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Problems adding WD SATA drive to G4

L

lexden

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 15, 2010
3
0
I bought a WD Caviar Green 1TB drive for my 533Mhz G4 (digital audio model) but I can't get it up and running - problems with boot sequence. I have an IDE drive in the cradle with it. I've tried two installations:
1. A LaCie eSATA PCI card with the SATA drive internal and the cable looped back inside so I can use the internal power. With the cable connected, the boot just stalls - disconnected, Tiger boots from the IDE drive but nothing happens when I connect the eSATA cable. So, I left it connected, tried a Cuda reset and reboot and all fired up. Disk Utility saw a 1TB drive, I added a 128 gig partition and it seemed OK until I eventually restarted. The boot hangs and I haven't been able to get the drive recognized since. So,
2. I bought an IDE/SATA adapter that just plugs into the drive and takes the IDE ribbon cable connector from the motherboard. No go - the boot hangs as before. I'm perplexed because it's just a bridge, to make the SATA drive look like an IDE drive.
I've read some other threads on this site where these adapters have been used with no problems. Also, the LaCie card claims to be compatible with G4's.
 
S

stuntmaster

macrumors newbie
Mar 22, 2010
14
0
Southampton
lexden said:
I bought a WD Caviar Green 1TB drive for my 533Mhz G4 (digital audio model) but I can't get it up and running - problems with boot sequence. I have an IDE drive in the cradle with it. I've tried two installations:
1. A LaCie eSATA PCI card with the SATA drive internal and the cable looped back inside so I can use the internal power. With the cable connected, the boot just stalls - disconnected, Tiger boots from the IDE drive but nothing happens when I connect the eSATA cable. So, I left it connected, tried a Cuda reset and reboot and all fired up. Disk Utility saw a 1TB drive, I added a 128 gig partition and it seemed OK until I eventually restarted. The boot hangs and I haven't been able to get the drive recognized since. So,
2. I bought an IDE/SATA adapter that just plugs into the drive and takes the IDE ribbon cable connector from the motherboard. No go - the boot hangs as before. I'm perplexed because it's just a bridge, to make the SATA drive look like an IDE drive.
I've read some other threads on this site where these adapters have been used with no problems. Also, the LaCie card claims to be compatible with G4's.
Click to expand...

Problem

that drive is listed as an advanced format drive. you need to pop it in a windows machine and run the utility from WD to get it running. it seems these drives have the ability to re-align the sectors and heads for faster performance. this of course may not be mac compatible.

try doing that then reinstalling using sata. mac should see it. i'd leave the green's alone and stick with caviar blue or black editions. the green means eco. so by realigning the sectors and heads, it in theory uses less time therefore less power to find stuff.

It's good but it hates legacy hardware!

hope that helps.
 
VanneDC

VanneDC

macrumors 6502a
Jun 5, 2010
860
92
Dubai, UAE
ive got a green WD drive in my g5, works no dramas... then again, i did use it in my windows box previous to that....
 
L

lexden

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 15, 2010
3
0
Thanks for the posts. It seems (from WD FAQ) that I have to use GUID partitioning to align the sectors correctly, so that's out for PowerPC. My drive is definitely the advanced format type, from the s/n. I think I shall use it with my laptop and buy a Caviar Blue or Samsung for the Mac.

Q. for SmurfBoxMasta: did you get the SC-SAT212-S4 PCI card? It's available in the UK and quite cheap.
 
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