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Biggest SCSI Drive for a Macintosh Quadra 900?

dermeister

dermeister

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 19, 2003
458
96
Update: Someone pointed out to me that there is a Collector's forum for this type of model. I've cross-posted at https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=20425702 - Mods: could you please delete this thread if appropriate - thanks!

Hi there,

I recently got a Quadra 900, and I'm having fun upgrading it to see how far it can go. The machine came out in 1991, and was an absolute monster in it's time.

quadra900.jpg


I've ordered the following upgrades:
  • 256 MB of ram (16x 16MB SIMM) - that's right, 256 MB in a 1991 machine!
  • Apple Display Card 24AC - should get me 24bit colour @ 1152x870
  • 3.6v lithium battery - should stop it from thinking it's 1954

I even got it on the internet thanks to a AAUI-15 to 10BaseT converter. It downloads at ~70 KB/s max (any idea what can make it faster?)

I'm now turning my attention to the internal SCSI drives - it has two 160 MB drives.

What I'd like to do is put the largest Apple branded SCSI drive the machine will take - I just have no idea what that would be despite much searching.

I'd expect there are two important aspects here - what is compatible hardware-wise, and what is compatible OS-wise.

I'm not sure what the difference is between Mac OS 7.6.1 and Mac OS 8.1 in terms of max partition size.

So does anyone have an idea of how big an Apple SCSI drive this monster can take?

Thanks!

--

P.S. I'm looking for a PPC upgrade card and an internal CD-ROM drive + Bezel if anyone has one.

P.S.S. I am thinking the best monitor to get for it would be the Macintosh 21" Color Display since it came out at the same time. Opinions?
 
Last edited:
Although not an official Apple part, I'm getting ready to put a 9gb 80 pin SCSI drive in my Quadra 700. I was recently given a dozen of these drives, which is why I'm using it.

There are adapters all over Ebay to allow you to plug 80 or 68 pin SCSI drives into a 50 pin SCSI bus...the advantage of this is that the drives are generally both higher capacity and higher performance. They'll also generally be a fair bit newer. Someone on the Apple Collectors forum told me that they're using a nearly identical set-up in their SE/30, which is a much older and much less capable computer than any of the Quadras.

With that said, you may get better responses on the Apple Collectors forum than on here. At least at this point, your Quadra is not a PowerPC computer :)

By the way, I've been watching PPC Upgrade cards on Ebay. I'm not sure if your Quadra takes the same as mine, but would assume so. They come up with some frequency, and are generally relatively affordable.
 
bunnspecial said:
Although not an official Apple part, I'm getting ready to put a 9gb 80 pin SCSI drive in my Quadra 700. I was recently given a dozen of these drives, which is why I'm using it.

There are adapters all over Ebay to allow you to plug 80 or 68 pin SCSI drives into a 50 pin SCSI bus...the advantage of this is that the drives are generally both higher capacity and higher performance. They'll also generally be a fair bit newer. Someone on the Apple Collectors forum told me that they're using a nearly identical set-up in their SE/30, which is a much older and much less capable computer than any of the Quadras.

With that said, you may get better responses on the Apple Collectors forum than on here. At least at this point, your Quadra is not a PowerPC computer :)

By the way, I've been watching PPC Upgrade cards on Ebay. I'm not sure if your Quadra takes the same as mine, but would assume so. They come up with some frequency, and are generally relatively affordable.
Click to expand...

Ahh, I didn't realize that there was a collector's forum - I was wondering why there was a PPC forum and no 68k forum! Thanks - I've now cross-posted to the Collector's forum (Mods - please feel free to delete this post if appropriate): https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=20425702
 
Wow, congrats on that beast. My powerfullest 68k machine is an aging Performa 550. Soon I'll be getting a nice Centris though,
 
128keaton said:
Wow, congrats on that beast. My powerfullest 68k machine is an aging Performa 550. Soon I'll be getting a nice Centris though,
Click to expand...

Recently picked up a Centris 650 for $15. Sadly, the original owner had removed the HD, most likely because he had stuff on it. It's too bad that SCSI drives are harder to find/$$$. It would be cool to run the thing.
 
PowerMac G4 MDD said:
Recently picked up a Centris 650 for $15. Sadly, the original owner had removed the HD, most likely because he had stuff on it. It's too bad that SCSI drives are harder to find/$$$. It would be cool to run the thing.
Click to expand...

I'm lucky enough to have a spare 100MB for when I get a Mac without or when my Mac Classic's drive dies.
 
128keaton said:
I'm lucky enough to have a spare 100MB for when I get a Mac without or when my Mac Classic's drive dies.
Click to expand...

I think I may be lucky as well... I just realized that there are some Macs I may be getting soon, and one will not turn on at all (power supply issue?), but the SCSI HD in it COULD work. (It's a Macintosh LC). Among the Macs are two Macintosh Classic IIs, which I got a chance to test even though I don't have them yet. To my surprise, the HDs spun up, but obvious leaky caps prevented me from seeing any further.
 
bunnspecial said:
By the way, I've been watching PPC Upgrade cards on Ebay. I'm not sure if your Quadra takes the same as mine, but would assume so. They come up with some frequency, and are generally relatively affordable.
Click to expand...

Yup it's the same.

128keaton said:
Wow, congrats on that beast. My powerfullest 68k machine is an aging Performa 550. Soon I'll be getting a nice Centris though,
Click to expand...

Thanks!

poiihy said:
Did you take that photograph yourself? Very good photograph
Click to expand...

Haha, nope I got it from here: http://lowendmac.com/1992/quadra-950/

128keaton said:
I'm lucky enough to have a spare 100MB for when I get a Mac without or when my Mac Classic's drive dies.
Click to expand...

How often do they die?
 
128keaton said:
I actually don't know. Mines been throwing fits when booting. I haven't taken mine apart yet, some caps are probably bad too. I don't have a deep enough T15 screwdriver.
Click to expand...

I took a cheap T15 driver, chucked it in my drill, and shaped it with a file to be slim enough to reach the screws.
 
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