever you need cables, so they should be fine.

That NEC chip works under Win98SE, although if you're running on a motherboard with PCI 2.1 be aware some of these cards need 3.3V to work. That's a card thing, not a chip thing, so you need to check connected pins (5V power) to be sure. Iirc I have one made by (branded with) Sweex that is green and has said USB-A connector internally.

Via based UHCI/EHCI PCI and PCIE cards work just fine with Windows 98. I've used them with some pretty new motherboards.

They use the drivers that come with Windows, but the NUSB drivers work better.

Private_Ops wrote on 2024-08-12, 18:42:

Was there ever a pci usb card that was made that has, Win98 support, at least 2 external headers, and an INTERNAL header, on a green pcb?

I own several of these and they work fine in 98SE.

https://www.startech.com/en-ca/cards-adapters/pciusb7

dionb wrote on 2024-08-12, 20:42:

For some inexplicable reason, the internal connectors on these cards are invariably USB A, not 9-pin headers.

Could it simply be that the USB internal connector standard had not been invented yet?

For quite a while, USB on motherboards was only 2 USB-A ports on the back. I feel like it was only by 2001-2002 that additional USB headers and front panel ports really became a thing...

I acquired my first computer with USB in 1999, however it was a couple of years before I had anything to plug into it (a DSL modem)

VivienM wrote on 2024-08-12, 23:28:

dionb wrote on 2024-08-12, 20:42:

For some inexplicable reason, the internal connectors on these cards are invariably USB A, not 9-pin headers.

Could it simply be that the USB internal connector standard had not been invented yet?

For quite a while, USB on motherboards was only 2 USB-A ports on the back. I feel like it was only by 2001-2002 that additional USB headers and front panel ports really became a thing...

In USB 1.1 days I get that, but USB 2.0 wasn't released until 2000. My oldest motherboards with USB headers date to before that (early 1999). USB 2.0 didn't become mainstream until about 2002. That was 22 years ago and USB 2.0 and even 3.x cards are *still* being shipped with internal type A connectors.

Somehow the only standard ever for internal connectors on USB cards is the external type A connector. I don't get it, I just don't get it.

That's probably a space-saving thing. The USB 3 header is huge.

Private_Ops wrote on 2024-08-12, 18:42:

Was there ever a pci usb card that was made that has, Win98 support, at least 2 external headers, and an INTERNAL header, on a green pcb?

Had a few of these over the years - seemed mainly to come with USB front break-out kits. I still have examples based on NEC & ALi chips, but none of the VIA-based ones. Don't recall having any issues with any of them in W98.

As others have pointed out before, if you are talking Pentium1 or older, not all PCI USB cards will work. I never got a VIA USB card to work on any of my Pentium1 boards. But some of these via cards do have pin headers. Just not the later standard ones.

PC Hoarder Patrol wrote on 2024-08-15, 15:31:

Had a few of these over the years - seemed mainly to come with USB front break-out kits. I still have examples based on NEC & A […]
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Private_Ops wrote on 2024-08-12, 18:42:

Was there ever a pci usb card that was made that has, Win98 support, at least 2 external headers, and an INTERNAL header, on a green pcb?

Had a few of these over the years - seemed mainly to come with USB front break-out kits. I still have examples based on NEC & ALi chips, but none of the VIA-based ones. Don't recall having any issues with any of them in W98.

The attachment USB Card - NEC.jpg is no longer available

The attachment USB Card - ALi.jpg is no longer available

Those are good examples of what I'm looking for. Ebay isnt much help though.

VivienM wrote on 2024-08-12, 23:28:

dionb wrote on 2024-08-12, 20:42:

For some inexplicable reason, the internal connectors on these cards are invariably USB A, not 9-pin headers.

Could it simply be that the USB internal connector standard had not been invented yet?

For quite a while, USB on motherboards was only 2 USB-A ports on the back. I feel like it was only by 2001-2002 that additional USB headers and front panel ports really became a thing...

Internal USB headers definitely existed - I have a 1997-era Pentium MMX (430TX chipset) baby AT board that *ONLY* has headers, not external ports. (Because baby AT.) The big thing is that the earliest USB controllers in-chipset only supported two ports, so most ATX boards exposed those two ports externally and that was it. There were no more ports to bother with an internal header, unless it only exposed one port externally or was a form factor that didn't have external ports at all (like the aforementioned baby AT.)