G4 died, need help in trying to savage HD

[bassithound]

My G4 finally died, no big deal, I have a pretty recent back up. It simply does nothing when I try to start it, browsing the forums indicates it may be a switch issue, I tried resetting the PRAM. Anyway, I was hankering for a new one anyway. Is there a guide out there to pull the HD to access as an external on the new Imac I plan on purchasing tomorrow? I probably need an external HD kit, but would it be worth it? There are probably some photos and music I added since my last backup. Any advice, or pointing me in the right direction would be appreciated. THX
Dave in NJ

 

[Cave Man]

You can put it in an external enclosure (FW or USB2). That drive should be PATA so make sure you get one with the correct interface. But I think everyone who works with hard drives ought to invest in a Universal Drive Adapter from Other World Computing. Makes life real simple.

 

[Isiah]

Yes this is exactly what I recently had to do. My old G4 Graphite refused to power up, so out came the HD into an ATA enclosure and it's now attached to yet another second hand (mirror door) G4 as an external drive. I'm toying with the idea of installing this old HD internally in a spare HD bay.

Not sure what inherent value £$£ an old G4 tower is that needs a new power unit

Anyway there is a guide on Apple's site here tells how but with no pictures

You can also download a pdf of the G4's user handbook from Apple and I'd highly recomend this route as the pictures are a much clearer guide to the procedure.

Good luck.

[edit]
Just to say the procedure is extermely easy. The bit that made me sweat was judging how much force was required to pull the ATA and power cables out of the old drive -- they're in very tight and the angle/space is awkward to get the right grip.
[/edit]

Cheers
I

 

[Fishrrman]

"My G4 finally died, no big deal, I have a pretty recent back up. It simply does nothing when I try to start it, browsing the forums indicates it may be a switch issue, I tried resetting the PRAM"

You didn't say whether the "g4" is a tower or an iMac model.

If it's a desktop tower, chances are the motherboard battery may be dead. I believe the replacement is a 3.6v lithium "half-aa" type.

Radio Shack used to sell these as part number 23-026 (not sure if they still carry it). It's also available even cheaper by ordering online.

 

[quantum003]

Pull out the hard drive carefully... pick up one of these little beauties for anywhere from $10-20...

The device above will allow you to connect your old removed hard drive to your new machine via USB... you can then just drag and drop your old files onto your new machine... easy peazy lemon squeezey my friend.

http://www.amazon.com/USB-2-0-SATA-Cable-Adapter/dp/B001OOXBBG

 

[kbfr08]

Pull out the hard drive carefully... pick up one of these little beauties for anywhere from $10-20...

The device above will allow you to connect your old removed hard drive to your new machine via USB... you can then just drag and drop your old files onto your new machine... easy peazy lemon squeezey my friend.

http://www.amazon.com/USB-2-0-SATA-Cable-Adapter/dp/B001OOXBBG

I've also had luck popping a drive into a portable hard drive enclosure, it was used by a segate portable drive. If you have one lying around, or an external cd drive, you could try to connect the hard drive to it.

 

[macbug]

If you get a startup chime - try holding 't' down for target disk mode, then plug the imac into another mac with firewire… you'll see the drive on the other mac's desktop.

Otherwise, those USB to ATA/SATA adapters are awesome. I got it to do a hard drive transfer, and now I find myself using it for all sorts of drive-related things.

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Newer Technology/U2NV2SPATA/