Is this really to difficult?

efoppega · Oct 4, 2009, 09:05 AM

Bought a WDElements external hard drive FAT 32 format, but I can`t get it connected to my old G4 867 MHz PowerPC, os 10.4.11.
On the box it says it will function with 10.4.11. My G4 is old and has not USB2. I have searched the net and found people saying that this shouldn`t be a problem because USB2 is made to be working with USB1. Ok then...what on earth can I do to make it show up on my desktop? When connected to my Mac it will take about a minute before it asks me to: ignore, format or eject. I have tried all three with no help. Trying to format the harddisk will also not give any answers since the reply from Disk Utilities is: in/out error. The good thing though is that my Mac will register the harddisk, but sadly thats all. And finally, yes it works on a new Mac, but not on mine. Any suggestions? hoping for a solution.Is this a solution: www.StarTech.com PCI625USB21 6-Port USB 2.0 PCI Card - RadioShack.com

Erik

Shake 'n' Bake · Oct 4, 2009, 09:32 AM

Does it have an external power supply? If so, make doubly sure it's plugged in. If that doesn't work, try another USB cable. If that doesn't work, try it with another Mac.

On my PowerMac (a similar model), one of the white things on the inside of the USB port is gone, so a plug goes in either way, but still only works the way it was designed to; it works, but I choose not to use it (plus I've got a USB 2 card). Check yours.

efoppega · Oct 4, 2009, 09:47 AM

yes it has an external power-supply and it is connected, and yes it works on another mac, a newer though. Still it doesn`t pop up on my mac...grrrrrrr

Winni · Oct 4, 2009, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by efoppega

yes it has an external power-supply and it is connected, and yes it works on another mac, a newer though. Still it doesn`t pop up on my mac...grrrrrrr

You don't want to use a hard disk with USB 1.1 - even if you got it working, it would be painfully slow. And that probably is your problem: The port is too slow and there's a good chance that you run into timeout issues.

Try getting a FireWire case for the hard disk and use that instead of USB. FireWire is more reliable than USB anyway (it uses error correction and the like, which USB doesn't have).

Shake 'n' Bake · 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Winni

You don't want to use a hard disk with USB 1.1 - even if you got it working, it would be painfully slow. And that probably is your problem: The port is too slow and there's a good chance that you run into timeout issues.

Doubt it. I used a USB 2/FW 400 HDD to backup over USB 1.1. It took 10 hours, but it worked.

My PowerMac, also 10.4.11, doesn't recognize the NTFS partition on my external HDD, but my SL-running Mac mini does. It's probably just the OS. Or maybe the partition table format.

Edit: Actually, I take that last statement back. The PM sees both partitions over FW 400 and USB 1.1/2. I'd use the other Mac and reformat the HDD to HFS+.

efoppega · Oct 4, 2009, 11:39 AM

Ok, thanks. It doesn`t really solve the problem or explain it. As long as it is supposed to show up, but doesn`t and shows on a newer Mac. It The HDD is in FAT32 and should show....

gsahli · Oct 4, 2009, 04:51 PM

About the USB 2 card - I have used two kinds in my G4 - ones with the NEC chipset (driver built-in on OS X) and the VIA chipset (downloaded driver). Make sure the chipset is one of those.

I haven't experienced the issue with the drive not being recognized on a 1.1 port...

Oct 4, 2009, 09:05 AM	#1
efoppega macrumors newbie Join Date: Oct 2009	Is this really to difficult? Bought a WDElements external hard drive FAT 32 format, but I can`t get it connected to my old G4 867 MHz PowerPC, os 10.4.11. On the box it says it will function with 10.4.11. My G4 is old and has not USB2. I have searched the net and found people saying that this shouldn`t be a problem because USB2 is made to be working with USB1. Ok then...what on earth can I do to make it show up on my desktop? When connected to my Mac it will take about a minute before it asks me to: ignore, format or eject. I have tried all three with no help. Trying to format the harddisk will also not give any answers since the reply from Disk Utilities is: in/out error. The good thing though is that my Mac will register the harddisk, but sadly thats all. And finally, yes it works on a new Mac, but not on mine. Any suggestions? hoping for a solution.Is this a solution: www.StarTech.com PCI625USB21 6-Port USB 2.0 PCI Card - RadioShack.com Erik
	0

Oct 4, 2009, 09:32 AM	#2
Shake 'n' Bake macrumors 68020 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Albany	Does it have an external power supply? If so, make doubly sure it's plugged in. If that doesn't work, try another USB cable. If that doesn't work, try it with another Mac. On my PowerMac (a similar model), one of the white things on the inside of the USB port is gone, so a plug goes in either way, but still only works the way it was designed to; it works, but I choose not to use it (plus I've got a USB 2 card). Check yours. __________________ Mid-'07 2 GHz Mac mini (10.6.6), Dell Studio 540 C2Q (W7), Samsung N130 (Natty), Dimension 4300s inside a 4400 case (Natty) *Check out my blog!*
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Oct 4, 2009, 09:47 AM	#3
efoppega Thread Starter macrumors newbie Join Date: Oct 2009	yes it has an external power-supply and it is connected, and yes it works on another mac, a newer though. Still it doesn`t pop up on my mac...grrrrrrr
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Oct 4, 2009, 11:39 AM	#6
efoppega Thread Starter macrumors newbie Join Date: Oct 2009	Ok, thanks. It doesn`t really solve the problem or explain it. As long as it is supposed to show up, but doesn`t and shows on a newer Mac. It The HDD is in FAT32 and should show....
	0

Oct 4, 2009, 04:51 PM	#7
gsahli macrumors 6502 Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Chicago	About the USB 2 card - I have used two kinds in my G4 - ones with the NEC chipset (driver built-in on OS X) and the VIA chipset (downloaded driver). Make sure the chipset is one of those. I haven't experienced the issue with the drive not being recognized on a 1.1 port...
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