Power Mac G5 can't see SATA III Corsair Force SSD

[Jethryn Freyman]

So, I just put a SATA III Corsair Force SSD into my Power Mac G5, which is only SATA I. The drive is in the lower bay. It's not detected by Disk Utility or the System Profiler. Any help? Running Leopard.

However, I had another identical drive that shows up when connected in a USB enclosure. Not sure what speed the enclosure is. Will try out the drive in my computer in the enclosure to see if it's a faulty drive...

[Jethryn Freyman]

OK, the drive worked fine when plugged in via USB. I formatted it to HFS+ with an Apple Partition Map, put it back in the SATA port of the Mac, still not detected.

I know you can jumper SATA III mechanical hard disks, any way I can do that here?

[tayloralmond]

Originally Posted by Jethryn Freyman

OK, the drive worked fine when plugged in via USB. I formatted it to HFS+ with an Apple Partition Map, put it back in the SATA port of the Mac, still not detected.

I know you can jumper SATA III mechanical hard disks, any way I can do that here?

I had the same problem. PowerMac G5's can't read SATA III drives. I ended up getting a PCI-E SATA-3 adapter from NewEgg. Unfortunately, I still can't boot from it, so I moved most of my applications to the SSD so at least those programs would run faster. You (and I) will need to buy a SATA II SSD in order to boot natively.

[zen.state]

A quick google search told me it's only backward compatible with SATA II. This is why people need to research things before they buy.

I looked at images of the drive also and it has no jumper that I could see. To make a SATA 3 drive run on SATA 1 it needs a jumper to run it at SATA 2 speed. Without that jumper a 3 drive cannot run on a 1 controller.

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Originally Posted by tayloralmond

I had the same problem. PowerMac G5's can't read SATA III drives. I ended up getting a PCI-E SATA-3 adapter from NewEgg. Unfortunately, I still can't boot from it, so I moved most of my applications to the SSD so at least those programs would run faster. You (and I) will need to buy a SATA II SSD in order to boot natively.

They can but need a jumper that runs a SATA III drive at II speed. I boot from a SATA 3 WD Caviar Black in my main G4 running on a SATA I PCI controller.

[tayloralmond]

Originally Posted by zen.state

They can but need a jumper that runs a SATA III drive at II speed. I boot from a SATA 3 WD Caviar Black in my main G4 running on a SATA I PCI controller.

Ah, ok. Thanks for the info. Guess I need to see if I can do that with my SSD.

[Jethryn Freyman]

Originally Posted by zen.state

A quick google search told me it's only backward compatible with SATA II. This is why people need to research things before they buy.

Corsair's site states it's backward compatible with SATA I and II, and is also Mac compatible.

http://www.corsair.com/ssd/force-ser...ard-drive.html



The SATA port is working fine, I just tested a mechanical 2.5" hard drive in there.

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OWC's Mercury Extreme Pro 6G SSDs, which are SATA III, also claim compatibility with SATA I and II.

[zen.state]

The reality is that with no 2 pin jumper it can't be SATA I compatible. This is my experience as a Mac tech. The wintel world may be a bit different with needing jumpers to make 3 work on a 1 controller.

You sure there isn't one? They look just like normal PATA drive jumpers but there are only 2 in a small slot that 1 HD jumper fits into. Without one their claim of SATA 1 compatibility is false and your chances of getting it to work are 0.

[Jethryn Freyman]

Originally Posted by zen.state

The reality is that with no 2 pin jumper it can't be SATA I compatible. This is my experience as a Mac tech. The wintel world may be a bit different with needing jumpers to make 3 work on a 1 controller.

You sure there isn't one? They look just like normal PATA drive jumpers but there are only 2 in a small slot that 1 HD jumper fits into. Without one their claim of SATA 1 compatibility is false and your chances of getting it to work are 0.

No jumpers... is there any way I can tape over some of the contacts? Or can they be bought online? I had a quick look but couldn't see any.

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Actually there don't appear to even be any pins for the jumpers to go on, whereas my mechanical SATA I 2.5" and 3.5" drives have four.

[zen.state]

Originally Posted by Jethryn Freyman

No jumpers... is there any way I can tape over some of the contacts? Or can they be bought online? I had a quick look but couldn't see any.

The contacts are for power and data so you can't cover any of them. You also cannot add jumpers. You either have them or not. It's rare that SSD have jumpers anyway in my experience with them.

Best thing to do is return the drive and get a SATA II SSD. You certainly won't lose any speed at the controller end.

I have never looked into what SSD OWC offer for G5's but I would bet you they are SATA II just as they still sell PATA/IDE SSD for G4 towers and laptops.

[Jethryn Freyman]

Originally Posted by zen.state

I have never looked into what SSD OWC offer for G5's but I would bet you they are SATA II just as they still sell PATA/IDE SSD for G4 towers and laptops.

Yeah OWC's Electra 3G drives are SATA II,

Anyway I've inquired to Corsair about this, if it doesn't work out I'm just going to return the drive. I did read that Corsair's firmware updates can be used in some way to possibly get it to work, but I'm not quite sure hence my asking Corsair themselves.

If I work out a solution I'll be sure to post it up for the world

[zen.state]

Firmware could easily act like a jumper if done right so that could be a solution. See what they say.

[GermanyChris]

I had an Agility 3 in my G5, my experience what that if you connect the jumpers and lay the SSD in there it wont work..If I put it in the OCZ tray and stuck it in it worked fine. There needed to be a little tension on the power cable after years of being in one spot..
Plug it in with the side off and see if a light comes on if not pull it a bit and it'll probably come on

[Nameci]

I have two SSD's on my powermac G5 in raid configuration, and they were the cheap SATA II kind. I never had any issues with it. SATA III device on a SATA I controller is really a big of a leap. A SATA II SSD would more than suffice for the need. Even the disk on a SATA III speed it would only actually work at SATA I speeds. Suggestion, return it and get Intel 320 and be done with it.

[zen.state]

^^^

I agree about going with an Intel SATA II drive. Intel are the fastest and most reliable in my experiences.

[Jethryn Freyman]

OK, I'm going to take back both drives today, fortunately I have all the original packaging and stuff. I've got my eye on a couple of Intel SSDs at the moment so we'll see what happens

[Jethryn Freyman]

Strangely enough, the drive works fine in a SATA I Macbook (4,1 model.)

[zen.state]

Originally Posted by Jethryn Freyman

Strangely enough, the drive works fine in a SATA I Macbook (4,1 model.)

I have seen some SATA III drives work on a SATA I Intel Macs. All in models from 2007 on so it must be something in the firmware for the SATA controller chip. It wasn't till the late 2008 Macbook that they put SATA II in them.

To work in your G5 though you will still need a SATA II drive. Maybe keep the Corsair in the MB and get an Intel or OWC SATA II for the G5.

[GermanyChris]

I use a SATA 3 drive in a G5 7,2 i cant be read in the upper bay but works in the lower

[zen.state]

Originally Posted by GermanyChris

I use a SATA 3 drive in a G5 7,2 i cant be read in the upper bay but works in the lower

SSD or magnetic? Is there a small HD jumper on it?

[GermanyChris]

Originally Posted by zen.state

SSD or magnetic? Is there a small HD jumper on it?

SSD, thats why I brought it up..

It's an OCZ Agility 3 thats was formally in my MBP.

It's in the bottom drive bay..DVD uses the upper SATA port and RAID card for the rest of the drives.

No matter what I did it wouldn't read the in the upper bay.

[zen.state]

Originally Posted by GermanyChris

SSD, thats why I brought it up..

It's an OCZ Agility 3 thats was formally in my MBP.

It's in the bottom drive bay..DVD uses the upper SATA port and RAID card for the rest of the drives.

No matter what I did it wouldn't read the in the upper bay.

Thanks for the info and I will make note of your success story with SATA III SSD. I can think of at least 8 clients that have contacted me about some random SATA III SSD or magnetic not working in a G5.

As I noted earlier in this thread SATA III will work on I without issue always in my experience if the drive has a jumper to run it at II speed as I and II works seamless together always. Most SSD don't have these jumpers.

My SSD experience is all with other peoples computers so it's good to get success experiences. My guess is the III SSD that work on I controllers have auto jumper firmware and when connected to I controllers automatically go to II mode.

[GermanyChris]

Originally Posted by zen.state

Thanks for the info and I will make note of your success story with SATA III SSD. I can think of at least 8 clients that have contacted me about some random SATA III SSD or magnetic not working in a G5.

As I noted earlier in this thread SATA III will work on I without issue always in my experience if the drive has a jumper to run it at II speed as I and II works seamless together always. Most SSD don't have these jumpers.

My SSD experience is all with other peoples computers so it's good to get success experiences. My guess is the III SSD that work on I controllers have auto jumper firmware and when connected to I controllers automatically go to II mode.

That may be true but I believe that the Force 3 and the OCZ 3 series all use the same Sandforce controller, so unless it's in the company firmware why would mine work and his not?

Mine I think is a "cheaper" drive, I got it because according to Anand it was the most power efficient OCZ drive..

[Jethryn Freyman]

Originally Posted by zen.state

I have seen some SATA III drives work on a SATA I Intel Macs. All in models from 2007 on so it must be something in the firmware for the SATA controller chip. It wasn't till the late 2008 Macbook that they put SATA II in them.

To work in your G5 though you will still need a SATA II drive. Maybe keep the Corsair in the MB and get an Intel or OWC SATA II for the G5.

Yeah I'm taking the SSD back today and I'll probably just order one for OWC, their prices are actually the best I've seen.

Originally Posted by GermanyChris

I use a SATA 3 drive in a G5 7,2 i cant be read in the upper bay but works in the lower

I haven't tried switching bays, but I was trying my SSD in the lower one.

Thanks for the help guys

EDIT: I just checked OWC, it seems that they've dropped prices by $20 across the line within the past two days. Woo!

[zen.state]

Originally Posted by GermanyChris

That may be true but I believe that the Force 3 and the OCZ 3 series all use the same Sandforce controller, so unless it's in the company firmware why would mine work and his not?

Mine I think is a "cheaper" drive, I got it because according to Anand it was the most power efficient OCZ drive..

Could be slightly different firmware. Thats the only thing that would explain the inconsistent results since it would be the same controller.

[skinniezinho]

As said here in the G5s SSD must be in the upper bay.
Saw that on apple forums too.
Any chance of the guys here with ssds post more info (model, computer,benchmarks) here?
It would be awesome.