Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Porco

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Mar 28, 2005
3,315
6,909
Short version of my question[!]: If you install an internal SATA controller in a Dual 2.5GHz Power Mac G5 do you just keep the Hard Disk in one of the 2 existing bays, attach the power cable as normal and just run the data cable to the card? Because where else is the thing going to go?! (I guess it would fit in the empty space for long PCI-X cards but I'm guessing that's a no-no). :confused:

Long version/background info: Somewhat stupidly I purchased a 150GB 10,000 rpm Western Digital Raptor yesterday (online) without checking if it was OK in my Power Mac... What I want to do is to boot from the Raptor and use my existing drives for storage/scratch disks (I currently have the stock 160GB my G5 came with [Seagate I think], plus a 300GB Maxtor disk).

A few searches later (*after* the purchase... not a good idea I know, let that be a lesson to everyone as impulsive as myself!) reveals that the SATA controller on most G5s doesn't get on at all well with the 150GB Raptors - but I've read that connecting the drive to a PCI controller card will do the trick, so I ordered a 2-port internal card (a Sonnet Tempo) that apparently looks just the thing (it explicitly states you can boot from any drive attached to the card).

As an aside, I also ordered a FW400/USB2 enclosure to house the original (slowest) SATA drive, so that's not going to waste...

So, anyone else gone through the same/similar process who can tell me how it's worked out for them, or just have experience with using an internal SATA drive via an internal PCI card?

Oh yeah, and always do thorough checks online before you order stuff online, people!! (would be nice if Apple hadn't skimped on the SATA implementation by the looks of it though) :eek:
 

Porco

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Mar 28, 2005
3,315
6,909
Update for anyone who's interested:

The SATA card arrived this morning, I installed it and it seems to run my original drive fine (still waiting for the new one). It does indeed just run a data cable from the card, up to the drive bay (wasn't the easiest thing to fit really).
 

Porco

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Mar 28, 2005
3,315
6,909
Update II for anyone who is remotely interested at all (maybe this will all help someone in the future anyway[!]):

I installed the Raptor 150GB in the upper drive bay of the G5 - note: if you have two drives and you want to take the upper one (A) out, you need to remove the lower one (B) first. The two guide screws furthest away (as it faces you pushing the drive into the bay that is) that go in the side of the drive, run along a groove that starts in the middle and then turns up, where as the two guide screws nearest you run along the top groove, once the far ones are far back enough to have risen). All this means is you have to take the lower drive out first.

I hooked up the data cable from the internal SATA PCI card I bought, and closed my Mac. The SATA card had stopped my Alchemy TV card working at first, I had to switch the card to a different slot, very odd, but then nothing has gone as easily as it could have with this venture[!]. But all is well now.

Then I got to putting my original Seagate drive the G5 came with into an external SATA enclosure. I got an inexpensive Safecom enclosure, 2 FW400 ports 1 USB 2.0 port. It didn't work at first, but after some fiddling I think I discovered the power cable wasn't pushed into the drive controller properly.

Phew... Could have been easier, all that... but I love the Raptor!
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.