iMac G3 PATA TO SATA Adapter not working causing weird issues

[macnerd93]

So I ordered one of these for my iMac G3 DV SE 500Mhz Summer 2000 model, but it just doesn't work.



I ordered this one as it has the slave/master jumpers on the left-hand side, but it just results in erratic behaviour. When installed and originally set to master the iMac kernel panicked within about 10 seconds of trying to read the Mac OS install disk.

So I Switched the jumper over to Slave option and the install CD booted all the way through, but the new SSD did not show up at all in OS X disk utility or the Mac OS 9 equivalent. Another weird issue with it is when attempting to load it into Target Disc mode the iMac just switches itself off within ten seconds. I also connected a mechanical SATA hard drive just to make sure power was getting to the adapter properly and I can confirm the mechanical hard disk did spin up but still wasn't detected within the install screen.

I have made sure everything is pressed in properly and nice and firm, putting in the old 3.5 inch IDE HDD the iMac boots right away up no issues at all.

I put the Kingston SSD in an external Firewire 800 Caddy and it shows up without any issue on my Intel i5 Mac mini. I was even able to initialise and format it as Mac OS extended journaled, but is still not able to be detected within the iMac G3.

It's making me want to pull my hair out lol. My assumption is this adapter just isn't compatible with my machine, even though it did say Mac in the Amazon description.

Does anyone have any ideas am I doing something wrong here? I do think my next option is likely a Compact flash adapter as there is no conversion needed CF has the same pinout as IDE. It is apparently the most trouble-free way as so many PATA to SATA units are incompatible with Mac's

Merry Christmas and all the best

Ryan

 

[eyoungren]

So I ordered one of these for my iMac G3 DV SE 500Mhz Summer 2000 model, but it just doesn't work.



I ordered this one as it has the slave/master jumpers on the left-hand side, but it just results in erratic behaviour. When installed and originally set to master the iMac kernel panicked within about 10 seconds of trying to read the Mac OS install disk.

So I Switched the jumper over to Slave option and the install CD booted all the way through, but the new SSD did not show up at all in OS X disk utility or the Mac OS 9 equivalent. Another weird issue with it is when attempting to load it into Target Disc mode the iMac just switches itself off within ten seconds. I also connected a mechanical SATA hard drive just to make sure power was getting to the adapter properly and I can confirm the mechanical hard disk did spin up but still wasn't detected within the install screen.

I have made sure everything is pressed in properly and nice and firm, putting in the old 3.5 inch IDE HDD the iMac boots right away up no issues at all.

I put the Kingston SSD in an external Firewire 800 Caddy and it shows up without any issue on my Intel i5 Mac mini. I was even able to initialise and format it as Mac OS extended journaled, but is still not able to be detected within the iMac G3.

It's making me want to pull my hair out lol. My assumption is this adapter just isn't compatible with my machine, even though it did say Mac in the Amazon description.

Does anyone have any ideas am I doing something wrong here? I do think my next option is likely a Compact flash adapter as there is no conversion needed CF has the same pinout as IDE. It is apparently the most trouble-free way as so many PATA to SATA units are incompatible with Mac's

Merry Christmas and all the best

Ryan

It may seem backwards, but have you tried simply pulling the jumper off so that's not set to anything?

 

[Raging Dufus]

I have one of these (with the green PCB), and to say it's unreliable is to be charitable. It works sometimes, and sometimes it doesn't. I've set it aside to use only when I have no other choice but to use it, usually to test something. I would never rely on it to boot anything on a regular basis. I probably should just throw the thing out, but I almost never do that with computer parts (sigh).

Anyway, I don't think the issue is compatibility with your Mac. PATA/IDE and SATA are standardized protocols, and an adapter between the two would be standardized as well. It's platform-agnostic, and should work equally as well with a PPC Mac as with a PC.

A couple of suggestions:

1. You might try one with a red PCB. Here's an example. Some people here have had better experiences with the red ones.
2. It may be an adapter conflict of some sort. See if you can take your SSD apart without damaging it - is there a smaller SSD inside? I once had a Kingston SSD that I couldn't get to reliably work when paired with an adapter like the one you're using. It would heat up and just quit. I took it apart to see what was going on, and what I found was a little Kingston MSATA, which had been placed inside a larger case that doubled as a MSATA to SATA adapter. There was no indication of this on the outside. I took the MSATA out and put it in a different adapter, and I'm still using it to this day.

There's nothing wrong with going to CF if that's what you decide to do. It is a pretty painless way of doing things. But, you're going to pay more for the same amount of storage and it's not going to last as long. If your iMac is only going to be used once in a while, that might be a better route for you.

 

[z970]

@Raging Dufus In my personal experience, I can confirm that the red adapter is just as unreliable as the green one, which I also have.

That being said, I do believe that my green one also had a jumper. I did not try it without said jumper.

Failing that, this is why I gave up on SSDs with IDE machines altogether and just use the OG hard drives. Usually, I find that the extended noise and wait times are worth the vastly improved reliability.

 

[macnerd93]

It may seem backwards, but have you tried simply pulling the jumper off so that's not set to anything?

yeah I tried doing that as well, but it made no difference the install CD booted up, but nothing no SSD detected

 

[macnerd93]

I have one of these (with the green PCB), and to say it's unreliable is to be charitable. It works sometimes, and sometimes it doesn't. I've set it aside to use only when I have no other choice but to use it, usually to test something. I would never rely on it to boot anything on a regular basis. I probably should just throw the thing out, but I almost never do that with computer parts (sigh).

Anyway, I don't think the issue is compatibility with your Mac. PATA/IDE and SATA are standardized protocols, and an adapter between the two would be standardized as well. It's platform-agnostic, and should work equally as well with a PPC Mac as with a PC.

A couple of suggestions:

1. You might try one with a red PCB. Here's an example. Some people here have had better experiences with the red ones.
2. It may be an adapter conflict of some sort. See if you can take your SSD apart without damaging it - is there a smaller SSD inside? I once had a Kingston SSD that I couldn't get to reliably work when paired with an adapter like the one you're using. It would heat up and just quit. I took it apart to see what was going on, and what I found was a little Kingston MSATA, which had been placed inside a larger case that doubled as a MSATA to SATA adapter. There was no indication of this on the outside. I took the MSATA out and put it in a different adapter, and I'm still using it to this day.

There's nothing wrong with going to CF if that's what you decide to do. It is a pretty painless way of doing things. But, you're going to pay more for the same amount of storage and it's not going to last as long. If your iMac is only going to be used once in a while, that might be a better route for you.

Thanks for the information, the SSD I picked was basically the cheapest one I could find. It was a 120GB Kingston SSD priced at around £17 on amazon. Called the Kingston A400 SSD.

I did also try a mechanical SATA hard drive from a laptop and that didn't show up either

Edit: I've ordered the red circuit board one to give it one final try.

Wondering If I'll have better luck just going for a PATA SSD? On amazon, but look quite trashy

​

 

[salamanderjuice]

Is the drive actually 120GB or is it larger like 128GB? Pretty sure pre-2002 Macs have problems booting from drives bigger than that.

 

[macnerd93]

Is the drive actually 120GB or is it larger like 128GB? Pretty sure pre-2002 Macs have problems booting from drives bigger than that.

yeah definitely its 120GB.

Not heard about larger capacity drives causing booting problems though. Normally the G3 iMacs can only see 128GB of whatever size the drive is. So if you put in a 500GB drive it would only be able to utilise and see 128GB of it.

I've just put in a 125 GB HDD IDE drive I had to lay around to replace the original 30GB it had inside and that worked right away, but it like the original is loud and annoying. The G3 could be a very quiet machine given that they are fanless

Using the intel mac mini and the SSD in a FW enclosure I partitioned the drive into a 10GB partition for OS 9

 

[TheShortTimer]

@Raging Dufus In my personal experience, I can confirm that the red adapter is just as unreliable as the green one, which I also have.

That being said, I do believe that my green one also had a jumper. I did not try it without said jumper.

Failing that, this is why I gave up on SSDs with IDE machines altogether and just use the OG hard drives. Usually, I find that the extended noise and wait times are worth the vastly improved reliability.

I find this really strange because I'm using the red PCB IDE to SATA adapter in my iMac G3 and my QuickSilver and I haven't encountered any problems whatsoever.

To be exact, mine have the Marvell 88sa8052 chipset - which was recommended by @RogerWilco6502 as fully compatible with Macs and that's definitely been the case for me.

 

[macnerd93]

I find this really strange because I'm using the red PCB IDE to SATA adapter in my iMac G3 and my QuickSilver and I haven't encountered any problems whatsoever.

To be exact, mine have the Marvell 88sa8052 chipset - which was recommended by @RogerWilco6502 as fully compatible with Macs and that's definitely been the case for me.

Thanks, I've now ordered a red circuit board model instead. I assume its the adapter I picked itself as a mechanical SATA hard drive didn't even mount either for me.

I'm wondering if before i set up in the iMac g3, I dig my quicksilver G4 out see if it works in that and try and install an OS on it that way as its a lot easier to remove from a G4 tower rather than an iMac which I have to use upside down lol

 

[z970]

@TheShortTimer Maybe I just got a dud...

 

[macnerd93]

MODS IF YOU COULD LOCK THIS THREAD BE APPRECIATED I FOUND MY ORIGINAL THREAD IN THE END.

SORRY FOR ANY ISSUES

 

[Strategia]

Honestly, I think the SSD is the problem. I have experienced similar erratic issues with the Kingston A400 through both a SATA-to-IDE 44-pin adapter and a native SATA I interface. It seems to work fine through a USB enclosure though. I have read many reports on Amazon and elsewhere detailing reliability issues, mainly relating to the firmware used on the A400. Kingston has also been known to downgrade the components used in their models over time.

Oh well, you get what you pay for.