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could this work on a MP

C

cuestakid

macrumors 68000
Original poster
So I have a simple question-
I have an external 120 GB WD HD that I really only used for installing windows apps that I didnt want to use on my mac pro boot camp install that I had. Now I am wondering if it is possible for me to take that drive out of its external casing and use it in the mac pro-granted I would have to find an adapter for it but would I be able to use this drive on my mac?

here is a link for the product guide for the drive

http://www.wdc.com/en/library/usb/2879-001113.pdf

BTW-I do know that this would void my warranty-so I know I am taking a risk
 
so a small update

1. My drive is out of warranty,so I went ahead and took it apart
2. Upon disassembly, I found out that the drive is in fact and IDE(Enhanced IDE or EIDE)


So now my question is this-how can I get this drive to work on my mac-I tried to see if it would work without one and it appeared to connect but it didnt appear in disk utility so I dont think it was recognized. I have seen several diferent types of adapters but I am not sure what I need.

any help is appreciated.
 
You're better off using it as an external USB storage device.

Just grab a 300GB SATA Seagate drive, they're around $30-50...you can get 500GB fast SATAII Seagate drives for around $99 at Circuit City....you're better off this way and you won't have to fiddle with SATA-to-IDE adapters, which suck.

By the way, if you really don't want to spend any money, and if you don't have a second superdrive, just dissasemble the DVDR drive and make sure your WD is set to slave and plug it into the second IDE port under the superdrive.
 
SDAVE said:
You're better off using it as an external USB storage device.

Just grab a 300GB SATA Seagate drive, they're around $30-50...you can get 500GB fast SATAII Seagate drives for around $99 at Circuit City....you're better off this way and you won't have to fiddle with SATA-to-IDE adapters, which suck.

By the way, if you really don't want to spend any money, and if you don't have a second superdrive, just dissasemble the DVDR drive and make sure your WD is set to slave and plug it into the second IDE port under the superdrive.
Click to expand...

\thanks for the info-it appears that this is going to be much more work that I had expected-my original thinking was that I would install this drive and then install boot camp on it but it appears that it would be a much bigger hassle than I had expected it to be
 
Installing an IDE drive in the second optical bay isn't particularly painful, I wouldn't be put off by the task. There are plenty of tutorials out there, and I don't see why you wouldn't be able to put boot camp on it, or anything else. You already have a IDE cable sitting there in an empty bay (albeit a 5.25" bay, but big deal), so if you don't have a second optical drive and don't think you'll need one, it's a great way to use an old IDE drive.

I know i've seen threads on here about it, here's an example of someone who did just what you want to do and used the IDE cable and optical bay for boot camp:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/227788/
 
so are you saying that I can hook up the drive where I would put a second DVD drive and the machine would recognize it? Also, how would the drive get power? And would doing any of this void my warranty?
 
cuestakid said:
Also, how would the drive get power?
Click to expand...
If you only have one DVD drive, then there will be spare power and IDE connectors.
Just take the side off the Mac Pro and slide out the optical drive cage and you should see the cables.

The drive should be recognised fine. Not sure about the warranty, but if anything does happen or you need to send your computer in for servicing just remove the drive.

Also you may want to consider buying a drive bay adapter so you can secure the drive in place.
 
The advantage is that the drive is secured in place, instead of just resting on the bottom of the optical drive bay area. I'd try your drive without the bracket to make sure it works, then if you think it's necessary to fix it in place buy the brackets.

The one you linked to should work fine, though it seems a bit expensive.
 
well either i was too afraid of being too forceful or I am just an imbecile , but I was not able to remove the superdrive rack-I felt like it was moving but I didnt want to force it out so it looks like I may just get a second drive and install it that way-thanks for everyones help
 
It should slide out fairly easily, though I had to wiggle it a little the first time.
Also it is locked in place when the rear latch is closed.
 
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